Chapter 609: The Gamble Paid Off
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
Fatty stared at the scene in front of him. When he saw the enemy forces retreating like a receding tide, he could not believe his eyes.
Did… did they win?
He wiped off the beads of sweat on his forehead with a blank look on his face. His energy was completely sapped. His legs went soft, and he fell to the ground on his butt.
During their daily training sessions, they had never attacked targets that were so close to them before. He was confident in the might of the Beehive Heavy Cannons, but if the enemy forces got too close to them, they might be in severe danger. The enemy forces might rely on their thick hides and solid flesh to crash through the defensive line.
Fatty did not know what was he thinking at that moment. Why would he take such a huge risk? He could have fought a safer battle. At that point in time, he felt that he had to make the enemy forces eat a humble pie!
That thought had flashed across his mind like lightning. Without careful deliberations, he decided to take a gamble.
Why did he want to make the enemy forces eat a humble pie? He did not think about it or know why he felt that way at that time. All he knew was that the arrogance of the enemy forces annoyed him.
It was an intuition that was hard to describe.
Now… he was feeling scared.
A strong sense of acute mental shock caused Fatty's legs to tremble nonstop. His sweat was flowing down his face like meandering rivers. The heavy breaths that he heaved were like scorching volcanic plumes.
"Oh my god…" Fatty's shivering lips muttered unwittingly.
He wanted to find a grass stalk to chew, but his trembling hands couldn't grab ahold of it.
Thump, thump, thump.
His heartbeat sounded like a fast drumbeat in his ears. Why was his heart beating so fast? Why were his limbs so soft?"
He had made up his mind not to act so recklessly in the future. Acting recklessly would only shorten his life.
The clamorous outburst frightened Fatty so much that his body shook involuntarily. He almost ran and hid somewhere.
After a while, when he returned to his senses, he realized the noisy clamor was actually his comrades cheering. He heaved a sigh of relief because he was glad that he did not hide and cover his head with his hands in fear. That would have been embarrassing.
He felt that he should stand up. Shouldn't a hero stand up with pride at this point in time?
He should put his hands on his hips and look disdainfully out of the corner of his eye. Or should he put on the emotionless killer look that Ai Hui had? That would look impressive too…
These distracting thoughts caused his lingering post-traumatic fear to disappear unwittingly. Eh? Why couldn't he stand up?
He realized that his limbs were soft like noodles, and he couldn't even exert any strength. He flew into a rage out of humiliation. He had obtained the fruit of victory with great difficulty, yet he couldn't even pick himself up now! Fatty was someone who liked to take advantage of other people. How was it possible for him to control that urge now?
"Is everyone dead? Don't you know you have to help me up?"
Fatty's angry roar was drowned by an outburst of cheers.
The pagoda cannoneers were cheering jubilantly. After experiencing a near-death experience just now, all of the pressure had been released at this moment. The impressive battle results tasted much sweeter as well.
Only Zu Yan heard Fatty cursing loudly. He chuckled, but did not have any intention of helping him up.
Shi Xueman looked at the pagoda cannon site that was rejoicing and cheering wildly. The people beside her were filled with shock and amazement.
Jiang Wei shook his head and exclaimed with amazement, "Insane! Bold!"
He did not expect for the usually timid Fatty to do such a reckless thing. This was amazing! He wasn't the only one who felt this way. Everyone else was amazed by Fatty. All of them usually trained with Fatty. Therefore, they were extremely familiar with Fatty's character.
However, the entire process did happen and they had witnessed it with their own eyes.
It was too amazing!
Shi Xueman's lips curled into a smile. "Fatty can take up responsibility now. We have made a huge profit this time around!"
Everyone smiled in unison as an excited look appeared upon their faces. Shi Xueman's words spoke their minds. If someone said that Fatty would become a Master and take up a responsibility role a few years ago, all of them would burst out laughing.
"After all, he and Ai Hui are the only ones who survived the Wilderness!" someone yelled.
These words immediately gained everyone's approval.
"After all, he and Ai Hui are the only ones who survived the Wilderness!"
He Huan could not help but say these words in his mind.
All along, he had thought highly of Fatty. His progress so far had verified He Huan's judgement. The battle just now was very short, but the battle result was magnificent. The magnificence of the battle couldn't be overemphasized. However, the extra things that He Huan saw were the minor details displayed by the entire process.
The enemy forces arrived with overwhelming momentum. If they could not constrain this momentum, the subsequent battles would be tougher. The enemy had numerous blood fiends, and ordinary wounds would not strike any fear into them. Instead, they would only evoke the enemy forces' insanity and bloodlust, causing the battle to be more devastating.
Everyone understood this logic.
However, how many people dared to allow their enemies to come so close to them before retaliating?
Ordinary peoples would not dare to do this. That was because a slight moment of carelessness would allow the enemy forces to break through the defensive line. That was the worst case scenario. However, the usually timid Fatty actually made such an insane and bold decision.
The unknown potential and unique characteristics hiding beneath Fatty's timid facade were beginning to radiate brilliantly.
Not only was he brave and decisive, the gamble he took also paid off! That was the most important thing.
Winners made the rules and losers lived by them. This was the eternal truth of the battlefield.
If a defeat could bring someone experience and prevent him or her from making the same mistakes again, then a victory could make someone more calm and composed, increasing the confidence that other people had in him or her.
He Huan was feeling extremely happy. However, he was soon overwhelmed with complex feelings. Even though their side had a new general, their defensive line was much more stable, and their chance of victory was higher, Fatty still belonged to the Central Pine Faction.
The conflict between the Central Pine Faction and Skyheart City was irreconcilable.
From what He Huan saw, the Central Pine Faction was strengthening every day. They were becoming more and more powerful. Right now, Skyheart City needed Ai Hui to defend the front line, but could Skyheart City restrain a Central Pine Faction that had matured?
He was slightly worried.
This tinge of worry flashed across his mind and disappeared. Swiftly, a sincere smile appeared on his face. Who could say what would happen in the future? No matter what, the most important mission now was to defend the defensive line.
…..
Everyone in the God Wolf Division was feeling tense.
Everyone had an ugly look on their faces. No one expected the beast battalions to suffer such heavy losses in their first battle.
"What kind of pagoda cannon is that? Have you heard or seen it before?"
Inside the tent, Helian Tianxiao was looking around. No one could tell what he was feeling right now. The shock that he felt previously had disappeared. Even after he had regained his composure, he still exuded an imposing aura.
He became the omnipotent division leader in everyone's hearts once again.
The low morale was slightly boosted while the tense atmosphere in the tent loosened up significantly.
"
Song Xiaoqian shook her head and replied, "I have never seen it before. It should a new type of pagoda cannon that the enemy has developed. It is completely different from Hellfire Pagoda Cannons. Now that we have analyzed it, we know that its attack is unstoppable and powerful at close range. When its attack has traveled far enough, it will open up and cover a wide area. The situation just now was too chaotic. Our soldiers were too close to them, and it was hard to determine the new pagoda cannon's exact area of effect."
"Despicable! How dare they use the Hellfire Pagoda Cannons to trick us earlier on!"
"I still thought Shi Xueman was an upright and honest individual. I never expected her to use such a despicable trick."
"It might not be Shi Xueman, it might be that Pagoda Cannon Master named Qian Dai. I heard this person is extremely despicable!"
Everyone broke into a lively discussion filled with resentment.
"Shut up!" Helian Tianxiao roared.
All the generals turned silent out of fear.
Helian Tianxiao's eyes pierced through everyone on the spot like a knife, causing them to lower their heads.
"Don't throw away my face! There's only win or lose on the battlefield. There's nothing despicable about it!" Helian Tianxiao's words were sharp like a sword.
The generals who behaved noisily just now had their faces flush red with shame.
"The most important thing that we have to do now is to clarify the capabilities of this brand-new type of pagoda cannon," Helian Tianxiao said with a calm voice. "There's no such thing as a perfect weapon in this world. As long as we can find its weaknesses, we will find the key to victory. Mo Shaojun, report."
Mo Shaojun was standing in a corner of the tent with a gloomy look on his face.
He had suffered heavy losses in the battle. Not many blood elementalists had died, but more than half of the broadback batfish had been slain. He felt as though his heart was being stabbed by a sword.
The chance to set foot upon the battlefield was hard to come by. Therefore, Mo Shaojun valued this chance very much. He certainly did not expect himself to suffer such devastating losses when the battle had just merely begun!
God Nation valued outstanding military service the most. Therefore, all the combat divisions were vying for the chance to enter the battlefield and obtain military merits. The six god divisions and 12 blood divisions had been dominating the war, so the beast battalions did not even have the chance to set foot upon the battlefield.
If they couldn't fight on the battlefield, they couldn't obtain military merits or promotion.
This chance was extremely hard to come by, and he had screwed it up. As such, he was feeling discouraged.
At this point in time, if it was blood elementalists who died, it would still be all right. However, it was the broadback batfish that died just now. This meant that his current situation was far from good.
When he heard Helian Tianxiao's words, he returned to his senses and said, "Sir, you're right. Right now, the most important thing for us to do is to understand the enemy's new pagoda cannons. According to my estimation, the enemy has around 100 pagoda cannons. They fired 12 salvos of attacks in total. I misjudged the situation and tried to use a compressed formation to break through the enemy's defensive line. As a result, I suffered such heavy losses."
"Continue," Helian Tianxiao said emotionlessly.
"We have to clarify the power of this new pagoda cannon, its shooting range, its area of effect, etc. We also need to know how many of these new pagoda cannons they have. Since pagoda cannons need snow lava, we have to find out how much snow lava the new type of pagoda cannon consumes. We also need to know how long the enemy pagoda cannoneers can continuously fire," Mo Shaojun continued.
"If I wanted you to find out more about this new type of pagoda cannon, how would you go about doing it?" Helian Tianxiao asked plainly.
"Previously, we suffered heavy losses because our battle formation was too packed. If I am allowed to fight again, I would split my offense into three prongs and attack the three God-subduing Peaks from different directions. By doing so, I can prevent the enemy's pagoda cannons from concentrating their attacks on our forces. Other than that, I would increase the number of soldiers taking part in the battle and have them throw blood mist bombs to obstruct the enemy's line of sight," Mo shaojun replied solemnly.
A look of satisfaction finally appeared on Helian Tianxiao's face. Then, he encouraged Mo Shaojun, "Tomorrow, you will continue to lead the assault. Tonight, think about how you are going to fight the battle. Use your brain more and don't let me down. Don't stress over the casualties because I will replenish all of your losses. As long as you can see through the enemy's tricks, no one can take away your merits!"
Mo Shaojun was overjoyed. He replied emotionally, "Sir, thank you for supporting me!"