26: Chapter 26 The Crushing Victory 1

Headquarters of the 115th Heavy Armored Division.

Everyone was at their wits' end.

"Commander, how do we fight from here? It hasn't even started, and an aviation regiment is already scrapped."

"Exactly!"

The staff officers and several battalion commanders directly under the division echoed their concerns.

Division Commander Wang Yi's brow was locked in a deep frown.

"What's the panic? We can't lose our cool first. This kid Chu is something else; the move he showed today actually suits my temperament quite well."

"..."

"Where's the air defense battalion? Is your reconnaissance radar sleeping?"

"Reporting to the Commander, we—our radar is on 24 hours a day. I suspect [Soul Blade] has stealth technology."

An air defense battalion commander stood up to answer, immediately connecting the dots to a possible cause.

“Hiss!!!”

With such formidable combat power, it had wiped out a full-strength heavy aviation regiment in a single round.

Coupled with stealth technology, everyone gasped in shock.

Wang Yi nodded in agreement, lost in thought for a moment.

"Orders: The entire division is to shrink the defense perimeter and establish a defensive depth within a 20-kilometer radius of the division headquarters."

"Orders: Armed forces are to abandon conventional weapons. Man-portable air-defense systems will be used as primary weapons. They must all be distributed and in place tonight!"

To deal with [Soul Blade], Wang Yi decided not to play by the book; perhaps flexibility would yield unexpected results.

"Orders: The division reconnaissance battalion is to deploy in full, using squads as units."

"Advance 50 to 100 kilometers to search for that [Soul Blade]. Once the target is found, report the coordinates to headquarters immediately."

Wang Yi issued several orders in one breath. At this moment, as the division commander, he had to stand firm.

If a division loses its backbone, its end will not be pretty.

"By the way, what's the status of the squad sent out by the Special Operations Brigade?"

Wang Yi turned to ask the commander of the Special Operations Brigade.

"Reporting to the Commander! The squad is currently under radio silence; no news has been sent back yet!"

"No news is good news!"

"Alright, everyone. In past exercises, we were the ones desperately tormenting our peers. The tables have turned. This time, I have a premonition that our opponent might be unprecedentedly powerful!"

"Despite this, the 115th Division will not fear any enemy. When it's time to fix bayonets, you and I should be the ones charging at the very front!"

"Yes, sir!"

"That's all for today. Go back and rest up; tomorrow will be a fierce battle."

"Yes, sir!"

All the division's officers and soldiers stood up and saluted in unison.

A fist unit was indeed different; even now, their morale remained high. As long as their spirit didn't break, their combat power remained!

Somewhere 25 kilometers outside the experimental base.

In the dark of night, a fully armed special operations squad was advancing while searching.

They moved in groups of three, providing alternating cover, acting very cautiously.

Suddenly, the special ops soldier at the front stopped and raised his arm. The people behind him quickly halted, crouched down, and began to vigilantly observe their surroundings.

He was the captain of this special operations squad, code-named 'Vulture.'

"Captain, is there a situation?"

The team member behind him called out via wireless mic.

"Stay alert. Nothing for now, but I have a constant feeling of being watched."

Captain 'Vulture' was observing a small grove of trees ahead through high-definition night vision goggles.

"Captain, according to the map, our current position is 25 kilometers southwest of the experimental base."

A teammate beside him reported after checking the electronic display on his forearm.

"Understood. All members, listen to my orders: rest here for now. Keep quiet and observe the surroundings."

"Sync watches. It is now 1:00 AM. We move according to the original plan in one hour!"

Captain Vulture ordered, adjusting his microphone.

2:00 AM is when most people are in their deepest sleep. Vulture chose to move at this time to catch Chu Ge and the others off guard.

"Yes, sir!"

The team members answered in unison.

However, what they didn't know was that over 100 meters above them in the sky...

[Soul Blade] was hovering right there, monitoring the special operations squad on the ground.

This scene was accurately transmitted to the computer at Chu Ge's back end.

"Academician Chu, how should we handle this?"

"They're probably waiting for the night to deepen. I'm not playing along with them; I still need to sleep. Have [Soul Blade] trap them."

"Come on, let's go catch some prisoners!"

After Chu Ge finished speaking, he hurriedly walked outside.

Twenty minutes later, Chu Ge, Li Gang, and a platoon of guards arrived at [Soul Blade]'s coordinates.

After getting out of the car, Chu Ge walked up to the giant foot of the mecha.

The twelve members of the special operations squad were now sitting together, surrounded by a perfectly standard circle drawn around them.

It was clearly a mark left by [Soul Blade]'s laser weapon, with small flames still burning in some places.

At this moment, a powerful spotlight from [Soul Blade] was shining directly into the circle.

The special ops soldiers were shielding their eyes with their hands; they couldn't open them, so they couldn't see Chu Ge and his group.

"Go turn on the truck lights!"

"Yes, Major Chu!"

A member of the guard unit ran toward the nearby truck.

"Alright, [Soul Blade], turn off your light. Don't you know how to save some power?"

With a *snap*, the blinding light vanished.

Chu Ge stepped forward quickly.

"Hard work, brothers! Hahaha!"

"..."

It took a while for Vulture's eyes to adjust to the current environment.

He didn't acknowledge Chu Ge, instead staring at [Soul Blade], which stood there like a mountain.

"This... this is our opponent?"

"That's right, it's called [Soul Blade]."

"It's so fast. We were already very cautious and struck back the moment it attacked, but it seemed like we couldn't hurt it at all."

"Haha, it knew the moment you stepped out the door. It just had other tasks; otherwise, do you think you could have made it this far?"

"Now I know why I always felt like I was being watched! If I'm not mistaken, it followed us the whole way, didn't it?"

"Mm, correct. As expected of the special forces elite."

"Alright, we should head back to the base. We have to get up early tomorrow!"

"Oh, [Soul Blade], you don't need to come back. Find a place to hide yourself so we don't have to go through the trouble tomorrow!"

Chu Ge turned and left after speaking.

"Captain, where are we going?"

Seeing this, the special ops members quickly gathered around Captain Vulture.

"Us? Heh, strictly speaking, we're already his prisoners. Where else can we go?"

The special ops soldiers followed behind Chu Ge's convoy.

Even after they had walked a long way, the team members were still looking back at [Soul Blade]'s tall, straight figure.

[Soul Blade] stood motionless, watching them leave.

"Captain, why do I feel like I haven't woken up yet?"

Xiao Ge Zi in the team suddenly spoke up.

"'Hummingbird,' do you want me to help you confirm if you're awake?"

"Get lost, get lost, get lost!"

"Hummingbird, you're the mechanical expert of our squad. Little drone planes, little drone tanks, little drone tractors—those are all your little toys."

"How does this big toy feel? Haha!"

A burly man nearly 1.9 meters tall next to 'Hummingbird' was teasing him.

The burly man held a massive squad machine gun; he was the machine gunner and demolition expert of this special ops squad.

"Alright, you two, there's simply no comparison. You saw its agility just now; our RPGs couldn't hit it at all. As for guns, they're not even enough to tickle it."

"Captain, what do you think about high explosives or grenades?" the burly man asked, unwilling to give up.

"Grenades won't work, not enough power. High explosives? I don't know how thick its outer armor is; maybe from the inside!"

"The key is, can you even get close? It can fly! It's practically a real-life Iron Man!"

"..."

"..."

All along the way, this special operations squad argued about how to scrap this 'big toy.'

After all, special forces—especially special ops squads for behind-the-lines infiltration...

In real warfare, they are rarely captured. Either they aren't caught, or they're dead. For them, the chance of surviving capture is slim, and it's a great disgrace!

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for this special operations squad.