Chapter Seven: Hotpot

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Get all the fuel out of the vehicles outside. Also, tell the mess squad to prepare two big hot pots, self-heating military rations, and fruit. Quick, quick, quick! Wang Jing will be back soon!” Seeing that Wang Jing was about to return for fuel, Song Guohua, who was in charge of command, immediately shouted orders to the surrounding soldiers.

The entire camp sprang into action once again. A swarm of soldiers, carrying fuel barrels, rushed to the trucks parked outside the camp. Without worrying about losses, they drew their knives and punctured the fuel tanks, catching the diesel below in barrels, soon filling one after another.

Meanwhile, the mess squad carried two large iron pots, gas stoves, and ingredients, running toward the center of the camp. Other soldiers returned to their tents and contributed their individual rations.

As everyone was preparing, Wang Jing suddenly appeared in the open ground at the center.

“The supplies are being prepared and will be ready soon!” Song Guohua stepped forward to inform him.

Wang Jing nodded, and immediately someone brought over a chair. Without ceremony, Wang Jing took a seat. Before long, the supplies to be prepared were piled high in the center, nearly as tall as Wang Jing himself.

Staring at the heap, Wang Jing swallowed and asked, “This is so much. Can I really carry it all over? And what are those two big pots?”

“No problem. If you can’t take it all at once, just make more trips. As for the two big pots, they’re for you to cook hot pot. Didn’t you promise that military doctor you’d bring him hot pot? This way, you can cook it right on the road—so convenient!” Song Guohua replied with a smile.

“You all really dare to dream!” Wang Jing muttered, then stepped forward, grasping the cable in one hand and hoisting a fuel barrel with the other, initiating the crossing.

The crowd, startled by Wang Jing’s sudden appearance and the mountain of supplies, quickly recovered, marveling at the wonder of the crossing while hurriedly helping to remove the barrels stacked nearly to the roof of the vehicle.

“These are all diesel. There’s more coming. Take these quickly!” Wang Jing called out as he walked toward the batteries at the back.

It took Wang Jing two crossings to bring all the supplies over.

“What’s this?” The military doctor pointed at the two large iron pots.

“This is the hot pot I promised you, and this.” Wang Jing picked up a pack of self-heating military rations and tossed it to the doctor. “This is our self-heating military ration. It tastes pretty good—you should try it.”

The military doctor looked at the green Type-01 ration in his hands and sighed, “I haven’t had shredded pork with garlic sauce in more than ten years!”

“Then make the most of it this time!” Wang Jing said, picking up a large iron pot and the other ingredients, starting to cook hot pot and distributing the self-heating rations to everyone.

Wang Jing was in charge of the hot pot, while others attended to different tasks—some sorted the extra supplies, others carried fuel barrels outside to manually refuel the all-terrain armored vehicles.

Of course, Wang Jing’s vehicle wasn’t the only one enjoying this feast; another vehicle had started up a hot pot as well.

When refueling was complete, the hot pot was nearly ready, and everyone who had some free time gathered to eat together.

Having not tasted pork or lamb in decades, everyone, including Huang Peng, abandoned all pretense and feasted heartily.

“This hot pot is amazing! It’s even better than the one I had when I was eight!” The military doctor exclaimed, cheeks bulging, his former aloofness gone.

Everyone else was equally enthusiastic—after a mouthful of fragrant pork belly, before swallowing, they stuffed a big spoonful of curry chicken fried rice or shredded pork with garlic sauce fried rice into their mouths. Smiles of happiness and satisfaction bloomed on every face.

Despite the hot pot, the convoy didn’t delay their journey, continuing to head toward Hangzhou No. 1 Underground City for refueling. After all, the diesel in the barrels wouldn’t last the all-terrain armored vehicles very far; they still needed special diesel from the supply station.

After finishing the hot pot, the convoy arrived at Hangzhou No. 1 Underground City and replenished their fuel.

They distributed the extra self-heating rations to the garrison soldiers before speeding toward the Taizhou Aerospace Launch Center.

As soon as Liu Peiqiang and Makarov entered the control room, MOSS began announcing the disciplinary decision, “Lieutenant Colonel Liu Peiqiang, Lieutenant Colonel Makarov, your actions have severely violated Article 5, Clause 24 of the Wandering Earth Act. All your permissions are hereby frozen.”

“Please wait patiently for the arrival of security personnel. In the meantime, hold onto fixed objects around you. The Navigator Space Station is about to turn at full speed!”

Hearing this, Liu Peiqiang and Lieutenant Colonel Makarov, not even having time to remove their space suits, clung tightly to anything that could anchor them.

The next moment, all roller-maneuvering devices on the Navigator Space Station began to fire, and the entire station slowly turned toward Earth. The acceleration from the turn flung everyone inside in one direction.

The whole station groaned and creaked, a sound that made the heart tremble. However, the process didn’t last long before deceleration began, continuing until the station came to a complete stop.

Immediately after, the main engines of the Navigator Space Station restarted, making the station tremble slightly and the control room spin up again.

The artificial gravity pulled Liu Peiqiang and Makarov back to the floor. Liu Peiqiang sighed, taking off his extravehicular suit while saying to Makarov, “If Earth really is saved, then we’ll end up facing a military tribunal.”

“But I actually hope for that. At least it means Liu Qi will survive.” Liu Peiqiang wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and smiled.

“Liu, don’t be sad. Even if we’re sent to the tribunal, we won’t be sentenced for many years. Just think of it as extra work on the station—go home a bit later. And with your excellent record, I’m sure the judge will be lenient with you.” Makarov comforted him.

Just then, the inner hatch of the control room swung open, and four security personnel crawled in. “Lieutenant Colonel Liu Peiqiang, Lieutenant Colonel Makarov, please cooperate,” said one, who knew Liu Peiqiang and spoke with regret.

“Tell Liu Qi that his father is sorry!” Liu Peiqiang said, stretching out his hands to receive the electronic cuffs.

Makarov did the same and, as the security officer fastened the cuffs, declared passionately, “Tell my dear Sasha that for the sake of humanity’s great cause, I’ll be working a little longer on the space station.”

With their hands cuffed, Liu Peiqiang and Makarov were placed in forced hibernation as required, awaiting the end of this crisis to return to Earth with the next cargo ship.