Chapter 823: Reinforcements on the Way

Chapter 823: Reinforcements on the Way

"Boom——!!"

Scorching lava shot into the sky, billowing smoke and gravel scattering for hundreds of meters.

The distant dunes had been leveled into a flat plain, leaving only rippling rings of waves.

This was the training ground north of Eternal Night Port.

And that terrifying explosion just now was the work of the 902mm heavy artillery!

As the proud symbol of the Southern Legion's strength, this cannon was said to have displayed great prowess in the "Heaven's War"... but those who truly knew understood that it had only shown off before entering the Seaside Province.

After all, the mobility of this cannon was fatal; only trains could carry it and its shells.

And it wasn't until after the Heaven's War ended that the Alliance's railways and highways crossed the Ten Peaks Mountain.

With his palm covering his wine glass, General MacLenn, sitting in the observation stand of the training ground, propped his chin idly, watching the vanguard troops charging forward with little interest.

Only when the scattered dust settled did he move his palm away from the glass and calmly take a sip of fine wine.

The Southern Legion's combat style and governance philosophy were vastly different from the Eastern Legion's; they relied too heavily on caliber and infantry, completely neglecting mobility.

The Eastern Legion was the opposite—steel torrents were their faith, whether in the sky or on the ground!

And that was precisely why he had little interest in this "toy" that tortured logistics personnel.

Even if its power was indeed astonishing, it was utterly useless on the open plains controlled by the Eastern Legion; no raider tribe or resistance force would be foolish enough to wait for it to fire.

Those bastards, no matter how stupid, knew to shoot and move.

But in stark contrast to his disinterest, Chieftain Oleite, sitting beside him, wore an excited and proud expression, his face beaming with a radiant smile.

"Nothing can withstand a 902's strike! Especially when dealing with mutants, this thing is even better than tactical nuclear weapons!"

Mutant organisms had a certain resistance to radiation; creatures like Ripper Crabs or Deathclaws even made their nests near radiation sources.

And mutants could be considered a type of artificial mutant organism; pure radioactive damage wasn't entirely ineffective against them, but it couldn't keep up with their recovery speed.

That was why, with the same yield, high-explosive bombs were often more efficient than nuclear weapons.

And easier to clean up.

Listening to the one-star chieftain's boasting, MacLenn smiled faintly, speaking dismissively.

"Are even the 'Gray Men' in the Great Desert starting to build fortresses now?"

Oleite paused for a moment, then laughed.

"Not exactly... but they have learned from those raider tribes to build some villages. I've even heard that some intelligent mutant tribes trade with human merchants."

He thought MacLenn should be familiar with this; mutant mercenaries had appeared in the war of the Sunset Province, though not in large numbers.

The mutants of the Great Desert and those of the East Coast had different origins, though their habits were extremely similar—equally bloodthirsty and brutal—but the latter were slightly more civilized.

The Southern Legion also had a very small number of mutant mercenaries, whom they called "Gray Soldiers."

However, for most uncooperative gray mutant tribes, the Southern Legion focused on extermination. After all, these fellows were always looting everywhere, disrupting trade between their colonies and the native tribes of the Great Desert.

And those Gray mercenaries had no qualms about slaughtering their own kind.

After all, in essence, they were still primitive, unenlightened beings who had only learned to use human weapons.

Without paying attention to the explanation, MacLenn said indifferently.

"Then isn't using this thing like swatting a mosquito with a cannon? Or do mutants have something like morale? In my opinion, it's better to get a few more 100mm cannons—they have a wider coverage and put less strain on logistics."

Hearing this undermining, Oleite's brow twitched violently, and he couldn't help but retort sarcastically.

"That may be true, but we never fight where our supply ships can't reach, so there's never a situation where frontline troops run out of supplies. Besides, what's the use of so much land? This place is full of ruins; the most abundant things are mud and sand. Is the glory of the Vallantians shown by coloring maps?"

Catching the sarcasm in the voice, MacLenn's brow twitched fiercely, and his face darkened instantly.

"What do you mean?"

Seeing MacLenn's displeasure, Oleite immediately stopped and changed the subject.

No choice; a higher rank crushes a lower one, even if this guy had fallen from grace.

"Ahem, no offense intended, respected General MacLenn... back to the point, although those gray-skinned savages haven't built solid concrete fortresses, they've indeed become much more troublesome lately."

MacLenn frowned slightly.

"In what way?"

Oleite lowered his voice mysteriously.

"Undying..."

"Undying?!" MacLenn's eyes widened slightly, disbelief written in his pupils.

Seeing his expression, Oleite quickly explained.

"Of course, not truly undying... rather, even if their heads and hearts are destroyed, they can still fight. Only when their bodily functions are completely destroyed do they truly fall."

MacLenn pondered for a moment, then spoke thoughtfully.

"...That sounds similar to the situation on Ten Peaks Mountain."

Although he had been training new troops and officers in the Empire for some time, he wasn't entirely unaware of the Heaven's War's progress.

Especially after the post office in West Sail Port opened, telegraph communication could basically connect with Triumph City.

Once the cable was laid from Eternal Night Port, even real-time communication would be possible.

Hearing MacLenn's words, Oleite stroked his chin.

"Hmm... indeed, I saw in the 'Triumph Gazette' that there's something called 'Mourning Change' there, right? Something about memories being cached in neurons distributed throughout the body, so even if the head is lost, it can grow back—discovered by the Alliance, I think."

MacLenn asked in confusion.

"How did this thing appear in the Great Desert? Did some mutants escape there?"

Oleite shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe remnants of the Torch slipped in... after all, humans are much easier to hide than mutants."

Hearing this, a look of keen interest immediately appeared on MacLenn's face.

"This is quite a piece of intelligence... have you had it verified?"

"I'm actually working on it..." Oleite smiled, then his expression turned serious. "General MacLenn, don't you think this is an opportunity?"

Without waiting for MacLenn to ask further, he continued without pause.

"The Sticky Commonwealth refuses to hand over the 'Gestalt Life Form' technology to us. You could wear out your lips at the conference table, but it's useless—they fear us Vallantians to the bone... We don't actually need them. If we can capture that fellow who fled into the Great Desert, we can get everything we want."

Gestalt Life Form technology held extraordinary significance for the Vallantians.

After all, the latter were born from the former.

The Vallantians had always believed that there was some kind of "shackle" in their DNA, still enslaving them.

To completely unlock that shackle, they had to fully crack the Gestalt Life Form technology.

Thus, even setting aside the military value of the technology itself, there were ample political motives driving them to do this.

General MacLenn's eyes narrowed slightly, a glint of interest showing through the gaps in his lashes.

"That sounds quite interesting... I'll have the Eastern Legion keep an eye on it."

The Eastern Legion's territory borders the northern part of the Great Desert and a small portion of the northwest, while its vassal states stretch all the way to the Falling Sunset Province east of the Great Desert.

With the Eastern Legion and the Southern Legion joining forces, they could easily encircle the entire Great Desert.

In contrast, the Alliance only has a single pioneer city established in the eastern part of the Great Desert.

Hearing General Maclenn's promise, a cheerful smile immediately spread across Outis's face.

"That's fantastic! With your cooperation, this matter will be much more secure."

"I hope we can achieve something... after all, it's the long-cherished wish of all Valerians."

Maclenn smiled faintly and took a sip of red wine.

By now, the military exercise in the distance had drawn to a close, and native soldiers carrying rifles were retreating from the shell craters.

Outis's face beamed with a radiant smile, but then he suddenly thought of something and continued.

"By the way, speaking of which, are you interested in buying a 902mm heavy cannon to take back and play with?"

Maclenn declined impassively.

"No need. That thing would crush the roads we've worked so hard to repair."

Seeing that Maclenn had misunderstood his intention, Outis quickly waved his hands and said,

"No, no, no—I mean, sell it to Xilan... Aren't they struggling with the Mammoth Prefecture to the east? With this thing, no matter what kind of fortress it is, just one shot—"

Before he could finish his sentence, an officer suddenly jogged over, stopped in front of him, and saluted.

"General, a distress signal has come from West Sailport, reporting a very troublesome rebellion! The situation is critical!"

Outis was taken aback, a look of surprise crossing his face. But even more astonished was Maclenn, sitting beside him, who gripped the armrests of his chair and nearly stood up.

"West Sailport? A rebellion?"

Those cowardly bastards—since when did they have the guts?!

No one knew better than Maclenn how submissive the people there were to their superiors.

The "human centipede" he had witnessed wasn't confined to the court of Witch Camel; it had spread throughout the Empire's entire power structure, cascading down level by level.

To please their superiors, they would sacrifice all dignity, trample their own humanity into the dust, betray oaths, faith, souls, and even sacred marriages, consoling themselves that it was all for profit—only to later cruelly reclaim what they had lost from those weaker than themselves.

Valerians weren't always true to their word, but at least some things were non-negotiable.

For such people to rebel—it was nothing short of a fantasy!

The officer glanced hastily at General Maclenn, then turned to his direct superior, Outis. Seeing the latter nod, he spoke rapidly.

"Yes, sir... The locals took advantage of Governor Huye and his personal guard being away and raided the arsenal in the port district. Now, over 3,000 Valerian residents living there are in imminent danger. The local police bureau and the governor's office have both sent distress signals, requesting that we immediately dispatch troops and ships for reinforcement, as well as assist in evacuating the local Valerians."

Outis frowned.

"How soon can we get there from here?"

The officer replied without hesitation.