Azure

About thirty men from the seven clans remained in the main hall of the old He clan residence, with at least a dozen more outside. All wore source energy apparatuses, all active, and all held weapons in their hands. Han Qingyu had no time to linger. Raising his sleeve, he wiped at the blood on his chin... smearing a streak across one cheek. He sheathed the blade in his left hand back over his shoulder, turned on his heel, and walked toward the entrance, his back completely exposed to the thirty men. "Let's go. We're going to kill three hundred men." When Han Qingyu said this to Wu Xu, there was not a trace of optimism in his heart, only an overwhelming sense of dread. Though their raid on the enemy's stronghold had eliminated Snow Lotus's special envoy—the commander of this operation—apart from learning the target of the assault, it had done nothing to halt what was already in motion. Wu Xu showed not the slightest hesitation. He lowered his spear, turned around, and said, "Okay." Fine. Two men, off to kill three hundred. The three hundred attacking Azure's Medical Station 101. Whether they could cut them down or be cut down trying... they had to go first. Since ancient times, whether in war or blood feuds, attacking an enemy's medical station was the most shameful, unforgivable act of all. Pang Jinghe stood in a peculiar spot, isolated as before, taking in the scene before his eyes: Two men walked away with their backs turned, while more than thirty people stood rooted to the spot... Not a single one moved. Mr. Stan, the envoy from Snow Lotus who was supposed to be terrifyingly strong, lay dead right there. Tian Yingguang, who had run his mouth once too often, also lay dead right there. "They're going to their deaths anyway." "That's right." "Master Tian alone can take him." "Let them go throw their lives away." The crowd grasped for excuses to rationalize their cowardice and fear. Yet even so, none dared speak above a whisper, terrified that they might suddenly collapse at any moment... because they had all just witnessed that eerie, soundless arc. That arc had appeared twice. Once to cut off Snow Lotus Stan's retreat, and once to make good on his warning to Tian Yingguang in eerie silence: wag your tongue, and you die. That was Rusty Sister Dimple Slash... Rusty Sister's dimple could not be seen. Rusty Sister's dimple killed. Finally, through the gaping hole blasted into the wooden partition wall, they watched the receding silhouettes of Han Qingyu and Wu Xu step past the front gates of the old He clan residence. Pang Jinghe heard the crowd behind him stir. Were they going to attack? Pang Jinghe turned his head. "Screw your mothers!" He realized the crowd was actually surging straight toward him. "Holy shit..." The enemies walked right past your faces, and you didn't dare twitch a muscle, but now you're coming after me with all this fucking vigor?! At this life-or-death juncture, Pang Jinghe fired up his apparatus and drew his blade with a resonant clang. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! He flung the thick-spined cleaver straight at the mob, then spun around and bolted as fast as his legs would carry him. "Brothers, wait for me! I'm throwing in with you... I've defected! You said you'd look out for me!" Dashing out through the main gates, Pang Jinghe glanced left and right. No one?! Already?! That fast?! His mind raced, quickly spinning up an act: "Phew, thank goodness! Brother Han, you two didn't abandon me! Coming, I'm coming! Wait up!" Shouting as he went, he sprinted straight toward the shadows of a dim alleyway. Han Qingyu and Wu Xu broke into a dead run the moment they cleared the He compound... Neither of them knew how to drive. As for the journey back, they had taken their time coming here, driving for about three hours. Even at full driving speed, it would still take over an hour... Across such a distance, if they ran all the way at full blast with their three-dimensional apparatuses, by the time they arrived, they probably wouldn't have much combat strength left. It wasn't a matter of burning through source energy blocks. Han Qingyu wasn't lacking in blocks now, and he kept the eight remaining metal blocks on him at all times in case of sudden emergencies. The problem was their bodies; they simply could not sustain maximum-intensity operation over such a prolonged duration. Screeech— A jeep surged out from the darkness, whipped around in a tail-slide at the alley entrance, and threw open its rear door. Han Qingyu and Wu Xu leaped in, one after the other. "Where to?!" Wen Jifei asked as the vehicle shot forward, its speed climbing rapidly. "The medical station." "...Got it." Amid the roar of the jeep's engine, Wen Jifei engaged his apparatus and instructed, "Keep your apparatuses on." With that, he locked his focus on the road ahead. Keeping the apparatuses active was a precaution against danger in the event of a crash. The way back! An endless winding mountain road! Wen Jifei was about to race like a madman. They didn't know whether Liu Shiheng had reached Captain Lao yet, whether Captain Lao had escalated the report, or whether higher command could deploy an armed relief force to Medical Station 101 in time without clear intelligence pointing that way... They should think of it; it would be covered. Across the entire sector, there were only so many plausible targets for an attack. Right, they definitely would. Though that was what they told themselves, for now they could rely only on themselves and give every ounce of their strength. Under the moonlit night, along the winding mountain road, the jeep sped into the distance. ... The mountain forest, night, 21:17. A shuttle-shaped craft crashed heavily into the earth. The second echelon of Defense Squad 101 launched its assault... "...What's going on?!" Captain Liu Chunlin waited a moment, sensing that something wasn't right, and hurriedly raised his communicator to inquire... Static. Pure static. The communicator, which had been working perfectly three minutes ago, was suddenly drowned in noise. "What happened?!" Liu Chunlin simply sprinted toward them, shouting. "Nothing's coming out!" the vice-captain shouted back from the second echelon. A few seconds later, his voice rose higher, laced with panic. "It's fake! Captain, the shuttle craft is a fake!" "A fake?!" Liu Chunlin muttered in disbelief, glanced down at the communicator in his hand... then snapped his head up, spun around, and stared back in the direction of the medical station. "Get back! Move, quickly!" Forty streaks of blue light erupted across Defense Squad 101 as they charged back toward the medical station at breakneck speed. Yet they had advanced less than a single li. Ahead, amidst the dense woods blocking their path, nearly a hundred blue lights suddenly flared to life. Their retreat was cut off. "Don't stop!" With no working communicator, Liu Chunlin roared at the top of his lungs, drawing his blade. Clang! Clang... Forty men drew their blades. A torrent of blue light surged forward through the moonlit night without the slightest hesitation. "Sharp Edge Formation!" Leading the charge, Liu Chunlin adjusted the surge of source energy as he ran, bringing it to its absolute peak. He would tear an opening through them. Behind him, the soldiers fell into formation on the run. "Fight our way through!" Gripping his sword with both hands, swinging with broad, sweeping strikes, Liu Chunlin cleaved into the enemy ranks. Boom! "Kill!" Forty men... plunged into a formation of a hundred. ... "Communications are down!" "Phone lines are dead!" At Medical Station 101, only the internal loudspeaker system was still functioning for the time being. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! All medical personnel in Zones A, B, and C, evacuate immediately... Assist the wounded in moving to the safety center... All security personnel, every brother still breathing, fall back to Zone D at once... Hold to the death!" "Hold to the death!" Across the corridors on every floor of the inpatient building, frantic footsteps and shouting echoed in disarray. Mu Xiaolan didn't slow her pace for a second. With a bang, she shoved open the door to Ward 406. "Sister Ran, quick, let me take you to safet—" Her forward momentum halted dead at the doorway. For there, inside the ward, Mu Xiaolan saw: Ran Qiuling, whose leg cast had only been removed a few days ago, standing upright. She was already fully outfitted in her coalition combat uniform and source energy apparatus. "Hurry and help the severely wounded evacuate," Ran Qiuling said upon seeing Mu Xiaolan. "What about you...?" "I'm going to tell them that this place is Azure." Saying this, Ran Qiuling picked up the dead iron straight sword by her bedside. She took two steps, pausing briefly. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead from the agonizing pain. Buzz! Her source energy apparatus engaged. She charged toward the door. Brushing past Mu Xiaolan, she urged, "Go, quickly!" Mu Xiaolan froze for only a split second before turning around. Whoosh, whoosh... One figure after another emerged from the rooms of the inpatient building, sprinting past her. Wrapped in gauze, limping, arms hanging limp... with source energy apparatuses and blades strapped to their backs.