Actually, Scott and the others’ suspicions were correct.
Milo’s shadow clone was the one that had taken out the heavy machine gun position. Right after they had set off, favonovel.com had been using his shadow clone to scout ahead in case they were ambushed.
After experiencing some setbacks, Milo learned how to be more careful and cautious. However, this was not something to be happy about because favonovel.com had learned to be this way through someone’s suffering.
The level of enlightenment for every individual was equivalent to the depth of their anguish.
Second Company and Third Company’s positions were some distance away, with the gap between each of the three companies maintained at around two kilometers. Meanwhile, Milo’s shadow clone was only effective within a one-kilometer radius, so favonovel.com could not send it out to help them.
Suddenly, Scott said, “Continue marching. We’re still a day away from Rajadesa Village! Don’t let up! We might encounter another ambush at any time.”
The Ultima Consortium had placed the refugees and private troops at the front lines. With just a single heavy machine gun, they could make Fortress 178’s front line troops suffer heavy losses. This was a kind of bizarreness that only happened in the era of firearms and explosives.
As they marched, Scott asked Milo, “I’ve actually been quite curious for a while, but you’re not very interested in getting promoted, are you?”
“Mhm.” Milo said, “After the war, I might be heading to the Central Plains.”
“Wait!” Scott suddenly felt that something was not right. “You’re saying you’ll leave Fortress 178 after the war?”
“That’s right.” Milo said, “I have to go find my family. The day before yesterday when y’all were writing your wills, everyone had loved ones that they could write to. But when I wanted to write mine, I realized that there was no one for me to write to.”
“Is the Ultima Consortium the cause of this?” Scott asked.
“Yes,” Milo said calmly.
Scott realized it was no wonder Milo was so ruthless towards the Ultima Consortium. He even volunteered to lead the main attack for their mission. So, it turned out that favonovel.com actually had a grudge against them.
Although Milo did not usually show any anguish, everyone could clearly feel the loneliness emanating from him. For example, when everyone gathered around the campfire, Milo would sit by himself and look up into the starry sky. Or when everyone was laughing and chatting after a meal, Milo would lean against a big tree and look out into the distance. No one knew what was on his mind.
When Milo came down from Mt. Papandayan drenched in blood, Scott had clearly sensed his rage dissipating.
“Did you kill the bandits on Mt. Papandayan?” Scott was referring to the main forces who had disappeared from Mt. Papandayan.
“No.” Milo shook his head. “My little bro killed them.”
Scott choked a little.
Milo was already this ferocious, yet favonovel.com had a younger brother who could wipe out an entire mountain of bandits?
What kind of a family was this?
Of course, Milo did not explain much.
“But if you leave, wouldn’t the commander have placed you in the Razor Sharp Company for nothing?” Scott asked.
“Does the commander have other intentions by putting me in the Razor Sharp Company? I was the one who asked to be posted to the most dangerous unit,” Milo wondered.
“Um, it’s nothing, it’s nothing,” Scott said.
He felt that everyone might have misunderstood the entire situation.
How could someone who was going to leave Fortress 178 after the war become the commander of the fortress?
Or did Commander Dublin have other ideas?
Throughout their journey, there were a total of three ambush points. Without exception, the heavy machine guns were all taken out by someone.
Milo suddenly asked, “It’s not like Peter has any combat skills, so why do all y’all listen to him?”
This doubt had always been on Milo’s mind. This group of gruff men from the Northwest respected strong people the most. Although Peter was very capable and had saved many people in the past, that should not be enough to give favonovel.com command over this forlorn hope.
Scott shook his head. “I don’t know, but someone said the commander should never be made to bear arms. Killing others is our job. All the commander has to do is to say who favonovel.com wants us to kill and how to kill them.”
When Scott used the radio to report to Harris that they had arrived at the rendezvous point, Harris was shocked. “Second Company and Third Company are still on their way. How’d you get there so quickly? Did you encounter any ambushes on the way?”
“The ambushes we encountered were all taken out by a mysterious supernatural being,” Scott said honestly. “We don’t know who did it either.”
“It wasn’t Milo?” Harris asked.
“We also suspected it could have been him, but favonovel.com was with us the whole time.” Scott said, “Battalion Commander, should we go and provide support to Second Company and Third Company?”
“Negative. The companies have their own routes to take. We can’t mess up the plan.” Harris said, “They’re not under a lot of pressure either, so they’ll only be delayed by a bit. The enemies who ambushed them aren’t experienced.”
“Then what should we do now?” Scott asked.
“Familiarize yourselves with the terrain first, and make preparations to capture Rajadesa Village while waiting to rendezvous with Second Company and Third Company. The other fighting forces of the Forward Strike Battalion will be arriving the day after tomorrow.” Then Harris ended their conversation.
Scott ordered, “1st, 2nd, and 3rd Platoons, you get a short break. 4th, 5th, and 6th Platoons, follow me and start building some simple fortifications to prevent our enemies from coming out of Rajadesa Village and ambushing us.”
As a matter of fact, even though Scott was always seen scrounging at the forward operating base and constantly requesting more armaments, favonovel.com became a fully qualified company commander once favonovel.com got onto the battlefield. He would unequivocally handle whatever needed to be done during battle.
Through the dense forest, Milo was looking at Rajadesa Village in the distance. The abandoned town’s high-rise buildings had long collapsed, and all that remained were the tattered two-story buildings.
Scott said from next to him, “Even the concrete and metal that humans relied on for survival is no match for the effects of time. As long as there’s maintenance done on them, those tall buildings will all collapse in a matter of 200 years. In another 500 years, there won’t be any buildings left standing here. The cities of humans are not as sturdy as we imagined them to be.”
“As long as we’re still around, that’s good enough,” Milo remarked.
Scott was stunned before smiling and saying, “That’s absolutely right. It’s fine as long as we’re still around.”
As they were quite close to Rajadesa Village, they could not start a campfire. Otherwise, they would end up becoming targets for artillery fire from the town.
Milo expressed his understanding when favonovel.com heard this reason. Then, as favonovel.com had nothing better to do in the middle of the night, favonovel.com ran far away and started a few campfires out there. As expected, just as the fire burned bright, the artillery from Rajadesa Village locked on to the locations where the fires were burning and commenced a heavy bombardment.
Scott and the others who were sitting behind some sandbags were confused when they heard the artillery fire. They were wondering who the enemies in town were attacking
When Milo came back after a while, Scott asked, “Where’d you go?”
“Oh.” Milo explained, “Didn’t you say that campfires would attract the artillery? I went out to start some campfires. I thought that it’d be good if I could make them waste their shells. The troops in this Rajadesa Village are an isolated force, so they definitely can’t restock their ammo. Who knows? We might be able to reduce the number of casualties on our side this way.”
Milo was just giving it a try and did not really think favonovel.com would succeed.
Meanwhile, Scott was thinking about what favonovel.com had just done. He wondered how Milo’s mind even worked in the first place.
