On the Way

"Lead the Sarkaz mercenaries and attack from here, narrowing down Talulah's escape routes."

Black Snake's current desire to retreat stems more from fear of the "unknown".

However, the issue that needs to be addressed is that the Black Snake, possessing the body of a young Draco, has terrifying individual combat power. Although she appeared in the early part of the game's story in the original timeline, her individual strength would still easily rank her among the top tier of regular humanoid characters in later chapters.

If conventional tactics are employed, such as forming ranks and waiting in anticipation, even if it doesn't amount to providing her with firewood under micromanagement, it will still greatly deplete the manpower available to Oute in subsequent events.

"We're going to fight 'Talulah'?" Ines looked surprised: You're not even going to pretend anymore, are you?

"No." Hedley remained indifferent. "The likelihood of this mercenary group engaging Talulah in battle is extremely low."

"You say it's extremely rare, so it exists?"

I don't disagree with that view.

Core City.

Talulah's once "luxurious" dress now looked somewhat disheveled. Standing atop the tower, facing Lungmen and her nearly twenty years of scheming, she let out a long sigh.

The Black Snake's longevity is a result of Originium Arts and self-identity.

Regardless of the form it takes, immortality is not something that can be openly discussed within a power structure. Now that "Grand Duke Koschei" is dead, those who know about the Black Snake or not will pretend to know nothing and comfortably devour Grand Duke Koschei's legacy.

Although Koschei had already entrusted a considerable portion of his legacy when he was pushing forward with the plan, the difference between this entrustment and being swallowed up was limited until a new "Grand Duchess Kashena" truly rose from Talulah's mind.

This limitation is reflected in the ulterior motives and disloyalty among her allies and "subordinates," as well as in her ability to influence the Ursus Army Group within the Reunion Movement.

These special squads, used as "spies," had very limited loyalty to her. They were only useful for matters that required prior communication with the Third Army Group and Fourth Army Group Armies.

Even if their lives are threatened with violence, they will at most go through the motions without putting in any real effort.

"Based on practical considerations, her ability to control the other Ursus soldiers is no longer sufficient to give her confidence at this moment."

"My understanding of her is limited, but based on our few encounters and firsthand intelligence..."

Oute's gaze drifted away from Hamlet and settled on the peacefully sleeping Specter beside him.

The Abyssal Hunters opened his crimson eyes and casually activated his terminal.

After a brief operation, footage taken before the car was damaged was displayed.

On the map of the command center of that remnant force, Number Fourteen Facility was marked "Lungmen Occupied".

The style of writing that reflects the Spring and Autumn Annals.

However, the Ursus commander, who came with the intention of igniting the Ur-Yan war, turned a blind eye and accepted Talulah's orders.

However...

Talulah faced the bright moon, closed her eyes, opened her arms, and took a step forward.

Draco's body traced a cruel parabola, almost too painful to watch.

The hooded man's actions... were flawless. All his probing attempts seemed to have vanished without a trace. So far, apart from the already known information that he possessed extraordinary command abilities and could disrupt others' minds, nothing had been gained.

Moreover, it seemed as if he could read my mind with every move he made.

As a pharmaceutical company, Rhodes Island's stay in Lungmen is limited—or at least can be limited—a more feasible approach would likely be to temporarily abandon the idea of personally killing Ch'en. Instead, they could provoke a conflict, wait for Rhodes Island to leave, and then seek a new opportunity to strike.

Flames ignited at the dragon girl's limbs, scorching the dry, cold air and creating an excellent buffer for her.

Therefore, I need someone to cover my retreat.

Ironically, their deaths themselves could serve as fuel to the fire.

"... As long as they weren't all wiped out, that would be enough to serve as witness testimony for the Yan army group, proving that they were the first to capture Chernobog and start the war."

"And if they are completely wiped out, then the fact that this clearly identified Ursus regular army has perished in the Lungmen Passage and on Chernobog territory (Number Fourteen Facility) will be enough to sow a single seed."

"Of course, none of that is the most important thing."

"Most importantly, Talulah will gain an excellent tank to help her 'transfer'."

Ines, however, was getting impatient. "What does this have to do with whether we fight 'Talulah' or not!?"

Hedley closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the indifference was gone.

He took several heavy, rapid breaths, then looked around blankly and anxiously, as if he were in an extremely cramped environment.

Seeing that Hedley was unharmed, Ines's concern immediately turned into annoyance. "This is what happens when you listen to that person's nonsense!"

Hedley snapped out of his reverie, but involuntarily uttered, "And your existence will force 'Talulah' to narrow down its options for turning around."

"If she sees you as a threat, then she will choose to distance herself from you."

"But if she's a multi-layered cake, then she'll see you as targets to pester her and will choose to stay away from you."

Hedley shook his head, trying to readjust to this narrow reality. "There's only a very slim possibility that she's become arrogant about her current power while realizing you're targets."

"Only under such circumstances will your mercenary group engage in direct conflict with Talulah." The voice trailed off, and Hedley finally regained control of his body.

Ines complained, "Then what should we do?!"

Hedley himself was somewhat uncertain. "Then we'll probably have to give Rhodes Island time to prepare for the battle."

There is absolutely no doubt about this: our ship has arrived in the wilderness, and Rhodes Island, with its several near-ground aircraft, possesses unparalleled maneuverability for small-scale operations in this incident.

Whether Talulah was forced to narrow down her options by the Sarkaz mercenaries or overwhelmed them head-on... this small time difference was enough for Oute to prepare several elite squads from his hand to decapitate her—provided he had micromanagement skills.

Chapter 182 On the Road

"Captain, shouldn't we try a night raid?" an Ursus "officer" asked. "These Khan's drones have even crawled into our tents! It's infuriating!"

The young man who asked the question was a warrant officer, judging from his shoulder insignia.

In Ursus' military system, this is a position somewhere between a non-commissioned officer and an officer. If he gets promoted, he will become a reserve officer; otherwise... this is the highest rank he can ever achieve.

The man being questioned by the warrant officer was not young.

The captain's temples were graying, and even his bear ears looked somewhat withered.

It seems he's been stuck at the captain level for quite some time.

"A night raid?" the captain snapped. "Do you really think our chances of winning are slim?!"

"Or are you trying to wear us down to the point where our chances of winning are slim!"

He kicked the warrant officer viciously and yelled, "And another thing! Don't call them 'Khan's Doctor'! They are the regular army of Lungmen! They are people of Yan!"

"Captain! Captain!"

Seeing the captain roll up his sleeves, the warrant officer quickly dodged, circling the battle map and shouting, "Uncle! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to!"

It seems this warrant officer has a chance of becoming a captain—barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Shift your gaze from the Ursus camp, across the vast wilderness, past the Ursus outposts, until you reach the defensive line that the Deepwinter Soldiers set up long ago.

W burped; the starch intake had caused her blood sugar to rise, which quickly led to fatigue.

"Oute?" She wiped her mouth, her heart pounding in her chest.

After a long pause, the familiar feeling of oppression and fullness finally spread throughout her body.

"Exist."

Isn't he the one who loves to beat around the bush and make simple things sound incredibly complicated?

Without time to think it through, W again pitched her strategy to her commander. "Let's assemble a team now, sneak back, and blow it to bits!"

After W finished presenting his "bombing" plan in a rambling, disorganized manner, as if showing off a treasure, Oute finally replied slowly, "No."

"Night raids are too unpredictable. In a battle where the outcome is already decided, a successful night raid is merely icing on the cake, while a failure would severely damage manpower."

If there were someone next to her, they would definitely hear the sound of "gritting her teeth," which is literally the meaning of the letter W.

W's tactics were actually quite good.

If she and her Sarkaz mercenaries were released to carry out this plan, she would indeed have a good chance of escaping unscathed while further disrupting the Ursus army's organization. Moreover, unlike her previous boasts, this time her plan also included how she and her team could escape.

"However, the plan was well done, the tactics were excellent as always, and strategically... you realized a considerable amount of room for improvement."

W's expression instantly changed. She happily hummed a little tune and said, "You do have a good eye for people sometimes!"

The ability to judge character?

This girl looks like she's studying.

However, she clearly didn't immediately grasp what it meant to "realize the potential for improvement."

"Wait! You stinky otter! Were you just making fun of me?!"

Oute avoided the topic, only giving instructions to have her men take turns keeping watch at night.

W, on the other hand, grumbled and cursed while obediently following orders.

The situation was subtly different on Hedley's and Ines's side.

If both sides at Number Fourteen Facility clearly recognized the inadvisability of a night raid, then the battle situation outside the Core City...

After the regular troops hidden within the group were almost completely depleted, their military skills quickly returned to normal. Under "Talulah's " almost theatrical encouragement, they developed a false sense of courage and fighting spirit.

A large group of masked thugs then left the moving area in a chaotic manner under the moonlight, attempting to launch a night raid on the Sarkaz mercenaries' camp.

"The leader is right!"

"Those two-faced demons have betrayed us!"

"They must be very rich now!"

The masked thugs came in all shapes and sizes. But the thugs who came out of the city had different purposes, but their methods were the same: like the war heroes in folk tales, they would take advantage of the darkness to catch the enemy off guard.

"If that 'Talulah' is truly a long-serving Grand Duchess, how could she do such a thing?" Ines rubbed her forehead and complained, "Is she trying to work us to death?"

As the sentries returned, the Sarkaz mercenaries, grumbling and cursing, took up their posts on the makeshift defensive positions they had previously erected using the vehicles. It's worth noting that these multi-talented Sarkaz mercenaries wielded bows and crossbows that appeared uniform and remarkably new.

"Calm down, they're not the problem," Hedley said in a low voice.

Then, he rallied the mercenaries, saying, "Same old rules as always! Seventy percent of the loot is yours!"

"These people have simply had their brains fried by the Originium Arts they were infected with!"