Chapter 104: A Hair's Breadth Between Life and Death

Residents of Golden Five-Star had not seen a program with such high ratings in a long time. The entire city was practically deserted, with everyone glued to the broadcasts currently airing on television.

Today, the core training camp of the Black Prison Mercenary Corps—the third-largest underground faction in the Golden Five-Star region, and one whose headquarters even the local police dared not provoke casually—had been reduced to a scorched wasteland. The wooden cabins deep in the dense forest had long since been utterly destroyed, and severed limbs and shattered remains were scattered everywhere.

The images on the television displayed precisely this scene. There were no survivors, no prisoners, only a military spokesman acting as an on-site reporter. This was the exact same individual who had delivered Kang Hongyuan’s public announcement earlier.

The audio accompanying the footage was no longer of paramount importance; what people cared about was whether this was real or not. Ordinary citizens had no opportunity to visit the Black Prison training camp, nor could they verify if it was genuinely their camp. However, members of other underground factions knew the truth all too well.

Ordinary people did not care how democratic or free the society here was; they only cared about filling their bellies and their future survival. If this news were true, it meant the military was not as weak as those underground factions had clamored, and that it still possessed a hardline side.

Astute observers could only guess how many personnel the military had deployed to achieve such a result. After all, local laws prohibited military garrisons from exceeding two hundred troops, and armament was restricted to conventional weapons. How many people and how much weaponry would be required to devastate a training camp to this extent?

One also had to consider the martial arts experts within Black Prison. Exactly how many high-level experts would the military need to dispatch? In this place, was the military actually willing to deploy elite fighters? Or had the political winds shifted at the top, signaling a move to crack down on this territory? Those fellows in Black Prison boasted quite a few formidable masters—not the sort who could be dealt with by a group of ordinary soldiers armed with standard weapons.

Local councilors also watched the news with furrowed brows. Their greatest concern was that the military had violated local laws by dispatching a massive force, which would surely result in a protracted legal battle.

As for the proxies of the various underground factions, they were even more invested. Sometimes, exacting revenge on certain individuals did not require one to act personally; under the right conditions and through legitimate, legal means, one could leave the targets utterly speechless. This allowed them to achieve their goals without expending their own resources. Right now, these people were scheming precisely along these lines.

No one believed the military had accomplished all this using only local forces without external reinforcement. Regardless of the truth, a messy war of words was inevitable.

The local militia had nothing to say, constrained as they were under James’s control, but the remaining two factions began to stir restlessly.

No one was a fool. Black Prison’s strongest forces were concentrated in the training camp, while the rest of their elements were far too dispersed. Now that the training camp had suffered a devastating blow, and their leader’s fate remained unknown, it was the prime opportunity to swallow up this faction. Manpower was a given; the real prize was territory. Each additional piece of territory controlled meant an extra share of profit. Those who survived on this soil had never practiced any code of morality.

However, the military's display of might and combat capability—flattening Black Prison’s headquarters overnight—also gave both the Black Dragon Society and the Tiger Organization serious cause for hesitation. Their respective leaders felt a faint sense of regret; had they known, they wouldn't have been so arrogant that day, and now they found themselves in the awkward position of riding a tiger and unable to dismount. To demand clarification from the military felt humiliating and unsatisfying, yet failing to do so meant constantly guarding against military strikes.

Strike first? Mobilize all their forces and completely eradicate that military base? While that certainly sounded gratifying, the aftermath promised nothing pleasant. Judging by the military’s current hardline stance, if they actually went through with it, they wouldn't survive in this region any longer.

In truth, the thugs who had beaten and killed people were indeed members of Black Prison; the military's decision to strike down those reckless fringe elements was entirely justified. The real regret for the Black Dragon Society and the Tiger Organization was that, unable to stomach the military's provocation, they had publicly acknowledged those actions at the time, thereby handing the military a completely legitimate pretext for attack.

Aside from Golden Five-Star, military commands in other regions were closely monitoring the developments here. Striking down local underground factions using solely local military forces was a first for the fringe planets. All garrison units were keenly aware of this and eager to know the ultimate outcome. No one wanted to live such a cowed existence, especially those who considered themselves soldiers.

The situation in Golden Five-Star seemed dangerously close to exploding at the touch!

***

Inside the military camp, Zhao Li looked at Li Mengdie, who lay unconscious on the hospital bed, a sharp pang gripping his heart. Three hours had already passed, yet Li Mengdie showed no signs of waking up. Christine had only managed to stabilize her injuries slightly, which merely delayed their deterioration without actually improving her condition.

Deep within the secret passage of the tree hollow, a foolproof contingency had been established. Right beneath that massive tree, the surrounding area of the tree hollow was piled high with high explosives connected to a detonator. The moment the remote button was pressed, it would detonate instantly.

Ordinary firearms posed little threat to an eighth-tier martial arts expert, but tons of high explosives were identical in lethality to anyone. That fellow had jammed the remote control into his mouth; although the soldiers had pinned his limbs, they could not prevent him from exerting the slightest pressure to bite down on the button.

The moment he saw Li Mengdie and Zhao Li appear, he had known they were the highest-ranking commanders of this military force. He had heard rumors that a young lieutenant had taken command here, but he never expected a major to be hidden among them as well.

Zhao Li had sensed the danger at that exact split second. The pinned man’s entire body radiated a murderous intent. While such an aura was hardly unusual on a battlefield, it had suddenly flared with terrifying intensity the moment Zhao Li and Li Mengdie appeared, which was anything but normal.

Zhao Li had only managed to fire a single shot at the fellow before shouting to everyone, "Spread out! Take cover!" But even as the words left his mouth, it was already slightly too late.

The violent explosion instantly engulfed a radius of twenty to thirty meters, enveloping everyone present. The four or five soldiers closest to the tree hollow who had been pinning the man bore the brunt of the blast.

In that fraction of a second between life and death, Li Mengdie made a move no one could have anticipated. With a swift twist, she turned her back to the roaring flames of the explosion, shielding Zhao Li securely behind her while wrapping her arms tightly around his torso so he could not move an inch.

The blast hurled countless people away from their spots, scattering them far into the distance. In that critical moment, Zhao Li could only push his Basic Body-Conditioning Technique to its absolute limit; when it came to withstanding blunt force trauma, his nameless cultivation technique fell far short.

With a thunderous roar, Zhao Li and Li Mengdie were blasted high into the air like a baseball struck hard by a bat, before crashing heavily far away. Mid-air, Zhao Li had already slipped into darkness.

When Zhao Li regained consciousness, a persistent buzzing echoed in his head. He suffered from severe dizziness and a complete blankness in his mind, retaining no memory of how he had arrived here. Fortunately, the familiar surroundings indicated he was in the camp barracks.

Zhao Li shook his head, trying to dislodge the vertigo, though the effect seemed negligible. His back ached, but the injury wasn't severe. Closing his eyes, he circulated his Basic Body-Conditioning Technique for a full cycle, which slightly lessened the dizziness in his head, allowing him to begin piecing together what had happened.

That was right—during the assault on the Black Prison Mercenary Corps headquarters, that man had detonated the explosives. Li Mengdie! Dread gripped Zhao Li, and he bolted out of the room.

Outside, soldiers were busy organizing something. Seeing Zhao Li emerge, they halted their work. The sight of the corpses lying at their feet caused a fresh wave of dizziness to wash over Zhao Li. At least five bodies rested on the ground, each covered with a white cloth.

Zhao Li walked up to the remains, lifting the white cloths one by one to gaze upon their familiar faces. The soldiers had already tidied up their fallen comrades, whose expressions looked peaceful. However, only the faces of the corpses remained intact; their bodies appeared mangled and incomplete. Judging by the blood seeping through the white cloths, even these forms had been crudely pieced together.

Standing up, Zhao Li suppressed the searing grief in his heart, snapped into a standard military salute, and solemnly honored all the fallen. This gesture moved everyone present. Without a command or a word spoken, every soldier in the vicinity instantly stood at strict attention, returning the salute with solemn reverence.

"Where are the others?" Lao Lai stood nearby, and Zhao Li asked in a low voice. Although Lao Lai looked somewhat disheveled, his movements were nimble and he showed no visible signs of injury.

"Three other brothers were injured and are in the infirmary. The rest are all right here!" Hearing Lao Lai’s reply, Zhao Li raised his head to survey his surroundings and indeed spotted the familiar faces of the surviving men. They were moving around, seemingly uninjured, which brought a slight measure of comfort to Zhao Li’s heart.

"Let’s go check on the other brothers!" Unsure of what else to say at this moment, Zhao Li muttered the words in a heavy tone. Lao Lai nodded silently and stepped forward to lead the way.

After walking a few paces away from the gathering of soldiers, Zhao Li fought back the tears threatening to spill from his eyes and softly asked the man in front of him, "Lao Lai, tell me... do the men hate me?"

"Hate you? Because you made us rediscover our self-respect, Commander?" Lao Lai stared straight ahead without turning his head. "Or because you led us to avenge our brothers by wiping out those damned murderers?"

"Because of my arrival, you made enemies of the factions outside. And because of my orders, our brothers lost their lives—and didn't even leave behind whole bodies!" Zhao Li stared straight ahead as well. The mere memory of the soldiers' corpses had nearly broken his composure. Even now, he was desperately suppressing his grief to keep the tears from falling.

"Commander, we are soldiers. From the day we enlisted, we knew what kind of possible endings awaited us. Before, we lived one day at a time without knowing why we drew breath. Now, every day we live is lived with dignity, standing tall!" Lao Lai’s posture was rigid, his gait a regulation march. "To die while avenging our brothers—it’s worth it!" As he spoke, silent tears streamed down his face.

Following closely behind, Zhao Li naturally saw the tears on Lao Lai’s face. He felt an equally inexpressible ache in his own chest. But as the commanding officer, right as they approached the entrance of the infirmary, Zhao Li reined in his emotions and warned, "Don't let the wounded brothers see you cry!"

"Yes, Commander!" Lao Lai hastily rubbed his face with his sleeve, pulling himself together considerably. Yet, just as he crossed the threshold, Lao Lai paused. "Commander, you need to mentally prepare yourself." The sentence was abrupt and disjointed, but it made Zhao Li's heart sink.

The three injured soldiers shared the same cause of injury—the final explosion. One suffered only minor wounds, having simply been blown away and tossed to the ground by the shockwave, while the other two bore multiple gasps from flying shrapnel. Their bandages had already been applied, and aside from the lightly wounded soldier, the other two had been administered sedatives and lay in deep sleep. By some miraculous stroke of fortune, no amputations were necessary; a few days of rest would see them fully recovered.

Still deeply anxious about Li Mengdie's condition, Zhao Li offered a few comforting words to the conscious soldier before heading toward the intensive care unit. Low murmurs could be heard from inside, though the words were indistinct as people argued in hushed tones.

Upon entering, Zhao Li immediately caught sight of Li Mengdie. Her slender form lay quietly on her side upon the hospital bed. Beside her, Christine kept her hands in constant contact with Li Mengdie's body, seemingly continuously channeling her internal qi into her.

Because Li Mengdie had shielded him, the violent explosion had left Zhao Li without any major physical injuries, save for the dizziness induced by the shockwaves and sonic blast, along with a few minor scrapes from the landing. Li Mengdie, however, was clearly not so fortunate.

"Judging by the sound, I'd estimate nearly two tons of high explosives went off," said Sanders, who was also present. As an ordnance and demolition expert, he could estimate the scale of a blast and the approximate explosive yield purely by sound, let alone having witnessed the scene from a short distance away.

The explosion had been far too close to Li Mengdie and Zhao Li. Even with her eighth-tier cultivation, she could not withstand such force. Fortunately, her tactical body armor and stealth undersuit had absorbed a portion of the blast's destructive power, preserving her physical form and safeguarding Zhao Li behind her. Even so, Li Mengdie had yet to regain consciousness. Though she bore no open wounds, the skin across her back was bruised a deep purple—the result of immense kinetic impact clashing with her own formidable protective qi. Even in her unconscious state, Li Mengdie would occasionally cough up a small mouthful of blood, which triggered violent spasms.

Suffering from internal bleeding and severe internal trauma, Christine dared not break physical contact with her; the moment that support ceased, Li Mengdie’s life might slip away entirely.

Gazing at Li Mengdie's deathly pale face, Zhao Li's mind replayed that chilling, eerie smile the man had given just before the trigger, followed by his own gunshot and Li Mengdie throwing herself in front of him. Had his memory deceived him, or had Li Mengdie's expression in that final instant actually been one of profound relief?