Chapter 132: Ambush

Chen Chuan looked at the other sentry post. The sentry was still standing, but his expression was a little stiff, so Ren Xiaotian had succeeded too.

He swung his flashlight twice. At the same time, Ren Xiaotian also gave a signal from his sentry post.

Wei Changan and Cai Si had already made it close to their target. Once they got the signal that Chen Chuan and Ren Xiaotian had taken over the sentry posts, they got in and easily took care of the sentries in the guard posts at the entrance.

Chen Chuan noticed movement and looked down. A two-man patrol team was walking over with flashlights. He quickly made a sign to the two guard posts by swinging his flashlight twice.

Wei Changan immediately understood what he meant. He ducked down and vanished from sight. After a while, the two-man patrol team reached a corner. Wei Changan shot out from a shadow, snapped their necks, and dragged them forward a few steps until he went around the corner. Then, he threw them down.

Nice, Chen Chuan thought.

At about the same time, Cai Si discovered the patrolman on the other side and got rid of them too.

The sentries were not very alert. Their guard was pretty lax.

But that was normal. Fights in the wilderness were usually fought with guns and crossbows. The gangs seldom engaged in fisticuffs. As long as they guarded the entrance of their base, no one could sneak into their trap-laden, tightly guarded perimeter without being unnoticed. Besides, everyone present was just a normal person, not a soldier. They did not have the strict discipline of the army.

After they got rid of the patrolmen, Wei Changan walked out and sent a signal to the team outside with his flashlight. The people waiting quickly entered the base through the entrance.

Chen Chuan took a moment to look around and saw a modified rifle and crossbow not far away from the sentry he killed. After some careful consideration, he grabbed the rifle, inspected it, put it on his back, and got down from the sentry post.

Ren Xiaotian walked over to him. “There were two people sleeping in the cars. I took them out.”

Chen Chuan nodded. He had not considered that there might be people sleeping in the cars; he had not been able to tell at all when looking in from the outside. Ren Xiaotian was just too reliable.

“Senior Brother Ren, could you grab someone to guard the back with you?”

There was another path at the back of the base. Once they started their attack, people would likely attempt to run away through there. Chen Chuan would only feel at ease if Ren Xiaotian guarded that area.

“I’ll take care of it,” Ren Xiaotian agreed. They had a brief discussion with Wei Changan, and Ren Xiaotian brought two people to block the gang members’ escape route.

Now that they had gotten rid of all the sentry posts, Chen Chuan split the team to cover the base.

While there were quite a number of old and new tents around, they were spread apart. Still, it was easy to tell whether there was anyone inside them. Most of the occupied tents had a lantern inside, or at the very least, an electric cable.

Chen Chuan went to one tent and heard three people breathing inside. Two of the occupants were whispering to each other.

After listening in on them for a bit, he realized that they were just mooks. What they talked about was how much money they were going to get after a business deal, where they were going to get their entertainment, a whole lot of swears, and some slang Chen Chuan could not understand. They could also be some Merkarian terms.

Slowly, Chen Chuan lifted the flap and went in. Since his footsteps were light and his movements relaxed, the people inside thought that another gang member had come in. Their expressions only changed to terror when they saw who he really was, but by then, Chen Chuan had already arrived in front of them and smashed their heads together. They were not able to make a sound before they fell back dead.

The last person in the tent was lying on the ground completely engrossed in a pin-up magazine. He did not even notice what was happening beside him.

Chen Chuan went over and kicked the side of his head. The man’s grip on the magazine loosened, and it fell on his face. Chen Chuan walked out and headed to the next lit tent with a relaxed gait.

While walking, he heard short and faint grunts and thumps all around him. His teammates were busy attacking the other tents.

A middle-aged man sitting cross-legged in a tent in the deepest part of the base opened his eyes. He stood up and grabbed a baton, which he put on his back, and a coiled-up whip before walking out.

Not far from him was the largest tent in the base. Mitai was inside it with Juan. The former held a translated telegram and was talking to his right-hand man.

“The exchange group might depart tomorrow, so we need to get to the rendezvous point.”

Juan was surprised. “Tomorrow? Didn’t we agree on the day after tomorrow? Aren’t the Yangzhi City folk keeping a close watch over them? Can they even leave?”

“The telegram says that Merka contacted a high-ranking government official in the Great Shun Republic, which put a lot of pressure on Yangzhi City’s Department of Administrative Affairs. This allowed them to move their schedule forward by a day. If things go smoothly, we’ll meet up with them and the rest of the gang tomorrow.”

He put down the telegram. “Once we bring the oak leaf back to the exchange group, the honor and status we’ll gain from this achievement will free us from the life of desperate fighting in the wilderness forever.”

“It’s the same everywhere, Boss. We will still be dogs for those ranked above us. It’s just that this time, we’ll be working for people who share the same blood as us, so we might get more benefits.” Juan clearly did not agree with Mitai.

“Don’t be so pessimistic. If we manage to deliver the oak leaf, we’ll be heroes in Merka. They’ll have to treat us with respect and politeness,” Mitai said.

“But you’re the boss here. When we come back, you’ll be nothing,” Juan pointed out.

Mitai pointed at his chest and said grimly, “I grew up in the wilderness. Few live to my age here. I can sense that if I continue living like this, I’ll die in some corner a worthless death. No one will even know about it.

“But if I go back, no matter what I did, it’ll have been for my country. Even if I die, my name will be in the history books.”

“Alright, then. I told you before that whatever is your decision, I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. You did save my life, after all,” Juan said.

Mitai patted his shoulder. “Let’s get things ready, brother. Just to be on the safe side.”

“Are you wary of them betraying us after getting the oak leaf?” Juan’s eyes sparkled dangerously.

“If they won’t fulfill their promise, then we’ll blackmail them with the oak leaf. While I don’t think they’ll do that, we need to cover our bases,” Mitai said gravely.

“Don’t worry. We have the oak leaf ready, but let’s hope that things won’t get to that state. Otherwise, when you go back, you’ll just end up offending other people,” Juan comforted him.

Just then, the guard stationed at the entrance asked, “Who are you?”

Mitai was a wary man. He immediately drew his gun and split up with Juan before approaching the entrance. He looked outside while remaining on guard, but once he saw a well-built middle-aged Merkarian, he sighed in relief. Then, he saw the whip. “Mr. Qisel, why are you out here?”

Qisel’s eyes were trained on the open space in the base. “We have intruders.”

Mitai was shocked. His gaze betrayed multiple shifts of emotion before he decisively took his whistle out and blew it. In an instant, everyone in the base woke up.

Chen Chuan’s team also heard the shrill whistles coming from deep within the base, and they immediately knew that they had been discovered.

Since the base was alerted of their presence, there was no longer any need for them to hide. They took out their smoke bombs and threw them into the center of the base. Balls of smoke covered the area.

The smoke served a great purpose. The gang members were caught off guard by the sudden ambush, and with their vision blocked, they panicked. The base descended into chaos.

While the gang members knew that they were under attack and that the attackers were already inside, they did not know how many people were after them. In a panic, one member brought up their guns and started firing at random while shouting loudly, as if they were worried the attackers would not know where they were.

Chen Chuan’s team did not hold back. They started taking care of their assigned areas.

Mitai heard the sound of the GD-Rifle and saw a rare type of smoke bomb. He was shocked and snapped in agitation, “Is it the hounds from Yangzhi City? Were we exposed?”

In comparison, Juan was calmer. He listened carefully. “They have, at most, six guns. I don’t think they’re from the Constabulary. They should be agents. Sneaking in without our notice is something agents would do.”

“Agents? Is it because of the goods we stole?” Mitai cursed.

“I don’t know, Boss. I’ll go check the back. We can’t let them block off our escape route,” Juan said with a dark expression.

Mitai squeezed Juan’s shoulder. “Okay. I’ll leave the back to you.”

Juan went to the tent flap and summoned a few gang members before running to the back.

Qisel walked away as well. Mitai did not stop him, because he was filled with respect and fear toward this man, whom Merka had sent to teach them how to fight.

Meanwhile, Luo Kaiyuan was listening to the source of the shouting and the gunshots. Suddenly, he brought his rifle up and pulled the trigger. A person collapsed, and Luo Kaiyuan moved away from where he stood. At the same time, he pulled the bolt, removed the magazine, chambered a round, listened for a bit to determine another gang member’s location, and fired another shot. Another gang member died.

Feng Xiaoqi had never used a gun before, so he hid in a remote corner and used a crossbow to shoot the gang members. Regardless of whether he hit or not, the silent bolts would not expose his location.

As for Wei Changan, he was a veteran with a gun. After he found a good cover, he started searching for targets. He was a pretty good shot, so whenever he fired, his target fell dead.

Soon though, after firing another shot, his instincts screamed at him to move. He flipped and tumbled, and a whip cracked in the air before hitting the spot where he had been hiding.

The sturdy shield split apart, and the strong gust that blew past Wei Changan made his skin sting.

While he was tumbling forward, he fired a shot into the smoke but heard nothing.

He stayed still while pointing his gun forward. His grip was steady, and his gaze focused and calm.

A few breaths later, he tilted his head and fell sideways while shooting twice. Even though he dodged quickly, a thin, bloody gash appeared on his cheek. It burned.

With one more roll, Wei Changan dodged to the side and avoided another whip, although rather clumsily. He could sense that he had hit his attacker, but the latter was fine. This meant that he was wearing protective gear.

Just as Wei Changan was thinking that things had gotten way more difficult, his attacker failed to attack again.

He looked over and saw a well-built but not bulky man smacking away a crossbow bolt aimed at his head. When he was about to walk over, he stopped and looked away.

On the other end of the path was Chen Chuan. He threw away the emptied rifle and pulled the Frost King Saber from his back. He plunged the sheath into the ground and pulled out the blade as he walked forward.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep