Chapter 163: 163, A series of mistakes

The luminaries of the Qing family consortium within the conference room had just been chatting and laughing, but now they suddenly fell silent.

Qing Hai was a paragon of the middle generation in leading troops into battle, and the soldiers he commanded were quite capable. Originally, everyone had assumed that the 7th Combat Regiment’s campaign against the experimental subjects at the 113th Bastion would be a surefire victory, yet who could have foreseen that before the meeting even concluded, grim news arrived from the front lines.

“How could the 7th Combat Regiment, with thousands of men, be ambushed by a few hundred experimental subjects?” someone wondered aloud. “Could this intelligence be false? After all, the 7th Combat Regiment is equipped with the finest weaponry, and their combat prowess is unmatched.”

Of course, the speaker understood full well that within the Qing family consortium, the most formidable forces had always been Qing Zhen’s 5th Combat Regiment and Luo Ran’s 6th Combat Regiment. But weren’t the 5th and 6th Combat Regiments now gone?

The 5th Combat Regiment had been dissolved, its personnel scattered into other operational units. The 6th Combat Regiment had perished in the earthquake’s collapse.

In truth, no one had dared move against Qing Zhen before because both Luo Ran and Qing Zhen wielded armies of considerable strength, and they were somewhat wary of them. But once Luo Ran’s side encountered trouble, Qing Zhen stood alone and vulnerable.

Yet what they did not know was that Luo Ran’s soldiers had not all perished in the 113th Bastion disaster. At the time, the Bastion had merely split the general’s camp in two, forcibly dividing the operational forces to prevent their regrouping.

Now, that vast fissure winding out from within Jing Mountain had come to be known as the Jing Mountain Staircase, as though it were forcing a wrinkle to emerge upon the plain.

It was almost certain that, in a few hundred or thousand years, this place would become a new mountain range.

But the Qing family would never abandon this land until they found a new coal mine.

The elderly man in the conference room spoke calmly: “The number of experimental subjects has exceeded our estimates—likely nearing a thousand. They launched a lightning-like assault on Qing Hai’s encampment while he was still setting up. Qing Hai did not anticipate that the experimental subjects would take the initiative to attack. Now I suspect a new form of life has emerged among them… an intelligent experimental subject.”

“It seems the 113th Bastion has become their nest,” someone sighed. “Shall we deploy Qing Zhen? Let him deal with these experimental subjects—he has considerable experience in warfare…”

The old man turned his gaze toward the speaker, and an inexplicable pressure spread through the room. “Qing Yun,” he said, “take the 1st Combat Regiment there. How could the consortium’s will bend to individual desires? From this day forward, Qing Zhen is not to set foot outside his mansion.”

At that moment, the other luminaries in the room each harbored their own thoughts. In recent years, Qing Zhen had proven his capabilities to the consortium, but when the consortium’s will shifted, even this capable young man could only become a dignified prisoner.

Yet they believed that if Qing Zhen were sent to the 113th Bastion this time, the outcome might be entirely different.

Qing Zhen and Luo Ran had indeed suffered grievous losses in the Jing Mountain incident, but earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were acts of divine wrath—how could anyone have foreseen them? It was an unforeseeable calamity.

…

At this time, a convoy of supply vehicles was slowly approaching the 109th Bastion. A dark figure clung to the undercarriage of a large truck, and this person was Xu Xianchu, who had journeyed long and far to reach the 109th Bastion…

Xu Xianchu gritted his teeth, enduring the arduous cling to the undercarriage. It was no easy feat, but he was determined to infiltrate the 109th Bastion. Who could have predicted that Xu Xianchu would directly breach the 109th Bastion at this very moment?

As he had anticipated, the 109th Bastion itself did not place particular emphasis on the manhunt for Xu Xianchu. After all, this was not territory controlled by the Qing family, so although Lu gave them some courtesy, he was not particularly proactive.

Moreover, everyone assumed Xu Xianchu would not forcefully enter the Bastion. Thus, when Ren Xiaoshu had previously visited the goldsmith, he discovered that although the Bastion’s Order Department had posted Xu Xianchu’s photograph, they had merely instructed that anyone dealing with black gold should report it. If they were truly conducting a rigorous search, it would have been far stricter.

Therefore, Xu Xianchu made the most sensible judgment under the circumstances.

At this moment, it should have been the shift change for the private forces.

Xu Xianchu understood the nature of private forces all too well—this was true of virtually all private forces across the land, for the consortiums of this world were all of the same ilk.

He had observed this during his time at the 113th Bastion: during the day, when cargo trucks entered and exited, the private forces conducted meticulous inspections. But during nighttime shift changes, the scrutiny grew lax.

In fact, many prohibited items were smuggled into the Bastion during those hours, and some even colluded with private forces to turn a blind eye.

Xu Xianchu deduced that the private forces at the 109th Bastion would be no different. Of course, he was not entirely certain, but if he wished to infiltrate the Bastion, this was the only opportunity.

If all else failed, he could simply flee—those private forces could not stop him anyway.

Sure enough, as Xu Xianchu had anticipated, the supply convoy entered the Bastion without even the most basic inspection.

This relieved Xu Xianchu but also puzzled him slightly—the management of the private forces at the 109th Bastion seemed even more lax than at the 113th.

When the convoy rumbled into the Bastion, Xu Xianchu climbed from beneath the truck into the cargo hold. These vehicles were semi-enclosed suspended trucks, similar to coal carriers, with open roofs.

Sitting in the cargo hold, Xu Xianchu pondered his next plan. The long journey had left him utterly exhausted, and now he only wished to find a secluded place to eat and rest.

He glanced at the cargo within the hold and suddenly frowned—these items were nailed shut in wooden crates, their contents indiscernible from the outside.

Xu Xianchu drew his personal dagger and pried open one of the crates. The moment he saw the contents, he froze—inside were firearms and ammunition!

At that instant, the truck he occupied suddenly veered off from the convoy, while the other vehicles continued forward. His truck had broken away from the group, heading toward an unknown destination.

Xu Xianchu immediately sensed something amiss. This was not military supplies from the Li family consortium; if the Li family wished to transport such goods, they would not have gone to such lengths to conceal them.

This was smuggled contraband!

Before he could make sense of it, the truck came to a halt, and a voice called out from outside: “Quickly unload the goods and put them in the warehouse. We’ll find a chance to distribute them tomorrow.”

The side of the cargo hold rumbled open, and Xu Xianchu and Luo Ran stared at each other in shock…

It was now the dead of night, and Luo Ran, flashlight in hand, peered inside, trying to discern the features of the person within the hold. But in the next moment…

Luo Ran: “Damn it, Xu Xianchu…”