Chapter 245: 245, Abandon the car and hike into the mountains!

Ren Xiaosu and Yan Yuese asked, "What is your military rank? What is your name?"

The Nano Warrior replied, "Lieutenant, Dong Mingshuai."

Ren Xiaosu patted the Nano Warrior on the shoulder and said, "Hmm, I'm a Major. You've done well. Go back and get some rest."

The Nano Warrior nodded woodenly, silently memorizing Ren Xiaosu's officer ID number, intending to verify it later in the tent to see if this person was truly from the Special Reconnaissance Corps.

At that moment, the base commander stood in the mess hall, staring at the chaos in silence. The mess hall's overseer probed, "Sir, something's off about the Divine Machine Battalion. Their appetite is... rather large..."

It wasn't just their appetite; it was their habit of taking something when they left that was particularly irksome.

When Ren Xiaosu and his men came to eat, everyone thought, "It's just thirty people. How much could they eat? Let them eat."

But later, a strange twist emerged—how could a late-night snack turn into a gathering of friends?

Suddenly, a soldier rushed into the mess hall. The base commander asked, "Has the situation been clarified?"

The soldier hesitated and said, "I reported this to both the Divine Machine Battalion and the Special Reconnaissance Corps. Both replied... We have no authority to intervene."

No authority to intervene—which was, in effect, a tacit acknowledgment. If these diners were truly impostors, their superiors would have thunderously investigated and dealt with it.

The Divine Machine Battalion's commander, upon receiving the news, immediately confirmed that these were merely private soldiers, but to prevent the plan from being exposed, they had to grudgingly accept it.

As for Husuo's side, they were... accustomed to it.

In truth, the Divine Machine Battalion's commander cared little about how much the private soldiers ate; after all, it wasn't their rations. What concerned him was that the Special Reconnaissance Corps was investigating whether there were spies within their ranks.

Regarding this, Husuo had also grown accustomed...

When Ren Xiaosu and his men returned to the tent, everyone marveled that Ren Xiaosu had not been punished, yet no one dared ask.

In fact, Ren Xiaosu had kindly passed along a message, only for them to betray him, leaving everyone feeling a twinge of guilt.

Chen Wudi sat inside the tent and asked Ren Xiaosu, "Master, do you blame them? You let them eat their fill, yet no one spoke up for you in the end."

At that moment, Chen Wudi had even considered fleeing with Ren Xiaosu, only for Ren Xiaosu to use his Special Reconnaissance Corps credentials to defuse the situation.

Ren Xiaosu pondered and said, "Blame them? But this was to be expected."

"Yet I don't sense any anger from you, Master," Chen Wudi whispered. "I am angry, and I will remain angry. Thinking back on this matter, I will still be angry. And those past incidents, those villains."

Ren Xiaosu smiled. "It's fine. They can't harm us."

"Hmm," Chen Wudi nodded. "Go rest, Master. I'll keep watch during the first half of the night."

"Alright," Ren Xiaosu said, and promptly fell into a deep sleep. With Chen Wudi on duty, he had no worries about being ambushed. In this tent, the only people he trusted were Chen Wudi and the other eight students. Even Li Qingzheng, he didn't trust.

The trust between Chen Wudi and the others had been built up over time, including those students, none of whom had ever betrayed him within the 109 Wall.

Of course, Chen Wudi was the one he trusted most.

Li Qingzheng and the others watched Ren Xiaosu, marveling at how magnanimous he was—after all that had happened, he could fall asleep so easily.

Meanwhile, Chen Wudi sat cross-legged beside Ren Xiaosu, forbidding anyone from approaching. No one could.

At dawn, the Divine Machine Battalion's officers acted as if nothing had happened the night before, continuing to lead the entire private force on their way.

Fengyi Mountain, Tantou Mountain, Shuanglong Mountain—these formed a long line of strategic depth. If war truly broke out, the mountain path there would be a crucial route for the Qing clan's invasion of Li territory, which was why the Li clan had deployed numerous private soldiers to fill the void, using them as cannon fodder.

It was said that further north of Shuanglong Mountain once lay a city before the disaster, located at the confluence of three rivers, where an upstream dam had once stood.

After the disaster, the dam was left unmanned, never releasing floodwaters. Eventually, it burst, and the river changed course, transforming the once-prosperous city into a vast wetland.

In summer, the entire area would be shrouded in swirling clouds and mist due to the evaporation of water vapor, with continuous overcast rains.

Fortunately, it was now winter, and the winters were growing colder. Some smaller tributary areas had even frozen over.

As they set out, they encountered another problem.

The real Divine Machine Battalion had already driven away all the transport trucks. They had planned to exchange vehicles, but they overlooked one issue: the private soldiers had never received driving training, and drivers were few...

Previously, a single truck could carry thirty people, and with drivers available, they could manage to take turns.

But now, with the off-road vehicles... there weren't enough drivers...

The Divine Machine Battalion's commander stood before a sea of off-road vehicles, bewildered. Why did their plans always encounter problems?

However, the Divine Machine Battalion's commander was a decisive man. He resolutely declared, "Abandon the vehicles and march on foot into the wilderness. Avoid the main roads to create the illusion that we are deliberately concealing our movements!"

This decision, Ren Xiaosu could understand. Marching into the wilderness would lend an air of secrecy. If spies discovered a Divine Machine Battalion unit deliberately avoiding main roads and hiding in the mountains, they would likely become even more intrigued by the army's whereabouts.

But the problem was he had just learned to drive, and now the vehicles were left unused on the road?

Moreover, given the physical condition of these private soldiers, having them trek through the wilderness would probably leave half of them unable to reach the destination.

At this moment, Chen Wudi suddenly asked, "What if we march through the wilderness and the spies never notice us at all?"

Ren Xiaosu almost applauded. "Well asked."

After all, spies wouldn't wander into the wilderness for no reason; they would certainly blend into the main force and take the main roads. Thus, there was a possibility that the spies were unaware of anyone hiding in the mountains...

Because it was too secretive...

The Divine Machine Battalion's commander was stumped for a long moment: "Follow my orders!"

Even if Ren Xiaosu was from the Special Reconnaissance Corps, he couldn't interfere with the Divine Machine Battalion's operational plans. You could investigate spies, but how the war was fought remained their prerogative!

Though the Divine Machine Battalion didn't wish to offend the Special Reconnaissance Corps, if problems arose, who would take the blame—the Special Reconnaissance Corps or the Divine Machine Battalion?

Of course, Ren Xiaosu didn't care whether the Special Reconnaissance Corps took the blame...