Steel steam and flame

There was no trace of snow at all, but some of the surface leaves underfoot were a little dry.

After getting off the airship, everyone became somewhat familiar with each other. This place is still within the defense range around the volcano base. There are hidden communication inspection equipment not far away, buried in shallow soil, or installed in the trunks of ancient trees. You only need to send people every once in a while. Just check and replace the electrical devices regularly.

At this time, only the communications soldier in the team was busy, and he was responsible for receiving and feedbacking information from the team throughout the process. From time to time, No. 1, as the captain, would go over and enter the combination password, indicating that he had passed through a large level of inspection scope. As the distance traveled and distance increased, the number of inspection equipment hidden in the dense forest also decreased rapidly. Cassia, as a charge type soldier this time, has been serving as a defender on the left side of the team. The team cannot disperse and is still within the large area of ​​the volcano base. This is probably because everyone is not too nervous yet. During this period of time, it is also the only time when you can relax your mind and body.

The situation of the team can be roughly observed. As Cassia moved forward, he secretly observed and recorded the progress of these veterans. The sharpness of the eyes can extract some subtle features of the human body. This is something that the veteran soldiers have become accustomed to. It is reasonable to call it an experience that has allowed them to live to this day.

After getting off the airship, we were still quite far away from our destination. It was estimated that if we rested once or twice before marching, we would arrive there around 2 p.m.

Midway, news came that other teams had reached their destination, but Cassia's captain didn't look very anxious at all, and the forward speed was maintained unhurriedly, and the others had nothing to say.

It’s said to be a veteran, but in the sense of referring to experience. The average age is probably around twenty-six, and their physical fitness and endurance are mostly at their peak. Arriving at the mountain at the end of the field of vision at 1 p.m., the captain ordered a major rest and adjustment, and began to mentally transform himself here. Soon he would leave the inspection range of the volcano base and enter the real danger. place, in every sense of the word.

A group of people began to look in the mirror and paint their faces with camouflage of similar colors. I ate food here for the first time, which was brought from the airship. I don’t know how long the mission will last. From now on, the high-energy substances in the backpack need to be included in the plan. Dig a hole and bury the wrapping paper on the spot. The dense forest in the valley continued to expand on both sides, adding a gentle upward slope. Cassia felt that they were tracing back to the source of the thirsty river in the valley.

The atmosphere in the team began to become serious, and Cassia felt like this, not being particularly cautious, but more natural.

The speed of advancement has not changed much, but compared with before, the concealment and team combination have become more stable. Everyone in the team was like a can, and it was rare to say a word after getting off the airship. However, as experienced veterans, everyone unconsciously formed an efficient team. The hound is last with the handler and has the quietest voice.

The captain chose to let the team disperse. After wandering around the destination and observing no dangerous movements, he issued a coded signal to notify the gathering. The secret codes are common bird sounds in the mountains. They are specially recorded by the volcano base with a gramophone in the mountains and forests, and then let the soldiers learn. There are seventeen types in total. The team can arrange a sequence by itself, which is difficult to be broken by the enemy.

Cassia hid behind a big tree at the scene of the incident, alert to the surrounding movements. There is still a little undecomposed liquid on the ground behind him. It is the mucus left after the corpse has been dissolved. It has a very light smell. The skeleton was all bagged and shipped away yesterday, but photos were taken and were seen on the document Doyle gave him.

Because it is an ancient forest and is located not far from the border of the Republic of China, which has a hot climate all year round, the temperature here is also considered mild. It gets drier in winter, and thick, yellow moss clings to the bark of the ancient trees in circles. The bare stems of vines are also randomly intertwined between the trunks of these ancient trees. Pine trees without deciduous leaves account for most of the tree species in the dense forest, and the light is definitely not sufficient.

The document stated that the shell casing was found several hundred meters away. Now based on the actual situation, Cassia has ruled out the possibility of being an ordinary elite sniper. It would be okay if there were only one or two people killed, but for the twenty-man patrol, their formation was not even completely dispersed, and they were all dead. This can no longer be explained by coincidence.

The captain seemed to have noticed this, and was now standing at the position where each member of the patrol died, looking towards the dense forest in front of him, where the bullet casings were found in the report. He wanted to find out the specific position of the guy using the blunderbuss, and roughly simulate in his mind the specific appearance and state of the enemy when shooting.

The trainer led the three hounds all over the ground to collect scent memories and walked around several times. There were good results. All members of the team could see that the hounds were very excited. The trainer also said later that this was the correct reaction, indicating that there was indeed a lingering smell of sensitivity here.

Finally, the captain took out a sealed glass bottle from his backpack, which contained the same cigarette butts that Cassia had picked up. There is only one here, and the small number of it has been divided equally among several search teams.

There is also a green liquid in the glass bottle, which is used to filter out excess interfering odors and enhance the target taste. After giving it to the three hounds to smell, they began to open their mouths and then circled.

"There is this smell in the smell. The man who smokes should be among them." The trainer's tone was very soft, but everyone could hear it clearly. "They can make sounds, but the training direction is different. In this quiet dense forest It is definitely not a normal phenomenon to hear a dog barking in the mountains. In the mountains, the echoes are usually more frequent, so this kind of hound is also trained in the base." The trainer then explained. Because some people in the team looked at him with doubts, the hounds or military dogs they usually saw were mostly different from these three.

Finally, based on the direction in which the hounds wanted to pursue, and judging the general terrain composition in that direction through the map, the captain ordered some final adjustments to be made on the spot. Taking advantage of this opportunity and time, Cassia, like the captain just now, stood at the position where the patrol members died and looked into the dense forest in front of him.