Chapter 1270: The Order of the Azure Dragon
Everyone reassembled into formation, but Yan Zhichun’s expression grew heavy.
She knew full well that this joint offensive wouldn’t actually affect Tianniu. Everything was a feint—a stealthy maneuver designed to break through the opponent’s “conviction.”
The “ants’” swarm was a diversion. Su Shan calling out coordinates was a diversion. Old Sun casually tossing out stones was also a diversion. Only Tianniu, believing she had spotted a flaw and revealing herself, followed by Black Sheep’s attack and everyone’s “Echoes,” was the true killing blow.
Yet even though they had made it so obvious, Tianniu only took the bait after several attacks.
“She’s even more sluggish than I thought…”
Su Shan stared with bloodshot eyes, scanning repeatedly, and soon locked onto Tianniu again.
“Yan Zhichun, what do you think…?” she asked, her expression slightly dazed. “Should I keep positioning?”
Yan Zhichun hesitated for a moment. The first layer of the killing move had already wounded Tianniu; now came the second layer. This was the method she had learned from White Sheep—using countless layers of feints to conceal the true killing blow. Each time the enemy believed the assault had ended, they would fall into the next wave of despair, exhausting their wits before suffering a crushing defeat, taking a full-body blow both mentally and physically.
Only this could truly be called “winning.”
Yan Zhichun glanced toward Jiang Ruoxue. Right now, Jiang Ruoxue was speaking with the old man who had been shoveling the ground. They were holding an eyeball, apparently still in negotiations.
“Tianniu can’t see through my plan. We can proceed,” Yan Zhichun said. “Give Ruoxue a little more time, and we’ll have an auto-tracking offensive ready.”
“Alright, got it.” Su Shan nodded blankly. She was about to call out Tianniu’s position again when, unexpectedly, Tianniu decided to resort to a last-ditch tactic at this critical moment.
A sonic vibration emanated from her direction, and a thunderous voice boomed out.
«Cargo hold under attack!!»
Without care for anything else, she unleashed an “amplification” and shouted toward the entrance.
«All idle Zodiacs, report to the cargo hold entrance immediately for reinforcements!!»
Many people covered their ears, waiting for the deafening sound to fade. Among them, a few locked onto Tianniu’s position using her “amplification” and continued launching fierce attacks with their “Echoes.”
In the invisible chaos, Tianniu let out a few muffled groans, seemingly injured again. Yet she seemed to have her own plan now. Instead of dodging, she kept shouting for help.
«Even if I die, I must destroy that entrance!! I cannot let the ants enter the passenger cars!!»
More and more “Echoes” began flying toward Tianniu’s location. Tianniu knew she couldn’t hold out much longer. The breath of death was closing in, and she felt as though something had seized her heart once more.
A thought that had never crossed her mind began to surface—
“Are we going to lose?”
Was these people’s ultimate goal to “free the ants”?
The move they were playing was far riskier than she had imagined.
At this very moment, her heart was being squeezed, her body swelling, her hands growing invisible stones, her feet sinking into water. If she only had one sentence to say… which sentence could turn the tide?
Yes, there was only one sentence left.
Tianniu thought for a second, then shouted loudly:
«This is the order of the Azure Dragon! Everyone must comply!!»
After saying that, she ceased her voice, and with her body aching from injuries, she moved quickly, retreating from everyone’s attack range.
For some reason, she felt as though she had been fighting alone all along. The “Zodiacs” on the “train” outnumbered the “participants” several times over—so why was she trapped in this situation of fighting solo?
Could it be that the “Zodiacs” on other fronts were busy overwhelming the “participants” with sheer numbers, leaving her short-handed here?
Tianniu quickly assessed the current situation. The only thing she could do for the Azure Dragon was to protect the “cargo hold.” The coming battle wasn’t difficult; as long as the “Zodiacs” united to block the cargo hold exit, they wouldn’t even need a “Celestial Level.” A group of “Earth Level” and “Human Level” would suffice to keep the cargo hold secure. Even if she died, the “rebels” would have no way to escape.
With that, the “participants’” vanguard mission would fail, and the plans connected to it would be affected. The “Zodiacs” would have time to regroup, using their absolute advantage in strength and numbers to wipe out the “participants” one by one.
After all, the “Celestial Levels” and the Azure Dragon himself were still stationed here. If someone like her could come up with this level of tactical command, wouldn’t the Azure Dragon, the other “Celestial Levels,” and the “Earth Levels” think of the same thing?
The chance of losing this battle was too small.
Even though she had falsely conveyed the Azure Dragon’s order, a commander in the field may overrule the sovereign’s orders. This was all to suppress the rebellion—she would have to explain herself later.
Just as Tianniu finished her calculations, she saw the horde of “ants” charging at her again. She had no choice but to resume evading.
She had taken quite a few hits during the previous assault, and her dodging was growing more sluggish. But now she dared not attack the man who summoned stones again—she feared there were more traps waiting for her.
Seeing this, Yan Zhichun had to revise her tactics. While directing Su Shan, she issued orders to Zhou Mo: “Their ‘reinforcements’ will be here soon. Have Aunt Tong and Luo Shiyi, who can’t help directly here, take five people to support the exit. But don’t show yourselves yet—just observe and wait.”
Aunt Tong and Luo Shiyi knew this was essentially a suicide mission. At the critical moment, they might have to sacrifice their lives to guard that door. But neither hesitated. They led a few “Extreme Paths” and slipped away from the square amid the chaos.
Perhaps even Tianniu hadn’t expected that the “Azure Dragon’s order” would be so effective. Since the cargo hold door wasn’t closed, her enormous voice traveled from the lower level into the corridors, echoing in the ears of every “Zodiac” along the way.
All across the “train,” the “Earth Level” and “Human Level” Zodiacs who had been standing by or wandering around heard the colossal sound and began to move reluctantly.
After all, this was the first time since the rebellion began that they had clearly heard an order from the Azure Dragon.
Near the head of the train, Zodiacs trickled toward the cargo hold in twos and threes.
Though Tianniu’s words had been spoken with great righteousness, most people didn’t really care whether she lived or died. They only picked up one piece of information: “destroy the entrance.”
At the cargo hold door, Renhou stood with a group of Dihu’s students, looking worried outside the door. They had clearly heard Tianniu’s “amplification,” and now footsteps were echoing from all directions along the corridor—clearly a large number of people were heading their way.
“What do we do…?” one Rengou asked Renhou.
“Turn around, face the door,” Renhou said sternly. “If you have a mask, put it on. There’s not much we can do—just stall as long as we can.”