Darkstone Code-Chapter 991 - 989: We Have a Little Surprise

"You shouldn’t have done that..."

As they walked out of the unfinished building, the squad leader raised a hand to stop Ryan, "You softened, and for us, that could be fatal."

Ryan was actually feeling a bit irritated, thinking that his squad leader was too ruthless, not even sparing innocent girls.

He even planned to go back and write a letter to report his squad leader’s wanton killings, so he looked with disdain at his squad leader’s words, with some unfriendly expression in his eyes.

"Do you think I’m a crazed killer with a mental disorder?"

Ryan turned his head away from him, "No, I don’t think that."

"Then why didn’t you shoot?"

"If faced with the same situation next time, would you still choose not to shoot?"

Ryan didn’t want to answer this question, feeling it was shameless. He turned and continued walking, but the squad leader stopped him again.

"Your mindset will get you killed and drag us down with you. We’ve seen things more brutal in the Amelia Region than you can imagine."

"Have you ever seen a teenage girl with a bomb strapped under her skirt walk into our midst?"

"Have you ever seen a mother with a small child approach us, using the excuse of asking for food?"

"You’ve seen nothing. This is a battlefield. Your role is not to show mercy but to eliminate!"

The squad leader spoke loudly, watching Ryan’s defiant face. After a moment of silence, he continued, "I used to be like you. You need to understand, my wish is for all of us to go home alive."

"This is not a Federation Army military exercise. This is a battlefield. This is a real war where we and our enemies must fall for the war to be won."

"I hope the final victory is ours..."

Ryan pressed his lips together, "I’ll try to accept it. I don’t know if you’re right, but I’ll use my own eyes and then tell you whether you’re right or wrong."

Though his words sounded diplomatic, in truth, he didn’t back down. It was more of a "declaration of war."

Watching Ryan stride away, the squad leader laughed in anger, but soon showed helplessness. He didn’t want it to be this way.

To die here because of unnecessary mercy would be truly unworthy.

If they were dispatched for their country, they would at least be buried under the national flag, amidst praise and mourning from the people.

But that’s not the case. To die here means just dying; their bodies likely won’t be sent back to the Federation. Their families will only receive a notification and a check.

He had seen such scenarios many times and didn’t want to go through it again!

An old soldier came over, put his arm around his shoulder, "They will understand."

The squad leader sighed, "I only fear that when they do understand, it will be too late."

The battle to encircle Lucas went very smoothly, thanks to the efficient silencing device developed by the Federation Military Group for the Amelia Region conflict.

It is one foot long, weighs two pounds, and effectively prevents muzzle flashes while reducing the burst sound of bullets being fired.

In the Amelia Region, once exposed in the mountains and forests, people quickly realize enemies are everywhere—

In reality, from the enemy’s view, Federation soldiers are everywhere too, but they remain concealed while the Federation soldiers get exposed, which is crucial.

Thus, eliminating flash and sound becomes critical.

This is already the second generation silencer, performing much better than the first generation. The only downside is its weight.

However, it doesn’t matter; no one cares about the weight issue, as they’re not continually holding up the gun.

In less than half an hour, they quickly eliminated the gang members in this unfinished building without alarming many people, though there might be some who slipped through, but those won’t affect the overall situation.

A little after eleven AM, the group returned to the rally point, and Sanchez was still in disbelief.

So quickly, they were all taken out?

Yet he had to believe it because he had sent people to the scene, and everyone was gone.

They certainly wouldn’t have run away having heard any rumors; they were celebrating wildly yesterday, so there is only one possibility: they truly vanished.

The colonel nodded satisfiedly after hearing the battle report. Over ten people were injured, and the cause was them burning their fingers when touching the silencer.

Currently, the summer gloves used by the Federation are not cut-resistant, opting for fingerless gloves to ensure flexibility and combat effectiveness.

These unlucky soldiers had their fingers blistered, but it’s not a major issue. The doctor has already treated them, and they’ll continue participating in the upcoming battle.

Refocusing, the colonel looked at Sanchez, "Mr. Sanchez, our mission is to help you quickly establish your own force. I hope you don’t waste each other’s time. I have some suggestions that you might find interesting..."

At this moment, Sanchez was still somewhat dazed. The speed at which Darkstone Security had cleaned up the city exceeded his expectations.

He should have been very happy, but for some reason, he just couldn’t feel any joy.

This feeling was like... being made of wood, a puppet!

He didn’t know if others felt the same way, but he certainly did.

All the Federation wanted was his skin; they weren’t genuinely trying to help him with anything, including the "suggestion" from the colonel in front of him, which was definitely not just a simple suggestion.

It was an order that couldn’t be refused.

Soon, Sanchez, who had been hiding for many days with his injuries, reappeared on local television. He continued to talk extensively about his ideas, hoping to move all the people of Mariluo and Mallory through sincerity and love, to abandon those hatreds and unite in building their homeland together.

He probably didn’t even believe his own nonsense, but it didn’t prevent some people from actually believing it.

He quickly gathered a group of people upon returning alone from the Federation to Mariluo because a bunch of fools naively believed his nonsense.

They truly thought these were Sanchez’s own ideas; they seemed to forget that Sanchez was also an executioner.

But... at this very moment, none of that mattered.

Sanchez quickly gathered thousands of people; part of it was ideals, and part of it was what he offered.

Comparable to the salary disbursed by medium-sized warlords, it wasn’t hard to find people willing to risk their lives for themselves in this city. The mayor had just been hanged, the entire city was in a state of chaos, and Sanchez’s power was expanding rapidly.

Sanchez’s recruitment drew the attention of some people, as the major warlords were in a melee, and the minor warlords would not relax either; mutual annexation was the path to rapid growth.

In a sense, the chaotic situation in Mariluo was very much like the seeming order, but actually disorderly, expansion of the capital market.

Capital is never picky; as long as it suits them, they won’t care about which faction the target belongs to or who it belongs to—these meaningless questions. They will just grasp the opportunity, open their mouths, and then swallow it.

However, the war of capital can be dressed up with many beautiful things, and some even see these as one of the signs of social progress—at least the market is free and unrestrained.

And war, besides death and bloodshed, perhaps only the occasional glimmers of humanity during the war could stir some slight ripples in people’s hearts.

In a week, Sanchez had secured his territory well, and the next step was expansion.

During this process, Sanchez listened to the liaison officer and the colonel’s suggestion, taking a high-interest loan of two billion Federation Sol from the Federation’s six major banks.

This money would be used to strengthen his power. As for collateral, it’s the trade and tax rights on his future territory.

He didn’t really want to borrow, but he had to. During this time, he understood a truth.

Just like how all Federation people seemed the same to him, probably, for the Federation people, all Mallorys seemed the same; as long as they had blue eyes, they could all be "Sanchez."

With money, those recruited by him were more willing to risk their lives, and in chaotic times, nothing satisfied more than real money at hand, particularly in the form of the sturdy Federation Sol, a gratifying method of payment.

On this day, the colonel felt it was time to expand outward.

"I’ve noticed there’s a river to our east, which leads into Federation territory. If we can seize this river, some supplies can be transported directly through the water network instead of by land or train."

Others nodded, this idea was indeed correct. Why was territorial division not severe during the last world war?

Because technological development couldn’t keep up with the most basic demands of territorial annexation, without convenient transportation capabilities, even if one held a piece of land, it would be a burden.

Not all countries were desperate to transform from an island country into an inland one like Gafura, only they gritted their teeth to swallow this enclave.

If there was a water network available for use, this would undoubtedly be great news.

"Since no one has any other objections, our main direction will be set here..." The colonel circled an area on the map, encircling a riverfront city not far from here.

Sitting against the wall on the side, Sanchez was yawning out of boredom. He found himself getting tired easily these last couple of days, always wanting either to sleep for a while or to lie down.

He didn’t know what was wrong, instinctively feeling it wasn’t a good sign, but lying down felt so comfortable that he couldn’t care about much else.

"Mr. Sanchez, how much do you know about this city?"

Sanchez cast a glance at the circle on the map and pondered for a moment, "That’s Antonio’s territory. He has many people and very well-equipped weapons."

Perhaps out of some psychological motivation, he added, "All sold to him by you guys!"

It is an undeniable fact that eighty percent of the firearms within Mariluo come from the Federation; looking at the manufacturing places of the weapons in these people’s hands, one would know they’re almost all from the Federation.

The thick sarcasm in his tone didn’t make anyone react, the colonel also calmly looked at him, unaffected by what he said, "Tell us something we are interested in, how many people do they have, what kind of configuration, we need to capture this city before October."

October, a very special day, which Sanchez didn’t quite understand.

Because he wasn’t familiar with Lynch, if he were, he’d know that October is the month in which Lynch’s birthday falls.