25: Chapter 25 The Deputy Commander Takes Action Personally

The body of a Level 5 Martial Spirit was different from before.

His sensory range had expanded to a radius of five hundred meters, allowing him to capture the fluctuations of qi within Fortress No. 13.

Including that aura currently moving rapidly from the direction of the command headquarters.

Arriving quite quickly.

Li Zhengyang stood up from his bunk and loosened his wrists.

The roommates at the door had already vanished.

Two minutes later, the sound of rhythmic footsteps echoed outside the barracks.

It wasn't just one person.

Li Zhengyang pushed the door open and stepped out.

In the open space of the camp, over twenty fully armed soldiers, all of the Great Martial Master level and wielding standard-issue combat sabers, stood in a semicircle surrounding the barracks.

In the center stood one man.

He was about fifty years old, burly, and wore a custom-made general-grade military uniform with two stars on his epaulets.

The muscles on his face were taut, and the veins on his temples were throbbing.

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao.

Vice Commander of Fortress No. 13, a Level 5 Martial Spirit.

He didn't speak the moment he saw Li Zhengyang.

He unleashed his aura directly.

The pressure of a Level 5 Martial Spirit descended; the surrounding soldiers' legs were shaking, while a few at the Martial Master level gritted their teeth to hold on.

Li Zhengyang stood at the barracks entrance, hands in his pockets, motionless.

His Level 4 Martial Spirit internal energy automatically circulated, blocking that pressure three steps away.

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao's expression shifted.

He had assumed the other party was just a lucky Great Martial Master who had used some trick to ambush Zhang Mang.

But this confidence in resisting the pressure clearly indicated the Martial Spirit Rank.

"Are you Li Zhengyang?"

"I am."

"My nephew is in the infirmary right now with three shattered ribs and damaged meridians; he'll be bedridden for at least three months." Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao's voice was very low. "Do you have anything to say?"

"He threw the first punch."

"I don't care who started it."

"Then why did you come here?"

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao's chest heaved violently twice.

A staff officer nearby whispered a reminder: "Vice Commander, according to Article 17 of the Fortress Regulations, one must not intervene in private grievances using military rank during internal conflicts. Commander, you..."

"Shut up."

The staff officer shut up.

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao stared at Li Zhengyang for ten seconds without continuing to release his pressure.

He knew very well that if he attacked in front of so many people and word reached the Supreme Commander, he, the Vice Commander, would be in serious trouble.

But he couldn't swallow his anger without dealing with this brat.

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao took a deep breath and forced a smile onto his face.

"Li Zhengyang, you did a good job on the Sector C cleanup mission yesterday; your military merits have been recorded."

Li Zhengyang didn't respond, waiting for the second half of his sentence.

"As it happens, we have an urgent mission that requires manpower." Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao pulled a red mission slip from his pocket and handed it over.

Li Zhengyang took it and glanced at it.

[Dangerous Mission]

[Objective: Investigate the source of the monster tide anomaly in Bloody Canyon alone]

[Location: Core Area of Bloody Canyon]

[Reward: 500,000 great xia currency]

[Risk Level: High]

[Note: Monster activity frequency in this region has risen abnormally recently; there is a suspected gathering of Level 4+ monsters. Requires a scout to infiltrate alone and transmit information back after investigating the situation.]

[Assigned by: Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao]

Infiltrate alone.

Bloody Canyon.

A gathering of Level 4 monsters.

The surrounding soldiers looked at each other, a few showing expressions of sympathy.

Giving such a mission to a recruit was no different from a death sentence.

Bloody Canyon was one of the most perilous regions in all of Fortress No. 13; Level 4 monsters were everywhere, and one could occasionally run into Level 5 ones.

The last time the military sent a formal scout team, twelve people went in, and zero came out.

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao smiled: "Of course, if you feel your ability is insufficient, you can refuse."

Li Zhengyang flipped the mission slip over and looked at the reward column again.

The mission reward wasn't high, but the monster cores of Level 4 monsters were valuable.

"When do I depart?"

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao was stunned.

He had assumed this brat would hesitate or even beg for mercy.

"Tomorrow morning at 6:00, a transport plane will take you to the edge of the canyon."

"Can it be changed to this afternoon?"

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao's smile froze.

"Is tomorrow at 6:00 not okay?"

"It's a waste of time." Li Zhengyang folded the mission slip and shoved it into his pocket. "Are there any flights this afternoon?"

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao was silent for three seconds.

"Yes. The 2:00 supply transport route passes over Bloody Canyon."

"Fine, I'll be at the airfield at 2:00."

Li Zhengyang turned and returned to the barracks.

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao stood in place, the expression on his face very complex.

The staff officer nearby leaned in, lowering his voice: "Vice Commander, does this kid not know what the situation in Bloody Canyon is like?"

Vice Commander Zhang Jianbiao shook his head.

"It doesn't matter if he knows or not."

He turned and walked away.

After walking a dozen steps, he stopped again and looked back at the direction of the barracks.

"Notify the surveillance team to activate all drone probes in the canyon area. I want to watch him die."

1:50 PM.

Airfield.

Li Zhengyang, carrying the mountain-piercing spear on his back, walked up the boarding ramp.

Besides him, there were only a few logistics soldiers escorting supplies in the cabin. The logistics soldiers huddled in the corner, looking at him as if they were looking at someone crawling out of a coffin.

"Brother." A bold logistics soldier leaned over and asked quietly, "Are you the one Vice Commander Zhang is setting up?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really going to Bloody Canyon?"

"What else?"

The logistics soldier swallowed his saliva: "That place just swallowed a formal scout team last month, twelve people..."

"I know, zero came out."

The logistics soldier opened his mouth, but in the end, only managed to choke out: "Take care."

The transport plane took off.

Li Zhengyang leaned against the cabin wall, eyes closed.

His mind wasn't on how dangerous Bloody Canyon was.

It was about how much his qi and blood could increase once the money was in hand, and how far he was from the next major realm.

Half an hour later, the transport plane arrived over Bloody Canyon.

The cabin door opened, and cold wind poured in.

Below was a canyon zone stretching for dozens of kilometers; the reddish-brown rock walls looked like wounds slashed by a blade, the canyon floor hidden in mist.

"We're here, jump yourself." The pilot's voice came over the intercom. "The parachute is in the box on the right."

Li Zhengyang walked to the cabin door and glanced down.

The altitude was about a hundred meters.

He kicked the parachute box aside and jumped straight down.

Logistics soldiers: "???"

The pilot glanced down through the windshield at the falling figure and cursed.

A hundred-meter freefall.

The wind exploded in his ears, and the ground magnified at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When Li Zhengyang was fifty meters from the ground, his internal energy erupted from the soles of his feet, forming a cushion.

Bang.

He landed.

The rocky ground was smashed into a half-meter deep crater, gravel flying.

Li Zhengyang stood up from the crater and brushed the dust off his pants.

With a Level 4 Martial Spirit body, jumping a hundred meters without a parachute didn't even make his legs sore.

He looked up and around.

The rock walls on both sides of the canyon were over a hundred meters high, and the canyon floor varied in width, with the narrowest part being only a dozen meters.

The reddish-brown rocks were covered in a type of dark red moss; from a distance, the entire canyon looked like it was soaked in blood, which was the origin of the name "Bloody Canyon."

The air was filled with a heavy, pungent, fishy stench.

It wasn't the scent of one monster, but dozens mixed together.

Low roars echoed from deep within the canyon.

Li Zhengyang took the mountain-piercing spear from his back.

Qi and blood poured into the spear body, and the internal energy on the spear tip buzzed and trembled.

"Money is here."

He raised the spear and walked toward the depths of the canyon.

The first wave of monsters met him three hundred meters away.

Six Blood Wolves.

Level 4.

Their bodies were two sizes larger than the Rock-Spine Beasts of West Mountain, covered all over with short, dark red fur; when they ran, their four hooves lifted off the ground, their speed so fast they left afterimages.

All six pounced at once.

Li Zhengyang didn't retreat.

Collapse Technique.

One thrust pierced through the skull of the one in front.

He pulled out the spear, swept horizontally, and the second one's neck was snapped by the spear shaft.

The third one pounced from the side, its mouth full of fangs.

Twist Technique.

The spear tip spun and drilled into its throat, shredding the trachea and cervical spine, and a mist of blood exploded.

The fourth and fifth ones attacked from both sides.

He used Startling Cloud Step to sidestep; the two Blood Wolves missed and collided.

He turned and fired two shots, one for each.

The sixth one turned and ran.

Li Zhengyang threw the spear like a javelin.

At forty meters, the mountain-piercing spear pierced through the back of its head, dragging the corpse for five or six meters before stopping.

Six Level 4 Blood Wolves, fifteen seconds.

Li Zhengyang walked over to pull out the spear and crouched down to dig out the monster cores.

Six of them, each worth at least 120,000, totaling 720,000.

Before they were even warm, a rustling sound came from the rock walls on both sides of the canyon.

More monsters were gathering.

Li Zhengyang looked up and scanned the area.

A dozen gray lizards were crawling on the rock walls, three or four larger beasts were prowling in the shadows of the canyon floor, and there was the sound of wings flapping in the distance.

He stuffed the monster cores into his pocket, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

A good place.

For the next two hours, Bloody Canyon became a slaughterhouse.

Li Zhengyang pushed deeper, killing whatever he saw.

Level 4s were instant kills, Level 3s even faster; occasionally running into a lone one of the same rank was just a matter of spending a few more seconds.

The monster cores filled every corner of his space ring; he had to throw out some worthless knick-knacks to make room.

By the third hour of killing, he stopped to rest for five minutes and took stock.

A dozen Level 4 monster cores.

Even more Level 3s, over twenty, too lazy to count carefully.

Roughly calculated by market price, the monster cores alone were worth two million.

Plus the mission reward of 500,000.

About 5.5 million.

As he was calculating, his gaze swept over a depression in the left rock wall.

The shape of that depression wasn't quite right.

It was too regular.

Naturally formed depressions in rock walls are irregular, but the edges of this one had clear cutting marks.

Li Zhengyang walked over and brushed away the dark red moss covering it.

A hole.

Two meters wide, one and a half meters high, extending inward, pitch black.

It wasn't naturally formed.

It was manually excavated.

Li Zhengyang poked his head into the entrance.

There was wind inside, indicating it connected to somewhere else.

The smell in the air wasn't right either.

It wasn't the fishy stench of monsters, but a pungent metallic smell.

A mine tunnel.

Just as he was about to walk in, his peripheral vision swept the base of the rock wall to the right of the entrance.

Two corpses.

No, skeletons.

They had been gnawed down to just skeletons, but the remaining fabric fragments on their bodies could still be identified.

Army green.

The color of military uniforms.

On the wrist of one of the skeletons hung half a communicator, the model exactly the same as the one Xing Feng used.

From the Special Operations Battalion?

Or the scout team that went missing before?

Li Zhengyang crouched down and rummaged through the items scattered beside the skeletons.

A broken data terminal; the screen was shattered, but the military serial number was printed on the casing.

Also a crumpled note stuffed into the skeleton's boot.

Li Zhengyang unfolded the note.

It only had three words written on it, the handwriting sloppy, as if the writer had been interrupted halfway through.

"Someone is selling..."

Li Zhengyang stuffed the note into his pocket and looked up into the darkness deep within the tunnel.

A secret inside?