Homo Sapiens

Cianlan Island.

On the coast facing the Pacific Ocean.

Yashan Village was an unremarkable little village whose residents mainly made a living growing bananas and rice. Recently, the village’s population had dwindled by a third due to the presence of a nearby agricultural cooperative.

The remaining villagers were mostly stubborn old-timers or those who insisted on managing their own land, worried the cooperative would swallow it up.

A few farming households with close ties to the Kawit Clan were especially prone to gossiping and spreading rumors throughout the village.

A few days ago, the Kawit Clan had sent dozens of its core members here. They built some simple shelters in a banana plantation near the coast and secretly transported in a large amount of daily necessities and food.

In addition, other local clans had secretly mobilized their private soldiers, who were gradually gathering in the plantations and forests surrounding Yashan Village.

「September 29th. The dead of night.」

Inside a banana plantation northeast of Yashan Village.

Mabai and six other Converts had secretly gathered here.

”Gentlemen, we have to give it our all today. If we fail, your families will be annihilated.”

”Don’t worry! I brought 2,300 men this time. That’s almost all the forces I have,” Big Beard replied, gritting his teeth.

The others also knew how dangerous their actions were. If they hadn’t been forced into a corner, they wouldn’t have wanted to stir up trouble. But the suppression from the five great families made them feel an ever-growing sense of crisis.

If they didn’t fight back now, they would never get another chance.

Mabai did a quick calculation. The seven families had gathered a total of 15,000 troops. This wasn’t their full strength, but it was close to the limit of what they could muster.

They had chosen Yashan Village not just because it was suitable for a submarine landing. From this position, they only needed to cross the mountains to descend upon Cianlan Island’s largest city, Davao Port.

As Cianlan Island’s largest city, Davao Port was of immense strategic importance. If they could seize control of it from the outset, they could control the entire southeastern region of the island.

More importantly, Luzon’s 204th Division was stationed near Davao Port.

As long as the allied family forces could launch a swift surprise attack on the 204th Division before it could react, they would essentially neutralize the main Luzon force in southeastern Cianlan Island.

The gears in Mabai’s mind had been turning furiously. From the moment he decided to rebel, he had been thinking about how to carve out his own territory and secure support from America.

In his view, as long as he could lead his army to defeat the 204th Division and occupy Davao Port, he would have the foundation to rule his own domain.

With the clandestine support of America, he could then stand up to the five great families.

As for how to defeat the 204th Division, Mabai had a plan for that too. He would use a hidden mountain path to suddenly cross the forest and mountains separating the two locations.

The path had been blazed by local mountain folk. Over the past few days, Mabai had secretly sent men to repair and widen it, and they had already scouted the route.

Starting from near Yashan Village, the mountain path stretched for about 76 kilometers. Barring any heavy rain, they could reach the 204th Division’s garrison in about two days.

Of course, Mabai’s confidence in defeating the 204th Division stemmed from two things: the element of surprise, and the support of 200 Seal Team operators. The addition of rockets and mortars supplied by America made him burst with confidence.

On the beach northeast of Yashan Village.

Mabai personally led his men to a high point and set up a specific bonfire arrangement.

Before long, a series of landing craft appeared on the distant sea, speeding toward the coast. Guided by the firelight, they charged directly onto the beach.

The leading Seal Team squad leader and several special mission advisors met with Mabai.

”Mr. Mabai, here is the weapons manifest,” said Smith, the special mission advisor, as he handed over a document with no identifying marks.

Mabai hastily began to look through the document under the dim light.

He didn’t care about rifles, ammunition, or grenades; he could get those himself. What the allied family forces needed most right now were heavy weapons like rocket launchers and mortars.

When he saw 200 rocket launchers, 50 mortars, and five standard units of shells and rockets on the list, an ecstatic smile spread across Mabai’s face.

Nearby, Smith sneered inwardly, ’Just a bunch of country bumpkins who’ve never seen the world. Like a troop of monkeys with guns.’

Mabai put the document away and quickly organized his men to move the weapons and ammunition from the landing craft back to the temporary camp.

As for the Seal Team operators, they hadn’t come to do manual labor and had no interest in helping with such tasks.

Mabai didn’t dare offend these big shots. As a sign of respect, he had already arranged food and lodging for them.

Mabai, Smith, and the others failed to notice anything unusual in the area around Yashan Village.

By the time they finished their work after three in the morning, the Seal Team operators had eaten and drunk their fill. Although they had set up guard posts, the vast majority were sound asleep.

「In the hazy darkness of the night.」

Two hidden sentries were posted in the trees. Though they had applied insect repellent and were draped in mosquito-proof camouflage netting, they could still hear the constant buzzing of mosquitoes around them.

Suddenly, the sound of a can clattering came from the base of the tree.

Hmm? The two men’s eyes narrowed instantly. One flipped the safety off his rifle while the other raised a pair of infrared binoculars to carefully scan the surroundings.

The infrared scope didn’t show a human-shaped target, but a rat.

”Fuck, it’s a rat.”

The two men stood down and resumed their silent watch.

But they didn’t notice that the rat had already climbed the tree and was now at their feet.

After the rat chewed through their camouflage netting, a dozen or so mosquitoes quickly flew in and bit their exposed skin.

These were an improved version of knockout-poison mosquitoes. Not only was the tranquilizing toxin enhanced for a faster effect, but a paralytic toxin had been added, making it impossible for the victims to feel the bites.

A moment later, an overwhelming wave of drowsiness washed over the two men.

Before they could react, their vision went black.

Not far away, at another, more visible sentry post.

The two sentries there suddenly had their mouths covered. Their bodies twitched slightly, and then they fell unconscious. However, they didn’t collapse; they remained standing in place.

In reality, two Blood Blade Soldiers in stealth mode were holding them up.

Through pheromonal communication, all the visible and hidden sentries were taken care of.

Some twenty Blood Blade Soldiers, still in stealth mode, entered the makeshift barracks. Looking at the soundly sleeping Seal Team operators, they gently slit open their mosquito nets.

A moment later, the Seal Team operators fell into an even deeper sleep.

Wiped out.

The two hundred Seal Team operators, the six special mission advisors, the 15,000 troops of the allied family forces, Mabai, and all the rest—every single one of them had been taken down by the poison.

That same night, the home bases of these families were also silently eliminated.

However, they weren’t killed. Instead, they were taken back to be ”reprocessed.” The members of the Seal Team, in particular, were perfect raw material for creating Blood Blade Soldiers.

These guys never stood a chance against the Blood Blade Special Team. After all, the technological superiority of the Blood Blade Special Team in special operations was too vast. Combined with precise intelligence targeting, the enemy’s tragic fate was sealed.

On Xing Island, Victor sensed that something was wrong the very next day.

Many of his pawns on Cianlan Island had gone silent. The loss of contact with Smith and his team, in particular, confirmed the severity of the situation.

But just then, another unexpected development threw him and the Black Ship Headquarters into a panic.