Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 129 - 125: Yaning

Chapter 129: Chapter 125: Yaning

Cheng Ziang didn’t join them either, instead he carefully observed every move of the little girl from a distance. He was quite certain that her apparent dullness wasn’t due to the grief of losing loved ones, but seemed like a manifestation of some intellectual impairment caused by a concussion, as she seems to have lost some of her memory and intelligence.

He disliked this little girl because of her, Tangmo made a move against Luo’er for the first time. Everyone knew what it meant. Considering that Tangmo was arguably the most fond of Luo’er within the team, her readiness to fall out with Luo’er had induced Cheng Ziang to develop aversion towards the sudden appearance of this little girl.

Currently, Tangmo was intentionally distancing herself from Luo’er. Although no one openly spoke of it, anyone could perceive that her attitude towards Luo’er was no longer the same as before. Cheng Ziang felt as if he was back to the time half a year ago when their team was newly formed and was on the brink of internal fissure. Back then, Luo’er had pacified the situation by taking the initiative to give in. Now, what measures could he take to address this messy situation?

Looking at Luo’er, Cheng Ziang noticed his expressionless face as he watched people gather around the little girl, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Cheng Ziang felt frustrated. Luo’er was clearly the highest commander of the team, but he was reluctant to admit that he was the captain. Whenever disagreements emerged with Tangmo, he was quicker to back down than anyone else.

It was well-known that Tangmo had no knack for command and management. Letting her mess around would only lead the entire team into jeopardy. What, on earth, was Luo’er being so stubborn for?

Of all interpersonal relationships, Cheng Ziang found it hardest to understand the relationship between Luo’er and Tangmo. Even though they seemed to be a couple, it was actually a one-sided love on Tangmo’s part till now; they appeared to be siblings, but their intimacy was ambiguously intense; and even though Tangmo was supposed to be the captain, she always let Luo’er make the decisions.

Perhaps Luo’er never took this relationship seriously. From the academy to here, his goal had never wavered: to find his mother. Cheng Ziang felt that until Luo’er found his mother, Tangmo could hardly expect any commitment from him.

Slapping his own head, Cheng Ziang was surprised that he had started to gossip. He gave a glance at the people around the little girl, felt exasperated, and turned to walk towards the cave exit.

"Where are you going?" Hu Daoke called out without lifting his head.

"To get some air!" Cheng Ziang responded coldly.

"Great, you can stand guard for Yue’er. You won’t mind the cold anyway." Hu Daoke said while amusing the little girl with Baiyue, not wishing to be disrupted at this moment.

Cheng Ziang didn’t reply and left with a cold huff.

Hu Daoke gently blew at the stew before feeding it to the little girl. Her large eyes watched his every move as she opened her mouth to drink the stew. Watching her eat, Hu Daoke, a rough and tough man, revealed a fatherly smile.

Baiyue felt at a loss when facing this strange little girl. Opening her hands, she didn’t know how to bond with her and just silently watched Hu Daoke feeding her. In her indecision, she turned her head only to see the melancholic expression of Luo’er sitting opposite her. Hesitating a bit, she stealthily poked Hu Daoke from behind.

Her poke hit Hu Daoke’s kidney, taking the wind out of him. He looked back in confusion, and Baiyue secretly pointed at Luo’er, implying him to do something. After catching his breath, Hu Daoke nodded and continued feeding the girl.

"By the way, Sister Moumou, what’s the girl’s name?" Hu Daoke asked, glancing at Tangmo as he continued feeding.

"I don’t know," Tangmo lowered her head, responding in a depressed tone, "she hasn’t spoken a word since I’ve asked her. I guess she must be terrified."

"Looking at her, I suspect that she might not even remember her own name." Hu Daoke hesitantly voiced out his conjecture.

"Maybe..." Tangmo murmured in a low voice, holding the girl closer with an even heavier heart.

"What if we give her a name for now? We can’t always just call her ’hey you’," Hu Daoke tentatively suggested.

Cradling the girl, Tangmo lowered her head and took a long time before slowly replying, "Hmm."

"If we’re choosing a name, I think..." Hu Daoke began, his eyes darting around before he continued with a knowing look, "we should let Luo’er do it. He is the most educated amongst us after all!"

Tangmo looked up at him with a glare. He was purposely bringing up the conflict between them. Out of guilt, Hu Daoke gave her a sheepish grin, managing to avoid blowing his cover.

Everyone knew that Luo’er wasn’t the most educated in the team, Baiyue sitting next to Hu Daoke was the true genius scholar. But she seemed to be backing Hu Daoke at this point, silently agreeing without uttering a word.

Unable to figure out his intentions, all Tangmo could do was give him a stern glare before lowering her head once more. After a long sigh, she agreed by default.

Seeing his plan work out, Hu Daoke excitedly turned and said to Luo’er, "Luo’er, hurry up and name her!"

"Hmm, you guys can decide that on your own." Luo’er was taken aback before softly refusing.

"If you leave it to us, I’m just gonna name her ’Tigergirl’!" Hu Daoke threatened, winking at Luo’er.

Luo’er knew what they wanted to do. He took a long, weary sigh before finally replying after a moment of deep thought, "Let’s name her Yaning, echoing the wish for everlasting peace and tranquility in Masya, free from strife."

"Yaning, what a great name!" Hu Daoke gave him a thumbs-up. He wasn’t exaggerating; he genuinely thought Luo’er had chosen a good name.

"Yaning..." Tangmo muttered the name under her breath, then gave Luo’er a resentful look, before quickly averting her gaze. Despite her annoyance with Luo’er, she had to admit that the name he chose was indeed quite good.

"Hey, kiddo, from today on, your name is Yaning. If you remember your own name, we can change it back, alright?" Hu Daoke squatted down, telling this to the little girl in a gentle tone.

Yaning looked at him with her wide innocent eyes, showing no particular emotions. After Hu Daoke finished feeding her, she stuck her fingers in her mouth and started sucking on them.

"She won’t remember in such a short time." Tangmo pulled the girl’s fingers out of her mouth, then cleaned the saliva on her hand.

Hu Daoke looked at Tangmo, then at Luo’er, realizing that his interference hadn’t helped them communicate with each other. After suggesting the name, Luo’er resumed his contemplative state, hugging his gun, which made Hu Daoke feel like his goodwill was being taken for granted.

He couldn’t help but sigh, then turned to Baiyue, his opened hands signalling he was incapable of doing anything about the situation.

Baiyue gave him a disinterested glance. After thinking for a moment, she walked towards Luo’er and sat down next to him, wrapping her arm around his. Her hope was to see Tangmo’s reaction, as any girl being too close to Luo’er would usually incite Tangmo’s protective instincts, getting him back no matter what.

However, this strategy clearly didn’t work right now. Tangmo lifted her eyelids to glance at them, then lowered her head again, showing not even the slightest reaction. This truly shocked Hu Daoke.

Watching these two messing around, Luo’er himself seemed helpless. He stood up, freeing himself from Baiyue’s hold, then said, "The fire is about to go out. I’m going to collect some firewood outside."

With that, he walked out of the cave with his gun without looking back. Baiyue turned her blank gaze on Hu Daoke, who in response shrugged helplessly, his face showing a hint of gloating at her predicament.

Even Hu Daoke realized that the tension between the two was unlikely to ease quickly. He didn’t see a need to go overboard in attempting to reconcile them. He knew Tangmo. Despite her stubborn facade, she was actually quite soft-hearted. Given some time, if Luo’er took the initiative to have a conversation, they would probably reconcile.

However, the situation now seemed to be that Luo’er was not inclined to reconcile with Tangmo. Otherwise, considering his personality, how could he allow Tangmo to continue being cold to him? He guessed that their disagreement over this matter was preventing Luo’er from taking the first step.

When Luo’er left the cave, he took a deep breath of the dry, chilly air, feeling a flicker of regret. Not far away, Cheng Ziang was leaning against a tree, yawning. He made a faint hum when he noticed Luo’er approaching.

Luo’er said nothing, silently moving to stand behind Cheng Ziang. They stood together for a long time before Cheng Ziang finally broke the silence. "Are you planning on reconciling with her?" he asked.

"No rush!" replied Luo’er briefly.

Cheng Ziang turned to look at him, asking, "From the beginning, you never really thought about mending things with Moumou, did you?"

"Hm!" Luo’er nodded without hesitation.

"You, this guy..." Cheng Ziang realised that Luo’er was the most frustrating person he knew.

"I’ve been thinking... why would they be willing to use artillery to try to kill us," Luo’er said, staring at him with a serious look, "all five bases?"

Cheng Ziang turned his head, pondering for a moment. "Perhaps, for them, losing five bases doesn’t mean anything," he said after a while.

"If that’s the case, why would Masya need to buy artillery shells from the United Nations?" Luo’er voiced his doubts.

It’s worth noting that the two major issues causing turmoil in the Security Council recently are the King of Odelanqi’s request for UN peacekeeping forces, and Masya’s purchase of artillery shells from the United Nations.

It seemed like these two countries had conspired to apply at the same time, causing the United Nations to start arguing right after New Year’s Day, a debate that hadn’t stopped up to now, leaving the Security Council in a state of chaos.

In principle, Earth’s countries do not object to selling large-calibre artillery to the Otherworld. However, the problem is that the procurement source of these eighteen artillery pieces Masya received is completely unknown. All five Permanent Member Nations denied any knowledge of where these artillery pieces came from, which implies someone sold weapons to the Otherworld while bypassing the Security Council.

This is utterly unacceptable. If such dealings go unchecked, today they’re selling artillery, tomorrow they might start selling missiles. Even if Earth’s missiles cannot be used in the Otherworld, if they manage to unravel the technology, the damage to Earth could be unthinkable.