Leveling the Spear

In terms of timing, the early warning bulletins issued by the Rejecters were normally sent well in advance of a Great Spike's actual descent. When it came to the exact landing site, however, they could only make deductions to provide a rough area, unable to pinpoint it with precision. Therefore, when an Azure squad deployed, they would typically split into multiple small teams across several vantage points during the stakeout and waiting phase. This was also why garrison defense sectors were subdivided into smaller blocks under the broader coverage zone... Today, the estimated range given by the Rejecters spanned Blocks 4 through 8. After entering the general area, Squad 1777 had now divided into ten observation teams to wait and watch. Spring grass grew thick as time ticked away second by second. "It's here," a young soldier looking up at the sky whispered a warning. He paused, then murmured in confusion, "Wait, that's not right. Why is it still heading further away?" "What should we do then?" another recruit asked blankly in an undertone. In truth, as long as the troops didn't reveal themselves, didn't activate their devices, and didn't shout recklessly, speaking a little louder wouldn't actually hurt. But this was an ambush, after all; over decades, such extreme caution had long become second nature. At the recruit's question, a veteran beside him shushed him and tapped the communicator on his wrist. Before long, the communicator crackled to life: "Revised landing site judged to be Block 13. All three echelons regroup. Maintain device silence and close in on Block 13... Move out." Lao Jian's orders came through the communicator, clear, precise, and steady. "Is that intel from the Rejecters?" As they began moving to regroup, scrambling swiftly to their feet, a recruit asked curiously. The veteran leaned forward to lead the way, shaking his head. "No. At this altitude, the Rejecters are basically useless... That was Captain Lao's own judgment." "That's the experience and ability of a veteran captain. Especially Squad 752's Lao Jian—he was always famous for this back in the day... So don't look down on Captain Lao just because he's easygoing normally... A Grade C captain who can lead his unit into the army's top fifty squads year after year—do you really think that's just a fluke?" By the time he finished speaking, two observation teams from the First Echelon had converged while advancing in the same direction. The members swiftly slipped into formation, continuing forward to link up with the third team... Three thousand meters from Block 13, all three echelons of the squad completed their regrouping and took up their formation positions. Everyone in place, they maintained device silence and advanced in a low crouch. The descent trajectory of the shuttle craft came into view. Two thousand meters out. "Slow your pace... wait..." The clear order came through the communicator. Captain Lao counted down: "Three, two, one. All units, activate devices! Advance at full speed!" *Hum! Buzz...* Sheets of blue light flared as the crouched figures straightened up. Immediately followed by—*claaaang!* Forty-six people. Forty-seven blades unsheathed. Three streams of flowing light of differing sizes surged through the woods toward the shuttle craft about to touch down. (For a vessel capable of traveling across a sea of stars, its complexity and the difficulty of taking off again were no simpler than launching a rocket.) With their devices engaged, the Azure soldiers were nimble as the wind through the forest trees, swift as lightning, crossing the terrain as if walking on flat ground. Earth and gravel flew from beneath their combat boots. Branches and foliage rattled against their sides. "Milla 11 in position," Vice Captain Milla's voice came over the comms mid-stride. On the battlefield, Milla always chose her own firing positions. Out of hundreds of squads on the Ninth Army's sighting frontline, she was currently the only person permitted to wield firearms and custom-equipped with specialized firearms. No one understood where she should be stationed better than she did. *Click, click...* Two seconds of silence hung over the line. "Third Echelon, flank to the rear." "First Echelon, decelerate." "Second Echelon, switch to defensive formation and initiate assault. Force them out!" Three consecutive commands rang out. As the final order fell, the Second Echelon led by Qin Guowen abruptly accelerated again, pouncing toward the shuttle craft. *Whoosh!* Sensing the imminent attack, two Great Spikes ejected instantly. No blue-sheened Great Spike was visible. However, because Azure had previously encountered a situation in Area 1123 where a blue-sheened Great Spike lurked inside a shuttle craft, suddenly ambushing them mid-fight to shatter their formation, every Azure squad now had to stay on guard against such a trick. "Third Echelon, keep watch and stay on standby... Do not carry off the craft." Lao Jian added as an afterthought. *Boom! Boom!* Both Great Spikes made impact with the ground, then almost simultaneously rammed their column swords into the earth in an area-of-effect shockwave. Dust and mist billowed as dirt and stones sprayed in all directions. Most of the Second Echelon's vanguard was halted in the initial charge. The reactive countermand came almost instantaneously: "First Echelon, cut in with me and split the battlefield!" There was no need for the communicator for this one. With a thunderous roar, Lao Jian led by example, surging ahead with the twenty-four soldiers of the First Echelon, driving directly into the gap between the two Great Spikes. Lao Jian, Qi Rourou, and several other veterans attacked with everything they had, forcing Great Spike Number 1 on the left away from its original position... This was usually one of the phases where casualties were most likely to occur. The Great Spike on the right raised its sword, attempting to pursue and assist! *Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...* From a distance, massive angled rounds slammed with pinpoint accuracy into the center of balance of the column sword, forcing a slight hesitation. At the same time, Han Qingyu and Shen Yixiu burst in from the rear like crackling lightning, striking at Great Spike Number 2's flank and back from the left and right, forcing it to spin around. In this way, when the Second Echelon regrouped and sealed off the isolated Great Spike Number 1, the First Echelon was spared from having to wheel around and stall Great Spike Number 2... *Is this what it feels like to possess top-tier combat power?! What a rush!* Whether Han Qingyu and Shen Yixiu truly counted as top-tier combatants was still debatable, but the reality on the field was practically equivalent. Lao Jian couldn't help a thrill of excitement, then promptly abandoned his conventional playbook. "Third Echelon, maintain suppression on Number 2!" "First Echelon, merge with Second Echelon... Target Great Spike Number 1." "All personnel, maintain offensive formation." "Begin the encirclement kill!" With two echelons merged into one, the formation shifted into motion. Wave upon wave overlapped in a seamless, suffocating assault as the rolling encirclement grind began... In other words, forty-two people were now surrounding and grinding down Great Spike Number 1, whereas usually that number would be half or even less. "Watch your safety! Just keep it pinned down! Don't kite it too far, and don't try to solo it!" Even in the thick of the battle formation, Lao Jian couldn't resist barking out a couple more cautions. "Understood! Rest assured, Captain Lao... Focus on directing the kill." The communicator on Han Qingyu's side was currently carried by He Tangtang, so it was he who answered. The guy was ridiculously blunt. To be fair, He Tangtang was probably having the easiest time on the entire battlefield. With two powerhouses clashing head-on with the Great Spike right in front of him, his only job was to look for openings to land cheap sneak attacks while providing a bit of distraction when necessary. *If Wu Xu were here too, whew...* ... Yu Yindou felt that some change had come over Wu Xu. Under the current circumstances, when asked if he wanted to fight, he said no; when told to lead them to the garrison, he said he could not comply. "And what if I insist you take me to the garrison? What will you do then?" Yu Yindou asked in a low voice, his hands already moving toward the twin longswords at his hips. Wu Xu thought about it for a moment, looked up, and said honestly, "Run." "..." Yu Yindou's expression froze. Right—Wu Xu really could run. The garrison didn't need him to defend it right now anyway... The real question was, how did running even cross his mind? That wasn't like him at all. In truth, even if Yu Yindou posed that question to Wu Xu right now, Wu Xu wouldn't have been able to answer it either. The thought had simply popped into his head that instant, and so he had spoken it... Between people, some subtle influences are difficult to put into words. At the same time, several war slaves emerged from the outpost where Wu Xu lived. They had dragged out almost everything Wu Xu owned, though he didn't have much to begin with. Clothes were dumped on the ground, bags of rice, flour, and vegetables stacked behind them, along with some odd knick-knacks. Yu Fengzi looked down, picked up one of the items... a radio. "I remember now. You seemed to really like this thing. Last time on the truck to Nepal, whenever you heard this thing playing, you'd zone out... What, did your new master reward you with it?" Yu Fengzi turned the radio over in her hands as she spoke. Wu Xu watched the radio in her hands. "The Eldest Miss asked you a question," the steward stepped forward and said, currying favor with Yu Fengzi, knowing the Master had already given up on persuasion and that Wu Xu would most likely be executed right here today. Wu Xu fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Not a master. Not a reward." "Then what if I smash it?" Yu Fengzi weighed the radio in her palm and asked, "Or you can take us to the garrison to find the reserve storage." "..." Wu Xu looked at her, then looked at the radio, saying nothing. Suddenly—*crack!* The young mistress's vicious style hadn't changed one bit. Yu Fengzi suddenly slammed the radio violently onto the ground. With her device activated, her arm strength was tremendous, and the entire radio shattered almost instantaneously. "Gone." Meeting Wu Xu's death-god gaze, Yu Fengzi gave an easy smile, spread her hands, and ground the fragments under her boots twice more. She had always believed that back in the Nepal gorge, if Wu Xu had obeyed orders and joined Yuan Qing and the others in ganging up on Han Qingyu, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did, and she wouldn't have suffered such humiliation. Therefore, she feared Han Qingyu and hated Han Qingyu... but she also hated Wu Xu... Not daring to seek vengeance against Han Qingyu, she wanted to slaughter Wu Xu to vent her fury. Yu Yindou naturally wasn't that petty. Chuckling, he said, "If you run, I won't take my men to the garrison. I'll go over there..." Gesturing in the direction where Squad 1777 had deployed, Yu Yindou continued, "Think about it. If I lead my men to launch a sudden attack from their rear while they're locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Great Spikes... what will happen to those friends of yours?" His intention had merely been to coerce Wu Xu into leading him to the reserve depot. Yet as he looked over, Wu Xu, who had been standing there in silence, remained quiet—but he gave his response. The black spear in his hand slowly lifted at his side. "What do you think you're doing, Wu Xu?!" The question was purely rhetorical, for Yu Yindou was already beside himself with rage. He could envision Wu Xu refusing to return or refusing to help, but he never dreamed that this former war slave of the Yu clan—a mere dog in his eyes—would dare raise a spear against him today. "Wu Xu is foolish. I originally intended to run. But having heard the Master's words, I thought it over and realized..." Wu Xu paused, then said, "Today, I must keep Master and everyone else right here." Yu Yindou had said that if Wu Xu ran, he would lead his men to stab Squad 1777 in the back while they fought the Great Spikes... So Wu Xu was telling the simple truth. He really had planned to run and didn't want to fight, but having been reminded, he had no choice. He could not allow Qingzi and the others—could not allow anyone from 1777—to be stabbed in the back while fighting Great Spikes. "What did you say?!" Yu Yindou exploded in fury. With two ringing clangs, his heavy swords cleared their scabbards. Spear leveled in hand, Wu Xu looked up at Yu Yindou. "I said, until the battle over there is finished, Master... none of you can go anywhere."