The First Order

Chapter 288 A glass of wine

The destruction of Stronghold 108 had far-reaching effects. Over the widespread battlefield, this spacious stronghold itself was the largest forward operating base of the Li Consortium’s combat troops.

The troops from the other Li Consortium strongholds in the rear that were heading to the front lines would resupply at Stronghold 108 before continuing to advance northwards. This was also the reason for the sudden shortage of food in Stronghold 108.

The Li Consortium lacked experience as they have never fought any large-scale wars before. Many generals even thought that war was a very simple matter, and all they needed to do was to ensure that the war machine kept operating smoothly. For this, they had been planning for all kinds of possible scenarios and drawing up backup plans over the years.

But the moment war broke out, they realized warfare was unpredictable, with no constant shape or constant conditions. Unexpected situations were the most common events in wartime.

After Stronghold 108 was destroyed, the frontline troops of the Li Consortium immediately lost an entire supply line. The Yang Consortium’s armored forces continued to attack Mt. Qingsheng so that they could force an opening for their infiltration troops, and this was undoubtedly a massively successful strategy.

After the Experimentals retreated, the Yang Consortium’s nanosoldiers continued to carry out their demolition missions at the enemy’s rear and destroyed their main strategic facilities.

However, Yang Xiaojin had already disappeared. As one of the Yang Consortium’s core figures, she did not seem to be interested in the war itself, and even the nanosoldiers were unaware that she had arrived.

It was rumored that the Saboteurs and the Yang Consortium were at odds, but no one knew what the truth was.

Major differences wouldn’t be felt for a short while after the Li Consortium’s supply line has been cut off. But if their rear troops couldn’t rebuild the supply line, it would definitely prove to be a disastrous blow

But after the Li Consortium was dealt such a disastrous blow, they decided they would unleash a full retaliation against the Yang Consortium at all costs.

In the southwestern battlefield, the war combatants cared more about things like the supply line and whatnot. But for the supernatural realm, Chen Wudi’s appearance could be considered a milestone event.

The Saboteurs had previously termed the current era “The Dawn of Gods.” That was because no being in the entire supernatural realm had really surpassed the ordinary yet.

They were all still afraid of firearms and explosives, and everyone preferred remaining hidden in the shadows of the organizations. The power of the ordinary was constraining the entire supernatural realm.

However, the emergence of Chen Wudi put an end to that era. Those who waited silently in the supernatural realm termed the era after Chen Wudi’s appearance as “The Rise of Gods.”

This was because they could already see the upper limits of a supernatural being reached, and hoped they themselves could get to that level as well.

But throughout the “Dawn” era, Li Shentan was the only person who could be considered a demigod. And Chen Wudi seemed to be the only one who could reach the threshold to be considered a god. He possessed what one would call, in the true sense of the meaning, a power that only gods could possess.

On the empty and run-down streets of Stronghold 108, old newspapers that were scattered on the ground swirled into the air when a cold gust of wind blew.

Dead leaves littered the ground. In the past, cleaners would be working in the stronghold. But now, every stronghold resident had fled from here. Only a few people remained hiding in their houses as they waited for the Li Consortium to come and rescue them. However, Li Shentan’s artillery troops had already intercepted all of the Li Consortium’s rear troops in the south, so they would not get here for a while.

Li Shentan was walking down the boulevard alone. As he looked at the depressing scene around him, his eyes were calm.

The little girl, Si Liren, hovered next to him in a white robe. She did not say anything and could feel the sadness and loneliness in Li Shentan.

Li Shentan came to the place where Chen Wudi had battled the Experimentals earlier. He quietly looked at Chen Wudi’s body that had turned into stone and sat down cross-legged across from him with a sigh.

He sat there for an entire day and night as though he no longer cared about everything that was happening in the rest of the world. He even laid aside his hatred for a brief moment.

The artillery fire in the south and north was still continuing. Meanwhile, the buffer zone of Stronghold 108 had suddenly become a quiet and peaceful land.

As Li Shentan sat there, Si Liren stayed put and waited by his side quietly.

Suddenly, Li Shentan said with a sigh, “I’m a little envious of Ren Xiaosu.”

Si Liren asked, “Bro, do you feel guilty?”

“No, I’m not.” Li Shentan shook his head and said in a firm voice, “And I wasn’t wrong either.”

How could someone like a Demon Whisperer with such a strong personality show any signs of wavering? Since he began his revenge, he’d never wanted to have any discussion of what was right or wrong with anyone.

Even if he was in the wrong, so what?

Li Shentan looked at Chen Wudi and said, “We both came out of an asylum.”

What he was trying to say was that among those who came out of a psychiatric hospital during times like these, he and Chen Wudi represented two extremes. One of them was pure of heart and always did the right things, while the other willingly sank into Hell.

Li Shentan loved being called the Demon Whisperer. That was because the demons in him were enough to devour this entire world.

But when Chen Wudi died, Li Shentan was a little moved as well.

He wanted to jump off from the edge of the dark and endless abyss where he stood, but someone always seemed to be calling his name from behind. When Li Shentan turned around, he could not see anything at all.

Li Shentan said as he sat across from Chen Wudi, “I don’t seem like I’ll have goals after getting my revenge. If I’m still alive by then, I’ll protect your master on your behalf.”

But then Li Shentan froze. He turned around and looked at Si Liren, who was dozing off in midair.

He suddenly laughed and said, “Stop sleeping. The Li Consortium still has several strongholds standing. Those old fogies must’ve gone into hiding, so we’ll have to seek them out.”

...

Inside Stronghold 88, Luo Lan was feasting. After all, he was fully hosted by the Yang Consortium, so it wasn’t like he had to pay for it.

Before the alliance between the Yang Consortium and the Qing Consortium ended, he would not be allowed to leave Stronghold 88. The reason why the Yang Consortium was willing to establish a platform of trust and cooperation with Qing Zhen was that Luo Lan had personally offered to come into their territory, which showed the sincerity of Qing Zhen and Luo Lan.

Any organization with sophisticated enough intelligence gathering knew that as long as Luo Lan were here, Qing Zhen would not rip up the alliance between the two sides without a valid reason.

Of course, Luo Lan knew he was a hostage. However, he remained very calm since he had already decided that he would be freeloading off them.

Although he couldn’t leave Stronghold 88, the Yang Consortium had given him the highest form of treatment.

But at this moment, a crow suddenly landed on the dining table in front of him. Luo Lan untied the small bamboo tube on the crow’s leg and extracted the slip of paper from the tube.

Luo Lan unfurled the rolled-up paper with his stubby fingers and was dumbfounded when he read the contents.

Luo Lan’s trusted aide asked, “Boss, what’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing.” Luo Lan sighed as he poured the wine in his glass onto the ground in memoriam. The friend who had saved his life before and always accused him of being Benbo’erba was no longer around.

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