Chapter 27: Psychological Shadow Area
Within the Sun Kingdom, capital city Morninglight, central district.
In a majestic hall, this was the Divine Court, the center of faith for the Sun Kingdom, as well as the military command center.
Inside the great hall, priests hurried past, their expressions far from pleasant.
In a certain office.
Thump, thump, thump…
A figure leaned back in a leather chair, a hot towel covering his face, his fingers lightly tapping the desk before him.
The light in front of the desk twisted, and a phantom figure appeared.
“I told you, unless it’s necessary, don’t come looking for me.”
The man with the hot towel over his face spoke.
“Aren’t we pulling out yet?”
The phantom figure emitted a female voice.
“No rush. Coordinating from within and without is the best choice. You came to me—did those madmen do something else outrageous?”
“Uh… yes.”
The female phantom sounded somewhat helpless.
“What did they do?”
The man in the leather chair pulled the hot towel off his face, revealing an ordinary, unremarkable visage. He was Qing Yan.
“Solomon stormed into that neighboring medium-sized country. You can imagine the destructive power of that cannon platform.”
“Just that?”
Qing Yan frowned. Many of his subordinates were also crazy types, so Solomon’s actions didn’t surprise him.
“The Ghost Lady… castrated one of our own contractors…”
“Go on.”
Qing Yan massaged his temples.
“Gulu… kidnapped five Sanctuary Paradise contractors in the Eastern War Zone and is now preparing to demand a ransom.”
“…”
The veins on Qing Yan’s forehead bulged.
“These matters… are trivial.”
“But… there’s a contractor named Old Smoke who started a rebel army within the Geya Alliance.”
“Rebel army?”
The old schemer Qing Yan clearly couldn’t figure out what kind of bizarre move this was.
“The numbers have already exceeded 3,000. Their rebellion is against the Sun Kingdom. That rebel army is fearless, fighting bravely on the battlefield. Even stranger, that guy named Old Smoke doesn’t seem to want to establish independence. Although the Geya Alliance will deal with him sooner or later, they won’t make a move in the near future. Right now, he’s a vanguard force—the kind that dies the fastest.”
“This… barely… counts as a good thing.”
Qing Yan seemed unwilling to deal with Old Smoke.
“Among those being rebelled against is our Nu Chuan Adventure Group.”
“?”
Qing Yan was puzzled. Though he was a schemer, he sometimes couldn’t fathom the thought processes of madmen.
“The specific reason is unclear. That’s about it.”
“Dismissed.”
Qing Yan wanted some peace. He had a heart full of worries—not only scheming against Sanctuary Paradise but also keeping an eye on Apocalypse Paradise, while his own people constantly gave him surprises.
“The final stage still relies on those people: Gulu, Solomon, Old Smoke, Night of Decapitation. If these people could unite…”
Qing Yan let out a bitter laugh. He himself felt it was unlikely. In terms of overall combat power, Reincarnation Paradise was the strongest—there was no doubt about that. Those who could climb to the fourth rank in such a harsh environment couldn’t be compared to Sanctuary’s fence-sitting divine sticks or Apocalypse’s greenhouse flowers.
Reincarnation Paradise’s biggest problem wasn’t combat power but internal disunity. What Qing Yan had to do was unite the contractors of Reincarnation Paradise. This seemed selfless, but Qing Yan had his own goals.
…
Gova Fei Canyon. Su Xiao pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it into a nearby temporary trench.
Boom!
After the explosion, silence fell on Su Xiao’s position. This routed force of the Sun Kingdom couldn’t withstand the morale-boosted soldiers of the Geya Alliance.
Five minutes ago, the area had been bombarded. Su Xiao was lucky—no shells fell on his head. He felt the Goddess’s Favor ability was at work. In the past, there was a 60% or higher chance that shells would land right beside him.
“Ready?”
Su Xiao looked at his little assistant. She gave a thumbs-up, indicating she was done.
A moment later, a rifle was raised, with a white cloth hanging from it. As it turned out, a white flag of surrender worked in many worlds.
The little assistant shook the rifle. Before she even showed her face, over a dozen hands shot up from the nearby trench—Sun Kingdom soldiers.
“Cease fire!”
A loud shout came from below the valley.
“Drop your weapons. Crawl out of the trench.”
Su Xiao placed his hand on the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash, ready to use the Dragon Shadow Flash ability at any moment.
Seeing Su Xiao and the little assistant emerge from the trench, those dozen or so Sun Kingdom soldiers also crawled out.
Hundreds of Geya Alliance soldiers charged up from the valley below. In a firefight with the high ground advantage, the Sun Kingdom was already routed, showing how low their morale had sunk. All they could do now was retreat.
A few minutes later, Su Xiao, the little assistant, and those dozen Sun Kingdom soldiers were completely surrounded.
“Woman, you surrendered first.”
One of the Sun Kingdom soldiers spoke, perhaps unwilling to bear the blame for actively surrendering.
“I am Betty Annette of the Second Corps, Third Division, Twelfth Regiment. This is my identification.”
The little assistant pulled out her ID from her pocket. A sergeant took it and verified its authenticity.
“Why were you mixed in with the enemy?”
The sergeant didn’t immediately return the ID.
“We were ordered to infiltrate behind enemy lines. This is Second Corps, Third Division, Special Situation Emergency and Cleanup Strategic Forces Private First Class, with the rank of Second Lieutenant.”
The sergeant was momentarily stunned by the lengthy unit name, then realized—this was the Kill Squad!
“This is my officer’s certificate.”
Su Xiao handed his officer’s certificate to the sergeant. After being released from prison, Skain had given him this.
“Sir, hello. I am Second Corps…”
The sergeant gave a standard military salute. Su Xiao outranked him by several grades.
The dozen Sun Kingdom soldiers stared blankly at the scene. The little assistant even waved at them, showing her little fangs with a mischievous grin.
The dozen unlucky prisoners were tied together in a line. Su Xiao and the little assistant sat by a fire, eating compressed rations.
The battle situation was somewhat unexpected. According to intelligence from the forward reconnaissance unit, the Sun Kingdom’s forces were retreating. They had been beaten badly, but their losses weren’t as severe as imagined.
Judging by the Sun Kingdom’s movements, they clearly intended to withdraw from the Lan Chuan War Zone and station themselves at the Sun Kingdom’s border.
Su Xiao’s personal war main quest hadn’t failed. Not only that, but the initial difficulty of this quest had significantly decreased. At least crossing the war zone wasn’t as dangerous as before.
The problem was, once all Sun Kingdom forces were stationed at the border, it would be even harder for Su Xiao to infiltrate the Sun Kingdom.
Fighting at their doorstep made later supply lines and tactical arrangements much simpler. Moreover, the Sun Kingdom’s border had heavy defensive equipment, like war fortresses, trenches built with concrete and spiral steel.
The Geya Alliance, on the other hand, had to charge to the enemy’s doorstep, putting immense pressure on their supply lines.
After about ten minutes of rest, Su Xiao’s company continued marching forward, crossing the scorched earth that had endured years of artillery fire.
The march went smoothly. The Sun Kingdom’s forces had no desire to engage the Geya Alliance. Along the way, they often saw empty military camps, some with fires still burning, abandoned in haste.