The First Order

Chapter 460 Proxy murder

The explosive power and destructive range of these Explosive Poker cards were a dozen times greater than those of a grenade!

It would be great if a grenade thrown into a defensive position could blow up a few people. So if Ren Xiaosu still had to rely on his grenades here, he would probably get shot to death first in a confrontation with the defensive line.

Ren Xiaosu had been keeping these four “sixes” as his trump card for a long time. He had always decried how difficult it was to get the higher value cards from Explosive Poker. He had been looking forward to witnessing the might of the Jokers. However, gathering four “sixes” proved to be the limit after he tried collecting the cards for a long time.

In that instant, a huge shockwave surged outwards like a tidal wave. Some of the residents in the surrounding were secretly watching from their homes. But when that shockwave swept through, the people hiding behind their windows were pushed backwards.

The glass windows of the off-road vehicle Zong Cheng was in were instantly shattered while the body shook nonstop.

He heard a ringing in his ears and suddenly lost his sense of hearing!

Looking at the Zong Consortium’s defensive position burning up in flames in front of him, Ren Xiaosu rammed straight through it, sneering as he stood in the cab unit.

The Explosive Poker’s four “sixes” were powerful enough to destroy this formation of a few hundred people.

Ren Xiaosu estimated that a little less than half of the soldiers at this position were fortunate enough to not die. But what could they do even if they survived? These Zong Consortium soldiers had already lost their fighting spirit after the blast.

They did not even have the ability to think straight anymore.

Zong Cheng’s ears were still ringing as he stepped on the gas and continued to escape. Fortunately, he was pretty far away from the defensive line when the blast occurred, or he would have died in the explosion.

Ren Xiaosu had tried to use the Shadow Door to kill Zong Cheng by dropping some grenades on him. However, as the two of them were moving at high speeds, and with the Shadow Door having some margin of error as well, Ren Xiaosu did not manage to succeed even after several attempts.

But Ren Xiaosu gave up trying when he noticed the situation at Zijing Road and wondered where Zong Cheng would lead him in the course of his escape.

It was not that he was intentionally teasing Zong Cheng. But if he were to only kill him, that would probably have too small an impact on the overall situation of the war.

Ren Xiaosu’s reason for coming to Stronghold 146 was to resolve the problem Fortress 178 was facing. He was unaware that the Zong Consortium troops in the Gobi had already been intercepted by Xu Xianchu, nor did he know about the might of Zhang Jinglin’s contingency plan.

So now that Ren Xiaosu was in enemy territory, he decided he had to seriously consider the big picture as well after he had calmed down.

Where could Zong Cheng escape to in his panic? Where would the Zong Consortium’s fighting forces in Stronghold 146 be concentrated? At the side of the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups, of course!

Zheng Yuandong had told Ren Xiaosu before that half of the brigade at Stronghold 146 was trying to capture him while the other half was in charge of guarding the Zong Consortium’s Board members.

At this moment, the soldiers searching for Ren Xiaosu were still scattered across the stronghold, so Zong Cheng could not organize them effectively within a short time. Therefore, in Zong Cheng’s eyes, it would only be possible for him to be saved by the troops who were currently guarding the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups.

Actually, Zong Cheng had just realized this as he was fleeing from Ren Xiaosu. Looking into the rearview mirror, he found that the steam locomotive behind him was constantly keeping its distance. In a way, it felt like Ren Xiaosu was walking a dog.

He had planned on leading Ren Xiaosu to a place with the largest number of troops so they could wear him down. But now, it felt more like he was leading Ren Xiaosu to attack the Zong Consortium troops in the stronghold.

Zong Cheng’s face was covered in blood. His scalp had been cut by shrapnel that got blasted out of the massive explosion. With the blood flowing down his face, Zong Cheng appeared even more savage.

He was not stupid, so he immediately understood the scattered defensive forces had given Ren Xiaosu a sweet taste of things to come. Now, his opponent was deliberately letting him lead the way so he could find the other troops in the stronghold, which was where the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups were!

Zong Cheng was stuck between a rock and a hard place. While he watched the steam locomotive in the rearview mirror, he considered whether he should continue heading to where the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups were. If he led Ren Xiaosu there and dragged in the Board members, he would probably bear the consequences after the war.

But Zong Cheng got the thought, ‘But where else can I go now?’ Although the Board members’ residences were at three separate locations, and even though some of them were elders from the same family branch as him, what choice did he have?

He could only head to where the elders of the Board were. After all, their troops were more elite and orderly.

Zong Cheng was struck by another thought. Since there were more than 2,000 soldiers in the defensive forces guarding the elders, that should be more than enough to stretch Ren Xiaosu’s mental strength to the limit, right?

In fact, Zong Cheng was not wrong to think this way. From any normal person’s point of view, there should be limits to a supernatural being’s power no matter how ferocious they were. Moreover, Ren Xiaosu had just been chased around by the search party in the stronghold. If he was really as powerful as a god, why would he have needed to hide from his pursuers?

In reality, the Zong Consortium had committed a strategic mistake tonight. They did not expect that Ren Xiaosu would actually head to the Zong Consortium’s base. Due to the search party being scattered across the stronghold, Ren Xiaosu had gained the upper hand there. Furthermore, the Zong Consortium made another mistake, which was Zong Cheng misjudging Ren Xiaosu’s mental strength.

He thought he could completely wear down Ren Xiaosu by having an overwhelming number of people on his side. But actually, not even Ren Xiaosu knew the limits of his mental strength.

Zong Cheng calmed down a little. Since he had judged that Ren Xiaosu would soon get stretched to his limits, he could probably make an issue out of this matter to boost himself.

Although the crisis was imminent, politicking could still turn bad happenings into good outcomes.

He only needed to lead Ren Xiaosu to the territory of the other two Zong Consortium factions. On the one hand, he could wear down Ren Xiaosu with the number of troops standing guard there, and on the other hand, he could dispose of his dissidents with Ren Xiaosu’s “help”!

As a matter of fact, it was not always smooth sailing for him and Zong Xiang in the Zong Consortium. That was because the Zong Consortium’s third and fourth houses had joined forces to fight against their main branch, which was the most authoritative in the organization.

As there were still more than a 1,000 soldiers combined under those two family branches, they should be more than enough to wear Ren Xiaosu down in two separate battles. After that, his main branch would swoop in and clear up the mess before he opened up peace talks with Fortress 178. In that way, not only would the influence of his main branch not decrease, it might even grow stronger. Then, after a few years of rebuilding, he could make a comeback!

When he thought of this, Zong Cheng yanked on the steering wheel and drove in another direction.

The pursuit had been going on for almost an hour. Zong Cheng was speeding to the third house’s territory with Ren Xiaosu chasing him. The troops outside of the third ancillary branch’s manor had already set up Czech hedgehogs to stop any vehicles from entering. They also had guards standing by with heavy weapons in waiting.

When Zong Cheng was about to arrive at the manor, he shouted on the radio, “Move the hedgehogs away and let me through!”

The soldiers were somewhat hesitant, but Zong Cheng yelled again, “I’m Zong Cheng, Commander of the 107th Combat Brigade. I’m ordering all of you to move the hedgehogs away right now and prepare to face the enemy!”

Although the troops guarding outside the third ancillary branch’s manor were also under the 107th Combat Brigade, they were mainly responsible for protecting the manor. As the battalion commander was the eldest son of the third ancillary branch, he didn’t really heed Zong Cheng’s orders.

An officer just stared at Zong Cheng from the forward position as the off-road vehicle approached. However, it did not look like he would be stepping aside. He did not have any intention of letting Zong Cheng through.