The First Order

This time, Ren Xiaosu did not dress up or put a mask on for Old Xu. He let it blend into the night completely as its original self, a shadow.

This might have sounded a little odd, but when they quickly infiltrated the forest, Old Xu’s base color was the best camouflage for it.

When Old Xu traveled through the forest in the cover of the shadows, the enemy would probably not discover its existence if they did not get closer for a careful look.

Furthermore, as Old Xu did not breathe or sweat, even the most experienced hunter in the world wouldn’t detect it with their sense of smell.

The barbarians could never have expected there to be a superpower that was so suitable for scouting in this world.

Of course, Old Xu was not entirely undetectable since some of the hidden sentries were in unexpected locations. As Ren Xiaosu had to lead the troops and control Old Xu at the same time, Old Xu might encounter a hidden sentry if Ren Xiaosu was a little distracted.

But it was not too much of a problem. As long as the sentries were killed, no one would discover Old Xu.

Ren Xiaosu did not make Old Xu start a killing spree. If he attracted the expeditionary army’s main forces, the soldiers of the recon company behind him would probably be in danger.

If it were other times, Ren Xiaosu would actually not care about what happened to these people he did not know. But wasn’t his intention to recruit P5092 to the Prosperous Northwest? He would have to show him what the Northwesterners were capable of. If the mission was completed but all of his men died, that wouldn’t prove his competency at all. How embarrassing that would be!

The soldiers of the recon company just now realized Ren Xiaosu was even wearing his night vision goggles. They wondered how he could see things in the forest. And the young man could even move so quickly in the forest without the aid of the night vision goggles.

“To the right.” Ren Xiaosu suddenly turned right. “There’s an ambush ahead. Don’t go over there. Follow me!”

The soldiers of the recon company behind him looked at one another. What ambush? Why couldn’t they see anything? Were they blind or something?!

T40219 asked in confusion over the radio, “Sir, are you mistaken? We didn’t notice anything.” He even took a look through his night vision goggles. However, he still did not find anything suspicious in the forest ahead.

Ren Xiaosu said, “I don’t have time to explain. Just follow me.”

Right afterwards, Ren Xiaosu led the reconnaissance company on a huge detour through the forest. This roundabout route was about two kilometers long.

Then he stopped in his tracks and whispered, “We’ve circled around to the rear of the barbarians. All units, maintain radio silence and listen to my commands. We’re now slowly approaching them.”

T40219 was confused right then and there. Approaching them? He could not even see any signs of the enemy. Who were they approaching?

The recon company followed Ren Xiaosu and moved forward quietly. Ren Xiaosu said softly, “Alright, we’re downwind now. Soldiers with the 40 mike-mikes, step forward.”

“40 mike-mike” was military slang for the 40 mm grenade launcher. What Ren Xiaosu meant was to have the soldiers carrying the grenade launchers in each platoon gather.

When the soldiers came up to him, Ren Xiaosu knelt behind some bushes and pointed in a direction. “You, you, and you, aim your weapons for 200 meters over there.”

T40219 took a quick look in the direction he pointed, but he still could not see anything.

“Sir!” T40219 pulled Ren Xiaosu back and said, “Shouldn’t we be scouting the vicinity first? There must be other barbarian troops around here. If they’re alerted, we’ll get surrounded….”

Ren Xiaosu waved it off. “Don’t worry, there’s no other hidden sentries around here.”

That was because those hidden sentries had already been quietly taken out by Old Xu. This was also the reason why Ren Xiaosu led them on such a huge detour. They actually did not have to travel that far, but Ren Xiaosu did not want them to discover the barbarian bodies Old Xu had killed.

Then Ren Xiaosu pointed in another direction. “You, you, and you, aim your weapons for 170 meters over there! Alright now, listen for my command…. Fire!”

Although the soldiers did not know what was going on since they could only see the dark forest in front of them, they only needed to obey their orders in battle. It was unnecessary for them to have any other opinions.

A second later, the six soldiers pulled the trigger of their grenade launchers at the same time. When the grenades fired out of the launchers, they flew leaving a smoky trail across the air.

After a few loud explosions, fiery flames suddenly illuminated the forest over there. It was not until this moment that T40219 could finally see the barbarians lying in the bushes. They were covered in grass and camouflaged!

If Ren Xiaosu had not pointed them in the right direction, they would definitely have encountered the barbarians if they followed their original plan. And it would have been very late by the time they discovered their enemy. This would mean they would have to engage in close combat with them!

Then it would be considered fortunate if even a few dozen of them from the recon company could survive.

The six grenades had landed accurately at the positions Ren Xiaosu had specified. The dozen or so barbarians hiding in the forest were dazed by the explosions.

Ren Xiaosu immediately charged. “Covering fire! We’re gonna quickly take out the remaining barbarians on the battlefield. Leave no survivors!”

T40219 added, “Fourth Platoon, provide cover for the rear. Keep your guards up!”

Of course, the six grenades that were launched at the barbarians was still insufficient to take them all out. Ren Xiaosu’s aim was to use the destructive blast to drive them into their line of fire and disorient them at the same time.

After the grenades went off, the barbarians who were still alive would experience a temporary loss of hearing, sustain injuries to their organs, and have blurred vision.

They would not be able to take advantage of their superior physical fitness anymore.

When Ren Xiaosu raised his gun and charged forward, T40219 and the others were almost unable to keep up with his pace. For the soldiers of the recon company, they could only hear Ren Xiaosu firing continuously as they advanced.

Under normal circumstances, everyone was used to taking aim and shooting after getting into the 100-meter range so their accuracy would be greatly improved. After all, Ren Xiaosu had instructed them to shoot the barbarians in the eye and even put on a very good demonstration for them.

But now, all the barbarians were already dead as soon as they got to within a 100 meters of them.

T40219 looked at the barbarians who were left with bloody wounds in their eyes and sighed. He felt no sense of participation at all.

Their combat SOP now was having Ren Xiaosu lead them to circle around to the barbarians’ rear and ordering the soldiers to launch six grenades in the directions he specified before following him as he put on a show of killing the barbarians.

Although they opened fire as well, it was only imprecise suppressive fire they provided.

T40219 suddenly wondered why he was here.

Oh right, the commander had ordered him that their mission this time was to protect this guy.

As if this guy needed anyone to protect him! Who was protecting who now?!

The recon company had always been the most elite fighting force in the 3rd Division, and even their training was carried out separately. During the military combat competitions, they would often crushingly defeat their comrades.

But now, for the first time, T40219 felt like he was a burden.

Ren Xiaosu looked at the battlefield. “Alright, we’re done killing them all. Follow me!”

…