The Only Hope

Feng Bu, of all the options available to him, had chosen the worst one without hesitation.

Wang Qihu covered his retreat. The twenty men Feng Bu had deployed in a single-file line were now all dead.

Lin Xiao's mind raced as she ran, calculating terrain and direction on the fly. It was only now that she reacted: "Not good—the direction we're fleeing is the map boundary."

The battle simulation wasn't like the real world; it had limits. Otherwise, one team could run forever and the other chase forever, and there'd be no telling when it would end.

Feng Bu was frantic, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets as he shouted at Lin Xiao: "Why didn't you say something earlier?! Now that we're backed to the boundary, what the hell do we do?!"

Lin Xiao nearly laughed out of sheer frustration. What was she supposed to say when there'd been no reconnaissance at all? Besides, Shaji had clearly been driving them toward a single position on purpose—Guan Chuanjun had launched this attack with full preparation, while they'd been standing around like headless flies!

"What the hell are you yelling at her for?! What do we do? You're the chief commander; why are you asking her?" Wang Qihu was so furious he punched Feng Bu. He didn't dare hit hard, though—if the system judged the chief commander killed in action, it was truly over!

Feng Bu took the blow hard, but he didn't dare curse at Wang Qihu, because he still needed the man's protection. He could only say: "Let's try breaking through in another direction. We can't get pushed to the boundary—"

Wang Qihu's face darkened. "I'll go to the front and force a breakthrough."

"No." Feng Bu vetoed it outright. "You can't go. You and the others need to stay and protect me. What if they send people to cut around and decapitate me?"

Guan Zhongli thought this man was even dumber than Sun Liao. "Decapitate you? Commander Feng, can't you see it yet? Shaji is clearly going for total annihilation!"

Feng Bu's face instantly flushed the color of pig liver, but he still insisted Wang Qihu and the other top individual fighters remain by his side for protection, and he ordered thirty men in the channel to attempt a breakout. If that failed, they were to stop and pick favorable terrain for positional warfare against Shaji.

This move was exactly what Guan Chuanjun wanted.

He wasn't even thinking about decapitation or annihilation anymore—he was calculating the loss-exchange ratio.

Shaji had taken down twenty of the enemy without spending a single soldier. In the current pursuit, they'd lost two and hit five.

If the chase stopped and turned into positional warfare, with Moye already cornered at the boundary and Shaji holding the higher ground, Shaji's losses would shrink even further. They'd just set up positions, exchange fire, let the artillery pound, then close in with a pincer. By Guan Chuanjun's calculations, the loss-exchange ratio for this battle would be gorgeous—maybe even a league record.

Frontline units soon relayed the good news: Moye had tried to break out but was driven back. Moye was now following Guan Chuanjun's expectations exactly, starting to prepare their defensive positions on the spot.

"Establish a temporary command post here. We'll start setting up our positions too." Guan Chuanjun issued the order with great satisfaction—but—

He looked toward Peng Yue. "Shen Shouli and Xu Lingqu... still no sign of them?"

Peng Yue shook her head.

Guan Chuanjun sensed something wrong. "They're probably planning to loop around and cut in to kill me directly..."

After all, given the current situation, Xu Lingqu couldn't seize command. Moye's only hope was for some miracle to descend from the sky and decapitate Guan Chuanjun.

"Are they underestimating me a bit too much..." Guan Chuanjun clicked his tongue, then said, "Take some people personally and patrol the perimeter. If they're looping around, they'll have to move fast. Also, send a scout squad to lie in wait at our left-rear position—I recall that's the only route someone could come through."

If they wanted to come, Guan Chuanjun would invite them in and close the trap. He was going for total annihilation anyway—how could he leave out Xu Lingqu and Shen Shouli?

The six were, in fact, sprinting at top speed. Xu Xiqin glanced at Xu Lingqu several times, confirming she could keep up, and felt a weight lift from her chest.

Xu Lingqu's physical conditioning had genuinely improved. Tang Muwen was falling slightly behind, but only slightly—he trailed at the rear of the group.

Their flanking speed was far faster than Guan Chuanjun had anticipated.

By now, the six had looped around to a position directly behind Shaji's entire force. Liu Zheng had initially proposed cutting in along the mountain path from the left-rear into Shaji's rear positions, but Xu Lingqu vetoed it.

"If we can think of cutting around to take Guan Chuanjun, he'll certainly think to set ambushes for us."

With the main force in full collapse and several of them unaccounted for, it wasn't hard to guess what they were doing—it was only a matter of time.

Shaji's main force was currently positioned on the front half of a small mountain, having set up their positions on the high ground. Xu Lingqu and the others had essentially circled around the mountain, advancing and cutting in from directly behind it.

Guan Chuanjun's style in troop maneuvers was completely different from his lackadaisical personal demeanor.

Xu Lingqu and the others crept forward from behind the mountain until they reached a mountain suspension bridge. The planks had been mostly destroyed, making it completely impassable for normal movement.

Four iron chains creaked in the wind across the empty valley. They had to cross quickly; based on the river below, this was probably the only crossing—and Guan Chuanjun had wrecked most of it.

Crossing on four chains demanded serious upper-body strength and balance. Jin decisively spoke up: "I can lie down at the front-middle section, and you can step on me to get across."

He, Xu Xiqin, and Shen Shouli could probably make it across directly, but Xu Lingqu, Liu Zheng, and Tang Muwen would struggle.

If anyone slipped and fell here, it meant certain death. Having a human bridge to step across part of the way was the best option, and Jin felt he could bear the weight.

"Then I'll lie down at the rear section of the bridge," Shen Shouli said.

"Huh... wait, what?" Jin looked at Shen Shouli in surprise.

Xu Xiqin froze too. Given the bridge's length, two human planks were optimal—she'd already been prepared to be the second one. Shen Shouli volunteering outright was unexpected.

Actually, the two adult males had the most suitable builds—though both were lean, they covered more surface area than the others.

Mainly, Shen Shouli's clean-freak, germophobic image was deeply ingrained. Him volunteering to be a human bridge was genuinely hard to believe.

"Since the plan's decided, let's move across now," Xu Lingqu said. "We're short on time."

At that, Jin and Shen Shouli quickly took their positions, providing segments of cushioning. Wanting to minimize pressure on them, Xu Xiqin and Liu Zheng crossed quickly. Tang Muwen was a bit slower, but he made it safely.

Xu Lingqu set off last. She wasn't slow either. At the rear section, she used a clever bit of footwork—stepping off the adjacent iron chain—then jumped up directly, never touching Shen Shouli.

The two acting as human bridges crawled along the chains to the end and were pulled up by the four who'd already crossed.

They didn't stop. They pressed on, advancing and scouting. Jin walked beside Shen Shouli, muttering in a low, accusatory voice:

"I'm starting to think the commander really does treat you differently."

Shen Shouli: "?"

"She only stepped on me, not on you!"

"...With your position, she had nowhere else to step. You wanted her to jump into the river?"