"Let's go! Everyone, keep up! Once we enter that stadium, we'll be safe!" After observing the street conditions, Wang Defa spoke up. Then, he led the way by crawling out of the window and descending to the ground floor using the collapsed fire escape. After confirming the area was secure, he waved for the others to follow him as they hurried towards the stadium.
The six of them quickly crossed the intersection and arrived at the perimeter wall of the stadium, where they saw a defensive line composed of several small combat ships, each the size of a small pleasure boat, modified from inexpensive civilian vessels. Haoyun and his companions were puzzled as to how these watercraft, devoid of any visible wheels or propulsion systems, had made it onto the streets.
However, they had no time to dwell on these oddities because there were also numerous Westborian soldiers patrolling nearby, similarly lingering in vigilance. Clearly, after demolishing this line of small ships, these soldiers had unexpectedly halted in their tracks. Otherwise, they should have climbed into the stadium like spiders, wiping out the ambushers inside.
Now, the female soldier who had been trailing behind approached, successfully evading the Westborian patrols, and after leaping over the perimeter wall, she turned to look at the thoroughly destroyed small ships and remarked, "Ah, it looks like we've incurred quite a loss! But the good news is, these Westborians haven't breached our defenses."
"So, what's the bad news then?" Haoyun asked curiously, stepping over the perimeter wall behind her.
"The bad news is that all this commotion has attracted more Westborians than we anticipated. So, we must evacuate from here as quickly as possible!" The female soldier glared at Haoyun before gesturing ahead.
Following her gesture, Haoyun soon spotted a soldier waving to them from the rooftop of the stadium. He then saw Wang Defa wave back and make several exaggerated and peculiar gestures. The rooftop soldier, upon seeing these gestures, responded with similarly exaggerated movements, pointing vigorously downward towards the stadium. Wang Defa then gave him a thumbs-up, signaling for the others to follow him as they skirted around several Westborians lingering on the grass in front of the stadium, hastening towards a collapsed wall located to the lower right of the stadium.
Almost as soon as Haoyun and the others reached the collapse, a large stone slab covering the topmost layer of debris was pushed aside from inside. Then, a young soldier with a soot-blackened face poked his head out from the heap of rubble, unable to contain his joy as he quietly called out, "Captain Eva, you're finally back! We were all so worried!"
The female soldier smiled as she approached, ruffling the young soldier's hair haphazardly, then casually said with a smile, "When has Captain Eva ever failed in her plans? Come on, let's go inside! Look at you, all dirty. You didn't even bother to clean your face, I almost didn't recognize you!"
"Oh, Captain Eva, don't remind me! Thank goodness you foresaw and arranged for our temporary base here, otherwise, we wouldn't have stood a chance against this Westborian attack. We might not even be alive now!" The young soldier said with lingering fear as he led everyone through the rubble. Carefully, he removed the wooden stakes propping up the large stone slab, sealing the entrance shut once more.
So this female soldier was named Eva! From the young soldier's attitude, it was clear she was not just the leader of this trio. Haoyun thought as he jumped into the underground passage below the rubble and smiled kindly at the young soldier. To Haoyun's surprise, this young soldier seemed completely unfazed by the arrival of three strangers like himself, showing no curiosity about their background. Did Eva and the others inform the people here in advance that they would be bringing three strangers along? But since meeting Eva and the others, Haoyun and his companions had been inseparable from them, and they had not seen Eva and the others make any attempt to contact the main force throughout their journey.
("Can't you stop being so narcissistic? Who knows, maybe they only consider you lot as insignificant as ants. Why do you care so much? Instead of indulging in self-love here, why not think about how they'll deal with you later? Who knows, they might just skin you three alive later!" The author had never liked Haoyun, so whenever the opportunity arose, he couldn't resist mocking him.
Naturally, Haoyun was not pleased with the author's attitude and immediately retorted, "Get lost! You're the one who talks the most! They say a protagonist's actions reflect the author's temperament! So if I'm narcissistic, it only shows that you're a narcissist yourself!"
"Pah! Even if I were narcissistic, I wouldn't be one-tenth as much as you! Just you wait, I swear I'll find an opportunity to write you off! Choosing you as the male lead, I must have been blind!" The author seemed to have hit a nerve with Haoyun, prompting him to curse involuntarily.
"That's great! Please hurry up! Being chosen as the male lead in your crappy book is like eight lifetimes of bad luck! Your male leads either turn into arrogant CEOs or are surrounded by countless beautiful women. Meanwhile, I'm out there toiling day after day! I'm fed up!" Haoyun urged disdainfully.)
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"Sigh! This operation unexpectedly caused such a commotion, far beyond our expectations. Carl, how's the damage to our squad? Is it severe?" Eva asked anxiously after listening to the young soldier's report.
"Sigh! I can only say our losses are still within acceptable limits." Carl, the young soldier, gently shook his head in response, gesturing to invite the group through an arched metal door as he spoke.
Upon entering the metal door, they arrived inside the stadium. Haoyun and his two companions were surprised to find that the interior architecture of the stadium was even more magnificent than its exterior. However, due to years of neglect and the ravages of war, its internal furnishings appeared extremely dilapidated. Yet, despite this, the grandeur of the stadium's interior decor was still evident.
Led by Earl, the six proceeded through a corridor and entered the sports field located at the center of the stadium. Haoyun saw neatly parked on the open ground four small civilian yachts identical in style to the damaged ships outside the stadium. Beside the yachts were three rows of motorcycles, some of which were jet skis while others were classic sidecar motorcycles. Like the four small yachts, these motorcycles were also equipped with various light weaponry, giving them a combat-ready appearance.
In addition to these armed vehicles, a large group of fully armed soldiers were busy in a state of high alert. Some soldiers inspected the vehicles, some counted weapons and ammunition, while others were busy transporting the counted weapons, ammunition, and essential supplies to the four ships and motorcycles converted from small yachts.
After quickly surveying the various combat equipment on the field, Dream Jia commented in the system's private chat channel, "It looks like we've encountered a light mechanized infantry battalion with a moderate combat scale. Their equipment is much simpler than I imagined, especially those combat vehicles."
"Indeed. However, from this, it's also clear that this unit definitely possesses considerable combat strength. Otherwise, how could they withstand the attacks from those Mastanians?" Dao Lao remarked, with Dream Jia nodding in agreement.
Just then, as if to confirm Dao Lao and Dream Jia's observations, the soldiers who had finished inspecting the vehicles, under the command of a burly officer, started up all the warships and motorcycles parked on the playground. Accompanied by the deep rumbling sounds emanating from the thrusters of these vehicles, all the vehicles slowly ascended into the air and hovered steadily at a height of about half a meter above the ground.
Seeing this scene, Haoyun and his two companions couldn't help but recall the fighter jets they had seen last night. It turned out that not only the Mastanians' fighter jets possessed this floating flight technology, but even these unassuming armed vehicles were also using this levitation method for movement! Looking at these highly advanced technological vehicles, Haoyun and his companions finally understood why this seemingly ordinary combat team could hold out against the Mastanians for such a long time.
While Haoyun and his two companions were communicating in the system channel, Carl had already led them to the burly officer who was standing in the center of the sports field, commanding the soldiers to board the vehicles in an orderly manner. At this moment, the burly officer noticed Eva and the others. After a bitter smile, he pointed to a small warship and said, "Captain Eva, welcome back! Everything is ready, so let's depart quickly!"
Eva smiled and nodded at the officer, then waved to the soldiers who were looking at her, saying, "Well done, everyone! This place isn't suitable for staying long. Let's retreat first. As for other matters, we'll explain them slowly after we're safe!"
Upon hearing Eva's words, the soldiers at the scene nodded in response, speeding up once again to board their respective vehicles. Meanwhile, guided by the middle-aged officer, Eva boarded her own warship, expressing self-blame as she said, "Ah! It looks like last night's battle really took a toll on everyone! I never expected we'd encounter so many Mastanians last night. If only we had taken advantage of the chaos to forcefully evacuate from there immediately, it would have been better! This was all my negligence, my decision was too hasty!"
"Boss, please don't think like that! If you had forcefully evacuated from the observation point last night, you would have definitely been ambushed by the Mastanians midway. In that case, not only would you have fallen into greater trouble, but I estimate this operation would have ultimately ended in failure! Therefore, sticking to the original plan and holding on until morning before evacuating was a very wise choice. Besides, our duty is to protect you and obtain the observation data. So even if we pay a high price, it's all worth it!" The middle-aged officer hurriedly comforted her, emphasizing his responsibilities once again with a determined expression.
Eva pursed her lips tightly upon hearing this, then gathered courage to ask, "How bad were our losses last night? Were the casualties severe?"
"Ah! We lost a total of twenty-four soldiers. Five are severely wounded, and thirteen have minor injuries. Eight light maneuverable warships were destroyed in total. Two of them were destroyed while serving as temporary machine gun positions in the defensive line, and the other six were destroyed by the enemy while forming a firepower network outside to cover the retreat of the front-line squad."
"In addition, we lost two high-mobility motorcycle combat vehicles during the retreat. These two motorcycles were tasked with diverting enemy fire to create space for the escort team returning from the front to retreat. Unfortunately, these six brave warriors were besieged by the enemy while carrying out their mission and met with unexpected events. Due to the intense battle last night and the complete control of the area by the Mastanians where the six soldiers sacrificed themselves, we had to abandon the plan to recover their bodies because we couldn't approach the area."
Although the middle-aged officer responded in as calm a tone as possible, he couldn't hide his sadness and frustration.
Eva listened silently to the officer's casualty report and then asked, "So, have the bodies of the remaining eighteen soldiers been properly handled?"
"Boss, rest assured, we've placed all their remains in a room inside the stadium. It's very well concealed, and their bodies can wait there safely until they can be returned," the middle-aged officer replied.
Eva nodded again, expressing satisfaction with the officer's handling of the situation.