"What about the other unit? The one called Caldeia, where are they?"

As a key focus, they're also another bait troop.

Hardlin believes that if the opponent has any other purpose, it should lie within this unit.

Similarly, as Horizon Corporation's vanguard troops, they're impossible to exist solely as bait.

"Colonel....."

The staff officer put down the communicator, staring blankly and said

"Another unit is in combat, it's the 302nd Battalion."

Hardlin frowned, the 302nd Battalion is the unit that has been moving towards Naventura, the closest to Caldeia.

He quickly realized, if the 302nd Battalion is engaged, doesn't this mean there's a chance to surround them?

"What about the surrounding troops, where is the fastest unit, send them immediately for support."

——————

Hokuma Village

The collapsed wooden houses, after enduring the fires of war, only left a heap of charred remains, emitting thin smoke, mixed with the morning fog, making it hard to see clearly.

Some fires had gone out, but others were still blazing fiercely, becoming even more intense.

On the open space in front of the factory, nearly a hundred villagers surrounded the temporarily built platform. Skai, the senior military officer who held a high position just a day ago, was now covered in blood, kneeling on the ground, on the verge of death.

A middle-aged man, so thin that he was all skin and bones, pointed at him, his eyes flowing with unstoppable tears filled with burning anger, wishing to turn the person before him to ashes, speaking through gritted teeth

"The factory owes us three months' wages. Our family went to demand our pay, and resultantly, his soldiers not only refused but also crippled my leg and killed my son...."

Accumulated grievances and hatred of unknown years burst out at this moment. His expression as he spoke was eager to swallow him alive. As he spoke, he became so agitated that he even fainted, and other villagers quickly rushed to support him so he didn't fall.

Although Skai had only been stationed here for less than two years, in the villagers' eyes, this batch was no different from the previous one, doing the same things.

Hokuma was a small town with a few thousand people seventy years ago, but under the sustainable plundering of these drug lord warlords, it has forcibly become merely a village with only two or three hundred people.

There were teenagers forcibly conscripted and taken away.

Females dragged to barracks and toyed with till death.

Farmers shot at for fun in the fields.

Workers starved on the production line.

No matter age, no matter identity, in the warlords' eyes all are the same, the livestock they raise.

Some resisted, joining the guerrillas, but compared to the drug lords supported by the European Community, they were truly too weak.

Moreover, Cuba is too small, surrounded by the sea on all sides, all cities are in the hands of drug lords. Outside the cities, there are not even farms to grow food. No resources, no weapons, no support, the guerrillas are always struggling on the verge of extinction, finally meeting their end this month.

Until another group set foot on this land.

Seeing the eyes, eager to strip him of flesh, that Skai wished to shrink from, standing beside him, Straight Talk shivered.

If he weren't standing here now, this major might be torn apart alive by these enslaved workers, so much that the pieces couldn't be put back together.

He whispered to Big Ass beside him

"Damn, won't these people eat me? Their gaze is terrifying."

"What's there left on you to eat? Fried monkey brains?"

Big Ass, who came to Cuba with the Red Barrel, laughed

"You know, I feel like we've traveled back to over a hundred years ago."

Here is different from the futuristic prosperity of Night City. The villagers living in these wood houses look straight out of the feudal era, creating an illusion for Big Ass as if he'd arrived in liberating times on this land.

He said with a subtle tone 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"We're kind of liberators here hosting a public trial."

Straight Talk scoffed

"Bleh, if it wasn't for Killer Demon's advice, would you have gotten these villagers to speak?"

While the two were quietly chattering, lying on the ground, Skai had completely stopped breathing. By the time the players noticed, the corpse was already cold.

But the process was only half done, and there's still half of the villagers left waiting to lament.

Big Ass: "He's dead, it's all because of you."

"What should we do? If I had known earlier, we would have started counting down."

Straight Talk scratched his head, looking very distressed.

They're hosting this public trial not for political reasons, merely because this guy's actions pissed the players off, but he would be too easily let off if directly killed. That's why they're doing such a public trial.

Right now, all political officers are at Dragon Field, preparing new recruits for training, nowhere manages the frontline players.

If Skai hadn't died, players would show him what the Top Ten Tortures of Qing Dynasty were.

"Let them be."

Big Ass kicked Skai, confirming he's completely dead, then boldly spoke loudly to the surrounding villagers

"Everyone, I know you've suffered a lot over the years, but from today onward, we will never let these executioners ride on you again."

The villagers looked at each other, you see me, I see you

Previously in the warehouse, only fear faced these people, now it's a bit of gratitude and puzzlement mixed with fear.

An old man trembling asked

"Are you the army from Camaguey?"

"Not from Camaguey."

Big Ass shook his head repeatedly

"Guerrillas, got it? We are friends of Jose from the guerrilla, came from United States to eliminate Cuban drug lords, liberate this land."