The First Order

Ren Xiaosu scampered towards the forest at the edge of the city. He was heading north to Stronghold 112, also where the active volcanoes were.

He knew combat troops would for sure be waiting for him up front. The net they had set would slowly open as he arrived.

But Ren Xiaosu had no other choice. Only by getting there would he have a chance of survival!

But all of a sudden, a violent rumble came from the depths of the Jing Mountains hinterlands. Ren Xiaosu raised his head at the mountains in the distance and saw a fiery light erupting from within the mountain range!

‘Wait a minute, the volcano is about to erupt!’

Should he keep running forward, or should he turn around?

Ren Xiaosu clenched his teeth. At this time, why should he worry about the volcano? Only by staying alive could he consider other matters!

Behind him, Xu Man also froze for a moment when he saw what was happening at the volcano. Heading within range of the volcano during an eruption was extremely dangerous. Much less going further, they wouldn’t even be able to turn around and escape if the volcano really erupted.

A lot of people thought that only the living creatures around the main mountain would be affected during a volcanic eruption, but that was only because they underestimated the true power of one!

Perhaps the entire area spanning tens to hundreds of kilometers around would go up in a fiery sea!

However, Xu Man only hesitated for a moment before saying on the comms channel, “Keep advancing!”

Having fled to the edge of the city, Ren Xiaosu turned around and glanced at the city behind him. The black ironsand-like torrent of Qing Consortium troops was almost reaching him. Without further hesitation, Ren Xiaosu turned and went straight into the forest in the north!

As the scattered Qing Consortium troops stationed in the forest started narrowing down the perimeter lockdown, their tactical movements had an unusual sense of depth.

Their movements seemed to have been practiced hundreds to thousands of times, with the platoons knowing exactly who would be advancing and who would be providing cover from behind.

The platoons in the northern forest had already received orders to round up and capture Ren Xiaosu. Even though the sound of an eruption was currently coming from the volcano behind them, it did not affect them from carrying out their orders.

At this moment, Xu Man’s voice came on through the comms channel. “Target’s 100-meter sprint time is 3.92 seconds, and he has an unknown strength. All units, kill on sight.”

Perhaps even Ren Xiaosu could not imagine the kind of technology the Qing Consortium had in their hands. Within the ranks of their troops, there was someone who specialized in evaluating the power and speed of their targets from afar.

However, Ren Xiaosu had still not revealed his true strength and capabilities yet, so this didn’t allow the troops to fully assess him for now.

Qing Zhen had been quite interested in Ren Xiaosu. Moreover, there was also his relationship with Zhang Jinglin to consider, so Qing Zhen was actually thinking of keeping Ren Xiaosu for other purposes.

But right now, he did not want to wait anymore.

There was only a thin line between capturing him and killing him on sight.

The seven platoons in the forest pulled back their charging handles at almost the same time and pointed their muzzles downwards, ready to raise their rifles and shoot at any moment.

In addition, these seven platoons had switched their communications channel to a different frequency. This was to prevent any outside communications from interfering with their operations. At this moment, these 210 soldiers formed an independent ORBAT ¹ that could act first and report later.

This had always been the practice of the combat troops under Qing Zhen’s command. Qing Zhen’s opinion was that if an independent ORBAT was not even allowed to make their own decisions, then the war machine would not truly have any combat effectiveness.

Many people within the Qing Consortium ranks had criticized his military command before, but Qing Zhen had never accepted their point of view. He did not accept it in the past, and he would not accept it in the future either.

However, what many of the important figures in the Qing Consortium did not know was that this form of command made many of the soldiers willing to work for Qing Zhen. He would often make them feel like they were trusted.

At this time, Qing Zhen was looking at Liu Bu, who was lying in a puddle of blood. Some of the troops were carrying out another detailed search on Liu Bu’s corpse. In the end, someone found a folded figure of a tattered doll and said, “This was the thing that he was carrying around.”

Qing Zhen frowned and said, “What the hell is this?!”

It seemed that not even someone like Qing Zhen had ever seen such a thing before…

…

The troops in the forest were slowly shrinking the perimeter lockdown and had switched on their tactical flashlights.

Based on the information Xu Man had gathered from Liu Bu, Ren Xiaosu should have a gun on him. Other than that, he also seized three magazines of ammo from the private troops.

But the Qing Consortium’s troops were not afraid of being live targets by switching on their flashlights. After all, Ren Xiaosu, who was alone, definitely could not kill all 30 of them in one fell swoop. If he dared to fire at them, their comrades would instantly open fire at Ren Xiaosu and turn him into Swiss cheese!

In the forest, the seven platoons were gradually moving closer to the city. Meanwhile, Xu Man was leading six platoons towards the forest in an attempt to corner their target. To catch one person, they had mobilized several hundred soldiers. Ren Xiaosu was getting an unprecedented kind of treatment.

However, they still underestimated Ren Xiaosu’s capabilities in the wilderness.

The reason why Ren Xiaosu had agreed to be the expedition’s guide was also due to his self-confidence.

Although the Qing Consortium’s troops were fearsome, they still lacked far too much experience in the wilderness as compared to Ren Xiaosu!

When the six platoons that Xu Man was leading got closer to the seven platoons coming from the forest, a black shadow suddenly crashed into them.

That black shadow was thick as ink, but its movements were demonically fast and nimble. It was as if the trees in the forest were not an obstacle for it at all.

The platoons on the northern side did not hesitate and fired straight at it. But the black shadow was prepared for it and simply sidestepped to the right, making the bullets miss.

The black shadow did not stop after it sidestepped, and it leaned forward. Taking a stride, it pushed off and rushed into the crowd of the most frontline platoon!

What could be done when the enemy had the most powerful firearms and explosives? This was a question Ren Xiaosu had asked Zhang Jinglin before. At that time, Zhang Jinglin said, “You should, of course, run right into their midst, because they won’t shoot indiscriminately at you. Their comrades are all around them, while everyone else is an enemy for you!”

Ren Xiaosu was unsure if Zhang Jinglin’s advice was a joke or what, but it seemed like it would work in his current situation.

He saw every one of the troops unsheathing their combat knives as a result. As the black shadow was moving too fast, they were indeed worried about friendly fire.

But to Ren Xiaosu’s shadow clone, these normal human beings were too slow, as well as too weak!

The black shadow was completely fearless of being sliced by the knives. It only needed one punch to end a life. Suddenly, the black shadow raised its leg and kicked one of the troops in the chest. That soldier was sent flying five meters away just like a kite cut from its line!

The other troops were frightened by this. The power in that kick was overwhelming!

Xu Man, who had arrived just in time, saw a blur of this black shadow from afar. When he finally managed to get a clearer view of it, he was a little puzzled. Weren’t they chasing after Ren Xiaosu? Why didn’t anyone mention that Ren Xiaosu had such a power?

Right at this moment, Ren Xiaosu roared, “Xu Xianchu at your service! Who dares challenge me!”