Section 87: Effort x Destiny

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“Liu An is dead! What happened?”

Zhou Yingxiong bellowed at the soldier who had brought the message. He had fallen back to the rear of the battle line and was just preparing to rest when he received the news.

“He isn’t dead... He fainted.” Despite the officer’s reprimand, the messenger explained himself clearly. “The enemy attacked along several routes earlier, so Lord Liu sent troops to deal with them. He then went up to the watchtower to inspect the enemy’s movements. Nothing happened on the way up, but while he was coming down, an arrow flew in from somewhere and struck him squarely in the chest. Then he fainted...”

Temporary loss of mobility caused by an anesthetic? In any case, it was the work of one of the enemy’s Contractees.

Never mind...

“Give the order. Have Mu Tou and Mu Xie take over command in my place! You must protect them properly. If anything happens again, you’ll all be executed without mercy!”

“Yes, yes...” The soldier bowed repeatedly and hurried away.

Mu Tou fought bravely, but his rank was low. Never mind... The enemy couldn’t break through anyway.

These enemies did not seem to possess much of a will to fight. A few were fierce, but most were timid and hesitant, focusing primarily on protecting themselves. Once their casualties grew even slightly, they withdrew.

When they retreated again this time, it would be possible to begin the counterattack. Yes—use the camp’s terrain and fortifications to inflict the greatest possible damage on them, then, when they lost their morale and began to retreat—

Charge out and rout them! Then...

As he considered the plan, he suddenly smelled smoke.

What was going on?

He turned around.

---

As the four soldiers walked toward the disturbance together, Lank took out a torch, lit it, and prepared to make his move.

But just before he threw the torch into the tent, he suddenly stopped.

Yes. That might not be the truth either. Perhaps Trato had been deceived... Perhaps the orders they had received were forged... They wanted me to live... Wang Luo had always treated us well. He could never have issued such an order...

Countless thoughts, completely opposite to those that had filled his mind before, surged forth like a fountain.

In the distance, the last of the four soldiers suddenly twisted at the waist, blood spraying from his body.

“Ah!”

The soldiers around him cried out and gripped their weapons tightly, looking in every direction. Then another soldier was seized by the ankle and dragged into the earth.

“The enemy! Go and warn everyone!”

One of the soldiers stabbed downward with his blade while shouting. Footsteps sounded in the distance. Apparently, soldiers from elsewhere had heard the commotion and were running toward them.

“Mind Bewitchment! It’s Charles!” another voice shouted. “Ling’er, can you see them?”

“Pointless.”

Lank saw Charles’s figure flicker into view before him, then vanish without a trace. His voice followed.

“If I couldn’t cut off communications and block surveillance, what right would I have to call myself your vice-captain?”

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“You... What exactly are you doing...? The captain said...”

Alongside the questioning voice came a muffled groan. Then Charles suddenly appeared with his right hand raised, a young man’s throat clutched in it.

Lank remembered him. He had delivered a message to Lank and Gertini before. His name seemed to be Lake. What was he doing here? And how had Charles gotten here?

“Ghk... ah...”

Lake struggled desperately.

“Heh heh heh. The Queen’s little toy has been caught by the throat. She still hasn’t grown tired of playing with you at this hour. If I kill you, she’ll be terribly sad—meaning she’ll pretend to be sad for ten minutes.”

The reply to that cold joke was a vicious slash.

Charles sidestepped the attack and tossed Lake to the ground. His left hand clenched. In the next instant, he flashed forward and seized the attacker by the throat.

“You...” The captured man was dressed entirely in black, his face deathly pale. He stared at Charles in astonishment. “How did you...?”

“Find you?” Charles stepped forward and tightened his grip around the man’s throat with his right hand. “Take a guess.”

The man in black trembled violently as if struck by an electric shock, then fainted.

Lank stared at everything that had happened within the span of a dozen seconds, utterly dumbfounded.

“That’s enough.”

Charles threw the man in black aside, walked over, and hauled Lake to his feet.

“How many others came with you?”

Lake remained silent.

“Do you know what this is?” Charles asked, taking out a round device.

“A locator jammer...” Lake murmured.

“Correct! But no points. What do you think I gained from spending three scenarios in Wuzhou? Now, be a little more cooperative and tell me what your exact plan was.”

Lake still said nothing.

“You love that bitch deeply... Fine, your goddess.”

When he saw the fury in Lake’s eyes, Charles increased the pressure of his grip.

Lake immediately began to convulse. Foam spilled from his mouth, and at last his eyes rolled back as he fainted.

“Wang Luo does like capturing prisoners and putting them to work... But if these two are discovered this time, even the bugs won’t be able to deal with them.”

Charles turned toward the soldiers.

“You. Kill these two spies.”

The soldiers hesitated.

“Sir... who are they?”

“Spies from the Han army,” Charles said with a solemn expression. “I discovered their trail ahead of us, but I didn’t want to alert them, so I followed them here. Only when they attacked you did I subdue them.”

“Ordinarily, it would be fine to capture them. But the Han army is attacking the main camp. I’m afraid they intend to sabotage it. To be safe, it would be better to kill them. Of course, if you’re willing to take responsibility...”

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“I understand.”

One of the soldiers stepped forward, drew his blade, and slit the throats of the two prisoners.

Charles then turned toward Lank and raised his eyebrows.

Lank looked at him, then at the torch in his hand. On instinct, he hid the torch behind his back.

“No, no. This isn’t your fault.” Charles’s tone was gentle. “The people from Wuzhou used a mental skill on you. Although her skill was meant to draw out your true nature...”

Really?

Charles lowered his voice when he said the last sentence, but Lank still began to tremble. His vision darkened in waves, and his body swayed uncontrollably.

“I saved you. All I need in return is for you to put in a good word for me when Wang Luo comes back. He’s still unhappy about what happened last time... and I can understand why. But I need his help with something important afterward, so this misunderstanding has to be cleared up. You have a good reputation. Can you do me this favor?”

At that moment, the look Charles directed at him was savage and cruel.

Lank nodded instinctively.

If he refused, Charles would surely kill him.

“Excellent. Sign the contract.”

Charles’s expression returned to normal.

“To keep you from doing anything foolish, I used Mind Bewitchment on you as well. It can counteract the effects of her skill. But don’t worry—it’s an A-class skill. There may be some side effects... but overall, you’ll be fine. It won’t interfere with your movements, and it will wear off after a while.”

“As for those two—you saw it yourself. They were completely unable to resist. That was also this skill, but B-class. The longer it remains active in them, the stronger its effects become.”

Lank saw the contract Charles had prepared long ago. He shook his head, then signed his name.

“Excellent.”

Charles revealed a brilliant smile.

“You’ve always been a clever man. You know, the moment they entered the camp, I had my eyes on them. There’s no doubt they believed they had entered a camp without any Contractees, and intended to make full use of their abilities.”

As he spoke, he took the torch from Lank’s hand.

Wang Luo had said there was something wrong with Charles. Could he...?

“They probably never expected you to cause much damage. Drawing some attention would have been enough. But... you must have lost your mind. You intended to attack the camp with this thing? It can’t burn anything here.”

“Captain Gertini already tried it many times before, even soaking the tents and provisions in lamp oil like an idiot... Look. It goes like this.”

With that, he threw the burning torch toward a nearby tent.

Whoosh!

Flames roared to life, and the tent caught fire.

At that moment, the wind suddenly grew fierce. In an instant, the flames spread to several tents nearby.

The blazing inferno surged wildly in every direction like a maddened beast, devouring everything around it.

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