Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the next hour’s march, Jiang Chen learned that demons were commonly seen here.
The large number of them made them seem threatening, but they were hardly a threat to the army.
Of course, it would have been another story if someone ran into them alone.
However, Jiang Chen noticed there were shiny beads the color of blood being drawn out of the dead bodies of the demons by the warship in the center of the troops.
“Why do these low-level demons have blood beads?” Jiang Chen was curious.
The troops stopped over a barren mountain. On a flat mountainside, some construction puppets were working. There were also a few armored soldiers and supervisors. They started to run as soon as they saw the troops.
“Shadow Pursuing Troop!” The middle troop’s Pioneer Battalion moved as fast as lightning and started their chase.
The enemy wasn’t able to fight against them at all. Around ten Reaching Heaven States died under their knives.
The Shadow Pursuing Troop came back with ten captives. They were taken to the warship for interrogation.
At the same time, the eight battalions started to search the city, which was under construction.
It was more a building surrounded by four city walls than an actual city. Without any houses inside, there were rows of rectangular rocks nailed to the ground like coffins.
“Is the Dragon Rebel Army digging their own graves?” said the commander of the North Mansion Battalion, patting a rock and trying to make a joke.
The commanders of the North Mansion Battalion and the Flying Mount Battalion weren’t affected much, although they were said to have received severe punishments.
Suddenly, something weird happened to the rock under the commander of the North Mansion’s hand, after his pat. Its surface was illuminated, the lights changing to densely-arranged runes.
“Retreat into the air!”
Under orders, the eight battalions flew up immediately, fully on guard.
Luckily, the rock dimmed, and nothing dangerous happened.
“Don’t get others into trouble because of your recklessness and stupidity!” Qiu Yan scolded him angrily.
“Hehe, nothing happened. Why are you so angry?”
The commander of the North Mansion Battalion didn’t think it was a big deal. Noticing something, he said with interest, “Look at your men. They’re so scared.”
At his reminder, people saw Jiang Chen was indeed very ashen, as if he was going to face a strong enemy.
“Is something wrong?” Qiu Yan asked.
“This isn’t the only city. The Dragon Rebel Army isn’t building a city. They’re actually using cities to deploy a zone combined with wards and tactical formations,” said Jiang Chen seriously.
“Are you sure?” asked Qiu Yan.
“Yes.”
After receiving an affirmative answer, Qiu Yan put the token beside her mouth and said something to it.
Soon, a military officer flew over from the warship. He came up to the Red Flame Battalion and asked, “You found something?”
“It’s very important. I need to report it to the general,” said Qiu Yan.
“Come with me.” The officer nodded, then he flew to the warship with Qiu Yan and Jiang Chen.
People from the other battalions felt puzzled. They had seen the rock at the same time, but why had only Jiang Chen found something unusual?
When they had arrived at the warship, the two were taken to the main cabin. The officer went inside first to report, and they waited outside.
Jiang Chen saw the Direct Battalion on the ship. Xie Yan and Liu Yu were also there. These young men from aristocratic families seemed like the odd ones out in the troop.
Xie Yan was also surprised to see an insignificant general of the seventh rank there.
Soon, Qiu Yan and Jiang Chen walked into the cabin.
All of the higher-ups of the Third Legion were in the cabin. The cabin wasn’t small, but the atmosphere inside was very dull, especially for Jiang Chen, a Reaching Heaven State.
Senior General Du Zhenfei was sitting behind a giant desk. His eyes were like a still lake.
“Military matters are serious. I hope you aren’t just talking bullsh*t to stand in the limelight. We have the best formation masters and ward masters of the dynasty here. Tell them about your worry,” Du Zhenfei said directly.
“The Dragon Rebel Army is building an Absolute Zone, not a city. The walls that look like city walls are only used to guarantee they won’t lose any energy in the zone.
“That means the city we just found is only one of many. The Dragon Rebel Army probably is building hundreds of these cities.”
What he had said made the people in the cabin pale, because they had heard similar information from the captives.
However, those captives knew nothing about the Absolute Zone. They only knew that the Dragon Rebel Army was planning something big in the giant basin.
“Go on,” said Du Zhenfei.
“The really tricky thing about the zone they’re deploying is that it only needs seven cities to work, and no close connections are needed among them. Within a certain range, the seven cities that are completed earliest will be the seven used.
“Besides, after the first city is finished, the second will only need half of the time the first took, and so on.”
The cabin fell into an odd silence.
“In the worst case scenario, how much time do we have?” asked Du Zhenfei.
“Two days.”
Two days was nothing for this war that had lasted several years.
“Okay, we got it. You can go back,” said Du Zhenfei.
Jiang Chen was stunned, then he walked out of the cabin with Qiu Yan. They flew back to the Red Flame Battalion.
“If you’re correct, they’ll know it. It’s just, the army is very rigorous. The authenticity of information is very important,” said Qiu Yan.
“I know,” Jiang Chen said, smiling bitterly.
If he could have stayed in the cabin as a staff officer, it would have helped a lot, but no one in that cabin had achieved their positions easily.
Rank was one thing. Loyalty was key.
When he had entered the cabin, Jiang Chen recalled that the documents and maps on the table had all been covered to prevent detection from holy awareness.
It made sense. There was no way the general would easily trust a man who had joined the army less than half a month before and hadn’t experienced any wars yet.
Even what he had said incurred doubts.
It was suspicious that he had so much information from only seeing some ruins.
Even if the chances of Jiang Chen being a spy were one percent, it could be destructive to allow him stay in the cabin.
In the cabin, Du Zhenfei said, “What do you think?”
“It’s possible,” answered the best formation masters and ward masters in the dynasty.
“I mean… is it possible to have learned these things from a city under construction?” A glint of coldness flashed past his eyes when he posed the question.
“It’s possible, but if it’s true, he’d be the most knowledgeable man in tactical formations in the Realm of True Force.”
“Is that so?” Du Zhenfei murmured.
When Jiang Chen and Qiu Yan arrived at the Red Flame Battalion, a new order had been given.
The troops would keep advancing and destroy every city they found.
“So what you said has been proven true,” Qiu Yan said to Jiang Chen when she received the order.
“I’m curious what’s in there.”
“It’s top secret.”
