What was it about being restless?

Being restless about living as an ordinary person.

After completing this mission, Pan Bohua would have a chance to completely leave the classified unit – this would be his last task for the organization.

Then he’d be as free as a bird, able to do whatever he wanted.

Pan Bohua had originally planned to make the most of this opportunity, to live more freely and easily afterward.

But just before completing the mission, he had to create trouble for himself.

Pan Bohua finally faced his true inner thoughts.

Life in the unit had its ups and downs, and he couldn’t let go of those days. Whether on the front lines, during training, or on secret missions, once you’re part of a classified unit, you can never truly take off that uniform!

When could it be removed?

Pan Bohua wasn’t sure.

At least he didn’t want to remove it now.

Perhaps only when his injuries left him unable to serve the country anymore… only then would he reluctantly remove his uniform and pass the opportunity to younger people.

But now, he could still move! He didn’t want to retire!

Zhou Cheng wasn’t surprised – he had already guessed this answer.

“Third Brother, welcome back.”

Zhou Cheng had never pressured him; he had to let Pan Bohua choose for himself. Fighting side by side with his brother was Zhou Cheng’s dream, but if Pan Bohua chose to truly retire and become an ordinary person, Zhou Cheng would respect that too.

Now that Third Brother Pan had come to his own decision, Zhou Cheng was delighted.

Pan Bohua craned his neck to look around, then lay back down, breathing heavily, “Cheng, we’re both straightforward men. I’ve made up my mind, so could you signal the boat that’s following us to show itself? These past two days, we’ve only eaten one raw fish – you’re not going to make me drink urine, are you…”

Zhou Cheng’s expression turned strange.

“Third Brother, you think I deliberately put us in this predicament to force you to make a choice?”

“Isn’t that the case?”

Zhou Cheng painfully shook his head, “No, I lost contact with our backup unit. They should have been waiting for us at the dock, but no one was there.”

“…!”

Pan Bohua’s eyes widened, unable to accept this answer.

After a while, realizing Zhou Cheng wasn’t joking, he cursed softly: “Son of a…!”

Seeing Zhou Cheng so calm, he assumed Zhou Cheng had everything under control and hadn’t called him out.

Now knowing the truth, Pan Bohua wanted to cry: “You bastard, you’re willing to die with me at sea? What about your wife?”

Zhou Cheng’s eyes remained clear.

“That’s why I can’t die. I promised Xiaolan that I would always take care of myself first. We definitely won’t die.”

Pan Bohua pondered, “Always take care of yourself first? Cough cough… that fish we caught yesterday, I thought your half seemed bigger – turns out it wasn’t my imagination.”

Zhou Cheng nodded, “Sorry, Third Brother. I figured since you were lying still, conserving energy, I seemed to need more food, so I didn’t stand on ceremony with you.”

Ceremony my foot.

Pan Bohua wanted to kick Zhou Cheng into the sea.

This was like a student no longer respecting his master after surpassing him!

Pan Bohua cursed at this young pup, but his curses turned into laughter.

Neither of them took their current predicament too seriously. They were different from ordinary people – with their professional training, they could survive another ten days at sea without much problem. If his injuries hadn’t killed him in two days, they wouldn’t easily kill him now.

Rather than physical hardship, it was more about Pan Bohua’s mental struggle.

Now that he had finally understood and seen his true inner thoughts clearly, his mind felt broad and relaxed.

What makes a brother?

It’s someone like Zhou Cheng, willing to suffer alongside you.

Pan Bohua muttered, “Damn, after such a great achievement, I messed things up with this detour. I’ll be lucky if I don’t get confined when we return, and forget about any rewards or promotions. But you, kid, one more promotion and you’ll be a full squadron leader, won’t you be on par with me? That’s not good, not good at all – I’d lose face.”

Zhou Cheng knew he could still be promoted to one more level.

It would probably be around the time his wife returned to the country. When his academy classmates officially graduated, he, who had graduated early, could catch this opportunity for another promotion.

Plus this time.

Zhou Cheng held back his smile, “Third Brother, did you deliberately let me come rescue you to give me a chance to earn merit?”

Pan Bohua rolled his eyes and told him to get lost.

“I’m annoyed!”

Zhou Cheng was annoyed too.

Drifting at sea, survival wasn’t worrying, but not being able to contact his wife made him anxious.

Fortunately, it wasn’t summer, and the sea was relatively calm. If they encountered big waves, this plank wouldn’t protect them at all – he and Pan Bohua would sink to the bottom.

After realizing this wasn’t a drill, Pan Bohua actively worked to survive.

The pair of unfortunate brothers drifted at sea for four or five days, surviving only on raw fish.

Later, Pan Bohua developed a fever – his wounds had become infected, and Zhou Cheng truly began to worry. The human body has immunity, and someone with Pan Bohua’s physical condition rarely caught even a cold throughout the year.

When showing signs of illness, sometimes after a good sleep, the body might heal itself.

But drifting at sea, without proper rest, could Pan Bohua heal himself?

Zhou Cheng tried to lower Pan Bohua’s temperature, hoping he could pull through. Now he no longer dared to eat more of the fish they caught, leaving almost all of it for Pan Bohua. Eating raw fish wasn’t the problem – the problem was having no food to provide the body with the necessary energy.

By the fifth day, Zhou Cheng was also dehydrated.

On this day, he spotted a fishing boat.

A fishing boat?

Or pirates disguised as fishermen, or smugglers.

Zhou Cheng couldn’t be sure. He could only act more exhausted, half-dead, waiting for others to rescue them.

Neither he nor Pan Bohua could have money on them. The most valuable thing was his watch.

It was a birthday gift from his wife – one watch every year. The previous one had been damaged while dealing with Jiang Wu and was sent to the original factory for repair. This one, bought by Xiaolan in America, had taken a long time to arrive in China.

Zhou Cheng removed his watch and kissed it:

“Wife, you’re going to save my life again.”

Then he raised the watch and called for help.

“Hey! Payment, this is payment, a deposit – there will be more rewards after you save us…”

Afraid they wouldn’t understand, he shouted in every language he knew.

If they were real fishermen, they would save them for the reward.

If they were fake fishermen, even better – Zhou Cheng could turn the tables once on board.

As the boat drew closer, the people on board muttered among themselves, and finally, someone reached out to pull Zhou Cheng. They tugged once but couldn’t get the watch, looked embarrassed, then pulled harder and got Zhou Cheng aboard.

“Save my companion too, then the watch is yours.”

He had to get Pan Bohua on board – once aboard, Zhou Cheng wouldn’t be afraid.

His earlier estimate had been correct – the plank had been drifting toward the coastline, and they were especially lucky that it was China’s coastline. At least the people on the boat were speaking Guangdong dialect.

Thank goodness!

After Pan Bohua was pulled aboard, Zhou Cheng kept his word and handed over the watch:

“Once we reach shore, there will be more rewards. My companion is injured and needs to get to a hospital quickly.”

The fishermen huddled together to discuss.

They had set out to fish but hadn’t reached their fishing grounds yet. Picking up two people and turning back would affect their livelihood – not everyone was willing to make selfless sacrifices. Fortunately, Zhou Cheng had given them the watch, which looked expensive. Even without any follow-up reward, it would more than cover their fuel costs.