At the second cafeteria of Xingda University, Student Council President Li Yuxuan, along with Sun Lingfei—who had been promoted to head of the Culture and Sports Department—and a few other student council officers, were having lunch together.
“Lingfei, please put extra effort into this upcoming performance. We need to make sure everything is arranged as well as possible—there will be city officials and Ministry of Education leaders attending,” Li Yuxuan said to Sun Lingfei with a warm smile.
Sun Lingfei nodded lightly, but she seemed somewhat distracted.
Noticing her demeanor, Li Yuxuan’s gaze dimmed slightly, and he finally asked, “What’s wrong? Has Xu Ze still not come back?”
“Mmm… not yet,” Sun Lingfei replied with a slight nod.
“Oh…” Li Yuxuan let out a soft sigh, then said, “Why don’t you give him a call?”
Hearing his suggestion, Sun Lingfei hesitated for a moment, then nodded and looked at Li Yuxuan. “Can I borrow your phone?”
“The number you have dialed is powered off…” Hearing the recorded message on the other end, Sun Lingfei sighed softly and hung up with a helpless expression.
“Beep… A call just came in. It’s from Li Yuxuan’s number,” Xiao Dao reminded Xu Ze in his mind, as he was busy clearing the residual toxins from General Zuma’s brain cells.
“Li Yuxuan?” Xu Ze raised an eyebrow, then quickly understood. There was a school arts performance coming up soon, and it was around lunchtime—Sun Lingfei must have borrowed Li Yuxuan’s phone.
After a couple of minutes, Xu Ze finished another round of clearing the residual toxins from the area around General Zuma’s Jade Pillow acupoint. He slowly straightened up, took the towel handed to him by the nurse beside him, and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The toxin levels in General Zuma’s brain cells were now fairly low, but to fully restore his mental clarity, Xu Ze would still need to perform at least five more bio-electrical energy treatments—which would take over twenty hours.
Xu Ze let out a soft sigh. Major General Zhang Wu had already informed him that they would be departing for the airport in fifteen minutes. They would take a diplomatic charter flight to Gangjin, a neighboring country of General Zuma’s nation, Lima, and then transfer from Gangjin into Lima. Even if everything went smoothly, it would take at least a few days—and those days likely wouldn’t be easy.
Sun Lingfei had just called, probably worried about him. Since he might not have time to call her back once they departed, he figured he’d give her a quick call now.
“Connect to Li Yuxuan’s number and generate a virtual outgoing number from Beijing,” Xu Ze said calmly, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes gently.
The nearby officers glanced at Xu Ze and instinctively softened their movements, careful not to disturb him.
Ever since they’d arrived at the main hospital, all external communications had been blocked by order—no contact with the outside world was permitted. So Xu Ze had instructed Xiao Dao to set his phone to “powered off” mode, though he could still receive incoming calls and messages.
Hearing his phone ring, Li Yuxuan picked it up and saw an unfamiliar Beijing number—he was a bit puzzled.
“Li Yuxuan… it’s me. Please let Sun Lingfei take the call,” Xu Ze said, leaning comfortably back in his chair as if resting his eyes, but actually making the call through Xiao Dao.
Li Yuxuan smiled wryly, then handed the phone to a confused Sun Lingfei and nodded with a smile.
“Is it him?” Sun Lingfei looked at the phone Li Yuxuan was holding out to her, and finally broke into a smile.
“Are… are you okay?” Sun Lingfei tried to contain her excitement, hesitated for a moment, and asked softly.
Hearing that familiar, sweet voice on the line, Xu Ze couldn’t help but smile. “I’m fine… just really busy. And I’ll be away for a few more days. I’ll call you when I get back.”
“Mmm… Nothing major going on over there?” Sun Lingfei responded, still sounding worried.
Xu Ze chuckled lightly. “No, nothing major.”
“That’s good… Come back soon.”
After the call ended, Xu Ze heard a gentle voice beside him: “Lieutenant Colonel Xu Ze…”
Xu Ze opened his eyes and looked at Major Hu Qiang beside him. “Is it time to go?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel. General Zuma and his wife are already on the plane—we’re just waiting for you,” Hu Qiang said with a smile.
“Alright… let’s go.” Xu Ze stood up and started walking outside.
Looking at the special charter plane on the tarmac, Xu Ze couldn’t help but sigh. He’d ridden in plenty of aircraft before, but this time he was really getting the full experience—from armed helicopters and fighter jets to diplomatic charters… he’d flown in all of them over the past few days. The only thing missing was a space shuttle.
To his surprise, Old Man Li and Li Yue were also there—apparently here to see him off.
Old Man Li looked at Xu Ze, who now stood a full half-head taller than him, his eyes filled with both emotion and reluctance. He reached out with some effort to straighten Xu Ze’s collar and sighed softly. “Xiao Ze… once you’re over there, you must be careful. If things go wrong, run. No need to get yourself caught up in that black fellow’s mess, understand?”
These words left General Yang Guanglian and the other generals who’d come to see them off completely speechless. Old Man Li had never talked like this before—back in the day, when fighting the Japanese, he’d always been charging straight through gunfire and never knew what it meant to retreat. Hearing him say something like this now was just… something else.
“Ah… okay, Grandpa Li, don’t worry. I’ll take care of myself,” Xu Ze said awkwardly, glancing at the generals beside him, their shoulders laden with gold stars, looking like they wanted to say something but held back.
“Mhm, mhm… A real man knows when to bend and when to stand tall. Lima isn’t our turf—you’ll have to rely on yourself over there.” Old Man Li patted Xu Ze on the shoulder, then turned and walked away.
Seeing the old man leave, Li Yue hurriedly nodded to Xu Ze, his eyes full of worry, and whispered, “Kid… make sure you come back safe.”
With that, he quickened his pace to catch up with Old Man Li, supporting him as they walked away carefully.
Only after Old Man Li had left did General Yang Guanglian approach.
Seeing the three gold stars on his shoulder, Xu Ze knew this had to be the Minister of the General Staff Department. He immediately snapped to attention, saluted crisply, and said solemnly, “Good day, Minister!”
Seeing Xu Ze’s fairly standard salute, General Yang nodded with satisfaction and slowly raised his hand in return, speaking gravely: “Xu Ze… your responsibility on this mission is tremendous. You must give it your all and serve the nation.”
“Rest assured, Minister—I will do everything in my power to ensure General Zuma returns safely and in good health,” Xu Ze replied with a solemn nod.
“Good. If you complete this mission successfully, I will definitely promote you to Senior Colonel.” General Yang nodded approvingly, then looked at Xu Ze with a smile. “Although you’ve only had a nominal position before, once you come back safe and sound, I’ll give you the title of Deputy Director of the Third Intelligence Bureau—it’s a pretty good post.”
“Deputy Director?” Xu Ze blinked, stunned for a moment. That was a position with real authority—could they actually give it to someone as inexperienced as him?
Seeing Xu Ze’s stunned expression, General Yang looked quite pleased with himself and chuckled. “Go on, go on… A Wolf Fang squad will be going with you this time. If necessary, you can issue orders directly to their captain.”
“Of course… only when necessary,” General Yang added with a smile.
As Xu Ze boarded the plane, he was surprised to find that Major Hu Qiang, the General Staff liaison officer, was already on board waiting. Seeing Xu Ze come in, Hu Qiang quickly came over with a smile. “Lieutenant Colonel, let me introduce you to the security team leader for this mission.”
“This is Captain Bai Qi from our military’s most elite special forces unit, Wolf Fang. He and his eight-man squad will escort us to Lima.” Hu Qiang gestured to a tall, rugged-looking soldier across from them, clad in full combat gear and armed to the teeth, his face radiating toughness.
Then, turning to the tall soldier, Hu Qiang said, “Captain Bai, this is Lieutenant Colonel Xu Ze from our General Staff Department. He’s the overall commander for this mission—responsible for escorting and treating General Zuma.”
Bai Qi had already noticed the young man in civilian clothes. Hearing Major Hu Qiang’s introduction, he was taken aback. This pretty-boy is the Lieutenant Colonel Xu Ze that the general told me to protect carefully—and to follow his orders if necessary?
Surprised as he was, military discipline prevailed. Despite his inner defiance, he promptly saluted. “Lieutenant Colonel, sir!”
Catching the flicker of dismissiveness in the other man’s eyes, Xu Ze didn’t take it to heart. He was used to that kind of reaction by now. He nodded, returned the salute, and said with a smile, “Captain Bai, no need to be so formal. We’ll be counting on you for this escort mission.”
“Rest assured, Lieutenant Colonel—we will do everything in our power to ensure the safe arrival of General Zuma and yourself,” Bai Qi replied. Seeing that Xu Ze spoke with genuine sincerity, without any trace of the arrogant, superior attitude often seen in young officers who rise fast, Bai Qi felt somewhat relieved. He’d been worried that this young man might throw his weight around and interfere with operations—that would have been a real headache.
Once the formal introductions were done, Major Hu Qiang smiled and said, “Lieutenant Colonel, you don’t need to worry too much. After we arrive in Gangjin, we’ll switch to a helicopter to enter Lima. It won’t take long before General Zuma’s troops come to meet us—so the danger shouldn’t be too great.”
Xu Ze nodded slowly, but his expression remained serious. “This mission is of the utmost importance—we can’t afford to be careless. We must proceed with caution. We absolutely cannot let the nation down.”
“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!” both men replied in unison.
“This is Captain Zhao Jun, our mission’s medical officer.” As Hu Qiang introduced him, a young officer in a white lab coat looked at Xu Ze with undisguised admiration, saluted, and said, “Good day, Lieutenant Colonel. I’m currently responsible for monitoring and treating General Zuma’s condition. Please give me your orders at any time.”
The medical officer appeared to be twenty-eight or twenty-nine—also quite young—but Xu Ze didn’t underestimate him. Anyone selected for this mission as a medical officer was certainly no slouch.
Xu Ze returned the salute and said with a smile, “Captain, your duties on this mission aren’t too heavy—just apply the medication to General Zuma every eight hours. But don’t let your guard down.”
“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel…”
At that moment, the cabin door closed, and the pilot’s voice came over the intercom: “The plane is about to take off. Please prepare yourselves.”
