At the mouth of the Taidamila River tributary, the fleets of Stardragon and Hesla formed a tight blockade, and many mines were laid on the riverbed at the mouth.
The whereabouts of the Germinal evacuation force were known to both countries. Stardragon and Hesla attached great importance to this battle, regarding it as an excellent opportunity to kill the Germinal Organization.
A net has been cast, and in the eyes of both countries, the Germinal is a wild beast with nowhere to escape. Even knowing that there is a hunter's trap ahead, it can only rush headlong into it.
The battlefield was divided into two parts, with the two countries responsible for different areas. Hesla was mainly responsible for the sea blockade, while Stardragon was responsible for ground interception. This cooperative approach shared responsibilities and avoided command conflicts.
Considering the individual combat capabilities of the Germinal Executive Officer, the Thirteenth Bureau also dispatched Secret Service agents as an emergency response team and assault force, tasked with special tactical missions, to stand by at a small dock near the estuary, awaiting orders from the military commander.
Zhang Wei's team was among them.
A row of assault boats was neatly moored at the dock, and rows of green military tents were hidden in the grove of trees behind the dock.
Two months had passed, and the team members hadn't changed much. Zhang Wei was still as serious as ever, Li Yalin was still as sexy and hot as ever, Lin Yao still looked like she was being bullied, and Lambert remained as silent as a stone.
The only change was the addition of a young, new face.
"Hou Yue, you've been in the team for a month now, and you've trained enough. This mission is of great importance, so don't make any mistakes."
Inside the team's tent, Zhang Wei gave instructions to the newcomer Hou Yue.
Hou Yue was a thin young man with two pistols tucked into his waistband. He had long, flowing hair and was rather handsome. He nodded upon hearing this and smiled arrogantly, "Captain, you're overthinking it. In the past month, which mission haven't I completed perfectly?"
Zhang Wei nodded. Hou Yue was an agent trained by the Thirteenth Bureau who filled the vacancy left by Han Xiao and joined the team. He had been performing well, which put Zhang Wei at ease.
Li Yalin sat to the side with her arms crossed and legs crossed, her pretty brows furrowed, looking like she was in a bad mood.
In fact, ever since Han Xiao ran away and the agents who came to her door demanding repayment of the missing deposit, she hadn't been in a good mood.
Hou Yue moved closer and sat down next to Li Yalin, grinning as he asked, "Beautiful Li, what are you thinking about?"
Li Yalin glared at him. "Are you a curious person? What's it to you?"
Hou Yue persisted in trying to get close to Li Yalin. He was immediately struck by her beauty the day he joined the team. Being teammates with such a beautiful woman was a pleasure. He would strike up conversations with Li Yalin whenever he had the chance. However, Li Yalin, who had been tricked by Han Xiao, developed "newcomer aversion syndrome." Whenever she saw Hou Yue, she would think of Han Xiao and naturally wouldn't give him a friendly look.
Annoyed by his constant chatter, Li Yalin suddenly revealed a dangerous smile, "You really enjoy talking?"
As he spoke, he clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking, and a yellow aura rose within him, all the anger in his heart contained in the force of his clenched fist.
Hou Yue instinctively stepped back. He knew that once Li Yalin showed that expression, it meant she was about to hit him. He had suffered a loss when he first joined the team and had to stay in the medical department for three days.
Lin Yao, who was watching the show, shook his head and said in a mature tone, "Little Monkey, you're still too cowardly. When it comes to courage, I only admire Brother Xiao."
Who exactly is Brother Xiao?
Hou Yue looked puzzled. Ever since joining the team, he had known that the team was supposed to have six members, but there was always one person missing. Normally, members who were not in the team would have their names crossed out, but the vacant sixth member position in the team was always left open.
Moreover, Hou Yue could often hear Zhang Wei and the other three mentioning "Brother Xiao," making him very curious about this sixth person.
Li Yalin immediately bristled and angrily said, "Don't mention his name in front of me!"
"We have a mission to complete, you can't hit me!" Lin Yao said calmly, though his legs were trembling.
Hou Yue felt that Li Yalin's reaction was a bit excessive. In his experience, this was definitely the reaction of a resentful woman when she heard that the man had abandoned her... Hmm, it seems that a huge debt relationship can also elicit this kind of reaction.
Zhang Wei shook his head, sighed, and explained, "Han Xiao was originally one of our team members, but he left the team for some special reasons."
"Special reason?" Hou Yue used his imagination to probe, "Was he sent on a secret mission?"
Zhang Wei shook his head.
"Was he transferred to another unit by his superiors?"
Zhang Wei shook his head.
"Where did he go?" Hou Yue asked, puzzled.
"Who knows? He's probably dead," Li Yalin said irritably.
Hou Yue was skeptical.
"Who are you kidding? If he were really dead, why would his place be left? You all say you hate him, but I think you miss him a lot..."
Silence.
After a long while, Li Yalin stood up and smiled slightly.
Choose a way to die.
Hou Yue took off running.
Lambert shook his head and sheathed the knife he had quietly drawn.
Stardragon's ground forces were lying in ambush in the valley near the estuary, with the objective of intercepting the ground troops that Germinal was coming to join. Long Sky, Frenzied Sword Fried Rice, and Jiang Yuluo were serving as logistics soldiers.
The three joined the Stardragon Army during the closed beta and have already redeemed their main professions. Frenzied Sword Fried Rice and Jiang Yuluo are both Pugilist Class, while Long Sky had a stroke of luck and awakened his superpower using gene fluid from the store.
As new recruits, the three were also drafted into the war to do some logistical work. To their delight, they triggered a faction-specific questline—[Battle of Tedramira River].
After the initial excitement, the three were soon troubled. The series of missions had more than a dozen objectives, and they could only complete the simplest and lowest-rewarding logistical objectives. Other missions, such as killing ten Germinal soldiers, killing Germinal executives, and destroying vehicles, were completely beyond their capabilities.
"This doesn't seem like a quest that should be triggered at our level," Long Sky said.
Frenzied Sword Fried Rice and Jiang Yuluo both agreed, feeling that they must have been involved in a high-difficulty mission beyond their level, and that with their novice level, they could only play a minor role.
The three of them didn't know that the head-on conflict between the Six Kingdoms and the Six Kingdoms occurred three months after the public beta of the game. By that time, the players had already had a basic understanding of the world structure and had some combat power. The conflict between the Six Kingdoms and the Six Kingdoms started on a small scale and progressed step by step, allowing the players to slowly participate in it and play its role.
However, Han Xiao completely disrupted the process, bringing forward the Head-On Conflict between the Germinal Six Nations. As a result, the current players are simply unable to participate. Well... to be precise, the players have been tricked out of the main storyline quests that they should have been involved in.
For Han Xiao, this is more beneficial than harmful, as it reduces the variables brought by players in the early stages, leaving them only able to play a minor role.
whoosh whoosh--
Two heavy transport helicopters bearing the Farrian logo slowly descended into a valley. The wind whipped up by their rotors caused the grass at the landing site to bend and sway in all directions, resembling waves of grass.
"Old Black, we've arrived." The driver Antonov, said weakly.
"I have eyes, and besides, stop calling me Old Black!"
Han Xiao said with dissatisfaction, "If you're going to call me that, call me Black Phantom. Your random name is affecting my luck."
Antonov took off his noise-canceling headphones and blew smoke at Han Xiao. "Come on, you don't even have one."
"Get lost," Han Xiao said irritably.
For the past two months, Han Xiao has maintained a good working relationship with Farrian, Antonov's feelings for him have been growing stronger. If this were some kind of indescribable game, he could already be won over...
Han Xiao glanced at the mountain of flesh huddled in the driver's seat adjusting the dashboard and quickly banished the terrifying thought from his mind.
Frenzied Sword cowered in the corner of the helicopter, trembling as he watched the two "extremely deadly" big shots chatting and laughing. He had thought Han Xiao would drive to the location, but Han Xiao had only made a phone call, and two helicopters had come to pick them up. Han Xiao's image in his mind suddenly became even more impressive.
Farrian's personnel unloaded the supplies from the helicopter, most of which were weapons and equipment that Han Xiao had deposited with Farrian, which would be useful in this operation. There was also a disassembled and folded truck, which Farrian's maintenance workers reassembled on the ground, while Han Xiao and Antonov chatted on the side.
Antonov had always assumed Han Xiao was only interested in the bounty, and asked suspiciously, "I heard that Stardragon Hesla is preparing to intercept Germinal's retreat at Tedramira. Do you have a grudge against Germinal?"
"How did you know which side I was on?" Han Xiao chuckled.
Antonov, with a cigar in one hand and the other in his pocket, frowned and pondered, "You don't actually want to help Germinal, do you?"
Although Germinal is a behemoth in the underworld, other forces keep their distance from it. Ultimately, the underworld desires order more; only a stable situation can generate profits. In their eyes, Germinal Organization is simply a group of thugs driven by hatred and ideology.
Han Xiao remained noncommittal, walked to the side, took out his phone, and dialed another number. The voice of a person in charge of the Blood Pact Union came through the phone.
"Mr. Black Phantom, what do you need?"
Ever since he climbed into the top ten of the assassin list, the Blood Pact Union has paid great attention to him, giving him special treatment, with someone on duty 24 hours a day to answer his calls and provide special services... well, proper special services.
His status stemmed partly from Han Xiao strength and partly from his good relationship with Bennett, which earned him the attention of the Dark Net Organization.
"I need the latest information on the withdrawal of troops from the Germinal and Stardragon Hesla's movements."
"Okay, we're requesting access. It will be sent to your computer soon."
"Yes, I also need a helicopter to be on standby near the mouth of the Taidamila River at all times."
As you wish.
Frenzied Sword heard it all clearly. Judging from his tone, he felt that Han Xiao was incredibly awesome, and his legs seemed really strong.
After hanging up the phone, Han Xiao saw that Frenzied Sword was doing nothing, so he thought for a moment, made up a task, and sent it to him.
"You've triggered the quest '[Get Hyped!'! Quest requirement: Perform a hot dance to liven up the atmosphere."
Frenzied Sword was immediately moved to tears.
Ah, the perverse sense of humor remains unchanged; it's still the same familiar taste!