Huang Quan's original Type 92 was not suitable for his current handgun, so he could only keep it at his waist, and it looked rather out of place. Seeing this, Chen Ye frowned. She reached for her bag and rummaged through it. Finally, she found the yellow leather holster that she had been issued with.
The leather holster and three magazines were handed to Huang Quan. When Huang Quan received it, Chen Ye said two words, "Be careful." After that, she did not look at him again.
By the time Huang Quan stepped onto the boat that Lu Xiaobu was on, Zhang Xiaoqiang had already boarded the first larger pedal boat towards the Lake Island.
The Lake Island was just a general name. It did not refer to a specific island, but rather, all the islands were called the Lake Island. After all, Zhang Xiaoqiang and the rest were not locals, and they did not know the names of the islands.
After the apocalypse, the lake rippled with blue waves. Without pollution and waste water, the water in the lake was as pure and translucent as a snowy mountain stream. In the clear lake water, one could see black backs passing by the bottom of the boat from time to time. That was the fish swimming in the lake.
The scattered islands in the lake were of various sizes. Be it the large or the small islands, they were all covered in reeds. Other than the reeds, there were also thick green plants growing on the surface of the water. These plants looked as dense as water hyacinths. From afar, one would really think that they were water hyacinths. However, when one got closer, one would realize that these plants were very different from water hyacinths.
The leaves of water hyacinths grew above the surface of the water as they needed more sunlight. Other than a few leaves that were exposed, most of the leaves were buried under the water. Zhang Xiaoqiang was curious when he saw these things that he had never seen before. He reached out to pluck one out and recognized its true identity.
This thing was called a water caltrop. It usually grew in the south, and it was a common snack there. It was usually cooked and sold on the streets. Zhang Xiaoqiang had eaten quite a number of them, but this was the first time he saw it. It was no wonder he could not recognize it.
The fleet slowly searched the lake. The islands in the middle of the lake varied in size. Zhang Xiaoqiang and the rest naturally would not waste time searching the small islands. Their targets were the bigger islands that could hide people.
Not all the big islands were hiding people. Zhang Xiaoqiang had searched three big islands consecutively and found nothing. At this time, Lu Xiaobu was a little uncomfortable. It was because of his report that he had mobilized so many people to search. If he really found nothing, he would be embarrassed.
Compared to Lu Xiao Bu's worries, Zhang Xiao Qiang did not take it to heart. To him, these islands were good places to seek refuge. Each island had an abundance of wild herbs, and there were schools of fish and prawns in the shallow waters. These fish and prawns were no longer the same as before the apocalypse, with the largest being an inch, and the smallest being the size of a peanut. Now, the smallest fish and prawns were as long as a finger, and the smallest was nowhere to be seen.
The waves on the lake rippled, and the reeds on the side of the islands moved with the wind. The fleet leisurely cruised on the water. At this moment, almost everyone was relaxed and immersed in the beautiful scenery of the lake.
Among the team members who gradually relaxed, there were two people who were different. One was the absent-minded Lu Xiaobu. The number of unsearched islands was decreasing, and he was beginning to despair. If there were no results, he did not know how to face Zhang Xiaoqiang's anger. Although Zhang Xiaoqiang rarely got angry and was very kind to others, Lu Xiaobu did not think that way. Didn't he almost kill Huang Quan and break Chen Ye's leg in the end?
The other was Huang Quan. Huang Quan was constantly on guard. He wanted to prove himself, so he had to put in a lot more effort than the others. The others were immersed in this rare moment of peace, either laughing loudly or humming softly. It was as if they were not going on a mission, but simply on a boat on the lake.
There were four people on Lu Xiaobu's boat. Other than Lu Xiaobu and Huang Quan, the other two were the old team members who followed Lu Xiaobu yesterday. They did not think much of Huang Quan's vigilance, and at the same time, they thought Huang Quan's vigilance was due to Huang Quan's cowardice. They did not say anything, because Lu Xiaobu respected Huang Quan very much, and they would only look down on him in their hearts.
Just as everyone was relaxing, Huang Quan noticed something amiss. In the distance, there were waves spreading out on the surface of the water. Not long after, the surface of the water returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
Huang Quan's heart tightened slightly. He knew that he was definitely not mistaken. He had been on guard all this time, and any movement would definitely not escape his eyes.
Time passed slowly, and Yomi, who was staring at the surface of the water, no longer saw the strange ripples. Just as he was about to stretch his neck to loosen his stiff neck, the seemingly calm lake changed.
A whirlpool suddenly appeared on the calm surface of the lake. The whirlpool was very large, more than a meter wide. Behind the large whirlpool, more small whirlpools formed. This large whirlpool was not seen by anyone other than Huang Quan. Even if someone saw it, they would probably think that there was a school of fish there.
Huang Quan was very conflicted. He did not know if he should send out a warning signal. If it was just a false alarm, he would never be able to clear his name as a coward. Unbeknownst to Huang Quan, while he was conflicted, Zhang Xiaoqiang was also looking around with a serious expression. Zhang Xiaoqiang did not see any waves, nor did he see any whirlpools. He only felt uneasy in his heart.
Zhang Xiaoqiang did not believe in luck, nor did he believe in the sixth or seventh sense. However, he knew that whenever he felt uneasy, trouble might be right beside him. He did not know where the trouble was this time. Was it in the sky, under the water, or on the islands? He wanted to find it, but he did not know where to start.
After looking around and seeing that everything was normal, Zhang Xiaoqiang was about to order all the boats to gather together to land on the nearest island when he heard the sound of rifle fire coming from behind him. This sudden gunshot caused the rest of the team to panic. They all grabbed their rifles, pulled the bolt, and aimed in the direction of the gunshot.
The one who fired was Huang Quan. He was the only one who could react in time. Just as he was hesitating whether or not to let Lu Xiaobu know, there was a new change on the surface of the lake. An even larger whirlpool swallowed all the small whirlpools, and a line of water suddenly appeared on the surface of the lake and swooped toward the fleet.
The line of water was not wide, but it was like a sharp sword that sliced the calm surface of the lake in half. At the same time, the line of water was moving at an extremely fast speed. It was so fast that people would think that it was a torpedo that had been launched underwater.
Huang Quan did not know what it was, but he knew that it was charging at the small boat beside him at an extremely fast speed. The members on the small boat did not know that something was approaching them.
The speed of the thing was too fast, so fast that Huang Quan did not have the time to warn them. The only thing he could do was to pull the trigger and fire the Type-95 rifle at the front of the line of water.
Yomi's firing speed was very fast, and the unknown creature in the water was swimming very fast. The team members' reaction speed was not slow either. Although they appeared to be relatively relaxed, they were, after all, trained in bloody battlefields. The first thing they did was to grab the rifles in their hands, pull the bolt, and take aim in unison.
The members were prepared to take aim in just a few seconds, but they did not know where the target was. The bullets from the Type-95 rifle in Huang Quan's hands scattered into the water, creating countless small waves. Other than the flames from Huang Quan's gun and the waves on the surface of the lake, they could not see anything. Not seeing the target made them hesitate.