Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 924: Section 607: The Departure of Winter (Part 2)

Chapter 924: Section 607: The Departure of Winter (Part 2)

"Sir, you still haven’t returned, and I think it’s best you stop daydreaming. Sudel, please accept the mission." This blonde-haired Ross woman, unfazed by Rhodes’s murderous gaze, handed over the clipboard to Sudel.

"Halsan, Carmen, our trouble has arrived." Sudel took the clipboard, wrote his name on both copies of the report, and then tore one off to hold in his hand.

"Women are always trouble." Carmen stood up and cursed as he passed by the lieutenant.

"Your mother would be very sad to hear that." Halsan sarcastically followed him.

"My mom ran off with another man before I knew better, my dad was surviving alone in the wilderness then, thinking he was dead, she left me alone at home. If the Church hadn’t noticed her departure and found me, I probably would have already been dead." After speaking, Carmen spat in the direction of the female lieutenant.

The latter furiously pointed at Carmen: "You must apologize to me!"

"What are you raving about, Lieutenant Natalie? You and your guards are standing on our training ground." Carmen put his hand on his waist holster, looking at her and the two gendarmes who followed her: "Besides, if we talk about apologies, you should be the one apologizing to us. If we report what you just said to those big-headed soldiers outside, guess how you would die."

The lieutenant ultimately turned away and left.

"You really aren’t a gentleman." Rhodes stood up, went to the long table, stood opposite his cousin, and spread out a map on the table.

"With a mother like that, you expect me to be a gentleman, Rhodes? You ask too much of me." Carmen moved to the other side, standing next to Sudel, pointing his finger at the target area: "Here, it’s very desolate. Twenty years ago, quite a few pioneers went there, but the land couldn’t grow crops, so they quickly retreated and left many empty towns behind."

"You know?" Halsan looked at the area he was pointing to: "I always thought that area was uninhabited."

"My father once led a survey team from the Goddess of Harvest to explore that region. They had bad luck, encountering a group of zombies coming from the Dark Zone, forty-odd people died leaving only my father and three lucky survivors. My father led the three in the wilderness, dodging the pursuing zombies while desperately struggling to survive, and it took them three months to escape from that region and the death chase." Carmen continued, looking up at his comrades: "Now, this area should be filled with zombies, Chaos and they will battle it out, if the scouting team survivors are lucky enough not to have open wounds or bleeding, they might be able to use the empty towns to evade the first wave of pursuit. If Chaos and zombies continue searching afterward, then he might just have a chance to survive."

"Mages have many ways to hide themselves, the question now is, how do we find him." Sudel picked up the report: "Ah, our battle mages have left us one good news and one bad news."

"Tell us the bad news first." Carmen, Halsan, and Rhodes said in unison.

"The missing area is in Old Karn City, we need to search an old town. The scouting team found the remains of a dead combatant in the town center, speculated to be fallen and eaten by zombies; another was found on the eastern edge, hung by Chaos on a pole."

"Great, that means we only need to find one person now. So, what’s the good news?" The three of them then asked.

"The fire reconnaissance team confirmed there are extensive combat traces between Chaos and zombies in the missing area. We have two different opponents to deal with and need to search the entire area. Countless zombies and Chaos are waiting for us in all sorts of unexpected places."

After saying that, Sudel threw the report on the table.

"Can we just not go?" Rhodes muttered as he looked at the map of Old Karn City he brought up: "Was this place originally planned to be built as a companion capital to Copenhagen?"

"Yes, the second year after the city was built, seawater flooded this area. Our Engineers never thought about why this region appeared in the first place," Carmen said, glancing at Sudel: "Is there any compelling reason we have to go there?"

"Of course, the person missing is Ms. Meng Quyi, she is a trump card. It was supposed to be a pleasant task, just taking rookies shopping, similar to how we led the team to handle the bank robbery a few days ago," Sudel said, sweeping a gaze over his comrades: "The place is large, but we don’t need too many people, how about just the four of us?"

"A small team won’t expose us too much, but just the four of us, will the zombies go hungry?" Rhodes looked at his cousin with a deeply sympathetic expression.

"Then shall we gather everyone, take a spot there, and invite every zombie and Chaos within a few kilometers for a real grand gathering?" Halsan asked with a smile.

"Let’s not, but honestly, just with the four of us, who’s breaking in and who’s providing fire cover?"

"Carmen and I will handle the breach, Rhodes, you and Halsan take care of fire support. Bring over the map of the district; let’s divide the city and search area by area, leaving marks. If Ms. Thainan is still alive and sees them, she’ll know we are looking for her."

Sudel had Rhodes place the city map on the table, and soon he divided the city into five districts with a pencil: "So, using Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon, with the large clock tower in the Central District as the base, start searching from Epsilon, the lowest area in the district. We must reach there by noon and clear the area before four in the afternoon. We need Spatial Bags, at least two dozen spare silencers, and numerous weapon parts."

"The four of us can’t carry so much as we need to carry a large amount of ammunition. How to enter the city is also a problem, hence we need professional Spatial Bags and a spell formation operator. Maybe we should ask the Mage Tower for help?" Carmen suggested.

"Who to ask? Can these delicate mages handle it?" Rhodes said, somewhat doubtfully.

"Let’s ask, Halsan, can you go?" Sudel looked at Halsan, who nodded and then turned to leave.

"Rhodes, tell the logistics department and our Lieutenant Natalie, either give us enough supplies, or we refuse to go on a suicide mission," Sudel looked at his cousin.

"Why me?" Rhodes pointed at himself.

"Because you have a honeyed mouth," Sudel said, raising his eyebrows: "Either you go, or I let Carmen go butcher her."

"I’ll go then," Rhodes said, picking up the military cap beside the table: "Captain Sudel, Lieutenant Rhodes is ordered to depart."

"Hurry up, before I change my mind and the fate of that lieutenant," Sudel shooed Rhodes away, glanced at Carmen, who then smiled: "What will you complain about next?"

"I just didn’t think about pulling the gun and blowing that damn woman away," Sudel sighed, and Carmen took over the conversation: "Maybe it’s because of Ms. Meng Quyi, everyone says she’s a close friend of Mrs. Lulu, and also Malin’s lover."

"Don’t talk nonsense, the flies following this lady understand much more than the folks making up these stories," Sudel said dismissively: "I just think if she died, Mrs. Lulu must be very sad, after all... His Excellency hasn’t been back for two months."

"Only two months, my father hasn’t seen my mother for twenty years, isn’t he still alive?" Carmen said somewhat confrontationally, Sudel looked at him and decided not to mention the history of his father’s alcoholism for nineteen years.

Every family has its own difficult motto.