Chapter 112: Layer by Layer Revealed

"Is the information confirmed beyond doubt?"

"Of course! my lord, after all these years, when have I ever been wrong? You still don't trust my sources?"

"... Repeat it carefully one more time."

"The honor is mine! That guy called Master Liu Ge, the other Mobile Corps Commander for this Quicksand Squad operation, took over two hundred men to Lord Luo Qi's side. The mine originally responsible for storing the spoils is now poorly defended, with fewer than a hundred trainers left — it's the perfect chance for a raid!"

Hearing the words of the sharp-eared, monkey-cheeked man before him, Jiemate, one of the top officers of the Hound Squad, wore a complicated expression.

The furious roar of another top officer, Luogi, still lingered in his ears—

"You heartless bastards! The boss was captured, not killed! And you want to part ways without doing a thing? Fine! Let me tell you — whatever you won't handle, I will!"

The other swept his sleeves and left, taking nearly the entire squad to Mine No. 2.

Indeed.

As Luogi said, the boss was captured, not killed — but what kind of force was the International Police? Even the mayor of Silicium City wouldn't dare openly oppose them; their power and personnel spanned the entire world.

They were simply not opponents people tucked away in a remote corner like them could resist.

But honestly, after so many years, how could there not be some feeling? In his youth he'd cut off all sentiment, believing profit and strength were supreme and nothing else mattered.

Now that he was old, he felt instead that bonds mattered — they were one of the things holding their status and wealth together.

"Help him one last time."

Jiemate made up his mind, turned and called over a trusted subordinate. "I've got a job for you. Pick two officers to go with you and take two hundred men. Stay hidden and head for the Quicksand Squad's Mine No. 1. Take out the defenders there as fast as possible, blow up everything inside, then get out. Understood?"

"... Understood!"

The trusted subordinate nodded and bowed, didn't even ask how much damage this would cause the Hound Squad, and quickly turned to leave.

Jiemate looked again at the lewd, sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man and said, "If your intel is accurate, you won't be short on reward money. Off you go."

"Yes! my lord!"

The lewd man bowed and scraped his way out.

But the instant he left the office, he suddenly reached up and touched his somewhat misshapen face, and only once his facial muscles returned to normal did he break into a smile.

"Lucky, lucky, what a stroke of luck."

He laughed heartily as he left.

—

"Only five full members?"

All Baimu stared at the female driver, Terri, with some astonishment. "Just five full members, working with drones and Rotom cameras? Isn't that a bit short on hands?"

Lady Ayana's arrangements were passable, at least — she hadn't made the recon squad use the naked eye to scout the enemy. They'd been fully equipped with many life-detecting drones and two Rotom cameras, plus peripheral members to operate the drones.

The key point was the number of full members going out to scout.

Five was really too few — he still had to leave four squad members behind in the mine.

"You know perfectly well how tight manpower is right now. This mine only has a little over ninety full members left. Don't you understand the point of reconnaissance?"

Riceball Reading

Terri shook her head. "If the enemy uses some trick to break through your recon line — uses certain special Pokémon to mislead the drones or the Rotom cameras — wouldn't sending out a lot of full members just be dangerous? So you need both hands on deck, and both hands must be strong."

But five was still a bit much...

All Baimu rubbed his temples. He really felt the danger of scouting this way was extreme, but when Lady Ayana assigned a task, what right did a subordinate have to refuse?

Not a single squad from the Stone Group or the Crystal Group willing to lend support?

What the hell was going on.

"Alright, get ready to move out! The squad ahead of you has already returned. The rotation time for outside recon is only three hours — it'll go by fast, so stop being so wishy-washy!"

Terri gave him a hard slap on the back.

"Fine."

All Baimu had no choice but to leave part of the squad behind, then took four team members and several dozen peripheral members, riding hoverbikes as they headed for the designated location.

Although the female driver wasn't like Furobo, who would personally teach him how to scout, she had still written down the range and key points to note in a booklet and handed it to him.

Normally speaking, doing this much was already far from easy.

Someone like Furobo was the abnormal one.

"Yahoo! I can floor it again!"

Otsuka's voice came from the side, followed by the roar of an engine.

The wide-open wasteland was indeed perfect for flooring the accelerator and enjoying the rush of adrenaline.

After his wounds healed, this guy had bought a single-wheel hoverbike, only just learned to ride it recently — he was right in the honeymoon phase with his hoverbike.

By comparison, Naruhiro and the others, strapped for cash, had no choice but to pool funds and buy three used hoverbikes and one beat-up hover off-road jeep, taking turns driving.

But before All Baimu could scold him, Otsuka voluntarily slowed down on his own.

"Yeah, yeah, the mission comes first, right?"

"At least you're smart."

He looked away.

Not long after.

They arrived at the designated recon point.

All Baimu opened the booklet Terri had given him, and rows upon rows of crooked handwriting immediately met his eyes.

It said that, without slacking off, there were two recon methods—

One: full members take a few peripheral members and drones, are assigned a sector, and after the recon range is set, periodically swap sectors with the others.

The other: full members are responsible for one sector, peripheral members and drones for another, and the two periodically swap sectors.

The slack-off version was the third method — only peripheral members working while the full members did nothing.

All Baimu decisively chose the second.

The first method, although more efficient for reconnaissance — if enemies were spotted they could be reported quickly — dispersing their already thin combat strength was ultimately too dangerous.

There is a limit to what one person can do; he couldn't be responsible for the safety of the outer members and could only look after the people he knew.

Besides, the phrase "as long as Master Qingshan is here, there's no worry about lacking firewood" that Fu Luo Bo had said was still clearly lodged in his mind. The other party didn't know the allusion behind the proverb, but his brain, upon hearing the other's meaning, had automatically translated it into that saying.

All Baimu thought he was absolutely right.

Taking two mines would certainly benefit him as a squad leader, but the reward wasn't worth it compared to his life — why throw himself into the fight for those people at the very top.

He wasn't some young punk who'd been worked up by Fame Fortune Lake.

All Baimu believed he could lay down his life for an ideal, for a bright future, for everything he cherished — but that absolutely did not include the Quicksand Squad, the boss's new house, new car, or even the new sister-in-law.

Before heading out, he had specifically told Chenghong, who was staying behind, to run quickly if something happened and not stupidly stick his neck out.

The Quicksand Squad wasn't worth it.

Chenghong and the others should have taken it to heart.

"Begin reconnaissance!"

Under his command, the group got to work diligently.