Chapter 70: First to Scale

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out in the mountain forest; upon hearing the order, over a hundred inspectors holding Tiger-style rifles raised their weapons and fired.

Several members of the Peace-Seeking Sect on the hillside, holding crude muskets, immediately panicked and turned to flee; two were struck by bullets and fell to the ground at the sound.

Li Fei drew his saber and followed behind the others, unhurriedly running up the hillside.

Looking down from the slope, one could see a mountain stronghold below. In the center of the stronghold stood an altar built of stone, upon which a bizarre pattern was carved using the blood of some unknown animal—it was the sect symbol of the Peace-Seeking Sect.

"Officer, it's here! It's here!"

Liu Asi, who was leading the way, pointed excitedly at the stronghold below.

"Good, well done. You can collect your reward after we return."

Lu Sheng nodded, then turned to look at Wang Ping.

Wang Ping looked down, an expression of excitement appearing on his face:

"I can sense a very strong spell ritual on that altar. A ritual site like this must be used for important sect ceremonies. This should be the headquarters of the Peace-Seeking Sect!"

Destroying a cult headquarters and thereby completely eradicating a cult—such a merit would allow him to obtain enough contribution points to exchange for the implants needed for his Dao foundation.

He was already feeling impatient.

"Attack! Take them alive if possible!"

Wang Ping issued the order.

Lu Sheng turned and called over three squadron leaders:

"The Second Squadron will flank from the left, the Third Squadron from the right, and the First Squadron will charge from the front."

"Yes!"

The three squadron leaders received their orders and left.

As for the students of the Martial Arts Hall, they had already been assigned to various squadrons beforehand and would act alongside them.

Li Fei, Lu Zhangwu, and the others were assigned to the First Squadron, under the direct command of Lu Sheng.

Attacking from the front naturally yielded the greatest merit.

Lu Zhangwu wore a smug expression and whispered to Li Fei and the others:

"Brothers, keep your eyes peeled. Our chance has come."

Soon, the main force charged down the slope and began to assault the stronghold.

The stronghold gate had a wooden wall over three meters high, from which people were firing back with crude muskets and bows.

But the effective range of the crude muskets was only fifty meters; beyond that, the lead pellets would fly off to who knows where.

As for the bows, although their range exceeded one hundred meters, their power was too weak. Unless they hit the hands or feet, they posed no threat to the inspectors and students wearing stab-proof vests and steel helmets.

The inspectors with their Tiger-style rifles fired in volleys, beginning their fire suppression against the enemies on the wooden wall from over two hundred meters away, pinning them down so they couldn't even lift their heads.

Even if a few brave souls dared to pop their heads up to return fire, they were quickly targeted by concentrated fire and shot dead.

The First Battalion, personally trained by Lu Sheng, was the most combat-effective unit in the entire Xingcheng Inspectorate. Their marksmanship and coordination were excellent, and they soon reached a position twenty meters in front of the wooden wall, forcing the people on the wall to stay hidden and resort to "luck-based shooting."

The next step was to breach this wooden wall and storm the stronghold gate.

The group had not brought professional climbing tools, but facing a wooden wall only three meters high, no tools were needed.

"Who among you is willing to charge up, take this section of the wooden wall, and open the stronghold gate for us?"

Lu Sheng turned to look at Lu Zhangwu, Li Fei, and the others, and asked.

For climbing the wall and engaging in close-quarters combat inside the stronghold, the people from the Martial Arts Hall were definitely more useful than the inspectors.

The senior instructors, who possessed the strength of formal martial artists, were naturally the most suitable candidates, but this battle was also an assessment for the students, so Lu Sheng asked Li Fei and the others.

This was a great opportunity. On ancient battlefields, there were three great merits: "beheading the general, capturing the flag, and being the first to scale the wall." The merit of "first to scale" referred to the person who was the first to charge onto the city wall during a siege.

Although this battle could not be considered a siege, the merit of "first to scale" certainly existed. If they could secure it, an 'A-plus' rating for this operation would be essentially guaranteed.

Lu Sheng was giving everyone a chance, or rather, giving his son, Lu Zhangwu, a chance.

"I am willing!"

Lu Zhangwu did not disappoint Lu Sheng and was the first to step forward.

"I am also willing!"

Li Fei was the second to step forward.

Being the first to scale the wall did carry great risk, but he had the Ten Thousand Blood Bead and three times the 'health bar' of an ordinary person, so he was confident in his ability to protect himself.

"I am also willing."

"I am willing."

The remaining dozen or so disciples of the Inspectorate also spoke up one after another.

"Good."

Lu Sheng pointed at Lu Zhangwu and Li Fei. "You two go up first. Once you open the situation, the others will follow immediately."

"Yes!"

Lu Zhangwu was both excited and nervous, while Li Fei was relatively calm.

Lu Sheng briefly explained the tactics to everyone, then said in a deep voice:

"The people inside are either veteran cult members with blood on their hands, or stubborn fanatics brainwashed by the cult who are beyond saving. So, do not hesitate when you encounter the enemy; being merciful to the enemy is being cruel to yourselves and your families!"

"Understood!"

Everyone nodded in unison.

Lu Sheng took one last deep look at Lu Zhangwu, said nothing, and gave a heavy wave of his hand:

"Go!"

He could have actually let Lu Zhangwu go up the wall alone to open the situation, with the others following later, so that the merit of "first to scale" would belong entirely to Lu Zhangwu alone.

But in the end, he was worried there might be unexpected dangers on the wooden wall, so he chose to let Li Fei and Lu Zhangwu go up together.

Letting Lu Zhangwu be the first to scale was the decision of a battalion commander.

Letting Li Fei go along with him was the mercy of a father.

A dozen or so students charged rapidly toward the base of the wooden wall.

"Covering fire!"

Without needing Lu Sheng to order it, the surrounding inspectors began firing at the wooden wall.

With the cover of dozens of guns, Li Fei and the others successfully reached the base of the wooden wall.

The four of them stood under the wall in pairs, hands clasped together to form a boost for climbing.

Li Fei and Lu Zhangwu exchanged a glance, took a few steps back, then sprinted forward. As they neared the wall, they stepped firmly onto their companions' clasped hands.

The four companions pushed upward with all their might, launching Li Fei and Lu Zhangwu into the air.

Li Fei grabbed the edge of the wooden wall with his left hand and pulled himself up, easily vaulting over the wall and landing steadily on the wooden platform behind it.

On the other side, Lu Zhangwu also landed on the platform successfully.

About two meters to Li Fei's left, a person was crouching behind the wall with a crude musket, and not far in front of him was another person holding a bow and arrow.

He immediately made a decision, turning to charge to the left without hesitation, his saber slashing down with force.

Bang!

The opponent instinctively raised the musket to block; a notch was cut into the barrel, and it was knocked to the ground.

Li Fei flicked his wrist and swung the saber upward in a backhand motion.

He had been practicing the saber techniques Hao Yi taught him during this time, and this 'Rolling Thunder' move had almost become a physical instinct.

Swish—

The blade sliced silkily across the opponent's chest.

Blood sprayed out, and the opponent let out a shrill scream.

Before Li Fei could process the feeling of killing someone for the first time in his life, the steel armor implant at the back of his neck suddenly stirred, sensing danger.

Li Fei didn't even think; he immediately crouched down and then spun around, slashing with his saber.

An arrow flew over the top of his head.

It was the enemy with the bow who had seized the chance to fire an arrow at Li Fei, aiming for his unprotected neck.

The opponent was a hunter who had spent years hunting in the mountains and was well-practiced with a bow, which was why he could shoot so quickly and with such high precision.

Li Fei felt a lingering fear, followed by a surge of anger; he leaped forward and slashed the man down to the ground!

Only after the man twitched a few times on the ground and stopped moving did Li Fei realize:

He had killed someone.

(End of chapter)