Chapter 624: At the Limit
The mercenaries of the Continental Mercenary Corps were in a mess.
Mainly because this time, in addition to the three major mercenary clans, there were also those second-tier mercenary corps that came out to stir up the muddy waters. Because the other mercenaries wouldn’t let them rule as they wished, they knew that once the three major mercenaries’ clans defeated the Continental Mercenaries, a new round of reshuffling would occur in the Land of Mercenaries.
So, while the three major mercenary clans fought the Continental Mercenaries head-on, they were attacked by those second-tier mercenaries from behind.
There were many second-tier mercenaries trying to sneak up behind them in the battle.
The entire capital city was in a smoky mess, the civilians were plunged into the deep water and many of them packed their valuables early and left the city.
It was much like hell, at least until the next ruler took over.
Kush sat in his wheelchair with his face pale and weak. His injuries were as Xu Cheng had said, mostly internal injuries that would be the most painful to endure with time.
But looking out at the ruins, he saw that the entire government building was surrounded by debris.
The second-in-command of the Continental Mercenary Corps was a mess with a face full of dirt and dust.
He held a microphone in front of hundreds of soldiers of the three major mercenary clans and shouted towards the descendants of the three great families. “Hey listen! You three families, you are so eager to bring us down, but have you thought about how to divide this world equally? I’m interested in your opinions on this issue, if you can come up with a perfect decision, we’ll even hand over this government building.”
The current head of the Murong Family mercenaries among the three snapped. “Don’t come trying to cause discord among us! Stop wasting your time when you’re about to die. Since you Continental Mercenaries were incapable of ruling this land, then let us have the seat. Don’t occupy the spot.”
The three mercenary clans had a death toll numbering over seven hundred people, and now they had less than eight hundred soldiers left.
But for the Continental Mercenary Corps, with a thousand people resisting, nearly six hundred soldiers died as well. Right now they had less than four hundred people making defensive deployments around. Compared to the three major mercenary allies, they had half the number of soldiers, and with Kush being seriously wounded, his overall ability to fight on his own had decreased, and they had no advantage at all.
The leader of the Li Family stepped forward and shouted. “Kush! If you’re not dead yet, give up everything here and use your life to exchange for the future of these remaining soldiers of yours. We promise that they will be rewarded with additional ranks so that they can make a name for themselves. If not, then don’t blame us for killing them all, we still have two battalions heading over to exterminate the Deviant Corp. Once they return, all the soldiers here who resist will die! You better think it over.”
Kush’s eyes were cloudy, and his lips were pale.
The second-in-command shouted directly, “Do you think we’re afraid of death? Only the three of you together would dare to fight us. The Continental Mercenaries have the ability to win against any other mercenary corp.”
“Tough talk!” The Ye Family captain sneered and waved his hand and the first fifty soldiers in line fired cannons.
Another wave of cannons blasted past, directly hitting the building walls and causing them to collapse into debris. They no longer needed soldiers to charge, as long as they used sufficient artillery fire, sooner or later, enough bombing would bring down the building and the people in it.
This was the major difference between the three rich mercenary clans and the poor Continental Mercenary Corps. The rich side had an advantage in war, as they could mobilize the supply of ammunition while at war while the poor wouldn’t even have back up for supplies if they ran out.
At the moment, the experts of the continental mercenary corps were more or less injured, and even Kush was wounded so badly that he could not get up from his wheelchair.
The artillery fire was coming in waves from all around, and there was no telling when the core members would be affected.
Kush sat in his wheelchair and looked up at the sky as cannons explode like fireworks; he used to be fascinated and loved the war, but now that they had hit them to the point of exhaustion, he smiled as he looked at the “fireworks” in the sky.
One of the soldiers saw a huge chunk of debris coming down and pushed Kush’s wheelchair away, sacrificing himself instead.
The other soldiers all protected Kush’s wheelchair while trying to retreat to safety.
However, they actually had no possibility of retreating at all, because the three armies had surrounded the building, and if they wanted to, the artillery fire would blast them in from all sides. The only way was to break out and carve a path through the enemy lines, that would require at least someone who wasn’t afraid and block the attack with their lives!
“Carry Boss and we will break it through. Those who are not afraid to die, go to the front. As long as we can break through this, the day when they perish will come soon! Give the boss some time and we will damn well kill these b*stards!” The third-in-command roared, as the fifth one directly kneeled in front of Kush’s wheelchair and carried him up.
Kush suddenly said in a weak tone, “It’s okay, just do as they say. I’ll choose to let you live.”
All of his loyal subordinates at the scene along with the soldiers struggling to resist the attack were stunned as if they were struck by lightning.
The second and third in command were even more confused.
Was this something their boss would say? Were these the words of the mercenary king who had fought against the dictator all his life?
He had accomplished overthrowing the incapable ruling party, inspiring other mercenaries to walk his path. When was it ever that he was the one to fall down at first?
Kush saw their expressions and smiled bitterly as he looked tired, weak and pale. “I’m afraid I’m the only one who knows how bad my injuries are, and I’m afraid I’ll never be able to lead you again!”
The second-in-command shook his head. “No! It’s just that the medical facilities here aren’t advanced enough. Boss, you can do it, hang in there! Once we escape here, we’ll take you to treatment, you’ll get back up, and we can all still make a comeback.”
Kush shook his head. “I didn’t think the Deviant Corp’s boss would be that powerful, and I was even more negligent by not foreseeing that the three major mercenary clans would join forces to take advantage of this opportunity to destroy us. They teamed up, and with their financial resources, they’ve been fighting us for three days in a continuous battle and our energy has basically depleted. I can’t do anything about it, the only thing I can do now is to keep you people who are following me safe.”
“We don’t need that!” Those people stubbornly said, “We are not like that, the Continental Mercenaries are not cowards!”
Outside, the people from the three mercenaries’ clans shouted, “Kush, we will give you one last chance! Are you going to trade your life and the territory of the Continentals Mercenaries for the lives of these brothers of yours, or are you all going to fight to the death? I’ll give you one minute, and after that, don’t blame the gunfire for being merciless!”