The First Order

A surprise attack by the armored brigade

Ever since Ren Xiaosu entered Stronghold 146, he had been fighting by himself. Even though he encountered Zheng Yuandong, who was a Qing Consortium spy, the man merely showed him the way forward and never participated in his battles.

Just as Zheng Yuandong had said, his personal safety still took precedence over other matters even if Luo Lan had requested him to assist Ren Xiaosu.

Ren Xiaosu could understand that since it was how the world worked.

But things were different after the Razor Sharp Company broke into the stronghold. While Ren Xiaosu was injured, this group of lunatics set up terrifying heavy machine guns in the streets of the stronghold and claimed the lives of the pursuing Zong Consortium soldiers, providing shelter and protection for Ren Xiaosu.

Ren Xiaosu was leaning against a wall as he pressed down on his wounds. As there were shops and residential buildings on both sides of the street, some residents in the house behind him were shivering in fear at everything that was going on. But even in his battle to seek revenge tonight, Ren Xiaosu was still very careful to not cause the deaths of any innocent residents. This was all because Zhang Xiaoman had previously said that Fortress 178 had its own set of principles they abided by.

“How did y’all manage to find me?” Ren Xiaosu wondered.

The Razor Sharp Company was unfamiliar with the layout of Stronghold 146. Furthermore, Ren Xiaosu had been fighting a highly mobile battle tonight, so it should have been difficult to locate him.

Zhang Xiaoman smiled while reloading. “After we got into the stronghold, there was a fortune teller waiting for us at the gate. He even pointed out your position to us. At first, we didn’t believe him. But after that, we actually heard gunshots coming from the position he pointed to.”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “Is the fortune teller you’re talking about a thin, middle-aged man with a mustache who wears a pair of sunglasses and holds a banner that has the words ‘Divine Foresight’ written on it?”

“Eh?” Zhang Xiaoman was amused. “How did you know?”

The Zong Consortium’s troops had been thoroughly defeated by the Razor Sharp Company’s heavy machine guns. In fact, that momentary burst of fire earlier had even beaten many of the Zong Consortium’s soldiers into submission. The soldiers in the off-road vehicles could not even fight back in the face of the heavy machine guns peppering them.

If it were under normal circumstances, these Zong Consortium troops would certainly not be so fragile. But now that more than half of the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups had either been killed or wounded, the morale of the Zong Consortium’s troops was affected.

So when the soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company saw their enemies screaming in defeat, their morale was lifted. Jiao Xiaochen asked, “Xiaosu, you know that fortune teller too?”

“I guess so.” Ren Xiaosu was a little puzzled. Could that fortune teller be the real deal? But why would he guide the Razor Sharp Company to save him?

Zhang Xiaoman said with a smile, “He’s one of our Fortress 178’s people. I’ve only heard of him, and I didn’t expect to bump into him here.”

Ren Xiaosu was completely dumbfounded. “He’s from Fortress 178?”

“That’s right.” Zhang Xiaoman smiled and said, “Before we came here, the intelligence director, Wang Fengyuan, called and informed us that someone would receive us at Stronghold 146. He managed to match the code word with us, so that fortune teller is indeed an agent of Fortress 178 assigned here to the Zong Consortium in the north. He’s in charge of the planted spies over here.”

Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that something was amiss. He said unhappily, “That guy’s code name is ‘Divine Foresight’?”

“No, his code name is ‘Great Hoodwinker.’ I heard that his code name used to be ‘Divine Foresight,’ but it was changed to ‘Great Hoodwinker’ because he’s always scamming his comrades of their pay.”

Ren Xiaosu suddenly did not feel so good. He had believed 80% of the fortune teller’s words. But now that he thought about it, it could have been Zhang Jinglin who told him about Ren Xiaosu having kin who was not related to him by blood.

And he still had the cheek to say, “The Northwest is where you will prosper.” Could it be that Zhang Jinglin or Wang Fengyuan were “channeling” their attempts through the Great Hoodwinker to try to make him stay?

Regarding the fortune teller’s prediction that the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups would be gathering these few days, that was probably intel they had received about a meeting that would be held soon. Then, through the fortune teller, Ren Xiaosu would be guided on how to wipe out the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups.

So when Ren Xiaosu asked this Great Hoodwinker to divine his future for him, the man immediately fell silent. How could someone like that fucking be trusted?!

But how did the fortune teller know about Li Qingzheng? Could it be that he was also a swindler during the time he spent in the South?

Even at this moment, Ren Xiaosu was skeptical about him. He felt that there was something strange about this Great Hoodwinker.

Ren Xiaosu asked, “Has the Great Hoodwinker always been assigned here in the North?”

“I dunno,” Zhang Xiaoman replied.

Ren Xiaosu felt that he wouldn’t get to the bottom of this for the time being, so maybe he should treat his injuries first....

While the Razor Sharp Company was firing at the Zong Consortium’s troops, Jiao Xiaochen saw Ren Xiaosu using his fingers to directly extract the bullets out of his wounds. He saw Ren Xiaosu in such great pain that his veins were throbbing. His face was flushed red, but he never made a sound.

This group of gruff men from the Razor Sharp Company were totally shocked. Everyone liked to boast about how they were such warriors, especially when it was politically convenient to be known as a warrior back at Fortress 178. If one could not bear hardship, everyone would make fun of them.

But no matter how tough they were, they still wouldn’t resort to extracting bullets from their wounds personally.

After the Zong Consortium troops were completely defeated, the entirety of Stronghold 146 was a mess. Zhang Xiaoman and the others gathered around Ren Xiaosu. “Do you need anesthetics? Your wounds look—”

But before they could finish speaking, Ren Xiaosu had already extracted the second bullet. He clenched his teeth and applied the black medicine onto his wounds. “That’s OK, I’ll recover in three days.”

All of a sudden, Zhang Xiaoman and the others heard the rumbling of armored vehicles rolling on hard ground. The soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company were shocked. “Fuck, could it be that armored brigade?”

They had come across the 131st Brigade at the edge of the Zong Consortium’s territory. At that time, they were even chased into hiding in a gully on two occasions.

After the armored brigade left, the captured deputy regimental commander guided the Razor Sharp Company to plunder a military factory and got their hands on some vehicles. Then they took a shortcut and rushed to Stronghold 146.

On the way here, they did not encounter the armored brigade again. As such, they forgot about them.

But when they heard the sound of the armored vehicles, Zhang Xiaoman and the others looked horrified. No matter how ferocious they were earlier, they could not possibly face an armored brigade head on!

“Run! Let’s get out of here quickly!” Zhang Xiaoman roared.

Ren Xiaosu asked weakly, “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Get into the vehicle!”

With that, a group of people carried Ren Xiaosu into their vehicle. Then they stepped on the gas and drove off in the opposite direction of the armored brigade.

The Zong Consortium troops in front were taking cover at a corner of the street to discuss their countermeasures. The only remaining regimental commander of the Zong Consortium’s combat brigade was trying to contact the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups, but he realized he could not reach anyone of them.

But when they heard the roaring of engines, someone peeked out and nearly pissed his pants. “They’re charging! Regimental Commander, they’re charging!”

The regimental commander also quietly sneaked a peek and was surprised to see the Razor Sharp Company’s vehicles speeding towards them. The regimental commander nearly pissed his pants as well. “Run, run, run!”

All of a sudden, the entire stronghold was plunged into chaos again.

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