During the entire exchange of words between Sonny and Jason, the other members of Team B, though not involved in the conversation, kept their attention fixed on the two of them.
Everyone had been silently concerned about the issue regarding Clay, the new recruit.
Now, with Commander Eric arriving with a mission report, once confirmed, it would be sent to headquarters. What would happen to Clay next? Would he stay with DG or be sent back home?
The answer would soon be revealed.
All eyes were now on Jason, including those of Sonny and the other formal members of Team B, the nervous Clay, Ray, who had been trying to convince Jason, and Long Zhan, the fellow newcomer.
If Jason had any additions to his response, and if he criticized Clay for disregarding orders and independently killing the high-value target Samir...
In that case, Clay would be packing up and leaving.
But if there were no issues to address and Jason confirmed that Clay's actions were justified, Clay would stay, his merits and faults balanced, and continue his Green Team training.
It was a choice between the two!
Jason, however, was far from calm. His gaze first shifted to the expectant Ray, and then to the anxious Clay.
He stared at Clay for a full three seconds before turning his attention back to Eric.
"There's nothing to add. The actual actions align with the mission report, sir."
Jason finished speaking with a furrowed brow, glancing at Clay once more with a complex expression, before turning and striding out of the garage.
From Clay's defiant gaze, Jason recognized a familiar feeling.
He had decided to trust Ray just this once!
Upon hearing this answer, Commander Eric smiled and shot a glance at Clay.
Opening the folder he had brought, Eric signed the mission report to confirm it officially.
"This officer is a smart one, a real strategist. The harmony between the A and B teams is no small feat, and this guy is behind it," Long Zhan chuckled.
From Eric's meaningful smile, Long Zhan guessed that Eric likely knew everything.
However, Eric didn't directly confront the issue but instead subtly handed over the initiative to Jason, the team leader, by confirming the contents of the report.
This action demonstrated a commander's "wisdom."
Clay, his heart pounding as if it might leap out of his chest, finally exhaled in relief upon hearing Jason's response. He couldn't help but hug Long Zhan, standing nearby.
Silence spoke louder than words here.
In this quiet moment, Clay shared his joy and expressed gratitude for Long Zhan's earlier "Morse code."
Clay knew very well that without Long Zhan's assistance back then, he would never have been able to capture the armed pickup truck by himself, and thus, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to perform well and gain recognition.
Had that been the case, his current outcome would be entirely different—he would be packing his things and returning to his SEAL Team 2.
Thankfully, the outcome was favorable.
"Buddy, congratulations on escaping disaster. Here's a suggestion: from now on, use your communicator more often, don't just keep it as a decoration," Long Zhan punched Clay lightly in the chest, his tone playful but genuinely advisory.
"Let's hope so. I'll try to use it more, if I remember," Clay replied, clearly having learned his lesson, but his competitive nature made his words still firm, as if he had to maintain some pride.
"You..." Long Zhan smiled and shook his head, not saying more.
---
The U.S. Special Forces have a strict regulation that requires their operatives to undergo a mandatory decompression period after completing a counter-terrorism mission. This period is necessary before they can return home.
The decompression period usually lasts three days.
The purpose is to allow soldiers, who have just entered a war zone and turned into killing machines, to have three days to relax and recover. This way, they don't bring their "battlefield rage" back into American society and their families.
While it cannot completely prevent it, this practice significantly reduces the likelihood of soldiers developing PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
In simpler terms, it's about giving these warriors three days of leisure time to switch from their high-pressure war mindset back to a more relaxed home mode.
There are many ways to go about this decompression process, not limited to just one option.
The more common ones are either in the military camp or local government-sponsored tourism in the mission area, where team members are free to group up and take a relaxing trip.
In the evenings, they might go to a bar to unwind and release all their pent-up energy.
More special options include high subsidies for trips abroad, such as a three-day paid vacation to another country or even a beach holiday in the Maldives.
These scenic getaways are designed to help heal and ease the psychological scars of soldiers.
Because no one had successfully captured the high-value target Samir, causing a significant loss to the U.S. government, Team B did not receive special treatment on this mission. Instead, they only had a government-sponsored self-driving tour within Liberia.
During these three days, Long Zhan fully utilized his ability to bond with others, spending his days mingling with Team B members to lay a foundation for his future entry into Team B.
In the evenings, he would often seek out Mandy, a single woman, to chat about life and ideals.
At the same time, he humbly asked Mandy, who was proficient in Latin, to help him learn his seventh foreign language, so he could eventually decipher the "Mount Garo" from the treasure map and figure out where it was located in the world and how to find it.
Meanwhile, he casually steered their conversations toward Samir, who was now dead.
His goal was to gather more information about Samir in preparation for future treasure hunts using Samir's personal information.
Mandy had been tracking Samir for over five years and knew him better than anyone else in the world.
Unaware that Long Zhan was keeping a secret and had already obtained the treasure map, planning to look for the treasure in the future, she didn't suspect anything, as the secret level of the dead target had already decreased.
Long Zhan's offhand questions were answered without hesitation, providing him with a wealth of information.
This made the treasure map situation gradually become clearer. Through frequent interactions with Mandy over the past three days, Long Zhan used his impressive conversational and flirtation skills to elevate his relationship with her to another level.
Now, it had reached a point where if he invited her out for a drink, she would most likely accept.
Just as Long Zhan was gearing up to push things further, aiming for a two-person fitness activity to release the hormones that had been building up for three months...
Diaz knocked on his door early in the morning, telling him to pack up and head to the lobby for a meeting.
"Good times always seem to pass so quickly," Long Zhan sighed in resignation as he shook his head.