Scouts' War

"Everyone, report your findings."

Guan Shan returned to the camp with a dark expression, looking at Deng Li and the other instructors who were gradually coming back.

Deng Li and the others saw Guan Shan's displeased face and had a bad premonition.

"I only found many demonic beast corpses on my end, mostly around the first-star level five or six. Nothing else was out of the ordinary."

"It's the same on my end, nothing unusual. Any Martial Artist could have left these traces; we can't be sure it was enemy spies."

The instructors' reports were all similar.

But as he listened to their reports, Guan Shan's brow remained furrowed.

Killing a patch of first-star demonic beasts was something everyone present could do; it was nothing surprising.

But no one would be so bored as to go out of their way to slaughter weak demonic beasts, not even bothering to take the corpses with them.

If it really were enemy spies, leaving the mess uncleared was practically an invitation for them to discover it.

No spy would be that foolish.

Yet, such incidents had occurred in every direction, making it impossible for him not to take it seriously.

Only Deng Li hadn't spoken yet. Guan Shan looked at him and asked, "Old Deng, how were things on your end?"

"It was pretty much the same as theirs."

At this point, Deng Li suddenly changed the subject and took out some bone fragments from his storage bag.

"However, I found these in the forest."

Guan Shan and the others quickly looked over, and someone even stepped forward to pick up a fragment and examine it.

"Are these... the fangs of a sword-toothed pig?"

Deng Li nodded, confirming their guess.

"I roughly pieced these broken fangs together. If we include the missing parts, these fangs would be at least two feet long!"

"Hiss!"

Hearing Deng Li's words, the instructors collectively gasped.

Although the measurement system in this world differed slightly from before Gu Han transmigrated, the difference wasn't significant.

Over two feet meant a sword-tooth more than half a meter long.

A sword-tooth this long belonged to at least a second-star sword-toothed pig!

"Old Deng, where did you find them?"

If they were found near the border, it wouldn't be unusual for a second-star sword-toothed pig to occasionally cross over.

Deng Li thought for a moment and said, "That place is about ten kilometers from the border."

Guan Shan's brow furrowed. Ten kilometers wasn't particularly close, but it wasn't so far that the appearance of a sword-toothed pig would be completely unexpected.

"The most crucial point is that someone was able to smash the fangs of a second-star sword-toothed pig into powder."

Deng Li continued, "While we can all do that, it's clear that none of us did this."

Guan Shan immediately understood Deng Li's meaning and retorted, "Are you suggesting that besides us and the potential spies from the Sword-toothed Country, there might be a third party?"

Deng Li nodded.

"Exactly."

Guan Shan became visibly troubled.

If there truly was a third party lurking in the shadows, this matter would be difficult to resolve.

At the very least, they needed to determine which side the third party was on.

"Regardless, we must find and apprehend this third party and the infiltrators as soon as possible!"

After nodding, Deng Li and the others quickly dispersed.

At this moment, Gu Han was unaware that his killing of the two sword-toothed pigs had caused the border troops of the Running Wolf Nation and the Sword-toothed Country to become tense.

The covert clashes between the two sides had stirred up the once-calm surface of the border into a turbulent undercurrent.

The training of the warriors was temporarily halted due to the special circumstances.

Although the warriors grumbled slightly, they had no choice but to return to their barracks and resume normal training under the strict orders of the instructors.

Days passed one after another.

The border troops of the Running Wolf Nation and the Sword-toothed Country engaged in fierce covert skirmishes, leaving many bodies at the mountain range junction.

Most of these corpses could only remain in the mountains, becoming food for the demonic beasts.

Gu Han, with a heart full of fear, hunted demonic beasts while simultaneously hunting the border troops of the Sword-toothed Country.

After all, he was a man of the Running Wolf Nation. He wouldn't show any mercy to spies from the Sword-toothed Country.

When encountering those he couldn't afford to provoke, Gu Han would lie in wait in the grass, patiently waiting for them to leave.

Over these past half a month, Gu Han estimated that the number of Sword-toothed Country spies he had killed.

Even if it wasn't fifty, it was at least thirty.

And Gu Han's strength had finally increased to that of a Martial Artist!

As for Little Wolf, it was only a small number of demonic beast inner cores away from a bloodline upgrade.

Two-star demonic beasts were already difficult to find in this area, and not every two-star demonic beast would drop a demonic beast inner core.

This greatly slowed down the speed of Little Wolf's bloodline improvement.

"I must speed up the progress and strive to help Little Wolf improve its bloodline today."

The Tenth Battalion Grand Competition was only a day away. Although Gu Han was not a warrior, he still wanted to rush back to cheer on his Elder Brothers.

The border guards of both countries had been overwhelmed by the covert battles along the border during this period.

In the General's Mansion of Mushan City.

A man with a square face and muscles like forged steel was wielding a gleaming saber in the courtyard.

"Third Brother, how have the scouts' reports been recently?"

Guan Shan sat casually on a nearby stone stool, drinking tea, and asked.

"Our scouts have suffered thirty-three casualties. We've investigated seven outposts of the Sword-toothed Country and discovered fifty-seven corpses of their scouts within our borders."

"Oh?"

General Guan Zhen stopped wielding his saber and looked at Guan Shan with surprise and joy.

"You actually killed so many enemy scouts? Well done. Double the rewards for all scouts, and an additional ten Blood Tempering Pills."

Scouts undertake their missions with their lives on the line!

When danger arises, it's either you die or they die.

Without sufficient rewards, you can't recruit qualified scouts based on loyalty alone.

Moreover, fifty-seven enemy scouts were discovered, and there were likely more that hadn't been found.

The scouts' performance in this battle deserved commendation!

Guan Shan nodded, understanding this perfectly.

"Elder Brother, you don't need to worry. I will arrange these matters properly."

"However, many of the enemy scouts killed have yet to be claimed."

The Running Wolf Nation had strict rewards and punishments, so they wouldn't casually attribute merits to others.

All merits had to be reviewed and confirmed before they could be claimed.

Therefore, instances of falsely claiming military achievements were extremely rare.

Guan Zhen's expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Some scouts have already fallen in battle. These merits might belong to them, and no one will ever come to claim them."

"They are all heroes of our Running Wolf Nation!"

"If no one comes to claim them after three days, then these merits will belong to the heroes who died in battle!"

This was not because Guan Zhen wanted to hoard these merits and withhold the rewards that should have been given.

Rather, it was to truly return the merits to these heroes.

Once the time limit passed without anyone claiming them, the merits would be archived, becoming truly ownerless.

By his decree, these merits would be attributed to the fallen scouts. Although the scouts were dead, their families could still receive commendations and rewards based on these merits.

They would also receive protection from the local county office, preventing them from being bullied.

This was what Guan Zhen wanted to achieve: to ensure that all soldiers had no worries about their families!

After all, he would never have imagined that these merits not only had owners but were also the work of a logistics soldier!