Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

The helicopter circled above the valley once, then descended, barely touching the treetops. The cabin door slid open, and the humid, hot air rushed in like a wall, instantly swallowing up the remaining coolness from the air conditioning in the cabin.

Li Mo was the first to jump off the gangway, his combat boots splashing into the pebbles on the riverbank. The bandage on his right arm had been sealed with waterproof tape by Wen Yan, its outline faintly bulging under the sleeve of his training uniform.

Lu Xiao jumped down and the first thing he did after landing was to look up at the sky—the rainforest canopy sliced ​​the sky into pieces, and sunlight pierced through the gaps, casting dappled patterns of light on the ground.

The air was filled with the scents of decaying leaves, damp soil, and a cloyingly sweet floral fragrance.

"Welcome to hell." He grinned and dragged the equipment box off the helicopter.

Xie Ran was the third to jump down. The moment his combat boots touched the ground, he cursed, "Damn it, what kind of place is this?! My boots are already wet, and my socks are soaked before I even got warm! This is even more disgusting than the desert. At least the desert is dry; here, you can wring water out of the air!"

"Save your breath, you'll need it later." Shen Zhuo jumped down from behind him, his red hair standing out against the gray-green rainforest background. He took a deep breath of the humid air, then coughed twice, choked by a rotten sweet smell. "Damn, this smell—it's like someone dumped a whole pot of swill that's been fermenting for three days into the forest."

Wen Yan was the last to disembark from the helicopter, the straps of his medical kit leaving two crisscross marks on his chest. After he steadied himself, he pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and the lenses immediately fogged up.

He took off his glasses and wiped them with the corner of his shirt, his tone calm: "The humidity in the rainforest is over 90%, and the perceived temperature is close to 40 degrees Celsius. If you don't want to get heatstroke, everyone should drink at least 500 milliliters of water every hour from now on."

"Dr. Wen, you're talking like you're giving a weather forecast." Lu Xiao had already drawn his cleaver, the back of the blade flashing in the sunlight.

"This isn't a weather forecast, this is your obituary announcement. Dehydration plus heatstroke can take down a strong man in less than four hours in the rainforest." Wen Yan put her glasses back on, patted her medical kit, and said, "I brought rehydration salts, but that doesn't mean you can just mess around."

Li Mo didn't join their bickering. He squatted on the riverbank, spread the waterproof map on his knees, and drew a line north along the valley with his finger: "The factory is due north, five kilometers away as the crow flies. Walking five kilometers in the rainforest takes about the same amount of time as walking twenty kilometers on flat ground. The estimated arrival time is two hours. Lu Xiao will lead the way, Xie Ran will bring up the rear, Shen Zhuo will go ahead to scout, Wen Yan will be in the middle, and I'll be at the back of the group."

"Where's Brother Huai'an?" Shen Zhuo looked around.

"Xie Huai'an will stay in the rear communications vehicle, while Bai Ye and Xuan Xiao will stand by at the high ground observation post." Li Mo didn't even look up. "The three of them are responsible for remote support and intelligence synchronization. They should be in position at the observation post by now."

---

Five kilometers away from the valley, on a high ground partially surrounded by weathered rock walls.

Xie Huai'an had already set up a portable communication station—a military-grade encrypted satellite terminal, three folding displays, and a small generator. All the cables were neatly secured with cable ties of different colors, creating a miniature command center amidst the pile of rocks.

Bai Ye sat on a flat rock, an observation scope set up in front of him. His headphones were already on, and for the time being, only the white noise of electricity filled the channel. He lowered his head, his fingers fine-tuning the focus knob on the observation scope, his movements slow but each adjustment precise.

Xuanxiao squatted down next to him, idly tossing a handful of pebbles onto the ground. His headphones hung askew around his neck, and his expression could be summed up in four words—I'm very dissatisfied.

"Why can't we go? We're in Group A too, and our training results aren't bad. Why should we just watch from the sidelines?" He threw a pebble, which hit the rock wall, bounced back, and rolled to Bai Ye's feet. "Isn't that right? You can read satellite images, I can fight and run, what makes us worse than them?"

Bai Ye looked up from behind the observation mirror and glanced at him.

It was just a look. No words, no expression, not even a frown. But that look contained roughly three meanings: First, you failed the rainforest survival training; second, this is the captain's order; third, can you shut up?

Xuan Xiao opened his mouth, threw away the remaining pebbles in his hand, and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender: "Fine, fine, I won't say anything more. You don't need to look at me like that every time—I'm telling you, that kind of look is going to shorten someone's lifespan."

Bai Ye withdrew his gaze and looked back at the observation mirror.

---

On the north bank of the valley, deep in the rainforest.

Lu Xiao walked at the head of the group, his machete slicing through the vines and branches blocking the way with a steady and efficient rhythm. A flash of light, and finger-thick vines were cleanly severed, milky white sap seeping from the cuts.

His movements appeared relaxed and casual, but each strike was precise to the centimeter level—just enough to cut through obstacles in his path, and just enough to avoid damaging any poisonous insect nests that might be hidden in the branches and leaves.

"The vice-captain's knife skills are amazing," Shen Zhuo said to Xie Ran in a low voice from the middle of the group. "After he retires, he could open a coconut-cutting stall. One cut per coconut, and the business would be booming."

"The best thing he should do after retiring is become a fitness instructor," Xie Ran said, carrying a machine gun and his combat boots making a squelching sound as he stepped into the mud. "With that mouth of his, he could talk a dead man back to life."

"You two," Lu Xiao's voice came from the front, still with that smiling tone, "say one more word and I'll whip this vine in your faces. This vine just happens to have thorns on it, and it'll make your skin itch for a week if it touches you."

Shen Zhuo and Xie Ran both shut up at the same time.

Just then, Lu Xiao's machete cleaved through a dense clump of ferns. As the blade fell, he suddenly flipped his wrist, abruptly stopping the attack in mid-air.

A snake was coiled behind the vines.

Its entire body was emerald green, only as thick as a thumb, with a triangular head slightly raised, and a scarlet tongue trembling in the air. It was less than twenty centimeters from Lu Xiao's hand holding the knife.

If you are bitten on the hand by a venomous snake in the rainforest, your entire arm will swell to twice its original size within half an hour, and tissue necrosis will begin if you do not receive antivenom within two hours.

Lu Xiao stopped. His smile didn't disappear, but his eyes changed. That smiling, harmless look instantly switched to a cold, calculating one—he was assessing the snake's attack range and his own retreat speed.

Then a flash of silver light swept past his ear.