253: Chapter 253 A Heroic Stand

Lin Fan was the first to walk down the gangway, his military boots crunching on the frozen ground.

His S-rank True Sight Eye instantly scanned the entire airport.

On the tarmac sat the wreckage of a dozen transport planes billowing black smoke, while ground crew used cutters to drag charred corpses from the cabins.

The roar of artillery fire echoed incessantly from the direction of the defensive line in the distance, and every explosion caused the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.

"Boss, this place is even more ominous than when we were in the Gloomy Forest."

Hou San hunched his shoulders and leaned in close to Lin Fan, his shifty eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

"Look at those soldiers; their eyes are like the dead."

Lin Fan followed Hou San's gaze.

In the trenches at the edge of the airport, dozens of soldiers covered in blood and grime were numbly moving ammunition crates.

Their uniforms were tattered, and some had blood-stained bandages wrapped around their bodies, yet their movements were mechanical and rapid, as if they had already grown accustomed to the rhythm of impending death.

What caught Lin Fan's attention most was that there was no fear or anger in these soldiers' eyes, only a kind of near-desperate calm.

It was the look one only gets after witnessing too much death.

"They aren't dead; they've just died many times already."

Old Drunkard took a swig of strong liquor, a flicker of complexity flashing in his murky eyes.

"I worked as a mercenary on the border for a few years and have seen this look before. People like this either break down in the next second or survive to the end to become true gods of slaughter."

Zhang Hao swallowed hard and asked in a low voice:

"Brother Fan, are we really going to set up a stall here? I feel like these soldiers are penniless."

Lin Fan didn't answer; his gaze had already crossed the airport and landed on the relatively intact base square behind the defensive line.

That was the location of the Seventh War Zone command headquarters and the distribution center for logistics and supplies for the entire defensive line.

At this moment, the square was packed with wounded soldiers who had withdrawn from the front line, and the sounds of wailing, cursing, and medics shouting blended together, forming a hellish scene.

But what Lin Fan saw was not despair.

He saw a business opportunity.

"Fatty, you're wrong."

A familiar smirk, typical of a Shrewd Merchant, tugged at the corner of Lin Fan's mouth.

"These soldiers may not have money right now, but they have something more valuable than money."

Zhang Hao blinked in confusion.

"What thing?"

"Their lives."

Lin Fan spat out the word, his tone terrifyingly calm.

"On the battlefield, life is the least valuable thing, but it is also the most valuable."

"As long as you can keep them alive, they are willing to pay any price."

He turned around and looked at the team he had brought from Kyoto.

Although the five members of the Villain Squad still had an instinctive fear of the battlefield on their faces, they gradually became excited under the influence of Lin Fan's fanatical, "seeing a gold mine" gaze.

Tie Niu scratched his head honestly.

"Boss, whatever you say, we'll do. I'm listening to you."

Lin Fan nodded in satisfaction and pulled a dark gold metal badge from his system space.

It was the "Major General of the Special Strategic Department" identification badge personally issued by the General Ye Canglan.

In a place like the Seventh War Zone, military rank is hard currency.

"Hou San, Tie Niu."

"Here!"

Both of them immediately straightened their backs.

Lin Fan pointed to the very center of the base square, which was originally a high platform used by the war zone command to issue battle reports.

"Go and take that place for me, and hang up the Myriad Treasures Pavilion sign."

"For the banner, just write: 'Open boxes to defy heaven and change your fate; take a gamble and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle'."

Hou San's eyes lit up instantly.

"Boss, this place is the face of the war zone. If we do this, won't it..."

"Won't what?"

"Among the privileges the General Ye Canglan gave me, one is: 'Possess the highest priority for site selection of logistics supply points within the war zone'."

"I am going to exercise this right now."

He paused and added:

"If anyone asks, just say it's a new type of field supply pilot project specially approved by the military department."

Hou San and Tie Niu exchanged a glance, both seeing the familiar excitement in each other's eyes.

They were experts at exploiting loopholes and dancing on the edge of a knife.

"Understood!"

The two acknowledged, immediately pulled out the tools and materials they had prepared from their storage bags, and rushed toward the center of the square.

Watching their backs, Zhang Hao pulled on Lin Fan's sleeve with some concern.

"Brother Fan, won't we be too arrogant doing this? This isn't Kyoto; it's the front line."

Lin Fan patted Zhang Hao on the shoulder, his tone filled with deep meaning.

"Fatty, remember this: on the battlefield, arrogance requires capital."

"And our capital is the thing that can keep these soldiers alive."

After saying this, he strode toward the square.

Old Drunkard, the doctor, and Yellow Great Immortal immediately followed, the three of them tacitly forming a triangular formation to protect Lin Fan in the center.

This was an instinct they had developed after being assassinated multiple times in Kyoto.

On the base square, Hou San and Tie Niu's movements were astonishingly fast.

Both were Martial Master level martial artists, and their work efficiency was far superior to ordinary people.

Tie Niu's rock-like arms lifted a half-ton alloy plate, slamming it onto the edge of the high platform with a boom, directly enclosing a ten-square-meter temporary stall.

Hou San scrambled to the top of the high platform like a monkey and pulled a gilded sign out of his storage bag.

The three large characters for "Myriad Treasures Pavilion" on the sign shimmered in the reflection of the artillery fire.

Even more exaggerated was that the back of the sign was embedded with a row of small spirit-gathering arrays, which, after being activated, emitted a soft white halo, looking exceptionally eye-catching on the smoke-filled battlefield.

"Holy crap, what are those two doing?"

"They actually occupied the command headquarters' reporting platform?"

"That sign... Myriad Treasures Pavilion? What the heck is that?"

The wounded soldiers and logistics personnel on the square were stunned by this sudden turn of events.

In a place like the Seventh War Zone, everyone was accustomed to strict military discipline and hierarchical order.

Two guys suddenly popping up and setting up a stall right under the nose of the command headquarters was simply challenging the authority of the entire war zone.

"Stop!"

A roar came from the edge of the square.

A middle-aged officer in a Major General's uniform with a hideous scar on his face rushed over with a dozen guards.

The officer wore the badge of the Seventh War Zone defensive line command headquarters on his chest, and his body radiated the pressure of a Grandmaster Level.

He rushed to the front of the high platform, looked at the nearly completed stall, and his face turned livid.

"Who are you people? Who allowed you to build illegal facilities here?"

Hou San jumped down from the high platform, grinning as he approached the officer, and pulled the Major General badge Lin Fan had given him from his pocket.

"Don't get excited, Officer. We are from the military's Special Strategic Department."

"This is our minister, Major General Lin Fan."