Volume 3 – The Place Where My Heart Feels At Peace, Chapter 38: Long Night
“Is there enough medicine?” Qianye asked while pa.s.sing over a cigarette.
The battalion commander took a deep breath and felt just a little more spirited, “We do have some meds, but at best it won’t last more than a day, and we have to regulate it strictly as well. Why did these motherf*cking black blooded b.a.s.t.a.r.ds suddenly grow so many?”
Not far away, the sounds of noises and cries suddenly rang. The trio’s gazes were attracted. A young civilian were pulling at an expeditionary force soldier with great agitation, yelling, “I need meds! Give me meds! My woman is about to die!”
Behind him, a young woman was half leaning against a wall and holding her neck. Blood was gus.h.i.+ng out constantly from the gaps of her fingers.
The expeditionary force soldier looked at her once before shaking his head, saying, “She’s gone. There aren’t much meds now, so we must use it sparingly.”
“She’s about to die. What are we even saving it for?” the man grew more and more agitated.
The expeditionary force soldier’s face turned cold as he said, “There are a lot of injured brothers who did not have meds. They could only hold it in even while in pain! If I give this to you, what will our dying brothers use?”
The man suddenly s.n.a.t.c.hed the expeditionary force soldier’s gun and pointed it at his head, roaring, “I don’t care! Give me the meds! Or I’ll blow your head apart!”
There was the sound of a gunshot, and the man’s head suddenly blew apart. The body slowly collapsed onto the floor. An expeditionary force first lieutenant walked over with the handgun in his hands still smoking. He picked up the rifle and pushed it into the other soldier’s lap, saying coldly, “Remember, anyone who takes your gun on a battlefield is your enemy! No one will save you next time!”
He stretched out a hand and patted the young soldier’s shoulders. Then he said, “I hope you can live through tonight, greenhorn.”
Bao Zhengcheng, Qianye, and the battalion commander withdrew their gazes. The atmosphere had gotten slightly heavier once more. The scene earlier was very helpless, but it was also very realistic. Everyone had met something like this more than once. On the battlefield, the military stood above all. This was the iron law of the imperial army.
Qianye asked, “When will the reinforcements arrive?”
The battalion commander sighed and said, “Looking at the direction where these black blooded b.a.s.t.a.r.ds come from, there’s probably been a battle at the DHQ too. The beacon I’ve sent out ordered them to go to the 60th Division to ask for reinforcements. If the lads are lucky, then reinforcements will arrive by tomorrow morning. If the reinforcements are special forces made up of all Fighter rank soldiers, then they may even arrive earlier than expected. But that is all.”
Tomorrow morning meant that there was still a long night to pa.s.s.
Qianye thought quietly for a moment before saying to the battalion commander, “Have your men help me find two vampire close combat weapons. Anything is fine. I want something high grade, and the heavier the better.”
The battalion commander immediately called over an orderly and laid down the order. A moment later, three weapons were delivered over. Two of the three weapons were grade three vampire origin longswords. One of these longswords were none other than the sword of that Blood Esquire. The third weapon however, was a giant axe that was completely black. It was obvious at first glance that it was incredibly heavy!
Qianye reached out and picked up the giant axe. After weighing it in his hands, he looked extremely satisfied with its weight.
The corner of Bao Zhengcheng and the battalion commander’s eyes twitched. This giant axe was one hundred and fifty kilograms! Even a rank four Fighter specialized in evolved strength talent would have trouble swinging this thing, much less using it for battle!
Bao Zhengcheng could still remember this giant axe. Its former master was a rank six human-shaped arachne. He had exhausted all of his origin power before he finally blasted it down with Tempest. However, a dozen or so soldiers had also been cut in half by the giant axe in order to cover for him.
Qianye attempted to inject origin power into the axe, and an origin formation lit up on the axe’s blade. A dark red cloud appeared on the weapon. It was just a grade two origin weapon, but due to its weight and length, its might in a mixed battle was far beyond a vampire’s grade three longsword.
Qianye then picked up the Blood Esquire’s sword and said, “I want the axe and this sword. I’m going to cultivate now. Any origin power we recover is necessary. I hope we can survive this night.”
Bao Zhengcheng and the battalion commander glanced at each other. They both found a place for themselves and began resting and cultivating.
Although the night was harsh, it wasn’t all bad news. The battle had exhausted nearly all of the dark races’ cannon fodders, and the next battle would be exhausting their regular soldiers. Not a single race among the dark races had as big a population or as great the number of fighters as humans. If they began to lose the numbers of their regular soldiers en ma.s.se, then any commander would find themselves hurting for the loss.
Earth Castle fell into temporary silence.
Qianye inspected his own body and discovered that there were now two additional normal blood energies curled inside his heart in surprise. Meanwhile, there was still a large amount of blood energies surging inside his blood vessels like a sea in turmoil. The gold and purple blood energies were like fish in water, devouring a large amount of blood energy wherever they went.
However, his Daybreak origin power looked like a beach after a tide had subsided. He had recovered only a single, thin layer, and he obviously had to rely on channeling the Combatant Formula to replenish his strength.
Before he started cultivating, Qianye finally decided on his new ability: Accurate Shooting. This ability would allow him to greatly increase the speed at which he thinks during that instant he was shooting. He would be able to lock down his opponent’s vital spots more easily and fire a more powerful shot.
Ascending to rank four meant that he would get a new ability. Originally, Qianye was hesitating between a gun type or close combat type ability and thus did not make the ultimate decision. However, he had made up his mind now.
Eagleshot’s long range snipe, coupled with the two abilities Heavy Caliber and Accurate Shooting, and special origin physical bullets combined to make an extremely terrifying burst of power. It was the key to Qianye surpa.s.sing his rank and a.s.sa.s.sinating high rank dark races. The key to victory for the next battle lay on whether he could kill the enemy’s highest ranking soldier who commanded every node of the battlefield.
After choosing his ability, Qianye began cultivating the Combatant Formula and awaited the new horn of battle to be resounded.
Right now inside the tent of the dark allied army outside the city, a vampire baron was walking back and forth with a green complexion.
Two Blood Esquires were kneeling inside the tent, and the few werewolves and arachne standing at the side appeared incredibly anxious as well. The baron was the chief of command of this allied army and the strongest person in the group. He was just one step away from breaking through to the Champion rank.
The baron suddenly erupted and swept away every item on the table. He roared angrily, “Tras.h.!.+ All tras.h.!.+ All of the cannon fodders are dead, and we didn’t even manage to take down such a small place! How the h.e.l.l am I going to tell this to the higher ups?!”
The Blood Esquire wasn’t able to say anything at all under the natural suppression. It was at this moment a tall werewolf said, “The firepower of this base’s garrison is unnaturally powerful! Your intel is flawed! Moreover, I suspect that there is an elite hiding inside the town that’s not weaker than us!”
Disgust flashed across the vampire baron’s face as he said angrily, “How could my race’s intel possibly be flawed? The strongest soldiers they have there are only at rank five. Have you seen any enemies above rank five while they were attacking the city? Fools!”
The werewolf let out a threatening low roar without any fear at all, “What wasn’t seen doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist! I heard Eagleshot’s sound! My race has suffered a terrible loss of warriors because of Eagleshot! Old fool, have you ever heard a human below rank six using Eagleshot? I see that your castle is so humid that your wooden head has rotted!”
The baron was absolutely furious. Blood appeared on his eyes as he let out a low howl and revealed two pairs of long, bloodsucking fangs. The werewolves’ rank might not compare to the baron’s, but they had all bent their bodies and put on a battle stance. They were obviously not afraid to fight at all.
It was at this moment two arachne opened their mouths and said, “I would only be happy if you all wish to duel each other, but this is not the time! If we failed to complete our mission, no one would be able to justify themselves to their higher ups. There was already an accident in this battle in the first place. The cunning humans have invaded our war zone in advance. We shouldn’t be stopped in this b.l.o.o.d.y place either. Baron Mike, I suggest that you watch your tone. The Green Horse Tribe and us are not your subordinates. We worked with you only because we respect your strength. If you are unwilling, we can part ways and attack the city on our own at worst.”
The other arachne said coldly, “Both of our races lost many high ranking warriors, but you vampires didn’t lose much. This isn’t quite acceptable, is it? Is there another reason?”
The baron’s scarlet eyes narrowed as he asked coldly, “What reason?”
The arachne choked and stopped talking.
It was at this moment the werewolf leader said, “I need compensation. Give both of our races thirty origin grenades, and we will cut today’s losses off the book.”
The baron’s cheeks immediately twitched. A while later, he finally said through gritted teeth, “Fine!”
A vampire’s origin grenade was far more powerful than a human’s, but every one of these grenades were handmade and the amount of artisans with this level of skill were few, which resulted in low production. Even within the dark races, it wasn’t a luxury that a normal army could afford at all.
The baron’s eyes swept over everyone in the tent before he asked, “Who will be leading tonight’s attack?”
The tent suddenly fell silent. No one answered.
For whatever reason, an elite who could use Eagleshot had suddenly shown up in the human’s defense node. This person was a great threat to anyone below rank seven, and an unlucky rank six soldier might even be killed in a single shot. Moreover, that person had opened fire more than one time in that battle. Even if after considering the effects of the stimulant, the enemy was at least a rank six soldier.
No one was willing to face Eagleshot’s attacks while the situation was chaotic. The only choice left was the baron who was one step away from becoming a Champion.
Seeing that every gaze had been focused onto himself, the baron’s expression darkened as he said coldly, “If I went on the battlefield, what are you going to do if those human special force troops show up?”
The arachne and werewolves fell quiet after matching each other’s eyes once.
It had almost been a day since the battle had been sounded at Dongling Mountain Area last night. The entire mountain had been turned into a battlefield, and the situation was incredibly complex. The human race’s 55th Division closest to them was already pus.h.i.+ng toward them from the open battlefield one hundred kilometers away. The 58th Division on the other side had also begun to mobilize their men. This allied army was supposed to head another thirty kilometers to their original battle positions, but now they were stalled here for some unfathomable reason. The latest news from command claimed that several human special forces made up of Fighters completely had vanished from the deep regions of Dongling Mountain Area. Even the Wind Wolf Tribe had not been able to track their whereabouts and operation areas.
When the baron saw their expressions, he let out a snort and pointed at an arachne and a werewolf. He said, “Both of you will head into battle tonight! I will lay down the defense line at the perimeter. The warning zone of the human’s defenses is just a day of march away, so their reinforcements should arrive by tomorrow morning. I may not necessarily be able hold them back. The two of you have better take care of all troubles by tonight!”
The arachne and werewolf looked at each other before they exited in silence. The baron stayed inside the tent alone and was lost in thought as he stared at the map on the wall. His eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper. A vampire soldier brought in a gla.s.s of fresh blood and put it on the table. Then, he went out without a sound. However, the baron simply stared at the map and had even forgotten to taste his delicious drink.
His eyes fell neither on Earth Castle nor the direction of the human race’s reinforcements. He was looking at the other two dark race armies with eyes that were full of wariness and seriousness. The baron picked up a pen and made a few bright red marks on the map. It was a threat level that only he understood.
From the markings, it appeared that the threat of the human reinforcements was far paler than the other two dark race troops.
It was deep at night at the Yin Family’s other courtyard outside Xichang City.
Qiqi spared out a letter in front of her and read it twice in a row. Then, she called someone into the room.
A beautiful girl hastily ran in, then out.
A moment later, Ji Yuanjia walked over with swift steps. He was obviously resting already and not wearing a military uniform. He was wearing a narrow-sleeved, right overlapping collared long robe.
Before he could stand still, Qiqi immediately slammed him with a question, “Why would Qianye go to the mountain area at Earth Castle?”