CHAPTER 1727: CHAPTER 1726: HOW ABOUT THAT? NOT SATISFIED?

Zhang Jianguo took a cigarette out of his pocket and handed it to Qin Jian: "What’s this? Weren’t you the one who didn’t smoke? How come you’re picking it up now too?"

"My thoughts are a bit scattered, I need to sort them out. A cigarette might help clear my head!" Qin Jian held the cigarette between his lips and leaned in to light it from the fire in Zhang Jianguo’s hand.

"Commander, give me one too!" Zhao Dong chimed in, asking for a cigarette.

As soon as he asked, everyone in the command unit started asking as well. Helpless, Zhang Jianguo tossed the entire pack onto the table in the command center and took Qin Jian outside with him.

The sky outside had already turned completely dark.

The autumn wind carried a biting chill, especially deep inside the dense forest—it was freezing cold.

Qin Jian and Zhang Jianguo walked to a more open area, both of them sitting down on the thick carpet of fallen leaves on the ground.

"What’s your take on this situation?" Zhang Jianguo asked.

"Based on my preliminary assessment, there’s likely a drug trafficking gang involved." Qin Jian’s analysis wasn’t unfounded. Before encountering drug dealers, such an idea wouldn’t have crossed his mind.

But ever since the incident involving Lin Qiushu, and later Lin Sheng’s escape, Qin Jian had unconsciously started leaning toward this line of thought.

"What about that guy from earlier? Why didn’t you use him to pry things open?"

"That guy didn’t strike me as one of them. Plus, he looked like a lone operator. Drug dealers don’t act solo in general! If they’re moving a bulk shipment, there has to be a support team. Besides, when we heard the voices last night saying to ’catch that guy,’ it was clear he was alone. Yet, the gunfire came from behind us."

"So you’re saying there are two groups?" The more Zhang Jianguo listened, the more complicated it sounded.

"That’s right! I suspect there are two separate groups!"

"Do they share the same objective? Break it down for us!"

"Well... that’s hard to say." With the limited clues at hand, he couldn’t piece together a complete picture. "Isn’t this more of a criminal investigator’s domain? I’m a soldier, not a cop! Logical deduction and solving cases aren’t my specialties."

"I’d say your skills aren’t bad at all! Your analysis is on point!" Zhang Jianguo chuckled lightheartedly. "Tonight, we’ll conduct another sweeping search! Let’s see if we can catch anyone."

"Alright. Commander, I’d recommend switching to live ammunition! If we do encounter them, at least we won’t be stuck on the defensive," Qin Jian advised.

"That’s doable!"

After going over the situation, Qin Jian finished his cigarette, crushed the butt under his shoe with a heavy stomp, then stood up. "Commander, let’s head back! Grab some food—we’ve been starving all day, haven’t even had breakfast."

"Alright then, let’s go! I reckon many of the warriors haven’t eaten either. Let’s eat together!" Zhang Jianguo patted the dust off his pants and stood up as well.

"If not for what happened, our command unit wouldn’t have been taken down by the Red team! Maybe by now, the brothers would be celebrating a victory feast!" Qin Jian couldn’t help but sigh wistfully.

This military drill would go down as the only exercise he had ever lost in his career.

Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but feel regret!

"What’s that? Feeling unwilling to accept it?" Zhang Jianguo shared the same sentiment. "The opposing force this time is a top-tier elite unit! Every single team involved is far from ordinary. Especially with the addition of their special forces squad—it significantly boosted their strength! If we had managed to beat them, well, that’d certainly make us look pretty glorious, wouldn’t it?"