The 17th Legion’s auxiliary battalion under QiQi’s command moved to the expeditionary force’s 58th Division defense zone yesterday, while a private regiment she recruited arrived at the 58th Division’s defense zone today. Although these private soldiers were slightly inferior in combat power compared to the regular divisions of the expeditionary force, they were sufficient as a reserve and for guarding secondary lines. With this, the strength of the 58th Division’s defense zone greatly increased.
Tomorrow morning, these school-grade officers would all return to their units. Ji Yuanjia had been handling military affairs over the past two days, memorizing the maps of the Dongling Mountains thoroughly. Upon hearing QiQi’s questioning, he reacted almost immediately, his face turning pale with shock.
The defensive line of the expeditionary force’s 58th and 55th Divisions formed a crescent shape, stretching from north to south along the edge of the Dongling Mountains, spanning over three hundred kilometers in a straight line. Tuchengbao was the southernmost border defense node, while the 131st Company was stationed near the 58th Division, located slightly to the north of the center. Setting aside the question of why the 131st Company went so far, the southern mountains had already become a battlefield last night!
Ji Yuanjia gazed into QiQi’s eyes, his heart sinking. Those eyes, which had always sparkled with pride and even arrogance, now seemed deep and devoid of all emotion.
“Gu Liyu has come to Eternaria.” QiQi did not ask; she stated it as a fact.
Ji Yuanjia opened his mouth but no sound came out. Yes, on the night of the city lord’s banquet, he saw Gu Liyu in the parking lot. At the time, Gu Liyu was accompanied by the 17th Master of the Yan family, the grand elder of the Jing’an Hall. And QiQi was one of the candidates for the inheritance of the direct line of the Jing’an Hall of the Yan family.
“Don’t worry, I won’t make you uncomfortable in front of Uncle Seventeen.” QiQi’s words were so polite that Ji Yuanjia felt unfamiliar, then he heard her say, “Give me the military’s dispatch order.”
The air in the study suddenly grew heavy, like water flowing through a gentle slope, thick and stagnant. This was not a delusion of Ji Yuanjia’s. Two elders appeared at the door and windows, both standing with their sleeves folded, their eyes half-open and half-closed, seemingly not looking at him. But Ji Yuanjia’s original force was completely frozen, unable to move an inch.
Ji Yuanjia closed his eyes, revealing a bitter smile. These were the people left by the late lady of the Jing’an Hall, QiQi’s deceased mother, loyal only to QiQi’s commands, just like Aunt Lan.
Two hours later, an airship rose gracefully above the Yan family’s villa, cutting an arc in the wind, flying southward.
The east side of the villa, with several brightly lit courtyards, housed the officers. The largest, “Tingfeng Pavilion,” served as the office.
Ji Yuanjia stood before the wide conference table, head bowed, looking at the note QiQi left behind. It was actually a hand-drawn topographic map, marking the southern part of the Dongling Mountains near Tuchengbao. A star-shaped mark indicated where the 131st Company’s traces were found.
QiQi did not specify the source of the information or what was discovered. But her certainty about Qian Ye’s predicament and her immediate association with Gu Liyu suggested a serious situation.
Outside the meeting room, figures moved back and forth in the corridor. Since they did not enter, Ji Yuanjia pretended not to see them. Someone had noticed that Miss QiQi had suddenly departed in an airship without taking any company-grade officers, and an uneasy atmosphere began to spread.
Suddenly, there was a rapid clatter of footsteps, and a lieutenant colonel burst in, “Ji Yuanjia, why did you seal the confidential room!”
A few file bags lay on the conference table, including the 131st Company’s records. Ji Yuanjia had just sent someone to retrieve them, but he had sent private guards who forcibly entered the confidential room and locked up the duty and resting junior officers.
Ji Yuanjia said calmly, “You’ve come at the right time. Why wasn’t the 131st Company’s report from eight days ago submitted?”
The lieutenant colonel walked to the table, reaching for the file bag, saying, “What can the routine reports contain? They are all directly archived, aren’t they?”
Ji Yuanjia’s hand lightly pressed on the file bag, “Then, how about the personal letter to me? Was that also directly archived?”
The lieutenant colonel hesitated, “What personal letter? Military intelligence is under my jurisdiction. What right do you have to intervene! We are of the same rank, and you are not a Yan!”
Ji Yuanjia suddenly smiled. The other person was indeed a Yan, though from a very distant branch.
A loud boom resounded in the somewhat restless night, shocking the already anxious officers. They watched in stunned silence as the doors and windows of the meeting room were blown off, and a figure tumbled out, falling flat into the courtyard. Countless bright, fine lines fell like rain, striking the bluestone ground, leaving marks like sword qi.
Although both were lieutenant colonels, the result of their confrontation showed that this man was no match for Ji Yuanjia in a single blow!
Ji Yuanjia’s voice came from inside the room, calm and steady, “Gentlemen, get some rest. At dawn tomorrow, we will head to the camp.”
But at that moment, his thoughts were elsewhere, focused on a promise.
“I promised Yu Yingnan that I would shield him once, no matter what danger he faced.”
“Ji Yuanjia, you’re nothing but a dog of the Yan family, daring to hit me? You’ll pay for this. The Yan family won’t let you off!” The lieutenant colonel lay on the ground, his eyes full of fury, glaring at Ji Yuanjia as if he wanted to tear him apart.
Ji Yuanjia gathered all related intelligence from the battle zone into a separate bag and walked out of the room to the side of the lieutenant colonel. A flash of sword light, and the Yan lieutenant colonel screamed as his ear flew into the sky!
Ji Yuanjia said calmly, “In the Yan family, neither your words nor those of the one behind you count.”
Leaving those words, Ji Yuanjia hurried away. The lieutenant colonel, clutching his wound, blood seeping through his fingers, trembled all over. His fear far exceeded his physical pain. He realized that if he spoke another word, Ji Yuanjia would not hesitate to kill him.
Now he knew that when Ji Yuanjia bared his fangs, he was a wolf.
The night in Tuchengbao was anything but peaceful.
The second attack began, with barricades burning and flares lighting up the sky, casting brief flashes of light on the battlefield. Gunfire was sparse, replaced by the sounds of hand-to-hand combat and screams. Though the dark races lacked thousands of expendable troops, the human fighters and civilians also suffered heavy casualties. Thus, the number of combatants on both sides was greatly reduced, but the savagery of the fight was even more intense.
Yet, the sound of the Eagle Strike was always so stunning. Its sound was like a spring thunderclap, clear and far-reaching. The strong among the dark races could not fail to recognize the unique tone of the Eagle Strike.
When the Eagle Strike roared, it meant a high-level warrior had fallen. Those who could use the Eagle Strike rarely made mistakes.
Tonight, the Eagle Strike had roared twice, severely wounding a level six spider demon and a level six werewolf. The spider demon, unable to hide due to its size, was struck by three origin force bullets and countless others, dying in frustration.
The question now was, would the Eagle Strike roar again?
Qian Ye was moving through the ruins under the cover of night. His night vision was no worse than that of the dark races, and his long sword remained soaked in blood. Behind him, two werewolves chased closely, following him into an abandoned courtyard.
There was no way out, but Qian Ye did not leap over the wall as they expected. Instead, he threw down his sword and picked up a fearsome double-handed axe from the grass!
Blood sprayed and the werewolves howled.
Moments later, Qian Ye emerged from the courtyard, holding the bloodied axe. At the street corner opposite, a humanoid spider demon appeared.
The spider demon, seeing the axe in Qian Ye’s hands, began to tremble. It turned and fled!
It would not forget that the axe belonged to a famous warrior of its clan, who had died in the first battle.
Those who could wield the axe were terrifying, and the humans who wielded it were even more so!
The spider demon’s massive body was awkward in the narrow passage. Qian Ye quickly caught up, swinging the axe, slicing open its rear abdomen! The spider demon’s death cries echoed through the town.
Qian Ye roamed like a lone wolf through the town, using whatever weapon he found, hunting down high-level dark warriors. His body remained in a blood-boiling state, filled with blood. To sustain himself, he cut the throats of several werewolves, drank their blood, and left their bodies behind.
The night was exceptionally long, with endless dark races to kill, and the number of able-bodied humans steadily decreasing.
Suddenly, a particularly burly black-furred werewolf appeared in Qian Ye’s sight!
Qian Ye retreated at full speed, turning the corner and dashing into an empty room. He reached under the table, grabbed the Eagle Strike, and crouched, aiming the gun at the door. As soon as the level six black wolf appeared, the Eagle Strike would strike it down.
However, the werewolf did not appear, leaving Qian Ye puzzled.
A sturdy figure flashed past the door, and Bao Zhengcheng rushed in. Seeing Qian Ye, he was overjoyed, shouting, “Boss! We can’t hold on much longer. You must leave! Go out from the south. We still have a dozen brothers who can escort you out!”
“No!”
“If you die here, how will we explain it to Miss QiQi?”
“I have nothing to do with her!”
Bao Zhengcheng urged, “Boss! We can’t all die here. Someone has to go back and report!”
Qian Ye threw Bao Zhengcheng an assault rifle, saying, “The magazine is full. Hold on a bit longer. Those dark-blooded scum are almost finished too!”
Bao Zhengcheng and Qian Ye locked eyes, nearly sparking. Finally, he knew Qian Ye would not go first, and angrily punched the wall, then rushed out. Qian Ye put the Eagle Strike back under the table, picked up a random long sword, and left the room.
At the other end of the battlefield, a small chaos erupted.
In a courtyard, the angry howls of the werewolves were piercing, almost tearing the air. A group of werewolves and a few vampire warriors were facing each other in a combat stance, growling threats, ready to explode into violence.
In the center of the courtyard lay two dead werewolves, drained of blood.
“This cannot be our doing, impossible!” the leading vampire warrior shouted.
The werewolves became agitated, roaring, “Who else would suck blood?!”
The vampire warrior arrogantly retorted, “Even if we starve, we would never drink your filthy, murky blood!”
This exchange was normal between the two races, but on the battlefield, with two dead werewolves lying around, the vampire warrior’s words became the trigger for disaster.
A werewolf, unable to control himself, lunged at the leading vampire warrior. The vampire, a level five, had a weathered face, indicating extensive combat experience. He drew his sword lightning-fast, smiling cruelly, and stabbed the former ally’s heart!
Chaos erupted and spread rapidly. By the time the black wolf arrived, both sides had left several corpses.
A blood knight swung a double-handed greatsword, nearly cleaving a werewolf warrior in two!
The black wolf, enraged, his eyes turning blood red, charged like a black storm, tackling the blood knight to the ground and biting viciously!
When Qian Ye and Bao Zhengcheng met again after navigating half the town, they found the battlefield still filled with roars, but the pressure had significantly eased. Moments later, the dark race warriors, who had been scattered throughout the town, withdrew like a receding tide.
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