42: Nighthawk

General Wang thought to himself that since he had already taken many protective measures and made plans, he should just adapt to the situation… Moreover, the garrison at the east exit could provide support at any time, so there was no need to worry too much…

As he was thinking, he suddenly noticed a disturbance at the front of the team. Information then came back that several soldiers had apparently been poisoned by miasma and were unconscious!

“This is bad!!!” General Wang suddenly woke up, realizing that for all his careful planning, he had overlooked this one point!

No wonder not even a single firefly was seen in the valley; it was probably because the miasma here was too potent, so much so that even fireflies couldn't survive…

Of course, it was also possible that the enemy had already taken precautions and set up poison traps in the valley…

“Stop advancing immediately! Retreat and defend!!!” General Wang ordered.

This “retreat and defend” was a military command of the Great Ming, meaning to have the team retreat while defending. This was to prevent the soldiers from retreating in a disorderly rush, which would easily allow the enemy to counterattack and lead to heavy losses.

“Yes!!!” The command was quickly relayed…

However, because the front line was stretched too long, by the time the order arrived, many soldiers at the front had already been attacked by assassins from the Dark Night Organization, suffering many casualties, and about two-tenths of the returning soldiers were injured!

A bad start!

General Wang’s expression turned grim…

Fortunately, the main combat power of the team was still intact, and this setback also indirectly proved one thing: that this Dark Night Valley was indeed the stronghold of the Dark Night Organization mentioned in the intelligence, and very likely the location of the missing aircraft!

Thinking of this, General Wang couldn’t help but feel a surge of spirit. As long as he took down Dark Night Valley, it would be a great achievement!

He immediately reorganized his forces and contacted Brother Qi. Soon, he received information that Brother Qi’s team of Xuanwu Guards was more experienced, or rather, they all had standard equipment and wore gas masks when they set out, so they had basically no losses and had already started fighting with the assassins of Dark Night Valley!

“General Wang, the enemy is extremely cunning. There are many traps along the way, so you must be extra careful when advancing! It’s taking us a lot of time to advance even one step, and we’ve already lost several Xuanwu Guards…” Brother Qi said.

“Hmm, have you seen the airport yet?” General Wang asked.

“Not yet, but it shouldn’t be far!” Brother Qi replied.

“Good! You hold on, we’ll be there to support you soon. We absolutely cannot let these bastards escape!!!” General Wang said fiercely.

“Don’t worry, isn’t Officer Yu already guarding the valley entrance with fighter jets…” Brother Qi said.

“What good are fighter jets? The fog here is too thick, and it’s night combat. I suspect our fighter jets won’t even be able to see their shadows!” General Wang roared.

“This… that makes sense! It seems we need to speed up, otherwise, as the General said, if the culprits escape, it will be bad!” Brother Qi shouted loudly.

“Exactly!”

After communicating, both realized the seriousness of the problem and immediately ordered an intensified attack. They also notified another team of Xuanwu Guards led by Hai Xiang, determined to capture the enemy before they could escape, even if it meant some sacrifices…

The Xuanwu Guards, after all, were all experts. Although fewer in number, their lowest cultivation was above that of a Martial Artist, and they were equipped with the Great Ming’s best gear, with strong defenses and sharp Profound Weapons. The Dark Night assassins responsible for sniping resisted with all their might for a while, but their firepower couldn’t keep up, and they couldn’t contend with the Xuanwu Guards in terms of raw strength. So they began to retreat, and when the Black Tortoise Guard attacked, they found that the enemy had all disappeared!

The fog in the valley seemed to have thinned considerably, and behind the area where the enemy disappeared, some shadowy buildings suddenly appeared. These buildings were uneven in height but were connected, appearing to have an extraordinary Aura, and their appearance in this deep valley was even more astonishing.

Looking at the continuous buildings before him, Brother Qi, who had arrived first, was quite shocked. He hadn’t expected the Dark Night Organization to build such magnificent structures in this desolate place. If they hadn’t been exposed this time, they might truly have continued to develop here indefinitely.

“Immediately conduct a full search! Be careful, there might be secret passages and mechanisms here…”

No sooner had Brother Qi finished speaking than a Xuanwu Guard let out a scream. Everyone looked and saw that he seemed to have stepped on a mechanism on the ground, resulting in a row of spiked cages dropping down on him, leaving him with multiple wounds and blood gushing out…

Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough and tilted his head, narrowly escaping a fatal blow!

Seeing this, everyone couldn’t help but gasp. It seemed they had broken through, but the real battle might have just begun, and this cluster of buildings might be the main battlefield for both sides.

It was conceivable that since the Dark Night Organization had been operating here for a long time, they must have fortified this place into an impenetrable fortress. If they attacked blindly, heavy losses would be inevitable, not to mention the risk of destroying the target as well. In that case, the significance of this battle would be greatly diminished, as the Great Ming’s side wanted the Fusang People culprit and related information, as well as the missing aircraft and its crew, rather than to completely eradicate the Dark Night Organization.

Thinking of this, Brother Qi waved his hand, signaling the Xuanwu Guards to pause their attack, and shouted loudly: “Please, the leader of Dark Night, come out and talk! I am Qi Huaiyi, and I believe you have heard my name before. Our objective in this operation is not to annihilate you. As long as you hand over the Fusang People culprit and related information, I can guarantee your safety! As for your cooperation with the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People, I can also guarantee that the authorities will not pursue it for now!”

After his words fell, there was a moment of silence within the Dark Night buildings. After a while, someone finally spoke: “Brother Qi, right? I am the leader of Dark Night, you can call me Night Hawk. I am very curious how you knew about our cooperation with the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People?”

Brother Qi snorted: “If you don’t want people to know, don’t do it! Night Hawk, what you consider secret, our Jianxuan Envoy Department had already detected some clues! So don’t hold onto any lucky, and don’t do such despicable things within the Great Ming’s borders!”

“Haha… Hahahahaha… Brother Qi, what big words! You can’t scare me with such bragging. Your Jianxuan Envoy Department didn’t even know about the existence of our Dark Night Valley before, otherwise, you would have already put us on the regulatory blacklist, wouldn’t you?” Night Hawk laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the valley, sounding quite harsh.

“This…” Brother Qi was slightly stunned, speechless for a moment.

Night Hawk continued: “Your two task forces have been frantically busy in Copper Ridge and Fengyang for almost two months, and as far as I know, they’ve found nothing, not even knowing where the missing aircraft is… However, this operation has impressed me. Not only is your objective clear, but you even know about our cooperation with the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People. Ah ha… that’s really good, good. Brother Qi, as long as you tell me how you found out all of this, I can guarantee you that I will not only hand over the Fusang People culprit and their information, but also let you retreat safely, without any loss! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite. If you want to safely withdraw from Dark Night Valley, I’m afraid you people won’t be able to do it!”

“How dare you! You actually dare to oppose the Great Ming authorities! Do you think with the help of the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People, you can really stay here? Don’t forget, this is the territory of the Great Ming! Night Hawk, I advise you to recognize the situation. If the Great Ming is determined to eradicate Dark Night Valley, can you defend it?” Brother Qi shouted loudly.

…