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Translator: Silavin & Ashish
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Not long after, they spotted swirling Black Ink Clouds ahead. A large number of Black Ink Clansmen happened to be fleeing towards them from these Black Ink Clouds in panic, like stray dogs. They looked as if they were being chased by a tide of ferocious beasts. More importantly, several among them were Feudal Lords as well.
Standing on the deck, Shen Ao broke into joyous laughter when he focused his gaze ahead, “Great, there are hundreds of them!”
There were several hundred Black Ink Clansmen, including a few Feudal Lords. It was a force to reckon with and an ordinary Squad might not be able to take them down, making fleeing their only option. But at this moment, this fearsome enemy force was being chased and forced to flee.
It was obvious that the group pursuing them was quite strong. Yang Kai did not need to use his brain to tell that it was one of the Special Operations Squads.
There was more than one Special Operations Squad like Dawn in Blue Sky Pass, in fact, there were a few of them. Of course, based on the time they were established, all these Squads were veterans.
There weren’t many such Squads like this, but each one was capable of carrying out important tasks that other Squads couldn’t.
Before the appearance of the Dawn, these Special Operations Squads were always competing with each other, but in just a few short decades, Dawn’s presence became like a mountain pressing down on their heads, making it hard for them to breathe.
It was not surprising either as Dawn had obtained far more Military Merits than any of their Squads in the two wars fought in the past 100 years.
All of them felt suffocated because of this. During the hunting missions assigned at the forward base, every Squad went all out in order to win this round, so that a newcomer, Dawn, would know that the honour of their Seniors could not be shaken.
“Are we going to steal or not?” Although Ning Qi Zhi was asking Yang Kai, the expression on his face obviously said that he was itching to have a go.
Yang Kai was well aware of the secret rivalry between the Special Operations Squads and Dawn, but he never cared about it. Strictly speaking, Dawn and the other Squads’ Military Merits gained from killing enemies on the battlefield were almost the same. Be that as it may, Dawn had acquired enormous Military Merits from other sources, such as the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors Yang Kai had introduced, and Zhu Feng Territory Lord, whom he and Bai Yi killed together. There were also those kills obtained when Yang Kai took Dawn into the various Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises during the 100-year plan not long ago. These Military Merits still belonged to Dawn, so it appeared that their Military Merits far surpassed the other Special Operations Squads’ after each great battle, allowing them to firmly occupy first place in the Merit Hall.
The Military Merits gained during the current hunting mission weren’t much, basically on par with other Squads, so the rankings in the Merit Hall were constantly fluctuating for the recent period.
The higher-ups were also aware of this rivalry, but they had no intention of stopping them. This kind of contest was not a big deal; in fact, it motivated the soldiers to kill even more enemies.
Stealing other’s prey was a common occurrence in hunting missions, but it was basically always Dawn doing the stealing. The Black Ink Clansmen targeted by Dawn were simply unable to escape from Yang Kai’s Space Principles, giving them a distinct edge.
That was why Ning Qi Zhi asked this question.
Yang Kai immediately replied, “What stealing? My Dawn’s reputation has been ruined by you. Do you know what those other Squads called us? They call us Gadflies, insects that specialise in sucking blood, even the blood of our fellow comrades. How disgraceful!”
Shen Ao silently circulated his strength, reminding, “Squad Leader, although Dawning Light has a Concealment Array around it, it has a distance limit. Any closer and this group of Black Ink Clansmen will likely discover us. Furthermore, you should have already noticed that these Black Ink Clansmen are fleeing in a panic. The Squad behind them wouldn’t be able to catch them even if they wanted to. What’s more, it’s highly likely that it’s the Old Turtles. If we ignore them, these Black Ink Clansmen may very well escape.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai agreed with a nod, “You make a good point. Since that’s the case, we can only take action.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he pointed forward and shouted, “Kill them!”
The Squad members were already prepared, so as soon as Yang Kai gave the order, the Warship began to hum as a series of Spirit Arrays were activated one after another, energizing the ship’s artifacts. The next moment, beams of light shot straight towards the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen, one after another.
Many of the Black Ink Clansmen turned pale with fright. They had never imagined that there would be another Human Warship blocking their way and, in a flash, they suffered heavy casualties.
The salvo of attacks instantly destroyed the Black Ink Clan formation. After launching the initial attacks, Dawning Light charged straight into the centre of the enemy forces like a bolt of lightning before the Seventh-Order Masters leapt out of the ship and unleashed their Divine Abilities.
The Black Ink Clansmen numbered in hundreds, but in front of the Dawn, they were still not enough. Forget Dawn, Yang Kai alone could take care of this many enemies without an issue.
In just a few dozen breaths, all of the Black Ink Clansmen had breathed their last breath, with not a single one escaping.
It was only at this moment that a Warship finally flew over from the direction the Black Ink Clan had fled.
This Warship’s style was quite different from Dawning Light’s. Dawning Light had undergone several major modifications, although most of them were at the expense of Yang Kai’s Military Merits as they were still being managed by Feng Ying. As a woman, she had her own sense of aesthetics, so Dawning Light’s overall appearance was quite sleek and refined while having various performance upgrades.
The Warship that had just arrived was quite different. At first glance, it looked rough and crude. Rather than a Warship, it looked more like a mobile fortress. There were over a dozen miscellaneous artifacts on the deck, all of which were offensive artifacts.
On top of that, there was a thick and solid shielding that looked like a turtle shell on the top of the Warship.
Just as Feng Ying had her own sense of style, the other Special Operations Squads modified their Warships according to their unique tastes. Unlike Dawning Light’s performance upgrades, this Warship focused more on overwhelming offence and defence. The dozen or so artifacts installed on the deck were quite terrifying, and the protective barrier over it provided quite a strong defence.
A Warship like this was much stronger than the Dawning Light in both offence and defence, but due to focusing on these aspects, its speed suffered greatly.
Of all the Special Operations Squads, this one’s Warship was by far the slowest, earning them the moniker ‘Old Turtles’.
Just like how Dawn had gained the moniker ‘Gadflies’, there was also the Breeze Squad, whose Warship’s features were the complete opposite of the Old Turtles’. They had greatly enhanced their speed while sacrificing their offence and defence capabilities. The other Squads often ridiculed them for killing their enemies just like a breeze blowing on one’s face. Basically, the Black Ink Clan simply treated them as nothing more than tickles.
Apart from them, there were also the Wild Boar Squad, who would charge straight like wild boars, without any sense of strategy. They would plunge straight in wherever there were more people, often throwing their own allies into disorder while pushing their enemies to their wits ends.
Finally, there was the Water Snake Squad, which was basically a balanced force, but since everyone else had aliases, they could be no exception. Since their Warship had the character ‘Dragon (龙)’ engraved on it, they were called the Water Snakes by the other Squads.
(Ashish: Dragons evolve from Snakes in legends, thus Water Snake Squad.)
In the entire Blue Sky Pass, there were only five Special Operations Squads, and they constantly fought each other over Military Merits, openly and secretly. Their sight had even gained quite a bit of notoriety.
The Old Turtles arrived late, with Chai Fang, their Squad Leader, standing on the deck. His heart ached when he saw the Black Ink Clan corpses littered across the void and snapped, “It really is you Gadflies! Look at what you’ve done.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Senior Brother Chai, you sure came quickly! This group of Black Ink Clansmen were running away, and this Junior Brother was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to catch up, so I had to intervene and take care of them on your behalf. No need to thank me!”
Chai Fang gnashed his teeth and glared at him, “Thank you my ass! Why did you come here? Weren’t you still resting?”
Since the Black Ink Clansmen were already dead, there was nothing they could say that could change the situation. What he couldn’t figure out was why the Gadflies had been sent here.
“We’ve finished resting.” Yang Kai stretched out his hand and stroked the side of the ship, his body leaning slightly, “As for why we’re here, it’s naturally at the orders of the Army Commander. Why? Is Senior Brother Chai afraid that my Dawn will wipe out all the Black Ink Clansmen here, and you won’t get any kills? How about we work together then? Dawn will eat the meat, and you can drink the soup.”
Chai Fang immediately spat in disdain, “Forget it, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to get a single sip if I work with you Gadflies.” He cupped his fist and bid goodbye, “Farewell! I hope we never meet again!”
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly thought of something and turned to Yang Kai, “Where are you going?”
A mischievous smile bloomed on Yang Kai’s lips, “We have no fixed direction, we are just roaming around here and there.”
Chai Fang’s jaw clenched as he pointed in a certain direction, “We’re going this way, fuck off as far as you can from us!”
A short while later, the Old Turtles’ Warship flew in the direction Chai Fang had pointed and soon disappeared.
“I heard that one of their members just advanced to the Seventh Order a few years back, I guess the rumours are true. They have 8 Seventh-Order Masters now,” Feng Ying suddenly stated.
Dawn’s roster was quite distinguished compared to ordinary Squads, with a total of 37 members, 6 of whom were Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. In fact, there were only 5 of them at first, but later, when Yang Kai brought Bai Yi back, Zhong Liang assigned her to Dawn, increasing the count to 6.
Since even a new Special Operations Squad like Dawn had such a distinguished roster, the other elite Squads would naturally be better; after all, they were established many centuries back. The number of members the other 4 Special Operations Squads had was basically 50. Furthermore, the members of these Squads would often advance, which was why they had so many Seventh-Order Masters.
8 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters wasn’t even the largest number among the Special Operations Squads. The Water Snakes had 10!
At first, there were more than 10, but even for a Special Operations Squad, having 10 Seventh-Order Masters was already a bit too much. So, whenever another member of their advanced to the Seventh Order, he or she would be assigned to another Squad.
In terms of the number of Seventh-Order Masters, Dawn had the least among the five Special Operations Squads; even so, their Military Merits from hunting missions were not inferior to others. With a combat power like Yang Kai’s added to the mix, which couldn’t be calculated according to normal standards, their kills were naturally no less than other Squads’.
Not to mention Yang Kai, Feng Ying and Bai Yi were both among the top elites of the Seventh-Order Masters. In fact, among all the Seventh-Order Masters in Blue-Sky Pass, aside from Yang Kai, Feng Ying could be said to be the strongest. As for Bai Yi, her proficiency in the Dao of Archery made her unmatched in long-range combat.
Yang Kai smiled and stated, “We should focus on ourselves, our Dawn does not need to compete with others in terms of the number of Seventh-Order Masters. On that note, Senior Sister Feng, you should advance when you are ready. You don’t need to worry about anything. In this damned place, an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master is much more valuable than a Seventh-Order one.”
Feng Ying had reached the absolute peak of the Seventh Order a long time ago, so her next step would be to break through to the Eighth Order. However, no one could help her in this matter; she could only rely on herself.
Hearing this, she replied with a nod, “I don’t have any worries. Although there is competition between the various Squads, that’s a good thing. As for me, I still need some time to prepare.”
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.