The First Order

The Razor Sharp Company did not feel like they had really done much. To them, they had at most eliminated two companies while Ren Xiaosu killed an officer. As for how he killed the officer, the Razor Sharp Company was numb to it and not particularly concerned.

In their opinion, this was trivial. Compared to what they had done previously, it was nothing at all.

However, that wasn’t the case for the Zong Consortium. At this moment, the Zong Consortium had recalled an elite officer from the front line to Stronghold 144 to take over as the new commander of the infantry regiment there.

This young officer’s performance at the front line was without peer. The Zong Consortium’s higher-ups had even intended to let him take responsibility for guarding Position 128 on Mt. Wuchuan.

In the end, to resolve the matter at hand, they ordered him to return from the front line to take charge of the encirclement operation in the rear.

Someone suggested they should just arrange for a full regiment to be redeployed to the rear to carry out the encirclement.

However, one of the generals at the headquarters rejected this suggestion. “Fortress 178 does not have a fleet. Although our defensive line at the southern shore of the Beiwan River has been crushed by the Qing Consortium, the waterway still remains under our control. There are no other vessels on that river, and even if there were, we would’ve spotted them already. Therefore, this fighting force from Fortress 178 that’s currently sneaking around in our backyard must be the troops that boarded the ferry at the harbor behind Mt. Qiangwan. That ship can fit 300 people on it at most, so this is the intel we have to work with.”

“Mhm, the 1237th Regiment from Stronghold 144 isn’t weak either. If Zong Jing still can’t handle this matter with a regiment at his command, he’s probably not that capable after all,” a middle-aged general said calmly.

At this moment, everyone stopped talking. This general actually brought up the internal strife between the factions of the organization the moment he spoke.

Just like most other organizations, the Zong Consortium had cracks in the foundation. Otherwise, no one would have secretly transferred their assets out.

Zong Cheng and Zong Xiang, who were from the Zong clan’s main branch, were currently considered the frontrunners to lead the Zong Consortium. Meanwhile, this young officer named Zong Jing was from the fourth ancillary branch, and they were all considered competitors with one another.

In the end, one of the generals in Zong Jing’s branch said, “The enemy has a sniper, so we have to deploy our most elite snipers to Stronghold 144 as well, since the battle at Mt. Wuchuan has not reached its climax yet.”

This was considered a quid pro quo, to which the other generals agreed to.

Stronghold 144 was about 500 kilometers away from Mt. Wuchuan, and the Zong Consortium had built a simple concrete road to link up these two locations. But due to tectonic movements and a lack of maintenance, the road was already riddled with potholes and cracks.

Currently, Zong Jing had the most elite snipers from the Zong Consortium traveling with him.

The off-road vehicle was driving down the road at a top speed of only 50 kilometers per hour.

Zong Jing had set off during the night to head to Stronghold 144. As he was traveling light, he arrived in the territory that was overseen by Stronghold 144 by the next afternoon.

Zong Jing was also getting very impatient. He was hoping to deal with the threat in the rear as quickly as possible so he could return to the front line where it was more feasible for him to gain accolades for a promotion.

Before he even arrived at the stronghold, he was already making arrangements with the deputy commander of 1237th Regiment via a phone call. The first thing he did was to order his deputy to quickly search the nearby factories. While reading the situation reports, Zong Jing realized the previous regimental commander had missed out on checking the factories and had a feeling that the enemy troops might be hiding in one of them.

Thus, the second-in-command sent out several companies to check on the twenty-something factories in the area.

As expected, while he was still on the road that night, his second-in-command contacted him and reported that their troops had engaged the Fortress 178 troops in battle at a bronze smelter.

Zong Jing heaved a sigh of relief. It was just as he had guessed. Right after, he asked about the outcome of the battle but was met with evasiveness from his second-in-command, who told him that because there were too many factories, he had no choice but to split up the troops to check on each of the factories. He said that only a single company went to check on the bronze smelter, and they ended up being defeated by the enemy.

Zong Jing went silent for a while before asking about the number of casualties the enemy had sustained. He was told they suffered no casualties at all.

In fact, before the company could even get close to the bronze smelter, Ren Xiaosu’s shadow clone had already taken out most of their troops. The shadow clone rushed into the company’s formation and slashed the radio operator and his radio set first. Then it started slashing all over the place within the formation before telling the Razor Sharp Company to come and clean up the mess.

But it didn’t just end there. The shadow clone also hunted down the Zong Consortium’s soldiers who were fleeing into the wilderness. In the end, the company that went to the bronze smelter was wiped out before they could even see the main entrance of the factory.

The second-in-command only reacted after he realized he couldn’t contact this particular company after half an hour had passed. But by that time, the Razor Sharp Company had already sent the refugees away and blown up the bronze smelter before escaping themselves. He didn’t even have an idea of where they had fled.

All of this was thanks to the fact that there was a war going on at the front line. Otherwise, Stronghold 144’s troops were definitely not a force that Ren Xiaosu could beat. However, Ren Xiaosu only dared to attack the Zong Consortium in their own territory precisely because of that.

Zong Jing was starting to burn with worry. It would be not appropriate for him to chide his new second-in-command in the call. After all, how could he tell him off so quickly when he was freshly posted to this regiment himself? If the other party did not cooperate with him as a result, that would be even more troublesome.

His second-in-command asked: “Should I send some troops to go and escort you? If there’s any danger, they’ll at least be able to protect you.”

Zong Jing was really frustrated. Although he wanted to learn from the higher-ups to act patiently, he was still young and unable to rein in his anger. He couldn’t help but criticize, “There’s no need. Continue tracking the enemy. Even though you can’t do your duty, you sure are great at being an asskisser. If you can’t locate the Fortress 178 troops within the day, you won’t need to stay around in 1237th Regiment any longer. I’ll ship you north to mine.”

Meanwhile, the Razor Sharp Company was marching west in the wilderness. Thanks to Zong Jing, they could no longer hide comfortably in the factories anymore. Zhang Xiaoman was cursing at Zong Jing, “I wonder which Zong bastard is so cunning that they actually guessed where we were hiding.”

“What’d you expect?” Ren Xiaosu said calmly, “We can’t treat the other party like they’re idiots. It was only a matter of time before the Zong Consortium found out.”

When they heard the sudden rumble of a vehicle driving in the wilderness, everyone threw themselves on the ground. Some of them hid in ditches while others took cover behind trees.

over

They had not been walking on the main road as that would be a death wish. However, they were marching parallel to the road in case they lost their bearings. If they encountered the Zong Consortium’s convoys, they might even be able to rob them again.

After all, their provisions were running out again.

An off-road vehicle sped past them on the road. Jiao Xiaochen mumbled, “It’s not a convoy….” There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Chuckling, Zhang Xiaoman chided him softly, “That vehicle came from the direction of the front lines. Even if they are a convoy, it would only be an empty vehicle. Eh? Where’s Ren Xiaosu?”

They looked around and were surprised to see Ren Xiaosu lying on a hill and holding a large black sniper rifle in front of him.

With a loud bang, a huge dust cloud kicked up around where Ren Xiaosu lay. He had fired an incendiary bullet that hit the off-road vehicle right in the gas tank.

Everyone saw the off-road vehicle explode into a fireball in the wilderness. The vehicle parts were blasted into the air before landing on the ground, scattering everywhere.

Zhang Xiaoman and the others watched in shock as Ren Xiaosu put away his sniper rifle. They only knew that Ren Xiaosu was capable of sniping, and this was the first time they had witnessed the process themselves. Including the sniper rifle, how many powers did Ren Xiaosu have? Three?!

Stunned, Zhang Xiaoman wondered if Ren Xiaosu might even possess more than three superpowers.

When Ren Xiaosu came back over, Zhang Xiaoman asked, “Why did you shoot them?”

“Why not?” Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment before answering, “If they can travel in an off-road vehicle, they should at least be lieutenants, right? In that case, why not just kill them?”

“True…. Let’s hurry and leave. It’s time to switch locations.” Zhang Xiaoman led the Razor Sharp Company and escaped into the depths of the wilderness. The Zong Consortium was tracking them closely, so they had to find a place to lie low for a bit.

But when news of Zong Jing’s death was reported back to headquarters, the Zong Consortium’s central command fell so quiet that only their heartbeats could be heard.