Volume 4, Chapter 3 – Pre-Battle Meeting

This roadside motel was the assembly point.

But some people still had not arrived yet, so the post-assembly discussion could not begin for the time being. It just so happened that Zheng Han and Berg were about to have a fight outside, so most people had gone out to watch the show.

Anran grabbed a seat, set her backpack on the floor, and had no intention of going out.

Seeing her like that, Feilian and the others did not say anything more and simply went out to watch the fun themselves.

It did not seem to be happening too far away. Anran could clearly hear the shouting, cursing, and cries of surprise from outside, all chaotic and tangled together in a noisy mess.

A man who had been drinking tea at another table sat there for quite a while before naturally taking the seat across from Anran.

“I heard you killed Sandi by yourself. Impressive!” He gave her a thumbs-up.

“Nothing special.” Anran took a sip of plain water.

“…”

The man fell silent for a moment. “My name is Luo Hu. I’m responsible for logistics and tactical planning for the second squad.”

“Oh.” Anran nodded, and that was the end of it.

Drink water. Keep drinking water.

Luo Hu’s expression did not change, but inwardly he had already decided that Anran was not someone easy to approach.

“Our captain has always had a pretty good relationship with your old captain.”

“Close bros?” Anran put down her cup and widened her eyes.

“No, our captain is a woman.” Luo Hu shook his head.

“Then a love-hate relationship?”

Like she was suddenly watching some melodramatic prime-time soap opera, Anran became interested at once.

“No…”

Damn it.

That is not what I wanted to talk to you about.

“What a pity.” Anran sighed. “Now that they’ve been separated by death, your captain must be very lonely.”

“Lovers destined never to be together. This world is so damn awful!”

“Oh right, what does your captain look like?”

Anran, who had just been speaking passionately, suddenly asked.

“…”

Finally getting a chance to speak, Luo Hu immediately opened his mouth. “Our captain…”

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Creak.

The door was pushed open.

Luo Hu turned his head.

Then pointed a finger.

“That’s our captain.”

Anran saw a huge burly man walk in.

No, no.

Not a burly man.

Just a very sturdy woman.

She was 1.8 meters tall, and one-eighty in weight.

Her muscles bulged, and her hands were still wrapped in bandages.

Her flowing long hair hung behind her back, and she walked with a powerful, tiger-like stride.

At a glance, she looked absurdly healthy and intensely imposing.

But she still had breasts.

“Our captain is an expert in Flow Fist,” Luo Hu explained.

“Oh.”

Anran half understood, half didn’t.

What kind of fist style was Flow Fist, to cause such a huge transformation?

It had practically thrown her sense of gender into confusion.

Thinking about it that way, Feilian’s old captain and the second squad’s captain definitely had a “brotherly bond.”

“Luo Hu, what happened outside?”

The captain had asked a question, and Luo Hu immediately stood up.

He did not even bother taking his teacup, just scampered over at once.

Finally, some peace and quiet.

If she had not been trying to preserve harmony between squads, Anran would already have started unloading her sharp tongue.

She switched seats.

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The small table by the counter had poor sightlines and poor lighting, but it also made it harder for other people to find her.

Not long afterward, the commotion outside stopped.

Then the door was pushed open.

The first person to walk in was that Red-Underwear Guy from earlier.

Although he still had not changed his pants, at least with his coat wrapped around him he was no longer blinding to look at.

He wore a mocking smile on his face.

“What trash. And you still dared show off in front of our captain? Hahaha!”

Next to walk in was the “kidney-deficient” youth, Zheng Han.

Aside from a bruise on his face, he looked perfectly fine.

His expression looked smug as hell.

Then a whole crowd poured in after him.

From the chirping discussion around them, Anran learned that Berg had now become Greb.

In that spar just now, Zheng Han had beaten him into a pig’s head.

Sure enough, appearances really were deceiving.

Anran glanced at Zheng Han.

Was this the Security Department’s representative for this operation?

Berg’s whole body was swollen out a full size. Sitting in the corner, his eyes were gloomy, and he seemed to be surrounded by an aura of resentment. Even his own lackeys did not dare go near him now.

“B-boss, how about we wait until Crescent gets here, and then…”

“Say less.” The man was immediately pulled back by the others.

Then they heard loud laughter coming from the Security Department side.

“Captain really is amazing!”

“Some people think they can do whatever they want just because they’re big.”

“They talk big enough, but when it comes to actually finishing the fight, isn’t it still always our Security Department?”

The Security Department had won, and won without the slightest suspense.

“This Zheng Han is weird as hell,” Anna said in a low voice. “He doesn’t look particularly strong, and he doesn’t look fast either, but every single time he managed to restrain Greb at exactly the right moment. Over the whole fight, aside from the very end when Greb went all out in an injury-for-injury exchange and landed one punch, Zheng Han spent the entire time playing him like a monkey.”

I see.

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Anran nodded.

“His name already changed to Greb?” Anran tilted her head.

How are you people this practiced at this?

“Wasn’t he the one who said it himself?” Anna spread her hands.

Feilian immediately chimed in, “A real man keeps his word.”

Wow. You two win.

Chu Yuan looked at Feilian and Anna with a smile.

Meanwhile, Daogu tugged at his hair while gloomily drinking water.

Words like “showing off their relationship” and “shameless” drifted into Anran’s ears from where she sat beside him.

The noise inside the motel never really stopped.

More people trickled in one after another.

But the center of attention remained Zheng Han, seated at the other end.

After that little display from him, no one dared casually provoke the Security Department people anymore.

Originally, the people from Nine Songs had looked down on the Security Department, but now they already regarded them as equals.

Which just showed that status was not won by talking trash.

It was earned with your own two hands.

That “kidney-deficient” youth Zheng Han, who had been teasing the female squad members the whole time, was probably a pretty sharp-minded person too.

After that, Anran’s attention shifted to “Crescent.”

He was said to be the strongest one in the third squad.

He came in from outside looking dusty and travel-worn.

Judging from his appearance alone, he was just a completely ordinary short-haired man.

“Greb paid for Crescent’s mother’s surgery. Since then, Crescent has been doing things for him,” Feilian revealed that little piece of inside information.

Although there were people with awful personalities like Greb and Yajin,

there were also quite a few people in Nine Songs who truly got things done.

At the very least, the uniquely built captain of the second squad, Tao Tao, was a very different sort of person.

By noon, everyone had finally arrived.

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Nine Songs had sent five squads, while the Security Department had sent two.

At the same time, there were also two representatives, one from Nine Songs and one from the Security Department.

And so the operation briefing began.

“No one from our side has come through this area in a very long time.”

A finger pointed at the map.

This was Nine Songs’ representative, hereafter referred to as Representative Jiu.

“The current map was drawn more than ten years ago during an earlier survey. It’s hard to say how much things may have changed since then.” This time, the speaker was the Security Department representative.

“The higher-ups only gave us a two-day time limit for the mission.”

Representative Jiu had clearly studied the map carefully before coming. “To the east is an abandoned town, to the south is forest, to the north is an old riverbed, and to the west is a fractured canyon. The terrain is extremely complex.”

“I suspect Morningstar’s stronghold was built inside the canyon. But to make sure we leave nothing to chance, this time we’ll split into four groups to scout the terrain. Each team will stay in contact, and the moment anyone finds useful information, we regroup immediately.”

Tao Tao said in a deep voice, “That all makes sense, but how exactly are those four groups supposed to be assigned?”

Now they had reached the key point.

Everyone immediately held their breath.

The distribution of directions was crucial.

It was directly tied to whether or not they would be able to earn merit.

Not a single squad that had come here was uninterested in monopolizing the credit.

If they could obtain critical information, the merit would be beyond imagination.

If they failed, then what they got in the end would only be the consolation prize of having worked hard.

The people from Nine Songs were eager to try. The people from the Security Department were the same.

Although they came from the Security Department, they were not under the same command as the forces fighting on the front lines.

Military merit. Who wouldn’t want it?

“To ensure the mission goes smoothly,” Representative Jiu said, “Minister Lü and the Security Department have already laid down the rules. If anyone dares stab their own side in the back during this operation and causes the mission to fail, he won’t show the slightest bit of mercy.”

There was a chill in his voice.

The Security Department representative confirmed the same point. “It’s the same on our side. Under normal circumstances, if people don’t get along and compete behind the scenes, we can turn a blind eye. But in this operation, if anyone dares cause trouble, then wait for a summons from the military court.”

The ugly part had been said up front.

Then Representative Jiu smiled. “Good. Now let’s discuss how to divide things up.”