Roadmap to the Boundless Sky-Chapter 211Book 3, : Clean Up
Once Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque were sure that their opponents were dead, they relaxed and turned to Chen Chuan.
They saw him walking over with the Frost King Saber in hand. There was a head covered by an iron mask hanging off his waist. Wisps of white steam rose from his body. Even though he didn’t release his biofield, they sensed an invisible pressure coming from him.
Yuan Qiuyuan gulped and did his best to calm his breathing. Then, he looked at the head long and hard before asking, “It’s done, Captain?”
When Chen Chuan arrived in front of the two, he nodded. “It’s done, but there are some things I need to wrap up.”
Yuan Qiuyuan walked up to him and whistled. “That’s the Iron Monster, man. You saw how the people’s expressions changed when his name was mentioned in the bases. And remember how imposing he was just now? I have to say, he was really cool.”
Then, he grabbed the head and turned it about for a bit. “But now, we killed him.”
“The Captain killed him,” Qin Qingque corrected him sternly.
“Hey, he said that we’re a unit. If he killed him, that means we killed him.”
“He’s right. We’re a unit. If you two hadn’t held back the two warriors, I wouldn’t have been able to kill the Iron Monster so smoothly,” Chen Chuan agreed.
Yuan Qiuyuan straightened his back, but he still chuckled before saying, “That might be what I said, but I know just who’s the real strong one here. I’m going to listen only to your orders from now on. I’m not accepting anyone else as my captain.”
Qin Qingque said nothing, but her expression showed that she was thinking the same thing.
Chen Chuan laughed before reminding them, “Take a look at your vitalization rate.”
After all, they were in the wild. With no bases around, they had no domain communication entities connecting their Realm Passes. If they were further away from each other, they wouldn’t be able to check each other’s vitalization rates. Now that Chen Chuan was standing next to them, he found that their vitalization rates were already above twenty. Fortunately, they had not crossed into the warning zone yet, which he was sure was due to them consciously controlling their vitalization rate at all times.
Chills ran down Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque’s spines.
“Got it!”
“Roger.”
During the fight, their nerves had been strung tight, but now, after relaxing, they found their vitalization rates climbing up again, so they quickly practiced their breathing techniques to lower their numbers.
At the same time, they couldn’t help but take a look at Chen Chuan’s vitalization rate, only to see that it remained at zero. It made them even more impressed.
Anyone could lower their vitalization rate, but the further down they went the harder it got. Chen Chuan had been fighting against the Iron Monster, so he had faced a lot more pressure than they did. It had only been a few minutes since the fight ended, but his vitalization rate had already returned to zero. His self-restraint and control over his body were amazing.
Just then, all three of them noticed movement, and they turned around to see the rest of the cavalry gathering together. They were falling in line in the formation for a charge.
Yuan Qiuyuan was curious. “What are they trying to do? Are they really going to rush at us?”
They wanted to fight against three Third Limit martial artists, even though they were just Second Limit cavaliers? What were they trying to do? Die? Were the Iron Monster’s subordinates so loyal to him?
Qin Qingque observed them for a while and thought about it before saying, “Captain, their front row is blocking our vision, but I can see the back row holding grappling hooks. I don’t think they’re for us, though. I think they want to retrieve the bodies.”
“We can’t let them have them. Those are our spoils!” Yuan Qiuyuan cried out and immediately ran to the SUV. He put his hand on the roof and jumped on it to grab the mounted machine gun.
“Let us handle this, Captain. It’s just a small thing. We need a chance to prove ourselves.”
“I’ll let you take care of it, then,” Chen Chuan agreed.
“Sure. Just watch me. I’ve trained for this!”
“I’ll drive,” Qin Qingque declared and rushed into the SUV. Soon, the SUV charged off toward the cavalry.
When the cavalry saw the car coming over, their formation scattered a little before quickly regrouping. They even started charging at the SUV.
Chen Chuan shook his head at that. He was sure the cavaliers knew what was coming for them if they charged at machine gun fire. Even armored horses modified with implants wouldn’t be able to withstand machine gun fire.
But the cavalrymen had to have no other choice. According to the traditions of the royal family’s military, the right- and left-hand men were to be beheaded if their superior died. If they couldn’t retrieve their superior’s body, the entire army was to be held accountable. Besides, the Iron Monster had built his platoon from the ground up by himself, so their loyalty was unquestionable.
Soon, Chen Chuan heard machine gun fire behind him, along with the pained cries of warhorses and heavy objects crashing. All of it was drowned out by the dust and smoke that shot up from the ground.
Chen Chuan ignored it all. He stood by the river with the saber on the ground as he stared at the flowing water while he thought about the changes the Iron Monster had gone through.
The Iron Monster’s state of perfection was not the perfection Chen Chuan envisioned for the mind and body.
When they first started fighting, the Iron Monster had no flaws in his mind, body, and refined force technique, but they were unconnected, and as they continued fighting, it became increasingly harder for the Iron Monster to coordinate them.
Chen Chuan wondered whether it was because the Iron Monster lacked something to connect them together or whether the vitalized organ was stopping him from making them a unified whole.
After some thinking, he decided that it was a little bit of both.
Then, what would true perfection be like?
After around half an hour, the sounds behind him faded away. The SUV came back through the rolling dust and smoke. As it scattered, Chen Chuan saw torn bodies and blood all over the ground. There was no telling which torn, mangled parts belonged to humans and which to horses.
Once the SUV stopped in front of him, Yuan Qiuyuan jumped down and said, “We dealt with them, Captain, but the numbers aren’t matching.”
Qin Qingque got out as well. “Two squads went behind us in the beginning. I think they were trying to look for shallower areas in the river so that they can launch a pincer attack on us. I don’t think they’re here yet.”
“Since we’ve come out here for them, let’s get rid of them too. If we can’t catch up to them, it’s fine. They won’t be able to leave, anyway,” Chen Chuan declared.
“Got it.”
“Roger.”
After winning, their morale was high, and they were filled with respect toward Chen Chuan.
Still, they first had some business to deal with here, like burning the Iron Monster’s corpse. They needed to nip all the buds.
They also had to collect the Iron Monster and his subordinates’ armor, imperial decrees, and important items as proof of their identities.
More than half an hour passed by the time they were done. Even so, the cavalry troops that had split up from them were nowhere to be found. Since they still hadn’t showed up, it meant that they had received word halfway through and fled. Chen Chuan and his group decided to go after them for a while.
Chen Chuan stared at the dying embers. Once everything was reduced to ashes, he looked away and said, “Let’s go.”
Qin Qingque took a few steps forward and opened the door for Chen Chuan before saluting him. “Please get in, Captain.”
Chen Chuan hummed at that and got in. Once Qin Qingque started driving, he took a look at the sky. They had spent around three hours on the fight and the clean up.
He hadn’t expected the fight to end so quickly. In his mind, the fighting should have dragged on into the night.
While he had drawn ritual arrays on Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque’s jackets to prepare for a nighttime fight, the most crucial thing was still their vitalization rate. It was just too big of a variable.
But based on how the fight progressed, the Iron Monster had no intention of dragging the fight into the night, which meant that he was also wary of nighttime. It could also be that he had been rushing to win the fight because he didn’t want to be surrounded.
From this alone, it could be seen that the false information Rao Qili released had played a critical role. They might even be able to find the mole from this.
“Officer Qin, did the cavaliers have a telegraph station with them?” he asked.
“No,” Qin Qingque replied. “They must have moved it to another location beforehand and after learning that the Iron Monster lost destroyed it. This would make it difficult for us to find it.”
“No need to find it, then,” Chen Chuan said. This was not part of their responsibilities. If they could help the others find clues, that would be for the best, but if they couldn’t, that was okay too. All they needed to do was play their part properly.
They followed the tracks of the cavaliers who split up to charge to the back. They had stopped for a while before, then split up and fled.
After some discussion, the group decided that the remaining cavaliers weren’t a threat, so they didn’t chase after them.
“Officer Qin, send a telegram to the rear. Also, thank Rao Qili for me,” Chen Chuan requested. He knew that intelligence deception was no easy feat, so Rao Qili had to have taken a risk to do it.
“Roger.”
***
Rao Qili was waiting in front of the telegraph station in Fort 73. He was worried for Chen Chuan’s unit and for himself.
It was just as Chen Chuan thought. Intelligence deception could only be used during crucial moments, and if it was useless, he would be held responsible.
Just then, the telegram clerk looked up and said, “Rao Qili, we got a telegram.”
“It’s here? What does it say? Quick!”
Rao Qili urged the telegram clerk to write the message down. If Chen Chuan’s unit could send a telegram, it meant that they were okay. At the very least, it wasn’t the worst possible situation.
Rao Qili didn’t wait for the message to be interpreted. Once the telegram clerk wrote the code down, he read it, and his eyes flew wide open as his hands started trembling. He couldn’t hide the glee on his face.
After reading it a few times, he felt a little worried and sent a telegram back to check whether it was true. Another message came back, saying that they were bringing back the Iron Monster’s head and personal effects. It was only then that he relaxed.
While grinning widely, Rao Qili said to the telegram clerk, “I’d like to send a telegram to the Command Center.”
He spoke slowly to come up with a clear message.
“Upon confirmation, at 10 a.m. today, the Iron Monster and his subordinates attacked our elite unit at the middle section of River 24.”
Rao Qili took a moment to consider his words.
“After nearly two hours of intense fighting, the elite unit managed to kill the Iron Monster and his two royally appointed warriors. They also killed over thirty elite cavaliers. Only ten or so have fled. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
“Note: The elite unit was led by Class One Law Enforcer Chen Chuan. His unit was composed of Yuan Qiuyuan, Qin Qingque, Tactical Advisor Rao Qili, and others.”
Then, he checked his watch. “The time is November 26th, 2:23 p.m..
“Send this to the Command Center now.”
