Chapter 976: Good Intentions, Bad Outcome

At three in the afternoon, Tang Heng sent a message in the Northern Alliance mobile group: @Alliance Leader Xia Qing, Sister Qing, can Huo Zhun, Ye Yang, and I come over to see you? There's something I need to consult your opinion on.

Tang Huai, who was currently feeding worms inside Territory Two, immediately sent a message: Ah Heng, what happened? I'm coming over too.

Tang Heng looking for her at this time was probably because the plan decided that morning—to have the Tang family's business partners temporarily look after Ye Yang's niece—had fallen through.

Xia Qing wasn't inside the territory at the moment and couldn't have them go to Territory Three to talk: Where are you all now? I'm at the Ninth Center, still have some matters to handle, I'll come find you once I'm done.

Tang Heng quickly replied: Sister Qing, once you're done, let's meet at Territory Fifteen; @Tang Huai, bro, you keep busy, I'll tell you when I get back.

After Xia Qing finished the work at hand and was about to drive to Territory Fifteen, she received a message from Yang Jin: Tang Zhengpo wants to rent a helicopter from Northern Zone One to go to Lan Five to pick up a group of people, he'll cover the fuel costs, the rental fee is 10,000 points, what do you think?

The helicopter in Northern Zone One was nominally the Blue Dragon Squad's, but in reality it was Xia Qing's. Since Tang Zhengpo wanted to rent it, Yang Jin naturally had to get Xia Qing's approval.

With this, Xia Qing knew what Tang Heng wanted to see her about. That matter could be discussed in detail when she met Tang Heng later. Xia Qing lowered her head and replied to Yang Jin: If the helicopter blows up, will they compensate for it?

Lan Five's air was filled with floating explosive particles, making the danger coefficient of flying a helicopter there to pick up people extremely high.

Yang Jin quickly replied: If it blows up, the Tang family will compensate us with a brand-new helicopter of the same model they purchased this year.

With that, there was nothing more to say—Xia Qing decided to take this 10,000 points.

After Xia Qing replied with her agreement, she drove into Territory Fifteen and met the Tang brothers, Huo Zhun, Ye Yang, Zhang Hongda, Yue Haiying, Shi Du, Hu Zi Feng, and the on-summer-break lord of Territory Fifteen, Tan Qi, in the conference room.

Once everyone had arrived, Tang Heng briefed everyone on the current situation.

Xia Qing then learned that two hours earlier, over a thousand rioters in Lan Five's outer city had taken advantage of the "rare" opportunity presented by the presence of new explosive elements in the air, which limited the use of thermal weapons, to go around smashing, looting, and pillaging. The Tang family's business partner Zheng Jialin had been forced to flee Lan Five's safe zone with a batch of valuable materials, and was currently hiding in a cave fifty li southeast of Lan Five's safe zone.

Zheng Jialin had contacted Tang Heng, offering 500,000 points, and requested the Tang family send people to pick them up and bring them to Hui Three.

The reason Ye Yang had also come to the meeting was that when Zheng Jialin fled, following the address Tang Heng had given him, he stopped by Ye Yang's older brother's house along the way, only to find that Big Brother Ye had already passed away, so he took Ye Yang's niece along with him when escaping the safe zone.

To put it nicely, Zheng Jialin was escaping with Little Eleven; to put it bluntly, he brought Little Eleven along to give the Tang family one more reason they had to rescue him.

Little Eleven was safe for now, but if the Tang family didn't send people to rescue her, she would become a burden that could be abandoned or killed by Zheng Jialin at any moment.

Tang Heng, who had only meant to help, hadn't expected things to develop to this point, and felt immensely guilty. "According to regulations, before Lan Five lifts its disaster emergency status, unless Lan Five's disaster commander-in-chief officially issues a rescue request, Hui Three's military and squads cannot enter the Lan Five base."

"If we use my family's private helicopter, it would attract too much attention. So after my dad negotiated with Blue Dragon Squad's Captain Yang, we borrowed Territory One's helicopter, but Blue Dragon's members can't participate in this rescue operation. The two evolver rescue teams our family has dispatched are already on standby inside Territory Twelve and can depart at any time."

"The shortcoming of these two rescue teams is that they don't have a high-level sniper backing them up. Sister Qing, may I ask you to participate in this mission in a personal capacity? The mission reward is 50,000 points or equivalent supplies you need."

The reason Tang Heng said "in a personal capacity" was that his well-intentioned meddling had resulted in Ye Yang's niece being taken hostage by Zheng Jialin.

Ye Yang hurriedly raised his hand. "Brother Heng, I already said it just now, you meant well, this can't be blamed on you. The points for Sister Qing's participation in the mission will be covered by me."

Just now, after Xia Qing agreed to lend the helicopter, Yang Jin had sent a message reminding her to consider carefully. Now, Xia Qing knew what Yang Jin had wanted her to think carefully about: whether or not she should participate in this rescue mission.

Tang Huai, usually noisy and quick-tempered, was unusually calm and solemn at this moment. "Xia Qing, it's fine if you don't go, I'll participate in this mission. I'm already an above-average sniper."

Tang Heng had just opened his mouth when his brother stomped hard on his foot, hurting him so much he couldn't speak.

The fact that Huo Zhun, Zhang Hongda, and Shi Du were sitting here meant the three of them had already confirmed they would participate in this mission. Huo Zhun and Zhang Hongda's combat power was beyond doubt. Shi Du, a Level Five-and-a-half strength evolver, was certainly participating as a logistics member to haul goods.

If Little Eleven weren't in those people's hands, Xia Qing wouldn't risk this for points. But Little Eleven was there, so she had to go. Because if they couldn't save Little Eleven, Zhang Shi definitely wouldn't trade with Third Brother anymore. Without the recovery factor extracted from Zhang Shi's blood, Third Brother's face, which had just barely improved, would quickly revert to that of a living dead man.

To avoid arousing others' suspicion, Xia Qing didn't agree directly, but first asked about the situation. "Has Zheng Jialin already led his people out of the Qiang 46 distribution range?"

Tang Heng immediately spread out a map. "I just went to find Third Brother and got the latest distribution map of Qiang 46 in Lan Five. The place where they're hiding didn't detect any Qiang 46 an hour ago. Based on the weather forecast and wind direction predictions, this place will most likely also be safe for the next 12 hours."

With no low-temperature explosive Qiang 46 in the atmosphere, a high-level sniper could come into play. Xia Qing continued to inquire. "Why doesn't he ask Hui Six or Lan Four for help?"

Lan Five was over 1,000 kilometers from Hui Three, and over 600 kilometers from both Hui Six and Lan Four.

Tang Heng explained, "Compared to the people from Lan Four and Hui Six, the guy surnamed Zheng trusts my dad more."

Tang Zhengpo's character was indeed trustworthy. Xia Qing asked the final question: "If unexpected situations arise, do we prioritize saving people or grabbing the goods?"

This...

Tang Heng realized he still hadn't thought things through thoroughly enough, his face full of shame. "Sister Qing, wait a moment, I'll ask my dad."

Tang Heng called on the spot, and at his father's request, turned on the speaker.

Tang Zhengpo first thanked Xia Qing, Huo Zhun, Zhang Hongda, and Shi Du for their timely assistance, then solemnly apologized to Ye Yang:

"Ye Yang, Tang Huai acted too rashly, let me apologize on his behalf."

After receiving Ye Yang's forgiveness, Tang Zhengpo, as the mission initiator, formally stated the mission requirements: "This rescue will be led by Du Zuohang, who has been to Lan Five with me three times and has dealt with Zheng Jialin before. The rescue team's primary mission is to rescue the child who was innocently drawn into this incident. After the child is rescued, if unexpected situations arise, within the premise of ensuring your own safety, act as you see fit according to Zheng Jialin's requests and intentions. If the other side wants to kill people and seize the helicopter, then eliminate them all, and bring back as much cargo as possible. I'm counting on everyone."