Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 802: Section 539: The Forest is a Cabin Without a Roof (3)

Chapter 802: Section 539: The Forest is a Cabin Without a Roof (3)

There wasn’t too much fervent excitement; most of the soldiers had become somewhat numb. While moving from one victory to another was joyful, the thought of facing gut-wrenching carnage every time sapped their spirits.

The last few zombie-like entities were dealt with by the veterans using bayonettes—silver-permeated bayonettes caused sufficient damage to the walking corpses, and the Holy Water consumed beforehand effectively prevented the spread of diseases.

Rhodes poked his head out to glance at the battlefield, noticing some of the veterans searching the bodies of Chaotic Believers for potentially valuable items. The young man pulled his head back, noticed a small hole near the trench, put on gloves, and, laughing, pulled out a rabbit.

"Just like a hunter’s child," his cousin remarked, then magically produced a pot from his small bag.

Rhodes suddenly found the rabbit in his hands less appealing—he really wished he had such a Spatial Bag.

"Stop staring, who’s going to kill the rabbit?" Sudel asked.

Rhodes, clearly unhappy, snapped the rabbit’s neck: "Pass me the knife."

"Here you go, a Chaotic Believer’s combat knife, now a bread knife for the North folks after purification."

"Ha, next time I’ll have Lord Malin purify a Chaos Greatsword for me, I want to chop off the heads of the champions of Chaos with it!" Rhodes declared.

His cousin chuckled, "Good, you’re spirited. I’ll remember that."

If you don’t speak up, nobody will think you’re mute!

The cousin hadn’t finished his quip when gunfire and uproar from the center of the battlefield reached them; Rhodes and his cousin, who had just begun skinning, peeked out to see the veterans dragging someone towards the defense line.

"What’s happening?" Rhodes asked.

"Let’s check it out." Sudel crawled out of the trench and slid down the slope.

Glancing at the rabbit in his hand, he tossed it into the pot, then stashed the knife at his waist and slid down as well.

As children living in the town, they always took these shortcuts, even if sometimes they ended up bruised, but once accustomed, it was a very quick way to get around.

......

"Chaos has simply ceased their assault, just as Lord Malin said. We’re not worth the desperate fight here," Rhodes noted, "Nagoth’s commander would choose not to continue here as long as he can still think."

"I think they’ve just suffered heavy losses. When they replenish their numbers, they will resume their attacks. If they break through here, they can cut off Copenhagen’s supply line. Our new supply route in the North is still under construction; we need time, just like Chaos."

While discussing tactics, the young Marshall remained silent, watching those audacious soldiers scavenging for trophies.

Hmm... Sudel had asked him to help purify a combat knife previously, maybe this time he should also pick out some decent weapons for other young soldiers. Although Chaos’s ranged weapons were subpar, as long as the rituals of Purification were performed, most of their weapons with good material could be melted down and reforged into fine ones.

Watching the brash soldiers sift through Chaotic Believers’ bodies at the frontline, Malin smiled—these old soldiers were fearless in their greed. But, having achieved victory, let them be. Preventative measures had already been implemented; the only thing was to ensure that the Church purifies the spoils they found.

Then, Malin noticed a few veterans stand, following their gaze, he saw a Chaotic Believer rise from the pile of bodies.

He’d barely run a few steps when one of the veterans raised his rifle and shot him down.

"Not bad shooting." Seeing the Chaotic Believer clutching his legs as he fell to the ground, Malin smiled and turned to leave the observation post’s exit: "Jon, come with me and have a look."

Thus, the elder brother of the Svenson family followed him.

Following the communication trench between the war trenches, they reached the front line. Under the command of their company leader, the soldiers made way for Malin, who reached the forefront and climbed out of the trench to see the Chaotic Believer in the snow with his hands tied: "Good shooting, hit without even aiming, who shot it?"

An older soldier, amidst the watchful eyes of his comrades, raised his hand: "Your Excellency, it was me."

"Not bad, you seem like you’ve been playing with guns for a long time, keep the gun in your hands." After Malin finished speaking, the comrades of the old soldier immediately began congratulating him. Malin patted the old soldier’s shoulder and then turned his attention to the Chaotic Believer and said to the medic who was dressing his wounds, "Heal him up; I will personally interrogate this fellow later."

Then Malin noticed the commotion in the crowd, he raised his head toward that direction: "What’s the matter."

The crowd parted automatically and a soldier, pushed by his company leader, stepped forward: "Ma, Marshal Malin!"

He spoke with a stutter, Malin thought for a moment and decided to attribute the stuttering to his nervousness, then smiled and slowed down his speech: "What’s the matter, soldier?"

"Yes, your Excellency, this person... I think I know him." The soldier spoke with increased nervousness, "I really do know him, he should be from the town next to mine, but he shouldn’t be here, he serves in the 27th Division of the National Defense Force, he can’t possibly be a Chaotic Believer."

The soldiers began to whisper among themselves upon hearing this, and Major General Vikin who had come with Malin shouted to interrupt their whispers, walking up to Malin, "Your Excellency, what this soldier is saying could have a significant impact, I think we should restrict this discussion..."

"No, General Vikin, please go to the 27th Division of the National Defense Force, find that soldier and bring him over."

"No, not that, Your Excellency!" The soldier spoke again.

Malin stopped General Vikin’s outburst: "Soldier, is there something else you wish to add?"

"What I’m saying, this person, he is the division commander, Your Excellency." After saying this, the soldier’s company leader covered his mouth.

"Let go." At Malin’s command, the company leader quickly released his hand from the soldier’s mouth.

The soldier looked at Malin: "He is the highest-ranking officer in our area, I saw his face up close once when he came back, it’s exactly the same as his, even the scar on his face."

"Could we have this division commander come over?" Malin asked with a smile.

"I would like to first inquire with the Marshals, Excellency." The general did not respond immediately but instead passed the responsibility to his marshals.

Of course, Malin had no complaints about this—such was the speech of experienced and prudent.

"Then please go ahead and ask." After Malin finished speaking, he walked over to the Chaotic Believer, whose leg wound had already been bandaged. At this time, the believer was being tied to a freshly erected pole by several soldiers. Considering his leg injury, and the obvious intent of the higher-ups wanting to get some information out of this guy, the soldiers did not hang him up.

He was hanging his head, Malin could not see any expression on his face, so he stretched out his hand and called over the soldier, posing a question: "This person you mentioned, what’s his name?"

"Stein Mansenheim, Your Excellency," the soldier replied solemnly.

Malin nodded his head, feeling that the chaotic believer in front of him was indeed the person the soldier had mentioned.

Because he screamed out loud until a soldier struck his stomach with a rifle butt, making him shut his foul mouth.

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