As for whether Sergeant Major Dai Jia could become a good mayor, Luo Ming wasn't sure. But he was certain the man was an experienced soldier. He had barely finished sounding the alarm before he opened a compartment, pulled out a pistol and three grenades, and, with his other hand, promptly pressed a button on the driver's seat.
The open truck bed flipped up, quickly forming a translucent armor plate.
As the translucent plate locked into place against the truck's frame, Luo Ming saw a cavalry force charging toward them across the distant wilderness.
They were, of course, New Jade Gate's signature swift-dragon cavalry, three or four hundred riders in all. By the standards of a melee battle, they were an imposing sight, surging forward with overwhelming force.
It had to be admitted: lizardfolk mounted on oversized raptors made for a fearsome sight. Any ordinary civilian newly arrived in New Jade Gate would probably have been scared witless by these fantastical, demon-king-style monsters.
But Luo Ming, a graduate of Central Defense University, had already grabbed his rifle and put on goggles equipped with built-in aiming and magnification functions.
He could clearly see that the swift dragons were charging despite their thin frames and dull, lackluster scales. The sandfolk riders on their backs all had their faces wrapped in headscarves, but most wore neither armor nor exoskeletons, and their weapons were a motley assortment.
Many didn't even have proper firearms. They were waving spears made from sharpened steel pipes, probably stolen from some construction site.
"Bandits?" Luo Ming began loading his rifle. New Jade Gate's vast wilderness was hardly a safe place, and some bandit gangs numbered in the thousands. Still, bandits bold enough to attack a government convoy head-on had become a rare breed.
"For Ainu!" he soon heard the