Book 4, Chapter 155: Charge!
Book 4, Chapter 155: Charge!
On the wide plains, the imperial army’s strategists soon calculated several routes that the person with the artifact could possibly take to head back to the Great Shun Republic’s military base, based on where the light was. They also came up with a plan.
Once central command reviewed and agreed to it, they sent a telegram to all battalions and mobilized the artillery guns scattered across the area.
In just a few hours, the mules dragged the artillery guns over to new locations and set up multiple artillery positions. Hot air balloons also rose into the air.
This time, they had mobilized more than four hundred light and heavy artillery. However, since they were spread all over the wide plains, each artillery position didn’t actually have a lot of artillery guns.
When the time came, the scouts in the hot air balloons above each position and the scouts in the airships would identify and lock onto the target. Once he got into firing range, they would begin bombing him from a distance.
In certain positions, like the paths the person had to take to go to the Great Shun Republic’s military base, they set up multiple well-hidden sturdy forts. Each of them had plenty of large-caliber, heavy artillery guns.
They had never used these places before, so they had never been exposed. If the person with the artifact somehow made it past the initial artillery fire and got onto the path their artillery guns were already trained on, they would blast him without any hesitation.
***
Chen Chuan rushed out of the undeveloped area and arrived on the plains. There were forests and rivers of various sizes around here, and the terrain was uneven, so it wasn’t as if there was no cover here.
Strictly speaking, while this place was no longer seen as part of the undeveloped area, most of the region remained dangerous. Only a few paths that were already explored were different.
If Chen Chuan continued forward day and night without stopping, he would make it back in at most two days.
Just then, the sky turned dark at the drop of a hat. The merged space entered night time, but with the artifact’s light protecting him, Chen Chuan didn’t have to deal with any strange situations.
Before this, while he was drawing the ritual array, his horses had been resting, so he had no intention of stopping and simply continued onward.
Around two hours later, he heard propellers above him. An airship had appeared, and its light shone down. Although the artifact emitted light, those above couldn’t see Chen Chuan clearly. All they saw was a halo, the shape of a person, and a horse.
The telegraph clerk in the airship immediately sent a report.
We’re close to the target. He’s headed from Zone B, Grid 38 to Zone C, Grid 56. Target moving between Rabbit Grade [1], Level 2 and 3.
There was an artillery position nearby. Even though they couldn’t see Chen Chuan due to the terrain, they immediately started firing at the coordinates provided by the airship and the shining light.
As if he sensed it, Chen Chuan looked up and saw a ball of fire exploding nearby. It was followed by another ball. He could see more of them coming from a distance, along with hearing a continuous string of explosions.
But he remained unmoved. With body-hardening-type refined forces and his second self, as long as the artillery shells didn’t hit him directly, they weren’t too much of a threat.
Besides, the chances of him being hit directly in such a large area were just too low. Even if one got uncomfortably close, his mind would alert him ahead of time, and he could avoid it.
Horses, on the other hand, would often mess up in such situations. Fortunately, the dragon-nose horses were merged space creatures and were trained to survive on the battlefield. Hence, even when they heard cannon fire, they didn’t panic and simply continued galloping.
When the occasional shrapnel or shattered dirt blocks hit the horses, their tough skins protected them from being pierced.
Chen Chuan watched for a moment and found that the artillery shells weren’t trying to kill him, but to herd him a certain route, which meant that it was highly likely that there were greater traps waiting for him in the places without the artillery shells. Hence, even though he seemed to be in danger right now, he was actually safe.
But he couldn’t let his guard down. After some thinking, he leaned down and snapped the reins. The dragon-nose horse understood his intention and sped up.
The pack horses couldn’t keep up, though.
If he lost them, so be it. Chen Chuan was carrying all the important things. Besides, with the artifact around, he didn’t need to care about nighttime, his tent, and other things. The small mobile domain entity, Thunder Cannon, and other things could be lost as well.
Dawncall was following far behind him. As long as it remained within the light’s vicinity, it wouldn’t be found. No one would notice this slightly unusual Bird Reptile in the wide plains.
While galloping forward, Chen Chuan suddenly noticed a low and seemingly large forested area ahead of him. It looked like the perfect place to avoid artillery fire, but Chen Chuan didn’t go in. Instead, he tugged at the reins and bypassed it.
The forest had more than ten machine guns in different positions. If Chen Chuan had gotten close, they would have immediately started firing. But since he turned away, they couldn’t do anything about it.
In order to not have their trap seen through instantly, they didn’t set their machine gun positions on high terrain, which meant that their shooting distance wasn’t far. Even if they fired, they wouldn’t be able to hit Chen Chuan, so all they could do was watch him leave.
Yet even if he avoided this trap, the attacks from elsewhere never stopped. Aside from the artillery shells exploding behind him, he also heard rustling sounds coming from the forest. A large flock of merged space birds swarmed at him.
Chen Chuan’s gaze sharpened. If he didn’t need to lure the martial arts master out, he would have forgone conserving his stamina and run at full speed, but now, he needed to continue at this speed. He cast a glance at the birds flying over and released his mental energy.
The birds froze for a moment and fell from the sky.
The military officers at the artillery positions behind Chen Chuan were following him through their binoculars. When they saw this, they sucked in deep breaths. Then, the scouts brought the data to them, and they were even more shocked.
The scouts had made predictions based on the area where the birds collapsed and found that Chen Chuan’s mental energy could cover an astonishing seven hundred meters or more. Since he was currently moving forward, he was definitely thinking about conserving his stamina, so this was unlikely to be his full strength.
The military officers who understood what this meant exchanged looks and saw surprise in each other’s eyes. After all, regular Third Limit martial artists could only cover an area of four hundred meters with their mental attacks. Those who could cover an area of more than five hundred meters all had a place on the world stage. As for seven hundred meters... that was a whole other level.
It was no wonder why he was the one who ended up with the artifact.
They felt quite fortunate. Practically none of the elite ambushers had made it back, and they were sure that it was because of this person. The military officers hadn’t been strong enough to be picked for the elite ambushing unit, and now, they also didn’t need to approach this person.
***
The informants in the imperial army alerted the Great Shun Republic’s military base and the World Ring Defense System about the commotion in the merged space’s plains.
A communications officer in the command division showed his face on the screen in the World Ring Defense System and said excitedly, “Special Officer Liang, our informants sent word. They’ve confirmed that the one who broke out of the encirclement with the artifact is Lead Investigator Chen! He’s currently headed toward us!”
When Liang Guanghai heard this, he wasn’t as calm as he presented himself to be. He knew perfectly well just how difficult it was to get the artifact, so he hadn’t expected their side to get it.
“What about the others? Where’s Lao Xu’s group? Any word from them?” he asked gravely.
“We haven’t received any updates from Captain Xu’s group,” the communications officer said with regret in his voice.
Liang Guanghai was silent for a while before saying, “No matter what, we can’t let the artifact end up in the imperial army’s hands.
“Summon all commanding officers in the military base for a meeting. They are to arrive within five minutes. It’s an order.”
The communications officer saluted him and shouted his response loudly.
In less than three minutes, all the commanding officers at the frontlines showed up on the screen.
“I’m sure that you already know the situation. I need you to come up with a plan to make sure we get the artifact and keep Lead Investigator Chen safe,” Liang Guanghai ordered sternly.
A moment later, a commanding officer said, “I believe that we should attack the imperial army once the sky turns bright tomorrow. This will provide cover for Lead Investigator Chen.
“The only issue is that our soldiers are in a standoff with the imperial army. We can’t just rush them. We could split up our forces for a pincer attack, but that would weaken our defenses at the military base. Sir, for safety’s sake, we need to mobilize a unit from the army stationed in Central City.”
The other commanding officers agreed. They had been in a standoff with the imperial army for a long time, so they knew each other well, and it was impossible for them to deploy any units in secret. They needed numbers. If they had more than twice the number of soldiers compared to the imperial army, they would have a chance of breaking the standoff.
Just as Liang Guanghai was about to say something, he heard a chime from his Realm Pass, and his assistant said, “Sir, a special agent from the headquarters said that there’s an emergency, and he needs to see you right now.”
Liang Guanghai was taken aback.
Now?
He thought of something and put the meeting on hold for the time being before walking to the reception room.
An average-sized, bespectacled man with an average face was waiting for him. Once he saw Liang Guanghai, he saluted him and took out a stack of documents from his briefcase. “Special Officer Liang, these are documents headquarters sent to you. Please read them,” he said while handing them over.
Liang Guanghai took the documents and skimmed through them. Shock appeared in his eyes. A moment later, he sucked in a deep breath and gave the special agent a nod. “I understand. I have some urgent matters to take care of right now. Please excuse me.”
He had his assistant host the special agent while he returned to the meeting room. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have noticed that his footsteps were steady and firm.
Liang Guanghai looked at the commanding officers and said, “I’ll mobilize the unit. This is an important matter, so I’ll give you complete authorization. Ensure Lead Investigator Chen’s safety, but otherwise fight at will.”
1. of the 12 earthly branches ☜