NEC Chapter 80: Frost, Let's Go!

Southern Pass Territory, as the southern frontier of the Emerald Duchy, had terrain that combined hills and plains.

The mountain region ahead called "Ironspine Forest," though it had no high peaks, consisted of low hills that rose and fell like waves, interconnected with each other, rolling out long dark green swells across the land that stretched for dozens of kilometers.

Vast and boundless primeval dense forest covered it, so thick it barely let through any skylight.

Large trees, vines, shrubs, and ferns arranged themselves from high to low in sequence. The forest floor was piled with rotting leaves accumulated over countless years, emanating damp, decaying odors.

Occasionally a few calls from unknown birds or distant howls from wild beasts would sound, only to be swallowed again by the thick green canopy.

The commander, reining in his horse at the edge of the forest sea, had his brow furrowed into almost a knot.

"To find people in this kind of place, His Lordship the Marquis should have given me at least ten more companies of city guards. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to spend the rest of my life soaking in here!"

The adjutant beside him replied carefully, "My lord jests. A mere mountain forest, two wet-behind-the-ears brats, they're nothing more than objects in your palm, turtles in a jar."

"His Lordship has already ordered the mobilization of militia from various territories, but... assembly and deployment might still need about half a month before they can arrive."

"Half a month? Half a month!"

The knight commander swung his fist heavily, and a large tree beside him with a trunk diameter matching the knight's waist was snapped in half. The long crown crashed into the mountain forest, producing a series of crackling sounds as branches rubbed together, startling several birds whose nests had been inexplicably demolished.

"They're attacking cities and seizing territories, earning military achievements. And me? I'm here drilling through forests, catching rats! Heaven knows when I'll actually catch them!"

"What's worse, after they break through cities and come over, they'll still rightfully want to get involved, calling it 'assisting colleagues' no less!"

Pacing back and forth restlessly, the knight commander waved his hand heavily, "Keep all four sides tightly watched. Have the mountain teams shout the message: within ten days, if they don't come out and surrender, I'll set fire to the mountains!"

"The military achievements I can't get, no one else should think of snatching away!"

Venting aside, the Fifth Knight's arrangements were still watertight.

The great knight personally led a group of professionals in manual labor, running back and forth, punching, kicking, chopping with swords and hacking with axes, sweeping away all the obstructive obstacles at the foot of the mountain.

After clearing the sight lines, they placed a sentry post every few hundred meters, ensuring that even a squirrel coming out of the mountains couldn't escape the eyes of the guards.

Two well-equipped infantry companies, supported by accompanying mages, held the key passages from this Ironspine Forest to other mountain ranges and wetlands, preventing the opponents from penetrating the defenses and escaping into the next hiding place.

Elite cavalry divided into four mobile companies stationed separately around both sides of the mountain region. As soon as any checkpoint raised an alarm, the nearest cavalry units could reach the scene within at most ten-odd minutes.

On the plains, these two little kids surely couldn't escape pursuit by cavalry plus professionals.

Having blocked all possible escape routes, Zircon's Fifth Knight divided the remaining personnel into two groups.

One group spread along the ridges between two mountain slopes, cutting trees and clearing grass, severing mountain paths, essentially isolating this section of hills as a separate entity.

The other group began conducting dragnet-style, slow and painful mountain searches within this designated "isolated island."

Soldiers formed dense horizontal lines, using spears to beat through waist-deep weeds and shrubs, checking every suspicious tree hole and rock crevice.

This was the most foolish method, but also the most effective, maximizing the avoidance of any oversights.

Other mountain areas awaiting search were assigned some professionals to randomly trample through like trying their luck, while repeatedly shouting that threat about burning the mountains.

On the fifth day of the dragnet search, there was finally a result.

When Zircon Family warriors crossed a beast trail through a shrub area, they triggered an adhesive bomb, instantly killing one and wounding four.

The Fifth Knight was delighted rather than angry, immediately leading his team personally and mobilizing a large number of elites to converge on that area.

Of course, this explosive device was a trap to divert attention.

Chen Mo had wrapped the impact-triggered adhesive bomb with leaves and used the skylark to fly carefully along the tree canopy at night, cautiously delivering this "improvised mine" to a low shrub area three hills away, placing it in bushes beside a beast trail.

Even if no one stepped on it, it would detonate on a timer, the goal being to attract enemies.

When the roar of the explosion came from afar, Chen Mo was hiding in a depression at the foot of a mountain five kilometers away, extending high-powered binoculars from the dense canopy to carefully observe and confirm the inside and outside of the mountains once more.

His gaze finally swept over the distant separated sentry posts. Chen Mo let out a long breath and called softly, "Frost! Let's go!"

The young countess who had been sitting expectantly on a nearby tree branch lightly pushed off from the trunk, wrapped her arms around Chen Mo's waist, and jumped down from the canopy while holding him.

Very shamefully, for most of their time in the mountains, it had been Frost, this young countess who had once lived in luxury, taking care of Chen Mo.

Frost was responsible for clearing paths through the thorn-covered jungle, Frost handled the wild beasts wandering in the mountains, Frost lifted Chen Mo up into the treetops to rest at night, Frost also had to carry most of the load, and even when Chen Mo sprained his ankle, she carried Chen Mo on her back too...

Perhaps because of the daily busyness, the young countess's emotions had gradually calmed down, though during rest times she would still unconsciously curl up beside Chen Mo.

Occasionally in her sleep, she would still let out one or two unclear cries.

After all, she was just a girl who had suddenly lost her support and been forced to grow up.

Fortunately, such days had finally come to an end.

"Hold on tight, we're setting off!"

"Yes!" The young countess nodded heavily, wrapping one arm around Chen Mo's waist while holding the light sniper rifle steady with the other hand.

These past days, the young countess had practiced aiming quite a bit.

With firearms enhanced by high-power scopes, as long as one's grip remained steady without trembling, hitting a stationary target at just over a kilometer wasn't difficult for a Starry Continent warrior.

The gunshot seemed like a signal as Chen Mo simultaneously turned the power switch.

Accompanied by a low rumbling sound, an elegant beast with flowing lines leaped out, its wide tires scattering fallen leaves from the mountains.

Jointly manufactured by East Xia Northern Battle Vehicle Heavy Industry and East Xia Aerospace Group, the [Shuttle] electric-drive two-wheel all-terrain vehicle.

To control weight as much as possible, core components used aviation-grade high-titanium alloy, secondary components used magnesium-lithium alloy, and auxiliary components used glass fiber reinforced plastic, successfully controlling the total weight of the entire vehicle plus all spare parts to 109.8 kilograms.

What followed was a vehicle full of cutting-edge technology.

Super-grade buffer suspension configured for all-terrain off-roading, with ground clearance reaching 350 millimeters; a complete high-traction component set that could handle any sand, rocks, mud... even theoretically capable of cornering sideways on icy and snowy road surfaces with friction coefficients around 0.15.

Zero to hundred acceleration in 2.2 seconds, maximum speed of 180 kilometers per hour, central array electric drive plus flywheel kinetic energy recovery system, with a full-charge range of 610 kilometers.

It wasn't that the range couldn't be improved further, but the weight restrictions were too strict. Otherwise, East Xia would have loved to extend the range directly to ten thousand kilometers.

But it didn't matter. Besides being able to slowly supplement power through additional solar panels, to prevent insufficient power in special emergency situations, the [Shuttle] also came with a hydrogen fuel electric generator set.

Four external magnesium-based nano-composite hydrogen storage tanks, each providing approximately 120 kilometers of emergency range.

This range was enough for Chen Mo to travel all the way to the northern plains.

The rear rack contained a micro-hive system with eight built-in Wasp micro-drones, each with a loaded weight of 350 grams.

As for things like vehicle body self-stabilization systems, laser headlights, agile steering, oh right, it even had reverse gear and backup radar...

The only thing missing was a line engraved on the front: "Baby, run fast!"

When this Shuttle, which would be considered epoch-making even on Blue Star, roared down the mountain slope with a low growl, what cavalry? They were all little brothers!

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