Chapter 291: War Hammer And Han Sword
Inside Gaochang City’s base, after Liu Yi ended his conversation with Xuan Chong, a Dragon Group member nearby made the report.
Liu Yi said: “They’ve come? So quickly.”
Another Dragon Group member said: “They’ve come.”
Liu Yi nodded: “I’ll go right now.”
Compared to when Xuan Chong previously gathered at the Dragon Group base, and Liu Yi had that condescending “observe and see” attitude; now facing this person from Tiger Group, he didn’t dare to be the slightest bit negligent.
On Liu Yi’s side, the photon barrier opened. Like the shimmering curtain of the Water Curtain Cave unfolding, he walked into the reception room. Three people were sitting on the sofa inside. Two of them stood up and gave him a courteous standing response. The other one didn’t need to, and instead, Liu Yi politely took the Son of Heaven’s place to reassure her.
And at the side of the desk, a lady who appeared to be only sixteen years old, with Western Regions bloodline visible from her facial features, was holding a teacup and gently stroking the rim. If Xuan Chong saw her, his first reaction in his heart would be “What a beautiful Hu Ji.”
Of course, if someone else met her and thought that without any restraint in their words, there would be trouble.
There was someone here who could do “telepathy,” and the member who could do “telepathy” would regularly report to their leader. This lady with short white hair was Tiger Group’s leader.
She hated the term “Hu Ji.” In the Xian Han era, Hu Ji was a type of performer. She, Ma Feiyan, was from a noble family in the northwest, whose ancestors could be traced back to the line of Heng Han founding hero Ma Chao. They had been relied upon through the dynasties, and in the Xian Han
And she looks to have fair skin, with white hair as well. This is because she suffers from a congenital deficiency disease, cannot be exposed to the sun, and moreover because she is a woman, her family originally planned to let her live or die on her own.
However! He awakened “Dragon Seed” at birth, and it was the top-tier Dragon Power, which could compensate for any of his innate deficiencies. This ability is Space-time Ability.
Its abilities include but are not limited to, regional material entropy increase reversal (broken mirror reunion), heart moves all things still (space-time stasis), looking back at the past to manipulate causality (observing the past, and limitedly interfering with the past, affecting the present), future remnant (reach future, performing key interventions.)
So, albinism can’t be exposed to the sun? Then just solidify time.
Back to the topic, Liu Yi is now avoiding Ma Feiyan’s edge because Xuan Someone has been holding the Imperial Sword along the way and executed quite a few people from the Guangxi Group. It strengthened the Yandu side’s forces, but! It offended people. Liu Yi is now figuring out how to clear his own hatred.
Liu Yi had already thought up an excuse, which was: that child (Xuan Chong) was ignorant.
…the strongest Heavenly Rank…
Currently in Xian Han, Dragon Group is the leader, Phoenix Group has the most people, Black Tortoise Department exists in infrastructure at earth veins under heaven, Lin Group has the most affluent research funds, and the Tiger Group, with the fewest people, has the widest activity area in the Western Regions.
Because Ma Feiyan, with her space-time ability, can provide a buff to all personnel in the entire department.
Liu Yi: “Western Commander, I have already greeted the military general of the Great Yuezhi. Please join me in taking action this time.”
Ma Feiyan put down her teacup and said: “The violent bandits have invaded the border. This is both a matter of state and concerns my family. I should be the one thanking you all for your assistance.”
Liu Yi chuckled happily: “We all belong to Zhuxia, no need for extra words.”
With that, he constructed a photon projection and unfolded the frontline battle map markings.
However, just as he had just unfolded the map, Ma Feiyan said: “I know all about the situation.”
Liu Yi was slightly stunned, and immediately after, a chilling sensation surged into his heart—this was the feeling of confirmation already given by another version of himself (Liu Yi) from a different space-time.
Every time Ma Feiyan probes another timeline, it’s like her foot sole touching another river. And the “foot sole” can be withdrawn from that other timeline river at any time, and when withdrawn, it brings back a little “water droplet”.
These “water droplets” are also the “information in the dialogue” exchanged with her on another timeline. For example, right now Ma Feiyan has quarreled with Liu Yi in another spacetime, or even fought.
A small amount of this “information” will come to the object (Liu Yi) in the original spacetime that was interfered with by her.
Liu Yi felt that her other self from another timeline seemed to have already completed the conversation with Ma Feiyan, but on that other timeline, what exactly had Ma Feiyan “interrogated” out of her in the conversation?
Now he only obtained a bit of information on the “water drop”.
…Scene switch…
In the frontline base, due to the promise given to the rear, Xuan Chong was under immense pressure.
In the temporary laboratory on the battlefield, Xuan Chong inspected these pieces of flesh. They turned into something similar to a mushroom in the petri dish, then turned into a fungal-like biological cluster that could be transformed.
Suddenly thinking of something, Xuan Chong began to open the Brave Soldier, found the plot of “Tree People controlling the Feather Tribe,” and tried to outline it.
Xuan Chong picked up the fountain pen, only to find that the ink was not coming out again. After shaking it a few times, he confirmed it was temporarily unusable.
However, at this moment, Xuan Chong hallucinated hearing the “waaagh!” roar again. Then he felt the pencil in his hand slip. He looked at the pencil lead, then at the direction of the hallucinated sound, and frowned, because this time the violent “waaagh!” roar repeatedly contained a rhythm.
Xuan Chong carefully listened to this “illusory sound,” as if it contained a kind of “code information.” Moreover, the pattern within it was particularly obvious.
…the perspective shifts to this Orc Group…
In an abandoned factory, the orcs have already transformed it into a base. Orc engineering technicians called “Great Tech Overlords,” one by one, use their fingernails to turn screws and begin assembling monsters.
On a motorcycle, a 3.5-meter-tall giant upright beast is wielding something that looks like a war hammer but actually conceals dozens of machine gun bullets.
Field energy fluctuations similar to Dragon Power supernatural ability leap on the weapons and these beasts’ bodies. When the field energy leaps on the weapons, it just activates some structures, adding some rationality to the otherwise nonsensical assembly.
For example, beasts stuffing bullets into an iron box should, in theory, be impossible to ignite; but with this supernatural power, the bullets inside the iron box will weld together, and an extra fuse will appear. Although it still makes no sense, when the iron box is struck, the bullets will ignite.
And that motorcycle was even more extraordinary, surpassing the imagination of the current Xian Han engineers. Its exterior was rough, but the core rotor was extremely exquisite, and what was loaded into its fuel tank was not gasoline, but high-precision coal mine powder.
Coal mine powder can be used in internal combustion engines, but it requires extremely rigorous preliminary processing, because its grains will separate into layers when stationary. Incomplete combustion causes engine carbon buildup.
But these beasts unconsciously knocked and hammered, bumping and colliding, yet always managed to keep the coal powder in the fuel tank in a uniform state. Originally, this should have been random and unreliable, but the orcs’ such unreliable operations always maintained an ideal mixing state inside the fuel tank.
…power of contemplation…
Early November of the Han calendar year 2108. After the Xian Han rear-line reinforcements arrived at the frontline, Xuan Chong, as Chief of the General Staff, discovered that the beasts were bypassing the northern defense line and charging toward his own rear.
Xuan Chong immediately “coordinated” three regiments from his colleague’s 021 Division to the frontline outpost for defense.
It is called “coordination” because Xuan Chong, this Elite Cavalry General, is of equal rank to the officers of each division.
But in reality, Xuan Chong came with “Heaven’s Blessings” to “coordinate.” That is, Commander of all military affairs.
It’s just that Xuan Chong is too young and has no merit, so granting him a “substantive position” would be improper and unjustified.
Xuan Chong’s demonstrated “resource mobilization ability” aligns with the rear Yandu’s desire to micromanage the frontline.
Due to Xuan Chong’s timely “coordination”, several hours after the orcs began assembly, flank scout planes discovered a large number of beasts riding motorcycles migrating in the north.
This discovery left many professional officers in the Staff Department, who had opinions on Xuan Chong’s “deployment”, speechless.
Frontline orcs, this group that was still riding monsters (alien mounts Sgrug) two months ago, how did they suddenly produce a wave of motorcycles? Moreover, the motorcycles are traversing this muddy terrain with a loss rate of only about seventy percent.
You know, many armored automobiles have a intact rate of less than fifty percent after traversing a hundred kilometers in the wild. The north has no proper cement roads, and automobiles from the first Industrial Revolution era had very high failure rates.
Xuan Chong did not take the opportunity to undermine these professional officers’ confidence. Instead, he empathized and said: “Originally, hearing everyone’s analysis, I also didn’t believe they would bypass the north to invade us. But my department here has technology that can detect these alien species communicating intensively in the north.”
An officer immediately asked: “What exactly is this ‘technology’?”
Xuan Chong shook his head and said: “The technology is currently still in the experimental stage.”
Actually, there’s no high technology; as a Dragon Power User, Xuan Chong can hear the “waaagh!” from the north. Xuan Chong had already reported this to Liu Yi’s side, but Liu Yi said other action groups did not “hear” it, and told Xuan Chong to keep observing. Of course, Liu Yi thought this was Xuan Chong not resting well and having auditory hallucinations.
But this time, during military “coordination”, Xuan Chong specially noted to both the Dragon Group and Yandu sides that he could hear “waaagh!”. And this time, he successfully predicted this group of beasts’ sneak attack.
In this way, the rear had no choice but to attach importance to the intelligence that “Xuan Chong can hear waaagh!”.
As half a prefecture’s area under the Western Regions Governor-General’s Office began to be mobilized by this external enemy, Yandu directly bypassed Dragon Group’s Liu Yi, and the Son of Heaven sent instructions to Xuan Chong: Pay attention to the “waaagh!” situation you hear.
Of course, it’s not exactly bypassing the chain of command, after the Son of Heaven’s “private” call to Xuan Chong.
Liu Yi’s side immediately issued a “command” to Xuan Chong procedurally.
Obviously, the Son of Heaven believes: In the current situation, Liu Yi has exposed the problem of insufficient ability, unable to grasp key points in sudden events.
The Son of Heaven and the cabinet are afraid that frontline Xuan Chong will resist Liu Yi, leading to a “Sun Wukong and Tang Seng contradiction” situation. So they directly give face to the Buddha, making Xuan Chong respect Liu Yi’s “monk face”.
Xuan Chong is also very sensible; during official direct superior-subordinate dialogue with Liu Yi (the more advantageous position Xuan Chong has, the more sensible he is), he expressed obedience to this “Tang Seng” Liu Yi’s leadership, without bringing up the “Buddha’s ‘you also sit on the lotus throne'” words at all.
…Beasts evolve…
Mid-November, on the new battlefield north of Kunlun, these upright beasts launched another attack. But this time it was obviously different, no longer group charges like before.
On the Gobi, the beasts began to form skirmish lines and launch offensives. Their weapons are still bizarre: motorcycles assembled with oil drums as tires, oh, some even have recoilless cannons.
There’s also one with a machine gun fitted with a pair of wings and a gas tank welded to the belly. After feeding the gas from the gas tank into the tail nozzle, it zips forward, gliding over a hundred meters like a flying fish. With this thing, after flying up, you have to worry if it will crash and explode into a bomb upon landing, but these thick-skinned beasts will fire during such short glides to suppress firepower points.
Most people were amused by the beasts’ bizarre weapons.
Just as the novelty concept in journalism can cover the essence, the beasts’ “strange” weapon combinations easily make humans overlook their progress.
On the battlefield, Xuan Chong looked at the charge formations arranged by the beasts in twos and threes, showing terrifying progress compared to ten days ago.
The orcs began using tactics similar to the three-three system, perfectly countering the Han army’s shooting precision system to maximize negation of firepower density, and enabling later movers to prevail by concentrating accompanying fire in attacks to strike exposed points.
And most importantly, these beasts seem to know how to strike the Han army’s command nodes.
These beasts also began playing similar tactics, their organizational capacity seemingly imitating the Han army’s organizational capacity. — What’s going on with these beasts?
At this moment, Xuan Chong seemed to sense the beasts’ situation. Amid the battlefield’s cannon fire, the “waaagh!” that Xuan Chong could hear became increasingly clear, with increasingly distinct rhythm.
Mortar shells and machine gun barrages, following the tactical system from several days ago, covered the orc charge clusters, with orc death mushroom juice splashing in the sand, soil, and gunpowder smoke.
Listening to the orcs’ “waaagh!”, Xuan Chong gradually felt that the current battle situation was becoming off!
To emphasize again: Xian Han’s current four items of studying things include “physiology”, and under “physiology” there’s a small project called “pulse diagnosis”. After doing many such “pulse diagnosis” questions, one subconsciously discerns any rhythmic phenomena. For example, by listening to telegraph knocks, one directly understands the telegraph’s meaning.
The “waaagh!” hallucination that Xuan Chong now hears varies in size; if he hadn’t practiced pulse diagnosis before, it would be like incessant ape cries from both riverbanks. After practicing pulse diagnosis many times, he detects patterns in this “hallucination”. That is, the distribution of “waaagh!” sound sources corresponds wondrously to the current battlefield situation.
That is, the largest “waaagh!” source is still in the distance, erupting about once every ten minutes.
Through his own scouting, Xuan Chong confirmed that there is suspected to be the headquarters of the beasts’ largest group.
Forty hours ago, Xuan Chong had deliberately adjusted deployment to lure the enemy into a trap, but that beast group was very cunning and did not fall in. Instead, it sent multiple waves of small troops to resolve it.
And now, among the frontline small troops, Xuan Chong also discovered that the small “waaagh!” he hallucinated, though noisy, wondrously corresponds to each small group of these frontline beasts.
Narrator: This is like closing your eyes and hearing surrounding knocks, feeling chaotic; or plugging your ears and seeing people slapping randomly, also feeling chaotic. But syncing listening and seeing reveals that the table-slapping sounds and movements correspond.
Xuan Chong immediately picked up pen and paper, simultaneously starting the “torque” calculation system, then had the scholar assisting him in the military camp go to the telegraph machine to inquire about the frontline scouting of the orcs’ offensive deployment.
The scholar drew the orcs’ attack points on the position map based on the telegraph.
Xuan Chong took out scratch paper, quickly drew with pencil on the draft paper, and after finishing, compared it to the orc distribution marked by the scholar on the map; the probability distributions of both sides were astonishingly consistent.
At this time, in the 021 Division’s division headquarters, the Division Commander grumbled: “Their tactical changes are too timely and rapid.”
At this moment, in the beasts’ charge, mixed motorcycle locomotives would abruptly rush forward to drop bombs, forcing machine guns and cannons to divert firepower to intercept these motorcycles. This created gaps in the firepower net originally intercepting the orc cluster charges.
In the command post with Xuan Chong, the accompanying scholar’s expression gradually became unnatural; Xuan Chong issued a gag order to them. — Because there’s a terrifying inference here.
If Xuan Chong can hear the beasts’ battlefield command, can the beasts hear Xian Han’s battlefield command here?
Scholar 1: “General, it’s impossible for anyone here to leak secrets to the alien beasts.”
Scholar 2 interrupted: “When this group of alien beasts first arrived, they were like nomads from hundreds of years ago, chasing water plants to live. But if that’s really all, how did they survive in interstellar space? So they definitely have other means.”
Xuan Chong stopped their discussion: “As a scholar, it’s not appropriate to indulge in supernatural theories; don’t speculate wildly. I’ll report the matter; now focus on doing your jobs well.”
