"Old man, are you sure you saw that group of robbers go up the mountain?"
Rayan asked the owner of a house at the foot of the hill, an old man in his fifties or sixties, who, according to Baker, was the one who reported the case.
"They went up!" the old man said, somewhat timidly. "I saw them, holding knives!"
"..."
Rayan looked at his appearance and asked, "Then did you see clearly how many people there were? Which direction on the mountain did they go?"
"There were nine, nine people," the old man said. "I didn't see the direction clearly..."
"Alright, thank you for the information."
Rayan turned around, a cold light flashing in his eyes. Clearly, there were too many things that didn't feel right to him.
Baker, who should have been off-duty, received the report; there was no smoking, drinking, or playing cards in the Branch Commander's office; the old man readily gave the number of people but couldn't say which way they went up the mountain; and...
He walked out of the wooden house and looked up at the small hill in front of him.
Strictly speaking, this couldn't be called a "mountain," only a large earth slope thirty or forty meters high. After all, as someone from Blue Star, the mountains he had seen were hundreds or thousands of meters high, so there was really no comparison.
And this large earth slope was covered with dense forest, which was indeed a good place to kill and dispose of bodies.
Rayan might not have cared about one or two of these suspicious points, but when they all came together, it was obvious that something was fishy. If he wasn't mistaken, it was probably a scheme that had been planned for half a month, led by the Branch Commander, and they were finally going to make a move against him.
"Captain, shall we go up?" Marlo, the squad leader beside him, was already a little impatient, the long gun originally on his back now tightly held in his hands.
"Mm, everyone follow behind me, be careful at all times... careful of the bushes, and the trees."
He had to go up now. After all, this was his duty. If Rayan said to retreat at this time, the Branch Commander would probably immediately turn hostile and arrange a legitimate charge of desertion or dereliction of duty for him.
At that time, being stripped of his captain's status would be a light punishment; they might even lock him up. As the saying goes, "Heaven is high and the emperor is far away." In this small walled city of Stohess, the Branch Commander was already the most powerful person. Except for some nobles he didn't dare to touch, he could be said to be completely unchecked by anyone.
"Swish swish swish..."
Under Rayan's lead, the group began to climb the hill. The small path was full of fallen leaves, making annoying sounds under their feet. The visibility wasn't great, but for now, there was nowhere to hide people, so no one was visible.
If they were going to ambush...
Rayan looked at a patch of woods not far ahead, thinking that if it were him, he would definitely choose there. Because to go deeper into this large hillside, that was the only way.
"Later, when you hear gunshots, lie down immediately."
Rayan said softly as he walked, "Don't hesitate."
Everyone nodded. They could also feel that this time was different from the last time. This time was more dangerous, and most importantly, they didn't know where the enemy was right now.
However, one comforting thing was that there weren't many enemies. According to the old man at the foot of the hill, there were a total of nine robbers who went up the mountain. Of course, Rayan didn't trust this at all.
At this moment, everyone had reached the edge of the woods, and a dangerous aura was spreading.
Baker watched Rayan stop and asked nervously, "Captain, are we... not going in?"
Rayan glanced at him, a half-smile on his face. "Don't you think it's too quiet for a forest?"
A forest without the sound of birds was indeed very strange.
Unexpectedly, Rayan suddenly raised his gun and fired a shot into the woods.
"Bang!"
With a loud bang, everyone instinctively lay down, Rayan included. However, his eyes were fixed on the woods, and his hands didn't stop moving. He reloaded and fired another shot.
"Bang!"
"Captain! Where are the enemies?!"
Marlo asked urgently, gripping his gun, while Rayan reloaded and replied, "How would I know?"
"Huh?! Then you"
"Bang!"
Another shot rang out, but the next second, another gunshot followed.
That came from the woods.
Rayan's pupils constricted slightly. "Be careful, they have guns."
Having confirmed this, he could also roughly discern the location of the gunshots, which seemed to be on the west side of the woods. However, he couldn't pinpoint it any further, but that didn't matter, because there was a professional in the team.
Rayan turned his head to look at Annie on his left. She met his gaze and immediately understood. "About one hundred and fifty meters to the west."
Annie had the best marksmanship in the entire squad, or rather, compared to the other soldiers, she almost had the feel of a "special forces" operative.
Having received various war trainings in the Marleyan military camp since childhood, she was already a qualified soldier when she was sent to the island at the age of 13. Coupled with the years in the training corps, it could be said that in terms of overall strength, she was undoubtedly one of the strongest.
"We'll go around."
Rayan's purpose was to fire randomly to lure the people out of the woods. Because those lying in ambush inside would naturally feel some psychological pressure upon hearing the gunshots, thinking they had been discovered. At this time, even if some could hold their nerve, there would definitely be others who couldn't help but fire back wildly.
After all, in Rayan's view, the people here were just some robbers with guns, not some Navy SEALs. Their psychological fortitude couldn't be that strong. So, having figured out their situation, he immediately launched the corresponding action.
The group quickly followed Rayan, starting from the right side and going around the woods. The people lying in ambush inside seemed to realize they had been exposed and simply stopped hiding. A large group of people emerged from behind the trees in the distance.
"Hiss"
Everyone gasped upon seeing this. That wasn't just nine people; it was probably more than double that!
"Don't panic!" Rayan immediately ordered. "You are either veterans who have been in the Garrison Regiment for several years or in the top ten graduates of the training corps. Dealing with these robbers, one against two is definitely no problem. The enemy has guns, don't hold back, kill them all!"
"Yes!"
Everyone understood this point now and immediately crouched down, aiming at the people in the woods and firing. The other side was not to be outdone, and the two sides exchanged fire across the woods. Because the dense trees obscured their vision, it was difficult for either side to easily hit the enemy.
"Bang!"
Annie's marksmanship was still the most accurate. After firing one shot, she directly turned the muzzle of her gun, clearly having killed the target. Rayan thought that if there was enough time, she could probably wipe out the entire other side alone without using her Titan powers. But... was that all?
He thought, did those guys in the Military Police think they could eliminate his entire squad with these ambushing people?
Just as he was thinking this, he heard messy footsteps behind him. He turned his head and took a few steps out, immediately discovering that there were also more than a dozen people running up the small path! These people also looked like robbers, but they didn't have guns; they were all holding sticks.
Sure enough, it wasn't just that; they even blocked the retreat.
"Captain! Behind us"
"You don't need to worry about the back," Rayan slung his gun over his shoulder. "I'll take care of them."
"Huh?!"
Before they could recover, Rayan darted out, his movements exceptionally agile. In a split second, he had already reached the side of the small path.
The robbers who were running up were stunned to see him. The one at the front grinned savagely. "Black hair, black eyes, you must be that Rayan, right?"
"Can I ask how much my life is worth?" Rayan said.
"You'll know when you're dead!"
Several robbers pounced on him, their sticks smashing towards Rayan's head. The latter's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly leaped up, kicking one of the robbers in the chest. The robber's chest visibly caved in, and then his whole body flew out.
That's right, flew out. After a two or three-second parabolic fall, he slammed onto the ground, twitched a few times, and then stopped moving.
This scene made the remaining robbers instinctively freeze in place, but Rayan didn't. His movements didn't stop. He took a step forward, punched a robber down, and then grabbed his legs and swung him around!
"Whoosh!"
This robber completely turned into a large stick in Rayan's hands, swinging towards the other robbers. His powerful strength finally had a chance to be displayed usually, there weren't many opportunities to reasonably use this strength.
As for those robbers, they were all bewildered at this moment. They couldn't understand how a person could swing another person to hit people. Even if a muscular man did this, it would still be somewhat acceptable, but the Rayan in front of them... he could still only be called a teenager!
However, Rayan didn't care how mentally broken they were, nor did he care how broken the robber he was swinging was. He continued to fight, and none of the dozen or so robbers could get close to him. They were all smashed away.
Just as Annie had judged, in hand-to-hand combat, even in cold weapon combat, Rayan had a very big advantage. However, he was still afraid of guns. A shot to the head or heart would still kill him.
And at this moment, above, in the shootout, the new recruits, although outnumbered, held a considerable advantage.
Everyone couldn't help but look at Annie. In less than a minute, she had already killed six enemies, all with headshots. Cold and ruthless, it made everyone inexplicably feel fortunate. Luckily she was their ally; if she were the enemy, it would be truly hopeless.
"I'll go support the captain," Baker suddenly said at this moment, turning and walking to the slope, looking down, his whole person stunned.
He saw that all the robbers were lying on the ground, their life or death unknown. And Rayan was walking up.
Baker came back to his senses, his heart sinking. He gritted his teeth and walked down. "Captain, you all..."
"Mm." Rayan glanced at him, turned and walked up, passing Baker. Behind him, Baker raised the muzzle of the long gun in his hands.
"Poof!"
Just as the muzzle was aimed at Rayan and before he could pull the trigger, his throat was slit open by a gleaming blade. With a "thud," the long gun fell to the ground. He stared in shock, his hands clutching his neck, looking at Rayan who was inserting the blade back into his vertical maneuvering equipment.
"Too bad," Baker heard Rayan say. "I didn't want to subdue you and then listen to your pleas, talking about your helplessness. Betrayal is betrayal, isn't it?"
"I..."
Baker wanted to say something, but couldn't. His body fell backward, his eyes filled with pain and unwillingness. Perhaps he regretted it, but there was no medicine for regret in this world.
If he had told Rayan about the threats and temptations, there would have been a way to solve everything. But he chose betrayal, so this was the only ending.
"You chose this yourself."
After Rayan finished speaking, he rubbed his face to add a touch of sadness, turned back, and said to everyone, "Baker has sacrificed himself. We must continue to fight."
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Need More Chapters
Every 300 Power Stones
2 Bonus chapter
Every 500 Power Stones
4 Bonus chapter.
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