Chapter 959: Night of the Bayonet! (2/4)

Chapter 959: Bayonet Night! (2/4)

The hot blood that had flowed across his chest gradually cooled, and Sawa’s gaze grew ever more icy. At last, he tore his eyes from the cold night sky and fixed them on the thirty rats bowed before him.

He was not the only one watching; nearly a hundred assault troopers glared with murderous eyes, and many soldiers, their eyes reddened, had already released their safeties, their index fingers resting on the triggers.

These usual street thugs, who once swaggered and bullied, now trembled in fear. Whether they had once put on airs or were merely ugly wretches, they all groveled on the ground like mice, utterly stripped of their earlier viciousness and bravado.

Perhaps they were truly afraid, or maybe they had genuinely repented, or perhaps they were just waiting for the hands gripping their necks to loosen.

But none of that mattered anymore.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Sawa’s mouth, and he spoke in a clear, icy voice.

“I just asked the will of heaven. If the clouds covered the moon, then I would have been wrong in my answer. But I waited long, and they did not.”

The long moon hung in the sky.

Not a cloud in sight.

His words were veiled in mist, yet they could not hide the sharp edge of murderous intent!

He was about to break the taboo that Rasi dared not break—the taboo of killing!

After all, his “father” was already dead.

He no longer cared.

The little mice lying on the ground panicked, desperately kowtowing and begging for forgiveness.

“Sir, sir, we were wrong!”

“It was the Family Society! The Family Society deceived us!”

“We had no choice… If we didn’t act, they said there would be no good end for us!”

“Please, spare us!”

Their weeping and wailing did not soften anyone’s heart; instead, it disgusted the soldiers.

They had shed blood and brains on the front lines, only to protect this bunch of spineless trash!

Perhaps true loyalty had already died on the battlefield.

All that remained were these creatures!

Sawa remained unmoved. He handed Rasi’s body to a soldier with reddened eyes, then picked up the military saber from the ground.

“It is heaven’s will. Don’t blame me when you go below—it was heaven that told me so—”

“They may be killed!”

This time, it was not Rowell who descended, but the Great Moon King, fiercer than Rowell himself!

When it came to slaughtering heads rolling like rivers, no one could surpass him—not even the founding emperor of Xilan.

After all, one had swept through thirteen provinces, while the other had merely picked up the spoils.

The moment the words fell, several heads had already hit the ground, scaring the rats so badly that they soiled themselves, thrashing and struggling to escape.

But the soldiers holding them would not let them flee. They drew their bayonets and stabbed and slashed wildly.

In a few breaths, the alley was awash in blood, leaving only one bandit leader named Udi.

As Sawa approached him, the bruised and swollen Udi breathed shallowly, his eyes fixed on Sawa.

“The commander said to spare your life, so spare it I shall. I made a promise—I will keep every word he entrusted to me.”

Without waiting for the boy’s reply, Sawa reached out, grabbed him from the ground, patted his swollen pig-like face, and then shoved him onto the pile of corpses.

“Get out!”

“Go find your ‘family.’”

Udi stumbled and fell into a mess of flesh and blood, staring in terror at the figures filing out of the alley.

He gasped for breath, struggled to his feet, and wanted to run and warn the other members of the Family Society, but outside, chaotic gunfire had already erupted.

His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly understood the meaning of “they may be killed.”

He remembered his superior telling him during the mission briefing: to defeat a powerful enemy, one must surpass one’s own limits—that was the divine weapon that had always made them invincible.

But his superior had never told him what to do when the enemy, maddened by bloodshed, also abandoned their limits and treated them like insects…

He did not know what would happen after tonight. Perhaps this night would never end…

…

At midnight, a thunderclap rang through the air. The previously cloudless sky inexplicably became overcast, and in an instant, a torrential rain began to fall.

Zaid, unable to sleep no matter how he tossed and turned, got up from the bed, walked to the window, and lit a Rick Five.

He felt as if someone was watching him from afar, but he could not tell where the gaze came from.

“Snake Province is good in every way, except the equator is too hot,” he muttered to himself.

He turned on the light in the room, but noticed that the space under the bed was still dark. He couldn’t help glancing at it, and finally slapped his thigh and walked over to check.

Of course, no one was there.

Even if there were something with optical camouflage, it could not have slipped past the layers of sentries he had set up, approached this place, and crawled under his bed.

Thinking this, Zaid suddenly felt a bit deflated. He had spent a whole year planning for today, yet many of his deployments had never been used.

Winning too quickly made him uneasy—he hadn’t even exerted his full strength before his opponent fell.

And what he had least anticipated was that the Alliance hadn’t even reached the Batoa Province, yet Gopal seemed on the verge of taking the entire sky.

This was actually not a good thing.

In the future, people would inevitably compare him to the two tyrants, Rasi and Abusek. He had finally secured investment from the Eastern Empire—how could he establish his reputation without a real fight?

Fabricating some stories was possible, but comparisons would inevitably leave traces.

“…Perhaps Rasi could give me some surprises. That man is arrogant and suspicious, and he must be wary of those around him. Sawa’s plan to use Udi as a hidden line might turn out to be a failure.”

But it didn’t matter anymore.

If Rasi were alive, it would be even better. Let Yokale lead Isher’s Northern Field Army to fill the pit of the Tasan River, letting them fight their former allies to mutual destruction.

Bharat had always had the most wolf-clan soldiers, ever since the Empire era.

As long as he held onto the blessed land of Wolf Prefecture, he would have a grip on the lifeline of half of Bharat’s soldiers.

Finding out where a soldier’s family lived was unimaginable for Abusek—that fellow probably couldn’t even figure out which unit belonged to whom—but for Zaid, it was as simple as a few eggs.

Recently, his subordinates had come up with some new methods, even saving the eggs.

Just as Zaid was carefully reviewing his plan for any omissions, footsteps sounded outside the room.

Sawa, clutching a telegram, pushed open the door and saw Zaid staring straight at him. He gave a simple, honest smile.

“Sir, you’re still awake.”

Zaid’s face was expressionless.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

Sawa made a helpless expression, scratched the back of his head with his right hand, and said shyly,

"We just received a telegram—there's news from Mammoth City. I saw your light was on and hurried to bring it to you... Have I done something wrong?"

There was indeed nothing wrong with it.

Especially that shy expression.

Zayid's face softened slightly. He took the telegram from Sawa, glanced at it, and his expression was half surprise, half delight.

"They actually succeeded..." Almost unable to believe the result, Zayid murmured to himself, "You did well in this! I'm very pleased!"

But Sawa laughed heartily.

"Didn't I tell you? Rasi is an orphan, and so are all his stormtroopers. Their bond must be more than just superior and subordinate—it's like family. And family wouldn't be on guard against each other, would they?"

Having said that, he quickly added another line.

"Of course, they're a false family, fundamentally different from us. We are true family."

Putting away his joyful smile, Zayid gave this child he had picked up a meaningful look, nodding his head as if in approval or perhaps testing.

"Your awareness is good. It seems I didn't teach you in vain... By the way, has Gopal entered the city? Is he dawdling in Wolf Province? That's his hometown—we need to keep a close eye on what he's up to."

Sawa said with a smile.

"Almost there. He's being very obedient, like a dog—not daring to stop for a moment on the road! Besides, Pikley, who guards the Heavenly Capital, is already one of ours, not to mention that Shahrukh did us such a big favor by turning the other major committee members."

The Heavenly Capital, on the other hand, was the least variable move.

Isher might cross the river with the Northern Field Army and rebel; the ace mole Udi might sacrifice in vain while Rasi survived... Those moves were far more unpredictable, yet the results turned out surprisingly well.

Clearly, the Bhorans were genuinely on their side, or else such a devastating blow wouldn't have been possible.

Yet such a simple truth, Shahrukh still couldn't see through, still dreaming of "taking their place," truly believing that Grover's 800,000 troops and the Gray Wolf Army's 100,000 elite were all his own men.

Soon these traitors would become clowns, and they truly deserved that fate.

Just as Sawa was feeling pleased, he saw Zayid staring intently at him.

"Sawa."

Sensing something unusual in the tone, Sawa immediately restrained his smug smile and looked at him cautiously.

"What is it, sir?"

Zayid walked to the window, set the Rick-5 down beside the ashtray, and tapped it.

"We must learn from Rasi's lesson. People whose backgrounds we don't know thoroughly must never be employed, and even if employed, they must never be given great responsibility—especially those around us. We are the true family. You must remember this well."

"Rest assured, sir, I will never make the same mistake as Rasi. We must not only know their limits but also have leverage over them... Of course, all of that is in your hands. You can be absolutely at ease."

Sawa wore a simple, honest smile on his face, but cold sweat kept trickling down his back.

Had he been too outstanding?

But godfather...

We haven't won yet. After eliminating Shahrukh, that heavy minister of the former dynasty, we still need to cut off Gopal, that troublesome tail that's too big to wag.

Though Gopal probably thinks Grover will go first, that brute Zayid still wants to make use of him—after all, he's the only blade that has tasted the blood of a Verlander.