I put you in charge of those rebellious female soldiers, how come they all became top special forces

Chen Zheng looked at An Ran, his gaze softening slightly.

"Remember, this time, you're in charge."

The latter bit her lip and remained silent.

She knew that this was Chen Zheng's trust in her, and also a responsibility she had to shoulder.

Night was falling.

Anran stood by the window, looking at the river in the distance.

One by one, the lights on the White Pagoda came on.

The river was dark, but the boat was dazzlingly white.

Du Kun stood by the upper railing and slowly raised his wine glass towards the shore.

Holden didn't laugh.

The man in the suit turned around, as if he knew where they were from a great distance.

……

Before dawn, a hand-drawn sketch had already been laid out in the prefabricated house of the lumberyard.

Anran squatted by the table, holding a half-pencil in her hand, and drew the route one by one, following the white pagoda, the dock, and the reeds downstream.

Ah Kun leaned against the door, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his eyelids twitching as he listened.

Chen Zheng sat by the window, a thermos on his lap, and didn't say anything, just watched An Ran explain the plan.

"The operation will proceed along two lines."

"Mingxian, go to the dock."

An Ran picked up her pen and pointed to the supply port.

"The White Tower needs to be replenished with supplies every day, including alcohol, ice, and diesel fuel."

"You infiltrate the local supplier group, get close to the supply point, and distract the guards on deck for me."

Upon hearing this, Ah Kun couldn't help but smack his lips.

"It sounds like he's risking his life."

"It's all about risking your life."

An Ran didn't look up, and drew a small hole on the bottom of the boat. "I'll go through the hidden route. Go into the water from the reeds downstream, feel my way along the hull, and crawl into the bottom compartment through the maintenance passage."

"You're creating chaos up there, giving me a blind spot."

"When I go into the storage room, I only look at the labels, I don't unlock the doors, and I don't touch anything unnecessary."

"Take what you can, and return what you can't take."

Ah Kun slowly leaned closer and took a look.

"What if I go in and get pinned to the ground?"

"Buy time."

"How far will it drag on?"

"Drag it out until they want to hit you, but don't want to fire."

Ah Kun's lips twitched upon hearing this.

"Miss Lin, your request is a bit too much."

An Ran skipped the meeting and continued speaking.

She even included details like how to get to the ramp outside the dock, where the ice truck would stop, and where the diesel drums were piled up.

She spoke quickly and in short sentences, but Ye spoke very clearly.

This included considering where to observe, where to detour, and where to use crowds for cover.

It's almost exactly like the quest guide in the game.

Ah Kun initially wanted to make a few jokes, but as he listened, his expression gradually turned serious.

After An Ran finished speaking, she looked up at Chen Zheng.

"Once the overt operations are withdrawn, the covert operations will have at most forty minutes."

"If I don't reply within forty minutes, you'd better leave immediately."

The moment the words left his mouth, the lid of the thermos clicked softly.

Ding.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone in the prefab house looked over.

An Ran paused for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening.

"We're still missing a retreat signal."

As she spoke, she took a pen and made a mark on the edge of the dock.

"If you get exposed, don't try to hold on, just kick over the third barrel of diesel."

"If I were to retreat ahead of schedule, I would strike the iron plate under the boat three times, once with a short blow and once with a long blow."

"If you hear this, leave immediately. Don't look back."

Chen Zheng hummed in agreement and continued to rest.

Anran put away her pencil, stood up, and casually rolled up the drawing paper.

Ah Kun pursed his lips twice, then couldn't help but sigh again.

"I used to think I was a seasoned veteran on the border, but after meeting you all, I realized that I'm still as naive as a baby."

"almost."

……

Before setting off, Ah Kun went to the back room to change his clothes.

He took off the floral shirt he usually wore when meeting guests and put on an old gray vest, over which he wore a dirty jacket.

His trousers were rolled up to his calves, and he wore a pair of yellow rubber shoes.

After this change, the person really does look similar to those local peddlers at the dock.

An Ran was packing up her duct tape and knife when she caught a glimpse of them and paused for a moment.

Ah Kun pulled a crumpled photo out of his pocket and looked at it for two seconds.

The photo is a bit old; the main subjects are two people, one older and one younger.

An Ran didn't look at it much, and just asked a question casually.

Is anyone else at home?

Ah Kun immediately stuffed the photo back in and laughed.

"I have a daughter who is in junior high school in Kunming."

"His grades weren't great, just like mine."

After a moment of silence, An Ran spoke again.

"Then you better not die today."

Ah Kun was taken aback at first, then burst out laughing.

"Miss Lin, don't worry, I'm incredibly resilient. Even the King of Hell finds me too talkative and won't take me."

After he finished speaking, he winked at Chen Zheng.

"Boss Chen, say something to give me courage."

Chen Zheng couldn't help but chuckle, and got up to walk past him.

"Don't lead people astray."

"Don't die either."

Ah Kun was amused.

"Alright, with your words, I'm sure I'll get kicked a couple more times today."

The river was shrouded in thick fog in the early morning.

The white pagoda stood shrouded in mist, appearing more frightening up close than from afar.

The hull was covered in large rust spots, and the repainted areas were dark in color. Several camouflage uniforms were still hanging on the deck railing.

As an ice-delivering barge approached the dock, Ah Kun had already mingled in with several local vendors.

The moment this person entered a crowd, their entire demeanor changed.

Just a moment ago, he was an informant in the prefab house, but once he got to the dock, he changed his arrogant, thuggish demeanor with a flick of his tongue and a wave of his hand.

"Third brother, you went gambling again last night, didn't you? Your eyes are so dark."

"Stop pushing! You're melting the ice! Can you afford to pay for it?"

"Handle this barrel of wine carefully; who's responsible if it gets broken?"

Several local vendors were amused by his influence and actually squeezed him into the queue, treating him as someone's friend.

Anran lay peacefully in the reeds downstream, watching the supply team slowly approach through the fog, her heart pounding steadily.

She didn't rush to move.

The first checkpoint at the dock went smoothly, but the situation suddenly changed at the second checkpoint.

Du Kun added more people at the last minute.

Two tall foreigners stood at the pier entrance. One was in charge of rummaging through the goods, and the other was in charge of a second body search, not even sparing the ice deliveryman.

The team slowed down immediately.

Ah Kun stood in the crowd, and with a quick glance, he had already memorized most of the sentry posts and gun positions.

The situation is not as planned.

If we force our way forward at this point, both the overt and covert storylines will fail.

His eyes darted around, and his expression changed in an instant.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"

Ah Kun shoved aside the skinny, dark-skinned guy who was pressing down on the ice cart and yelled, "You can search me all you want, but don't delay my delivery!"

"Do you know how much it costs to haul this ice down from upstream?"

The foreigner couldn't understand, so the translator next to him frowned and nudged him.

"Shut up, search before you come in."

Ah Kun got even more excited and continued shouting.

"Search before you enter? You make it sound so easy."

"If the ice melts, will you pay for it?"

"If you can afford to pay, I'll kneel down for you today!"