Celestial Human Diagram

After a journey of over ten hours, Chen Chuan’s group disembarked from the train. They rested for half an hour at an outpost along the tracks before departing in seven armored off-road vehicles, continuing toward their destination.

Advisor Rao, noticing the sky outside growing dim, said, "We need to do everything we can to reach the next post before nightfall!"

Not all military outposts were located along the railway. Some were situated along the rivers of the Merging Land, while others were positioned in treacherous, defensible terrain.

Their destination was one of the latter.

Chen Chuan’s group reached the local garrison at around six o’clock, just before nightfall. The moment they entered the fortress’s perimeter, darkness seemed to descend in an instant. Looking back, they saw that the world outside was already pitch-black.

Advisor Rao, who had been tense and constantly checking his watch for the entire trip, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Unlike the anxious advisor, the three Fighters were confident in their ability to handle external threats, so they remained in excellent condition, both physically and mentally.

The outpost was just a small fortress, garrisoned by a little over fifty people. The sudden arrival of Chen Chuan’s team made it feel somewhat crowded.

However, they were only staying for one night before continuing their journey. Knowing they were on an urgent mission, the garrison officer did his best to accommodate them, clearing out space and providing food and water.

While they were eating, Chen Chuan asked, "Advisor Rao, how many more outposts are there after this one?"

"There are five more. It will take us another two days."

Chen Chuan said, "These outposts aren’t far from the railway, so resupplying them is relatively simple. I’ve seen that there are other outposts in more remote locations. How are they supplied?"

Advisor Rao said, "For one, we rely on airdrops, which can provide provisions for a long time. We can also occasionally acquire basic supplies from some of the locals."

"Locals? You mean those holdouts?" Yuan Qiuyuan chimed in, surprised. "They’re still willing to cooperate with us?"

Advisor Rao answered, "Some of them are. The others are what you’d call natives here."

"Oh? There are natives here?" Yuan Qiuyuan was suddenly intrigued.

"We call them natives, but they’re likely people who arrived here during an earlier Period of Change. They’ve completely adapted to the environment; their appearance and physiology are slightly different from ours. One theory suggests they might be distant relatives from twenty to thirty thousand years ago, or at the most recent, several thousand years ago."

Yuan Qiuyuan said, "Wow. Talk about distant relatives."

Advisor Rao said, "These people are different from the scions of the Imperial Family. Most of them maintain relatively good relations with us because they also fear the presence on the other side and have been fighting against it for a long time. In that regard, we stand on the same side.

"After all, they encountered the presence on the other side long before we did, so they have a lot of information we don’t. However, a certain portion of them are deeply hostile toward us."

Chen Chuan commented, "It seems they don’t have a good relationship with the scions of the Imperial Family, either."

"That’s right," said Advisor Rao. "For the past century, the scions of the Imperial Family have frequently used their martial strength to plunder their wealth and people and encroach on their territory. So, they are quite cooperative when it comes to dealing with that particular enemy."

Chen Chuan nodded. ’Of course,’ he thought, ’it’s not like the various governments and corporations are saints, either. But at least they know who they can temporarily cooperate with and exploit. It’s a matter of mutual need. If they didn’t have a common enemy, the behavior of those governments and corporations probably wouldn’t be much better.’

Yuan Qiuyuan clicked his tongue. "This place sure is complicated."

"Complicated?"

Advisor Rao shook his head. "You think *this* is complicated? We haven’t even gotten to the hard part. We’re about to leave the railway line, so on the next leg of the journey, we’ll have to be careful of the creatures in the Merging Land. If we accidentally trespass on their territory, we’ll likely be attacked."

He explained that most creatures in the Merging Land were enormous and extremely ferocious. That was the manageable part, as some weapons were effective against them. The real danger came from certain swarming species. When they appeared, they would blot out the sky, and they were incredibly difficult to deal with. Without the protection of a fortress, there was no way to stop them.

Therefore, he advised them to retreat immediately upon any sighting. Any losses sustained from an accidental encounter would be a pointless sacrifice.

After dinner, Advisor Rao brought over a map and pointed to a location. "If the journey goes smoothly, in two days, we’ll reach this point: Fortress No. 73."

Chen Chuan looked at the map. The small fortress was situated perfectly at the mouth of a river valley, at the sharp intersection of two mountain ranges. To get to the area behind it without passing through, one would have to take a massive detour. Even under ideal conditions, that would add another ten to fifteen days to the journey.

Beyond the fortress, there were only a few, sparsely distributed watch posts. Farther out, the map was colored a stark red, indicating territory controlled by the Old Dynasty.

But the Merging Land was vast and seemingly endless. Each of the world’s Central Cities had its own entrance into it, so the enemy they faced now was only the one on their particular front.

’I wonder what the situation is like for the other Central Cities.’

Advisor Rao spoke again. "There are three options for him to get into our rear. The first is a wide detour, but that’s too time-consuming. The situation is constantly changing; by the time he completed it, our dispatched teams might have returned, or we might have mustered more forces from the rear. So the Iron Demon won’t choose that path."

"The second option..."

He pointed to a spot on the map. "Is here. Fortress No. 104. It commands a bend in the river upstream, making it very easy to travel downstream by raft."

"The Iron Demon couldn’t possibly lead his men through there without being detected. And even if he did manage to slip by, we could easily cut off his line of retreat. So he would either have to ignore it completely or choose to eliminate the fortress before advancing."

"And the final option is Fortress No. 73, where we are heading."

Chen Chuan said, "You brought us straight here, Advisor Rao, because you believe the Iron Demon will choose this as his breakthrough point?"

Advisor Rao nodded.

"Based on prior intelligence and an analysis of the Iron Demon’s personality and behavioral patterns, we believe that this time, he is most likely to use this spot to break through into our rear lines!"

Qin Qingque then asked, "Advisor Rao, if they do attack, what is the intelligence department’s time estimate?"

"The Iron Demon is leading no fewer than fifty Cavalry Warriors this time. Based on the distance, if he’s heading straight for No. 73, he’ll reach it in three to four days—a day or two after us at most. If they push their mounts hard and travel day and night, they could be here in just one or two days. So, we’re on a tight schedule."

Chen Chuan’s gaze was fixed on the map. "Then we need to get there as quickly as possible."

After resting for the night, they pushed on at an accelerated pace during the day. The journey was relatively smooth, and a day and a half later, they arrived at Fortress No. 73. The fortress was garrisoned by over two hundred soldiers and was permanently guarded by a Third Limit Fighter.

This Fighter, named Hai Cheng, was a big, burly man. Both of his hands and one of his eyes had been replaced with Implants. He was in his fifties, but for a Fighter, strength doesn’t diminish much at that age, and their experience is all the richer.

He had already learned via radio that they were coming specifically to deal with the Iron Demon, so he was well-prepared. He greeted them warmly, as several of his friends and many of his subordinates had been killed in the Iron Demon’s raids.

Chen Chuan had his team rest while he spoke with Hai Cheng to get a better understanding of the situation. As they talked, he noticed a boy of about fourteen or fifteen watching them from a distance. The boy even approached Yuan Qiuyuan, trying to fish for information.

He glanced over and asked, "Sea Guard Hai, do you have soldiers that young here?"

"Him?" Hai Cheng scratched his short hair. "Well... his father was a Dashun man, from my hometown, I hear. He was one of the veterans stationed here back in the day. He fell in love with a local woman and decided to start a family here. Never went back to Central City."

"My old compatriot passed away young, leaving behind two sons. The older one followed in his footsteps and joined the garrison—a fine young man. Later, the Iron Demon attacked one of our patrols. The entire squad, including the boy’s brother, was killed. Now this kid is determined to avenge his brother, so he’s been hanging around here, looking for an opportunity."

"I tried to send him home, but then I figured if I didn’t let him stay, the kid would probably just run off on his own. His mother’s family is very influential around here, and if anything else happened to him, it could damage our relationship with them. So I just kept him on as an orderly. It gives him something to focus on, I suppose."

Chen Chuan nodded. "He’ll get his chance."

He had Hai Cheng assign a soldier familiar with the area to give him a tour, allowing him to familiarize himself with the terrain surrounding the fortress. Afterward, he returned inside to discuss and plan specific tactics with Advisor Rao.

However, they waited for two straight days without any sign of the Iron Demon.

Just then, a message came over the radio. The previous night, a small enemy unit had crossed the river at the section guarded by Fortress No. 104.

The watch post had raked the area with machine-gun fire for an extended period. At daybreak, they discovered that the blocking cable stretched across the river had been severed. A dead Dragon-nosed Horse was also found downstream. The trespassers were suspected to be the Iron Demon and his men.

This piece of intelligence threw their original plans into disarray. ’Could it be that the Iron Demon had no intention of coming this way and had chosen a different breakthrough point?’

If that was the case, they were waiting in the wrong place. Their only option now seemed to be to pull out and give chase.

Advisor Rao, however, was adamant. He said to Chen Chuan, "No, I still don’t believe that was his choice. This is very likely a Smoke Bomb, a diversion. The Iron Demon’s true target should still be right here!"

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