Off to the Battlefield

Under the night sky, by the bonfire on the beach, Jones sat with the Captain and a few sailors.

They were discussing the plan to enter the forest the next day.

Since Jones didn't need to go in, he would stay in the tents with a few middle-aged women, and he originally didn't want to participate in this discussion.

But he felt it necessary to share some information about the monsters with them.

It might save their lives at a critical moment.

"Mr. Jones, do you have anything to add?"

The Captain asked Jones, who took a deep drag of his cigarette and threw the butt into the blazing bonfire.

"If you reach your destination, they will definitely slaughter all of you because they don't want anyone to know the location of that metal. So you'd better be clever. Also, the mercenaries and our people who went missing in the forest were taken by one or a few monsters."

Jones' words made everyone present look astonished.

"Monsters? What do you mean?"

The Captain asked in confusion, as the word "monster" seemed too surreal.

"Yesterday, I saw a creature in the forest about two meters tall and massively built, like a giant gorilla with an alligator tail. It had sharp claws, four-toed hawk-like feet, and was wearing a tattered burlap cloak..."

At this point, Jones lit another cigarette.

The others listened intently. If these words hadn't come from Jones' mouth, no one present would have believed it, thinking it was just nonsense.

"Under the burlap cloak, the monster wore impenetrable steel armor, including a steel helmet on its head... I've never seen such a creature before. If you encounter them, the only options are to run or hide. It might track by scent and may even be blind..."

Jones recalled the shots he fired, confident in his marksmanship. Even if the monster's face was a seamless steel helmet, he would have hit its eye sockets with his precise aim.

But that didn't happen!

Its face was like a solid steel plate without any openings.

"How could it walk without eyes? Dogs can track by scent, but if you cover their eyes, they'd lose their way too."

The Captain now had many questions but focused on the most combat-relevant one.

"I'm just saying it might not have eyes, or its eyes were covered," Jones said, furrowing his brow. "The steel armor on that monster was definitely man-made, so you might encounter other enemies at your destination - the masters of those monsters."

Jones didn't know how that monster worked - how it walked in the forest with its face covered, or how it opened its mouth to eat?

Did this intelligent monster open its helmet and eat by itself?

Or was it controlled or held captive by humans behind the scenes, only having its helmet opened and being fed after completing its tasks?

Humans can indeed tame most creatures in nature.

Jones knew about research on living soldiers during World War II, and there might still be some crazy scientists conducting such experiments.

That monster could have been created by those insane scientists.

But what Jones couldn't understand was why no country had dropped a nuclear bomb on this place that posed a potential threat to the world.

There must be deep vested interests involved.

Jones talked about the monster with these people but didn't mention Luo Jun.

He couldn't be sure if there were traitors among the survivors, as some naive people might believe they could save themselves by betraying their teammates.

"Get some rest early," Jones said, getting up and walking back to the tent.

Alone in the dark tent, he smoked, the glowing red tip rising and falling.

He clearly had something on his mind.

But he never shared his troubles with others.

Apart from the Captain, who trusted Jones completely, the others only showed reverence, not real trust.

After all, he used to be an assassin.

Assassins were ruthless and unscrupulous, capable of anything for personal gain.

Just like how Jones ended up on their passenger ship - only the Captain knew the reason. Even the first mate and second mate didn't understand and had privately asked the Captain why Jones was on board. Was it really just to smuggle a few falcons?

Each time, the Captain brushed them off without revealing any other reasons.

...

The next day, at dawn, Luo Jun set out with a large cannon, the Russian SV-98 sniper rifle, food, and freshwater.

He wanted to reach the designated position along the route ahead of time to prepare an ambush and sniper position.

Originally, he didn't need to carry two guns, as it was too heavy for long marches.

But he also knew that if those mercenaries found what they were looking for, they would start slaughtering the survivors because they couldn't let anyone know the location of that metal. His large cannon only had five rounds, which would be insufficient against so many mercenaries.

Moreover, this cannon was for fighting the monsters, so he couldn't waste its ammunition.

Therefore, he also brought the SV-98 sniper rifle, which had ten rounds. Even if there were more than fifteen enemies, he wouldn't need to worry. Since the enemy didn't know his background, if he sniped six or seven of them consecutively, their morale would crumble, and they wouldn't be able to surround and kill him.

This way, the survivors would have a chance to survive.

Luo Jun had only walked a few meters when he heard Li Shi calling from behind.

He turned back, and Li Shi ran over. She was now wearing Li Jun's old jacket with a thermal undershirt. She had taken off her skirt, washed it, and was wearing Li Jun's old tactical pants.

The oversized tactical pants were unsuitable for her, so she used a rope as a belt and tucked the pant legs into her Martin boots.

She looked like a neighborhood girl dressing up as a bad girl in oversized adult clothes to go to a bar for a date.

"You're up so early?" Luo Jun asked her.

Li Shi came over to take the bamboo tube of food and water canteen from him.

"I want to go with you. Weren't you going to teach me survival skills? I need to learn tactical knowledge too!"

Li Shi said.

Luo Jun didn't expect her to be so brave, or perhaps she felt safer staying by his side.

"If it's for safety, me being with you won't protect you - it'll be more dangerous," Luo Jun said bluntly.

Li Shi shook her head. "No, I just want to learn survival skills from you!"

She had already taken the water canteen hanging from Luo Jun and put it on her back.

Worried that Luo Jun would look down on her, she added, "I can also use a sniper rifle."

Luo Jun knew she had gone hunting and used sniper rifles before, so it wasn't strange. But mastering a sniper rifle for killing people was another matter.

It was like a medical intern performing surgery on a cadaver versus a living person - two entirely different scenarios.

"Bring your food and water," Luo Jun said without further argument.

Since she wanted to come along, he would let her. Actual combat would be the best training.

And this mission would definitely involve fighting.

Whether or not they found the so-called metal, he planned to kill those mercenaries. Since more than half of the mercenaries had come out, if he could eliminate them in the forest, the remaining ones would lack intelligence on the operation. Then he could stealthily return to the ship at night and kill them too.

As long as we take control of the big ship, everyone will be able to leave safely!