74: Chapter 74: The entire internet mourned his grave for three days; he cooked for three days on the aircraft carrier.

Ding — —

[Main Mission 'Green Hat Crisis' evaluation complete!]

[Mission Rating: SSS+ (Exceeded Expectations)]

[Completion Details: 1. Successfully retrieved core binding object Jiang Rumu ✓ 2. Jiang Rumu's favorability significantly increased ✓ 3. Love rival (Spy Princess Delia) exited competition sequence ✓ 4. Unexpected gain: Under conditions of 30,000 feet altitude, 9G limit overload, and nearly becoming aerial debris, Jiang Rumu said "I believe in you" to the host — System judges this as 'entrusting one's life' level trust.]

[Extra Judgment: During this mission, the host captured the heart of the late love rival (Spy Princess Delia). Although the other party has physically logged off, the system expresses admiration for this.]

[Mission rewards distributing — —]

[Reward Content: Top-tier Special Forces Physical Fitness · Slow-release type]

[Description: This reward will gradually activate over the next twelve months. Muscle density, cardiopulmonary function, reaction speed, and bone strength will be continuously optimized to the human physiological limit.]

[Warm Prompt: Becoming strong takes time, but becoming handsome is immediate. Muscle definition optimization has started; it is suggested the host look in the mirror more often in the next three days.]

Li Li leaned against the metal wall of the 001 Aircraft Carrier cabin.

Slow-release type.

Twelve months to slowly get stronger.

Very reasonable.

But the biggest problem right now wasn't whether he was getting stronger.

It was hunger.

Counting from last night's banquet at the Abu Dhabi palace, he hadn't eaten for nearly twenty hours. In between, he had experienced grenade disposal, hallway gunfights, desert car chases, base infiltration, stealing a fighter jet, air combat, anti-aircraft missiles grazing his face, and landing on an aircraft carrier.

Calorie consumption was equivalent to running three full marathons in a row.

Stomach acid was frantically corroding his stomach lining.

In the infirmary, the military doctor put a splint on Jiang Rumu's right ankle.

Ligament strain and a hairline fracture; he prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs and ordered two weeks of bed rest.

She sat on the hospital bed, right leg propped up. The tear in that haute couture red dress, from thigh to knee, was temporarily taped up with medical tape.

The military doctor looked back before leaving the room.

The once "High-Cold Flower" of the entertainment industry now had matted hair, cheeks stained with gunpowder smoke, and ten fingers full of rope marks.

With her natural beauty still there, the three sailors the doctor ran into after leaving the room collectively bumped into the doorframe.

Li Li carried Jiang Rumu on his back to the officer's cafeteria.

The food on the aircraft carrier was extremely solid. Braised pork ribs, tomato scrambled eggs, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, steamed seafood, and all the white rice you could eat.

Li Li shoveled down three bowls of rice in a row, taking the opportunity to clear two plates of ribs.

Jiang Rumu stared at his wolfish eating style.

Silently, she picked up her own stainless steel lunchbox and began shoveling food into her mouth as well.

"Eat slowly, no one is grabbing it."

"You're saying that while stuffing half a rib in your mouth."

"I call this leading by example."

Jiang Rumu didn't respond.

After eating, the two were arranged to rest in an officer's cabin.

The cabin was extremely small, with bunk beds.

Li Li let Jiang Rumu sleep on the bottom bunk. With her ankle in a cast, climbing to the top bunk would be suicide.

"What about the internet?" Jiang Rumu pulled out the phone she had brought all the way from the Abu Dhabi palace.

The screen had two cracks, but it could still light up.

No signal.

Not even one bar.

Li Li tried his own phone. Same thing.

"The aircraft carrier battle group is executing a stealth deployment, the entire ship is under communication control." The Major had explained before, "All external network connections are cut. We'll talk when we return to port."

Jiang Rumu placed her phone face down by her pillow.

The two of them completely disappeared from the internet just like that.

No updates. No location. No news at all.

And at this moment, the domestic internet was already boiling like a pot of water.

Li Li didn't know that his phone's delayed livestream had continued to run for a full forty-seven minutes after he kicked open the back door of the Oasis Hotel.

Forty-seven minutes of first-person combat footage.

From the close-quarters combat in the hotel corridor to the speeding car chase on the desert highway.

Every frame had been engraved into the DNA of the eighty million online viewers.

The screen finally froze on that scene where he and Delia went to the supermarket to buy things.

Signal interrupted. Black screen.

Eighty million people collectively lost their voices.

The barrage went from a torrent to a vacuum, lasting for a full twelve seconds.

Then, it erupted completely.

[No! ! ! !]

[Brother Li! !]

[What does it mean that the signal is cut? ! What happened? !]

[Can someone tell me they are okay? Please!]

Twenty minutes later, a military blogger locked onto the coordinates based on the terrain in the livestream, the chat logs between the two, and the direction of travel — Masirah Island, Oman, a US forward operating base.

One hour later, satellite images of the wreckage of the downed Black Hawk helicopter were revealed on foreign websites.

Crashed into the sea. Completely destroyed. No signs of survival.

It took only four minutes for the photos to be transferred to domestic platforms.

The topic #Li Li Jiang Rumu Lost Contact# dropped onto the top of the trending list.

Readership exceeded 1.2 billion in two hours.

No one knew they were on an aircraft carrier.

Everyone was looking at the wreckage of the helicopter that had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

They reached the most desperate conclusion.

The comment section completely collapsed.

[I don't accept this result.]

[From now on, no one is allowed to mention the three words Jiang Rumu. I can't take it.]

Black and white candle emojis flooded all related topics.

Li Li's TikTok follower count skyrocketed from 52 million to 98 million within forty-eight hours.

Jiang Rumu's official account simultaneously surpassed 100 million.

Two "deceased" people had created the fastest follower growth record in internet history.

Meanwhile, in the temporary accommodation hotel in Abu Dhabi, the other guests of the Dating Reality Show were putting on an excellent ensemble performance.

Yin Ruoying's livestream room. The background was the white wall of a hotel suite. She had changed into a black dress, a low ponytail, and very light makeup.

"Regarding this person Li Li, I want to say a few fair words."

Yin Ruoying faced the camera, enunciating clearly.

"From the first day, his performance on the show wasn't normal. Which amateur can be so calm in a gunfight? Which architect can fly a fighter jet? Doesn't everyone find it strange?"

Gu Zeyan, who was connected to the stream, cooperated perfectly.

"I felt something was wrong before. He even knew how to dismantle a grenade, is that normal? Who among ordinary people knows how to do this?"

Wen Zhuotang's small window was lit. She hugged a white pillow, her eyes red, biting her lower lip.

"I don't mean to speak ill... but... could it be that he was originally someone sent by the military? Using the Dating Reality Show as a cover? Have we been kept in the dark from the beginning?"

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"If that's really the case, then was Sister Jiang also..."

She didn't finish her sentence. The implication was already clear enough.

The topic #Li Li's Identity Questioned# was pushed to the ninth trending spot.

It didn't last ten minutes. The counterattack came faster than a bullet.

Cen Ye's livestream room. No suite background. The screen only showed a fire hydrant and a half-open safety door.

He was squatting on the ground, three silver rings on his left ear, the Mirage Dragon tattoo on the side of his neck extremely eye-catching, a cigarette that wasn't lit hanging from his mouth.

His phone was propped diagonally against the fire hydrant.

"Let me say one thing."

Cen Ye didn't even raise his eyebrows.

"You guys who are being passive-aggressive in the livestream, where were you when Brother Li was rushing into a hail of bullets to save people?"

He took the cigarette out, clamped it between his fingers, and spun it around.

"Hiding in an underground bunker, hugging your heads and crying. I was there too. But I admit I was a coward. Some people, after being cowards, still have the face to livestream and badmouth their savior?"

The barrage was frantically scrolling: [Brother Ye, Go!]

Shen Jue squeezed into the frame, his face unwashed, two black marks under his eye sockets.

"Brother Li is the most awesome person I have ever met. If he is from the military, I would be happy, not to mention anything else! I'll say one thing — whoever badmouths Brother Li again, I, Shen Jue, will be the first one not to agree!"

Barrage floated by: [Juezi, did you change your pants?]

Shen Jue looked down at his crotch. His face instantly turned the color of pork liver. He abruptly exited the frame.

Cen Ye choked on his cigarette, coughing until he slapped his thigh.

In another room, Qi Wanyin didn't start a livestream. She posted a long text on Weibo.

"I have been in this industry for fifteen years. I have seen too many faces that consume others' blood and tears to gain traffic. Some people sit in safe places, slapping their thighs and questioning someone who risked their life to save others. This is not called independent thinking; this is called shamelessness. I don't know what Li Li's identity is, and I don't care. I only know one thing — he went, and others didn't. Some people in the comment section asked me for my stance, and my stance is this one sentence. That is all."

The number of reposts exceeded one million in forty minutes.

As for the neutral camp, Han Xubai talked at length in his livestream about the legal framework for war reparations in Ala Country, bombarding the barrage with professional vocabulary until everyone lost focus.

Fang Ruowei recorded a short video on "War Zone Fashion · How to Stay Exquisite in an Air Raid Shelter".

The two tacitly avoided mentioning Li Li. Gaining all the heat, avoiding all the risks. Textbook-level fence-sitting.

But what really made the public opinion field boil was Su Wantang. She didn't go on a livestream. She didn't post on Weibo. She didn't accept interviews.

She only posted a fifteen-second video on her secondary TikTok account.

In the frame, she was sitting on the hotel windowsill. Profile view. Her cold tea-brown long hair hung on one side.

No subtitles. No background music. Sitting quietly.

At the eleventh second, she lowered her head. Her shoulders trembled slightly. The video ended.

The comment section exploded on the spot.

[Wait. Did she and Li Li date before?]

[Someone dug it up! She is that ex-girlfriend who broke up on a livestream!]

[So... is she crying for Li Li?]

[Oh my god, she still loves him.]

Su Wantang didn't say a word. The entire internet finished weaving the lingering, poignant story for her.

#Li Li's Ex-Girlfriend Suspected of Posting in Sorrow# dropped onto the fourth trending spot.

The heat exceeded the sum of her three months of livestream shopping.

001 Aircraft Carrier.

Li Li lay on the top bunk, staring at the gray cabin ceiling.

Jiang Rumu's rhythmic breathing came from the bottom bunk. She was sound asleep.

From last night until now, this girl had stubbornly endured for over thirty hours. Being kidnapped, hunted, taking a 9G fighter jet roller coaster.

Anyone else would have had a mental breakdown long ago.

She just wiped her nose after crying for Delia and said, "I'm hungry."

Li Li turned over.

The next day. The third day.

The days on the aircraft carrier were quiet to the point of being surreal.

Waking up, eating, sunbathing, checking blood pressure, eating, sleeping.

Jiang Rumu watched a sunset on the deck in a wheelchair. The sea breeze messed up her hair, and she tucked the stray strands behind her ear.

Li Li stood beside her, hands in his pockets. Neither spoke.

On the afternoon of the third day, the Major came to the cabin in person.

"The temporary runway at Abu Dhabi airport has been repaired." He handed over a telegram, "The evacuation flight coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes off tomorrow morning. Your Production Team and other guests are all on the passenger list."

"How do we get there?"

"A helicopter will take you to the shore, someone will meet you." The Major added, "Also, your show's production company issued a statement through the embassy."

Li Li scanned the telegram.

"Given the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, the Dating in Travel Production Team announces an indefinite suspension of this season's recording. All guests will take the evacuation flight back to the country, and follow-up arrangements will be notified separately."

Li Li put down the paper.

"There is one more thing." The Major unscrewed his thermos.

"The three days you disappeared, the internet spread rumors that you were dead. Your account has almost reached 100 million followers."

"Living people gaining fewer followers than dead people, what kind of situation is this."

The Major took a sip of water.

"Tomorrow morning at six, gather on the flight deck. Don't be late."

The cabin door closed.

Li Li sat back on the edge of the bed.

Jiang Rumu leaned on her pillow, her cast-covered leg propped up.

"Going back to the country."

"Yeah."

"What about after going back?"

Li Li looked at her.

"First, I'll treat you to sweet and sour pork ribs."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what are you talking about?"

Jiang Rumu bit her lower lip. She swallowed the words back.

"Nothing." She turned to face the wall.

Li Li stared at the back of her head. He didn't pursue it. He climbed onto the top bunk.

The phone still had no signal. On the edge of the cracked screen, a system prompt popped up.

[Physical fitness optimization progress: 0.3%]

[Estimated visible period of appearance changes: about 14 days.]

[It is suggested that the host apply for a gym membership immediately after returning to the country. Not for working out. It's for looking in the mirror.]

Li Li placed the phone face down on the bed board. He closed his eyes.

Below the deck, the dull sound of seawater hitting the ship's hull was steady and powerful.

On the domestic internet 8,000 kilometers away, the readership for the topic #Li Li Jiang Rumu Confirmed Deceased# had just exceeded 5 billion.

The person in the grave was boarding a plane tomorrow morning.

The next morning. 001 flight deck.

A gray Z-20 helicopter was parked in the takeoff and landing area. The rotors were rotating at low speed.

Jiang Rumu was sitting in a wheelchair, pushed to the cabin door by a sailor. The morning wind filled her collar.

The Major handed Li Li a kraft paper bag.

"Inside is an introduction letter. When you arrive in Abu Dhabi, someone will meet you and take you to the airport."

"That intelligence — left by Delia — has been transferred to Ala Country through an encrypted channel. Fahd signed for it personally. Her two maids are safe."

Li Li took the paper bag.

"If she were still alive, she would probably be very happy."

The Major patted his shoulder.

"Go back and live a good life. Don't steal any more planes."

Li Li stepped onto the helicopter pedal. He turned, bent down, and scooped Jiang Rumu from the wheelchair into the cabin with one arm.

"You're carrying me again!"

"With a cast on, do you plan on hopping up on one leg?"

"I can climb up myself."

"Crawling on the deck in front of thousands of people on the ship, are you sure this look is suitable for the news?"

Jiang Rumu shut up.

The cabin door closed. The rotors accelerated.

The Z-20 lifted off, swept past the island, and headed northwest.

In the direction of Abu Dhabi, the smoke of war was dissipating. The smoke on the internet had just begun.

The helicopter flew out of the aircraft carrier's communication control zone.

The phone in Li Li's pocket, with its screen shattered into a spiderweb, came to life.

The vibration motor spun like crazy.

673 unread messages. 4 million comment notifications.