2.8

Auray helped Qiao Chen's sopping wet body transition from the water onto the shore. Qiao Chen felt weak. The water on his body didn't make it easier for him to stand up either. Everything Auray was wearing, from his fatigues to his backpack, was waterproof. So he was completely dry except for the hair on his head.

The two men found a simple hiding place within the woods. They stopped and set up camp for the night. Dusk was quickly approaching, and it would have been too dangerous to continue forward during the night. Another reason for stopping so soon was that Qiao Chen didn't have any strength left to carry on.

In order to lighten his load so he could swim more efficiently, Qiao Chen tossed nearly everything he had on him. All he had left was what he was wearing: a set of white inner wear. Since he was still wet, the clothes stuck onto his skin. And due to the cloth being white and wet, his body and skin tone were very visible.

After Qiao Chen recovered his breath from the swimming that river, he finally noticed Auray's eyes staring. He followed Auray's gaze and realized that his appearance wouldn't have been different than if he had been buck naked.

Qiao Chen looked back up at Auray and scolded, "What are you looking at? Do you think that you can just openly take advantage of me like that, huh? Take off your clothes and give them to me."

Auray took off his jacket and handed it over to Qiao Chen, and Qiao Chen quickly grabbed it. He wanted take off his wet clothes and find a way to hang them to dry. It's way too uncomfortable to wear wet clothes. He was just about to undress when he saw Auray still staring. Qiao Chen shoved Auray's face to a different direction and snorted, "Are you still looking?"

Qiao Chen turned around and took off his wet clothes. Auray's eyes were fixed upon Qiao Chen's back. Qiao Chen was a gher, so he should have averted his eyes out of common courtesy and respect. However, something about Qiao Chen was too compelling and his eyes were glued to Qiao Chen's body.

Auray continued to stare. His eyes traced Qiao Chen's body. He started at the top and his eyes slowly move down until he reached Qiao Chen's tight waist line. He lingered for a moment before his eyes traveled further down. You can't tell that he has muscles beneath those clothes. His butt is round and with tight looking muscles too. His eyes continued even further downward. Then there's those pair of legs. Those slender, long, and thin legs. Auray endured the sudden impulse to caress Qiao Chen. He raised his view up and instead focused on Qiao Chen's back while he undressed.

Auray's jacket was long enough to reach Qiao Chen's thighs. Qiao Chen figured that it was good enough. The only problem was that he was completely bare under the jacket. All his other clothes had been tossed aside, so he had to make do.

First, he found an inconspicuous place with some lower branches. Then, he hung up his clothes to dry. Finally, he helped Auray set up the area for the two to take shelter and rest for the night. Branches and leaves from nearby trees were used to build a makeshift tent. The dirt floor was also eventually covered with thick branches and leaves as well.

Auray took out ready to eat field rations. The rations didn't taste very good, but they were packed with nutrients and calories to quickly replenish energy. By the time the two filled their stomachs, it was completely dark. They needed to wait until day broke before they could resume the mission, so they decided to go to sleep.

They were both issued a standard single sleeping bag, but Qiao Chen tossed his backpack when he swam across the river, so they were now forced to share Auray's. They were able to squeeze into the single sleeping bag, but they had to lie very close to each other. If the other person hadn't had been Auray, then Qiao Chen would have said something and wouldn't have shared the sleeping bad with them.

Qiao Chen lay on his side of the sleeping bag. Auray's chest was touching his back. Qiao Chen could feel Auray's strong masculine aura. It was faintly alluring. Qiao Chen tried to think about other things, but even though both parties were still wearing clothes, they were practically glued together. Qiao Chen couldn't focus on something else, so he was on edge. What made the situation worse was the more he tried not to think about th current situation. the more hyperaware he felt about his surroundings. The jitters started to tingle at him.

During the day, Qiao Chen had to swim across the wide river. He used up most of his physical strength and was exhausted. He wanted to just sleep and recover, so he forced himself to calm down and ignore the person behind him. However, right as he was on the cusp of slumber, he felt something hard rise up and bump him in the back. Qiao Chen's eyes shot open, and he immediately jolted awake from his sleepy state.

He turned around and angrily yelled at Auray, "I always had the impression that you were a gentlemen- someone with honor. I never would have guessed that you were just a scoundrel hiding in the shadows!"

"This is just an instinctive bodily response. It can't be controlled by the brain."Auray quickly defended.

"Who are you trying to fool? What part of the human body isn't controlled by the brain? If your brain didn't have any thoughts in the first place, then how would the body even have such a reaction?"

"I can't control what thoughts go on in my brain." Auray said in a serious tone. However, the words themselves weren't very convincing.

"You're a soldier. Don't you have even an ounce of self control?"

Auray didn't have a response. His greatest strength was his self control, so he hadn't ever needed to train in this aspect. And with the situation they were in now, it wasn't like he didn't want to control it. He was perplexed because he couldn't stop himself.

"Is it the same way with other people? You stick closely to them and then a reaction pops up?" Qiao Chen interrogated.

"No it hasn't and doesn't." Auray answered.

"So you're specifically targeting me? Then tell me why you're only doing this to me. Don't I deserve the same respect you give to other people?" Qiao Chen deliberately questioned.

"Your ass looks really good…"Auray suddenly spoke.

Qiao Chen chuckled and face-palmed. He didn't hit his forehead very strongly, but there was still a crisp sound of a slap. Finally, he said, "I honestly thought you were a serious, honorable person. I never expected you to actually be so shameless on top of being a scoundrel."

Auray didn't speak. In the darkness of the night, he just stared at Qiao Chen's face.

"Are you just going to push it on me for the rest of the night? How can I sleep like this?" Qiao Chen questioned.

Auray turned to his other side. With his back facing Qiao Chen, he stretched his hand down between his legs, and started pumping.

"Dirty pervert." Qiao Chen muttered. Then he also turned around and lie on his other side. The two had their backs facing each other.

It didn't take long before tiredness overtook Qiao Chen, so he fell asleep. Auray also fell asleep, but he didn't fall into a deep slumber and remained somewhat vigilant as a soldier.

As the night progressed, the temperature in the woods became much colder. It was so cold that Qiao Chen's body subconsciously burrowed into Auray's arms. Auray wrapped his arms around Qiao Chen and acted as a human blanket and heater.

At the crack of dawn, the two people had already tidied up and were ready to continue the journey. They moved at a rapid pace, flitting through the woods. They did occasionally stop to drink a few mouthfuls of water, but quickly continued to their destination. As night approached, the pair didn't want to stop and find a new resting spot and prolong the mission. They wanted to quickly arrive to the destination and complete the mission before taking a break, so they pressed on.

They walked for another day until noon. Qiao Chen was exhausted. His muscles were sore and he couldn't walk much more. Towards the latter half of their journey, he was basically carried by Auray until they reached their destination.

The two finally reached the outer perimeter of the fifth fleet's headquarters, and Qiao Chen fished out the required instrument from Auray's backpack. He turned it on and used it to search for the wires connected to the jamming devices. He found at least several hundred wires in a very thick tree. It was surprising to see that the fifth fleet had hollowed out tree so they could place the jammer's connector wires in it. Qiao Chen didn't even need to wonder and knew that it should have been Greene's idea.

Qiao Chen used a detector pen to find a few useful wires. Then he used a cinch clamp to cut the wires. Finally, he installed his own device into the jammer's connector wires. Qiao Chen's fingers flew across the device as he quickly worked.

Auray was stationed behind and kept his back to Qiao Chen. He kept a high degree of vigilance as he watched the surrounding area. His eyes quickly surveyed for movement in all directions while Qiao Chen worked. They were deep in the enemy territory, so Auray kept extra vigilance in case something unexpected happened.

After Qiao Chen finished the prep work, he found the wire that connected the jammer to the extension device. This line was roughly a hundred meters away and the jammer was buried in a cave. Qiao Chen notified Auray, and the two quickly head to the cave. Once they reached the cave's entrance, Qiao Chen went to work once more. He dismantled the launcher device with a few tools. Then, he pulled out the wiring from inside and connected it to his device. Qiao Chen focused on his device and began running a few more of his operations again.

When all the work was done, Qiao Chen had Auray send a message to notify headquarters that they were ready. Then, he stood on standby with Auray. When the vice captain sent the special ops team out for combat, then he would send the notification to Qiao Chen and Auray as well. Once the pair received the notification, Qiao Chen pressed the final confirmation button on his screen. Finally, he unplugged all the wires connected to his device, shut it down, and put it away. Qiao Chen was finally able to relax his aching muscles.

Auray entered the depths of the cave and inspected it for safety. He needed to check whether or not they could safely hide here until the fifth fleet's headquarters were captured.

Qiao Chen sat at the cave's entrance. Auray had been deeper in the cave for a while. Qiao Chen was kneading his sore calves when Auray suddenly exited from the inner cave.

Auray quickly walked over and said, "There's a hidden passageway inside. It's most likely the fifth fleet's escape plan."

"Really?" Qiao Chen asked. He wanted to stand up to go take a look, but his legs went soft and gave out beneath him.

Auray immediately reached out and supported Qiao Chen. Then he helped Qiao Chen walk further in. Qiao Chen investigated the secret entrance hidden under a large piece of slate. The slab was tightly connected. It was hidden really well. If it was Qiao Chen by himself, then he wouldn't necessarily have found it. He had never heard of a fleet using an underground escape route before. This should have been something that Greene thought of again. Vice Captain Canette probably wouldn't have known of such an escape route. The escape route was probably made just in case the mirror technology was cracked. Greene created this way out as a backup plan.

If the competition ended with a completely captured crew, then the fleet would be completely disgraced. If the ships and mechs were captured but the crew was able to successfully use this passageway to hide and escape, then they'd be able to survive while the headquarters was being taken. Their loss wouldn't be as bad once the combat practice officially ended. This was a loophole in the combat practice rules.

Qiao Chen laughed. He suddenly thought of a good idea. Qiao Chen beckoned Auray over, had him lean down, and whispered the idea to his ear.

The two left the cave and went back to the tree full of wires, pulled them all out, and removed the protector covers. This left the metal wire and strings for them to work with. Working together, they wove and set up a large metal net. Then, they used the net to seal the cave's entrance.

Qiao Chen pulled out a palm-sized battery capacitor. Even though the device was relatively small, it carried a lot of energy. This was something that Qiao Chen specifically prepared in case of nighttime emergencies. He never expected to use it in such an exciting way.

After everything was set up and running, Auray climbed up a thick tree. Qiao Chen was on running on empty. He couldn't even stand not to mention climbinb, so he hitched a ride by holding onto Auray's back. They hid and waited to see whether the fifth fleet would attempt to escape out through the cave or not.

Qiao Chen sat on the branch and continued to knead his legs. Auray hung his backpack off to the side, then he pulled Qiao Chen's legs over and helped massage them for him.

Qiao Chen didn't refuse and leaned against the trunk behind him. As he rested, Qiao Chen said, "Listen to the sounds. Both sides should be fighting now. If you hadn't accompanied me, then you would have been fighting with your men too. Then you would have been there after they defeated the fifth fleet and helped with the capturing of the opposing side's headquarters. Don't you regret that you can't take part of the fight now?"

"There isn't only one way to fight. Right now, we are fighting too. It's the same thing, but with a different method. Besides, our mission was even more important and critical than physical combat." Auray answered earnestly.

"So boring…"Qiao Chen replied. He turned his face away, pursed his lips, and scoffed, "You're supposed to be regretful and let me be happy. How can I make fun of you now?"