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While the sergeant went to relay orders, Zhang Ge approached the front of his light armoured vehicle.
He searched for the engine cover release, thinking it shouldn't be an exterior switch, and said, "Open the engine cover."
As expected, upon speaking the command, a soft clicking sound followed, and the internal latches released. The front cover popped open automatically, revealing the intricate machinery inside.
In contrast to its simple and somewhat rugged exterior, this light armoured vehicle hid a wealth of finely arranged modifications beneath the surface.
The blue and red pipes contrasted with each other in warm and cool tones, intertwining amid the ornate decorations of various components. The deep mechanical hum and rhythm created a unique impact and charm that anyone, regardless of their mechanical knowledge, could intuitively understand.
The originally plain and utilitarian shell only amplified this sense of contrast, making it feel as if you were a zealot and had witnessed the seemingly rational and resolute Guilliman denying the Emperor's divinity, only to catch him secretly studying sacred texts in his room.
However, this also presented a conundrum—Zhang Ge couldn't make heads or tails of it, let alone repair anything.
But as he moved to Dominika, who was pulling something from her storage compartment, Zhang Ge quickly returned to the front of the vehicle.
Without a moment's hesitation about the potential failure of the mechanical repairs, what arrived next was Holy Water!
It was absurd to waste time fixing the vehicle now. Just leave it to the machine spirit! If it didn't work out, he would have to change vehicles anyway.
He closed the engine cover, twisted open the bottle cap, and poured the entirety of the Holy Water over the front of the vehicle. Gently rubbing it in with his palm, he returned to the driver's seat.
In the back, Yixis had just questioned whether he was still in a dream and had managed to take a seat again in the vehicle that had lost its door when Zhang Ge said, "Accelerate slowly and move forward."
The vehicle gave a soft hum, shaking slightly as it began to move. Just as Zhang Ge wondered if there was going to be another issue, the light armoured vehicle smoothly rolled forward, returning to normal operations.
The activation of the main vehicle naturally signaled the convoy to continue moving forward, and soon the armored vehicles accelerated to a marching speed.
If they were ambushed at this speed, losing the lead and trailing vehicles could throw the entire column into chaos, especially since it was still nighttime, making the situation even graver.
However, matters of that sort were not the current priority.
Fortunately, the enemy infiltrating from the rear remained few. No further attacks occurred during their journey, and soon the convoy approached the combat zone, guided by the distant screech of incoming projectiles that had been served to the skulls, arriving outside a forward command post set in a vast forest park underground.
With the convoy entering the combat zone, the explosions sounded as if they were right nearby; shells passed overhead, creating persistent psychological pressure as all around them, the next imminent explosion seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
Although there was currently no bombardment in this area, the scattered old shell craters were a clear indication that the enemy was not unwilling to strike but had instead been suppressed by friendly artillery in the heavy weapons duel. They had only resorted to selectively targeting weaker, more vulnerable objectives, abandoning critical infrastructure that, while important, was too well-fortified.
This was bad... and good news, indicating that Zhang Ge's group would likely receive heavy fire support while traversing the combat zone.
Before long, under the guidance of the PDF forces stationed there, the convoy parked under camouflage nets in the dense forest. Zhang Ge left Yixis in the vehicle, while he and Dominika disembarked to undergo further identity verification, heading towards the command center.
After traversing through the dense forest, they arrived at the edge of a glistening lake. Here, there was a small archway-like passageway that appeared to lead to the lake's depths, but there were no visible barriers to stop the water, suggesting it had been forcefully pushed aside by a repulsion field generator. It was genuinely impressive, as it spared a lot of effort compared to traditional excavation.
The officer leading the way guided both of them into the narrow underwater passage. At the deepest point in the lake's center, surrounded by murky water, there stood a lock gate reinforced with ceramite.
After passing through multiple identity checks, including biometric verification, the gate slowly opened. Surrounding the vertical ceramite passage, several endless ladders appeared.
Climbing down the ladders, they arrived inside the command post. Guards in shell armor were stationed at various critical points, and numerous mid-ranking and high-ranking officers moved about, relaying orders on paper to be sent out.
Upon reaching this location, Zhang Ge addressed an officer at the front, saying, "Is Officer Amelia here?"
"Follow me."
It was evidently much more efficient to negotiate through Amelia than to seek out a commander he had never met.
Inside the command post, they turned around several corners until they arrived at a room marked with a cross over the entrance.
Upon entering, Zhang Ge found not only Amelia inside but also other Battle Sisters, including Sister Heloise. Their numbers appeared temporarily unchanged, but they clearly looked exhausted.
Seeing Zhang Ge arrive, Amelia, standing next to a long table in the center of the room, showed no surprise. She willingly stepped aside to make room. Once Zhang Ge approached, she pointed to a red-boxed area on the parchment map in front of them:
"This area marks the enemy's defensive zone directly in front of our position. There are over forty thousand Corrupted present, most of whom are tainted civilians—servants, slaves, and the like. Only about a quarter of them have actual combat capability, primarily consisting of cultists and the personal soldiers of traitor nobles."
To gather over thirty thousand servants around here, one must arrange for at least four or five dozen individuals to help get out of bed each morning. Given this density, the total number of household servants across the entire spire could be in the millions.
"This is very useful information. Now, hypothetically, if we needed to move a convoy of over a hundred people through this defensive zone, what would your advice be?"
"Hypothetical?"
"Yeah... not entirely hypothetical, to be honest."
"You're one of them?"
"... You could say that."
Upon hearing this response, Sister Heloise, who had been focused on other parts of the map, couldn't help but glance over.
Over a hundred people were too few to form a battle-capable force yet too many to remain hidden. Rarely would a mission require a contingent of this size.
But, as before, unless Zhang Ge made a blatantly obvious mistake, Amelia wouldn't question his decisions. After a moment of consideration, she said, "We are unaware of the weaknesses in their defenses. Therefore, if we are to pass through with such a sized force, we must find a way to forcibly create a breach, and we cannot guarantee the safety of the convoy after inserting them through that breach... If the counter-offensive plan could be advanced, it might be possible. Come, I'll take you to meet the noble responsible for this area."
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