Chapter 411: Only My Unique Method Chapter 411: The Knight Order (4)

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Chen Yi

On the third day after 335 Mexicans were sent to West River Water Fortress, Yin Senyong also led the Yin Sen clan members back to West River Water Fortress.

Yu Weichao had received notice early on and dispatched Li Changning to welcome them. Among the early trainees of the water fortress, Li Changning was the most quick-witted and adaptable, with extremely high emotional intelligence. Later trainees might surpass him, but to reach his position within a few years was unthinkable. So Li Changning handled many duties, including Foreign Minister and Office Director; his direct authority was not great, but his indirect influence was not small.

Yin Senyong, Yin Senjin, Yin Senlie, Yin Senchen, and Yin Sen Guan appeared before Li Changning, riding respectively on Saber-toothed Beasts, Sharp-toothed Beasts, and an Earth Dragon.

The most eye-catching was naturally the Earth Dragon. It stood 13 meters tall, and counting its thick, ox-like tail, its length reached 21 meters. Its breed differed slightly from the Earth Dragons of the Saint Qiao Kingdom, but it likewise possessed a fine set of teeth — formidable, protruding, with a somewhat protruding lower jaw like a caiman's. In terms of body proportions, the Earth Dragon had a short torso and long legs, so it did not hug the ground like a crocodile; its broad paws hinted at considerable speed.

Yin Senyong held a 20-meter-long, silver-gleaming war spear, looking as formidable as a descending celestial deity. He saw Li Changning and West River Water Fortress's useless walls, then with a sharp *pa* sound, hooked the leveled spear onto the hook at his thigh. Then he let out a hearty laugh and said jokingly: "The journey was arduous; I took two rifle bullets. You'd say those Hunter Villagers have nerve — they dared shoot even at the sight of an Earth Dragon."

"So this is a dragon." Li Changning looked up in admiration, not worried in the slightest that they might get hurt. The West Continent's martial arts halls had started classes on schedule, and for trainees below Body Technique Level 8, they would also introduce Combat Knights; by now they all knew of Yin Senyong's prowess.

"Show Lord Li your teeth." Yin Senyong patted the Earth Dragon's head. The beast immediately bared its teeth, each over a meter long.

"So neat." Li Changning's own mount beast went limp on the spot, its belly soaking in a puddle of loose feces; it was clearly finished as a mount.

"An adult Earth Dragon, a gift from the clan chief. Back in the clan, servants brushed its teeth daily; after I left, the Earth Dragon stayed in the water fortress. You'll need to find a few people to look after it for me."

"No problem." Finance and logistics both fell under Jin Douna's management; the former she handled personally with a few selected trainees, the latter was partly entrusted to Li Changning.

With the biggest issue resolved, Yin Senyong raised his war spear high again and laughed loudly in thanks: "Your mount beast is done for; come ride with me."

Li Changning agreed, and Yin Senyong used the spear tip to lift him up beside himself, introducing: "The spear and dragon saddle were both divine artifacts forged by the clan in earlier years; they can pierce magic-enhanced dragon hide — a true Dragon Spear."

Li Changning's shoulders twitched awkwardly as he gave his assessment: "Very cool."

Amid laughter, Yin Senyong stomped on the dragon hide, and the Earth Dragon immediately broke into a gallop.

Yin Senjin and the others followed closely, like Knight Attendants. They had once been higher-ranked Combat Knights than Yin Senyong, but the Yin Sen clan was strictly hierarchical; even childhood friends, if their rank didn't rise, had to brush the dragon's teeth or kneel to Combat Knights — there was absolutely no leeway.

Yin Senyong was not the Yin Sen clan's only Divine Art Knight, but like his experience, those who successfully advanced to Divine Art Knight would not stay in a single clan; they would strive and battle in broader realms, thereby indirectly bringing benefits to the clan. The clan, in turn, provided him with every possible support — money, manpower, and equipment like Earth Dragons and Dragon Spears. This was an investment with high returns but a very long payback period, suited to slow-developing feudal societies, yet almost impossible in modern societies obsessed with quick results.

"The Lord left not long ago; we'll have to wait a few days." Atop the Earth Dragon's spine, feeling almost no jolting, Li Changning gradually calmed his mood.

"Truly bad timing; hope there's still time." Yin Senyong was quite responsible; he spoke a few words to Yin Senjin and Yin Senlie in their hometown dialect, then in the Continent's common tongue: "Since we've come to West River Water Fortress, we are now West River Water Fortress people. Starting today, we work for West River Water Fortress. You assign them tasks. The ones riding Saber-toothed Beasts are Yin Senjin and Yin Sen Guan; the other two are Yin Senlie and Yin Senchen, both members of the Yin Sen clan."

Li Changning bowed in greeting and asked with a smile: "How close is the relation?"

"Aside from full siblings, we don't distinguish degrees of kinship."

"Alright then, let's go eat first, after the dust of travel……"

"We're not eating. Where's your current defensive focus? After paying respects to Lord Yu Weichao, we're heading to the battlefield." Yin Senyong's mind was clear; his and his clan members' goal was Divine Art Knight. Eating and drinking in West River Water Fortress was nothing compared to tempering themselves on the battlefield, which would also leave a good impression on the Lord.

The Earth Dragon halted before West River Water Fortress's city gate, drawing countless onlookers.

Even among locals, few had ever seen an Earth Dragon — it was the standard mount of a Divine Art Knight; ordinary Temple Knights had no qualification to ride one; the Earth Dragon would throw them off.

The heavy machine gun muzzles in the various fortifications swiveled, unconsciously adjusting their sights to the city gate position; a giant beast taller than the city walls truly made humans feel threatened by their own smallness.

Yu Weichao received the Yin Sen clan members like a village cadre, a pipe clenched in his teeth.

The pipe was his latest toy; it made Yu Weichao, with his scholarly, honest face, appear more mature, giving him a bit of a leader's bearing — even if just a village leader.

"Please assign us to the most dangerous place." Yin Senyong requested solemnly.

Yu Weichao solemnly removed his pipe and said: "The most dangerous place is too dangerous."

"Please assign us there." The Yin Sen clan members demanded in unison.

Yu Weichao agreed with tears of emotion in his eyes.

This is the front-page headline description from this week's native-oriented newspaper *Xiji Truth Newspaper*, "Our Water Fortress Is Like the Sun," written and edited by the same person — 8th-term trainee Li Xiaohong. She was also the host when the West Defense Yici Medal was awarded.

In West River Water Fortress, where high-level literary talent was scarce, 8th-term trainee Li Xiaohong, holder of the "West Defense Yici" Medal, occupied a very advantageous position; publishing the newspaper was her best way to expand influence. Although much obviously plagiarized content made the Earth-born teachers cringe, one had to admit Li Xiaohong was the biggest threat to Li Changning's command of the propaganda system.

Leaving propaganda aside, Divine Art Knight "Yin Senyong" was overall proactive; that very night he led his clan members to the current war defense focus — Shenqi Mountain. Precisely, the 5 kilometers of swamp scrubland between the Ring Ma Highway and Shenqi Mountain.

To mine Shenqi Mountain's iron ore, especially to solve the transport problem, West River Water Fortress had to extend the highway to the foot of Shenqi Mountain. In their conception, this seemed a simple matter; back then Sun Ruihe's tank company had managed to traverse this terrible road with bulldozers' help. However, when construction machinery roared on the road, attempting to fill and build a proper highway, large numbers of monsters appeared.

Yes, monsters!

On Earth, the main threats when filling swamps are accursed mosquitoes and filthy water. But on the West Continent, mosquito-like bloodsucking insects weigh two kilograms; bold fellows even roast and eat them for dinner — obviously, killing them requires extremely dense bullet fire.

In the mouths of many young trainees, the dozens or hundreds of insect species in the dense forest swarmed endlessly like a bug race, and were unspeakably hideous.

This was a new problem West River Water Fortress faced. Previously, building camps and roads near Malacheng never penetrated the dense forest's core; "Shenqi Mountain" drove them to challenge the West Continent's nature…… General machine guns stored in warehouses were brought out again; dangerous flame throwers were strapped onto brave trainees' backs; "Jiangning people" risked being kissed by insect mouthparts, working tirelessly on the construction site — half a year ago, Earth people would never take such risks; they would wait until better equipment or methods appeared.

Yet half a year later, the water fortress trainees had quietly gained the awareness and recognition of "our land."

This awareness had clearly infected Yin Senyong as well.

When he personally witnessed trainees on the construction site calmly driving excavators despite attacks by green, oily insects…… when he personally witnessed armored vehicles flipped by Sharp-toothed Jiao, trainees crawling back up and counterattacking with automatic rifles…… when he personally witnessed trainees drinking purified water, eating monster meat, chatting and laughing freely…… his pulse also throbbed powerfully.

As if a newborn world were calling to him.

"Purification Jungle War" — this was the new name the Rhombus Conference Hall gave the iron mining area construction task. It lacked environmentalist values and artistic aesthetics, but received enthusiastic response from trainees, because a formal name meant the battle's end might bring new collective medals — the trainees' favorite thing, second only to hard cash banknotes.

For this, West River Water Fortress expanded an Armored Car Indigenous Company and an Armored Tank Mixed Company, adding 12 armored cars, 2 tanks, and 4 tracked armored vehicles — M113 Armored Personnel Carriers purchased from East Germany's Mordor, the most widely produced Western tracked armored vehicle, with nearly 80,000 built worldwide. West River Water Fortress used them to defend against all kinds of monster attacks.

The M113 has 30 cm thick aluminum alloy steel plate, roughly equivalent to 10 cm thick armor steel plate in protective power — designed against bullet penetration, but in actual use, against impacts from wild beasts like Saber-toothed Beasts, it displayed protective power far superior to armor steel plate, so it was adopted in large numbers in the new wave of military expansion.

Sun Ruihe's authority thereby increased greatly; he quietly commanded a Type 59 Tank Company, an Armored Tank Mixed Company, and an Armored Car Indigenous Company — 8 medium tanks, 4 tracked armored vehicles, and 15 armored cars total; the three companies' combined strength exceeded 250, already equivalent to a battalion's establishment.

She Lei and Li Feng actually both wanted to vie for this battalion, but they lacked the ability to train tank crews, and didn't even know how to command tank warfare, so they could only let Sun Ruihe draw ever closer to the Rhombus Conference Hall.

Dawn.

Dew slid down from 30-meter-high fern trees, leisurely as if on a slide.

A burst of flame suddenly vaporized it.

Burning became the optimal choice for clearing a 3-kilometer-wide non-primary-forest zone to be opened by the "Purification Jungle War."

The Mexicans who had once been scared stiff driving excavators under green insect attacks now howled excitedly; they had long wanted to transform the primeval forest into good soil suitable for cactus survival.

……(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to vote recommendation tickets and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)