Captain – Chapter 281 – The Shifted Gun Barrel

The badge was familiar to the soldiers. Though it often remained hidden in a lightless pocket, it was common knowledge that every Auran had to know before joining the military.

Flynn’s eyes trembled, as if they still contained traces of undissipated lightning, filled with surprise and shock. But moments later, all emotions were completely concealed, replaced by genuine calmness and acceptance.

The soldiers who witnessed this scene were equally surprised, but their emotional transformation was nearly identical to their commander’s.

Both Flynn and the soldiers near him understood the Marshal’s intention in an instant—understood why this badge had fallen from the sky.

Because they were the old Marshal’s personal guards, children raised by his own hand.

That badge containing the old man’s lifetime of glory, embodying the supreme merit of Auran’s military, fell from the sky until it landed among fallen leaves and dust—signifying that all the past had vanished into smoke, signifying that the old man who had managed the empire’s military affairs for decades…

Had stepped down from the high platform.

Thus it no longer held value, thus his will no longer needed to be executed.

Therefore, the command authority over the soldiers no longer rested in that servant’s hands, but returned to Colonel Flynn’s.

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Facing the Black Raven Society assassins who were thorns in the military’s side and sought to take the life of the empire’s meritorious elder, how they should act naturally needed no further words.

Not stopping because of the badge, Flynn took a deep breath, suppressed the complex emotions in his heart, subdued that faint reluctance and sadness, then stepped over the badge and walked forward.

Countless black boots moved with him, stepping over the purple-gold badge numerous times, pressing it deeper into the dark gray mud, gradually tarnishing its luster with dirt—just like the old man’s increasingly hunched figure as he sacrificed for the empire’s glory and the growth of the younger generation.

Under Flynn’s leadership, the soldiers reached the edge of the countryside, where there was an inconspicuous small hill.

This was the vantage point planned by the Black Raven Society executioner, from where soldiers would provide fire support and suppress the imperial assassins hidden in the night.

Tomb Bat stood not far from the bottom of the hill, under a locust tree.

Watching the assassins who silently enveloped the estate like a dense dark cloud, a hint of madness and excitement flashed across his snake-like, eerie deep purple eyes—as if he already saw the estate consumed by fire and blood, saw the death of those two people who might threaten his master.

After confirming everything was ready, the servant turned around and looked up toward the hillside.

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Standing at the forefront of the hill was Flynn. He stood silently in the downpour, the sharpness and pressure brought by his elevated position actually made Tomb Bat’s cold heart throb slightly, followed by an extremely strong unease.

Fortunately, that unease was quickly erased by the officer’s next action.

Flynn looked at the servant gazing up at him, nodded slightly, then raised his hand making a military gesture.

Receiving their commander’s order, the soldiers behind the young man silently came forward, lined up on both sides of him in the formation most commonly used by gun squads, then took down the firearms they carried on their backs, checked the chambers and safeties, loaded ammunition, and quickly prepared to fire.

Seeing this, Tomb Bat also nodded slightly in response to the officer’s signal. But across such heavy rain, although he could see Flynn’s nodding action, he could not clearly see the contempt no longer concealed in the young officer’s eyes, nor the cold, indifferent killing intent.

Turning his gaze away, the servant looked again at the masses of dark assassins. The few at the very front had already skillfully climbed over the estate’s outer wall and disappeared into the silent paddy fields.

But it was very clear that such undisguised infiltration could not escape the eyes of the imperial assassins.

Before long, with the help of flashing lightning, Tomb Bat could already see the glint of blades in the paddy fields. Even across the rain curtain, he could vaguely hear the crisp sound of metal clashing and smell the scent of blood that made his entire body feel invigorated.

Those assassins who first entered the paddy fields were merely the vanguard of death’s scythe, sacrificial pawns. Their most important purpose was to identify the general positions of the imperial assassins, create chaos, and force them to expose themselves.

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For this, they should stop at nothing.

As expected, points of fire flickered in the paddy fields, quickly spreading with thick smoke. Those assassins had used some method, perhaps sprinkling flammable substances, and actually started several small fires in the endless downpour.

To prevent the spread of fire, the shadowy imperial assassins revealed themselves and began extinguishing the flames. But they were unprepared for this and thus very inefficient. Of course, their exposed forms became the most obvious targets.

The assassins who had been hiding behind the wall, waiting for their moment, were like sharks that had smelled blood when they caught the scent of smoke. They all climbed over the outer wall and began slaughtering those imperial assassins distributed around the estate’s outer defense line.

Who knows how many imperial assassins fell to poisoned arrows or died in battles where they were outnumbered while trying to save the estate from fire. Their flowing blood dyed the paddy fields red, but was quickly diluted by rainwater, no longer visible.

Flynn quietly observed this scene until all the assassins had entered the estate and the main force of imperial assassins began to appear from the depths of the paddy fields. Only then did he slowly raise his left hand.

As his hand rose to the height of his temple, soldiers on both sides uniformly raised their firearms, aiming their black muzzles at the paddy field.

Finally, the Black Raven Society assassins and the main force of imperial assassins clashed. Throughout the paddy field, the sounds of swords crossing and blades entering flesh could be heard.

Reаd оn ΚαtRеαԁіոɡСαfe

This was the best moment to open fire, when they could inflict maximum casualties on the imperial assassins’ main force, which was gradually losing its numerical advantage due to the ambush.

The reason for waiting until the battle had progressed this far was because, in Tomb Bat’s view, as long as they could reduce the number of those “replicas” to the greatest extent, the balance of victory would naturally tilt toward them. During this process, how many of their own people died didn’t matter.

The Black Raven Society never cared about casualty ratios when achieving their objectives.

But even after the two sides began full-scale engagement, the servant still hadn’t heard gunfire from the hillside, so he turned his head back in doubt.

Seeing that the soldiers were all prepared and could fire at any moment, Tomb Bat breathed a slight sigh of relief. But in the next moment, his barely relaxed mind suddenly tensed again, causing his normally indifferent eyes to widen slightly.

He didn’t see the officer’s hand making a subtle downward motion, but he saw those gun barrels adjusting their angles, all shifting downward slightly, and then not changing again.

Because he had just happened to catch the soldiers’ movement, the servant could determine that the direction those gun barrels aimed at had changed. Their downward shift might not have been even an inch, but across tens of meters, the target had changed.

And so everything was different.