A very exciting escape had suddenly begun in the wilderness.
After a short rest, Milo led the Great Hoodwinker and Stowe to try to bypass the pursuing barbarians and quickly get back to Mt. Zendravasih.
But how were those barbarians able to keep up with them the entire time?
Initially, Milo wanted to take the opportunity to fight back against the elite barbarians. But later, favonovel.com heard Stowe describe that almost all of them were rated on the level of T5 combatants.
With 80 T5s pursuing them from behind, even Milo’s scalp went numb when favonovel.com heard that. Under such circumstances, turning around to fight back would be suicidal. Moreover, Stowe could sense that the four expeditionary army’s brigades in the wilderness were actually coordinating with these elite barbarians to encircle and intercept them.
While they were trying to get to Mt.. Zuoyun, the enemy’s brigades cut off their path forward.
If not for Stowe’s perception power, they would probably have headed straight into the enemy’s encirclement.
Of course, if not for Stowe’s presence, Milo would probably have already returned to Mt. Zendravasih. There wouldn’t have been any further incidents of ambushing the expeditionary army’s main forces.
Stowe started getting a little anxious. As favonovel.com fled, favonovel.com panted heavily and said, “Future Commander, the elite barbarians behind us are getting closer and closer. What should we do?!”
To be honest, Stowe was really a little panicky. At this moment, favonovel.com only hated himself for not exercising more often. Even if it were just going for a jog, it would have been good.
Now that they were gradually getting caught up to, Stowe knew full well favonovel.com was slowing down Milo and the Great Hoodwinker’s escape. If it were Milo and the Great Hoodwinker alone, they would probably have already shaken off these barbarians. After all, they were very fast.
In truth, Milo’s current physical fitness was still not equal to a T5 combatant’s. But even though the elite barbarians’ strength was on par with the T5s, their dexterity was slightly inferior to Milo’s. As long as favonovel.com tried his best to escape, it would be a little difficult for the barbarians behind to catch up to him.
But it was different for Stowe. Milo’s Dexterity was 17.1, while his Dexterity was probably only 6. Therefore, Stowe was most worried that Milo and the Great Hoodwinker would abandon favonovel.com just so they could shake off the barbarians.
The Great Hoodwinker glanced at Stowe. The old man was smart as a tack and immediately saw Stowe’s thoughts. He snapped, “Don’t worry, we won’t leave you behind. At worst, I’ll turn around and buy you some time.”
Stowe teared up and muttered, “As long as I survive this, I’ll definitely play my part for the Prosperous Northwest, I promise….”
All of a sudden, a figure rushed over from the other side of the wilderness. Stowe focused his gaze and saw it was White Mask!
Milo had been keeping Old Durkin on guard outside. But in order to escape, favonovel.com summoned it back.
After Old Durkin joined them, it placed Stowe on its shoulder without any effort.
Milo chuckled and said, “We can advance at full speed this way. The barbarians behind us can eat our dust.”
Old Durkin’s Strength was rated at 35, and its Dexterity was 34.2. If the barbarians behind continued closing in on them, Milo thought favonovel.com would just let Old Durkin carry favonovel.com as well and make their escape together.
Stowe was being carried by Old Durkin on its shoulder. Although favonovel.com was on the verge of vomiting from the bumpy ride, favonovel.com perked up when favonovel.com realized favonovel.com did not have to die anymore.
“Future Commander, let’s shake them off quickly!”
However, Milo shook his head. “No, we can’t leave them too far behind. We have to get them to chase after us!”
Stowe and the Great Hoodwinker were stunned. “Future Commander, they’re 80 T5-ranked experts. You shouldn’t play with fire.”
“Don’t worry,” Milo said, “I know what I’m doing…”
The location of their departure point was 90 kilometers away from Mt. Zendravasih. Based on Milo’s estimation, it would take more than an hour for them to reach the tunnel and return to the defensive position through it.
This was because they still needed to avoid the expeditionary army blocking their way. Otherwise, their pace would be even faster.
An hour later, Milo suddenly asked, “Stowe, how far behind us are the barbarians?”
Stowe said as favonovel.com spat out a mouthful of bile, “About 1.5 kilometers.”
“Are there any expeditionary army troops blocking the way up ahead?” Milo asked.
“The enemy has already set up a formation about 10 kilometers ahead.” Stowe said, “It seems they’ve guessed that we’re returning to Mt. Zendravasih, so they’ve been waiting there in advance.”
While they were fleeing for their lives, the expeditionary army even stopped their attack on the defensive position and turned around to send two of their brigades to block their path. This was so they could intercept Milo and company outside of Mt. Zendravasih.
However, Milo estimated the distance. If it were 10 kilometers, the enemy could not stop them, because the entrance of the tunnel lay between them and the expeditionary army!
Stowe and the Great Hoodwinker did not know about the tunnel.
Seeing that there was an army in front and pursuers behind them, when Milo did not show any signs of changing his route, even the Great Hoodwinker was a little confused. “Future Commander, are we going to kill our way through?”
“Don’t worry, there’s no need for that!” Milo chuckled.
Twenty minutes later, the 80 barbarians who had gradually caught up saw the expeditionary army’s brigades approaching from the horizon ahead. However, the people they were chasing had disappeared!
The road between them and the expeditionary army’s main forces was completely empty.
An elite barbarian shouted, “Anatoli, where are they? Did you lose track of their scent?”
Puzzled, Anatoli replied, “No, their scent is just up ahead!”
The barbarian who spoke first felt that something was wrong. He quickly ran forward, but after running for just 200 meters, favonovel.com suddenly saw a one-meter-wide tunnel entrance appear in the ground!
“They escaped through here!” The barbarian said angrily, “Where does this tunnel lead?”
“No matter where it leads, the general has given the order that we must catch up to them!” Anatoli said, “Let’s go! Even if there’s a maze underground, I can still locate them by scent!”
“No!” The barbarian who spoke earlier refuted, “20 of us will go down. The rest of you, stay on guard aboveground. After all, we don’t know what’s going on inside. If we head in rashly, we might run straight into trouble.”
“Alright, 20 of us will enter the tunnel!”
With that, the barbarians filed in and left behind 60 of their comrades to stand guard aboveground and wait for the main forces to arrive.
However, Milo and company did not even have to lower their heads as they ran in the tunnel due to their height. This was because Rudy had made it based on Milo’s height. The tunnel’s height was exactly 10 centimeters taller than Milo.
Although Milo was now 1.81 meters tall, most of the barbarians were around 1.95 meters tall. Therefore, the barbarians found it extremely difficult to run in the tunnel. However, the barbarians thought it was fortunate that the underground tunnel was not a maze. There was only one path forward.
“Wait, we can’t give chase anymore. This tunnel leads all the way to Mt. Zendravasih. Who knows if we might just reach the inside of their defensive position.” A barbarian said anxiously, “At that time, there will only be the 20 of us while they have several thousand soldiers!”
The barbarians were not stupid. They immediately guessed where this tunnel might lead.
The barbarians in the tunnel slowly came to a stop.
One of them sneered and said, “They’re trying to lure us into the defensive position to kill us, but that’s really underestimating us. The farthest man behind, go and tell those on the surface that we need 20 more men down here. Tell them to inform the main forces at Mt. Zendravasih that we’re going to break through from behind enemy lines right now and create a chance for the main forces to break through from the front!”
The barbarians’ plan was instantly formed. If this tunnel really led to the defensive position, the sudden appearance of these 40 combat experts would surely cause enough damage to the defensive position of the Central Plains people.
Although they would die, death was nothing compared to the glory of the expeditionary army.
As long as they could disrupt the rhythm of the defensive position and allow the main forces to occupy this place, their sacrifices would be worth it. Their names would also be carved onto the stone tablet in front of the palace they would build here!
Thinking of this, the elite barbarians got fired up.
Someone shouted, “Have the main forces bring their heavy armor here! Remember, maintain formation. Don’t exit the tunnel at the first signs of light at the entrance. Instead, we should break through the surface from the tunnel at lightning speed so the enemy will be caught off guard!”
Actually, they all knew that since they had been chasing after these Central Plains people for so long, they would definitely have to go in and have a look no matter what. Otherwise, no one would feel satisfied. Furthermore, they were under the orders of their general, so even if they knew it was dangerous up ahead, they would still have to charge in.
One of the highest-ranked barbarians said ruthlessly, “If the Central Plains people plant explosives at the end of the tunnel, Alexius, use your body to block the blast, understand?”
After that, the barbarians returned to the surface and put on their heavy armor before crawling back into the tunnel.
Milo had already returned to the defensive position. He said solemnly to Rudy, “Let’s begin…”
As soon as favonovel.com finished speaking, Rudy altered the terrain and connected the exit of the tunnel to the cesspit used by 6,000 people.
Bruce muttered, “They’ll probably be left with psychological trauma for the rest of their lives…”
