Chapter 3.1 – Soldier
When Su arrived at Dragon City, all of the equipment he needed was already prepared, and it was even moved to the designated warehouse. The value of these goods was not 80 thousand, but 110 thousand. Persephone already used her own reputation to vouch for Su and transferred the funds ahead of time. Even though Persephone’s current credit was completely broken, she still had more than enough to vouch for 30 thousand.
The balance Su obtained ahead of time allowed Su to purchase six rounds of ‘bronze dragons’ produced by the Black Dragonriders’ level of technology, which were shoulder-fired multi-purpose guided missiles, as well as ten sets of standard bulletproof vests. Even though these bulletproof vests were simple and crude, there was lightweight alloy inside. This would allow the soldiers under Su to have a much higher survival rate.
The list of equipment was all formulated by Persephone’s private combat staff officer. From the information Su sent back, they made a preliminary assessment of Blue Scorpion’s equipment and firepower, as well as produced a focused list of equipment.
Apart from sending a Blue Scorpion soldier’s corpse and an entire set of equipment for Persephone’s private laboratory to investigate, Su also transferred 5000 yuan to her account. If not for the fact that he needed to purchase as many arms as possible to deal with Blue Scorpion, Su might have added another zero behind that. However, this was the limit of what he was currently capable of. As a dragonrider, Su’s own equipment was far inferior than even a private’s.
When he finished handing over the mission results, Su immediately hurried over to the dragonriders’ military storehouse to withdraw the equipment. Under Persephone’s suggestions, he applied for and accepted the mission to keep Blue Scorpion outside the Black Dragonriders’ center of control. There was also an additional mission he accepted to investigate the location of Blue Scorpion’s base.
When Su hurried over, Kane was already waiting at the storehouse. This man that seemed a bit mysterious did not wait in the hospital for the results of Penny’s treatment, and instead chose to follow Su into battle. Based on what he said, Penny could only depend on luck right now, while Su currently needed power. In addition, Kane purchased a communications device for himself, so as soon as there was information on Penny, he could immediately know about it.
“Leader!” Kane called out to Su from quite far away. Compared to master, he liked to use this more vulgar wilderness term to address Su. Su also tacitly agreed to this way of address.
Next to Kane, there was a gloomy faced Black Dragonrider officer. From the two daggers at his sleeves, his rank should be a level higher than Su’s. However, Su still came out from Curtis’ training camp, so what he had was a special military rank. In terms of his scope of authority, it wasn’t less than a lieutenant, and as for the level of importance and attention his rank drew, it should be much higher than a normal lieutenant.
“This is dragonrider headquarters’ Lieutenant Enzo. This time, the types of items your esteemed self purchased are somewhat greater, especially these ‘bronze dragon’ guided missiles, which aren’t things that can be casually played around with. That’s why headquarters assigned Lieutenant Enzo to teach our fighters how to use these things!” When Kane introduced Enzo, it was as if he was an old friend he knew for a long time, which left Su feeling a bit strange.
“Pleased to meet you.” Su stretched out his hand towards Enzo.
Enzo’s hand made contact with Su’s and then he withdrew it, clearly only doing the motions out of etiquette before saying, “However, I am not pleased at all, because this time, this is just battlefield instruction.”
“battlefield instruction?” This was the first time Su heard this phrase.
Kane interrupted and said with a laugh, “The so-called battlefield instruction is just to teach our soldiers how to use ‘bronze dragon’ missiles. Alright, Lieutenant Enzo, we should go for a drink. As for leader, you should first take care of your business! The men I chose for you are already waiting at the camp outside Dragon City. They are all good fellows who have always looked forward to this kind of equipment! Right, leader, when you have money, you definitely have to remember to bring me out for a drink.”
As he watched Kane’s figure leave into the distance, Su shook his head. Kane seemed to have a natural ability to quickly blend in with almost anyone, to the point where he was like a fish in water even inside Dragon City. In just two days of time, not only did he settle the subordinate registration and use his authority to purchase a large amount of equipment as well as a string of other matters, he even became friends with the related staff. This Lieutenant Enzo that the dragonriders headquarters assigned was clearly a person that was difficult to deal with, yet in the short period of time, he was actually willing to go drink with Kane.
Su laughed and began to watch the staff members carry boxes of equipment into the vehicle. Interacting with others wasn’t his strong point, so he was just going to let it be.
The two heavy transport vehicles were also borrowed from Persephone. Even though he needed to pay the rental costs, it was at fifty percent cheaper than borrowing it from the military department.
When he looked at the boxes of equipment, Su couldn’t help but sigh deeply. The process of drafting up a plan, ordering equipment, withdrawing equipment, and issuing training only took a total of five days. This was the power of a community, the wisdom of a group. If he had to complete all of this himself, forget about everything else, just those ten assault rifles were already things Su definitely wouldn’t buy. In the past, he always liked to use sniper rifles, and he had a strange disgust with assault rifles. When he thought about it, it was just his own subconscious prejudice. Su felt like the assault rifles that poured out a rain of bullets were a tremendous waste.
Su’s knowledge towards new era equipment was especially lacking, and he knew even less what the armor, equipment kits, and tools with endless types of models were individually used for.
This was due to Kane providing Su with twenty carefully selected soldiers which included one sniper, two backup fire soldiers, and a combat medic. They were all old soldiers that had followed Kane for many years, iron-blooded warriors that reached this point while walking over the corpses of mobs. These soldiers were Kane’s final gift to Su, but from today on, Su had to take care of all of their expenses.
The loading trucks quickly reached the camp outside Dragon City, and all of the equipment was distributed to the twenty men in a clear and orderly manner. The soldiers in the camp were all veterans, and they knew that there was going to be a great battle to be fought soon. As such, they all suppressed their excitement towards the new era equipment and earnestly studied the equipments’ manuals. Even though the dragonrider officer that was assigned would give them another explanation on how to use the equipment, they understood how important time was right now. Understanding their weapons a bit better meant a higher chance of survival later on.
Late into the evening, Kane, Enzo, and two training officers reached the camp. What was somewhat unexpected was that Enzo didn’t wear a dragonrider uniform and instead wore a combat suit. Behind him, the four empty magazines were especially eye-catching. As a Black Dragonrider lieutenant, Enzo also prepared his own rapid-fire pistol used for self-protection, a range-extended assault rifle, as well as corresponding ammunition. Enzo originally had his own military off-road vehicle, but he chose to move together with the troop.
The so-called battlefield instruction was in fact disguised support. The use of ‘bronze dragon’ missiles was quite simple, and an ordinary soldier could grasp its use in only an hour. However, just like all equipment produced by the Black Dragonriders, the greatest tracking precision was displayed when it was used together with specialized goggles to lock in on a target, so this required the user to be equipped with a high enough level of perceptiveness and reaction ability. This was not something an ordinary soldier could possess.
After taking apart the packaging, Su was surprised to find that the ‘bronze dragon’ guided missile was only seventy centimeters in length and ten or so centimeters in diameter, and the launch rack was also quite light, less than ten kilograms. If one judged it purely by its appearance, they wouldn’t expect this little thing would have over ten kilometers of effective range and could hit any target under 2000 meters of altitude. Based on the knowledge of the olden era, the ‘bronze dragon’ shouldn’t be able to penetrate a tank’s armor, and the defensive strength of the Blue Scorpion tanks left Su with a deep impression. Moreover, that tank was merely an infantry tank also used to transport soldiers and not a standard tank. However, just like the gun the captain gifted Su, the Black Dragonriders’ technology could not be assessed using the olden era’s standards.
After tonight’s training, rest, and reorganization, this newly establish troop split up into two loading trucks before proceeding north.
