Chapter Seventy-Nine: Transmission and Speculation

“How exactly did they die?”

Inside his tent—where Lank normally lived with more than a dozen soldiers, though they had all gone out for the moment—Lank stared at Telato, one of his subordinates. Telato’s face was haggard, his expression grief-stricken. Trembling, Lank asked the question.

“We were planning to come back.” Telato’s voice was filled with immense sorrow. “But then we suddenly received a mission order: we were to kill Gelu.”

“Gelu?”

“He’s the contractor Wuzhou sent to the ferry crossing. He was the one who brought the Han troops there and restored discipline. Otherwise, we would have been able to bring the soldiers at the crossing over to our side...”

“The reward was enormous—ten thousand contribution points. After accepting the mission, we planned the attack together with the Moonshadow team. But then... then everyone...”

“Why did you accept it?” Lank seized him by the shoulders and roared. “We defected once already, and our attributes were cut in half! Have you forgotten? The target was Wuzhou’s deputy commander, and he was in an enemy camp. Had you all gone mad?”

“It was a compulsory order...” Telato said helplessly. “The reward was very high, and it said that anyone who failed would be expelled from the camp. We had no choice but to carry it out...”

“A compulsory order?”

Lank began to tremble.

“A compulsory order!”

Could an order that sent his own subordinates to their deaths really have come from that man?

The terms he had offered for defection were generous. He had not forced them to join.

The missions he had given them were simple, and the rewards substantial. They required no fighting, and even with the reduced rewards for scenario missions, they would still earn more than ever before.

So would he force them to accept a mission?

Yes.

He was lenient over trivial matters, but ruthlessly strict when it came to anything important. On the battlefield, he would never spare soldiers. He would never care about sacrifice...

That was right. For the sake of ultimate victory, someone in any collective had to make sacrifices. Killing Gelu and taking the ferry crossing was crucial. The generous contribution reward was proportionate to the danger.

But they were his companions!

----

“They’ve set out!”

Eric rushed into the tent, shouting the news.

Gariville and Moronov turned toward him at the same time.

“Did they say where they were going?”

“No.” Eric answered between gasps. “They only ordered the entire army to march.”

“They’re probably going to join the main Han force and attack the revolutionary army from both sides.” Moronov looked at his commander. “Or perhaps they intend to take advantage of the revolutionary army’s weakened camp and launch a surprise attack. Should we follow them, or send word back?”

“Eric, you go back and deliver the report.” Gariville glanced at Moronov and Owen beside him. “Owen and I will march with the main force. We can split up afterward. Owen, once you determine their destination, return to headquarters and report at once. Moro, you stay here. If anything else happens at this camp... don’t bother informing us. Go directly back to headquarters and report.”

“What could happen?” Moronov shrugged. “Unless the main Yellow Turban force from the north comes attacking.”

“That won’t happen, will it?” Eric said in surprise. “The north should be the main battlefield...”

“Nothing that happens in this scenario would surprise me,” Gariville said. “Now that Han reinforcements have arrived, the pressure on the Yellow Turbans in the north has eased. If the scenario dictates that they attack the ferry crossing and destroy the Han army together with our forces, why should that surprise us?”

----

From a distance, the black-faced man could be seen staring in astonishment.

Before him, inside a house, a woman hung from a roof beam. Her fingers and toes had been cut off, all four limbs broken, and her teeth smashed out. She was still alive, struggling weakly and wailing as the fire burning beneath her scorched her body.

Earlier, Wright had heard the three men say that they were thirsty. They had apparently left the main force merely to ask for some water. He had followed them only because it was his duty. He had never expected to find a scene straight out of hell awaiting them.

The woman was being tortured by three or four ragged men. Dozens of bound people stood around watching—men and women, old and young alike, each wearing a different expression.

“What are you doing?” the black-faced man shouted angrily at the men before him, trying to stop them.

“These bandits took everything we owned when the rebels arrived. Our land, our houses, our clothes, our livestock, our wells...” The leader of the men stepped forward. “My whole family barely managed to hide. We had intended to flee. Fortunately, Lord Lu put down the rebellion. He instructed us that when dealing with bandits, we need show no mercy.”

The black-faced man opened his mouth, then finally turned to the person beside him.

“Brother, we joined the army to quell disorder and bring peace to the land—not to kill ordinary civilians!”

The man to whom he appealed, with enormous ears and unusually long arms, lowered his head, unable to answer.

“Brother.” The red-faced, long-bearded man beside them stepped forward.

“Let us go.”

Their leader let out a long sigh.

----

“What happened here is indeed utterly appalling,” he said after they had gone some distance. “But a true man must see his undertakings through to the end.”

“Once this battle is over, we will leave. There are Yellow Turbans causing trouble elsewhere as well. Those Yellow Turbans are bandits, unlike the people here, who are actually doing good. Destroying those men—that is what we truly wish to do.”

“Even if leaving means betraying Lord Lu, we will have no choice.”

Hearing this, Wright breathed a sigh of relief.

He could vaguely sense that this enemy was unusual.

After entering Wuzhou, he had encountered opponents whose financial resources were nearly equal to his own side’s. He had faced opponents skilled in strategy and deeply familiar with the scenario. He had even heard her speak of opponents blessed with impossibly good luck, and opponents whose skills were so powerful that they were almost impossible to counter.

Yet she had defeated them all.

This time, however, the enemy belonged to an entirely different category. Unlike their previous opponents, who simply followed the scenario’s course, these people were closely integrated with the natives and made full use of their strength.

At times, Wright even felt as though the enemy were not contractors at all, but natives who had always belonged to this world...

Of course, that was impossible. He had never heard of the Dimension admitting contractors from other eras. Such wild speculation served no purpose. His task was reconnaissance. As long as these people did not leave immediately, there was no problem.

He had no communicator with him, but this information was not urgent enough to justify spending universal points to transmit it at once. So Wright turned and left, heading to another location to gather further intelligence.

He had not been able to remain by her side lately. But there was nothing to be done. To deal with the formidable enemy before them, she had already exhausted herself—

How beautiful she looked when she was deep in thought!

The people in the team were base, deceitful, and ungrateful. Many of them were already seeking another way out. Even those few who appeared to support her were plotting in secret.

He had already told her all of this, yet she had endured it with extraordinary composure.

That was her bearing—the bearing of the commander of a team that had never known defeat!

Just as she had said, they would surely win. And in this difficult hour, what she needed most was his support.

Remembering her gentle smile, he lowered his head and became intoxicated by the thought of it, his face flushing crimson.