"Are we heading towards the battlefield?" After walking for about ten minutes, Dream Jia suddenly messaged privately through the system. Upon hearing this, Hao Yun and Dao Lao both followed Dream Jia's gaze and looked ahead. Not far in the distance, above a neighborhood, they saw thick smoke rising from buildings still smoldering.
"Why are we heading towards the center of the battlefield? Does that mean the ambushers there haven't completely wiped out the Mastanians?" Hao Yun furrowed his brows and asked.
Before Dao Lao and Dream Jia could respond to Hao Yun, a female warrior noticed the serious expression on Hao Yun's face and, mistaking it for nervousness, spoke up suddenly, "Don't worry. As long as we avoid the Mastanians ahead, we won't be attacked."
"Hoo—fine, alright." Though not entirely clear about what the female warrior meant, and to avoid arousing suspicion, Hao Yun quickly pretended to regulate his emotions by taking deep breaths.
Then, Hao Yun pointed towards the distant area billowing with smoke and asked with feigned concern, "Are we going there? I remember it was heavily contested last night."
The female warrior nodded. "Exactly. Although the fighting was intense in that area last night, we must reach it to rendezvous with the main force. Once we do, we can safely withdraw from this city."
The female warrior then glanced at Hao Yun with a teasing look and quipped, "Oh! I didn't expect you to have such good direction sense, actually finding the place where a big battle took place last night. Maybe if you work on it, you could become a decent warrior! Isn't that right, Dr. Mu?"
"Yeah, I trust the boss's judgment. But the specifics will depend on the follow-up evaluation reports. Of course, the prerequisite is that this kid can make it back alive with us." Dr. Mu, a bald, bearded man with round glasses, replied cautiously.
"Of course." The female warrior nodded.
Then, she playfully raised her eyebrows at Hao Yun and said, "I hope my judgment this time isn't wrong! If so, I'll have plenty of reasons to keep you by my side!"
Seeing the shameless flirting by the female warrior beside Hao Yun, Dream Jia couldn't help but cough a few times to remind them, "Ahem, can you two keep it down? If the Mastanians spot us, we'll all be in deep trouble!"
The female warrior smirked at Dream Jia's words. "Oh? So you two are a pair with a plot setting! Hehehe! In that case, why don't we all share him?"
"Share! What are you talking about? Miss, we've just met. Please don't say such things!" Startled by the female warrior's bold words, Hao Yun blushed instantly, feeling utterly confused.
"What are you talking about? What plot setting do I have with him? And sharing him with you? Ugh, disgusting! I'm not interested at all!" Dream Jia glared disdainfully at the female warrior and Hao Yun, then turned and briskly walked ahead, leading the group and occasionally glancing back at the lecherous men who were following.
The four men present were completely caught off guard by the sudden quarrel between the two women, leaving them momentarily bewildered. However, since they were in the midst of evacuating, and to prevent further escalation between the women, which could cause trouble, the four men quickly intervened, non-verbally agreeing on their positions to keep the women apart at the front and rear of the group. Both women understood that now wasn't the time to argue, thus quelling the conflict without any smoke.
During this time, Hao Yun continuously explained through the system, asserting his innocence and claiming he had never even looked directly at the female warrior. He also insisted she wasn't his type and urged Dream Jia not to let her thoughts be swayed by her. In response, Dream Jia promptly cursed Hao Yun in the system, telling him not to be so full of himself and assuming every girl would fall for him. She also told Hao Yun to face reality, stating bluntly that he wasn't her type and that his unfounded fantasies were absurd.
Hao Yun felt genuinely innocent. Where did all this come from? How did he suddenly become an unwelcome toad in Dream Jia's eyes? Although Hao Yun was indignant at Dream Jia unfairly venting her anger on him, he also knew better than to argue with a woman, especially one who was already angry. Whether he won or lost an argument, he would ultimately be the loser. Therefore, for the greater good, Hao Yun could only swallow his pride and helplessly accept Dream Jia's accusations, continuously apologizing to appease her anger, even though he didn't understand where he had gone wrong.
After resolving the internal friction among the six in an awkward atmosphere, they continued for about half an hour until they finally reached the first battlefield of the previous night's battle. Though the smoke had largely dissipated, the numerous bullet holes on the ground and scattered Mastanian remains served as stark reminders of how intense the fighting had been in this neighborhood.
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However, despite the battle having moved elsewhere later that night, it didn't mean this area was now safe. On the contrary, as Hao Yun and his group looked around, they spotted several Mastanians patrolling cautiously, moving methodically through the streets. Not only Mastanians, but they also saw an intact fighter jet stationed not far away, functioning like a fortress built at a crucial intersection, rotating 360 degrees while remaining on high alert for any threats from the surrounding streets.
"Phew! After crossing the blocks ahead and walking about five hundred meters, we'll meet up with the main force! However, according to the combat positioning device, there are still many Xibo people lingering in the streets ahead. So, everyone must be extremely cautious in the upcoming actions and must not provoke those Xibo people." After Wang Defa led everyone in a detour to bypass the Xibo people marked on the interface and successfully hid in another building, he breathed out heavily.
Just as Wang Defa pointed ahead, Hao Yun also noticed a device on Wang Defa's arm that looked very similar in style and size to his smartphone. On the screen of this device, there was a blinking green dot and another cluster of green dots further away from this green point. Hao Yun didn't need to guess to know that this device was the combat positioning device Wang Defa mentioned. The green dot displayed on the screen represented Wang Defa himself. As for those clustered green dots, naturally, they should be the large group Wang Defa referred to.
"Be very careful of that aircraft, the range of its vigilance is much larger than those Xibo people. Once it spots you, it will involve everyone, and we'll all be in trouble. So from now on, stick close to us, and try to stay quiet so you can accurately receive the action commands I give. Otherwise, don't blame us for ruthlessly abandoning you!" Wang Defa emphasized to Hao Yun's group after quickly assessing the situation in the street ahead.
Of course, it was clear to everyone that Wang Defa's last instruction to "stay quiet" was mainly directed at Dream Jia and the female warrior, two unsettling individuals.
"Don't worry, we won't abandon all of you. But, leaving behind one of you is definitely possible. After all, I also want to make it big!" The female warrior retorted sarcastically to Wang Defa's words, and she couldn't resist making a mischievous face at Dream Jia.
To prevent Dream Jia from getting into another argument with the female warrior, Hao Yun and Dao Lao quickly persuaded her to stay calm through the system channel. At the same time, they continued to portray themselves as submissive and obedient to command, pleading with Wang Defa not to abandon them.
Seeing that Hao Yun's group was very obedient, Wang Defa nodded satisfactorily and then leered at them, "Very good, very good. I love well-behaved kids who listen to commands! Remember, stick close to me and don't fall behind."
After Wang Defa finished speaking, he continued to lead the team stealthily down the street ahead. Although Wang Defa was still very familiar with the streets around here, the presence of many Xibo people in the main streets and inside the buildings in this area made him much more cautious as he led the way, fearing that a slight slip-up might lead to a run-in with the wandering Xibo people.
Looking at the numerous Xibo people ahead, Dao Lao couldn't help but exclaim in the system channel, "I didn't expect so many Xibo people to gather here. It seems that if these Xibo people hadn't suddenly stopped their attack, those ambushers would probably have been wiped out by now."
Hao Yun and Dream Jia agreed with this assessment. At the same time, the three ambushers' lack of surprise at the Xibo people's sudden cessation of hostilities made them even more curious about the situation in this world.
"Let's leave this place with them first, then find an opportunity to inquire about the situation here," Dao Lao suggested.
As the six of them approached closer to where Wang Defa's main force was located, the number of Xibo people also increased. At this point, Hao Yun's group understood why Wang Defa had repeatedly urged them to stick close to him: to ensure that each of them could take advantage of the brief moments when the tightly packed Xibo people were distracted, smoothly maneuvering through the gaps in their lines.
Fortunately, everyone proceeded very cautiously. Coupled with Wang Defa's familiarity with the terrain and the Xibo people's movement patterns, the group soon passed through another blockade of Xibo people and safely entered a severely damaged commercial complex. Wang Defa led everyone carefully on the second floor of this commercial complex for a while, finally entering a more concealed hallway end after evading the Xibo people inside the building.
After confirming that there were no Xibo people near this hallway, Wang Defa finally breathed a sigh of relief and pointed outside the window, saying, "Phew! Guys, victory is right in front of us!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits lifted, and they quickly gathered in front of the dusty window to check the situation outside. Then, following Wang Defa's direction, they saw a wide T-shaped intersection and directly opposite, a modern oval-shaped stadium.
Although this stadium was a modern structure, its architectural style resembled an ancient Greek amphitheater. Furthermore, the stadium's design also incorporated three ancient Athenian column styles, constructing layers of arched outer walls. Inside these arched walls, there were concentric semi-open circular galleries, allowing spectators to walk along these corridors supported by the arches, from the bottom to the top of the stadium. Overall, the craftsmanship of the entire stadium looked exquisite and luxurious, definitely a must-visit hotspot for social media.
Unfortunately, Hao Yun's group could clearly see that this magnificent building had also suffered severe damage. The beautiful outer walls of the stadium were riddled with large and small shell craters, with dense black smoke still rising from some positions. All of this indicated to Hao Yun and the others that this stadium had long lost its original purpose and had become a fortress in this era of war.
Clearly, this stadium was the central area of last night's battle. Although the Xibo people had ceased their attack, their presence in the surrounding streets and the traces of battle left on those streets indicated that this stadium was clearly the target the Xibo people had been attacking last night. And the armed forces guarding this stadium were none other than Wang Defa's main force.