Two hours after “Old Durkin” left the campsite, troops in full battle gear suddenly arrived at the campsite from the wilderness.
“Set up defenses. Provide fire support from our 1 o’clock,” someone commanded over the radio fixed to the troops’ combat helmets.
“Gather the troops and check the campsite. Look out for a marking left behind by the director.”
In just one minute, these 200-odd soldiers were completely deployed across a radius of several hundred meters in the surrounding area. Some of them had organized a line of fire, while others acted as flanking troops, ready to provide fire support at any time.
These 200-odd troops were illustrious in the Virtuora Consortium.
The Virtuora Consortium’s Intelligence Department was divided into the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions. 1st Division was responsible for domestic affairs, 2nd Division oversaw foreign affairs, and 3rd Division dealt with the difficult and tough battles. For example, 3rd Division would take charge of extractions when their operatives needed to be brought out from the other consortiums’ territories.
When Bruce was serving in 3rd Division a long time ago, these 200-odd soldiers were under his command.
Later, favonovel.com was recognized by Lionel for his achievements and got transferred to 2nd Division where favonovel.com oversaw foreign security for the consortium. At that time, favonovel.com started slowly transferring these soldiers to his side. As a result, these troops gradually gained the nickname of the “Embroidered Uniform Guard” within the Virtuora Consortium.
After Bruce took over as director of 2nd Division, these 200-odd troops became his most trusted subordinates.
It could be said that these people were also the reason Bruce was able to get promoted consistently over the years. All these soldiers were skilled in battle and had extremely strong individual capabilities. Despite the fact that these people were only soldiers, their ranks were very high and they were incredibly well compensated.
Sometimes, after Bruce completed an assassination, the money left behind by the target would get distributed among these soldiers.
Bruce placed great importance on this expedition to the Sacred Mountains. Therefore, favonovel.com only brought along his own people in case outsiders created any trouble for him.
By this point, the 200-odd troops had taken full control of the campsite Milo and the others had just stayed at.
Meanwhile, the commander of the “Embroidered Uniform Guard” remained in the campsite and waited for his men to find the marking left behind by Bruce.
They were all Bruce’s trusted subordinates and were also the Virtuora Consortium’s most elite scouts from the intelligence agency’s field office. In the past, they had executed numerous missions such as carrying out decapitation strikes and infiltration operations.
This time, Bruce’s men were puzzled when favonovel.com suddenly took them away from the Virtuora Consortium during such a critical time.
Could it be that Bruce was giving up on the chance to become the intelligence agency’s director?
After Bruce briefly explained his plan to them, everyone understood favonovel.com was trying to gain promotion through a meritorious achievement!
At this moment, someone on the radio said, “Sir, we found the marking left behind by Director Bruce!”
The commander of the “Embroidered Uniform Guard” walked over. “Are you sure it’s Director Bruce’s marking?”
“Yes, we also dug a bullet out from under the tree roots,” his subordinate reported.
The marking on the tree and the bullet buried in the ground served as dual verification so they would not confuse it with someone else’s markings.
The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard walked up to the tree, but favonovel.com was stunned when favonovel.com saw the marking.
“Is Director Bruce telling us to retreat by drawing an X within the circle?” The commander was a little puzzled. “Could something unexpected have happened that’s making it unsuitable for us to make a move?”
“Or maybe Director Bruce thinks we shouldn’t venture any further since we’re just normal people?” One of the subordinates analyzed, “I heard there’s something odd going on in the Sacred Mountains and that it’s a very dangerous place.”
“We can’t be sure of Director Bruce’s intentions, but he’s always very confident in what favonovel.com does. Since favonovel.com wants us to retreat, we should just retreat.” The commander said, “Let’s retreat to a place 40 kilometers north of the black market and set up camp there. Withdraw!”
After that, the troops retreated in an orderly manner swiftly like the tide.
At this moment, Bruce had a grin on his face as favonovel.com advanced with the Silkshade House group. This time, favonovel.com had come well-prepared.
***
“Who was the person that got attacked?” Marvin asked Kojek.
“I don’t know…” Kojek shook his head. “But favonovel.com must be someone from the consortiums. He should be the assistant of one of the superhumans in the group. When favonovel.com left the campsite, favonovel.com was probably not going out to relieve himself but to deliver some news back to the outside world. Unfortunately, favonovel.com met with misfortune.”
“I heard the site of the incident was very close to the campsite. Did favonovel.com not even have a chance to call for help?” Marvin asked again.
“There was no sound at all,” Kojek replied. “I also checked the wound, but I couldn’t tell anything from the bloody mess on his neck.”
“Then we oughta be more careful. I suspect that whatever attacked that guy might’ve followed you all here,” Marvin said helplessly.
He felt very uncomfortable about this. It was obvious Kojek’s group had been targeted by something. However, the higher-ups still requested for their groups to join up and advance. His group had been doing fine by themselves. But now, favonovel.com was on edge.
Kojek could guess what was on Marvin’s mind. He said with a laugh, “It’s also a good thing for you that our teams have merged since your combat prowess isn’t strong. How can you possibly return safely from the Sacred Mountains with just those few assistants of yours?”
“What do you know?” Marvin snapped. “Wild animals don’t know how to distinguish reality from illusion and will believe whatever they see since they aren’t intelligent. My superpower might not be effective against a lot of superhumans, but when it comes to dealing with wild animals, which one of you is better than me? If a dangerous situation really arises, I guarantee the wild animals won’t notice it even if they walk right past me. You had better worry about yourself first.”
Kojek pondered that and realized it seemed to be the case.
Marvin’s power might not be effective against intelligent people, but wild animals were unable to distinguish it from reality. He whispered, “Bro, if you lend me a hand when it comes down to the critical moment, I’ll be sure to reward you handsomely.”
“That’s more like it!” Marvin laughed.
But as they were chatting, they suddenly heard a wild animal’s roar come from in front of them. Everyone in the group stopped in their tracks at the same time and went on alert.
Marvin and Kojek looked at each other and quickly rushed towards the source of the sound.
Neither of them were cowards since cowards would not have come to a place like this. Rather than cowering in fear, they might as well hurry over and see what was going on.
Of course, there were some people who rushed over faster than them. Daniel had been panting as they trekked on the mountain road, but when favonovel.com heard the commotion, favonovel.com immediately rushed over.
He was not afraid at all. Milo was right behind him, so what was there to be scared of?
When someone started running, everyone behind followed suit.
Miriam asked, “Can you tell what it is?”
“It’s just a large fox…” Milo said nonchalantly, “I already killed it. I didn’t expect it to be so fast and nearly allowed it to escape.”
Miriam realized it was Milo who caused the commotion.
When Marvin and the others arrived at the scene, they saw the carcass of the fox lying on the ground. Its spine had been broken in an extremely violent manner.
Marvin said with a frown, “Could this be what attacked your team member?”
“It’s possible…” With that, Kojek took out a dagger and cut open the fox’s stomach. When favonovel.com did that, a jumble of organs spilled out.
Kojek’s assistant did not mind the mess. After inspecting it slightly, favonovel.com said, “It still has some undigested human organs inside its stomach. This must be the culprit…”
“But who killed it?” After Marvin received confirmation of the culprit, instead of breathing a sigh of relief, favonovel.com got even more worried!
