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Every member of this force was a fighter. Except for the Iron Demon and his two deputies, who were commissioned warriors, the rest were all cavalry warriors—fighters of the Second Limit. Each of them was clad in three layers of protection: at the innermost layer was a protective suit; over that went an armored coat; and covering everything on the outside was a cyan stab-proof robe wrapped around their body. Ordinary gunfire and thrusting attacks were virtually useless against them. On their backs, each carried five tethered spears, which could be used to attack enemies or to scale obstacles. One by one, they made their way past the sparse barbed wire and trenches at the fortress's rear. As for the wide ditches, they crossed them easily with the help of spear cords. Once they reached the base of the fortress wall, they needed only to hurl the spears into the stone surface and climb straight up. The entire process took very little time. As for the interior of the fortress, they had conducted thorough reconnaissance long ago. They knew its structural layout and personnel distribution; every single man knew where he was supposed to breach and what to do once inside. Chen Chuan was sitting in his quarters gathering and nurturing his vital essence and changeless mind. At that moment, he seemed to sense something. Opening his eyes, he checked his watch: four-thirty in the morning. Taking up the Xuejun Saber, he stepped outside. Looking out from the observation aperture, the sky outside was still ink-black. Searchlight beams swept back and forth across the outer ground and walls, but farther out, all was pitch-black, revealing nothing. He kept walking forward, pushed open a corridor door, and stepped onto a narrow platform, where he stood quietly. About half an hour passed, and dawn began to break, but below there remained no movement at all. Everything seemed completely normal. Just then, an alert from a patrol team came through the boundary credential, signaling that something had been discovered. Chen Chuan moved immediately, following an interior corridor to the location. When he arrived, he found Hai Cheng was already there, speaking with two guards on patrol. One soldier was pointing toward a spot on the wall and reporting. Chen Chuan followed his gaze and saw spears driven into the wall, one after another, several already reaching near the top. For a fighter, vaulting over the parapet and into the fortress would take only a single leap. Footsteps echoed as others who had received the alert rushed over. Advisor Rao looked at the scene, feeling a mix of apprehension and excitement as he exclaimed, "They really did come!" "Is it them?" Chen Chuan asked. Hai Cheng confirmed beside him, "It's them. I recognize these spears. But with the forward defenses, breaking through wouldn't have been easy without making noise. They must have come from the rear." "From the rear..." Hearing this, Advisor Rao instantly pieced everything together, grasping the enemy's deployment. This proved his operational plan had not misjudged the situation—the enemy truly had been gunning for Fortress No. 73 all along. Yet he promptly frowned, staring at the spearheads. "Then why... they clearly made it all the way here..." Meanwhile, in the distance, the cavalry warriors had already fallen back to their starting positions. A tall, robust warrior walked up to the iron-masked rider and asked in confusion, "Commandant, why did you pull us back? The brothers were right at the wall. All we had to do was leap in, and we could have taken this fortress immediately!" The iron-masked rider said nothing, merely staring up at the top of the fortress as though waiting for something. Daylight grew brighter, and the distant landscape gradually sharpened into view. As if sensing something, Chen Chuan looked outward. Leaving the group, he walked to the edge of the corridor and peered down into the distance. About two kilometers away, an iron-masked rider in a crimson mask sat atop a steed, a spear adorned with fluttering white tassels resting across his saddle. There was no one around him. Just one man and one horse, standing alone. "That must be the Iron Demon, right?" Yuan Qiuyuan had spotted the figure as well and crowded forward to get a look. "At this distance... machine guns probably can't reach him..." Turning toward Hai Cheng, he asked, "Garrison Commander Hai, can we fire an artillery shell at him?" Hai Cheng stood with his arms crossed and shook his head. "Don't bother wasting the effort. We've tried before, but the Iron Demon seems to possess a unique ability—every time before we fire a cannon, he moves in advance to evade it. "It's like he has a special sixth sense for danger. "That's why he's so difficult to deal with, and why we've never been able to pin him down. Plenty of Imperial warriors have infiltrated this region before, but none were as troublesome as him." Yuan Qiuyuan sighed. "What a pity." Right at that moment, the Iron Demon was seen suddenly tilting his head to the side. An instant later, a loud gunshot rang out not far away. Yuan Qiuyuan turned to look and saw Qin Qingque holding a Sheji rifle, though she seemed somewhat puzzled as to how he had dodged the shot before it even struck. Chen Chuan stood holding his saber, his gaze fixed on the figure. He saw the rider cast one final glance in his direction, then haul on the reins, wheel his horse around, and gallop off into the distance, vanishing into the dense woods before long. Advisor Rao walked over, his brows knit tightly. "Last night, the Iron Demon was clearly preparing to take this fortress. But I don't understand why he didn't climb up. Did he realize we were here?" Chen Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "Did the operations room have intelligence on his early-warning ability?" Advisor Rao replied, "Yes, but we didn't have an accurate assessment of just how far that ability reaches. And we couldn't simply avoid making any plans just because of it." He said with a grave expression, "Judging from what happened this time, though, his premonition ability is even stronger than I previously estimated, and his actions are much more cautious." He let out a sigh. "Failing to spring our ambush this time means that, cautious as he is, he probably won't come back easily." Chen Chuan shook his head. "Not necessarily. I looked over the materials you gave me earlier, Advisor Rao. He often takes pleasure in assaulting hard nuts to crack and even actively ventures into potentially perilous spots. It must be precisely because he relies on this premonition of danger that he can move about with impunity. I don't believe he'll give up so easily." In their brief locked gaze just now, Chen Chuan had read something in the man's eyes—a mix of provocation and tenacity. The enemy's assault was likely far from over. Advisor Rao said cautiously, "Even so, he will be difficult for us to handle. As long as he doesn't climb up into the fortress, we have even less recourse against him out in the wild." "Not necessarily," Chen Chuan said. "Right now, he probably hasn't figured out our full strength. Once he realizes there is only our squad stationed here, he might try every trick to lure us out." If that happened... Advisor Rao regained his composure and rapidly analyzed along this line of reasoning. "If that's the case, the simplest approach would be attacking patrol teams from nearby garrison posts, or even attacking the outposts themselves. By constantly killing and destroying, he'd heap pressure on us, forcing us to leave the fortress to hunt him down. "Once we step outside, if he successfully kills us in the wild, he can turn back and resume his attack on Fortress No. 73. "Yes, that's very likely. Fortress No. 104 should be resealed by now, which essentially traps him here. To get back, he'll have to punch through somewhere. "The longer he delays, the greater his risk. That makes targeting us and breaking through here his most probable course of action!" He snapped his head up and looked at Chen Chuan. "Two days. In two days at most, he'll be able to confirm the situation, because if there were reinforcements from the rear, they would react in about two days." Chen Chuan mulled it over and said, "Since he wants us to come out, we'll give him what he wants." "Captain Chen, what do you intend to do?" Chen Chuan looked at him. "I'll lead the team out to hunt him down and give him his opening." Advisor Rao was stunned, then hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "Captain Chen, I advise against this. Here at the fortress, we have solid cover, as well as personnel and weapons to back you up. But once you go outside, you'll have no support whatsoever except yourselves." Hai Cheng walked over at this point and said in a heavy voice, "Captain Chen, I admire your courage, but it's not as though we haven't tried hunting this man in the wild before. The result was several squads wiped out out there—we couldn't even recover their bodies." His voice turned grim by the end. Chen Chuan said sincerely, "Thank you for the warning, Garrison Commander Hai. But if we don't do this, he won't mount another direct assault on the fortress. He will only harass the surrounding area while we stand by and watch helplessly." He turned back to Advisor Rao. "Choosing to dig in previously was the right tactical call. But digging in is no longer useful, so we must take the initiative. As for support..." He spoke calmly: "As fighters, in a moment like this, having ourselves is enough." "The captain is right! As fighters, having ourselves is enough! Captain, I'm going with you!" Yuan Qiuyuan chimed in loudly from the side. Qin Qingque stepped forward, her back straight. "Captain, I'm coming too." Seeing he couldn't stop them, Advisor Rao sighed internally. After a moment's thought, he gave a solemn warning: "If that is your decision, I won't stop you. But please don't venture too far, and try your best to return before nightfall." After half an hour of preparation, Chen Chuan gathered everything they needed. Under the complex, worried gazes of the garrison, the three of them drove out of the fortress in an off-road vehicle, pursuing the direction in which the Iron Demon had vanished. This time, he didn't bring the other squad members. In a real clash, it would be difficult to protect ordinary personnel. Qin Qingque knew how to drive, maintain vehicles, and operate radio equipment, so having her along was sufficient. Yuan Qiuyuan was thrilled. If nothing else, Chen Chuan's decision suited his taste perfectly. Huddling inside a fortress waiting for the enemy to come knocking was far too passive; it rubbed him the wrong way in every sense. Seizing the initiative was the way to do it. Qin Qingque drove from the front seat, handling the vehicle smoothly and swiftly. "Captain, there's no road ahead," she asked. "Which way do we go?" Sitting in the back seat, Chen Chuan glanced outside. "Just follow the tracks left by their main force. Even if we can't catch up to them, as long as we're far enough from the fortress, they'll come find us."