Chapter 131: Smuggler's War

The seat in the driver’s cab jostled as the arctech wagon rattled violently, the wheels rumbling over an uneven road. It was clearly made very recently, a simple road built through a small valley for convenience’s sake rather than out of comfort for anyone using it. The wagon commander had already lost count of how many times the driver had to swerve to avoid potholes and slopes of mud, loose from the torrential rain.

Suddenly, the entire cab jerked hard while the wagon came to a complete stop, , nearly causing the commander’s head to slam onto the dashboard. “Shit! Move!”

The guards of each of the five wagons kicked into action, spreading out in a ring around the convoy, guarding it as the commander stepped out to see a landslide that had blocked the road. Machine guns swivelled to face the cliffs, mounted on modified wagons that served as the front and rear guards.

“Fix the road now! Radio in the engineers nearby!” The commander ordered two of the guards, who clambered into the back of the wagon, speaking rapidly on the arctech radio. He turned back to look at the size of the landslide, which had blocked nearly two-thirds of the road.

“Sir, they say it’s going to take five hours for them to arrive!”

“Ridiculous, we have to make it to the Ocra forward camp in three! Start clearing out the rocks!”

The guards quickly grabbed whatever tools were on hand, immediately beginning to shovel the rocks and shift them out of the way. They propped up the remaining section of the landslide, ensuring just enough space for an arctech wagon to move past.

Throughout the next hour, the commander remained tense, with a third of his men on a continuous lookout, scanning the ridge of the valley for any potential ambushes. There was supposed to be a patrol squad here guarding the valley... where the hell did they go?Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

“Sir, the wagon can fit through now!”

“Then let’s get moving!”

The convoy rumbled into life again, the machine gunners keeping a tight watch for anything suspicious as they squeezed through the gap. The underlying tension permeated everyone, beads of sweat trickling down their face as they did not dare even to wipe it away, eyes focused ahead and around them.

Soon, they were out of the valley, entering a spare forest that marked the beginning of Ocra’s territory. “We’re one and a half hours away now; pick up the pace!” The commander ordered the radio but noticed that the arctech radio was crackling instead, with no response from the other drivers or guards in the convoy.

Instead, the deafening sound of an arctech wagon blowing up rushed through the cabin of the commander, prompting his driver to slam the brakes, halting the wagon.

Before anyone could even move, a barrage of pellets pelted all five wagons, blasting them and riddling their metallic armour with holes. Yet another brilliant arcia explosion erupted as the fuel tank was ignited, the friction causing the arcia energy to burn wildly, its blue flames lapping while guards cowered in the cabin, hoping the wagon was sturdy enough to withstand the incoming gunfire.

The machine gunners tried to fire back but were sniped in the head with pinpoint accuracy.

“Get out there and return fire, you idiot!” The commander urged the guards in his wagon. “Those Versian cowards dare to ambush us!”

The guards tried to fight back but were heavily outgunned and forced to take cover in the back of the wagon, unwilling to risk returning fire.

“This is Supply Corps platoon 5, under heavy fire; request backup! Thirty kilometres south of Ocra!” The commander desperately spoke into his arctech radio, but there was no response nor any inkling of feedback. We’re being jammed as well!

Soon, the machine gun fire finally abated, prompting the guards to peek out from cover and fire back and the tree line.

Instead, a fully armoured arctech knight platoon bearing the insignia of the Versian Military rushed forwards, firing back with rifles and handguns. The fierce gunfight was harrowing, with pellets threatening to pierce right through their hearts.

Morale began to plummet in the convoy, and many of the guards were unwilling to fight. There was a reason why they had been placed in the Supply Corps, but little did they know it was as perilous as the frontline.

A shaken guard gripped his rifle tightly, flinching as another pellet pinged off the armour of the wagon, the sparks right next to his body. “No, no, no, like fucking hell, I’m going to die here in the middle of nowhere. My daughter needs me!”

His squadmate slapped his shoulder. “Hey! Focus and cover your angle! Otherwise, we’re all going to die he-“ Instead of words spoken, teeth and brain tissue were flung out as a machine gun resumed fire, penetrating through the armour and tearing through the squad mate’s head, ripping it apart.

“AHHH!” The shaken guard panicked, rushing out from the wagon in the complete opposite direction, hoping to escape the ambush. Instead, he earned himself five bullets in the body, his vision spiralling as he crumpled to the floor.

The road was a complete mess, the wagons riddled with holes and with a pittance of guards left, the guards tried to convince the commander to give up.

[System Message]

Killed [Ardent Cretin Soldier], +500 EXP

[System Message]

Killed [Veiled Angels Soldier], +500 EXP

What the...? Kyle didn’t slow down to think, focused on wiping all of them out.

The Yual patrol squad at the top of the valley saw the entire battle play out before them, watching as Kyle singlehandedly killed the entire convoy. “We got to get out of here! Now!” The leader urged the rest of his squads, who had their gaze locked onto Kyle.

“Where do we go?!”

“Anywhere but here! If that man finds out, we’re here; we’re dead!” The leader frantically said as he tried to flee, but as he turned to face the forest, there was already another man there aiming right at them with another handgun, shooting them right in the head.

The patrol squad that was caught off-guard was immediately killed without a chance to resist. “All clear on the ridge, boss,” Feldon spoke through his radio as he used his feet to flip over the dead leader, checking his body.

Down on the ground, Kyle already had the squad leader by the neck, choking him and checking his body for any self-immolating engravings or any form of poison by which the squad leader could commit suicide. “Good work. Check their bodies for any signs of gang tattoos or relations.”

“So they really weren’t the Versian military...”

Kyle and Feldon were already planning to hit the shipment but were soon aware that there was another force attempting to ambush them as well. Kyle lifted the squad leader up, who struggled against the grip around his neck. “Who hired you? Who do you work for?”

“Fuck you twat. Don’t even think about getting away scott-free.”

Kyle punched the guy right in the chin, knocking him out and tying him up with whatever metal bars were around.

A stealth hovercraft quickly flew in, landing in the middle of the valley while Kyle and Feldon loaded as many supplies as they could onto the hovercraft as well as both of their stealth hornets, before flying back to Desham.

So the major gangs of Raktor are ambushing Count Leon’s supply chain? But why? Kyle left the bodies there while he held onto the restrained squad leader, his head already covered in a sack to prevent him from seeing anything.

“Looks like we’re not the only traders profiting from this war...”