NEC Chapter 69: By the Crystal River

After passing through the checkpoint at Green Radish Pass, the elite squad from the Cloudmist Domain found their path suddenly wide open, with smooth terrain ahead.

In the treacherous and complex terrain of the Gloomy Forest, Captain Paven had insisted that the squad warriors bring their warhorses. The warriors had practically carried them on their shoulders and backs, using human strength to protect the horses all the way through. Now, it was finally time for them to prove their worth.

Although the number of mounts they carried was limited, allowing only one rider per horse or even two riders sharing one horse, the army's marching speed still increased rapidly.

At this moment, Chen Mo, who couldn't ride horses, became a small but troublesome problem.

Although weight distribution suggested that having Chen Mo ride with the young lady might be a more "reasonable" choice, and Lady Frost didn't seem particularly opposed to it, ultimately the decision-makers from the Cloudmist Domain didn't create such an awkward arrangement.

Chen Mo was taken onto Captain Paven's horse.

His Little White, altar, weapons, equipment, and supplies were carried separately by different warriors, still enjoying the greatest privilege within the team.

You should know that even Linda's copy of "Noble Etiquette," which she never let out of her hands, had been discarded, and the young lady hadn't changed her outer coat for a long time. Only Chen Mo's various bottles, jars, metal components, and unknown powders were carefully protected by the warriors in the deepest parts of their packs, not one item missing.

Of course, none of the Cloudmist Domain warriors had any complaints.

Sometimes, respect must be earned not only through status, but also through contribution, or strength!

As the horses galloped, the cooperation between Chen Mo and Paven became increasingly harmonious.

Captain Paven was very familiar with the general terrain and city distribution in this area, while Chen Mo made up for the team's lack of scouts and vanguard through his drones.

In relatively safe areas far from enemy cities, Chen Mo would deploy micro reconnaissance drones, and once they entered relatively dangerous areas as indicated by Paven, Chen Mo would switch to the "Skylark" with broader reconnaissance range and higher camera precision.

Advanced real-time reconnaissance allowed this elite squad to move through enemy territory like ghosts, racing freely as if entering uninhabited land.

At least three times, relying on drone detection and early warning, the squad members held leaves in their mouths and muzzled their horses, silently hiding in deep valleys or dense forests. Nearby, large enemy cavalry units thundered past with dust clouds, but ultimately could only pass by.

As for those scattered enemy reconnaissance squads, they became "spoils of war" that Captain Paven conveniently harvested.

A fourth-tier Goldscale Warrior fighting ordinary unclassed warriors could be described as doing whatever he pleased. Previously, he had to worry about head-on encounters where enemies would scatter and flee. Now, with intelligence support from drones, he only needed to choose a concealed spot along the enemy's inevitable path to ambush them, striking like thunder when they passed, eliminating them cleanly from head to tail.

Not only did they clear enemy roving cavalry, but they also replenished their warhorses while gradually equipping themselves with complete sets of Greenspine Kingdom standard armor.

With this disguise, the Cloudmist Domain team made slight alterations to their appearance and boldly walked onto the main road.

The Greenspine Kingdom certainly knew of this squad's existence, but the kingdom's feudal management system gave each city-state high degrees of political, economic, and military autonomy. This situation of everyone governing themselves, combined with quite delayed communication conditions, meant they could only maintain small-scale vigilance within their own territorial ranges.

The difficulty of organizing coordinated pursuit was no less than launching a national war.

And now, the Greenspine Kingdom itself was experiencing a national war, naturally unable to devote too much energy to dealing with this squad.

After twelve days of winding marches, the Cloudmist Domain squad consecutively passed through the jurisdictions of Lookout Mountain City, Hemlock Territory, and Olive Fortress in the Greenspine Kingdom, finally arriving at the final checkpoint: the Rainbow Stone Bridge camp by the Crystal River.

The Crystal River was called the mother river of the entire Emerald Great Plain.

Although this mother was somewhat moody, every few years or more than ten years, she would suddenly unleash thunderous fury, pouring her accumulated violent power through breaches in the embankment to ravage the towns and villages on both banks. But undeniably, without this ceaselessly flowing great river, there would be no fertile lands stretching for thousands of miles on the Emerald Plain.

When Greenspine and Emerald were still at peace, the Crystal River served as the natural border between the two countries. The only giant stone bridge over the river, Rainbow Stone Bridge, was an important passage for exchanges between both sides.

It was also a strategic location that military strategists must contest.

At both ends of the riverbank stood towering military fortresses, with thick stone walls extending along the embankment to the water line, firmly locking both bridge exits within the fortresses' control range.

This was both the iron gateway guarding the bridge and a heavy fortress defending against the enemy nation on the opposite shore.

Paven cautiously settled the team in a hidden valley deep in the mountains. He personally brought Chen Mo, carefully infiltrating along the undulating ridge line. After spending an entire half day, they quietly arrived at a mountain ridge about four kilometers upstream from Rainbow Stone Bridge.

Chen Mo released the Skylark.

The drone quietly observed Rainbow Stone Bridge from the upstream sky, and Chen Mo witnessed for the first time the shocking architectural wonder of the Starry Continent.

This was a magical structure that Chen Mo couldn't understand with his scientific knowledge.

From a distant aerial view, the surging Crystal River channel was at least three kilometers wide, and the location where Rainbow Stone Bridge was built seemed even slightly wider. However, beneath the entire bridge body, not a single supporting pier could be seen!

It relied solely on bridge piers slightly higher than the embankments on both shores, extending huge arched structures that gracefully curved across thousands of meters of air to connect with the opposite shore.

The bridge body was built from some kind of stone material that flickered with faint light, flowing with rainbow colors under the sunlight. Due to visual differences caused by distance, Chen Mo felt that if the wind were stronger, this thing might break in the middle at any moment.

Chen Mo's mother country, East Xia, was one of Blue Star's largest infrastructure suppliers, creating many architectural miracles, but such a pure arch bridge with such an enormous span was unheard of and unseen.

Paven had been staring intently at the screen beside him, his brows tightly furrowed, his expression stern, his gaze scanning back and forth between the camps on both banks, examining them repeatedly.

Sensing Chen Mo's inquiring gaze, Paven pointed to the opposite side of the bridge.

"Rainbow Stone Bridge was originally the boundary line between Greenspine and our Emerald Duchy. Such an important passage, no matter who controlled it, the other side couldn't be at ease."

"After decades of negotiations and fighting, it was finally decided that each side would hold half, with the cream of each nation's elite troops stationed at the bridge head."

"Now, over there on the riverbank, they've already raised Greenspine's Three Towers flag..."

"Emerald's defensive fortress has fallen!"

No, who asked you about this...

I wanted to ask how this bridge was built? How can it not collapse without pillar support? Is it new materials or some high technology, can you get me some...

Forget it, seeing Captain Paven's mournful expression, Chen Mo swallowed back his string of questions about bridge materials and principles.

As the drone's camera extended further, the battlefield situation became increasingly clear.

On the north bank of the Crystal River, centered on the fortress flying the Three Towers flag at the bridge head, Greenspine's army had constructed three dense, semi-circular defensive positions like giant iron rings.

Banners fluttered, armor gleamed brightly, and reconnaissance cavalry continuously rode out from the camp with trails of dust, then returned from afar.

Seeing such strict vigilance, Paven's face actually relaxed somewhat.

"Setting up such a large defensive formation means the north bank is still in our hands! They're preventing our Emerald Duchy's main force from counterattacking."

"That means, as long as we can cross the river, we can find the duchy's army!"

Chen Mo said, "This defense doesn't look easy to get through..."

Paven smiled, showing the open-mindedness characteristic of old soldiers. "Don't even think about crossing on the bridge. With this level of defense, even if my teacher came, it wouldn't work. We'll have to find another place and swim across!"

"Swim... swim across?!"

Chen Mo suddenly felt his body tighten, as that not-quite-dead memory of being swallowed by ocean waves suddenly crawled out.

"Um... I, I'm not very good at swimming..."

Paven patted his chest lightly. "Don't worry, I'm here!"

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