Book 3, Chapter 204: Change

This team was made entirely of warriors. The Iron Monster and his right- and left-hand men were royally appointed warriors, while the rest were all cavalry. In new era terms, they were all Second Limit martial artists.

Each of them wore three layers of protective gear. The innermost layer was a protective vest. After it came armor and a stab proof robe, which made them practically impervious to normal bullets and weapons.

All of them had five chained spears tied to their backs. They could be used to attack enemies and climb over obstacles.

The group passed through the sparse barbed wire and narrower trenches at the back of the fort. They used their chained spears to get over the wider trenches.

Once they were by the wall, all they needed to do was to throw their spears over, and they could climb up. The entire process did not take much time.

They had scouted out the situation inside the fort a long time ago. They knew the structure and the distribution of manpower. They also had planned outwhere they were supposed to enter and what they needed to do once they were inside.

***

Chen Chuan was sitting in his room gathering blood essence and building his mental foundation when he sensed something and opened his eyes to check his watch.

It was 4:30 a.m..

He grabbed the Frost King Saber and walked out.

When he looked out from the observation platform, he found that it was still dark outside. The searchlights outside swung back and forth near the walls, but everything further away was devoured by darkness. He couldn’t see anything.

Chen Chuan continued onward. He pushed open a door to enter the corridor and went to a narrow platform. He then stood there in silence.

Around half an hour passed, and the sky started turning bright, but there was still no sound from below, as if everything was normal.

Just then, he received an alarm on his Realm Pass from the patrol team. They had discovered something.

Chen Chuan immediately moved to the place from which the alarm had been issued. When he arrived, Hai Cheng was already there and talking to the two patrol guards. One of them was pointing while making his report.

When Chen Chuan looked over, he saw long spears pinned to the wall. Some of them were close to the top of the wall. A martial artist would be able to use them to do a flip and enter the fort.

At that moment, they heard hurried footsteps. The others rushed over after receiving the alarm. When Rao Qili saw the spears, fear and excitement thundered in his heart. “They’re here!”

“Are you sure it’s them?” Chen Chuan asked.

“It’s them. I recognize those spears, but they wouldn’t have been able to pass through the defenses in the front so easily. There would have been some noise. I think they came in through the back,” Hai Cheng said with certainty.

“The back, huh?”

Rao Qili immediately connected all the dots together and figured out the Iron Monster’s strategy. This proved that his judgment had been right. The Iron Monster had indeed come for Fort 73.

A moment later, he frowned as he stared at the spears. “But if they’re already here, why…”

***

The cavalry troops had already retreated to their original position.

A well-built warrior went to the Iron Monster and asked in puzzlement, “Commandant, why did you tell us to retreat? We were already at the wall. The moment we got in, we’d have been able to conquer the fort!”

The Iron Monster said nothing. He just stared at the fort as if waiting for something.

***

Soon, the sky turned bright, and the world in the distance grew clear.

As if Chen Chuan had noticed something, he looked over and stepped away from the crowd. He then went to the edge of the corridor and looked out.

Approximately two kilometers away was a man sitting on a horse. He wore a crimson iron mask, and on his saddle was a long spear with a white feather ornament.

There was no one else beside him. He sat alone on his horse.

“That’s the Iron Monster, isn’t it?”

Yuan Qiuyuan also saw him. He went over to Chen Chuan and took a closer look. “Judging by the distance, we won’t be able to hit him with machine guns.”

He turned to Hai Cheng. “Sentry Hai, can you fire a shot at him with the cannon?”

Hai Cheng stood with his arms crossed. He shook his head and said, “There’s no point wasting our energy like that. We tried before, but the Iron Monster seems to have a special ability. Before we can fire the shot, he moves out of the line of fire.

“He seems to be able to predict danger.

“That’s why he’s so difficult to take down and why we haven’t been able to capture him. Plenty of other royally appointed warriors invaded us in the past, but none were as difficult as he is.”

“Pity.” Yuan Qiuyuan sighed.

Just then, they saw the Iron Monster tilting his head, and they heard a loud gunshot from nearby.

When Yuan Qiuyuan looked over, he saw Qin Qingque holding a halberd rifle. She seemed to be puzzled that the Iron Monster had been able to avoid her shot.

Chen Chuan stood still with his saber in hand as he stared at their enemy. The Iron Monster cast a glance at him before pulling the reins to turn his horse around and ride into the distance. A moment later, he disappeared into the forest.

Rao Qili walked over and said with a frown. “The Iron Monster must have planned to conquer the fort last night. I don’t understand why he didn’t do it. Was it because he noticed that we were here?”

Chen Chuan considered it before asking, “Does the Intelligence Department have any information about his ability to predict danger?”

With a stern expression, Rao Qili said, “Yes, but we don’t have accurate information about its extent. It’s not as if we can’t make any plans just because we don’t know, though.

“But based on this situation, his ability to predict danger is stronger than I expected. We need to be even more careful now.”

Then, he sighed. “We didn’t manage to catch him off guard. With how cautious he is, I don’t think he’s going to come here so readily again.”

“That might not necessarily be the case. I’ve read through the information you gave me, and it said that he finds joy in conquering difficult places. He often even takes the initiative to head to dangerous places. I think he’s able to go where he pleases precisely because of his ability. That’s why I don’t think he’s going to give up so easily.”

While they were watching each other, Chen Chuan had seen a challenging, stubborn look in the Iron Monster’s eyes. Chen Chuan was pretty sure that the attack on Fort 73 hadn’t ended just yet.

“Even so, we’re going to have a hard time taking him out if he doesn’t come into the fort. We can’t do anything to him in the wild,” Rao Qili said tentatively.

“That’s not necessarily the case. I don’t think he’s figured out the extent of our strength. Once he learns that the Command Center only sent a single unit here as reinforcements, he’s going to use every trick in his book to lure us out,” Chen Chuan stated.

Rao Qili calmed down and quickly analyzed the situation based on what Chen Chuan said.

“If that’s the case, the simplest strategy for him is to attack the patrol teams from the other nearby bases. He can even attack those bases. Through unrelenting slaughter and destruction, he can put pressure on us until we’re forced to go after him.

“Once we’re out and they kill us in the wild, the Iron Monster will be free to come back and attack Fort 73.

“Yes. This is highly likely. Fort 104 should have shut its doors again, which means that the Iron Monster is trapped here. If he wants to leave, he needs to find a way to break out.

“The longer he stays here, the higher the risk. That’s why he’s keeping an eye on us. Breaking out through this place is his best choice.”

He whipped his head up and said, “He has at most two days to deal with the situation in Fort 73, because the rear may finally be able to send reinforcements in that time.”

Chen Chuan deliberated on it and said, “Since he wants us to go out, we’ll do what he wants.”

“What do you plan on doing, Captain Chen?”

Chen Chuan turned to him and said, “I’ll lead the unit out to chase after him and give him a chance to attack us.”

Rao Qili was taken aback, then hurriedly tried to dissuade Chen Chuan. “I don’t suggest doing that. We have support in the fort, along with cooperation from the soldiers, while outside, you’ll have no one other than yourselves.”

Hai Cheng then walked over and said, “Captain Chen, I admire your courage, but we’ve tried to hunt down the Iron Monster in the wild before. We just ended up losing several units. We couldn’t even find their bodies.”

At the end, his voice turned incredibly grave.

“Thank you for the warning, but if we don’t do this, the Iron Monster won’t take the initiative to attack the fort. He’ll only ambush and bother us around the area while all we can do is watch him,” Chen Chuan said sincerely.

He turned back to Rao Qili. “We chose to defend the fort because it was the right strategy, but now, defending it has become useless. We need to take the initiative to attack. As for support, we’re martial artists. We’ll be fine on our own.”

“He’s right. We’re martial artists. We’ll be fine on our own. I’ll go with you, Captain Chen!” Yuan Qiuyuan declared loudly.

Qin Qingque stepped forward as well and straightened her back. “I’m coming with you too, Captain Chen.”

Seeing that he wasn’t going to be able to stop them, Rao Qili sighed in his heart. After some thinking, he said sternly, “If that’s the case, I won’t stop you. Don’t go too far, though, and remember to come back before the sky turns completely dark.”

***

They took half an hour to get ready. Then, with all the things prepared, the three of them drove out of the fort in an SUV while the others watched with complicated and worried gazes. The group left in the direction where the Iron Monster had stood.

Chen Chuan didn’t bring any of the support team members. Once they started fighting, it was going to be hard for him to protect them. Besides, Qin Qingque knew how to drive and maintain all sorts of vehicles. She even knew how to use the telegraph station, so having her around was enough.

Yuan Qiuyuan was incredibly excited. Setting everything else aside, Chen Chuan’s decision was right up his alley. Staying in the fort and waiting for the enemy to attack them put them in too much of a defensive position, and he felt uncomfortable just thinking about it. Taking the initiative to attack was way better.

Qin Qingque drove fast and steadily as she asked, “Captain Chen, the road ends in a bit. Where should we head to next?”

Chen Chuan cast a glance outside while sitting in the back. “Follow their tracks. It doesn’t matter if we can’t catch up to them. Once we’re far enough from the fort, they’ll come find us.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep