11 Finding a Way Out

"You're awake? You scared the hell out of me!" the young woman said, patting her chest. She looked as if she was at her wits' end, but she did not realize that her little gesture was drawing Qin Hao's attention.

He was a hot-blooded young man, who was attracted to women. Besides, women were rare in the army, so continuously staring at such a hot young woman was not helping.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Qin Hao asked. As much as he appreciated the beauty in front of his eyes, he was even more concerned about how he was going to survive on the battlefield.

"I am Lucia, a medic from the 4th Medical Battalion. It appears that we are near Isis Beach, in the 4th theater. What's your name?" Lucia looked at him with her big round eyes. She seemed unsuspicious. It was a battle between humans and insectoids, so of course, she did not have to worry about bumping into a human enemy; humans were a friendly party as far as the battle was concerned.

"Qin Hao, 106th Mechanized Infantry Division. Do you have something to eat?" He could not help but ask because he was starving. Just then, footsteps came from the outside.

"Is that chap still alive, Lucia?" A female voice was heard. It was not as pleasant as Lucia's voice. This voice was full of austerity.

"Not just alive but awake too!" Lucia replied loudly and excitedly while she spread her hands out to signal at Qin Hao that there was nothing to eat.

"As if we don't have enough trouble! Now we have one more person to worry about!" the young woman mumbled outside the cave. Qin Hao's hearing had seemingly grown sharper thanks to the brain of that golden horned beetle; he could hear every single word that the woman said.

Soon, a young woman entered the cave. She appeared smart with her short hair and masculine attire. Had she not spoken, he would have thought that she was a man—a more refined man.

When Qin Hao saw this young woman, he could not help but respect her because she was wearing a very neat, lightweight infantry body armor produced by Eric's Arsenal.

Such armor on powered exoskeletons were made out of Z5 superalloy armor plates and other equipment. They could protect the wearer from not only infantry fire but also heat, the cold, and toxic gas.

This armor was expensive and usually a standard-issue gear for special forces, something that a private like Qin Hao could only dream of.

Hence, when he saw the girl wearing the armor, he was envious and reverent. Not everyone could become a special forces soldier, let alone a girl.

"Can the chap walk, Lucia?" the special forces soldier asked. Her tone clearly showed her displeasure in having to bring along an injured soldier with her. He was a burden and would only reduce their chances of escaping the territory that was controlled by insectoids.

"Let me ask him." Lucia gave the special forces woman a smile, then turned to Qin Hao. "Can you walk?"

"I'm okay. It's just a minor injury. It won't affect my mobility," Qin Hao replied. Lucia had a natural charm and an ability to make people at ease. It was hard to say no to her.

"He's all right, Nicole. He can walk!" Lucia looked back over her shoulder at the young woman from the special forces.

"I heard that." Nicole rolled her eyes. She could hear what Qin Hao said because he was right in front of her.

Lucia smiled in embarrassment.

Nicole fiddled with the body cam on her shoulder and looked at Qin Hao with more resentment.

"What the hell is an army cook doing here?" Nicole frowned. She was a lieutenant, and apparently, she had the authority to question Qin Hao's identity as well as his performance on the battlefield.

"The entire company went out to provide coordinates for the bombers, and it turned out…" Qin Hao did not pause. By then, Nicole had learned of what happened from his body cam. With the exception of Qin Hao, the entire 2nd Company had been wiped out.

Nicole sighed. She still saw Qin Hao as a burden, but discovering the death of their comrades in the entire company saddened her. So, she could not bring herself to leave Qin Hao behind.

"We can't stay here. Those bugs are going to find us. We need to leave now!" Nicole said after some thought.

Qin Hao nodded in agreement. He had some combat experience, but this young woman was a special forces soldier. He thought it better to respect her.

Meanwhile, Lucia was only a medic, and she had no opinions on the matter.

The three of them left the cave where they had been hiding and entered the dense tropical forest.

Insectoids were the rulers of this planet, but they did not possess so-called modern technology. Therefore, the planet's environment was perfectly preserved. The forest near the shore was as dense as it could get, and this provided a perfect cover for the three of them.

Nicole led the way while Qin Hao and Lucia followed her closely behind. Maneuvering through the thick forest was not easy. Lucky for Lucia, she was wearing a powered exoskeleton, so keeping up with Nicole's pace was not much of a problem.

However, the same could not be said about Qin Hao. His exoskeleton had broken during the aerial bomb explosion. He could only rely on his physical strength to trudge through the dense vegetation of the forest now.

While they were moving, Qin Hao had a little chat with Lucia in a low voice. He learned how the two young women got there and how they found him.

Apparently, Lucia's medical squadron was responsible for treating the wounded from the battle on Isis beach. Nicole was the pilot and escort of Lucia's medical squadron. Unfortunately, they were shot down by a plasma worm, and they crashed near the corpse of the behemoth.

When their aircraft crashed, the behemoth along with other giant beetles in the vicinity had long been killed by the aerial bombing. As a result, when the two young women clambered out of the wreckage, there were no bugs around.

The two of them had planned on heading to the human bastion at High Ground Z3. However, the bugs had cut off the route, and they were forced to move around the bugs. It was during this detour that they found Qin Hao.

Lucia gave Qin Hao some first aid before they moved him into the cave. Then, the two of them went out to scout for a safe passage. They never thought that he would survive. Saving him was only for the sake of giving him a more proper burial.

Yet, Qin Hao got really lucky; he survived the aerial bombing.