Chapter 36: General of the Blood Sun

Chapter36: Blood‑Day General

Half an hour later, the entire building was swept clean.

It must be said that, when facing scattered, small groups of enemies, the Holy Blood warriors' combat power remains quite formidable.

As the shield‑bearer Li Shi took his stance, a massive door panel lay flat on the ground; every horror that charged head‑on was impaled on his short spear, while those trying to flank were easily dealt with by Zeng Yi and Xu Lie.

Xie Liu only guarded the rear, where the pressure was already light, and with her movements faster than the other three, dispatching lone foes was effortless for her.

After one round of fighting, Chen Jian gained a more intuitive grasp of their combat ability.

In a nutshell: they are strong, but not beyond imagination.

Especially in cramped quarters, the advantage of greater strength and a superior physique—normally granting wide‑area, high‑speed maneuverability—is severely curtailed, so the power they can actually unleash is likely less than a third of their own potential.

So if we ever have to turn against them,

it would be best to settle the matter indoors.

Chen Jian silently noted this weakness on his PDA, and in the same intel folder he had already logged more than twenty similar entries.

The Mechanic God Cult, the Holy Blood warriors, the horrors, the water ghosts, the giant beasts—

This information will become one of the most important bargaining chips in the days to come, and the foothold that lets him stand firm on this land.

Of course, the members of the Holy Blood squad will never know that every weakness they reveal in battle has been recorded.

They probably still think Chen Jian sent them to clean up the mess merely to conserve ammunition.

Returning to the rooftop, the watchman He Shuo had already cleared an observation space, set up his 10‑mm sniper rifle, and trained it on the horror camp two kilometers away.

The observer Shen Yue, holding a VECTOR 23, watched while reporting to Chen Jian:

"The target camp has been marked on the map; we can confirm this is the main western stronghold of the Blood Skulls."

"The camp spans roughly 400 meters by 400 meters, with buildings packed tightly together."

"We have detected over a hundred active outdoor targets, suggesting at least three hundred enemies inside."

"We found large numbers of melee weapons, few firearms, mortars, rocket launchers, and other heavy arms."

"Someone is hauling weapons into the central sheet‑metal building—likely their armory."

"If we want to seize it, we must push deep into the camp, but infiltration is practically impossible."

"The situation is complicated and not easy to handle."

When Shen Yue finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded slowly.

Just as Xu Lie had said earlier, this Blood Skull camp is truly a turtle shell.

The horrors are not as adept at complex tactics or fortification as humans, so they chose the most brainless, simplest defensive strategy.

Namely, concentrate all combat power in one spot; the denser the gathering, the lower the chance of being infiltrated or breached.

What the hell do we do with this?

If our sole aim were to exterminate these Blood Skulls and erase the camp from the map—even with limited ammunition—Chen Jian could think of a hundred ways to deal with them.

But the problem is that his goal is not 'clearance' but 'plunder,' which makes things troublesome.

We must safeguard the equipment supplies inside the armory while also wiping out several hundred Blood Skulls.

What kind of drill is this?

Chen Jian now understands why the Han Shui city defense command never sent anyone to wipe out this whole camp—frankly, the cost‑to‑benefit ratio is too low.

Our own squad is in the same boat; if we tried to clear it inch by inch, even if we succeeded, the ammunition expenditure would be staggering, and ending up with only a few mortar rounds and a couple of shells would be a Pyrrhic victory.

Chen Jian frowned, watching the horrors on a rooftop within the camp tormenting captive prisoners for sport; he was momentarily at a loss.

Seeing his expression, Lei Jie pondered for a moment and asked:

"Would fire work? It’s almost October now, the weather is dry, and the wind is favorable."

"If we could circle to the north and set a blaze, the fire should spread quickly."

"No—as soon as they spot the flames, they will surely grab their gear and flee, making any later capture attempt even harder."

Chen Jian shook his head; Shen Yue followed up immediately:

"What about poison? They have to eat and drink, after all."

"." Do they look like they have a centralized food source? Hundreds of people would be hard to poison unless we could find something like VX to scatter."

"As far as I know, we can’t obtain such agents domestically."

The situation stalled; standing beside him, Xu Lie likewise peered through a makeshift telescope he’d somehow found, watching the camp for a long while before speaking:

"Just as I said, we really don’t have much leverage over these horrors."

"If we can’t manage it, we might as well pull back; equipment issues will sort themselves out, and perhaps after a few days’ patience the market will offer the shells we need."

"Or, in dire straits, we could proactively approach the Mechanic God Cult, try to obtain supplies from them." "You’re just talking nonsense."

Chen Jian cut him off without mercy:

"If we treated those options as our first choice, we wouldn’t have come here in the first place."

While speaking, Chen Jian raised his binoculars again, trying to spot a breach in the horror camp.

But the instant his gaze locked onto the camp, his expression shifted.

A huge, fat, ugly figure, draped in heavy scrap metal plates linked by chains, emerged from the central sheet‑metal hut.

Every horror that saw it flung itself to the ground, as if in worship.

It wielded a twisted spear forged from rebar, casually jabbing a nearby horror, impaling the corpse and dragging it to its maw to savage.

The horrors’ cheers carried clearly across the two‑kilometer gap; Chen Jian felt a chill run down his spine and asked:

"What the hell is that?"

Xu Lie hurriedly looked in the direction Chen Jian pointed, finally got focus, and replied:

"The Blood‑Day General."

"Some also call him the Blood Lord."

"He is the supreme leader of this Blood Skull encampment; he rarely leaves the base, today probably because of some ritual."

"Blood‑Day General?"

"The name sounds pretty formidable."

"How strong is he?"

Chen Jian asked.

"Not that strong."

Xu Lie shook his head.

"If we rank monsters by tier, he’d probably sit around level five."

"But the problem is he has almost no obvious weakness, so fighting him relies purely on brute, head‑on confrontation."

"You saw it—over four meters tall, immense strength, plus an agility that doesn’t match his bulk; his combat output is still quite formidable."

For the four of us to take it on is nearly impossible; we would need to gather more than twelve Holy-Blooded, with at least four Shield-Guards among them, just to have a chance of killing it.

That is indeed quite strong.

Chen Jian pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked:

"If it dies, what will the remaining dread-demons do?"

"I don't know."

Xu Lie spread his hands and said:

"But they will probably launch a reckless revenge, like a flood rushing to Hanshui City to lay siege—wait a second?!"

He turned his gaze to Chen Jian, eyes horrified.

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Jian asked:

"Can the defenses of Hanshui City hold?"

"It should—but you can't do that!"

"Think of the civilians in the city; they could die because of it!"

"They won't."

Chen Jian shook his head and replied:

"The administrators of Hanshui City collect taxes, right?"

"If those who collect taxes let the taxpayers die first, then this city truly deserves a new master."

Xu Lie seemed convinced by Chen Jian, but after a moment he hesitated and asked:

"Is it worth causing such a commotion just for a bit of gear?"

Chen Jian shook his head again.

"This isn't just about gear—don't you get it? I want to give Hanshui City a chance, an opportunity to completely eradicate the threat from the Blood Skulls surrounding it."

"We are taking enormous risks, sacrificing ourselves for others."

"Taking a small reward in return isn't excessive, is it?"

(End of chapter)