Chapter 254: Tatsumi Captured

"Lingyun, it's bad, something has happened!" Lingyun was in his room researching the changes in his own body when Leone suddenly pushed the door open and barged in.

Lingyun flicked his right hand, and the light in his palm instantly dissipated.

"What happened, Leone?"

"Tatsumi and Lubbock have been captured by the Empire!" Leone said.

"The Empire? Didn't they not know the identities of the Night Raid members?" Lingyun asked with some confusion.

"It's all because of that idiot Lubbock." Whenever this matter was mentioned, Leone looked indignant. "She was identified as a member of Night Raid by the last survivor of the Rakshasa Demons. Although she killed them after a bitter struggle, she transmitted this information before dying, and Lubbock didn't even notice."

"Is that so? But with their strength, the difficulty of escaping from the Imperial Army shouldn't be that high, right!" Lingyun said.

"If it were a normal army, of course there would be no problem, but the ones who took action this time are not ordinary people. That guy Syura used some unknown method to persuade the Empire's Great General Budo to lead his own Imperial Guard to take action. Facing the triple siege of the Imperial Guard, the Wild Hunt, and Great General Budo, both Tatsumi and Lubbock were seriously injured and captured alive!" Leone's expression was somewhat grim.

"Besides that, is there any other information?" Lingyun asked.

"The Empire has announced that they will publicly execute the two of them in the largest plaza in the Imperial Capital in three days, to let everyone witness the majesty of the Empire and the fate of those who dare to resist it!" Leone said.

"Hmm, this is a troublesome matter! By the way, Najenda should be back by now, right? What are her thoughts?" Lingyun asked.

"Najenda hopes that you can help us rescue Tatsumi and the other, and at the same time test the strength of Great General Budo!" Leone said.

"Great General Budo, is it?" A glimmer of interest flashed in Lingyun's eyes. "Very well, it just so happens that I also want to meet this long-renowned Great General of the Empire! As for the specific action plan, let's go to your base and discuss it properly!"

Night Raid Base.

All the members of Night Raid were sitting in front of a table waiting for something. Najenda was smoking without saying a word, looking somewhat grim. That was to be expected; having just returned from the Revolutionary Army headquarters, only to run into this kind of situation, it was unlikely anyone would be in a good mood.

"Najenda, I'm here!" Lingyun appeared quietly in the room with Leone.

Seeing Lingyun arrive, Najenda's expression softened slightly, and she stood up, saying: "I'm really troubling you, having to come over at a time like this!"

"It's fine. Tell me first, what is your plan now?" Lingyun sat down on a chair.

"This is the first time the Empire has captured members of Night Raid, so they will definitely take it very seriously. Therefore, they will certainly deploy heavy troops around the Execution Ground. As long as we go to rescue them, they will be able to wipe us all out." Najenda's expression was very serious.

"According to the intelligence gathered by our scouts, those deploying defenses around the Execution Ground will likely include Great General Budo and his subordinate Imperial Guard, the Wild Hunt, and the Jaegers. These guys are not easy to deal with! Moreover, to prevent us from entering the battlefield via air assault, there will be artificially raised Danger Beasts patrolling the skies. All in all, the battle situation this time will likely be extremely severe!"

"It is indeed a heavy line of defense. Now it seems that breaking through from the sky is probably the best choice!" Lingyun nodded slightly.

"But right now I only have one Special Grade Danger Beast, the Sky Manta. With its strength, I'm afraid it won't be able to break through the defensive line formed by the enemy's Danger Beasts in the sky!" Najenda said.

"Leave this matter to me!" Lingyun said.

"Now let's discuss how to deal with the enemy's experts. As for those armies, for us, it shouldn't make much of a difference whether they are there or not!" Najenda said.

"Hmm, you don't need to worry about Esdeath. I will have Luo Yexi fight her; in any case, the two of them have long wanted to cross swords again! As for the remaining four members of the Jaegers, they will be held off by Akame, Bulat, and Sheele. Mine and Sayo will act as snipers to provide support from the perimeter!" Lingyun said.

"Then what about the remaining Wild Hunt and Great General Budo?" Najenda asked.

"I will take on Great General Budo myself. I have long wanted to witness the style of this Great General who is considered the strongest in the Empire! As for the remaining Wild Hunt, Lingqi and the rest of you will tangle with them." Lingyun said. "The goal of our operation this time is to save people, not to slaughter. After rescuing Tatsumi and the other, we must evacuate at the fastest possible speed!"

"The evacuation route is also a problem. If they follow us back to the base, that would be troublesome!" Najenda said with a frown.

"For the evacuation, let's split into two groups: one part will evacuate from the sky, and one part will evacuate from underground." Lingyun said. "We will evacuate from the sky to attract the enemy's attention, and then let Tatsumi and the others evacuate from underground. That will be relatively safer!"

"Underground?"

"I will prepare an underground tunnel for the evacuation. This tunnel will lead directly to the Execution Ground, and the other exit will be outside the Imperial Capital. Once we destroy the tunnel during the evacuation, even if they discover the tunnel entrance, they shouldn't be able to track us down in a short time!" Lingyun said.

"Digging a tunnel from outside the Imperial Capital to the Execution Ground in three days—is that possible?" Najenda frowned. "And won't the commotion be too big? If it alerts the enemy, then things will be hard to handle!"

"Since I proposed this method, I have ten-tenths of certainty." Lingyun said. "Three days from now, I will come here again, and you will know then!"

"By the way, how are things going with the Revolutionary Army?" Lingyun suddenly asked.

Najenda pinched the bridge of her nose: "Although I encountered some resistance, there are still more people in the Revolutionary Army who are fighting for the liberation of the people. After experiencing some setbacks, we finally managed to clear out those parasites. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for this. If it weren't for your information, I wouldn't have known there were so many parasites in the Revolutionary Army!"

"Parasites in the Revolutionary Army?" Bulat looked at Najenda in surprise.

"Let's talk about this later. The most important thing now is to prepare for rescuing Tatsumi and the other in three days!" Najenda did not want to waste time on this issue.

Bulat also understood the meaning in Najenda's words and nodded silently.

"I'll head back to prepare. Farewell!" Lingyun said to Najenda, then left the Night Raid Base.

Watching Lingyun's departing back, Bulat said to Najenda: "BOSS, do you think this person can really find a way for us to break into the Execution Ground from the air?"

"Rest assured, Master has a Special Grade Danger Beast, the Heavenly Dragon, as a mount. Breaking into the Execution Ground is not a problem." Akame said. "The only thing is, how will we manage to let Tatsumi and the others evacuate quietly from underground!"

Najenda's gaze shifted, then landed on a Teigu: "Hmm, I think I've found a way!"