Chapter 620: A Cart Returned

Hajin enlarged Ashley’s encrypted still until the white spiral on the captured wagon’s rear hub became clear to Taren.

Ashley’s synchronized stills pinpointed the exact white spiral painted across the rear wheel hub of the captured freight wagon.

Beside the fire, Taren compared the photographic coordinates with the handwritten transport schedule taken from the mercenary captain.

"The driver said he pulled an empty bed," Taren remarked, tapping the parchment with the tip of his dagger.

"Yet the Earth team calculated three inches of chassis sag across the rear suspension carriage."

"Which means whatever they hauled was anchored beneath the floorboards," Hajin reasoned, looking up from the glowing display.

"Or the wagon itself acted as a counterweight for an underground hoisting mechanism."

He turned toward the civilian teamster sitting nervously on a tree stump by the cookstove.

"Tell me where you unhitched the team after passing the mountain toll house," he requested in an encouraging voice.

"There was an old staging depot carved into the ravine wall," the old teamster answered promptly, eager to cooperate.

"The guards told us to leave the horses in the corral and walk up to the tavern."

"When we came back two hours later, the wagon was parked on the timber ramp, ready for the return journey."

"Take us to that depot," Hajin decided, gesturing for his companions to gather their field packs.

"If the Choral garrison is cycling hardware through that ravine, that is where we cut their logistics cord."

A brisk forty-minute march brought the strike party to the mouth of the sunken canyon, sheltered beneath overhanging granite bluffs.

In the center of the clearing stood a sprawling logistics depot surrounded by palisade walls and watchtowers.

Several flatbed carts rested on timber tracks, while dozens of forged iron restraints lay stacked beside a loading hoist.

Loccy and the twins secured the perimeter, tying up three sleeping yard guards before they could sound an alarm horn.

Hajin stepped onto the timber loading dock, running his fingers along the grooved bronze tracks recessed into the floor.

"No guards on the hoist?" Rumi asked, sniffing a barrel of axle grease with obvious distaste.

"The garrison believed this route was completely invisible to prying eyes," he replied, kneeling to inspect the mechanical linkages.

He opened his dimensional stream inventory to replenish the party’s field provisions and supply the liberated civilian teamsters.

[ Stream store transaction: Routine field lot issued ]

[ 20x staple-food rations purchased: -500 Credits ]

[ 10x field dressing bundles purchased: -200 Credits ]

[ 10x sanitation and comfort packs purchased: -300 Credits ]

[ Total deducted: 1,000 credits | remaining balance: 71,435 credits ]

Crates of fresh meat pies, clean bandages, and thick blankets materialized onto the dock with soft thuds.

"Distribute half of these provisions to the civilian drivers," he instructed Taren, passing over several sealed ration bundles.

"They earned an honest meal and warm blankets for guiding us straight to the enemy’s staging yard."

The elderly teamster accepted the supply bundle with trembling hands, tears glistening in his wrinkled eyes.

"May the heavens bless your generosity, young master," the old man choked out, clutching the hot rations.

"We will take the bypass trail home and speak nothing of this place to anyone!"

While the drivers hurried into the darkness with their supplies, Ferra dismantled the locking collar of a restraint fitting.

"Wait... look at these brass conduits," she called out, holding up a severed clamp for the others to examine.

"Most of these chains are ordinary shipyard hardware, but the inner collars are lined with dormant Choral resonance coils."

"They used these restraints to transport possessed laborers without frying their nervous systems during transit," Vella observed, joining her.

"The moment an unshielded worker touched this metal, the coil suppressed their motor functions and locked their will."

"Can you neutralize the resonance coils before we advance into the cisterns?" Hajin asked, crossing his arms.

"I already cracked the harmonic cipher," Ferra stated with fierce pride, tapping the clamp with her bronze hammer.

"Give me twenty minutes with my portable tongs... and I will render every restraint collar completely inert!"

"Take your time, Ferra—we cannot afford a single stray spark alerting the guard posts below!"

Meanwhile, Loccy knelt near the edge of the timber tracks, peering into the dark opening beneath the platform.

She reached down with both hands, gripping the massive iron crossbeam that anchored the conveyor system to the bedrock.

With a deep grunt of exertion, the rabbit guardian hoisted the entire carriage upward by several inches, examining its base.

"Look down here, summoner!" she yelled, her amber eyes sparkling with sudden discovery.

"This little timber dock is just the tip of a giant iceberg!"

Hajin jogged over to the pit, peering down into the illuminated shaft where colossal hydraulic pistons gleamed in the shadows.

"The loading platform connects directly to a massive underground freight elevator," she explained, gesturing into the depths.

"It runs straight down into the main cistern complex beneath the viaduct foundation!"

"If we drop this elevator down the shaft, we bypass their outer defensive walls entirely!"

"That gives us an unobstructed path directly into the heart of their supply hub," he realized with a wicked grin.

’Dorrak and his hammer crew think they control the approaches above ground.’

’They have no idea we found their subterranean freight line.’

Loccy set the crossbeam back down onto its timber blocks with a thunderous thud that shook the entire dock.

"Give me the blueprint for this loading bed," she demanded, rolling up her sleeves with eager anticipation.

"When we hit the bottom of this shaft, I want to be the first one through the door!"

"You will get your fight," he promised, giving her a firm high-five that stung his palm.

"And when you break through, do not leave a single siege engine standing on the tracks!"

"You know me," she beamed, flexing her muscular arms with pride, "I never leave a good job half-finished!"

High above the ravine, the celestial broadcast screen exploded with deafening cheers and a torrent of celebratory donations.

[ Seoul_Tactician: "THE SEAT OF LOGISTICS EXPOSED! Ashley’s detective work on Earth paid off in gold!" ]

[ StarlightScholar: "Hajin issuing supply kits to civilian drivers like a true gentleman, seventy-one thousand credits still in reserve!" ]

[ IronVanguard: "Loccy just casually bench-pressing a multi-ton elevator carriage, our powerhouse is built different!" ]

[ HearthKeeper: "Dorrak is standing on Loccy’s loading rails. That man picked the worst possible ground!" ]

[ ShadowMage44: "Subterranean assault inbound! The Choral garrison is completely doomed!" ]

Rumi and Nari leaped onto the rail cart, their lynx tails swishing in synchronized motion as they grinned at Hajin.

"We checked the winch cables," the younger twin reported, saluting crisply.

"Everything is lubricated and primed for a rapid descent."

"Are we dropping in hot, summoner?" Rumi asked, flexing her claws with mischievous excitement.

"We drop fast and hit harder than a falling anvil," Hajin answered with a confident grin.

"Loccy takes the front ramp, Taren secures the side doors, and the twins watch our flanks."

"What about you, summoner?" Vella asked, checking the edge of her shadow scalpel.

"I will be right behind her, making sure Dorrak regrets choosing this canyon for his staging yard!"

The strike team took their positions on the carriage, bracing their feet as the iron gears engaged.

Ferra tested the carriage brake with her boot and made everyone touch the emergency release before she allowed the counterweights to move.

"If the platform jams, pull together on my mark," she warned, keeping one hand near the manual stop.

With a deep shudder of shifting counterweights, the platform plunged downward into the subterranean darkness of the cisterns.