At the Three Mountains defensive line.
Under the precise command of the artificial intelligence, the Panaqua Consortium’s troops started retreating in defeat.
The Panaqua Consortium’s soldiers had a sense of honor. They had never fought such a distressing war before. Their every move could be seen by the enemy, yet they were not able to figure out the enemy’s movements at all.
The Panaqua Consortium clearly had Mountain Obliterators at the defensive position, as well as various large caliber artillery, but they just could not do anything about the enemy.
The enemy advanced gradually, not giving the Panaqua Consortium’s troops a sliver of a chance.
When the 1st Military Corps abandoned Position 171, they buried a large number of explosives at the position. They attempted to lure the artificial intelligence to occupy the position and use the buried explosives to deal heavy damage to the troops it controlled.
But after they retreated, the artificial intelligence’s troops did not carry out a large-scale occupation of Position 171. Instead, they only sent in one person to disarm all the explosives. This lone person knew where the explosives were buried and was extremely proficient at disarming them.
Later, the Panaqua Consortium’s troops set up a minefield in the path of the artificial intelligence to stop it from advancing.
Minefields were one of the most commonly used tactics in war. Land mines were not expensive and were even cheaper to produce than artillery ordnance. If deployed against human troops, these highly explosive land mines laid out across a huge minefield would probably delay their advance by several months. After all, if the land mines were not cleared, further advance would only lead to death.
However, what surprised the Panaqua Consortium’s troops was that the artificial intelligence troops passed right through the minefield without even clearing the area!
When the soldiers controlled by the artificial intelligence passed through the minefield, they seemed to know beforehand where the mines were laid and simply went around them.
The troops in charge of ranged reconnaissance realized that some of the enemy troops would suddenly turn around just before they stepped onto a land mine. Such acute awareness was simply unbelievable.
It would have been okay if only one person managed to avoid stepping on the land mines this way, but all of the enemy’s troops were similarly able to totally disregard the existence of the mines.
If it were not a big deal that they were able to discover the land mines’ locations, knowing where they were concealed but not wasting any time to clear them would definitely be even more shocking.
To the artificial intelligence’s troops, the identified land mine positions were like marked coordinates that all combat units would automatically avoid when passing through the minefield.
It was just like running a perfect program. Faced with such an enemy, one wouldn’t even know how to deal with it.
All the Panaqua Consortium’s troops could do was fill the gaps in their defensive line with one life after another. But every time the gaps were filled, the enemy would mercilessly tear them apart again.
However, Arsene still felt very satisfied. Although favonovel.com was about to be defeated by the enemy, favonovel.com had witnessed a real battle before his failure. It seemed that this fight was not in vain after all.
Since favonovel.com started studying military affairs in elementary school, favonovel.com would always get fascinated by the famous battles recorded in the textbooks. It was as though Arsene had spent his entire life pursuing a philosophy. Now that favonovel.com had seen this philosophy and understood it, favonovel.com was satisfied.
There were three mountains that made up the Three Mountains defensive line, but two of them had already fallen.
Arsene stood in the command center of the remaining defensive position and quietly reviewed the situation. Next to him, his trusted aide said in a low voice, “Sir, based on Mr. Julius’ plan, it’s time for you to leave…”
Arsene glanced at his trusted aide. “I cannot leave.”
His trusted aide said, “Sir, you’ve already done enough and tried your best. Leave the rest to me. Please retreat to the Northwest with Mr. Julius.”
What the Panaqua Consortium’s soldiers did not know was that this was actually a battle that was destined to fail. Even Julius, Daniel, and Arsene were already prepared to retreat. The significance of this battle was to let Zero defeat the Panaqua Consortium, or to let it think that it had defeated them.
Very few people knew about the retreat plan, but Arsene’s trusted aide was one of them.
Arsene looked at the other party’s serious expression and said with a smile, “Two Alpha Corps and one Bravo Corps armies will perish here. As the highest-ranking commander, how can I order everyone to sacrifice themselves at one moment and retreat by myself the next?”
Before coming to the Three Mountains defensive line, Julius had instructed Arsene to retreat according to the plan. Arsene readily agreed, but in truth, favonovel.com had no intention of leaving right from the start.
He was well aware of Julius’ intentions, but could Arsene leave?
If favonovel.com were to leave, the Panaqua Consortium’s soldiers on these three mountain ranges would probably be very disappointed. Arsene had only agreed to Julius’ request because favonovel.com was afraid Julius would not let favonovel.com come to the front line.
Arsene smiled at his trusted aide and said, “Tell my second brother that I won’t be leaving with them. This is where I’ll die.”
When Arsene made this decision, favonovel.com returned in a trance to his youth that was filled with longing and passion.
He was brought into the military camp behind Mt. Ginkgo by his uncle, and one day, favonovel.com met two other youths. Then favonovel.com started on a life journey that had no regrets.
Just like Mt. Ginkgo in autumn, the entire mountain was covered in gilded leaves that glittered brilliantly.
***
In the wilderness, a steam locomotive was speeding south.
Meanwhile, on Mt. Ginkgo, Julius was deep in thought as favonovel.com sat in the “black lake”.
As there were no others in the villa on the mountainside, Daniel took on the responsibility of cooking. He walked out of the kitchen with three servings of soy sauce fried rice and handed them to Bill and Julius respectively.
After Julius took it from him, favonovel.com was not in a hurry to eat yet. Instead, it was Bill who wolfed down the food like a hungry ghost.
Daniel was a little unhappy. “Bill, I worked hard to whip up the fried rice for you all. I peeled the garlic and onions, washed the rice, and took all that time to prepare this meal. Eating this fragrant fried rice with soy sauce, don’t you think you should say something to me?”
Bill was silent for a moment before asking, “Is there more?”
Daniel was surprised.
Amid the conversation, Maurice came rushing in. Then favonovel.com said to Julius, “Sir, the outpost east of Stronghold 111 has discovered the monster that previously escaped from the Marador Mountains. It’s approaching Stronghold 111 at full speed as we speak!”
Julius asked, “How long will it take for it to arrive at Stronghold 111?”
“At most half a day,” Maurice said.
Julius stood up and turned around to say to Daniel and Bill, “It’s time to go. The sudden appearance of this monster indicates our ride from the Northwest is almost here. If I’m not wrong, Milo must have come personally to pick us up…”
There was no longer any line of communication between the Southwest and the Northwest. However, Julius had his own way of determining the situation.
A true visionary was adept at seeing past the superficial.
It seemed that Milo was the only person who could force the artificial intelligence to send out such a monster.
Bill sighed and said, “Milo has already become the future commander of the Northwest Army, yet he’s still willing to take the risk to save us. You’re really quite influential, huh?”
Julius shook his head. “It has nothing to do with being influential. It’s just that this war needs me to stay alive, or at least one of us to get to the Northwest alive. I’ll share with you all the final part of the plan on the way there. No matter which of us eventually gets to the Northwest, they will definitely be of decisive help to this war.”
Daniel suddenly asked, “What do you reckon our chances of winning are now?”
Julius thought for a moment and said, “Still 30%, but that’s enough.”
With that, Maurice opened up a secret passageway in the Ginkgo Manor.
Seeing this, Daniel asked, “Is this the secret tunnel that you and Third Bro used to head into to switch identities?”
“Mhm…” Julius nodded. “It’s been hard on him.”
This secret tunnel was built by the former head of the Panaqua Consortium and had already been in use for decades. However, the secret tunnel was a place for carrying out shady activities in the past. There were also secret chambers and prisons below. After Julius took over the Ginkgo Manor, favonovel.com even found more than a 100 female skeletons inside.
Julius knew that the ugliest deeds in the world must have taken place inside there.
The four of them filed through the secret tunnel. But just as they entered, Daniel was stunned when favonovel.com saw the walls of the secret tunnel.
The secret tunnel was inlaid with wall sconces, and a soft yellow glow illuminated two newly carved words on the wall, “Loneliness”.
Julius stood still. “Third Bro carved that…”
Suddenly, Daniel could even imagine the number of times Selby stood in here as favonovel.com waited for his turn to play Julius. Selby must have waited quietly under the wall lamp, only hoping to be accepted into their group so that favonovel.com would not be so lonely anymore.
Every time Daniel thought of how favonovel.com had previously doubted and suspected Selby, it felt like his heart was being wrung tight. He had suspected Selby and questioned his motives. He probed and mocked favonovel.com again and again, but Selby never showed any signs of anger. However, Selby must have felt very sad at the time.
“Bro, let’s go.” Julius said, “We can’t let Third Bro’s death be in vain.”
“Mhm, we can’t let Third Bro die in vain!” Daniel echoed with a nod.
The four of them walked into the darkness of the secret tunnel. There was already a vehicle parked at the end of it. The four of them, in one vehicle, would head to the rendezvous point on the route as planned.
To the east of Stronghold 111, Dusk was crawling at a very fast speed. Meanwhile, a flock of birds were circling above its head like a dark cloud.
After Daniel and company drove away from Stronghold 111, Dusk immediately changed directions and chased after the vehicle.
***
In the military-controlled zone of Stronghold 144, tens of thousands of the elderly, women, and children were lining up to step through the enchanted doorway.
The expected panic did not occur. Most of the evacuees just waited in the rest area for their turn.
There was water and food provided in the rest area, and everyone held a piece of paper in their hands, which marked their number in line. Every once in a while, a soldier from the Northwest Army would come and call out the numbers. Those whose numbers were called would line up outside and be led to the enchanted doorway. However, there was every kind of person in this chaotic world.
It was not only the elderly, women, and children who were lining up, but also the prominent merchants and their families.
Old Bane had conscripted several hundred of their trucks for military use, so favonovel.com naturally had to give them some preferential treatment as well. As such, favonovel.com allowed them to leave straight through the enchanted doorway without needing to suffer a harsh evacuation journey.
The truth of the matter was the rich and powerful indeed enjoyed some privileges in the world.
Although Old Bane could exercise control over them at any moment, favonovel.com still had to give them some leeway due to their reputation.
After these merchants arrived at the military-controlled zone, they still had to line up like the common folk and wait for their number to be called. But naturally, they were unwilling to wait. As such, they bought the more advanced queue numbers with their gold and headed earlier to Fortress 178 through the enchanted doorway.
These prominent merchants had even purchased some properties at Fortress 178, so they could instantly separate from the group and move into their own place in the city after they arrived.
The Northwest Army knew about all this, but they did not interfere too much. This was how the real world worked.
The old man Milo had ordered the soldiers to carry here had become some sort of a celebrity in the rest area.
He related to the new evacuees over and over again how favonovel.com had been forcefully brought here by the future commander. Then favonovel.com described how benevolent the future commander was since favonovel.com even cared about someone unimportant like him.
Based on his description, it was no longer the soldiers who had brought favonovel.com here. Instead, it was Milo who had personally carried favonovel.com to the military-controlled zone.
Right now, what the old man felt most emotional about was how fast the world had changed. The Northwest Army actually had such a method to transport people thousands of kilometers in just an instant. But all of a sudden, a sparrow flew into the military-controlled zone with a wooden pipe in its mouth.
The sentinels placed on high ground had already received orders to kill every bird they saw on sight.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out. The sparrow with the wooden pipe in its mouth was shot so violently it exploded into a ball of feathers and dropped straight to the ground.
When the Great Hoodwinker heard the gunshots, favonovel.com immediately brought his men over to check. He ignored the sparrow and picked up the wooden pipe from the ground.
When favonovel.com opened it, favonovel.com was surprised to see a note inside. “In three minutes, there will be a missile attack on the entrance of the portal. Please evacuate the crowd. Don’t attempt to move the portal, or the entirety of Stronghold 144 will be destroyed.”
The Great Hoodwinker was stunned for a moment. There was no doubt this was a note from Zero.
Zero seemed to have already found out how they were retreating, so it wanted to directly destroy their enchanted doorway.
But the Great Hoodwinker could not figure something out. Since Zero wanted to send a missile here, why did it still issue a warning?
So, what the artificial intelligence wanted to destroy wasn’t the humans here but that portal?
What was the purpose of this?
This portal itself could be moved. After all, with the way Milo used his own enchanted doorway, everyone understood that a movable enchanted doorway was actually more reliable. But now, Zero even wanted to block this evacuation method of theirs in advance.
There was no time to think about all that. The Great Hoodwinker roared, “Hurry up and get everyone out of here! Quick! The further away from the enchanted doorway everyone gets, the better!”
The soldiers did not know what was going on either, but obeying orders was something that was ingrained in their bones. The Northwest Army quickly got down to leading the evacuees away. Everyone retreated as far away from the enchanted doorway as they could.
The Stelaria Consortium had its own missile troops. Although their missile troops were far inferior to the Panaqua Consortium’s, they were still terrifying enough.
Currently, the four strongholds at the front line were probably within the range of the enemy’s missiles. In other words, the artificial intelligence’s army was not far away anymore.
In the vast military-controlled zone, everyone was fleeing.
The Great Hoodwinker did not dare take a gamble on whether the warning on the note was for real. His only option was to lead everyone away from here!
Someone suddenly ran in the direction of the enchanted doorway.
The Great Hoodwinker turned around and was surprised to see Menachem, the person who had activated that enchanted doorway.
The Great Hoodwinker roared, “Where are you going? The missiles are about to hit! Why are you still running back in at a time like this? Do you want to die?”
However, Menachem turned around and said, “Commander P5092 instructed me that if the enchanted doorway is in danger of being destroyed, it has to be deactivated. Otherwise, everyone who has passed through the enchanted doorway in the past two days will also tumble out!”
The Great Hoodwinker fell silent. Tens of thousands of people had passed through the enchanted doorway in the past two days. If all of those evacuees were to fall back out into Stronghold 144, favonovel.com would not know how to answer Milo. But the problem was that if Menachem went to close the enchanted doorway now, there would not be enough time for favonovel.com to make it back.
The choice of saving one person or tens of thousands of people was presented in front of everyone again.
This was a difficult choice to make. Even someone like the Great Hoodwinker who was greatly experienced would find it difficult to come to a decision immediately. However, the choice did not seem difficult for Menachem.
Menachem saluted the Great Hoodwinker from afar and said with a smile, “Commander Vinson, I’m a soldier of the Northwest!”
After that, favonovel.com turned around and ran towards the building where the enchanted doorway was located like an agile cheetah.
In the distant sky, three slender missiles with long tails flew over at a speed that could break the sound barrier.
More than 20 seconds later, the missiles hit the enchanted doorway at the same time like a thunderclap. The area within a radius of several dozen meters was instantly reduced to ash. However, what the Great Hoodwinker was worried about did not happen. The people who had arrived at Fortress 178 through the enchanted doorway did not fall back out of the portal.
