Just as Chen He seemed to be about to prepare to shoot, Bai Zemin reached out his hand and touched his shoulder, which caused the archer's movements to stop unconsciously.
"Wait a moment." Bai Zemin said without looking at him and focusing his attention on the sound getting closer and closer. "It's probably Fu Xuefeng who finished the task I entrusted him with."
To be honest, Bai Zemin wasn't quite sure what had happened. According to his estimation, Fu Xuefeng should already be at least more than halfway past in the direction of the base. However, the Blood Spear Legion was only half a day away from the Baiquan Camp so it was really strange.
Bai Zemin gestured and the soul evolvers immediately took cover as they prepared to fight. Only people who were confident of surviving through practically everything was left standing by his side. However, none of those present were really worried; they were simply being cautious because of Bai Zemin's order or else it was unlikely that the sound of an approaching motorcycle would cause much of a stir.
This was just Bai Zemin being cautious by nature. Nothing more, nothing less.
Fortunately, all concern was unnecessary as even in the middle of the night and despite carrying the headlight off to avoid attracting any creature more than the sound of the engine already did, a soul evolver with the active skill Luminous Vision said loudly:
"Your Majesty! The motorcycle driver is the leader of the second brigade of our Blood Spear Legion!"
Bai Zemin waved his hand at the same time as he nodded and with that gesture, everyone immediately relaxed and went back to busying themselves with the half-finished meal.
The person in the position of the leader of the second brigade of the Blood Spear Legion was none other than Fu Xuefeng himself.
Soon, the motorcycle approached as it was traveling at a speed of over 100 km/h, and Fu Xuefeng, who was being cautious from the moment he noticed the large crowd of people blocking the road, could also relax when he identified the people at the front of the group.
"Legion Leader Bai." Fu Xuefeng immediately bowed to Bai Zemin after getting off the motorcycle he was riding on.
Bai Zemin waved his hand gently to indicate to him that it was not necessary to stand on ceremony and said with a slight frown, "Did something happen in the middle of the road? As we had planned, you should have met up with the Blood Spear Legion at least six hours ago."
"In fact, something strange happened and I would like to report it." Fu Xuefeng nodded with a slightly serious expression and then looked at the surroundings cautiously.
Bai Zemin's eyes glinted slightly as he saw the caution of one of his most trusted subordinates and as if realizing something he turned around and walked towards the forest as he said without looking back, "Bing Xue, you are left in charge meanwhile. Fu Xuefeng, you come with me."
Shangguan Bing Xue simply nodded. There wasn't much to do at the moment other than to be slightly on guard in case any beasts or zombies appeared while those with the Cooking skill prepared dinner.
As for Fu Xuefeng, he simply gave a quick wave to the rest and then hurriedly followed Bai Zemin.
The two of them disappeared beyond the tall bushes, getting lost amidst the thick grass and giant trees.
* * *
"So, what's going on?" asked Bai Zemin with a slight smile.
"Big brother Bai, I almost got killed back there." Fu Xuefeng sighed as he sat on the trunk of a tree toppled by some unknown creature.
Now that it was just him and Bai Zemin present, Fu Xuefeng finally called out to him in the same intimate way as always. It was just that when there were people present it was better to keep a bit of distance to avoid misunderstandings as it might not only damage Bai Zemin's own image but Fu Xuefeng would begin to be seen as someone who got his position and personal possessions due to his friendship with the higher leader rather than through his own efforts.
While it was true that Fu Xuefeng's position and achievements were directly connected to Bai Zemin and their close relationship as well as the trust he had in the slender young man, the reality was that from a certain point of view Fu Xuefeng had earned it thanks to his courage as well as the demonstration of being someone trustworthy.
"What happened? Explain everything to me with details included." Bai Zemin said in a serious voice as his eyes flashed with slight murderous intent.
To him, Fu Xuefeng was a man he could trust in most of cases. While he was not particularly powerful, Bai Zemin was 95% sure that he would not betray him and to Bai Zemin loyalty was too valuable in this world where people's lives were worth less than a piece of fresh meat.
What Bai Zemin needed were people loyal to him and therefore, when he heard that one of his trusted warriors was about to be killed, he naturally got upset.
Fu Xuefeng sighed and slowly began to narrate everything from the beginning.
From his arrival at the base, the minor harassment by the soldiers guarding the entry and exit of the survivors to the base, the rumors he heard throughout the day as he mingled among the survivors, the strange movement of the military troops and police forces at Baiquan Camp, and so on.
After Bai Zemin asked him several questions to clarify minor doubts he was left with in between Fu Xuefeng's narration, Fu Xuefeng continued relating everything he had seen and heard while he was inside the enemy base.
"Thirteen battle tanks, more than two dozen Bradley-type and normal IFVs, sixty-five vehicles of different types with heavy machine guns mounted on them, more than a hundred modified motorcycles with heavy weaponry on the sides, and a large number of modified transport trucks…" Bai Zemin muttered with slight surprise after hearing what Fu Xuefeng saw inside the military hangar in the center of the enemy camp.
The number of military vehicles possessed by the other side exceeded Bai Zemin's speculations. Moreover, as he heard from Fu Xuefeng himself, things were not that simple at all.
Just from the number of ammunition boxes Fu Xuefeng saw when he sneaked into the enemy camp's military hangar, Bai Zemin could estimate that at least the amount of weaponry the other side had under their control was at least three or four times greater than what his faction possessed. But this was also natural if one thought about it carefully, after all, Commander Jin Shun had led the largest number of soldiers to leave the forest and took everything they could with them.
Were it not for the fact that Fu Qigang had successfully captured and secured two rooms of weapons and ammunition, Bai Zemin could not have obtained anything from that arsenal.
Besides, what if the other side had more weapons and more ammunition? It wasn't as if Bai Zemin was going to fight a war where numbers mattered too much. He wanted to see if 700 soul evolvers with an average level of 15 could take on an army of several thousand unevolved humans carrying modern weaponry.
"So, you're telling me that you hid ten electromagnetic bombs in the bottom of ten battle tanks?" Bai Zemin asked suddenly.
"That's right." Fu Xuefeng nodded and then said with some regret, "If only I had carried less food in my bag and more bombs I could have planted more electromagnetic bombs in more vehicles. All their tanks and IFVs could have been incapacitated at the crucial moment of the battle and would have given us victory a lot easier."
"Hmm…" Bai Zemin smiled mysteriously and said strangely, "That's not necessarily so…"
"Big brother Bai?" Fu Xuefeng looked at him in confusion.
"Don't worry, don't worry about it and continue to tell me what happened while you were at the enemy base. Judging from what you have told me so far, it seems that the enemy was already preparing to attack us even without my message." Bai Zemin did not continue with the previous matter but his eyes flashed playfully as purple lightning flashed over the body of both gauntlets on his hands.
"O- Okay." Fu Xuefeng nodded still surprised and began to narrate again, "After planting the electromagnetic field bombs, what I did was to sneak into one of the most luxurious and ostentatious houses in the core of the base. After listening to the dialogue of several female employees of that villa I learned that the owner of the house was a woman and possessed an undoubtedly prominent position within the enemy faction. Although it was a bit cumbersome, I finally found this woman's room and prepared to put the letter in a place visible to her…"
Speaking to this point, suddenly Fu Xuefeng stopped and blushed as if he was thinking about something.
"Is something wrong?" Bai Zemin looked at him blankly.
"… *Cough*… It's nothing…" Fu Xuefeng shook his head and cleared his throat before slowly continuing as if nothing had happened, "I initially thought that the owner of that villa was just a beautiful woman who used her body to get to a high position. Perhaps a sugar doll kept by some pervert in a high position. However, nothing could be so different from the reality!"
In this kind of world, it was normal for those in high positions or with the ability to have more than one partner either sexually or sentimentally. In Bai Zemin's own faction there were many men with more than one woman in their homes; of course, none of these women had been forced at all and all of them did it to live a better life and to get some extra security. Therefore, Bai Zemin did not find Fu Xuefeng's reasoning crazy and perhaps he would have thought the same thing in the place of the young assassin.
"That woman, far from being some pervert's sugar doll, was a fierce lioness!" Fu Xuefeng said in an altered voice and shuddered as if he was remembering something traumatic, "That woman who attacked me after discovering me is even stronger than Cai Jingyi and Miss Wu. I'm afraid that only Evangeline, Miss Shangguan, and maybe Chen He possess the physical skill and combat experience to defeat her."
Hearing those words really surprised Bai Zemin.
One needed to know that Shangguan Bing Xue and Chen He had trained martial arts since they were young children; both of them were extremely skilled in close combat. As for Evangeline, she was without a doubt the most dangerous melee fighter Bai Zemin had met to date.
Even someone as powerful as Shangguan Bing Xue admitted on more than one occasion that if someone as skilled as Evangeline ambushed her, her chances of survival would be less than 60%!
"Tell me more about this woman." Bai Zemin calmly ordered and the murderous intent in his heart grew more and more.
If the other party had such a dangerous soul evolver, then he would have to dispatch her immediately so that his troops would suffer as little as possible. To Bai Zemin, a soul evolver capable of reaching the heights described by Fu Xuefeng was a potential danger that could not be ignored. Therefore, if that soul evolver belonged to the enemy side, she needed to be wiped off the face of the Earth forever.
Fu Xuefeng did not notice Bai Zemin's murderous intent so he simply continued slowly: "Our confrontation was very brief as after leaving the letter I focused on escaping instead of fighting. Anyway, the first clash was enough to make it clear to me that I couldn't beat her even if I tried my best. This woman is not only very fast but also extremely agile in using throwing weapons. Her throwing weapons are not only deadly but she seems to possess a skill that makes them even stronger because even my Hound Mask was easily broken by a casual attack from this person."
* * * * * * *
Thank you very much to everyone who voted for Blood Warlock with Golden Tickets! <3
