The Tower's Response

"Thud, thud, thud..." Several feathered arrows struck the ground accurately two or three steps in front of the Train Captain.

"Who's skulking around over there?" An angry shout came from the tower above the fortress gate.

A burly man stood there with a bow in hand. The still-trembling bowstring told everyone that he had been the one to fire.

"If you don't speak up, the next arrow will go straight through your forehead!" An drew his bow and aimed at the Train Captain from atop the tower.

At the same time, the overseers raised their Laser Guns and aimed at the miners on the tower. Whether in power or versatility, Laser Guns were far beyond anything miners using cold weapons could compare to. If not for the Train Captain's earlier orders, these men, normally arrogant and overbearing, would have opened fire long ago.

"I am the Train Captain of the Tower. Now tell your people to get back to mining immediately!" The Train Captain revealed his status as well.

"Our camp has already handed over more than enough ore these past two days. The boss has decided to let us rest for two days. You can go back now." An sneered at the armed overseers below.

"You think this castle made of a pile of broken rocks can stop the Tower's army?" The Train Captain laughed. He had told the overseers not to fire without orders, but that did not mean he had no way to deal with these slaves.

The Tower and the miners of Lycaeus had never had an equal partnership. Their relationship was one of ruler and ruled.

If this camp had not been so large and difficult to provoke, the whip in the Train Captain's hand would already have come down on them.

"Who are you trying to scare? Mobilizing the Tower's army requires an order from the Lord of the High Tower. You don't have the guts to escalate this matter that far. By the time the army is mobilized, it'll already be too late. And with those few lousy guns in your hands, it's still unclear who'll kill whom." In just a few sentences, An laid out the Tower's situation and procedures with perfect clarity.

Have the other families joined forces with this camp to overthrow the Lord of the High Tower's rule? The thought flashed through the Train Captain's mind.

Even he did not know these matters very clearly. Obviously, the other side knew far more than he did.

"I don't know what the Tower will do, but if you still refuse to work, I know exactly what I'll do." The Train Captain issued his threat, and the overseers behind him disengaged the safeties on their Laser Guns.

The atmosphere instantly became taut with hostility.

Silence.

A deathly silence blanketed the overseers and the miners facing them from the tower.

"I still suggest you show a little more patience. Have a proper discussion about what the miners need, and convey our demands to Agamemnon. It's only a strike, after all. There's no need to take this all the way to Akalin." A sharp dagger suddenly pressed against the Train Captain's neck as someone spoke to him in an exceptionally gentle tone.

The overseers who had been aiming their guns at the miners on the tower suddenly felt a chill at their necks as well. Sharp daggers had been placed against every one of their throats.

The members of Shadow Kill emerged from the overseers' shadows like ghosts. Their bodies, radiating an intense aura of death, were concealed beneath black hooded robes. Only their eyes and the hands holding their blades were exposed.

Sandman casually took the communicator from the communications officer and connected it to the Tower's administrator on the other end.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me?" Sandman called into the communicator.

"Has the mission been completed yet?!" An extremely impatient voice came from the other end.

"Um, you may have the wrong person. I'm the leader of Camp 169. Your people have been captured by me. I now demand that the Tower increase the exchange rate tenfold from its original level, or this strike will not end."

"By sunset, I want to see the exchange rate changed. Otherwise, we'll send word straight to the Lord of the High Tower. You can ask Agamemnon whether we have the ability to do that." Sandman ended the call without waiting for a response.

"Then, esteemed Train Captain, given your performance just now, sorry for the trouble, but please wait here patiently for the time being." Sandman spoke to the Train Captain in a very gentle tone.

Shadow Kill had already reported every detail of the Train Captain's earlier exchange with the miners, so Sandman merely disarmed this group of overseers and had people keep watch over them.

They were not even tied up. After all, the miners' crossbows were no joke. At such close range, if any of these people tried anything out of line, they would be shot full of holes.

"Boss, several convoys of armed overseers are coming this way. There are quite a few of them—no fewer than a hundred, by the look of it." Korax reported to Sandman.

It had been Korax who used his Shadow Power to bring the members of Shadow Kill out from the overseers' shadows and seize control of them.

"Some people just refuse to learn. Since they're in such a hurry to die, then send them on their way!" The gentleness on Sandman's face as he dealt with the Train Captain and his group instantly turned icy.

He had been worried about finding an example to scare the rest. Now one had delivered itself right to his door.

"Train Captain, let's see whether the reinforcements you've pinned such high hopes on can bring you salvation." Sandman turned and invited him along.

Without waiting for a response, two members of Shadow Kill escorted him after Sandman toward a nearby hill, while the miners once again aimed their bows and crossbows at the disarmed overseers squatting on the ground with their hands over their heads.

Standing atop the hill, Sandman watched the gathered convoy rumble toward them in a grand procession.

The vehicles sped down the road, kicking up clouds of dust that resembled an earthen dragon, charging straight toward The Saviors' camp with unstoppable momentum.

"Was what I said over the communicator not clear enough?" Sandman turned and looked at the unknown Train Captain with a puzzled expression.

Who commanded an army like this?

Shouldn't they have first sent scouts to assess the enemy's strength, then used various tactics to confuse the enemy, identify their weaknesses, and launch a surprise assault with an elite force?

But this chaotic mess before him—calling them bandits would be giving them too much credit. At the very least, the bandits who occupied mountains and ruled as kings in an ancient eastern nation on Old Terra had inflicted heavy casualties even on elite regular armies, according to Sandman's memories.

Had I read The Art of War too many times, or did these overseers have high-tech support that had rendered all those old military doctrines obsolete? Sandman wondered as he thought of the many military treatises of Old Terra.

Very soon, the overseers' performance told Sandman that he had overthought it. They were simply useless.

Boom... A thunderous explosion rang out. The troop carrier charging at the very front and most recklessly was blasted straight into the air.

Sandman could even clearly see several overseers thrown more than ten meters high, flailing wildly in midair. He could make out every detail, even the skin on their screaming faces.