[V6C97 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Qianye arrived smoothly at the command tent after stating his ident.i.ty. There, he turned right after entering and advanced straight ahead to arrive at a series of warehouses. These warehouses formed a separate camp of its own and were guarded by the Thunderous Cavalry as well as Zhang Boqian’s private army.
Qianye leapt down from the jeep and shot a glance at the warning sign hanging at the gates. There were large, scarlet words on the board that said: “Warehouse Area. Trespa.s.sers shall be beheaded.”
An officer walked out upon seeing Qianye’s approach and proceeded to size him up briefly. Then, the man’s expression changed all of a sudden as he said, beaming, “General Qianye, what brings you to the armory?”
Qianye had received the rank of brigadier general after the awards ceremony but wasn’t attached to any army corps just yet. This was done according to convention—the elites from aristocratic private armies could hold an office in the imperial military and enjoy resources from both sides.
Although Qianye’s brigadier general status was still lacking in official doc.u.ments, this officer was apparently quite discerning and simply wouldn’t stop addressing Qianye as general.
“I’m looking to exchange contributions.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll bring you to see General Han.”
Moments later, the officer led Qianye to the office of Armory Manager Han Dezhong. Qianye didn’t engage in lengthy conversations here. He placed the jade tablet directly on the desk and explained his intentions.
Han Dezhong was muttering irresolutely to himself when his aide cut in, “General, the army is on the eve of withdrawing, and all of the armaments in the storage have been sealed. It’s not convenient to bring them out again.”
Qianye’s heart sank upon hearing this.
The rewards for this battle were different from the norm with a fair number of rare items on the list. It was just that Qianye had been planning to save up for an amnesty order, so he didn’t consider them. He hesitated a bit after his discussion with Song Zining before finally deciding to exchange the acc.u.mulated contributions for a set of powerful weapons that would aid his ma.s.sacre in the battle of national fate.
He hadn’t expected the armory to have finished packing up when there was clearly one day left before the designated departure time. Moreover, those superior rewards had to be stored and maintained with special means—how could they be mixed with those ordinary armaments? This aide was either exceptionally afraid of trouble or seeking to cause trouble for Qianye.
Qianye’s expression sank ever so slightly as his eyes grew sharp. He had encountered his fair share of hards.h.i.+ps and besiegements during the b.l.o.o.d.y battle—probably more humans had died in his hands than the dark races. Equipped with such experiences, Qianye was no longer one to be taken advantage of so easily. Moreover, he had the Zhao clan behind him so no one could bully him even if he made a scene.
Han Dezhong scanned Qianye’s face and felt his heart tremble upon seeing the latter’s expression. He immediately turned back and shouted, “What the h.e.l.l are you saying? A military reward is no small matter! Bring the contribution booklet over. No matter what General Qianye selects, you will bring it to him even if you have to open up a sealed crate!”
The aide was startled, as though he hadn’t expected Han Dezhong to flip out in such a manner. He shot Qianye an angry glare before leaving the tent to retrieve the exchange catalog.
This aide was in his early thirties, and despite being a colonel, he didn’t seem to have much respect for Han Dezhong. This was rather surprising to Qianye.
After the man had left, Han Dezhong smiled wryly at Qianye and said, “I’m truly sorry to have let you witness this sorry joke. As a person of humble birth holding an unimportant post, I can hardly keep those clan scions in check.”
Qianye appeared thoughtful but didn’t reveal anything. “Which clan is that colonel from?”
“He’s surnamed Bai.”
Qianye nodded as he came to understand why this person had wanted to make things difficult for him. This was actually a small matter because there was little the man could do apart from adopting a hostile att.i.tude. He didn’t have the power to deny Qianye from exchanging his contribution.
Moments later, the man returned with a stack of doc.u.ments and placed it on the table. Qianye wasn’t interested in the ordinary rewards at all, so he just picked up the first-rate reward list. In truth, Qianye had already seen this booklet and had a general idea of the things listed in it.
Qianye had more or less formed a plan after flipping through it once more.
His second-cla.s.s merit could obtain a standard grade-seven weapon or resources of similar value. Moreover, Qianye had contribution points from killing Sky Demon’s avatar. Adding everything together would allow him to obtain a special grade-seven firearm. This wasn’t a small reward at all because even Zhao Jundu’s Blue Firmament and Zhao Yuying’s Mountain Splitter were only standard grade-seven weapons, albeit the best in their grade.
Those from ordinary low-ranking aristocratic families might not be able to touch a grade-seven weapon in their life. Moreover, those without the right connections would never find such a weapon even if they had the money.
Qianye gave the booklet a once-over and came to a conclusion. He had Han Dezhong confirm his registered contribution points and then pointed at a picture on the last page of the catalog. “I want this one.”
Han Dezhong was puzzled. “You really want this?”
Qianye’s choice was a grade-seven sniper rifle named Thunderbolt. This weapon was known for its ma.s.sive firepower and range—its might wasn’t far off from a grade-eight weapon when fired at full charge with the addition of the sharpshooter’s skills. The problem was that this weapon was merely a sniper rifle with no other special abilities. It had no other merits apart from its firepower and range.
At the grade-seven level, the weapons’ foundational arrays were powerful enough to add numerous special abilities. Not to mention premium weapons like Blue Firmament and Mountain Splitter, even those produced by the empire’s master craftsmen had many performed plans one could choose from. For instance, the skill “Windrider” could increase the marksman’s movement speed by several times, allowing him to run at least several kilometers before wearing off. It was a valuable a.s.set to snipers for escape and changing positions.
Some sniper rifles allowed the marksman to retract his aura. The effects were similar to Bloodline Concealment, albeit not as complete. These abilities were just examples out of the many others. Special firearms like these were used to reinforce a sniper’s strength or to make up for his weakness. One had to know that cultivation would become more and more difficult at higher ranks, and most people who had reached this level were at the end of their progress. As such, they needed to complement their weaknesses with the addition of different origin arrays.
Qianye replied, “Yes, I want this.”
Han Dezhong made no more attempt at dissuasion after seeing Qianye’s insistence. “There are indeed a couple of Thunderbolts in the armory, so I can dispense it right away. If you want other special models, however, you really might have to wait a while.”
With that, Han Dezhong ordered the aide to retrieve the weapon. Qianye felt quite peaceful after the aide left begrudgingly.
Qianye had half of his contribution points left after picking a Thunderbolt. He slipped over to the combat armor page and picked a set of special grade-five armor called “Iron Wall”. This armor’s design was already mature. Its unique feature, compared to the ordinary version, was a significant increase in defense at the expense of a twofold weight increase. However, its thickness remained the same.
Even using East Peak was a cakewalk for Qianye’s const.i.tution and strength, much less this Iron Wall.
Han Dezhong’s eyelids couldn’t help but twitch after seeing Qianye pick this armor—after all, it wasn’t fit for a sniper at all. It could be considered a piece of heavy armor even for guerilla soldiers or close-combat a.s.sault teams. It was simply too heavy for a sniper.
But considering the case with Thunderbolt just a while ago, he decided not to say anything.
What Qianye liked was the Iron Wall’s defensive powers. With such an armor on him, he was practically impervious to sporadic attacks under grade six.
He still had points left even after picking Thunderbolt and Iron Wall. Hence, he exchanged a set of handgun attachments capable of increasing firepower by twenty percent. The Twin Flowers’ firepower was indeed falling behind compared to Qianye’s constant progress in origin power and blood energy. It was just that these guns had been personally modified by Andruil to hold the Wings of Inception, so there might be more secrets hidden within. He couldn’t throw them away no matter what.
The Twin Flowers were grade-five firearms, but its firepower was at grade six after combining them into one and using the Wings of Inception. Installing this attachment would boost its firepower to the peak of grade-six and close to grade-seven. Its basic output could be considered sufficient as a defensive weapon in battle.
The items Qianye wanted weren’t overly rare or custom-made; most of them were in stock. Han Dezhong didn’t drag things out, either. He immediately produced all the reward items and handed them to Qianye.
Qianye had cleared out his contributions by the time he had left the armory, but it could be said that he was now armed to the teeth.
Another day pa.s.sed by, and the time arrived for the entire army to withdraw.
Countless airs.h.i.+ps rose from the imperial main camp following the call of a lingering bugle. They a.s.sumed formation at different alt.i.tudes in the air and, afterward, left one after another. At a glance, the air was filled with hundreds of airs.h.i.+ps, and it was as though the entire sky was fully packed.
Even for many old veterans from the regular army, it was the first time they had witnessed such a powerful scene.
The first batch of airs.h.i.+ps would carry the imperial regular army back to their garrisons. Unexpectedly, even more airs.h.i.+ps took to the air after the departure of the first batch. These were the war vessels of the aristocratic clans and families, poised to return the private armies to their homelands.
The aristocracy was far superior to the imperial regular army both in the scale or number of airs.h.i.+ps.
The last to take flight were the clumsy cargo airs.h.i.+ps. These vessels were even greater in number, and when they rose into the air, it was as though the entire sky was filled with the shadows of those behemoth vessels. The rumbles of their engines spread far and wide like rolling thunder, causing the valley of Giant’s Repose to tremble unceasingly.
These cargo airs.h.i.+ps were all carrying heavy goods and a great deal of spoils which the Evernight army had left during their hurried retreat. This logistics fleet looked spectacular but actually possessed no fighting power. These big fellows would easily become live targets if they were to encounter an enemy war fleet.
Even so, they were being escorted by a disproportionately small fleet with no rearguard. If the Evernight side were to launch a sneak-attack from the rear, they would surely be able to produce great results.
However, not even a shadow appeared from the Evernight faction up until the cargo fleet vanished over the horizon.
Qianye knew it wasn’t that the imperial fleet had no rear guard. There was actually one person at the very end—it was Prince Greensun, Marshal Zhang Boqian.