[V6C5 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

Although Bai Longjia’s talents weren’t as brilliant as Bai Aotu, it was still a first-cla.s.s gift. He had also joined the army at a young age and grew up in the Broken-Winged Angels, a talented soldier capable of both charging on the front lines as well as leading troops. He was deeply valued by the Bai clan.

Although it wasn’t apparent on the surface, the Bai clan had long since made preparations for this b.l.o.o.d.y battle with Bai Longjia managing military affairs in secret. He focused only on commanding the battles against the dark races, and hardly paid any attention to hara.s.sing the other families. At most, he would a.s.sign some squads to cooperate with Bai Aotu whenever she sent word.

Bai Longjia treated this b.l.o.o.d.y battle with great importance. The elders in the clan had promised before the battle that should he perform remarkably here, they would fully support him for his advancement in the Broken-Winged Angels. This would allow him to contest the first deputy corps commander position. Barring a major blunder of some sort, the person holding this position was almost certain to be the next corps commander.

His present combat strength had already reached official standards. What he lacked were acc.u.mulated military contributions and connections. Only by becoming the deputy commander of one of the empire’s ten greatest elite corps could he be considered to have crossed the threshold to the upper echelons of the of the imperial military.

Bai Longjia observed the sand table with a solemn expression. He could see by means of the small flags therein that over twelve Zhao clan squads were in action. This number was far smaller than the Song clan’s sixty or so squads, but they were greatly superior in terms of individual combat strength.

Now that the Iron Curtain was unstable, the situation around this b.l.o.o.d.y battle could change drastically at a moment’s notice. Bai Longjia had already decided to put this new war zone into operation with the greatest speed because, in addition to the four units already operating in the area, there were six more squads that had been outfitted and would arrive the next few days. At the same time, there were over ten units undergoing preparations and would be able to join the battlefield not long afterwards.

Before long, this new war zone would be populated with over half of the Bai clan’s army. However, Bai Longjia’s ambitions didn’t stop here. He had borrowed resources from the clan and utilized his connections in the army to expand his combat squads. In the end, they were almost catching up to the Song clan.

With the Song clan squads’ combat strength and the support of the Broken-Winged Angels, Bai Longjia was prepared to kick the Song clan off in the shortest time and occupy the first place on the military contribution rankings. This would serve to prove the Bai clan’s foundations and his ability to lead troops.

Bai Longjia had lofty ambitions akin to a rainbow, but things in this world rarely went as one planned. The latest reports were updated one by one as the staff officer moved the indicators about. Bai Longjia suddenly discovered that out of the three squads he had dispatched to the Zhao clan war zone, one had been routed, and the other had gone completely missing, which meant that it had been wiped out. The only surviving unit was at the border region and still moving outward. Apparently, it was fortunate enough to survive because of its remote location.

This was a serious blow to them. Bai Longjia’s eyes erupted with a bright gleam as he said, “Wait a minute, what’s going on over there?”

The affairs in that war zone weren’t Bai Longjia’s responsibility, but he knew why these three units had been dispatched across the border. It wasn’t to hunt dark races, but instead to restrict and suppress the Zhao clan. Moreover, these three units were the finest the Bai clan had to offer in terms of combat strength—now, they had been badly damaged, and the actual losses would surely exceed the numbers on paper.

In addition to the three Bai clan units, there was also a Zhang clan unit and many others from other aristocratic families. In total, there were over ten units worth of soldiers operating there, almost equal in number to the Zhao clan’s own troops. The most important part was that they had reportedly reached a mutual understanding with the dark races. The other faction would supposedly attack the Zhao clan in full force while working together with the other armies.

Although Bai Longjia was instinctively against working with the dark races, it wasn’t within his authority to interfere with these affairs. From what he knew, even Bai Aotu wasn’t the true commander there. There was some other person engineering the entire war.

But in any case, the three dispatched forces were all elites and descendants of the Bai clan. Now that most of them had been lost, even Bai Longjia felt his heart ache.

The staff officer couldn’t answer Bai Longjia’s inquiry because there were no details on the report. The information from that side was like this all along—only results and no details.

Bai Longjia broke into a frown as he recalled a certain matter. “What are Zhao Jundu’s movements?”

Now, this information was something they had. The staff officer replied, “The latest reports state that Zhao Jundu went deep into dark race territory some time ago and only reappeared recently. These are his last known coordinates before he went into the Dark Nation.”

The staff officer pointed out Zhao Jundu’s location on the sand table as well as the area from which he entered the Dark Nation. But all of the officers lost their voices after the locations were pointed out.

Bai Longjia’s heart jumped violently.

He could see on the sand table that Zhao Jundu had traveled more or less in a straight line. He set out from the Zhao clan war zone and cut straight into the Dark Nation. All units in his path had disappeared, including a Bai clan squad.

Zhao Jundu stayed in the Dark Nation for ten days or so, and the report for this period was blank. However, Bai Longjia discovered something abnormal with the situation between the two factions in that area.

“The vampires in that war zone retreated after Zhao Jundu’s reappearance? If I remember correctly, the vampires should be the main force in that area,” Bai Longjia asked.

“Yes, the vampires from the twelve ancient clans all disappeared. Some reports say that they’ve retreated back to the Dark Nation.”

The truth was more or less unveiled after piecing the reports together. The dark races would only yield to the strong. It was impossible for them to retreat unless Zhao Jundu had inflicted enough damage on them, or it could even be that they could no longer bear the losses.

It was just that this truth made Bai Longjia go silent for a while. He then said with a sigh, “He’s a G.o.d of death!”

The atmosphere in the command room became extremely oppressive. Moments later, Bai Longjia broke the silence to continue asking, “How about Bai Kongzhao? Where is she operating?”

The staff office pointed to the sand table and said, “The most recent information we received was ten days ago. She appeared in this area to join a battle. There’s no more information on her thereafter.”

Bai Kongzhao’s movements have always been unfathomable, and from time to time, even Bai Aotu couldn’t grasp her whereabouts. Bai Longjia had already gotten used to this. Looking at her area of operation, the girl had completely skirted around Zhao Jundu’s a.s.sault path into the Dark Nation. Even Bai Longjia couldn’t help but admire her for this.

The staff officer continued updating the sand table after the Zhao clan war zone report had been a.n.a.lyzed. Bai Longjia’s eyes turned austere as he said, “Wait a minute, why is there an empty area here?”

Another blank area had appeared on the sand table from which there were no reports. Moreover, several of their allied combat squads had also vanished completely.

Even a dumb person would understand what this meant. An unstoppable expert had likely charged in all the way, sweeping through everything in his wake. All obstacles in his way had been casually eliminated.

Bai Longjia’s expression was heavy as he shouted, “Didn’t we send General Liu over there?”

The staff officers didn’t dare reply.

General Liu’s name was Liu Xiangyun, a brigadier general from Broken-Winged Angel and Bai Longjia’s subordinate. Bai Longjia had somewhat abused the authority of his position for this b.l.o.o.d.y battle and mobilized several subordinates and comrades from Broken-Winged Angel. With both imperial contributions and bountiful Bai clan rewards to earn, these people were naturally quite happy to take part in this battle.

Liu Xiangyun had already been gone for several days and should’ve returned long ago.

It was at this time that footsteps rang out outside of the war room. A guard rushed in and said hurriedly, “General Liu has just returned to camp, and he’s badly injured.”

“What? Bring me over to him!” Bai Longjia shot up and followed the guard in a hurry.

An extremely pale Liu Xiangyun was lying on the bed in the medical department with several doctors working busily around him. But judging from their anxious demeanor, they were somewhat helpless.

Bai Longjia became furious after seeing this. “What’s going on?”

Liu Xiangyun’s aura was faint, but he was still spirited. Seeing Bai Longjia enter, he said with a slight nod, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing major—just an injured qi vortex. I’ll be fine after a couple of month’s rest. Sigh, we’ve met a true expert. Fortunately, he didn’t want to kill me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to return.”

Bai Longjia revealed a cold intent as he asked with a cold voice, “Who is this person?”

Liu Xianyun replied, “A human. I couldn’t last ten moves against him. Even until the end, I was never able to make him draw that heavy sword on his back.”

Bai Longjia frowned. “That powerful?”

Liu Xiangyun was a rank-eleven champion, but a general of Broken-Winged Angel inevitably possessed superior combat strength surpa.s.sing his level. Even Bai Longjia’s combat strength after his rank-suppression under the Iron Curtain was only one level higher than the former’s.

Liu Xiangyun laughed wryly, “This person uses military combat techniques, but his every punch is backed by world-shaking might. I simply couldn’t fend him off. As I see it, no one else under the Iron Curtain might be able to contend against him.”

After saying these words, Liu Xiangyun grew visibly weaker. Bai Longjia patted the latter’s hand and said, “You rest well now. Describe this person’s appearance for me tomorrow. I want to see just what kind of person would be so bold as to hurt people from our Bai clan!”

Liu Xiangyun hesitated for a moment before saying, “I saw the Zhao clan’s insignia on his body.”

Bai Longjia’s frown grew even deeper. “Zhao clan? But isn’t Zhao Jundu in his own war zone?”

Liu Xiangyun shook his head. “It’s not Zhao Jundu. That person had a tactical mask on all the time, but I have a feeling that he’s not very old.”

Bai Longjia’s expression sank somewhat because this reply was even worse. The Zhao clan had produced yet another unbeatable young expert in addition to Zhao Jundu. After listening to Liu Xiangyun’s description, Bai Longjia couldn’t help but recall the figure who had, one month ago, wiped out a Bai clan patrol squad near the Trinity River War Zone.

Bai Longjia’s platinum pupils contracted slowly. Then, he said slowly, “Old Liu, rest well. I’ll take action tomorrow and find this man personally.”

Liu Xiangyun hesitated for a while before finally saying, “General, forgive my frank words. Under the Iron Curtain, you…”

Liu Xiangyun’s words were never concluded, but Bai Longjia had already understood his meaning. The two were comrades who knew each other through and through. Apparently, Liu Xiangyun wasn’t too optimistic about this trip.

It was at this time that another staff officer ran over hurriedly. He approached Bai Longjia and said in a whisper, “General, we received some news just now. We’ve lost contact with the settlement on Dragonthorn Mountain. There’s also no information on the entire combat unit stationed there.”

Bai Longjia almost immediately connected the locations of Dragonthorn Mountain and the other missing combat units, forming an almost straight line which pa.s.sed through the entire war zone and pointed toward zone A3.

Bai Longjia calmed down instead after seeing things had developed to this point. The killing intent in his platinum eyes was gradually retracted, and he began pondering with a frown on his face.

Liu Xiangyun had been in the army for a long time and naturally knew the significance of Dragonthorn Mountain’s fall. He forced himself to sit up and said, “Longjia, since he’s from the Zhao clan, it’s possible that he’ll come for revenge. You must make preparations in advance.”