Gunfire

From a roughly central position, the officer detachment set out southward at full march. To Milla, her Squad 1777 was very likely there. Yet at this point, that feeling amounted only to a degree of worry and unease born of an unclear situation. Apart from Squad 1777 itself and Liu Shiheng, no one truly realized the gravity of the peril, or how dark and cruel the reality was. North of Purang, at a four-way crossroads, piles of jumbled rocks obstructed the line of sight. The squad members stood or sat in collective silence, waiting for the breakout to begin. "The only good thing right now is that we haven't gone too deep into Purang yet, and they haven't drawn the bag shut," Lao Jian spoke up. "Let me make one thing clear first: once the breakout plan begins, every one of you must follow my commands." He didn't look up as he spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on the map in his hands. "Of course, Captain," almost everyone replied at once. That included every last one of the veteran rascals who usually loved to brag, bicker, and act brazenly disrespectful toward him. Seeming slightly surprised, Lao Jian looked up and scanned the group, then nodded in silence. This squad had never been built around him as captain. In fact, the vast majority of them hadn't joined Squad 1777 because of him. Over the past year, Squad 1777 had held overwhelming cards, steamrolling through everything in their path. Their reliance on Han Qingyu, Wu Xu, and Rusty Sister had always been high, while Lao Jian, as captain, had never shouldered tremendous pressure, nor had he displayed anything dazzling. Even so, faced with the present predicament, the members still placed their fates in his hands without the slightest hesitation. Captain Lao was feeling tense now, crushed under enormous pressure. First, the disparity in strength was simply too vast. Setting aside the swarms of Great Spikes, the enemies' estimated prowess alone was something the current 1777 couldn't possibly stand against. For instance, people capable of turning their backs and running in front of a Great Spike numbered at most six in 1777 right now. Their opponents likely had a whole bunch. Moreover, more than half of 1777's roster consisted of first-year recruits. Second, in all his years in Azure, Lao Jian had never commanded a breakout operation like this. His many years of captaincy were limited to ambush missions against Great Spikes, one after another. When he looked down again, the cigarette butt in his mouth trembled, ash spilling onto the map. Lao Jian hurriedly brushed it away, lifting the map to blow it clean. On this map were his sketches and notes of the terrain made along the march, as well as his tactical thoughts. It was a habit developed many years ago. *This might be the only thing I'm good at. Stay calm... stay calm,* Lao Jian told himself. Lao Jian's former squad was designated Squad 752. It had been an ordinary team in combat prowess; even Grade C Captain Lao Jian himself, who manned the primary vanguard position, was no ferocious warrior in sheer battle power. He was simply someone who was always unyielding, always striving to excel. Yet this squad of average combat capability had frequently ranked in the Ninth Army's top fifty, even reaching thirty-first at its peak. Lao Jian used to be a university lecturer teaching physics, and he had also thoroughly studied *Violating Physics*. His ability to calculate the flight trajectories of shuttle craft was renowned throughout the army—so sharp that he was invited to give lectures to captains. His exploitation of terrain based on accurate prediction had also been Squad 752's greatest asset in battle. *Skrrr... snap.* With a faint sound, the pencil lead snapped. Lao Jian drew his dead iron war blade, held it level, and whittled the tip fresh before picking up the pencil to resume charting the breakout route on the map. He specifically marked three points. "Locations along the way that can hide Great Spike swarms are likely these three. Whichever route we take, we'll definitely have to pass one. If we can't scout them, we can only gamble." "I'll go check." Several people spoke in unison, drawing their blades and standing up at the same time. Lao Jian shook his head. "No. First, it's too far. Second, right now they aren't certain whether we've actually noticed something amiss and plan to leave. That point is vital to us." He meant that this ambiguity could not be shattered. Once it was, 1777 wouldn't even have a chance to struggle. As they spoke, a faint clatter of rolling pebbles reached them. Qi Rourou and Qin Guowen returned to the squad from different directions. "How is it?" Lao Jian asked immediately. "Seeing signs that we're moving outward, their numbers really started increasing," Qi Rourou said. "Right now, six of them are dogging our tail. How about we lay an ambush and wipe them out first?!" "No rush on that." Lao Jian shook his head and asked, "Can you judge their approximate strength?" "We didn't engage, so it's hard to tell, but these few don't look very strong," Qin Guowen said. "At least, I don't think that band of top experts Liu Shiheng mentioned—that suspected super combat power or whatever—would be here." Most agreed with this assessment. Those truly formidable experts were likely still making preparations on the outer perimeter and weren't here yet; otherwise, 1777 wouldn't even have a chance to attempt an escape. Yet since the other side had plotted so deliberately and expended so much effort setting up this trap, the people stationed here would certainly not be few, nor would they be weak. "The fear is that there are top-tier combatants," Qin Guowen noted. The squad did have a few who could put up a fight, but if the enemy had top tiers... Lao Jian rubbed the bridge of his nose, looked up to find He Tangtang, and called, "Tangtang... He Tangtang." "...Huh? Captain Lao?!" He Tangtang had zoned out. Normally a boisterous fellow, he had been quiet ever since the call with Liu Shiheng. "Me, you, Guowen, Rourou... plus Uncle Huodou." Lao Jian stopped counting there and asked, "Do the five of us have a shot at bringing down a top-tier?" The reason he asked He Tangtang was that this guy sparred with a top-tier fighter every day—and was battered by a top-tier every day. "Well..." He Tangtang paused, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't know." "Alright." Lao Jian looked at him, nodded, and didn't press further. Turning back to the squad, he said, "Everyone, check your gear and source energy blocks." The squad members began checking. Lao Jian stood up. Seeing that a young squad member had only one full source energy block left, he tossed one of his own over... and asked with a grin, "Well? Scared?!" The member shook his head. Turning back, his smile held an odd hint of swagger. "Not scared. I'm actually pumped. It's not often Qingzi and the others aren't around—it's our turn to steal the spotlight." The young members beside him all chuckled. "Ain't that right?! After all, every single one of us was handpicked, and the source energy blocks we've burned through this past year far outstrip any ordinary squad out there. In that case... Captain Lao, have some faith in us." Feigned or not, such were the youths of Azure, of 1777. "I've been thinking—1777 can't always just wait for Han Qingyu to show up, can we?" The young soldier wiped his war blade with some leaves, flashed a grin of bright white teeth, and added abruptly. Lao Jian looked at him and nodded hard. "Well said! Isn't that the truth? To be honest, I've had a complaint brewing for a long time." As the oldest veteran in the squad, Uncle Huodou plucked out his cigarette butt, pulled a stern face, and groused with an unhappy scowl: "From the day we formed until now, damned if I know what's in that brat's head, always coddling us like little kids. Full of himself, isn't he!" Everyone chuckled softly. What Uncle Huodou truly meant, they all understood. This was a battlefield. So many of them had crawled their own way through pools of blood in the past, yet that fellow always wanted not a single one lost, not a single person dead. And this time, there was a trap here, a lethal snare laid specifically for Han Qingyu and the others. All these people standing here were bait... nothing more than bait. They could not let Han Qingyu come. They could not let him plunge into the web. They had been looked down upon. The bait wanted to decide their own fate. ... Night. Around three in the morning, rain suddenly began to fall, drowning out starlight and moonlight. Total blackness swallowed the surroundings, and the ground quickly turned to mud. "Captain Lao, what are we actually waiting for?" "Waiting for rain, and waiting for the shuttle craft. Remember the shuttle craft we spotted twice earlier on the road that ended up flying off? If nothing goes wrong, it will appear here in a bit and land somewhere in this vicinity." The night rain grew heavier, pouring down in a steady rush... "It's here," Qin Guowen said through the curtain of rain, pointing to the sky. "Assume positions as if preparing to attack it. Move!" With Lao Jian in the lead, the squad members adopted their usual ambush posture. But as they advanced, several members, including Qi Rourou, silently slipped away into tall grass or mud pits. The pursuers trailing behind kept watch and silently closed in. The shuttle craft began showing signs of descent. "Get ready..." Lao Jian raised a hand, signaling an impending attack. Seeing that they were still planning to strike the Great Spike, the trackers lowered their guard slightly. "Kill!" Through the rain, figures lunged out from behind them, dead iron war blades whipping up sheets of water as they slashed in fierce arcs. At the same time, the rest of Squad 1777 charged back from the front, sandwiching the pursuers in the middle. Fierce sounds of combat erupted and ended quickly in the dark. All six enemy trackers were slain. "How is everyone? Anyone injured?!" Captain Lao asked. "Minor scratch," someone answered. Qi Rourou bound a wound on his abdomen tight with a bandage, gritting his teeth in a muffled grunt. "I'm fine." "Do we run now, while we have the chance?" he asked. "No, we keep following the craft. It actually has to drift a bit longer..." Lao Jian said, leading the team forward in the dark beneath the floating shuttle craft. Footsteps soon arose from behind once more, even more numerous than before. Many people were indeed hidden here. "Halt." Surprisingly, under such circumstances, Lao Jian did not order them to speed up. Instead, he abruptly called for the squad to halt... and most of them did not even take cover. It was as though they were waiting for the enemies to arrive. The enemy forces caught up. *Boom!* The shuttle craft hit the ground, slamming into the mud... It landed between the two groups, but closer to the pursuers. "Heaven be praised, there's a blue-sheened one." For the first time that night, Lao Jian's voice carried excitement—it was right where he had estimated. Turning around, he shouted, "Run!" The squad members followed him in a mad dash through the night and mud. About an hour later, the roar of rushing water echoed not far ahead. "Chop down trees!" Lao Jian yelled. The squad members swiftly cut down logs, scooped them into their arms, and rushed excitedly toward the riverbank. They had roughly guessed Captain Lao's plan. "Do we jump, Captain Lao?!" "No, throw all the logs in. We're heading upriver." Jumping into the river—the seemingly optimal choice for 1777's breakout—was not what Lao Jian chose. In the dark came splashing thuds as dozens of heavy logs tumbled into the river one after another. Some dozens of seconds later, *boom!* In the distance, the surging source energy of dozens of experts reverberated endlessly as their war blades blasted the river water. Enemies had indeed appeared there, but all they severed were logs. Squad 1777 had temporarily shaken off the first encirclement. They kept sprinting through the night rain for nearly three hours, encountering small enemy interception forces three times along the way. "Captain Lao! Which way do we go next?!" The moment of decision had come again. Lao Jian had previously marked three valley locations that might conceal swarms of Great Spikes. Now they had to pick one. "This way," Lao Jian said, pointing swiftly and decisively. "But the last two groups that blocked us came from that direction!" "Right, which is why we go this way. They wouldn't stay with the Great Spikes; Great Spikes don't take orders." Commanding like a genius that night, Lao Jian opened the map, shone a flashlight on it, and pointed at a thick line, shouting, "See this spot? This is the cliff canyon we passed on our way in... As long as we can cross it and reach here, then regardless of whether those in the rear are overtaken or caught in battle, those in front—run." "..." Aside from the sound of running footsteps, no one answered. That cliff canyon was something they had all traversed; very few people could pass through at one time. So those in front would keep running, while those overtaken in the rear... would turn and hold the line. "Did you hear me?!" Lao Jian roared. "Heard!" "...Move out." The hurried footsteps came to an abrupt halt en route to the cliff canyon... Ahead, packed densely together, at least seventy or eighty Great Spikes stood in wait. Lao Jian, who had performed like a god all night, had made a mistake. The reason for the blunder was simple: among the three locations he had marked earlier, it wasn't that one of them hid a swarm—all three did. Thus, even though he had chosen the one he believed least likely, he had run right into them after all. "What do we do?! Captain Lao?!" "I..." Lao Jian had done his utmost. He had exhausted every measure, yet had still failed... failed to lead his squad to safety. In this predicament, the Great Spike swarm lay ahead, on the verge of being alerted. Behind them, the sound of the enemy's surging source energy was already audible. They couldn't outrun them. Charging forward through these seventy or eighty Great Spikes, the entire squad might perish; turning back to face the incoming enemies, most would die, and the remainder would be kept alive to serve as bait. A brief silence fell. *Clang!* Lao Jian drew his blade. "They're all black-armored. Everyone says black-armored Great Spikes are pretty stupid... How about we test it and see if anyone can punch through alive?" The moment his words landed: *Clang...* Everyone drew their blades in silence. Qin Guowen, Qi Rourou, Uncle Huodou, and He Tangtang stepped beside Lao Jian, forming an arrowhead wedge. They were the strongest among those left, and they would attempt to hack open a path for the entire squad. Night, a curtain of rain, and swarms of black-armored Great Spikes ahead... Squad 1777 had no Han Qingyu here. Squad 1777 drew their blades, preparing to charge. "Damn, it just hit me—I haven't even taken a wife yet," a young squad member said with a laugh. "Now that you mention it, I just realized... I haven't either," Lao Jian said. "I'm forty-bloody-two." Everyone laughed. "Speaking of which, that Miss Shang locked up at our station... is she our prospective sister-in-law?! Captain Lao, do you just lack the guts, or do you not fancy her?" The young soldiers, who usually dared not overstep, grew bold now. Lao Jian gave a bitter chuckle. "Thought about it a few times... lacked the guts." "No wonder you never got hitched," Uncle Huodou said. "If we manage to make it back this time, show some spine." Lao Jian replied crisply, "Right." Another wave of laughter swept around. "How about we wait a moment, Captain Lao?" "Why?" "Wait for those sons of bitches behind us to catch up. Then we stir up the Great Spike swarm and drag them right into it too." "Good idea. Then let's wait." The conversation came to a halt. Only the rain and the beating of hearts remained... Someone trembled in secret, shedding tears that were quickly washed away by the downpour. Hands soaked in rainwater creaked as they clenched the hilts of their blades. The bursts of source energy from behind grew clearer and clearer. "By the way, have we picked the color for 1777's Eraser yet?" Uncle Huodou suddenly asked. "Blood-red," Lao Jian said. Abruptly, in the dark of night— *Boom! Boom, boom, boom, boom...* In that single instant, everyone dazed for a beat... What was that? It was gunfire. Dense, fierce gunfire rang out from the mountain ridge to their flank, opening fire upon the swarm of Great Spikes. Every member of 1777 was intimately familiar with that gunfire. It was the singular roar of the Milla 11.