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While Zhuang Sheng was muttering to himself, a tall man with a muscular build caught up from behind. The loose military uniform on his body seemed ready to tear under the strain. "Wait up, I want to form an alliance with you."

"Come on, we just need some people. What’s your name, buddy? Introduce yourself first!" Zhuang Sheng ran up enthusiastically to greet him.

"I’m Baili Tao! Let me know whatever you need, and I’ll do it." The man introduced himself.

Gu Xiaoxi looked at the military dog behind him, it was a rare breed of wolf dog, especially with its white fur that didn’t belong to any known rare type of military dog. His military dog was massive, with a build as solid and muscular as his arms, looking extremely powerful.

"Now that you’re here, be ready to fight at any moment. There are four more ahead, don’t let them ambush us. Everyone stick together and follow my orders," Gu Xiaoxi said indifferently. Clearly, she was the leader of this group of six, and her tone was very serious when she spoke to Baili Tao.

"Yes!" Baili Tao nodded heavily, without any objections to Gu Xiaoxi, since he had come to form an alliance, he naturally would listen to the team leader’s commands.

Gu Xiaoxi walked while staying alert to the enemy.

As the team moved closer to Wei Dongran, Gu Xiaoxi began to feel some pressure, not knowing how many people the opponent had. If it was as she sensed, only four left, then the situation would be easily resolved. She intended to counterattack them before they had a chance to fire their guns.

"Everyone, take cover!" Gu Xiaoxi suddenly shouted.

Her teammates all hid behind a large rock.

She quickly retreated, moving her feet swiftly to dodge bullets. At that moment, Wei Dongran, with the last four of his men, stood up from the ground, determined to snipe Gu Xiaoxi no matter what.

However, in their pursuit of Gu Xiaoxi, they had clearly overlooked her teammates.

Yun Xiao lay prone on the ground without hesitation and opened fire on Wei Dongran, while Zhuang Sheng, Guo Dong, and Huang Xin were also quick to act.

Wei Dongran suddenly roared in frustration, "This female soldier is too fast. Don’t stop, everyone aim at her, fire!"

"Bang, bang, bang...!" A series of gunshots rang out, as Gu Xiaoxi stood in the canyon, dusting off her uniform and looking up at the four people ambushing her from above.

At that moment, smoke was coming out of their heads. Wei Dongran couldn’t believe that they were ’dead’.

Gu Xiaoxi smiled triumphantly and waved at Yun Xiao and the others, "Let’s go! It’s safe now. We need to hurry through the valley, we must cross the swamp before it gets dark."

"Great!" Seeing victory, Zhuang Sheng immediately became happily boastful.

"La la la, kill, kill, kill, annihilate them completely. Following you, Gu Xiaoxi, I’ve never been surrounded again. Goddess, how old are you this year, do you have a boyfriend? How about me! ...Ah! You already have a boyfriend. How about we be siblings then! You definitely look younger than me..."

Gu Xiaoxi’s face turned black with frustration, and, unable to endure it anymore, she kicked Zhuang Sheng into the water. What an incessant talker.

Yun Xiao and Huang Xin, along with others, watched from behind and snickered.

Provoking Gu Xiaoxi to the point of irritation and yet not being beaten, he was the first.

The path through the canyon was not easy to navigate. At first, they could walk upstream along a gravel path, but later, the path disappeared, replaced by deep pools and cliffs overgrown with small trees.

"No choice, we have to go into the water! We can’t get past the cliff, and we must take this road!" Guo Qiwei said with a grave expression.

"Then let’s go! The water is so clear, perfect for a bath. Oh, the water’s a bit cold, are you ladies alright?" Zhuang Sheng looked towards Yun Xiao and Guo Dong with a grin.

Yun Xiao ignored him and turned to Gu Xiaoxi, saying, "It seems this is the only way. Fortunately, this stretch is not too long, about ten minutes’ swim."

"What are we waiting for! But take out the handkerchiefs and the boxes of explosives first, they can’t get wet!" Gu Xiaoxi reminded. Once the handkerchiefs got wet, their scent would dissipate, making it difficult to locate the hostages later.

"Right, right, right! Xiao Xi thinks of everything!" Zhuang Sheng laughed as though flowers were about to bloom on his face.

Gu Xiaoxi silently put a hand to her forehead, and then turned to everyone, "I nominate myself as the team leader, if you don’t mind! From now on, please address me as ’Team Leader’."

"Team Leader! Hey Team Leader, let’s bathe together!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Gu Xiaoxi kicked Zhuang Sheng into the water again without mercy.

Yun Xiao just looked on, smiling without a word.

Zhuang Sheng quickly scrambled out of the water, horrified. It was his second fall already; luckily, he reacted quickly enough that the handkerchief in his backpack hadn’t gotten wet.

Everyone took out their handkerchiefs, and following Zhuang Sheng’s ingenious idea, they made a small raft using leaves and branches, floated it on the water, and then placed the handkerchiefs on it. That way, they could swim across while the handkerchiefs floated along.

Gu Xiaoxi felt that this guy was somewhat useful at critical moments.

Everyone got into the water one after another, seven in a line, swimming quickly towards the opposite bank.

Gu Xiaoxi remembered the last time Yun Xiao disappeared, she was writing a report claiming she was practicing swimming.

Thinking Yun Xiao couldn’t swim, she followed her closely, only to find that Yun Xiao actually got into the water before her.

Her swimming was clearly professional, not requiring supervision at all.

This made her curious about what exactly Yun Xiao was doing when she vanished last time.

Yun Xiao saw that Gu Xiaoxi was staring at her and felt puzzled. A moment later, she understood and whispered an explanation to her, "Last time, I was practicing that!" She hid the truth because it was inconvenient to talk about it.

She went to practice her ice ability! However, because she lost control of her power at the end, she fainted by the seaside. The reason she went so far away was to avoid being discovered by others.

Gu Xiaoxi nodded, seeing that Yun Xiao was a good swimmer, she didn’t say much, "I was just worried you might not know how, but if you do, that’s even better. We have a whole day ahead of us to battle with the water."

"Yes!" Yun Xiao responded to Gu Xiaoxi with a faint smile.

Only then did Gu Xiaoxi, reassured, lead everyone towards the pebble path on the opposite side. The military dogs followed beside their owners, each of them strong swimmers. This was because swimming was an essential part of the military dogs’ training before coming here.

After reaching the opposite shore, others who were following their lead gradually caught up on the water surface.

At this moment, the people from the Supreme Command watched the pool, smiles appearing on their faces.

The highest commander, Sir General Zhao Guoqiang, asked with a chuckle, "Which division does that soldier belong to? Quick-witted, isn’t he?"

Lu Mingjun, the chief of Division T, immediately responded with a smile, "He’s from my division. This guy is naturally clever."

The highest commander stood up from in front of the large screen, turned to look at Quan Shaoqing who was playing video games on the side, and said with a smile, "Shaoqing, among the seven people who are in the front, four are from your division.

And with three female soldiers, it seems like your division is going to produce some Goddesses of War. "

Quan Shaoqing looked up and laughed softly, "I wouldn’t dare claim three, but two for sure. So you all don’t need to be jealous. Only my Division Z recruits the most female soldiers; naturally, the strong ones will stand out."

"Enough of that, your division has the best environment and is more suitable for female soldiers to survive. Our areas are more volatile and not many women can handle it, so those who enlist all run off to your division," retorted the leader of Division A.

"What impact can a group of women make? It’s like shooting the bird that leads the flock, and I bet Gu Xiaoxi won’t get across this marshland," said Zhang Fenglin of Division L, his expression cold.

Upon hearing this, Quan Shaoqing put down his phone, his gaze turned a shade colder as he looked at Zhang Fenglin, his tone casual, "Don’t say that!

My wife is the best in the world. Naturally, she should lead the way; that’s better than a bunch of men from your division who are so timid they can only follow behind a woman, not even up to par with her. "

That nonchalant, low and mellow voice, coupled with his naturally relaxed demeanor, when these words were spoken, Zhang Fenglin was livid with anger. Indeed, a group of men from his Division L were following behind and didn’t dare to show their heads.

The other generals simply smiled without speaking.

Zhao Guoqiang coughed lightly to stop their conversation and smiled at Quan Shaoqing, "Shaoqing, you just mentioned your wife! Who is she? Is she in there?"

Quan Shaoqing scanned the large screen, then tenderly fixed his gaze on the little figure on the screen, smiling, "Of course, the one in front. Sir General, first place is hers without a doubt!"

"She is indeed impressive, possessing a real sense of leadership and strong combat skills.

The way she dodged those bullets was fluid, her inner strength must be significant," commented Zhao Guoqiang with a chuckle. His impression of Gu Xiaoxi was quite profound. However, he couldn’t yet comment on how far she would get.

After all, the road ahead would be even more dangerous, presenting a significant challenge for a girl.

"Sir General, perhaps you haven’t heard! Our top hero, Chen Zimo, was knocked to the ground by her kick, unable to get up. It wouldn’t be surprising if she took first place," said the leader of Division K with a touch of sourness in his voice.

Quan Shaoqing shrugged nonchalantly and chuckled, "If Zimo is beaten, he’s beaten. Underestimating the enemy is the biggest mistake. I can’t save him."

Show off! The others looked at Quan Shaoqing speechlessly. Taking a mere soldier as a wife, he didn’t seem concerned about losing face, rather, he treasured her like a gem!

"Alright, keep watching! I’m leaving to check on what kind of trouble Zimo got into. My wife definitely didn’t mean to hurt him," said Quan Shaoqing as he picked up his phone and left the monitoring room. His figure exuded a sense of leisure, clearly not worried that Gu Xiaoxi might be eliminated.

"Sir General, you need to manage that guy. He’s getting more and more arrogant!" Zhang Fenglin said angrily as he watched Quan Shaoqing’s receding figure.

However, Zhao Guoqiang just smiled and said teasingly, "Sounds like sour grapes to me. Few of your subordinates are promising, and you’re envious here for nothing. Use that time to train your troops better and make more contributions in competitions and battles."

Zhang Fenglin wanted to speak ill of Quan Shaoqing, but instead, he got taught a lesson and felt very uncomfortable internally.

...

Gu Xiaoxi led the group ashore, looking around.

At that moment, Xiao Xiao and all the military dogs present started barking madly, then raced towards a pool not far away.

Gu Xiaoxi’s senses immediately went on alert, sure that they had either found explosives or hostages. Given the scale of the military dogs’ agitation, it appeared that these military dogs were quite formidable.