6: Stealth? Perfect stealth is simply killing all the witnesses. (Part 1)

[Warning: Life support energy remaining: 09 minutes 30 seconds.]

[Suggestion: Pay immediately.]

On his retina, a crimson countdown ticked away.

Li Cang ignored the system's urging, his expression calm. When death is quantified into numbers, fear becomes meaningless.

He tapped his finger on the icon of two crossed swords—[The Arena].

The clamor of the selection hall came to an abrupt halt.

His vision shifted.

A dim, solemn rotunda replaced the noise. Beneath his feet was a mirror-like obsidian round table, and above his head was the deep starry sky.

[Match successful.]

[Opponent ID: Steam Baron]

[Rank: Black Iron II (Veteran)]

[Civilization Type: Steampunk · Gear Mechanism Path]

Across the round table, a pillar of ghostly blue light descended.

A middle-aged man wearing a crimson velvet formal suit appeared. He wore a brass mechanical monocle over his left eye and leaned on a cane embedded with a steam pressure gauge. Projections of airships and factory chimneys loomed faintly behind him.

"A Black Iron IV rookie?"

Steam Baron raised his chin, his monocle rotating as he scanned Li Cang's meager data profile.

"Just finished your incubation period and already coming to cash out? A friendly reminder: The Arena and single-player simulations are two different worlds. The opponents here will truly devour you."

Li Cang ignored this low-level psychological warfare, his gaze focusing on the holographic sandbox rising from the center of the round table.

[Scenario Loading: The Silent Foundry]

[Environmental Tags: [Narrow Terrain], [Industrial Ruins], [Toxic Mist]]

[Victory Conditions: Occupy the central 'Geothermal Core' and hold it for 10 minutes; or annihilate all enemy forces.]

On the sandbox, an abandoned underground factory was revealed.

Intricate, rusted pipes were intertwined, and massive cooling towers stood in the shadows. Pervasive green toxic mist settled in the low-lying areas, forming a natural death maze.

"Complex terrain, numerous blind spots, limited visibility," Li Cang judged quickly. "Ideal for hunting."

[Phase 1: Blind Setup]

[Please place your cards face down in the starting area.]

This phase was a psychological game. Neither side could see the other's unit types, only guessing through quantity and energy-level tags.

Opposite him, Steam Baron's movements were practiced as he slapped three cards onto the main road entrance with the sound of clashing metal.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Card A: [Energy Level T1] (Quantity: 30) — Light Infantry Unit.

Card B: [Energy Level T1] (Quantity: 30) — Light Infantry Unit.

Card C: [Energy Level T1.5] (Quantity: 2) — Heavy Vehicle Unit.

"Standard combined arms of infantry and tanks."

Li Cang instantly saw through his opponent's intention. Use the range advantage combined with heavy armor shields to bulldoze through the main road like a steamroller. This was a textbook tactic for the Black Iron rank.

"A conventional approach would be to deploy assassins on the flanks or shield-bearers in the front."

Li Cang looked down at the only card in his hand.

[Thunder Warrior Legion]

While a head-on clash could win, the Mk II power armor had poor heat dissipation and weak toxin resistance; there would definitely be combat losses. He had no money to repair equipment.

It had to be zero losses.

"Since it's a maze..."

Li Cang's finger slid across the sandbox, avoiding the main road and pointing toward a dark blind spot on the flank filled with abandoned load-bearing beams.

The toxic mist was thickest there, and visibility was zero. For a steam civilization dependent on optics, it was a forbidden zone. But for Thunder Warriors equipped with tactical auspexes, it was a hunting ground.

"Deploy."

The card was placed gently into the shadows.

The [Tactical Presets] interface popped up.

[Rules of Engagement]: [Free Fire].

[Movement Preference]: [3D Maneuver/Stealth].

[Special Instruction]: Input — "Silence. Until you see the prey's throat."

System translation: Auspex markers updated / Combat hormone inhibitors injected / power armor silent mode activated.

The Thunder Warriors were instinctively berserk and had to be restricted, like putting a collar on a mad dog.

[Deployment complete.]

[Both sides confirmed.]

The mist solidified.

Steam Baron looked at that solitary face-down card and sneered.

"A single-card start? Putting all your eggs in one basket is a common rookie mistake. Trying to turn the tide with a hero unit? In front of my 'Iron Hammer' mechs, individual heroism is just a target."

He tapped the table. "This lesson is on the house."

[Simulation Start]

The holographic sandbox materialized into a real scene. The perspective was pulled into the cold, damp underground foundry... [Battlefield View · Red Team Advancement Route]

Clang— Clang—

Orderly metallic footsteps echoed in the empty factory building.

Steam Baron's troops entered the field. Sixty Steam Guards wearing brass exoskeletons and plague doctor gas masks marched in two columns. High-pressure steam rifles were held level, and the gas tanks on their backs hissed.

In the center of the formation, two three-meter-tall Iron Hammer Siege Mechs spewed white steam. They were like walking steel fortresses, with a heavy tower shield on the left arm and a short-barreled cannon on the right.

The beauty of industrial civilization's order. Precise, rigorous, and full of oppressive force.

"Reporting to Commander, the forward sector is clear. Activating filtration systems for all personnel."

The vanguard scout reported.

Steam Baron nodded with satisfaction. He looked toward the deathly silent Blue Team area.

No bugle calls for assembly, no magical fluctuations. Only thick toxic mist flowed between the ruins.

"What the hell is going on?"

Steam Baron frowned, his monocle zooming in to search for traces. Disconnected? Or hiding in a corner shivering?

"All units advance! Objective: Geothermal Core! Stay alert!"

The order was given.

But he didn't know.

Just as the troops swaggered through the main road, right above them—deep within those intricate, rust-and-oil-covered load-bearing beams.

[Tactical Auspex: Target locked.]

[Distance: 15 meters (Vertical).]

[Status: Silent.]

In the darkness, seventy pairs of crimson tactical lenses lit up silently.

Arik Taranis hung upside down from a rusted crossbeam, secured by the magnetic suction of his power armor's feet.

The three-meter-tall Mk II power armor was as clunky as a tractor, yet at this moment, it displayed astonishing silence. Arik had shut down the main reactor and cut off most power, retaining only basic servo supply.

He was like a steel bat, hidden within the noisy background sounds of the factory ceiling.

Below, the roar of steam pistons and the footsteps of soldiers perfectly masked the faint electrical hum of the servo motors.

Through his tactical interface, Arik's gaze pierced through the brass exoskeletons, locking onto one defenseless neck after another.

Alchemical elixirs surged through his veins, bringing not frenzy, but extreme calm.

"Is this the prey?"

Arik whispered into the channel, his voice as raspy as sandpaper.

"A bunch of primitives who worship gears."

He released the magnetic locks.

[Instruction: Remove suppression.]

Arik did not let out a war cry.

The moment he fell, he slowly pulled the preheat trigger of his Chainsword.

"Zzz..."

The monomolecular teeth rotated slowly, the faint electrical sound blending into the factory noise, insignificant.

Until one second before the teeth touched the brass armor.

The hunter was in position.