Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 1054: Section 666: Sudden Turn (Part 1)_2

Chapter 1054: Section 666: Sudden Turn (Part 1)_2

Constantine heard one piece of bad news after another from his colleagues.

He thought of that child again.

His elder brother had probably already perished on the battlefield along with tens of thousands of comrades.

"There’s new information. The Northern Kingdom is summoning all its citizens back." A mentor rushed into the office, saying, "Excuse me, everyone, I need to return. Could someone take over my classes?"

"Why are you going back? Didn’t you say your father fled from that kingdom? Why bother going back?" someone asked.

"Because I heard that Malin wagered against the Northern Nobles. If they fail, Mr. Malin will return. I’m going back to help the Northern Kingdom," the young man explained. He noticed the expressions of shock and suspicion on several colleagues’ faces and awkwardly added with a nervous smile, "Sorry, I’m a Northernist."

"And that’s precisely why you shouldn’t go back," Constantine shook his head. "You should know that the cause of your Northernist Mendel’s death hasn’t been fully investigated yet."

"But Mr. Constantine, sir, I’m not going back for that damned king or his lackeys—I’m going back for my compatriots, my comrades... Farewell, everyone." The young man hurriedly gathered his belongings and left the office without looking back.

Constantine, left behind, furrowed his brow.

If such a youth is deemed a traitor by the Northern Kingdom’s king... then, who truly will be the gravedigger of this nation?

What an intriguing question.

......

As the ship departed Rangoon and began charting its way south, the voyage through Mottama Bay revealed to Malin what a civilized world looked like. Massive fleets of fishing vessels operated in the seas, with humans—and even members of the Sea Clan—working alongside each other. This deepened Malin’s curiosity about the Thainan world. He genuinely couldn’t fathom how those Sages had managed to unite so many different races.

As they continued southward to the Andaman Sea, Malin could no longer discern the Andaman or Nicobar Islands. By the time they reached the waters off Kuala Lumpur, even the southern Sumatra Island was no longer in sight.

Thus, when a half-submerged Singapore appeared before Malin, he could scarcely recognize it as the once-renowned "Four Asian Tigers." Half the city sat underwater, and what remained of its urban area—ravaged by geological disasters—revealed no intact structures. Built by the Thanans, a towering lighthouse to the north of the city now marked this spot as the southernmost corner of civilization.

The fleet turned northward from here, heading toward Bangkok—where another fleet in need of an escort awaited them.

The problem in this region wasn’t pirates, as Ah San’s pirates generally never survived long enough to reach these waters. Instead, the only threats were undead pirates and, occasionally, the mysterious Chaotic Fleet.

Every year, Chaotic Fleets of varying sizes were discovered in these waters. Since the Thanans had reentered the seas, battling Chaos at sea had become routine for them.

During this time, Malin received intelligence on the Northern front from both Sostack and Mana. Sostack’s satellites, stationed in fixed orbits, passed over the North daily, while Fio’s group delivered news directly through Mana.

Yet Malin had no plans to return home. The soldiers were still fighting, and no one called for him—or perhaps, they endured pain in silence.

Malin refused to return hastily, as such impatience would likely make others think he was too eager.

For history is made by men, and holy words are written by their hands.

And so Malin waited—for the unanimous cry, for a soldier’s desperate call to overthrow corruption.

There was still time—time for those failures to tighten the nooses around their own necks.

Malin waited—so long that he didn’t realize how much his mindset had already shifted.

......

Rhodes searched through his pockets but found no packs of cigarettes. After some thought, he realized that last night’s cigarette had been his very last one.

For the first time, the young man felt a desperate craving for the cursed things.

The sharpshooter unit had lost a third of its men during the past three days of skirmishes.

Before that, Sudel’s platoon had nearly been wiped out. Thirteen veterans and twice as many recruits had died in the battle at Słupsk. Carmen’s platoon suffered fewer losses, but even they had lost eleven soldiers in the last three days of fighting.

Halsan’s platoon was hit the hardest, losing more than half its men earlier, and another quarter over the past three days. Now, Halsan led only four veterans and a single recruit.

Sudel’s cousin was down to two veterans and had joined forces with Rhodes’ platoon. Together, in the forest, they played cat-and-mouse with the Chaos pursuers—laying traps, ambushing small groups of Chaos troops, and buying precious time. But as the number of Chaos pursuers grew, they could no longer risk exposing themselves.

Unless Rhodes and his remaining thirty men fancied the prospect of being overwhelmed by three thousand Chaos troops in the forest.

"Three days, right?" Sudel asked as he pulled the last stub of a cigarette from his mouth and handed it over.

Rhodes sighed, nodded, and took the stub for a brief inhale. "We have to move, cousin."

"I know. But remember, our commander ordered us to hold the enemy here for three days. When the time’s up, we’re allowed to retreat." Sudel didn’t directly reply to Rhodes but instead stared out at the forest ahead.

Rhodes let out a couple of cold laughs, clutching his waist—where he had been wounded during an earlier battle. A bayonet had grazed his side, leaving a gash. Though he had taken a potion to fend off Chaos corruption, the wound hadn’t received proper treatment. Now, it only itched.

If I don’t get medical treatment soon, I’ll die, cousin.

Rhodes didn’t say these words aloud. He understood his cousin’s mindset. They had been leading the enemy in circles for three days—each additional day of delaying gave the retreating Słupsk army group more time to reinforce their defenses.

To this end, over the last three days, they had danced on the edge of death—killing a Chaos officer during one encounter only to spend an entire day fleeing from Chaos reinforcements, losing seven comrades in the process.

It must have been a high-ranking officer. Tragically, not everyone lived to fight another day. Now, the sharpshooters who had once followed Malin had lost more than half their number.

Supplies were running low. Rhodes knew the struggle extended to the rear lines, but they couldn’t hold out much longer.

"Rhodes, it’s time to retreat," his cousin finally declared with a sigh.

Rhodes smiled faintly as the realization dawned. "You mean it? Retreat?"

"Yes, retreat. We’ve done our part. Head north. Follow the coast from the Dalvovo region to Merno," Sudel instructed.

"What if Merno falls?" Rhodes called his soldiers over and unfolded their final map. "We’re south of Dalvovo right now. We should head to Xanuf. There’s a Dark Zone from the Great Destruction Era there. We could use the rogue Machine Souls to shake off our pursuers."

Rhodes presented what he thought was the better option—to head west, a shorter distance, with a chance of evading their enemies. Heading north was a death trap.

Rhodes was seeking survival for everyone, including his cousin.

Because heading north was a death sentence. If Chaos decided to pursue, they’d be doomed the moment they left the Black Forest—crossing an open plain where outrunning Chaos was a madman’s gambit.

When Sudel proposed heading north, Rhodes thought it was his cousin’s way of sacrificing the entire platoon to buy Merno’s defenders more time.

Cousin, you’re noble, but I won’t let the young men in my platoon die with us. Some of them are just kids.

For the love of anything, pull back, cousin.

If I don’t shoot you in the back, someone else will!

With deep regret, Rhodes watched his cousin purse his lips and say, "We’ll go with your plan. In five minutes, we move. Everyone eats a can of rations, then toss the husks north as a decoy. We’ll head west."

...Whatever gods there are, they must’ve intervened!

Rhodes was nearly moved to tears. This was a miracle!