Chapter 408: Emergency Assembly

"Oh oh, okay!"

Zheng Xinyu hurriedly pulled out a walkie-talkie from her waist pouch upon hearing Zhang Su's words, never questioning how he could have seen the vehicles in Beidong Town—though even if she had thought of it, there was no time for such questions in this emergency.

"Hello hello hello! Xiaoshan, Xiao and I have spotted at least four vehicles heading north through Beidong Town, repeat, at least..."

"Received!"

Zhong Xiaoshan, who had been writing at her desk, replied instantly, then switched frequencies and immediately alerted everyone on Tianma Island; soon the entire island buzzed with activity.

Four vehicles didn't sound like much, but coming under cover of night, they certainly had ill intentions—this demanded serious attention!

Yu Wen, who had only lain down five minutes earlier, sprang to his feet, snatched up the neatly folded pants on the nightstand, pulled them on, and while organizing his gear, kept his walkie-talkie in hand to assign tasks to others in the camp.

Wu Lue and Liu Tianji, just returned from the mountain stream to their workshop to resume building remote ignition devices, tensed up and exchanged glances with Yu Qing and Zhao De. The four of them rushed out the door and sprinted toward their own cabins—none of them had brought weapons or gear on such a late-night outing. "Brother Duan, go! Me and Old Xie are perfectly safe here—hurry!"

The three in the lab were still busy; upon hearing the message, Fu Weijun ordered Duan Wu to head to the assembly point.

Yi Xiaoling said the same thing, sitting on her bed with a book in hand: "I'm perfectly safe here, Xiaoju, go join the assembly—be careful!"

Ju Wuying nodded reluctantly, repeatedly instructing Yi Xiaoling to stay inside and not leave the room, then tightened her belt and leapt straight down from the second floor, vaulted over the wall, her movements light and fluid, utterly without hesitation—her gear was the simplest: still just that thin steel rod.

Unlike Tianma Island, where figures bustled everywhere, Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu hid beneath a dirt embankment beside the road, the electric scooter leaning against the slope, two pairs of eyes fixed on the highway—under the cover of night, even if the vehicles had their headlights on, they'd still be nearly impossible to spot.

"Brother Su, this is so thrilling... oh no, I only brought one magazine—what if I run out of bullets?"

Zheng Xinyu's sly eyes stared into the darkness ahead, whispering to Zhang Su.

"You're way too careless—going on a mission without enough ammo? Are you trying to be a clown?"

Zhang Su patted the row of magazines on his tactical belt and scolded Zheng Xinyu.

"But I brought a grenade, hehe."

Smiling, Zheng Xinyu handed the grenade she'd pulled from her closet to Zhang Su.

Zhang Su's lips twitched: "Fine, I won't scold you this time—but next time, remember to bring full gear."

"Oh..." Zheng Xinyu pouted, then added: "Why haven't they arrived yet? Should we just toss the grenade and blow them up?"

"Give it to me—I've adjusted to the darkness, I can see clearly."

Zhang Su had brought a grenade himself, mainly fearing Zheng Xinyu might misaim and waste it.

Zheng Xinyu handed the grenade to Zhang Su without hesitation, then fell silent.

They waited five minutes—the highway remained utterly still—then the walkie-talkie crackled.

"All Tianma Island personnel assembled and ready for combat—please give your orders, Mr. Zhang!"

Yu Wen's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"The enemy hasn't exited Beidong Town—after driving down the mountain onto the makeshift road, turn right fifty meters and await further instructions!"

Zhang Su paused for about five seconds, then replied: four vehicles—no matter what demons or monsters they were, they'd be caught in one net.

"Received! All personnel follow Mr. Zhang's orders—move out!"

Yu Wen transmitted his message through the walkie-talkie as well.

"You're planning to... kill them all?"

Zheng Xinyu, hearing Zhang Su's order, immediately understood his intent—her heart thudded.

"Whether they live or die depends on the situation. If I'm right, they're from the Survivor Alliance—living people are more valuable than dead ones; corpses can't provide information."

Zhang Su kept his eyes locked on the town entrance as he answered.

Two more minutes passed—the highway still showed no movement—but seven or eight vehicles descended from Tianma Island, even including a cargo truck carrying Lingling-03!

"This doesn't add up—do those guys plan to rest in Beidong Town?"

Zhang Su brushed aside the dry grass beside him, stood up, and stared toward Beidong Town—no vehicles in sight, everything normal. Logically, that bumpy stretch was only about two hundred meters—no matter how slow, it should've taken no more than three or five minutes to cross.

"Uh... you didn't just missee something, did you? That'd be hilarious..." Zheng Xinyu stood up too, wiped the dust from her face. The thought of the entire camp being mobilized over a false report made her uneasy—if the intel was wrong, the embarrassment would be enormous, especially since the intel came from the leader—double embarrassment!

Zhang Su firmly shook his head: "I didn't missee anything. Four vehicles—one of them... I won't be wrong."

He'd clearly recognized two of the vehicle models, but had no need to elaborate.

"So what's going on now? What do we do?"

Zheng Xinyu stood with one hand on her hip, cheeks puffed out, utterly clueless about what to do next.

Zhang Su had excellent hearing, but even the best hearing couldn't pick up arguments among four vehicles three kilometers away.

"It's already unreasonable to send us out at night for reconnaissance—now you want to sneak into Tianma Island and capture people? This is nonsense!"

The driver's window of a vehicle packed with Civilization Protectors rolled down, and a sharp-eyed man spoke with clear displeasure.

"The Civilization Protectors are right—this whole route is dead silent, not a single light anywhere. If Tianma Island is the only survivor group in this region, they'll be on high alert at night—charging in blindly is suicide!"

The Tianqi Group agreed: they'd only agreed to reconnaissance, to wait for an opportunity to capture—now someone was suggesting a direct raid? Absolute nonsense.

"Hehe, even though we're only three from the Little Hawk Clan, we're not afraid of Tianma Island or Earthma Island—you're definitely the kind of soldiers that cowardly Yang trained—also cowards!"

"What the hell are you three bastards saying? If you keep yapping, I'll make sure you don't go back!"

Hearing the Little Hawk Clan's taunts, the Tianqi Group refused to back down—some even raised their rifles, ready to fight at the slightest provocation. They were cautious, yes, but not afraid of three Little Hawk Clan members.

"Everyone, quiet!"

A deep, heavy voice rang out from the lead Land Cruiser. A man with a cold, expressionless face pushed his night-vision goggles up onto his forehead and spoke firmly.

"I only mentioned it as a suggestion—no internal conflict while on mission. Since the Civilization Protectors and Tianqi Group oppose a night raid on Tianma Island, we'll rest here in town and decide what to do at dawn!"

This man was the one who'd originally proposed the night raid; seeing the strong opposition, he dropped it.

"Fine. But honestly, Tianma Island doesn't look like much—it's only six or seven kilometers away, a key town on any route, yet not even a single sentry post? Ridiculous. Since we're resting here, let's pick a good spot..."

The Little Hawk Clan member shook his head, pulled off his issued night-vision goggles, hung them around his neck, and stomped the accelerator toward a roadside shop.

Seeing the direction the Little Hawk Clan took, the Tianqi Group snorted, turned their vehicles around, and parked across the street—their stance was clear: they didn't want to be near the Little Hawk Clan.

The Survivor Alliance's leader was the Captain of the Guard—an elite figure within the Alliance, normally answering only to Liao Youzhi, and giving a little respect to Gong Chengming. Now, seeing his companions stubbornly refuse to cooperate, he was furious—but showed no sign of it. He turned to the Civilization Protectors and said:

"Brother Wu, you're a reasonable man—I think we shouldn't split up for the night. Staying together and taking turns on watch is safer. Why not all go over there?"

Captain Wu Baokang pointed toward the direction the Tianqi Group had gone.

Wu Daqiang of the Civilization Protectors was no fool. Though he'd disagreed with Wu Baokang on the night raid plan, he separated the issue from the person—he fully agreed with this suggestion and nodded: "We should rest together, but first hide the vehicles—someone on night patrol might spot them and cause unnecessary trouble."

Wu Baokang silently nodded—Wu Daqiang's thinking was far more meticulous than the Little Hawk Clan or Tianqi Group's. This was worth noting.

His mission wasn't just to investigate Tianma Island—he also had to observe and analyze the other three factions, because Liao Youzhi's ambition was to absorb every faction in the north! "Brother Liu, they've all gone across the street..."

On the second floor of a cluttered shop, a Little Hawk Clan member peered out the window, sounding frustrated as he spoke to his team leader.

"Damn it!"

Brother Liu cursed, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, then tossed the pack and lighter to the center of the group: "Fine, go if you want. We're just across the street—if anything happens, do you think we won't have time to respond? A little distance is better—keeps us from seeing those idiot Tianqi guys and getting pissed!"

"Ugh, being sent on this stupid mission is so annoying—we could've been sleeping on a warm kang, but now we're freezing here—what a damn shame!"

The man who'd immediately flopped onto his side muttered complaints, too lazy to care about anything else: "Brother Liu, you really see things clearly—those two groups really didn't want to go, hehe, only you get it!"

"I knew those two groups would refuse—ha! Smart, right? We didn't offend the Survivor Alliance, and we got a free rest—so comfortable!"

Brother Liu spoke proudly of the matter.

Earlier, when Captain Wu Baokang of the Survivor Alliance proposed the night raid, the Little Hawk Clan had been the first to support it—but Brother Liu had seen through it from the start: the Civilization Protectors and Tianqi Group would never agree, and the plan would inevitably be scrapped. That's why he'd acted so enthusiastically.

If he'd misjudged, he still had backup plans—he'd never lose out.

(End of Chapter)