Homo Sapiens

In his temporary residence, Wu Kailuo was lost in daydreams, completely unaware that his ”confidant,” Wu Yao, had just screwed him over.

An hour later, Mang Feng, the head of military intelligence, came running over, drenched in sweat and shouting urgently as he went:

”HUFF... HUFF... General, it’s bad... Wu Yao has lost his mind...”

Hearing Mang Feng’s incoherent words, Wu Kailuo asked with displeasure, ”What happened?”

”HUFF...” After catching his breath, Mang Feng quickly explained the entire situation. ”...An hour ago, Wu Yao secretly executed all the key prisoners held in his barracks. He also said... he said it was on your orders.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Kailuo was both shocked and furious. ”Bullshit! When the hell did I ever give an order like that?”

Wu Kailuo was nearly mad with rage, his eyes wide as he roared, ”Drag him here at once! That bastard! That bastard! Wu Yao has doomed me!”

But before his order could even be carried out, a series of low rumbles echoed from the west. The moment everyone heard the sound, their expressions changed instantly.

”Where is that artillery fire coming from?”

”Isn’t that the direction of Laiwei Town?”

...

「Inside Laiwei Town.」

Brother Tai and his men, who had just rushed in, were detained by the soldiers of the Defense Division.

As for the two Defense Division commanders, one was actually a Soldier, while the other, on his family’s orders, had remained neutral on the sidelines.

However, this didn’t cause them to lower their guard against Wu Kailuo’s army. On the contrary, they had secretly reinforced their defenses significantly.

After detaining Brother Tai’s group, Wu Xin, commander of the 103rd Defense Division, quickly met with Shi Ning, commander of the 104th Defense Division.

Inside the command room of an air-raid shelter stood a massive sand table.

”Shi Ning, the situation is not good. Take a look at this.”

Shi Ning, not yet grasping the severity of the situation, picked up the interrogation transcript for Brother Tai’s group. A moment later, his expression grew grim.

”Has Wu Kailuo lost his mind?”

”No. He probably wanted to dispose of those people secretly, then trick the leaders of the other factions into a trap. Didn’t he invite us to the city today to discuss swapping defensive zones?” Wu Xin reminded him with a hint of malice.

Influenced by this initial evidence, Shi Ning was now convinced.

But before he could speak, the phone in the command room rang.

”Hello, this is the divisional command center...”

”Reporting, this is the Third Regiment! The 502nd Division is making a move and rapidly approaching our position. We estimate they will enter our defensive zone in about fifteen minutes. Awaiting orders from HQ...”

On speakerphone, both Wu Xin and Shi Ning heard the report.

Wu Xin was furious. ”Bastards! What do they think they’re doing? Are they trying to disarm us?”

Shi Ning broke out in a nervous sweat.

”Shi Ning, we can’t just sit here and wait to be slaughtered. Once we’re disarmed, our lives will be in their hands.”

Shi Ning agreed they couldn’t just wait to die.

At that moment, Wu Xin revealed his true intentions. He immediately proposed, ”My division recently established a special operations team and imported a batch of drones. Perhaps now is the time for a preemptive strike.”

”Uh... is that reliable?” Shi Ning asked doubtfully.

Wu Xin asked bluntly, ”Then what do you suggest? As Defense Divisions, we’re already much weaker than Field Divisions. Even if we defend, once Wu Kailuo mobilizes his three divisions, we’ll just be surrounded and annihilated.”

In reality, the 103rd Division’s special team was a squad composed of Soldiers, numbering only fifty-five men.

Despite their small number, their combat prowess was extraordinary. Besides, they weren’t the true main force in this battle.

The real main force was Domino, hidden in Laiwei Town, along with the Blood Blade Special Team she had brought with her.

Just then, the pheromone signal to begin the operation was received.

The 103rd Division’s special team quickly launched the drones stored in the large trucks. Over 300 drones flew out all at once, like a swarm of hornets, speeding toward Wu Yao’s 502nd Division.

The 502nd Division, completely lacking any air defense awareness, was instantly bombarded by suicide drones.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Inside his armored vehicle, Wu Yao heard the dense explosions around him and frantically grabbed his radio. ”Take cover! Have the artillery company prepare to counter-attack...”

The Jingshan Group, acting as the vanguard, was thrown into chaos by the explosions. But there was no gore as one might expect; after exploding, the drones only released a dense cloud of tear gas.

COUGH, COUGH...

Jingshan, choking on the tear gas, his face streaming with tears, gasped, ”Guards... COUGH, COUGH...”

The others weren’t faring any better. After all, they had fought too many low-stakes battles in Hongsawaddy and were completely unprepared for air or gas attacks.

As the unit fell into disarray, they failed to notice large swarms of mosquitoes approaching from all directions under the cover of smoke and night, delivering ”cordial greetings” to their exposed skin.

A short while later, the anesthetic from the bites began to take effect on the soldiers.

Many began to stagger and collapse as if drunk. It seemed to trigger a chain reaction, with more and more soldiers falling.

Jingshan, whose lungs ached from coughing, also sensed something was wrong. The sounds around him were fading, and he felt dizzy.

’Damn it... the smoke is toxic...’ With that final thought, Jingshan collapsed like the rest.

In less than half an hour, the 502nd Division’s force of over ten thousand was almost completely wiped out. Only a few who had taken shelter inside armored vehicles escaped.

However, the 502nd Division had only a few high-quality armored vehicles. Many of their vehicles were just modified cargo trucks or even open-top jeeps.

Like the unlucky Jingshan, for instance, who had been riding in an open-top jeep.

The several hundred who escaped were now consumed by panic.

But their fear wouldn’t last long.

Because the 103rd Division, wearing gas masks, had already swarmed their position. Many of the soldiers inside the armored vehicles surrendered immediately.

As for Wu Yao, who was trying to flee, he was captured by his own guards, who had suddenly turned on him.

Staring at the soldiers of the 502nd Division lying scattered on the ground, Shi Ning was so shocked his hands and feet went cold. The way he looked at Wu Xin had completely changed.

”Brother Wu Xin, isn’t using a weapon like this a bit too cruel?”

Wu Xin laughed. ”Heh, they’re only unconscious. This is the most humane weapon there is. They’ll wake up tomorrow morning. As for anyone who died from falling... they can only blame their own bad luck.”

”I see. That’s good, that’s good.” Shi Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, if they had all been killed, things would have become very troublesome once the news got out.

Wu Xin clapped him on the shoulder. ”Brother Shi Ning, our forces are now on par with Wu Kailuo’s. With my secret weapon in the mix, they have no way to turn this around.”

”Haha, then I must congratulate you, my brother. If you ever need me for anything in the future, just say the word.” Shi Ning was clearly picking his side.

...

Back in Bamana City, while Wu Kailuo was still investigating the source of the explosions, the dust had already settled.

Mang Feng and his subordinates had figured out the whole story. His face was deathly pale as he braced himself to report to Wu Kailuo:

”General, it was Wu Yao’s 502nd Division. They launched an attack on the Defense Divisions stationed in the west suburb, Laiwei Town.”

”What? That bastard! Mao Li!” Wu Kailuo roared, his face dark with fury.

His adjutant, Mao Li, immediately responded, ”Sir.”

Though consumed by a burning rage, Wu Kailuo suppressed his murderous anger. ”Take the Military Police and go capture Wu Yao for me. Remember, don’t kill the bastard.”

However, just twenty minutes after Wu Kailuo gave the order, his adjutant, Mao Li, ran back, looking utterly dejected.

Wu Kailuo, who had been plotting how to feign civility with the other factions, exploded with curses after hearing his adjutant’s report:

”Idiot! An entire, fully-armed Field Division, and Wu Yao just lost it like that? And he got himself captured? Even ten thousand pigs wouldn’t have been defeated this quickly!”

’This is bad.’ Wu Kailuo’s sense of unease intensified.

He had eight divisions in total. Five had to garrison various locations in the north and his main base in Mandalay. Mobilizing three divisions to come here was already his limit.

And now, Wu Yao had lost one of them in a single stroke, leaving him with only two divisions.

The two Defense Divisions holding the western suburbs had now become his enemies.

Their forces were now evenly matched, and with the other factions stirring restlessly, Wu Kailuo could feel a storm brewing.

Wu Kailuo made a swift decision. ”This won’t do! We can’t stay in Bamana any longer. Have the 501st Division, the 503rd Division, and the Guard Corps escort me back to Mandalay immediately.”

”Yes, sir.”

The adjutant, Mang Feng, and the others were also eager to leave.

At Wu Kailuo’s command, more than twenty thousand troops began a swift retreat north, fleeing back to Mandalay overnight with no intention of clashing head-on with the Defense Divisions.