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

The next morning, the wind on the base's helipad was so cold it felt like a knife scraping against your cheek.

Before dawn, only a sliver of gray light peeked through the eastern mountain range. The remaining snow on the runway had been frozen into a thin layer of ice by the night wind, crunching underfoot. The helicopter had already started up, the wind whipped up by the rotors sending snowflakes flying everywhere.

Bai Ye stood by the tarmac, wearing a training uniform jacket that was clearly two sizes too big.

His complexion was much better than when his fever subsided last night, but his lips were still a little pale from illness. Standing next to Li Mo, he looked like a kitten that had been forcibly dragged out of its den and wrapped up like a dumpling.

Li Mo looked down at him, her brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito.

He crossed his arms over his chest and remained silent for a while before speaking, his voice lower than usual: "You should stay at the base. Your fever only broke last night, and your temperature only returned to normal this morning. Wen Yan said there's a possibility of it recurring. The training missions for the special forces won't be easy, and you won't be of much help if you go. It's better to stay at the base and let Wen Yan observe you for another two days."

Bai Ye remained silent.

He simply looked up at Li Mo, quietly, without making a fuss, arguing, or debating.

Li Mo looked away. Then she looked back. She looked away. Then she looked back.

Finally, he closed his eyes, raised his hand and pinched his brow hard, letting out a sigh from deep within his chest that contained too many meanings.

He pulled Bai Ye's collar up a little higher, rolled up the cuffs to expose Bai Ye's fingers, then took off his own gray scarf and wrapped it around Bai Ye's neck, tucking the ends of the scarf into the collar of his coat. After doing this, he stepped back and looked around, then took a spare winter hat from the equipment box, put it on Bai Ye's head, and pulled it down to cover his ears.

Bai Ye was completely wrapped up, with only a small face showing.

"If it catches fire again halfway through, tell me immediately. Don't try to tough it out. If I say we're withdrawing, then we're withdrawing."

Bai Ye nodded, and the brim of his winter hat swayed twice.

Xuan Xiao stood to the side, his face still bearing the dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night taking care of Bai Ye, but he was more energetic than anyone else.

Lu Xiao witnessed the entire process of when he begged Li Mo for mercy and how he threw a tantrum, saying he wanted to stay with Bai Ye. Afterwards, he commented, "Xiao Zai has reached an unprecedented level in terms of making a fool of himself."

In short, Li Mo agreed—but on the condition that Xuan Xiao could only watch from the sidelines with Bai Ye and could not participate in the formal training.

"Let's go." Li Mo turned and walked towards the helicopter, glancing at Xuan Xiao as she passed by. Xuan Xiao immediately stood at attention, his expression switching to an extremely sincere and obedient one.

The helicopter door closed, and the roar of the engine filled the entire cabin.

Shen Zhuo sat near the cabin door, popping sunflower seeds into his mouth. Lu Xiao sat opposite him, a special forces briefing spread out on his lap. Li Mo sat in the co-pilot's seat, while Xuan Xiao had taken up the innermost window seat with his backpack. Bai Ye was pulled to sit by the window by him, a military blanket that Xuan Xiao had somehow found covering his lap.

"Alright, let's get down to business before we arrive." Lu Xiao turned to the first page of the data briefing and cleared his throat. The idle chatter in the cabin stopped, with only the roar of the propellers continuing in the background.

"This time, we're sending a newly formed special operations team of twelve, which belongs to the regular army. Their superiors have cooperated with Pokong before and know our capabilities, so they asked us to conduct short-term intensive training for them. There are three instructors in total—Old Li is in charge of overall and tactical command, I am in charge of sniping and shooting training, and Shen Zhuo is in charge of infiltration and close combat."

"Xuanxiao and Baiye, you two aren't official instructors. Your role will primarily be observation. You can watch, learn, and participate in basic training as arranged, but you can't act alone, interfere with formal instruction, or get into conflicts with the other trainees. Special forces have many rules, so be careful when dealing with people from their base. If you don't understand anything, ask us first. Don't act on your own, understand?"

"Understood." Xuan Xiao replied readily. He had only begged and pleaded to come so that he could accompany Bai Ye; he was already grateful to be able to go, so he wasn't picky.

Bai Ye nodded. His head was resting against the porthole, wrapped in Li Mo's scarf and winter hat, with a military blanket covering his legs. He was feeling drowsy from the warmth of the cabin.

Lu Xiao said something else—the location of the special forces base, the training schedule, the fact that the opposing commander was a retired colonel with a bad temper—but these words became indistinct background noise in his ears. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and his eyelashes cast a small shadow in the morning light streaming through the porthole.

After Shen Zhuo finished cracking the last sunflower seed, he patted the shells off his hands, turned around and saw Bai Ye leaning against the porthole with his eyes closed. He reached out to pat Bai Ye's shoulder, saying, "Little Bai, don't fall asleep! The vice-captain is talking. We'll talk when we get there—"

Before his hand could even touch Bai Ye's shoulder, Xuan Xiao slapped it away.

Xuan Xiao turned his head and glared at Shen Zhuo with an undisguised fierce look.

That look contained several layers of meaning: First, Bai Ye had a fever of over 39 degrees Celsius last night and only broke this morning; second, he needs to sleep; third, I will repeat what the deputy captain said to him when we arrive; fourth, if you dare to wake him up, I will never forgive you.

Shen Zhuo raised his hands in a gesture of surrender after being glared at.

"Alright, alright, I won't call him. Let him sleep, let him sleep. Bai Ye is a child who needs to grow, we can't disturb him." Shen Zhuo lowered his voice, his tone carrying the helplessness and teasing of someone who had been through it all, looking at a young person who was deeply in love, and moved closer to Lu Xiao.

Lu Xiao watched as Xuan Xiao took off his coat and added another layer for Bai Ye, watched as Xuan Xiao carefully moved Bai Ye's head, which was leaning against the porthole, toward him so that Bai Ye could lean on his shoulder, and watched the serious, almost devout expression on Xuan Xiao's face as he did these actions.

He didn't say anything, but the corners of his mouth curled up a little more, and then he lowered his head to continue flipping through the documents in his hand.

In his sleep, Bai Ye felt something warm approaching him and instinctively snuggled closer, burying his face in its soft warmth.

Xuan Xiao's shoulders stiffened slightly, then he slowly and carefully adjusted his posture to make Bai Ye more comfortable. He looked down at Bai Ye's profile, which was covered by a scarf and hat, with only the tip of his nose showing, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

The helicopter flew over the Gobi Desert, with a gray-blue sky visible through the porthole. December sunlight streamed through the glass, falling on Bai Ye's peacefully sleeping figure, and also on Xuan Xiao's shoulder, which dared not move.