You're awake. That's for the best; I was about to wake you anyway. Based on the intelligence from our previous observations and the news we've picked up, they'll be pulling out in about half an hour. You can get yourself ready. After all, the rest of the road is up to you.
Section 84: Chapter LXXVIII - Pride and Prejudice
Capitalizing on her height advantage and the dim, pre-dawn light, Kanna easily slipped in near the cargo truck. She only needed to wait for them to finish inspecting, toss a lightning wedge inside, and use displacement to sneak into the vehicle without a sound.
By this time, the workers had finished loading the cargo and had all left, leaving only the driver behind to take inventory.
Stepping closer, Kanna observed carefully. There were two people in the cab—a driver and a passenger—and four people in the off-road vehicle leading the way. It was clear that despite bringing in supplies from here every day, the estate's master remained extremely vigilant.
Yet, even with all his cunning, the man still failed to stop the little dragon person's stealth.
Waiting for the right moment when someone stepped out of the vehicle, Kanna waved a hand. The moment the door shut, an intensely hidden streak of purple light flew through the gates like a shooting star, arousing no one's suspicion at all.
Kanna was now fully capable of controlling the power and size of each lightning wedge, so the sight of an object no bigger than a fly darting out of the bushes and into the truck didn't draw the slightest reaction, even from the guards arranged by the estate master in the lead vehicle.
By the time the truck started moving, Kanna was already inside.
The large cargo truck was tightly sealed on all sides, partly to prevent Originium dust contamination, and partly to stop anyone with ulterior motives from climbing aboard to plunder supplies.
Kanna sniffed the air. Most of the supplies inside were fresh meat and seasonal vegetables.
Logically speaking, an estate master should match the population he housed to his own production capacity. Moreover, meat of this kind would not be prepared for ordinary slaves and servants, making such a large quantity of meat thought-provoking.
Considering that Originium ore veins existed within this estate master's sphere of influence, Kanna estimated that the bulk of this meat was distributed to the ore-deposit garrison and private army.
Without sufficient military might, a scarce commodity like Originium ore was not something a petty noble could easily swallow.
During her recon, intermittent conversation drifted from the front.
You say, wasn't it a pity about that woman yesterday? Tch! Such a pretty face, yet she was beaten to death alive by the young master. Might as well have given her to the boys down below for a bit of fun.
If you want to die, don't drag me into it. Fuck, you know what the young master's temper is like—he flips faces faster than pages. From what I know, that woman was originally one of the villagers captured earlier. It was just because she looked good that the young master singled her out and kept her from being thrown into the mine shaft. But she didn't know what was good for her; instead of being grateful, she cried in her room every day. So the young master ran out of patience and had her hung at the front gate to be beaten to death slowly.
I'll tell you a top-secret piece of intelligence, huh. An acquaintance of mine working in the kitchen said that woman's corpse was made into a meat paste, and then into a meat soup distributed to those laborers toiling away. Those people even looked grateful; hearing it almost made me puke.
Ugh—don't talk about it. Just hearing this makes me want to puke. But you have an acquaintance in the kitchen? Must be your lover! Hehehe!
Hehehe...
Having listened to the exchange, Kanna's face turned ashen.
She had actually had a premonition that these villagers would suffer abuse and unfair treatment, but from the chatting of these two men, it was clear that everyone in this estate, from top to bottom, was a beast.
Earlier she had still harbored some hesitation, wondering if causing too big a commotion might accidentally harm the innocent. Now she felt reassured—anyone capable of surviving in this estate was probably no good, so she wouldn't need to hold back when she struck.
If she accidentally hurt someone, it could only mean they had rotten luck.
At midday, the convoy arrived at the estate as usual. Taking advantage of the fact that no one noticed, Kanna slipped out of the truck, evaded a squad of soldiers coming to receive the supplies, and nimbly leaped onto the rooftop.
As for why she came to a rooftop—a place extremely easy to spot—naturally it was to sync the bird's-eye view... pah, naturally because the signal was better up high, making it convenient to receive information from Outcast.
Besides, she could use the time before she was spotted to observe the surroundings, making it easier to formulate a combat plan (meaning where to start freezing hands) and plot out an evacuation route.
Once up, she saw the estate's wildly exaggerated gates. Thanks to her sharp eyesight, Kanna spotted spreading blood near the crooked tree close to the entrance. Judging by the color, it should belong to the woman the two men had been talking about.
From the nearly five-meter radius of bloodstains, one could tell just how cruelly the woman had been treated while she was alive.
Just as Kanna stood on the roof considering how to deal with this family, the gates opened. A ragged, emaciated boy came stumbling out, shivering. From the metallic sheen flashing beneath his tattered clothes, one could tell this person was definitely an Infected.
Before he had run more than a few steps, a whip covered in barbs lashed out from inside the house with a shrill tearing sound in the air. The very tip of the whip accurately struck the dodging boy, tearing away a large chunk of flesh.
Accompanied by a scream, a mouthful of blood gushed from the boy's mouth. He tumbled across the ground a few times, then stubbornly stood up and continued staggering toward the outside of the gates.
Kanna recognized this child. At the time, he had been following right behind the new leader elected by the villagers. The two of them seemed to share a deep bond, and when most of the children chose to go to Rhodes Island, he had chosen the other side.
Back then, he had perhaps thought the man beside him could become his strong pillar of support, only to find that before even a few months had passed, the strong pillar in his eyes had been torn to pieces by villains, and he himself had fallen to becoming a "plaything" for the estate master's children.
Run faster! You're way too slow, I don't even find it fun anymore! A cheerful, sunny youth's voice drifted out from the house.
Then, a youth of fifteen or sixteen years old walked out of the house, holding a whip.
Following closely behind him were several fully armed warriors holding weapons.
George, walk slower. Don't twist your ankle over this piece of trash. A sharp, shrill voice emerged from a meatball whose height and width were both roughly a meter and a half.
All right, Mom! Just this piece of trash, does he even deserve to make me get hurt? Come to think of it, this toy is about to kick the bucket anyway. Can't you ask Dad to send me two more?
Replying to the meatball with an impatient tone, the youth unhesitatingly cracked the whip in his hand toward the boy once more.
Kanna sighed, her gaze turning thoroughly cold.
Just as the whip was about to strike the boy again, a flash of lightning descended from the sky. Accompanied by a deafening roar, the whip exploded right down the middle.
The running boy lunged forward, collapsing flat onto the ground.
Section 85: Chapter LXXIX - Taste the Big Guy!
Don't move! Let me take a look! Just as the boy was about to crawl up, a tender voice rang out beside his ear.
With an unenduring gaze, Kanna inspected him. The boy's entire body was covered in wounds, and one couldn't find a single patch of skin that looked even slightly decent.
Probably that yearning for survival and indomitable will was the driving force supporting him to keep living.
Who is it! How dare you run wild in Baron Colin's territory!
Just as Kanna jumped down to check on the boy's condition, those few guards had already drawn their weapons, vigilantly aiming at the spot where Kanna stood.
A man who looked like a squad leader yelled Enemy attack! at the very first moment, and then countless footsteps echoed from around the estate, converging toward the entrance.
The boy raised his head, dimly catching sight of a familiar figure.
You're badly hurt, and I don't have any medicine either. Lie down and don't move, wait till I get you some medicine, or else you won't survive the day looking like this. Although Kanna hadn't studied medicine, after staying in Rhodes Island for so long, what kind of patients hadn't she seen? While it didn't make her a seasoned physician, acting as a barefoot doctor to peddle some dog-skin plasters was hardly a problem.
So after checking him, she gently pressed down on his head to signal him not to move around anymore.
Then she stood up, looking with a nonchalant expression at the group of soldiers at the gate who were tensely aiming their weapons at her.
Um... do you guys have any medicine for external wounds? Hand over a few bottles, will you?
The scene fell dead silent. The only answers she received were the advancing soldiers and the chilling glare of their weapons.
So that means there's no room for talk? Kanna spread her hands, the murderous intent in her eyes growing denser.
She didn't realize that at this moment, her eyes had reverted to those blue-tinged eyes from the previous natural disaster, with a silver-white vertical pupil slitted within, looking dangerous and mysterious.
Slurp, slurp! Accompanied by a disgusting swallowing sound, the man surrounded in the back looked at Kanna with a lecherous expression.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh! Just her! Mom, I must have her today! All of you, charge at me, you must catch her and throw her onto my bed! The face that had initially looked somewhat handsome was now incomparably twisted and ugly. The man pointed at Kanna and shouted excitedly, spittle flying in all directions along with his exaggerated facial contortions.
Tch! And a pervert to boot! That makes it even harder to tolerate you. Watching the increasingly numerous and closing enemies around her, Kanna wore a look of utter disgust—a revulsion so profound that she didn't want to touch these creatures at all now, for it would only make her sick.
Lightning, in mythology, represents judgment and verdict from the gods! Today, I shall pronounce sentence on behalf of the gods: death for all of you, to be executed immediately, with never a chance of reincarnation.
As Kanna's words fell, a ring of electrical current surfaced around her and instantly expanded outward in all directions.
Ding, ding, ding... Just as Kanna prepared to make her move, her communicator chimed.
Kanna, we're all set on our end. You can start your operation over there. Outcast's voice sounded like music to Kanna's ears.
You guys should be thankful your luck is good. Mine's not bad either!
So everyone,
Go die!
The next second, a purple speck of light appeared beside each of the closing soldiers. Then, before they could even react, the points of light detonated instantly, high heat and lightning radiating outward. Upon contacting other electrical currents, these bolts merged, reorganized, and grew even more powerful.
Yet precisely to put on a show of intimidation, these people had formed a circle while standing very close to one another, affording the lightning storm a perfect opportunity for a chained detonation.
This was also Kanna's first time using this Myriad Thunder Prison. She truly hadn't expected quantitative change to trigger qualitative change in such an exaggerated fashion.
Sensing that something might be amiss, she scooped up the boy at her feet with lightning-fast reflexes and instantly teleported to the top of the building outside the garage where she had casually left a marker earlier.
By now, the chain reaction over there was still ongoing. The entire front of the estate had transformed into a pillar of lightning nearly a hundred meters thick, emitting blinding light and surging currents.
The lightning pillar soaring into the sky made itself clearly visible for dozens of miles around.
Following the pillar of lightning came rolling, explosive thunderous roars laced with dull reverberations and a powerful shockwave.
By this time, Kanna had already dispersed the skill, yet the sheer terror of this single strike still exceeded her expectations.
Initially, she had thought these fully armed enemies would all be electrocuted to death by the linked lightning of the lightning wedges. But the reality was that this motherfucker had evolved directly from lightning into a pillar of laser light. Everything inside the beam was reduced to ashes in that split second, leaving behind only barren earth—to be precise, the ground had been instantly baked by the extreme heat into chunks of dry, cracked soil, the topmost layer gleaming with white crystalline crusts.
Kanna couldn't help swallowing hard. Good grief, just a tiny bit more power and this would have that Star Wars capital-ship main-gun glassing flavor.
And the might of this lightning pillar didn't stop at what Kanna had witnessed. Once the lightning pillar converted from the chained reaction erupted, the pulse waves radiating outward completely destroyed all electronic equipment within nearly five kilometers centered around the estate, effectively equivalent to dropping an electromagnetic pulse bomb right here.
What happened here naturally alerted the mine a few kilometers away. At this moment, Baron Colin—the very village chief who had fled on his own from that original village, and the current master of the estate—was inspecting the mine. The dazzling white light soaring into the sky naturally caught his attention.
When he discovered the light came from the direction of his own estate, he hurriedly contacted his home using the communicator, but received only busy tones and static.
At this point, he guessed something must have gone wrong at the estate, and immediately mustered two-thirds of the soldiers from the mine shaft, taking up weapons and rushing toward the estate.
His mind was in complete chaos at the moment; he didn't know which blind-eyed god of misfortune dared to come run wild on his turf. Didn't they know he was under the protection of a major noble?
The Rhodes Island members lurking near the mine shaft looked toward the direction of the estate and couldn't help wearing looks of astonishment. Only Outcast slapped her own forehead with a wry smile, troubled over how she should write the post-battle summary later.
Report, Captain. Two-thirds of the mine garrison have been drawn away. What's left can barely keep the situation inside the mine under control, and this mining area holds nearly a thousand Infected in a large-scale pit. A garrison of a hundred is already stretched to the limit trying to suppress internal stability; after all, the laborers working here live worse than pigs and dogs, so naturally, they'll rebound fiercely the moment they get an opportunity.
Earlier, because a large batch of people had suddenly arrived, it caused a loophole in the guards, allowing over a dozen to escape. For this reason, Baron Colin had even whipped several ringleaders to death after they were caught.
Therefore, after the main force departed, most of the remaining personnel focused their vigilance inward, worried that contraction of defenses would give this mob of unruly scoundrels another chance to escape.
Yet they hadn't expected that before any internal chaos could break out, a group of burly men suddenly drilled out from outside the mining area. Judging from their exquisite defensive gear, the opponents had come fully prepared.
Recalling the situation that had previously occurred at Baron Colin's household, how could they not realize they had fallen for a diversionary tactic?
To prevent anyone inside the mining area from contacting the outside world, the sole communicator of the mining area was personally controlled by Baron Colin. When he left with the communicator, the mining area lost its electronic means of contacting the outside.
Someone attempted to climb onto the roof to fire signaling fireworks for communication, but no sooner had he run a few steps than a bullet squarely blew his head apart.
There's a sniper, watch out! Seeing that person fall to the ground, his legs still twitching involuntarily in a miserable fashion, the guards inside the mining area all cowered back, completely daring not to stick their heads out randomly.
Damn it! What on earth is going on here? Can you tell whose family's subordinates these guys are? The person in charge of the mine at the moment was an officer deeply trusted by Baron Colin. Right now, he still thought the ones attacking the mining area were the private army of some other noble.
After all, no one could have imagined that the opponent before them was the staff of a mobile medical station from a small town a dozen kilometers away. A force fully armed and exceptionally refined like this—in Victoria, aside from official forces, only the elite private armies of major nobles could afford such extravagance.
Can't tell. The weapons on these people are almost all equipment recently researched and developed by Blacksteel International, and there are no redundant insignia... Damn it, the enemy has Sarkaz casters, watch out...
Just as the people inside were observing the Rhodes Island operators steadily advancing along the road through the gaps, several members with horns on their heads and hands burning with blazing flames stepped out from behind the operators.
Upon seeing them appear, the observer's pupils violently constricted and he let out a shrill scream.
Before he could finish speaking, several fireballs roared toward several locations inside the mining area that had already been scouted out as easy hiding spots.
Following that, several human torches ran out from those hiding places amidst piercing, miserable screams. Unfortunately, before they could take more than a few steps, crisp gunshots once again entered the defenders' ears, and the few human torches also dropped to the ground in response.
Damn it! Sarkaz casters and top-tier snipers from Sarkaz? Fuck, aren't those two families enemies? Before the people inside could feel any confusion over the current situation, several more large fireballs found their hiding places like precise designation calls.
It's no good, Boss. Our outer defenses must have been figured out by the enemy. Those guys are staring at any spot with people and hitting it; the brothers can't hold out much longer.
Accompanied by the demonstrated advance, the guards previously stationed on the outer perimeter of the mine shaft were cleaned out by Outcast and her party, leaving not a single one behind.
Damn it! These fellows don't plan on letting us leave alive! Go inside, drive all those slaves out, herd them all toward the outside, and we'll hide in the middle to find an opportunity to charge out.
At this, the officer also sensed that things were turning ominous. However, aside from striking, no one among Outcast's party had opened their mouths, leading him to believe the opponents intended to wipe out everyone inside the mine shaft. Hence, he prepared to use the miners as human shields and then mingle among them to slip out of the mining area.
As a result, the people he sent inside didn't return for quite a while, and the enemies outside were getting closer and closer, turning the officer's face progressively paler.
Damn it, what on earth was going on inside?
Right now, he desperately wanted to know what had happened inside the mine shaft, but he dared not leave.
Because he knew that as long as he stayed, these subordinates could hold out a bit longer, but if he hid inside himself, these fellows would definitely mutiny or flee.
However, just as the chord in his heart was about to snap, footsteps began to echo from within the mine shaft.
His complexion involuntarily shifted from white to red; as long as they broke through the encirclement, there would always be an opportunity to fight back later. Although they hadn't held the mining area this time, given the enemy's combat prowess, presumably higher-ups wouldn't blame him either. By then, redeeming himself with meritorious service, he might just get promoted, get rich, become a CEO, and marry a wealthy and beautiful bride.
Yet those footsteps stopped abruptly at the very last corner.
He kept glancing backward, eager to know what on earth had transpired inside.
Before you continue