The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

The wind was still for a few seconds.

As the sun sets, the desert is bathed in a magnificent orange-red hue. Sweetie, barefoot, with disheveled hair and her face covered in sand, sleeps quietly beneath the dunes, beside the sea buckthorn trees.

The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is huge. The sand that was scorching hot just now is starting to cool down. If Tian Tian sleeps like this all night, she will definitely catch a cold.

The wind, like a gentle hand, lightly stirred the fine sand on the ground, covering her in a thin blanket. The sea buckthorn tree shook its leaves, providing her with a bit of warmth and shelter.

As the sun slowly sank below the horizon, its last rays disappeared into the sky. Then, a bright moon rose from the east, its gentle light bathing the boundless sea of ​​sand, plunging the world into complete darkness.

Just when all was quiet—

A soft, rustling sound, accompanied by footsteps, came from the top of the dune.

"Sweetie, wake up! Wake up!"

As if it were sentient, the saplings rustled in the night breeze, emitting a warning that was inaudible to most. But Little Sweetie was sleeping too soundly; she had been trekking through the desert for five or six hours and was utterly exhausted.

As I lay down, it felt like I was back in my mother's arms, soft, warm, and filled with a sense of peace.

What she didn't know was that the people on the dunes were sliding down the slope little by little, their feet sinking into the soft sand.

Although he wasn't as fast as when he was sandboarding, that person was agile and quick. What's even more impressive is that the darkness seemed to have no effect on him. He was like a ghost, and in the blink of an eye, he had already slid down a third of the way.

As long as he goes around the earthen wall, the sleeping Sweetie will be completely exposed.

"Swish! Swish!" The leaves rustled even more rapidly, but Sweetie couldn't hear them at all and continued to sleep soundly.

She was dreaming that her mother was holding her and gently telling her stories, while her father was sitting beside her, watching them with a smile.

"Once upon a time, there was a remarkable little warrior. She was both clever and brave. No matter what tricks the bad guys tried to deceive her, she could see through them at a glance and defeat them with her sword."

"Mom, Sweetie wants to be a warrior like that too."

"Isn't our Sweetie a little princess? She's meant to be pampered by her dad and mom for the rest of her life."

"Sweetie is a princess, but also a warrior. Sweetie can protect her parents, so she's not afraid of the big bad guys!"

"Our sweetie will always be the best."

The mother gently kissed her little face, and she giggled sweetly, reaching out her little hands to hug her mother's neck, but when she raised her fingertips, she only grasped a handful of cool air.

She suddenly opened her eyes and saw soft leaves and hard sand. It turned out that she had fallen asleep under a sea buckthorn tree laden with red berries.

"Dad..." The image of her father in her mind hadn't faded yet when suddenly she heard footsteps.

Someone stepped on a sea buckthorn branch.

Sweetie was so frightened that her first thought was that the aunties and uncles at the base had found her!

Just as she was about to get up, the sand beneath her seemed to have a mind of its own, suddenly pulling Tian Tian into its embrace and covering her little feet with fine sand.

Sweetie paused for a moment, and a thought popped into her little head: If they were uncles and aunts looking for her, why weren't they holding up lamps or calling her name?

She remembered the stories her father had told her: those bad people who lurked in the shadows always liked to do things secretly.

Sweetie's little body couldn't help but shrink back—could it be a bad guy coming?

I was just dreaming about defeating the bad guys, and now I've actually run into them?

Could it be that the bad guys are here to kidnap Sweetie?

Before she could think it through, fear gripped her little heart. Sweetie instinctively held her breath and quietly lay back down.

But she was lying right under the sea buckthorn tree; any bad guy could see her at a glance if he came along...

What to do? Jump up and run away? Or rush up and fight the bad guys?

Sweetie hesitated. After all, she was only a 3-year-old child and didn't yet have a way to deal with bad guys on her own.

If only Dad were here...

Thinking of her father, Tian Tian's nose tingled, and tears welled up in her eyes; she almost burst into tears.

wrong!

She bit her lower lip, forcing back her tears.

Sweetie isn't just a crybaby; she's a little warrior who can protect everyone!

She also wants to use her abilities to defeat the bad guys and save her father!

Thinking of this, she tried to shrink her small body into the sand. The sand seemed to know her thoughts and slowly sank down, quickly forming a sandpit that was just big enough for her.

The sea buckthorn leaves that had been covering her body quietly slid up and covered Sweetie again, with a thin layer of sand on top, leaving a small gap at the tip of her nose to ensure she could breathe properly.

This is a perfect hiding place.

Sweetie peered through the tiny crack, holding her breath. Soon, a series of very light footsteps came from the other side of the ruins.

The person tiptoed, moving as lightly as a wildcat, but as soon as he stepped into the sea buckthorn forest, he suddenly stopped.

Clearly, he hadn't expected that such a large, vibrant sea buckthorn forest would be hidden in this barren, desolate Gobi Desert.

Sweetie squinted, using the cool moonlight to observe the figure. The other person was a tall, dark figure with his back to the moon, his features hidden in the shadows, making them impossible to see clearly.

The man paused for only a moment, then quickly regained his composure, as if the sea buckthorn forest was merely an insignificant interlude. He had more important things to do now.

"Sweetie? Are you there?"

The man suddenly spoke, his voice soft and gentle.

Huh?

Sweetie was stunned.

She recognized that voice!

Not long ago, he was playing a game of kicking bottles with me when I deliberately threw the bottle into the pond.

She remembered his name: Wan Hongxin, Uncle Wan.

"That's right, I'm Uncle Wan, your father's comrade-in-arms. Sweetie, don't you remember your uncle?"

As the man spoke, he cautiously glanced around.

Sweetie's disappearance drew great attention from the base. The remaining staff immediately stopped what they were doing and went out to search for her, with Wan Hongxin leading the way.

But unlike the others at the base, he was a professionally trained agent, skilled at distinguishing footprints and traces. He quickly and discreetly found the direction in which Sweetie had run away, and then cleverly avoided the crowd, tracking her down on his own.

He was tasked by his organization to infiltrate the base with the aim of sabotaging missile development. With the test launch imminent, he was certain that the test would fail the day after tomorrow. However, he also knew that if the test failed, the risk of his exposure would increase dramatically, and he had to evacuate as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, the organization has yet to provide an escape route. Transportation in the desert is inconvenient, and without someone to meet him, he will never be able to escape this sea of ​​death.

He considered several options, the safest and most feasible being to take a base member hostage. While he was looking for a candidate, this three-year-old girl came into his view.

She was the apple of everyone's eye in the base; from the commander down to the ordinary soldiers, everyone doted on her. Capturing her would be like holding the base's Achilles' heel, ensuring they would submit obediently.