by <unknown>
"However, as a mind game, I would like to infer what will happen next for you, assuming that what you said is true."
Lu Zui stood straight and stretched out his arms. He had freed himself from the craziness, desperation, and frustration yesterday and regained the calmness, nonchalance, and resolution of the old days. His level did not plunge. Instead, he was even more unwavering than before. Walking to Li Yao and Guo Chunfeng, he smiled.
The smile made Li Yao's and Guo Chunfeng's pupils contract violently.
"First of all, as you said, the elite forces in the world of Cultivators have been dispatched to the south and the East Ocean, with no way of coming back in one to two days.
"The messages from the Grand Desolate Plateau have been blocked, too. It is impossible to contact the troops via the Spiritual Nexus.
"The only solution is to send someone with an 'ultimate order' to catch up to the troops in the Dark Desolate Domain, but how many days will it take?
"Before that, Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao might have found a suitable excuse to march into the Blood Demon Sector!
"He doesn't need too many troops. He doesn't need four crystal suit legions and twenty general legions. All he need is one or two legions that obey his order!
"For whatever reason the one to two legions march into the Blood Demon Sector, what will the follow-up troops do when they are engaged with the coalition army of demons? Will they wait and watch their brother troops get surrounded and annihilated by the enemy?
"No, they won't. Not a single federal soldier will sit and watch their brothers get butchered by demons!
"The follow-up troops will have no choice but to reinforce them. Even Burning Prairie will march into the Blood Demon Sector to rescue the compatriots who are trapped!
"Alright, after the four crystal suits legions, the twenty general legions, and the strongest warship of the three Sectors all enter the Blood Demon Sector, what will the federal army in the rear do?
"It must be noted that the troops in the drill don't have many supplies. Without the support from the back, they will certainly be wiped out after they run out of ammunition and food!
"Therefore, the rear has no options except to reinforce them!
"Hehe. It's like a giant that is mired in a swamp. Perhaps only one of his legs is trapped in the beginning. But the more he struggles, the more he is swallowed, until he is completely drowned in the end!
"My dear misters in the capital city, what can you do after you know all this, even if you are well aware that it is a scheme of the Patriots Partnership?
"The war has begun. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed. On the Blood Demon Sector's side, many villages and towns might've already been demolished by us, with even more casualties. By then, can you still bring about a ceasefire and shamelessly offer condolences, claiming that everything is just a misunderstanding?
"Believe me. Even the calmest, most prudent Speaker Jiang Hailiu won't make a second choice under such circumstances. He can only curse loudly in his heart but cover up the truth with a seemingly honorable reason, finishing the rest of the world war!"
Chapter 1137: Pouring Rain in Dark! |
Li Yao and Guo Chunfeng breathed heavily, utterly shocked by the dreadful future.
Lu Zui's smile was becoming more and more brilliant. He suddenly thought of something and patted his head. "Right. There are still the reactions of the Blood Demon Sector.
"The demons of the Blood Demon Sector never wanted peace in the first peace. They only conceded because of the heavy casualties they suffered, their internal strife recently, and Jin Tuyi's insistence.
"Jin Tuyi was so impatient because he is a patient of the terminal disease 'cerebral sclerosis'. He wanted to reach a truce before his brain completely collapsed.
"However, if dozens of towns of the Blood Demon Sector are demolished by the federal army, will the demons still believe in Jin Tuyi's bullsh*t and his so-called 'peace'?
"It's impossible. Once the federal army attacks the Blood Demon Sector on a large scale, Jin Tuyi's peace plan will be sabotaged. Not a single demon emperor will ever listen to Jin Tuyi's command. Jin Tuyi and Jin Xinyue will be ripped apart by the angry demons as the greatest traitors in the history of the Blood Demon Sector!
"Under such circumstances, even if some of the demons in the Blood Demon Sector still long for peace, they will still choose to fight because they don't know whether or not the Heaven's Origin Sector really wants peace.
"By the same logic, even if some of the fools in the Heaven's Origin Sector seek peace, how can they know the real attitude of the Blood Demon Sector?
"Hehe. Li Yao, you brought the 'chain of suspicion' and the Dark Forest Theory from the Flying Star Sector. Right now, we are faced with the most classic chain of suspicion and dark forest, aren't we?"
Li Yao was so angry that he clenched his fists, his fingertips pushing hard into his palm.
Lu Zui smiled. With weird brilliance beaming out of his face, he extended his hawk nose over with an enticing voice. "You have felt the strength of fury. It is magnificent, isn't it? Don't suppress it. Just let it out. Kill me. Come on. Kill me!"
Staring at his nose for a long time, Li Yao took a deep breath and loosened his hands one joint after another. "Lu Zui, you've been possessed. You took advantage of the hatred and anger of your compatriots at first and the comradeship between the soldiers of the federal army later! To achieve your goals, you are stomping on the most precious feelings!"
"I admitted nothing," Lu Zui replied casually. "I can only say that, even if the Patriots Partnership does have such a backup plan, we would never plan to use it in the beginning.
"Such a desperate attempt involves too many unexpected factors. At the very least, the first echelon of the troops to march into the Blood Demon Sector is basically committing suicide, which is a huge loss for the federation.
"Believe me. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I would never want to see such a backup plan be implemented. We could've arranged everything more carefully and thoroughly. When the Demon God Virus is more mature, and when the army and the Cultivators are all ready, we could've pushed forward openly and swept away all our foes. With the tiniest price, the Blood Demon Sector would have been conquered.
"Now, the blood of more innocent people will be shed on the land of the Blood Demon Sector for nothing, all because of the cleverness of you and Guo Chunfeng!"
Li Yao grabbed his neck and spurted saliva onto his face. "Listen up, scumbag. Not a drop of blood that shouldn't be shed will be shed for nothing. Your plan will not work out. I will definitely stop Zhou Hengdao! Even if he jumps to the sky, I will still snatch his leg and drag him down!"
Lu Zui was picked up by Li Yao, but he did not struggle at all. Shaking like a puppet whose string was cut off, he was as calm as ever and continued smiling. "Then, you'd better hurry. If there is really such a desperate plan, Zhou Hengdao must've taken action already.
"You don't have much time, Li Yao. Good luck!"
Li Yao sniffed and threw him to the side. Then, he turned around.
"Brother Guo, we have to wake up the Speaker now. I have to bring the 'ultimate order' to the Grand Desolate Plateau and call back the troops!"
Guo Chunfeng hesitated. "Your crystal suit hasn't been repaired, and your wounds are not entirely healed yet. We have to gather more experts!"
"There's no time!" Li Yao gnashed his teeth. "Zhou Hengdao will march into the Blood Demon Sector at any moment. I'll go first and try to stall them. You can follow up later!
"You don't need to say anything. I'm the best candidate. Many people on Burning Prairie know me. Luo Xingzi, the leader of the Cultivators from the Flying Star Sector, is an old friend of mine. Only I can stop them!"
…
In the north of the Grand Desolate Plateau, at the edge of the Dark Desolate Domain, a rarely-seen super thunderstorm was sweeping across the entire place!
The sky was a battlefield of lightning, and the earth be
came a kingdom of swamps. The black rainwater contaminated the sky and the earth like ink. When the lightning struck, one could see that there was a pale white valley around, but when the lightning was gone, all they could see was the absolutely darkness in which even their own fingers were obscure.
Boom! Crack!
Huala!
Hiu! Hiu! Hiu! Hiu!
The sounds of wind, rain and thunder seemed to suggest that ten thousand ferocious beasts were fighting in the air fiercely, with no winners or losers.
At the end of the valley was a small communication base made of twelve spiritual towers. Several signalmen, with anti-water rune arrays unfolded around them, were busy repairing the spiritual towers that had been broken by the lightning in the pouring rain.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!
Sparks were dancing everywhere. The spiritual waves were very chaotic. Some deep blue electric arcs even flowed out and circled the signalmen like sordid vipers.
Thankfully, the signalmen were all wearing thick insulative clothes and were not scared of the electricity.
Three signalmen worked hard for a long time, sweating. Finally, after a cluster of brilliant sparks burst out, the circuits of the spiritual towers were all repaired.
Glamorous brilliance emanated from the spiritual towers in the darkness, illuminating the deep valley.
"Excellent. We can receive messages from the rear now!"
The three signalmen were all overjoyed.
However, with the momentary brilliance when the spiritual towers connected, they vaguely saw that several fully-armed heavy shuttles were flying toward them in silence under the cover of the black rain.
In the lightning, the badge of the federal army in front of the shuttles seemed rather creepy.
Before the three signalmen realized what was going on, another five signalmen who were responsible for guarding the spiritual towers crawled out quickly from the half-underground fort nearby. Their cries struck the sky together with the lightning.
"Enemy incoming! Enemy incoming! Enemy incoming!"
The three signalmen had no idea what was going on, but their daily harsh training allowed them to react intuitionally. They jumped down from the spiritual towers and picked up their storm bolters!
Leaning against the spiritual towers, the eight signalmen established a defense formation. They breathed hastily in the pouring rain.
On their opposite side, twelve federal soldiers in Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits flew out of the armed shuttle and surrounded them in midair. The machine guns in their hands, which were at least three times larger than the storm bolters in the signalmen's hands in terms of caliber, were pointed at their critical parts!
Storm bolters versus machine guns!
Federal soldiers versus federal soldiers!
Huala! Huala! Huala!
Streaks of lightning burst out one after another, illuminating the twenty soldiers in the dark night who appeared to be made of iron!
"This is a military area. Nobody is to come close without a password! What's the password!" the commander of the signalmen shouted, only to get a mouthful of rainwater.
"This is the No. 1 Special Force of the Dragon Horse Legion. With the written order of Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao, we are here to take over the 2233 communication base! Follow our instructions and change your defense area immediately.
"Step back! Step back!"
The commander was not moved and continued pointing at the newcomers with his storm bolters. "This is the No. 55 Legion of the No. 24 Regiment. We are not under the command of the Dragon Horse Legion! Our mission is to defend the 2233 communication base until the last moment! We need the order of our direct official to retreat! Please clarify your order, or we will open fire!"
A young signalman was rather anxious because of the intense atmosphere against his comrades. He managed to clutch his weapon and asked a veteran near him in a low voice, "What—what's happening?"
"I don't know. The commander just received a few messages from the rear. Then, he went crazy!"
Under the lightning, the veteran's face was pale, too, but his hands that were holding the weapon did not shake at all. "This is bad. F*ck. This is bad!"
"I repeat. The situation is urgent. Follow our instructions and retreat immediately!"
The twelve soldiers who were wearing crystal suits were becoming more and more aggressive. Their auras were bouncing like flames despite the pouring rain. "Those who disobey the order of the Iron Commander shall be executed immediately!
"I don't know the Iron Commander. All I know is the password! Password! Password!" the commander roared and loaded his weapon!
The noise triggered a chain reaction. Clicking noises were echoing nonstop in the darkness. The endless fury in the soldiers' hands was about to be unleashed!
"Sergeant, do not put up a futile resistance!" The voice from the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was no longer cold. It was anxious, even mixed with a hint if begging. "There are only eight of you without crystal suits. You are definitely no match for us. You won't even cause any damage to us! Drop your weapons! For your brothers, drop your weapon!"
"No!" The sergeant raised his weapon, his eyes as bright as those of a ferocious animal. "We are federal soldiers! We will not surrender until we die!"
"Drop your weapon!"
"Back off! Back off! We will shoot if you don't!"
"Those who hinder military operations shall be executed!"
"Those who barge into the forbidden area shall be executed!"
"Don't be silly. We don't want to open fire to brothers!"
"Then back off now. Back off!"
In the pouring rain, the twenty soldiers were roaring, screaming, and showing their sharp paws and teeth like twenty beasts.
"There's no time. Prepare the anesthetic ammo and finish the quickly!"
The soldier in the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit spoke to his companions quickly.
However, before he concluded his sentence—
Boom! Crack!
A clap of thunder suddenly burst out right above their heads.
The rookie who was most anxious among the signalmen suddenly pulled his trigger because of the shock. A bullet rushed out and hit the breastplate of a Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit precisely.
The glittering firewall burnt everybody's eyes instantly.
Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
There was no telling who opened fire in the next, but both squads were enveloped in fire and bullets the following second!
Chapter 1138: Accidental Fall! |
Ten minutes later, the bodies of seven signalmen were lying on the muddy ground in the rain.
The soldier who shot first because of nervousness had a shockingly huge hole in his abdomen. His life was maintained by the medication drugs, but the brightness in his eyes was dimming.
It was the only outcome when eight unprepared signalmen were engaged in a head-on clash with twelve fully-armed, well-trained Exos.
The Exos who opened fire at them ferociously a moment ago, however, were standing far away quietly at a loss like misbehaving children.
One of the medics was kneeling next to the soldier and opened the anti-water rune array, creating a dry space for him, while he performed the futile treatment on him with a pale face.
Suddenly—
The few elite warriors were picked up along with their crystal suits and thrown afar!
Several other Exos were kicked right in the chest when they just turned around, only to be blown more than a hundred meters away with their gear that weighed several tons, smashing the hard rocks into pieces.
In the middle of the lightning and thunder, a shadow knocked down all twelve Exos like a gale before kneeling on the ground and holding the dying soldier in his arms in the mud on that dark night.
Sparks were bursting out of one of his eyes, but his other eye was filled with tears, which mixed with sweat and rainwater and flowed to the soldier's face in a dirty current.
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The soldier's brain was lacking oxygen because the loss of blood. In his dying moment, he had already forgotten the details of the battle just now, but he vaguely recognized the one who was holding him.
"Iron… Iron Commander?" the soldier mumbled in a feeble voice. His pupils were enlarged all of a sudden, with disbelief popping up on his face.
In the pouring rain, Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao kneeled down in the mud and blocked the rainwater for the soldier with his magnificent body. Dirty tears were uncontrollably flowing down his face like raging dragons.
He looked at the soldier as if he were watching his favorite grandson dying slowly in his arms.
"It's alright, son. I'm here," Zhou Hengdao mumbled to the soldier, sobbing.
Intense brilliance suddenly beamed out of the soldier's dimming eyes. He turned his head from Zhou Hengdao's shoulder to the night sky that was as dark as ink. Smiling, he said, "It's really you, Iron Commander. The enemy was coming…"
"I know, I know. It's alright. The enemy has been beaten back!" Zhou Hengdao tried to hold back his tears. "You are all very brave. Every one of you… is the best soldier of the federation. You have fulfilled your responsibility and persisted to the last moment! Now, reinforcements have arrived. Mission accomplished. Take a good rest now. You will… be home very soon!"
"Home…"
At the cold, rainy night, the soldier seemed to be remembering the hot dumplings in his warm home, the laughter of his parents and siblings, and so much more. Indescribable brilliance beamed out of his face, but his eyes were frozen to the moment forever.
The soldier's hand slid down from Zhou Hengdao's arms.
Like a rusted statue, Zhou Hengdao kneeled in the mud for a long time before he covered the soldier's eyes with his iron hands.
Because of his shaking hands, he tried three times before he finished the simple task.
Then, he took off his military uniform that was sewed with Golden Stripes and laid it on the ground as cerecloth. He placed the soldier's body on it carefully.
With the rain hammering his iron body, Zhou Hengdao rose up one joint after another and glanced around with his eyes that were as cold as ice.