After those guys left, Mario snorted, “So what if we don’t have many people? We have such a big hole in our backyard, it’s more than enough for us to hide in to get through the winter.”
Xu Cheng asked curiously, “Is the competition really that serious?”
Vala nodded. “Yeah, extremely. Think about it, all the big nations are picking out their most elite special forces team to compete here. Anyway, everywhere, thousands of mercenaries will die here by the hands of the special forces! I heard 10 countries are competing this year, so I don’t know which region is going to be hit the hardest. The most powerful special forces team in history was a team of 50, and they directly took out a mercenary group of over 500 people! That just goes to show the big disparity in power. It would indeed be impossible for small clans to survive if they don’t work together with others. Just like that team of 30 that just came, probably five special forces soldiers are enough to take them down.”
Mario: “But we have a cave to hide in, we should be fine, right?”
At this time, Hawking walked over and said, “You guys might be fine, but have you thought about those engineers? Why were so many engineers spotted here all of a sudden? Any expert would spot the underground structures here the moment they set foot into the city. It’s not hard to spot the anti-shock and anti-explosion design in place, and even a fool would know what it does.”
Xu Cheng nodded. “That’s right, we must not let the special forces find out. It would be a big deal even if a mercenary group finds out about it, not to mention the special forces that are backed by nations. They could easily guess what we are up to.”
Mario and the others looked at each other, and then they looked at Xu Cheng, puzzled, and asked, “Big Brother Cheng, then you mean…”
“Whichever country sends over their special forces, we will have to protect this place well and fend them off,” Xu Cheng said.
“Big Brother Cheng, you are not joking, right?” Mario bitterly smiled. “The special forces sent by the big nations are all world-class, and they are at least A-tier, and there are also tons of S-tier ones. Us fighting them would be like throwing eggs at a rock.”
“We must make sure that this place is fine. Not just for the project, but also for the engineers here. I brought them in, I have to be responsible for their safety. If the military practice implicates this region, we have to stand our ground with our line,” Xu Cheng said in determination.
Seeing how stubborn he was, the others could only obey the command.
Xu Cheng took out a cig and lit it. Then, sitting down on a wooden chair, he said to Zhang Xiu and the others, “Tell me more about the competition, I still don’t know too much about it.”
Chekov said, “I will explain. As someone that participated in the competition before, I have more experience.“
Then, he paced back and forth and began to talk, “I don’t know much about whether the contest rules changed or not, but back then, the competition would always have at least two of the following missions. First, it is the beheading operation.”
“Beheading operation? So going straight for the boss of a mercenary clan?” Xu Cheng asked.
Chekov nodded. “Yes. They would have people providing intel, and the target must be big characters that are active and influential in the Land of Mercenaries. Normally, only S-level criminals or above will have this kind of treatment. The competing teams would all go for the same target, and the team that gets the head wins.”
Xu Cheng asked, “Then what about the second mission?”
Chekov: “The second one would be to conquer. As the name suggests, the mission is to take over a specific territory, which might be some crude oil fields, diamond mines, mineral mines, or so on. These kinds of lucrative resources would be the target for every nation. Whichever country gets it, the resources would be the prize.”
Xu Cheng wondered. “To put it bluntly, from the beginning to end, those guys just never respected the forces here, right? The first mission is going straight for the boss and treating it like a fun challenge, and the second mission is really no different from straight-up robbery.”
