"What's going on? How can someone so young just fall asleep like that? Wasn't she full of energy just a moment ago?"
Faced with Bai Zuo's questioning, Daniel hastily replied, "Sir, she's rather delicate, with a special constitution. But don't worry, when it really matters, she definitely won't let us down!"
Bai Zuo thought to himself that whether she'd let them down or not was just empty words at this point, not counting for much.
But when Bai Zuo saw Chloe's pale face, he involuntarily swallowed his words.
Never mind, the training was over anyway, so there was no need to keep pestering them about it.
Bai Zuo blew his whistle, telling everyone they could rest now, and then returned to his own tent.
Anderson supported Chloe's back with one hand, while using a silk handkerchief in the other to wipe the sweat from her face.
The young lady loved cleanliness and beauty. If she woke up to find herself lying disheveled in the tent, she'd probably be upset for quite some time.
After wiping her face, Anderson handed the handkerchief to someone nearby, who promptly took it to dispose of.
It wasn't clear who took it, but someone did.
During this time, students from Tagar Military Academy and official soldiers in the camp kept glancing at them, their gazes mostly curious with a hint of scrutiny.
In the past, Daniel would have certainly put on a show of preening for the crowd, but not now. Chloe was still lying on the ground, and they couldn't just let her sleep there.
Otherwise, when this young lady woke up, she'd make a fuss again.
Just as Anderson was lifting Chloe from the ground, a handsome soldier emerged from among the official military personnel not far away.
He scratched the back of his head and flashed a brilliant smile:
"Hello, the commander asked me to show you to your quarters."
After saying this, the soldier waved to the Tagar Military Academy students in the distance:
"This way, please."
The Tagar students looked at each other, then followed along.
The soldier turned and led them to tents further from the training grounds, explaining as they walked:
"Our living facilities here are quite basic, since we won't be camping here long-term. I hope you can bear with it for now."
Qin Huaibei reached out to touch the rough wooden railing beside him and said, "That's to be expected. If military school students can't endure hardship, can they even be called military school students?"
Hearing this, the soldier instinctively glanced at Chloe in Anderson's arms.
Seeing this, Qin Huaibei quickly added, "She's different. She's precious."
Not just precious, but an exceptionally strong and precious young lady.
The soldier had deeply realized this during the recent training, so he didn't give them any further trouble.
Considering that they were all still students, the military intentionally arranged for them to stay in the lowest-grade dormitory tents with large communal beds to toughen them up.
Upon entering, Anderson's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He didn't say anything, but after surveying the surroundings, he chose a secluded bunk that was relatively quieter.
The beds here were iron-framed bunk beds, divided into upper and lower levels, somewhat similar to the factory dormitories at The No.1 Military Academy when they first enrolled.
But even more rudimentary than those.
Daniel touched the rusty bed railing and said, "This isn't just basic, it's worse than where beggars live, isn't it?"
As soon as he said this, Katherine looked at him and said, "Watch your words."
Daniel spread his hands and nodded, indicating that he understood.
They were on a mission now, so it was only natural that the accommodation would be subpar.
Just think, when had they ever returned from a mission without being covered in dirt and grime?
After inspecting the bed, Anderson carefully placed Chloe on it. He reached out to feel her forehead, then covered her with a blanket.
From not far away came the grumbling of a Tagar Military Academy student:
"She really is precious."
Anderson looked in the direction of the voice, his gaze calm and undisturbed.
...
There were no other tasks that day, but soldiers came to call the military school students for sentry duty and patrol.
Two students from Tagar Military Academy went, and according to the roster, Chloe should have been the one to go from The No.1 Military Academy. But she was asleep due to her physical condition, so Qin Huaibei took her place.
It wasn't until around seven in the evening that Chloe woke up.
She stared at the tent ceiling for a while, then sat up on the upper bunk, nimbly flipped down, and patted the sleeping Daniel on the lower bunk:
"What did you all do this afternoon?"
Daniel, who had been sleeping soundly, was startled so badly by Chloe's pat that he almost lost his soul. After barely regaining his senses, he said, "We... we didn't do much, only Qin Huaibei went on sentry duty."
"Sentry duty?" Chloe sensed something else in this. "It was originally supposed to be me?"
"Oh, right," Daniel rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Do you have anything else? If not, please let me sleep. I'm really tired..."
By the end of his sentence, Daniel had fallen back into a deep sleep.
Sentry duty, standing guard?
Chloe put on her coat, casually tied up her hair, and walked out of the tent.
When she reached the main entrance of the camp, she indeed saw Qin Huaibei's figure.
Not just him, but also other students from Tagar Military Academy.
Chloe walked over and tapped Qin Huaibei on the shoulder.
Instinctively, Qin Huaibei tensed his back and turned around, raising his weapon.
Seeing it was Chloe, his expression softened a bit:
"What are you doing here?"
Chloe took the gun from his hand: "You go back and sleep. I'll take over here."
Hearing this, Qin Huaibei made an OK gesture, then took off the armband from his left shoulder and handed it to Chloe: "Here, take it. I'm going to sleep."
Chloe took it without a word and went straight to stand by the main entrance of the camp.
When it came to serious matters, Chloe was always very focused and never engaged in idle chatter.
She always had a measuring stick in her mind.
Not far away, Bai Zuo, who had witnessed the entire handover process, had a serious look in his eyes.
—She's not completely unaware after all. It seems she's not such a difficult troublemaker to manage.
As night fell, Chloe stood in place, unable to suppress a yawn. Finally, she asked the Tagar student beside her:
"How long do we have to stand guard? All night?"
Hearing her voice, the Tagar Military Academy student immediately replied:
"Not all night, just until midnight."
"We change shifts at midnight?"
The Tagar student nodded.
"I see."
Chloe looked down at her terminal and saw that it was still far from midnight. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Time always seemed to pass quickly. As Chloe lost count of how many times she had yawned, the alarm on the wrist of the Tagar Military Academy student beside her went off.
The two people next to her instantly breathed a sigh of relief, putting down their guns and flexing their wrists. They asked the still motionless Chloe:
"Aren't you leaving?"
Chloe casually brushed off the dust on her sleeve and replied nonchalantly:
"No, I already rested this afternoon. I'm on guard duty for the whole night today."
As her words fell, the two Tagar Military Academy students were momentarily taken aback, but then nodded to show they understood and returned to their tent together.
Soon, the Tagar side would likely send someone to take over the shift.
Just as Chloe was about to stretch her wrists, her senses detected something unusual.
The "soft rustling" sound in her ears was all too obvious to Chloe. Perhaps the thing itself wasn't aware, but to Chloe, it was an existence that couldn't hide at all.
Something was approaching.
