153 - Cinderella’s Dream: Together Forever

**Chapter 153 - Translator's Note** Chen Wan had no intention of letting anyone stay. If these people were to remain, the military would undoubtedly send more. Allowing them to witness the current situation was a way to discourage the military from acting recklessly. The best outcome at present was a standoff; once the RV upgrade was complete, Chen Wan and her group would no longer have to endure such hardships. Inside a military vehicle, Sun Shaojiang pressed against the wound on his forehead to stop the bleeding, his composure shaken to the point of disarray. For a moment, he even wondered if he had imagined the whole incident. He turned to the soldiers beside him uncertainly, "Did you guys manage to see anything clearly under the headlights? Are there really fifty or sixty stone statues next to the armored vehicle in the community? And are there also statues among the wreckage of the helicopter?" "Yes, Major General, I saw them clearly. Plus, when we were heading back to the vehicle, we tripped. It was certainly orchestrated by someone watching us from the shadows, maybe using supernatural powers," a soldier corroborated. "The neighborhood was eerily quiet earlier, and it gave me the creeps too," another soldier added, visibly shaken. "Sir, when we return, perhaps you could advise the higher-ups that these people aren't of great consequence. We needn't make such a fuss over them. If needed, we could act once it's light in the morning. Advancing now wouldn't be advantageous for us; I've got a bad feeling about that place." It wasn't that soldiers lacked courage; in a world now unveiling the reality of zombies, mutated animals, and supernatural beings, many events defied scientific explanation, thus prompting heightened anxiety. Sun Shaojiang acknowledged the validity of their observations and felt a bit relieved only when he recalled the first-aid kit in the vehicle, asking a soldier to help him treat his wound. Twenty minutes later, Sun Shaojiang's group was back at the Qingji City base. He entered the building alone, ready to report the situation to their leading commander. When he had set out, he was full of confidence; now, he returned in a sorry state, dust-covered from the fall he had taken, with a wound on his head. Yang Silin’s expression was dark when Sun Shaojiang respectfully entered the office. Yang Silin hadn't expected that a simple reconnaissance mission would leave Sun Shaojiang injured. Were Chen Wan and her people really that formidable? "What happened?" Yang Silin asked, eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Report, upon arriving at the neighborhood, we found the helicopter previously sent had crashed, with all onboard soldiers turned into stone statues. The same fate was met by Yao Shaojiang’s sixty-some soldiers. It seems there’s a supernatural being among them with powers of petrification," Sun Shaojiang explained before adding, "We were ambushed by the enemy and sustained injuries." He couldn’t very well admit they stumbled on the way back; that would be too embarrassing. Yang Silin squinted at Sun Shaojiang and muttered, "So, I underestimated Chen Wan? A handful of people managed to take down Yao’s troops and three helicopters?" "I think nighttime visibility isn't ideal for an assault on Chen Wan's group. It would be better to have snipers lay in wait and strike by surprise at dawn. If needed, we can suppress them with additional firepower and send several small units to attack, which should be sufficient to capture Chen Wan and her group," Sun Shaojiang hastily suggested, fearing the commander might order an immediate confrontation. Yang Silin frowned and nodded, "Fine, take ten snipers and a fifty-man field assault team to lie in wait and seize the chance at first light." As all four supernatural beings Yao Shaojiang took had perished, along with Yao himself, Yang Silin was reluctant to risk any more. Therefore, Sun Shaojiang was not provided with additional supernatural beings, given that Sun himself was one. Sun Shaojiang, sweating nervously, had no choice but to comply, though he was relieved that their leader agreed to wait until morning for action. With his clothes drenched in cold sweat, Sun Shaojiang didn’t have time to change, only instructing the military medic to help bandage his wound once more before leading his men back toward Chen Wan's community. This time, Sun Shaojiang ordered their vehicles to stop at a distance. They strategically positioned the snipers while his small team rested inside the vehicles, preparing for the morning assault. He had brought two cases of grenades, certain that no matter what powers their foes had, this firepower would be enough to reduce them to rubble. Inside the RV, Chen Wan had long lowered all the steel plates surrounding the windows. The interior was brightly lit, but from the outside, it was pitch-dark and eerily quiet. Chen Wan brought a large watermelon from the sunroom, slicing a small portion for Ye Lan and the others, and took the rest downstairs for everyone to enjoy, especially the little one who had rendered significant service. The little one, her cheeks bulged with watermelon, wore traces of juice at her mouth, far from the dependable figure she had just been. After filling up on watermelon, Chen Wan set her down to walk around, ensuring the little one wouldn’t be uncomfortable during sleep. Zai Zai wandered for a couple of circles before stopping suddenly and announcing, "Mommy, the bad guys are back." "Which direction?" Chen Wan quickly picked up Zai Zai and asked. Zai Zai pondered, unable to specify, realizing the bad guys weren't coming from just one direction but from all around. Struggling to articulate, she hurriedly sketched a circle with her small hands, indicating, "They're everywhere." Hearing this, Chen Wan's heart sank. The military was evidently pulling out all the stops, sending so many people. In urgent concern, she asked Zai Zai, "Sweetheart, approximately how many of them are there?" This question stumped Zai Zai; she could only count to 10 with her tiny fingers and had no grasp of larger numbers. Frustrated, Zai Zai scratched her growing hair with her little hands, saying, "Mommy, I can't count that high. I don't know how~~" Chen Wan comforted a tearful Zai Zai, saying, "It's okay, it's okay. You've been amazing, alerting everyone about the bad guys coming." Yi Yi, thinking for a bit, pulled out paper and a pen from the compression space gate and suggested to Zai Zai, "Yang Yang, if you can’t count them, could you draw them for us?" Zai Zai’s poute deepened at the daunting task; she hadn’t even learned to hold a pen properly yet. Nonetheless, she grimaced, accepted the pen and notebook Yi Yi handed her, laid it on the floor, and knelt down, her tiny bottom sticking into the air while she sighed over the task ahead. Unable to hold the pen properly in her right hand, she gripped it in her little fist, thinking about the numbers of enemies in all directions as she made her first mark on the paper. With a great deal of effort, she mapped out small circles around her in correspondence to the numbers in each direction. As she marked the spots directly in front of the RV, the density of the circles increased; Zai Zai huffed and sweated, finally exhaling deeply upon completing her last circle. Chen Wan picked up Zai Zai’s circle-saturate sketch and, suppressing a laugh, asked, "Yang Yang, what do these little circles mean?" "Each little circle is a person. The circles on the buildings are the bad guys there, and the rest of the bad guys are together, over there," Zai Zai said, pointing her chubby finger at the spot directly in front of the RV. While others struggled to decipher Zai Zai’s marked-up depiction, Chen Wan and Qin Ke exchanged knowing glances, understanding exactly what the drawing signified. The small circular formations around them indicated snipers strategically positioned on high ground from the military, while the clusters of other points were certainly aimed for a concentrated attack. Chen Wan counted the circles; there were no more than sixty. With this observation, her anxiety eased somewhat. She scooped Zai Zai into a hug, showering her with affectionate kisses, "Our baby is brilliant! You've been a huge help again. How should mommy reward you? How about, once we’re done here, mommy will reward you by letting the aunties teach you math every day. You should at least learn to count." Zai Zai’s eyes widened with delight, misunderstanding the offer as daily playtime with her aunties, and noddingly agreed excitedly, "Okay! Play math." Jiang Yanxin, overhearing Chen Wan coaxing Zai Zai, couldn’t help but chuckle. Zai Zai swayed her little legs, contemplating whether math was fun to play. Despite the silence outside, Chen Wan speculated that the military was biding their time for daylight action, but she remained cautious. Zai Zai’s simplistic map provided no exact sniper positions, but the enemy squad’s location was relatively straightforward. Chen Wan retrieved some grenades from the compression space gate and turned off the lights on the RV’s first floor. She and Qin Ke descended from the vehicle, waiting until Yi Yi closed the door and the lights turned on again before moving. They prepared for a surprise strike, eager to hinder the military's plans and buy time. If they could hold out until noon the next day, the RV would be successfully upgraded. Both Chen Wan and Qin Ke were seasoned in night operations, their movements light and stealthy as they blended seamlessly with the darkness, advancing slowly with the whisper of the wind. They stopped at a distance from the military vehicles when Chen Wan heard quiet voices ahead, though the area remained shrouded in darkness. Clearly, the military intended to stay undiscovered, employing stealth tactics for their incursion. Chen Wan tugged on Qin Ke's sleeve and produced two grenades. Understanding Chen Wan's intent, Qin Ke readied her handgun. Instead of pulling the pin, Chen Wan tossed the grenade towards the source of the voices. As it descended, Qin Ke fired a precise shot that detonated the grenade in mid-air. The explosion occurred above the military vehicles, igniting the vehicle’s front in a blaze. Taking advantage of this, Chen Wan and Qin Ke pulled the pins on several more grenades, lobbing them towards the vehicles in quick succession. With continuous "bang, bang, bang" sounds echoing, Chen Wan and Qin Ke cautiously retreated to avoid shrapnel. Their prudence paid off; the military vehicles carried boxes of explosives, and within moments, the flames spread, creating a massive explosion around the vehicles. The blast was deafening, likely heard kilometers away. Hearing the commotion, the snipers assumed Sun Shaojiang's team had engaged successfully. They activated infrared scopes and began aiming at the RV. With the sharp "crack, crack, crack" of shots, the outer layer of the RV was indeed hit by sniper bullets. Jiang Yanxin swiftly manifested Athena, and an invisible barrier appeared around the RV. Aegis Shield waved lightly, rendering the sniper bullets ineffective. All those who fired at the RV became petrified, fixed into lifeless statues, rifles still in hand. The surroundings fell into silence once more, except for the still-burning remains of the military vehicle, whose intense flames dispelled the night's gloom. Chen Wan sighed, "Is it really worth it? Why not just live peacefully? Why must they eliminate us just because we refuse to be puppets of the military?" On a chaotic R2 planet, Chen Wan felt everyone's priority should be to figure out how to survive, instead of turning against their own kind.