From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 191 - 182: Overlap

He Yue’s expression immediately turned ugly.

But he was a smart man and knew the situation was not in his favor. He couldn’t afford a direct confrontation with Ye Junhan. So, he opened his personal terminal and displayed a set of orders in front of him. "Mr. Ye, we are also acting under orders."

’He had an official, red-headed document from the base. As long as the military and the base authorities haven’t completely fallen out, Ye Junhan probably wouldn’t dare make a move in public... right?’

He Yue’s heart settled slightly. He glanced over at Gu Xi and said meaningfully, "After all, Miss Gu’s safety is of the utmost importance."

Ye Junhan gave him a cool glance but said nothing.

Instead, Zhao Qingxiao, who was standing to the side, leaned in for a look and said with a grin, "What a coincidence. Our Special Service Team is also acting under orders. I’m sure Mr. He understands, doesn’t he?"

’We can’t win in a fight...’ He Yue glanced at the gun muzzles still pointed at him. How could he dare not to understand?

He could only raise a hand and gesture for his men to step aside, clearing the path.

Ye Junhan stroked his scabbard, then walked over to stand before Gu Xi.

He lowered his gaze to the young woman before him, a steady, bright hint of a smile hidden in his seemingly cold eyes. "Long time no see."

Gu Xi looked up at Ye Junhan’s face. It was as handsome and indifferent as ever, yet ’has something changed?’

She blinked. Perhaps the sunlight was too dazzling, because her vision blurred for a moment. The man’s face gradually overlapped with the face of the boy from her memory all those years ago, the one who always used to stuff candy into her hands.

Gu Xi suddenly recalled what he had said to her when they last parted—he’d said, "No matter the outcome, I will tell you."

At the time, she thought she had understood, but she really hadn’t.

Not until Li Ming told her who Ye Junhan really was; not until blurred images began to surface in her mind...

They both suffered from the side effects of cryosleep. If she could gradually recover some memories, then naturally, so could he.

Gu Xi thought, ’Perhaps by then, Ye Junhan had already remembered who he was, and also knew... who she was.’

’He still remembered the little girl he’d secretly held and given candy to all those years ago.’

This realization made Gu Xi feel just a tiny bit better.

And so, she tilted her head up slightly and said to the man before her, "Long time no see."

To the side, Qi Xiang turned her head to look at one, then the other. "?"

’Why does this feel... a little off?’

’Isn’t this atmosphere a bit...’ Qi Xiang tugged on Wei Heng’s sleeve.

Wei Heng took a step forward.

As brothers-in-arms for many years, he naturally understood Ye Junhan better than Qi Xiang did.

The two men met each other’s gaze, and Wei Heng gave Ye Junhan a slight nod.

Ye Junhan turned, opened the door of his vehicle, and looked up at Gu Xi.

Gu Xi, carrying her empty suitcase, got right into the car.

Just as Qi Xiang was about to follow, Ye Junhan closed the door, walked right past her, and got into the front passenger seat.

Qi Xiang: "..."

Qi Xiang watched the SUV drive away from her. She held it in, and held it in, but finally couldn’t take it anymore. She turned and grabbed Wei Heng, demanding, "Hey, are you just going to stand there and watch him take Gu Xi away?"

Wei Heng lowered his eyes and stared at the young lady’s hand for a moment before expressionlessly prying it off and smoothing out his wrinkled sleeve.

Qi Xiang: "..."

’What kind of teammates are these? This is impossible.’

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ye Junhan glanced in the rearview mirror, his gaze unexpectedly meeting Gu Xi’s.

He then shifted his gaze to the road ahead and tapped on the window. "The temporary station in the YY7749 area is about 200 kilometers from here."

And according to the latest cleanup plan established by the joint cleanup task force, Gu Xi’s team had to complete the investigation and cleanup of the YY7749 area before they could advance toward City A.

The YY7749 area was deep in mountainous territory with complex terrain, dense wild vegetation, and a vast expanse. ’Who knew how many mutant plants on the verge of turning malignant were hidden inside?’

Investigating it all would clearly take more than a day or two.

But they were running out of time.

Fortunately, Gu Xi’s team had over twenty ability users. With the addition of the people he brought, they should still make it in time if they cooperated well.

’The only fear... is that people won’t cooperate.’

Ye Junhan narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the heavy armored SUVs to the side. His tapping on the window paused for a fraction of a second, and a deep purple electric current, shimmering with a dazzling arc of light, flashed at his fingertip before vanishing.

Gu Xi glanced up at him, her gaze finally landing on the crowd outside the car.

He Yue was directing the men he’d brought to help the accompanying researchers move their luggage and equipment onto the Guard Team’s vehicles. As for the group of ability users...

They seemed very wary of the Special Service Team. Although they didn’t want to be "escorted separately" into the vehicles, a glance at Ye Junhan’s hand resting on the window frame, crackling with faint arcs of electricity, kept them from saying a word. In the end, they could only obediently follow a few Special Service Team members into the pickup trucks.

It was... rather humiliating.

Soon, the convoy set off, with a drone controlled by Yang Liu taking off first.

’It had to scout the road ahead.’

After the apocalypse, the old expressways, national highways, and provincial roads had long been ravaged beyond recognition by wildly overgrown plants. Even the topography and landforms had undergone massive changes.

With few satellites still operational, drones had become the best available tool.

The YY7749 area was said to have been a small city before the apocalypse, with tourism as its pillar industry, the highest forest coverage in the country, and a resident population of one million. As for now...

Gu Xi looked out the window. Besides the mutant plants covering the mountains and plains, not even a single ruined wall could be seen. It was as if human civilization had never existed...

This world was scarred and broken, yet so full of vibrant life.

Gu Xi lowered her head and fiddled with the small green sprout on her fingertip.

At some point, the convoy ahead suddenly slowed down.

He Yue’s heavy armored vehicle caught up from behind and pulled up next to Ye Junhan’s car. "Mr. Ye, Miss Gu’s mission area is just ahead. What do you think...?"

The YY7749 area was extremely vast. If they wanted to screen every single plant here, it was only a matter of time before the team had to split up.

The order He Yue had received was to stay by Gu Xi’s side at all times. Of course, the ability users who had schemed their way into Gu Xi’s team probably had the same idea.

Originally, He Yue had thought this mission wouldn’t be too difficult to complete. After all, he had brought a fully armed team, and they even had their own people inside Gu Xi’s ability user team.

But who would have thought that Ye Junhan would show up with his Special Service Team and cut in halfway?

No, not even halfway. They came to "snatch the person" the moment the plane landed.

’No wonder the military agreed so readily before...’

Thinking of his mission, He Yue couldn’t resist pushing forward to test the waters.

Ye Junhan glanced up at him coolly and tapped his walkie-talkie.

"Stop the cars."

At two in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day, Ye Junhan had everyone get out of the vehicles.

After getting out, the group of ability users stood in twos and threes under the shade of the trees. Their eyes met, all of them knowing that the main event of the trip was next—forming groups.

Although they were all part of the same team and would be conducting a grid search without straying too far from one another, there were still certain positions worth fighting for.

For example, the spots to the left and right of Miss Gu...

Of course, if one couldn’t get assigned to her side, then who to team up with next was also a matter requiring careful consideration.

After all, everyone standing here today knew full well that they were all serving different masters... So whether it was forming alliances or dividing and conquering, these dozen-plus people could be arranged into N different combinations.

Of course, the higher-ups had already made contingency plans for some of these matters before they set out.

But plans can’t keep up with changes. Who could have predicted the Special Service Team would suddenly show up and stick their oar in?

As for now, it was naturally time for everyone to rely on their own abilities.