The devastation in Stronghold 176 had far exceeded everyone’s imagination.
In just three hours, corpses were strewn all over the stronghold.
Just a month ago, Stronghold 176 had fallen once before. However, Yan Liuyuan restrained his subordinates and did not allow them to go on a killing spree. The tribe that went around slaughtering the residents was also hanged by Yan Liuyuan.
But it was different this time. The northern tribe had gone on a killing spree in Stronghold 176 and massacred everyone in the city.
Amid the screams, Stronghold 176 turned into a living hell.
In the past, there would always be trails of white smoke puffing out from the chimneys of the factories in the stronghold. But today, there were no longer signs of that white smoke. Instead, it was replaced by a cloud of black smoke that seemed to be everywhere in the air. Fires were burning all around the stronghold.
After over a 100 years since the Alliance of Strongholds was set up, a massacre of a stronghold had finally happened.
The Wang Consortium’s garrison troops did not engage in a bloody battle with this northern tribe to the very end. They only had time to see the enemy plant a flag of a white bear at the highest point of the stronghold before immediately retreating south in an attempt to join up with the main forces of the Wang Consortium’s reinforcements that were on their way over.
There were not many garrison troops stationed at Stronghold 176 to begin with. The speed at which the Wang Consortium mobilized their troops to the north was a step too late in the end.
To the north, the burly man who commanded the expeditionary army’s advance guard walked into the city with his giant axe in hand. He looked at his deputy beside him. “Where’s Black Robe? Why don’t I see him around?”
“He was supposed to coordinate support for us in the stronghold, but we did not see him after we stepped inside. Later on, even those death row convicts under his command disappeared without a trace,” the deputy commander said.
The burly man, who was almost two meters tall, sneered. “He’s so secretive. I wonder what the general sees in him. Why does he indulge that fella so?”
The deputy commander reminded him with a serious expression, “Commander Valentin, please don’t ever question the general’s decision in public again.”
“Go and find him.” Valentin said, “Yegor, if you can’t figure out what he’s up to before sunset, I’ll deploy you back to your company.”
Yegor did not say anything further. He carried his giant axe and led a group of men away. Meanwhile, Valentin sat on top of a pile of rubble and admired the ruins of Stronghold 176. This was the work of the expeditionary army.
At this moment, there were too many casualties in Stronghold 176. So no one noticed that the gray Experimentals had not killed everyone they encountered. Rather, they captured some of them and brought them to an underground laboratory.
The incandescent light in the underground laboratory was flickering, and the Experimental who was shrouded in a black robe was standing at an operating table. Hundreds of humans were tied up on the ground as they screamed in fear.
However, no one could hear their cries for help. The Wang Consortium’s garrison troops had been defeated, so no one would come and save them even if they heard their pleas.
Dozens of strong-looking Experimentals were crawling around in the huge laboratory. They were patrolling the premises to prevent any humans from escaping.
Black Robe was a little surprised as he did not expect to find such a well-equipped laboratory in Stronghold 176. However, it seemed the controllers of the stronghold only had the equipment, while the research they carried out was totally worthless.
But it was different now. This research laboratory had become more important due to his arrival. In Black Robe’s eyes, this was probably the only thing worthy of praise that he had for the useless stronghold overseers.
He picked up a syringe and slowly pushed the tiny bubbles out of it before walking towards a young woman.
Black Robe knelt down next to the woman and said with a hoarse laugh, “As a new subject of my kingdom, you should feel honored.”
The woman begged, “Please let me go. I still have my parents to take care of. I don’t want to die.”
“It’s alright. You’ll soon forget these human emotions,” Black Robe said.
When the woman saw the gray face under the black robe, she immediately retreated in fear. However, her hands and feet were bound, so she could only struggle in vain. She shouted, “Monster! You’re also a monster!”
Black Robe slowly got up. The word “monster” pissed him off. He let the woman in front of him continue to struggle and did not say a word throughout.
Eventually, he waved his hand and an Experimental next to him bounded over and tore the woman to pieces. Blood splattered onto the ground of the laboratory in an extremely terrifying manner.
Meanwhile, Black Robe silently walked towards the next person.
He injected the drug into the humans one by one. Then their blood vessels slowly turned gray. It was like a strange gray worm was crawling through their blood vessels. After that, their skin also started graying. Under the incandescent light, they looked abnormally sick.
Suddenly, an Experimental came in through the door. It crawled in front of Black Robe and roared. Black Robe frowned and said, “Bring them out from another exit and wait for my call in the wilderness.”
With that, he immediately walked out of the laboratory and returned to the surface. When he saw Yegor walking over, he asked in a hoarse voice, “You were looking for me?”
“Commander Valentin wants to know what you’re doing,” Egor said coldly.
Black Robe calmly explained, “I was just looking around the place.”
“Is that so?” As he spoke, Yegor ordered his subordinates to search the laboratory behind Black Robe and the underground building, but they found nothing inside.
After Yegor received confirmation that there was nothing suspicious, he said, “Commander Valentin said that you’d better not be up to any tricks under his watch.”
Black Robe said with a hoarse laugh, “Don’t be nervous. You don’t have to be so afraid of me. The general trusts me very much, doesn’t he? Instead of coming to look for me, why don’t you chase after the Wang Consortium’s garrison troops that have fled? I think that this is the biggest mistake you all have made because they will spread the news very soon and bring more people from the Central Plains back here. At that time, even a force as strong as the expeditionary army will shed rivers of blood. It’ll be a tragic battle to fight.”
Yegor turned around and left. To be honest, he did not even want to stay a second longer with Black Robe. When he spoke to Black Robe, he felt like a venomous snake was winding around his skin. The slithery and cold feeling sickened him.
…
The convoy from the Trinity Institute successfully escaped from the chaotic zones in Stronghold 31. When they arrived at the western gate, it had been left open. It seemed that Kong Erdong was not the only one who had tried to escape. A large number of stronghold officials had also fled.
Ren Xiaosu checked a map in the front passenger seat and said, “It’s best that we don’t take the same route back to the Wang Consortium. I suspect that we’ll encounter a large number of Kong Consortium deserters there. Since the Pyro Company can reach Stronghold 31, Stronghold 32 must’ve already fallen. Currently, the Kong Consortium deserters will probably number in the thousands, and they’ll cause a lot of trouble for the escapees. We should detour farther south and try our best to avoid the routes that the deserters will most likely choose to wait at.”
But just as he finished speaking, Yang Xiaojin, who was next to him, stomped on the brakes. All of a sudden, the entire convoy from the Trinity Institute came to a stop.
Ren Xiaosu looked up and was surprised to see a group of Pyro Company members surrounding them!
At some point, the Pyro Company had surrounded Stronghold 31!
