NEC Chapter 64: The Long Journey of Escape

Whether an automatic rifle could stop a fourth-tier Black Armor Rider after their professional advancement, Chen Mo proved through battlefield testing that it could not.

So far, the power levels Chen Mo had encountered were severely stratified. Either they were first-tier Copper Crest at the bottom of society, or they were first-advancement fourth-tier nobles who formed the backbone of aristocracy.

Just as Paven and the others had vague understanding of the power of Chen Mo's weapons, Chen Mo also lacked understanding of high-tier warriors' toughness. Now, he finally had a real combat verification opportunity.

The power of professionals was undoubtedly displayed at this moment. Chen Mo emptied an entire magazine but failed to bring down this great knight as expected.

But this didn't mean the opponent didn't have to pay a price.

Bullets bit into the great knight's body that flashed with blue light one after another. That was spiritual energy that had been integrated into flesh and blood through countless days and nights of hard cultivation and tempering, now stubbornly resisting the violent impact from otherworldly weapons.

The high-speed rotating bullets penetrated the outer clothing, like miniature drill bits, carving out crater after crater on Tikebot's skin surface, rapidly depleting their kinetic energy while quickly burning through the great knight's protective aura.

The effect of this round of strafing left the great knight bleeding all over, slightly slowing Tikebot's speed, but failing to cause substantial damage. Instead, it completely ignited the knight captain's savage ferocity.

Tikebot let out an angry roar, his charge becoming even more fierce.

A wild boar that hasn't been hit in a vital spot usually reacts this way.

The Cloudmist Domain warriors, witnessing the great knight charging forward, bloodied all over but becoming even more ferocious, involuntarily tensed all their muscles. The terrifying reputation of first-advancement professionals made their legs tremble, but military discipline prevented them from retreating. They could only grip their weapons tightly, the air filled with a rust-like bloody smell and suffocating oppression.

If bullets couldn't penetrate, grenade fragments probably wouldn't be enough either.

The thought flashed by, and Chen Mo hesitated not a moment. He pulled out a Type 4 grenade from his tactical belt, pulled the pin, pressed the lever, took half a step for momentum, and threw it in the direction of the great knight's charge, then quickly and agilely turned around, diving into the defensive circle of Emerald Domain warriors with raised blades and shields.

This was a military-special thermobaric grenade.

"Boom!"

An unusually muffled explosion, a blazing fireball over two meters in diameter suddenly expanded, devouring the area in between.

Although Tikebot reacted swiftly, dodging the core burning damage with a quick sidestep, the multi-layered shock waves instantly produced by the cloud explosive agent in the thermobaric bomb still heavily struck his body, causing the great knight, who had been running steadily even under bullet fire, to stumble heavily.

Tikebot felt his vision darken, his ears ringing incessantly, as if countless bronze bells were frantically chiming inside his skull. The violent explosion at close range not only shook his internal organs like stormy seas but also instantly sucked away the surrounding oxygen, making his chest feel suffocated. Strong dizziness struck, completely disrupting his sense of direction.

The great knight staggered a few steps, vigorously shaking his head, trying hard to distinguish the enemy's direction.

Then he heard a sharp whistle from behind.

Captain Paven launched his third charge, heavily striking Tikebot's back, his long sword piercing straight through the Zircon knight's waist and abdomen, then cutting and pulling, carving out a huge L-shaped gash as blood spurted out like a fountain.

"Despicable! You... sneak attack..." Tikebot turned his head halfway with difficulty, choking out a mouthful of fresh blood, obviously internal bleeding had flowed back into his esophagus.

Paven withdrew his blade without hesitation and struck again. The Zircon knight used his last strength to grasp the blade, letting his fingers fall off piece by piece, asking his final question, "Why... why?"

Captain Paven replied softly, "Greenspine and Emerald are at war, we are already enemies!"

The blade pushed inward, piercing through the knight captain's heart. The light in Tikebot's eyes completely extinguished, his tall body crashed to the ground.

Captain Paven glanced at the radial crater blasted by the thermobaric grenade, then looked at Chen Mo with complex eyes, giving Chen Mo an approving gesture, then immediately ordered, "Clean up the battlefield, quickly, we must depart immediately!"

The Cloudmist Domain warriors hurriedly cleaned up the scene while Chen Mo, now free, began taking stock of his gains.

First conclusion, 5.8mm rounds don't work well against first-advancement warrior professionals. Captain Paven's dismissal of small bullet heads indeed made sense.

Second, grenades also couldn't guarantee eliminating enemies. He'd have to discuss with home to see if there were any other useful hard goods.

When the Cloudmist Domain team quickly finished processing the scene and began advancing toward the Gloomy Forest, Chen Mo chose to follow with the group.

The young countess's team had helped him more than once. Running away at this moment would feel somewhat wrong.

Of course, the more important reason was that Captain Paven had a discussion with Chen Mo. After further realizing Chen Mo's value, Paven promised that as long as the young countess safely returned to the Cloudmist Domain, Chen Mo would receive an independent territory and a pioneer knight certificate.

Plus at least an introduction to a magic teacher.

This was irresistible to Chen Mo.

The key issue he now had to consider was whether he should confidently entrust weapons from Blue Star to Cloudmist Domain warriors.

Regarding Chen Mo's final decision to continue traveling together, the several leaders of the Cloudmist Domain were also very happy.

Captain Paven felt this most deeply. As an orthodox-trained swordsman whose skills followed grand and righteous paths, he wasn't good at those assassination-type sinister tactics, so usually when fighting same-tier opponents, draws were the norm.

But in the short time since meeting Chen Mo, he had successively taken down one fourth-tier and one fifth-tier opponent.

With this battle record, at least among same-tier acquaintances, if he dared claim second place, probably no one would dare claim first.

More importantly, he was very clear that although he could easily handle this little guy in front of him with one charge, those strange "non-magical items" of his could be distinctly felt as systematic killing weapons.

This must come from a bloodthirsty, cruel king or warlord. He wondered how such a person had taken a liking to this refined and easygoing young man.

Currently, this young noble was on his side, which was reassuring. If suitable tributes could be provided in the future, perhaps even more powerful "equipment" could be obtained.

As for the young countess, she was extremely satisfied with the heroic spirit shown by her chosen "potential affair partner" at this critical moment. She would wander around Chen Mo whenever possible, secretly glancing at him with those big eyes.

As for Master Locke, who also worked as an alchemist, after examining the scene once more, he made a very precise evaluation of this weapon, a formation-breaking mass destruction device.

Chen Mo was accepted into the high-level meetings of the Cloudmist Domain core team.

Officially, the entire Cloudmist Domain team was led by Lady Frost, but in actual decision-making, the young countess was just a mascot with no voice whatsoever. The other two also highly depended on Captain Paven's judgment in military matters, so command authority was highly unified with no bureaucratic wrangling.

Paven very straightforwardly announced his arrangements.

All carriages and baggage would be abandoned. Warriors would change from plate armor to light armor, taking only light weapons and warhorses.

"Even in full armor, we couldn't possibly defeat the enemy's regular kingdom army. We can only rely on mobility, we must abandon all burdens!"

The burdens Paven mentioned included not only items but also personnel.

Wounded soldiers unable to move, delicate maidservants, temporarily hired mercenaries, and auxiliary soldiers who had lost their usefulness, Paven gave them money and let them disperse on their own.

"Find places to hide, wait for the war to end, I'll arrange for people to come back for you! If the roads become peaceful, you can also find opportunities to go to the Cloudmist Domain on your own."

"If captured by enemies, you're allowed to surrender, but remember, you must not slander the lord and countess!"

"Go! Anyone still in my sight after twenty breaths won't live!"

The maidservants had tears in their eyes, the young countess was also somewhat reluctant, but Paven firmly drove them away.

Taking the remaining twenty warriors, protecting the young countess and the mage team, they plunged into the vast and boundless Gloomy Forest.

They would travel north all the way, crossing through the entire enemy nation's territory, rushing toward that broad Emerald Great Plain.

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