The Guard Camp members had thought that once they handed over their identification and went through an inspection, both sides could talk things over and put an end to the whole affair.
They had even begun planning how to retaliate against the Golden Bull Regiment once this was over—especially against its unpopular commander. This time, they were going to make sure he was dead!
In the end, they had misjudged how serious the situation was.
And that misjudgment was undoubtedly fatal.
They never would have guessed that the Golden Bull Regiment commander had never intended to check their identities or suspected them of being spies or informants.
He had known all along that they belonged to Tiangang. And because he knew, he had targeted them from the very beginning. He wanted them dead!
The back-and-forth, the threats and inducements, had all been a way to make them surrender without a fight, luring them to their deaths at the lowest possible cost.
Otherwise, if he had started by openly ordering their deaths, they would never have sat around waiting to be slaughtered. If pushed too far, they could have activated the formation to save their lives. After all, if the commander turned against them, that would mean he had betrayed the base. They would have had every justification for activating the formation and striking back in the name of its security.
But the Golden Bull Regiment commander had kept framing the matter as a suspicion that they were spies—as a misunderstanding that could be cleared up.
That had made them think it was no big deal, just a humiliating grudge they could settle later.
And that misjudgment truly was fatal.
When the Golden Bull Regiment commander ordered his men to bind them, they still hadn't caught on.
The squad leader shouted,