The next day, major media outlets around the world began extensively covering the dramatic reversal of the Lima war. The supposedly missing dictator, General Zuma, had suddenly appeared among his troops and launched a counteroffensive against the rebel forces. Under the attack of the now-highly-motivated government army, the Lion Dragon Army fled in disarray, and General Zuma once again stabilized the situation and retook control of the government…
Somewhere in the United States, in a luxurious office within a famous building, General Flinn sat with a deeply gloomy expression, staring at the intelligence report just delivered to him. He suddenly slammed the folder onto his desk and roared in fury, “Damn it… what kind of lame excuse is this? Two F-16s against a bunch of black guys with no heavy firepower whatsoever—not only did they fail, but they got themselves shot down too… and they’re claiming they were taken out by the enemy’s sniper rifles!”
“Are our fighter jets really that fragile? Sure, they’re not F-22s, but back in the day, it was these very planes that made us invincible during the Gulf War…” General Flinn fumed angrily. “Lima, which was practically within our grasp, was lost because of such an absurd reason… My God—if those two pilots were still alive, I’d have them shot without a doubt…”
In stark contrast to General Flinn’s fury, the culprit behind it all, Xu Ze, was enjoying a most leisurely time. Although General Zuma was recovering well and only needed two more days of IV drips, he still insisted on Xu Ze staying in Lima for a couple more days to take in the sights.
So, Xu Ze, along with the Wolf Fang team members and Hu Qiang, Zhao Jun, and the rest of the group—thirteen people in total—set off on an African safari, guided by a special escort arranged by General Zuma.
Though small-scale skirmishes were still ongoing in Lima, the government army, now brimming with morale, had pushed the Lion Dragon Army back to their strongholds. Most areas of Lima had returned to their former peace.
To ensure they could return quickly if needed, General Zuma dispatched a transport helicopter to take Xu Ze and his party to a safe area in the interior of Lima for sightseeing.
On the first day, the group toured the vast African savannah. After circling overhead in the helicopter for a while and marveling at the stunning scenery, they found it wasn’t enough and asked to go down for a closer look.
Their host, Jida, naturally accommodated every request from these distinguished guests. Soon, several jeeps appeared on the grasslands, and the group hopped in for an exhilarating safari.
Though the Wolf Fang team had plenty of overseas experience, most of their missions were classified. Even when they were abroad, they rarely had time for leisure. Today, however, they were completely relaxed. Though they carried their weapons and gear, their mood was utterly carefree.
Bai Qi sat in the jeep, his usually stern face softened with a relaxed smile as he looked at Xu Ze. “Major… this time, we really have you to thank. If it weren’t for you, we’d never have had such an easy opportunity…”
“Haha… I’m pretty lucky too. To be honest, this is my first time abroad! When I first started college, I had a dream—to make a lot of money and, once I’d saved enough, travel the world…” Xu Ze’s face was also brimming with excitement as he chuckled. “Back then, I thought my first stop would be the vast and wondrous Africa. Who’d have thought that in less than four years, I’d already be standing on this incredible continent…”
“Less than four years…” Bai Qi looked at Xu Ze with surprise, then hesitantly asked, “Major… you’re not really just twenty-three or twenty-four, are you?”
Seeing the astonished looks on Bai Qi’s face, as well as Hu Qiang’s and even Jida’s, Xu Ze just smiled and shook his head, letting out a soft sigh. “To be precise… I’m twenty-one.”
“Twenty-one?” Everyone drew in a sharp breath. Though they could tell Xu Ze was young, they’d assumed he just looked younger than his age—after all, a field-grade officer had to be at least twenty-five, if not older. They never imagined he was only twenty-one…
Hu Qiang, sitting nearby, stared at Xu Ze with a mix of amazement and envy. He was already in his thirties and had only made it to the rank of major. And here was this kid, barely twenty-one, already a lieutenant colonel—and after this mission, with such significant contributions, he’d likely be promoted at least one more rank to colonel…
“Some people are just impossible to compare with…” Hu Qiang sighed softly, then looked at Xu Ze hesitantly. “Um, Major… may I ask which military academy you graduated from?”
“Military academy?” Xu Ze chuckled again. There was no need to hide his school background from these men who had been through fire and rain together. He said casually, “I didn’t go to a military academy. I’m still a senior at Xingcheng University’s School of Clinical Medicine…”
As the words left his mouth, both Hu Qiang and Bai Qi froze, staring blankly at Xu Ze for a long moment before coming back to their senses…
The two exchanged a glance but asked nothing more. Hu Qiang and Bai Qi understood very well—a twenty-one-year-old senior in college, not even from a military school, now holding the rank of lieutenant colonel… there were certainly some circumstances behind that which were beyond their place to inquire about. It might even involve classified matters, and it wasn’t something they could pry into.
Xu Ze was a bit surprised they didn’t ask further. In his mind, none of this was particularly secret. But since they weren’t asking, he didn’t bring it up again and simply relaxed, taking in the wondrous scenery of the savannah.
Watching massive herds of wildebeests and wild horses thunder past in the distance, kicking up enormous clouds of dust, while a few lions chased after them—a scene absolutely impossible to see back home—Xu Ze couldn’t help but marvel. He thought to himself, “If Lima really stabilizes in a couple of years, bringing Mom and Dad here for a vacation would be a fantastic idea…”
The group spent the whole day touring the savannah, and as night began to fall, at Xu Ze’s request, Jida led them to set up tents on the edge of the grassland and light a campfire, planning to experience a true night on the prairie.
By the campfire in the dark, Jida and two local guides skillfully dressed a few antelopes the Wolf Fang team had caught, brushed them with oil, and roasted them over the fire, turning them slowly while sprinkling on some spices.
With Jida’s practiced hands, the antelopes quickly turned a golden brown, releasing a rich, mouthwatering aroma that made Xu Ze and the Wolf Fang soldiers swallow hard…
The two other local guides accompanying them also hauled several bottles of fine liquor from the jeeps, filled everyone’s cups, and began carving the meat.
Biting into the enticing, golden-brown antelope leg and sipping the sweet, fine wine, Xu Ze couldn’t help but feel deeply moved. This trip to Africa was truly worthwhile—back home, there was no way to experience such exotic charm.
After eating and drinking to their hearts’ content, everyone split up into their tents to sleep, while the four local guides took turns keeping watch outside…
The savannah was rich with spiritual energy, and Xu Ze didn’t sleep either. He continued his energy circulation training. Over the past period of intense practice, his energy cycle had made significant progress—he had now reached the stage of thirty-two cycles, not far from the thirty-six cycles required to advance to Level Four…
Xu Ze estimated that with enough dedication, he could smoothly advance to Level Four within six months—it wasn’t an insurmountable challenge.
Level Four was a watershed. Reaching it would truly grant him the title of Medical Officer. If this were in the future, he would qualify as a mid-level combat medic for extraterrestrial operations…
As his energy circulation gradually spun up, the surrounding energy particles rushed toward Xu Ze, flowing into his Ren and Du meridians, filling his energy clusters, and converting into pure energy to strengthen his power.
Minute by minute, as the energy cluster in Xu Ze’s Ren and Du meridians spun faster and faster, the surrounding energy particles grew denser, surging wildly into his body. But as the energy cluster expanded, the pace of his circulation gradually slowed, and fine beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.
Yet Xu Ze didn’t slacken at all—he continued pushing the cluster with all his might. As he went all out, the energy fluctuations around him grew more and more intense. In the virtual space, Xiao Dao watched the energy accumulation indicator rise steadily and nodded approvingly. Xu Ze’s progress was accelerating—it seemed his promotion to Level Four Combat Medic truly wasn’t far off…
At that very moment, as the energy waves around Xu Ze grew stronger, a strange flash of light suddenly flickered atop a perilous peak deep in the mountains several kilometers away… The light vanished in an instant, but a faint wave of energy radiated outward…
As that energy wave spread, in several primitive tribes nestled among the mountains, a few elders with deeply wrinkled faces suddenly snapped their eyes open…
They scrambled quickly from their beds, rushed outside, and knelt facing the direction of the mountaintop…
Raising their hands high, they prostrated themselves and shouted loudly in their native tongue, their faces a mix of shock and joy…
At their cries, the entire tribe was awakened. Crowds of black villagers poured out of their thatched huts, and seeing their tribal prophet frantically worshipping the sacred mountain, their expressions shifted dramatically. They fell to their knees behind the elders, imitating their gestures and devoting themselves to fervent worship…
Back in the virtual space, Xiao Dao had also detected the faint, spreading energy waves… Instantly, a look of sheer terror crossed his face, and the entire system began operating at full automatic capacity…
The Galaxy Microcore started spinning at unprecedented speed. Xiao Dao stared in horror at the stream of unknown symbols flashing across the holographic screen before him, muttering under his breath: “What is this… what is this… how is this possible? How is this possible?”
“This should… might be… some kind of special signal emitted by a civilization of an extremely high level… Why can’t I decode it? How is that possible? I possess technology far beyond this era… Why can’t I read the information within? Why?”
“This should be the Earth’s origin from the future era… but why is there information here that I can’t read, can’t even crack? Could my calculations be wrong? Is this not the Earth’s origin as I imagined? Or is this truly another similar four-dimensional space, not the one I originally came from?”
Xiao Dao’s eyes were filled with sheer terror… As he fired off a string of “whys,” the Galaxy Microcore’s operations only grew faster and faster…
As the Microcore’s speed accelerated, the previously 90%-plus energy accumulation indicator in the virtual space began plummeting…
“93%… 91%… 88%… 82%… 75%… 56%…”
Xu Ze, fully absorbed in his energy circulation training, was completely unaware of all this—until the energy accumulation indicator dropped to 15%, and the system’s automatic alert finally blared a warning…
Startled by the sudden alarm in his mind, Xu Ze snapped out of his training…
“What’s happening? What’s happening?” Hearing that familiar siren, Xu Ze’s eyes flew open inside his tent. Beads of sweat erupted all over his body. He hadn’t felt this nervous in years—ever since he met Xiao Dao, he’d never been this terrified…
Because now, aside from the increasingly urgent alarm, he was getting no response from Xiao Dao whatsoever…
If the energy were completely depleted and Xiao Dao fell into hibernation, the alarm wouldn’t still be sounding. But now the alarm was growing more intense, apparently warning that energy was about to drop to a dangerous threshold…
At this point, Xiao Dao should still be active, not asleep—so why wasn’t he responding? Why wasn’t he answering?
Before he started training yesterday, the system energy had been nearly 80%. And he’d been constantly cultivating, accumulating energy—so why had the energy alarm suddenly gone off?
“Why is this happening? What’s going on?” Xu Ze felt his entire body begin to tremble…
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Xu Ze grew more and more frantic. He closed his eyes, trying to enter the virtual space, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get in…
“Something’s happened… something must have happened to Xiao Dao…” In a panic, Xu Ze scrambled up from the ground and began shouting desperately, hoarsely, almost neurotically, hoping for a response from Xiao Dao: “Xiao Dao… Xiao Dao… what’s wrong? Answer me… answer me…”
