As the captain of Squad Fifteen of the Fifth Fearless Empire’s First Scout Regiment, Boltu maintained a record of never missing a mission.
The fifteen members of Squad Fifteen, together with the captain, were all elite scouts.
They might not be the best fighters in combat, but they were good at hiding and camouflaging.
Scouts were the source of intelligence for the army.
So almost all of the people in the scout regiment were not professional soldiers originally, but rather recruited artisans, healers, farmers, thieves, mercenaries, and even a portion of the downtrodden scholars and clergy.
Once they took off their uniforms, they would become the most ordinary civilians.
Botou had great confidence in Squad 15, every member of the squad was handpicked by him, and their skills were reliable, so they had no problem in carrying out their tasks.
Receiving this heavy duty, Botou was more excited.
The Bo God had crusaded against the evil god, King Uzi, and the Empire had declared war on the Uzi Kingdom.
Squad 15’s orders were to infiltrate into the rear of the kingdom controlled by the Evil God, first integrating into the local area and checking for information.
When they received orders from the rear, they would then further destroy the local roads, water sources, and supply wagons, and build altars in hidden areas if they had the chance, to fight for the fire of faith for the Bo God.
Botu led the squad lightly, following the map given by the regiment all the way in a roundabout way, however the further they travelled the more he felt that something was wrong. According to reason, there should be a hill ahead, how come it has now turned into a desert?
The sky had darkened for no reason, and the sand had turned greyish brown, as if the colour had been sucked out by some mysterious force.
Botou decided to take cover on the spot first, ordering everyone to hide in the sand and check out the situation first.
Scouts often frequented dangerous areas and had to remain alert and flexible.
Shortly after, Botu heard screams in the distance.
Imperial troops were fighting the enemy.
Botu ordered to continue advancing, the frontal troops had attracted the enemy’s main force, this was an opportunity to penetrate and sneak into the rear.
But the squad continued to advance deeper into the desert, the drawings given by the regiment were completely useless, they simply didn’t match up.
The scouting squad was tired and hungry, and every one of them was on edge; once they encountered the enemy, they might all be wiped out.
Botou could only rely on his field experience and lead everyone to find a way out first.
But the luck of the draw was not always in their favour, and they were met by the Wuzhi people.
He led his team to keep dodging along the way, and finally entered a huge black area on a desperate road.
Botu originally thought of waiting for the enemy to leave before coming out. As a result, as soon as he went in, he came to another world.
This world was very bright.
The sun was high in the sky, and underneath his feet was hard and solid ground, surrounded by no smoke, flames, or explosions, no ground traps that could cave in at any time, and no crows or vultures gnawing on corpses.
There was a faint scent of grass in the air, and a slightly salty sea breeze.
Botu led the group around the island, catching fish and birds and filling their bellies, then he ordered a rotation of duty so that the group could all in turn get a good night’s sleep.
Then he began to think about his next step.
The hole from before was like some sort of giant portal that had sent the squad all the way to this unfamiliar area. In other words, it was highly likely that this was the large backyard of the Uzi Kingdom.
The opportunity had come!
Botu called out to the scouts, “Brothers, the time to build a career is now!”
“From this day on, we will scatter and lurk for the Empire, find out the current state of this country, and wait for the Empire’s call. At that time, all our efforts will be rewarded by His Majesty the Emperor! We will be granted wives and children, and enjoy land!”
“Remember, from today onwards, you will no longer be Imperial scouts, but artisans, scholars, farmers, fishermen & merchants, thoroughly gathering intelligence from all walks of life, waiting for the Imperial General Offensive’s call.”
“Every year on this day, we rendezvous on this island and return to gather intelligence. For security reasons, only I will know your cities and identities, and private contact is forbidden.”
“For the Empire!”
“Squad 15, dismissed!”
……
A year later, Botu arrived on the island where he had set sail in a paddle boat.
He was already proficient in the basic local language and script, could speak fluent Yao, and had even learnt some of the dialects of the southern archipelago to make it easier to communicate with the islanders.
Now wearing a thick cotton overcoat and carrying his travelling bag, he built a fire in a clearing.
The flames rose, reflecting a red glow on Botu’s frowning face.
He was both happy and sad.
The joy was that this was actually not the Wu Ji Kingdom, but another brand new world.
This world was rich in material goods, orderly, with no outbreaks of war or chaos, and possessed many marvellous commodities and tools. The number of transcendent creatures is huge, and they actually interact closely with humans …… whose value is much higher than that of the Wu Ji Kingdom.
Worry also comes from this.
In this world lies at least four apostles, each of whom is incredibly strong. They have struck down the sun, tamed the Dragon King, and killed numerous old gods …… The top level battle power is extremely terrifying.
The empire also has apostles of the gods out there, but it has never had this kind of terrifying battle record, and it can even snuff out a natural disaster.
Not to mention, the god that overrides this world, Yao Shen, is even more unfathomable.
Botou sighed.
He had thought that he had come to the flock, but who knew that he had mistakenly entered the tiger’s den.
Nowadays, Botu was serving in the city guards of Salt City.
As far as he knew, the military strength of just one city, Salt City, consisted of hundreds of Corruptors led by Commander Salt Gale, and dozens of Corruptive Guards, all of which were elite combatants.
In this world, almost all of them went for elite combat power, not relying much on numerical superiority.
For the Empire to counteract the transcendent power of this city, it must send at least eight regiments at full strength.
On the other hand, the city guards on the secular side should not be underestimated.
They were equipped with armour and bows and arrows, and their arrows were coated with the magic potions [Anaesthetic Juice] and [Sleeping Agent]. Relying on magic potions, they were already able to subdue and even annihilate Transcendents.
In addition, there were ten martial practitioners in the city guards. They were all ruthless characters who used combat as their main cultivation method, breaking through human limits and entering the transcendent realm.
The more he thought about it, the more Botou sighed.
If the imperial army launched an all-out attack on this place, it was feared that it would be very bad.
Just at this moment, a merchant with a felt hat on his head walked over, speaking in low imperial language.
“For the sake of the Empire.”
“For the Empire.”
Botu responded, “Sit. Tell us about yourself.”
The merchant was called Bo Jiu Chien, he sat next to the captain and pulled his coat together, “Captain, I run a ship with a few merchants. The main route is from the New Continent in the north to Saniro in the south, and the commodities traded are Split Earthworms and Black Water Striders.”
“The Dragon’s Nest side has become the equivalent of a large city, there are many people settled around the Dragon’s Nest, all living off the livestock and trade of the Dragon’s Nest.”
He licked his lips, “I saw a dragon once.”
“It flew in the air, spitting black dragon flames and its wings covered the sky, only by seeing it with your own eyes can you understand the power of a dragon, a walking natural disaster ……”
“The surrounding ice and snow giants are even more like mountains one by one, swords and spears can’t break through their ice shells. Perhaps only the empire’s strongest siege crossbows can do any damage to them.”
Botou frowned, “That’s all you’ve investigated?”
“There is more.”
Bo Jiuqian organised his thoughts, “I blended in amongst the merchants and got an important piece of information from them.”
He paused, “The Ember Sun that was shot down is most likely in the Dragon’s Nest, being collected by the Dragon King.”
“……”
Botou was a bit distracted.
The Dragon’s Nest also seemed to be stronger than expected.
After a while.
The members of the scouting squad arrived one after another.
They all gave the intelligence from their respective investigations.
Botou integrated everyone’s findings and came to a conclusion.
This was a world where agriculture, handicrafts, commerce, culture, smelting, casting, and medicine were all extremely developed, where the mundane and the transcendent were actively integrating, and where all kinds of inventions and creations were coming out of the woodwork ……
The good news is that the population of the Yao Clan isn’t that large.
The bad news was that the number of Transcendent beings was growing rapidly, and some of them were integrating into the Yao Race.
Botu spoke, “Everyone talk about their opinions and see what we can do for the Empire.”
Talking about each person’s occupation and insights, everyone was very happy, but when it came to the mission, the group immediately looked sad.
The only sound was the crackling of the campfire.
Botu fumed, “All cheer up! Forget about our mission!”
“As Imperial soldiers, we have only one duty.”
“Loyalty, loyalty, or f*cking loyalty!”
“For the Empire!”
The others chimed in, “For the Empire.”
Suddenly a dirty young man passed by, he was dry and thin, carrying a bundle, and said with some curiosity, “What are you guys doing?”
There was a moment of nervousness in the crowd.
It was a good thing that the Imperial language was unintelligible to the natives.
One member of the team whispered, “Chief, should we silence them?”
Botu stopped it with a look, then smiled and walked over and said, “We’re old-timers from one of the islands, meeting here.”
“Oh, you guys be careful then. There’s been a gang of man-eating crab pirates infesting the area lately, these guys have robbed a few ships already, and I was just here to deal with them before I caught one.”
The young man dragged a dead man-eating crab out from behind a tree and offered, “How about we all eat together?”
……
Eating the delicious roasted crab meat, Boltu was glad in his heart, “Luckily I had a steady hand.
The other party is a Martial Cultivator, if they make a move they are afraid that their squad will be destroyed here as a group.
He began to worry about the future.
I don’t know if the Empire will come.
On the one hand, Botu hoped that the imperial army would come over to pick up his party as soon as possible, and return to the motherland that he had been away from for a long time.
On the other hand, he didn’t want the imperial army to come here, as there was likely to be no return.
The conflicting feelings made him gnaw on the meat fiercely, turning his worries into appetite, and silently chanting in his heart.
Loyalty, loyalty!
