"What is it?" Xu Yao asked when he saw that the caller was Yan Jie.
"Brother Xu, something has happened in Vodapei." Yan Jie's tone of voice sounded panicked. "Just a little while ago, a group of unidentified people raided one of the mines in Vodapei, the person-in-charge stationed there has sent us a signal for support."
"Bastard!" Xu Yao immediately became furious. He slammed the table and stood up. "What about the sentries?!" His sudden roar startled Le Yao, and he quickly turned to caress Le Yao's back to appease him.
"The opponent's battleship was in stealth mode. I don't know why, but our security didn't issue any alarms, so the brothers on sentry duty weren't able to prepare for the sudden attack. Additionally, the other party headed straight for the mine, and a lot of people weren't able to react before they were killed on the spot. Our nearest Vodapei outpost has already rushed there with reinforcements, but even after their inclusion, the manpower will certainly not be enough."
"How many are on the opponent's side?"
"At least a thousand people, four medium-sized battleships."
"Leslie, enter DEFCON 2 and execute the prompt command directive for all members." Xu Yao shouted. "Zhang Xuwei, Ke Yang, Liu Yi, Li Chenfei!"
"Ready! /Ready! /Ready! /Ready!"
"Immediately assemble your teams on the Flying Wolf IV. Where's Lieutenant General Tang?"
"I'm here."
"You lead the team, use the Haixuan Gate and go to Vodapei as support! Yan Jie, you keep track of Vodapei's situation, if there are any problems, report to me. Find out the identity of the other side immediately!"
"Yes!"
Xu Yao tried to speak in a gentle voice to Le Yao. "You should eat, I'll go to the Command Center."
Le Yao repeatedly waved at him with his hand and reassured him. "Go, just go! Don't worry about me."
The hover car was already waiting at their door and took off the second Xu Yao stepped into it. Le Yao was still holding his pair of chopsticks, feeling a bit distracted. He gazed at the sky from the window and felt like it was a dream. Subconsciously, he pinched his leg to feel pain. He stood up and with not-so-little-effort, kneeled on the ground and drew a rune. "Here, on this land, I call upon the most Spiritual of the Gods…"
Not long after, Ji Fengyu and Rong Gui appeared. Ji Fengyu asked, "Le Yao, what are you calling us for?"
He had been busy because the hotel and restaurant had just started their services for the night at this time.
Le Yao answered, "Vodapei was attacked. Lieutenant General Tang has already led the support team to Vodapei but it's too late for me to make any more dolls to help them. Can you and Master Rong aid them in dealing with any unexpected situations?"
Ji Fengyu thought about it and replied. "Yes, you can summon Old Bei and Brother Song to help you here."
Rong Gui also nodded. "En."
Le Yao quickly went to wash his hands, before taking the dolls out, and then pasting the talismans that Xu Yao had previously drawn. Ji Fengyu and Rong Gui immediately entered the small dolls. These small dolls were the ones that remained from the batch of dolls he had made before leaving for Tarot. He picked up the dolls and shouted in the direction of the yard. "Brother Han! Where are you?"
Immediately, Han Mo's reply sounded from his communicator. "I'm at the front door. Mr Xiao Le, do you need something?"
Le Yao directly opened the door and handed the small dolls over to him. "Send them to Lieutenant General Tang. They'll make it more convenient to spy and gather information. They should be able to help him. Remember, tell Lieutenant General Tang to place them in the dark."
"Alright, I'll send them to him immediately."
Le Yao stood at the doorway for a while, and watched Han Mo leave as the Vice-Captain of the Guard team replaced him. He casually asked, "Has something like this happened before?"
The Vice-Captain replied, "It happened once in the second year after the war with Sarna ended, and there hasn't been a repeat since then. Don't worry too much, whenever there is a conflict of interest between two empires, war is always inevitable."
Le Yao doubted that the words the other had spoken would comfort people…
After a moment, he asked. "Ah, what is the Haixuan Gate?"
"It's a high-speed passage that leads to a different planet. But it consumes a large amount of energy, so it's rarely used."
Le Yao nodded. Thinking of the level of Xu Yao's fury, he understood that it would be quite normal to use that special passage in times of emergencies. He still didn't know what had happened out there.
Le Yao really didn't know much about war, and he had encountered such a situation for the first time in both of his lives. Sigh. He wouldn't be able to help much. It seemed wiser to remain at home than to run to another place ignorantly.
He thought that it might be hot outside, so he decided to let the guards enter the house to cool down. But after seeing all of them stationed inside their mechas in his yard, Le Yao didn't say a word. He turned around and went inside to print ten small soldier dolls. As for who was going to possess them, he would have to wait until Xu Yao wasn't as busy and discuss it with him.
As the saying goes: the so-called strong generals have no weak soldiers; the second after Xu Yao gave the order, each of the captains leading the team moved. They reacted quickly and gathered at the fleet of Flying Wolf IV spaceships within a short while. Then, led by Tang Ye, they embarked for Vodapei.
At the Command Center, Xu Yao conveyed a series of orders to the soldiers of the support team whilst also increasing Huaxia's level of vigilance. Everyone was so busy that even the people of the Underworld became aware that something must have happened. Father and Mother Xu, who had gone to the hotel to help, also quickly returned home.
"Le Yao, how are you feeling? You're not scared, are you?" Mother Xu sat next to the worried Le Yao. "We'll be here to accompany you."
"It's okay, Mom. I'm just a little worried about them. I'll be fine by myself." Le Yao's courage wasn't small and he wasn't scared either, he just felt very anxious. Vodapei was relatively close to Huaxia. So, after the war with Sarna had ended, soldiers from the Flying Wolf Division were the ones who managed that mining planet. Now that such a big issue had taken place, he didn't know if Emperor Kunta would hold Xu Yao accountable.
"We'll accompany you tonight, don't go anywhere." Father Xu continued, "Let's wait until things have settled before doing anything else."
"En. Le Yao, are you sleepy? If you feel sleepy, you should rest first. Xu Yao is busy at the Command Center and we don't know when he'll be back. Don't wait for him, go to sleep first, Mom and Dad will be here guarding you."
Le Yao was probably one of the few people in the world who could sleep peacefully under the eyes of the undead, but he just really couldn't fall asleep today. A few days ago, his right eyelid had begun to twitch, and right now, the twitching had even become much stronger.
Xu Yao didn't return at midnight. Le Yao, taking the children's health into consideration, was lying on the bed but still couldn't sleep. He ended up calculating Le Tianyu's fate again, but the result was still the same; alive and in danger. Then, he also calculated Xu Yao's fate— 3 dangers were imminently approaching him, which caused Le Yao even more worry.
He almost didn't manage to sleep at all, and when he finally fell asleep, he fell into a strange dream. In the dream, he saw Le Tianyu laughing in front of him. The laughter continued until tears poured out of him, but what should have been tears turned out to be blood. This scared Le Yao so much that he woke with a start. His eyes flashed open, only to find that the sky was already bright.
Leslie greeted him. "Good morning, Madam."
"Good morning, Leslie. Where's the General? Still at the Command Center?"
"Yes. The support team led by Lieutenant General Tang arrived at Vodapei. Now, both sides are in combat."
Le Yao then asked, "Did we manage to find out the identity of the other party?"
Leslie hesitated a little before replying, "We did. They're Sarna's Orcs. Previously, they had also orchestrated a small scale attack on Vodapei, but because this time they have attacked with a much larger force, it will take some time to settle. The General is quite busy at the moment due to this. He asked me to tell you not to worry. He isn't beside you so you should rest more."
Le Yao nodded in affirmation. He regretted not drawing some safety talismans when he previously had some idle time. If he had done so, in such situations, where they were at war like this, he wouldn't need to worry so much about the soldiers.
He really hadn't expected the war to start this early. Weren't the people of Sarna afraid of losing another mining planet which belonged to them just like they had four years ago? What kind of preparations had they actually made such that they dared to challenge the tiger and pluck its hair?!
These questions soon found their answer…
Boom!!!
Just after noon, a terrifying explosion rang out thirty kilometers away from the Flying Wolf Division Command Center! The soldiers who were originally discussing the situation in Vodapei suddenly felt a shockwave and rushed out of the station!
"Quick! Go, Go, Go! Everybody keep up!" The leader of a regiment commanded, as an alarm sounded throughout the division. The soldiers gathered at full speed and rushed to enter the combat hovercrafts!
"Brother Han, what's going on?" Le Yao was frightened by the sound of the explosion. He had never heard anything like it; a sound so loud that it almost deafened his ears!
"Someone attacked one of our sentry posts." Han Mo frowned and shouted. "Everyone! Be alert and protect Mr Xiao Le!"
"Yes! Captain!"
Le Yao's uneasiness was amplified at once. But this war was far more brutal than he thought it would be. Their side had only just been attacked, and yet more explosions sounded again on the other side of the division, followed by an influx of numerous Sarna Orcs!
No one knew exactly how the Orcs had managed it, but their combat personnel suddenly increased from more than one thousand to five or six thousand! The sentries had repositioned themselves after the first explosion, but the enemy had broken through their formation again. And the only possibility which could have caused this to happen was that the other party knew of the secret code inside their army!
The Flying Wolf soldiers who had been in an advantageous position were suddenly suppressed. The fighting ability of the Orcs was several times stronger than that of ordinary humans; a male orc, in his peak condition, could handle three or four armed to even five or six unarmed humans!
Soon after, casualties were transported from various locations to the Flying Wolf Division's hospital for treatment. The injuries were numerous, some of them had battered bodies from being assaulted by explosions, and others had even become unable to see their original appearance.
Le Yao couldn't remain silent. He went to the hospital to see the wounded soldiers. It was daylight and he couldn't call the undead for help, but perhaps he could give it a try after night had fallen. The newly departed souls could be summoned, after all, they didn't die peacefully. If they could help, the number of casualties could be decreased.
Xu Yao, who was fighting in the front line, after finding out that Le Yao had gone to the hospital, scolded him in a rare angry tone. "Don't make any trouble! You better head back! It's daytime, and the hospital is full of people you don't know. Even if you want to call their souls, you'll have to wait until night!"
Le Yao quickly replied, "I just want to confirm which ones I can call, and then get their characters!"
Xu Yao knew that Le Yao was trying to help him. Naturally, he was also feeling bad for speaking such harsh words. Thus, he could only order the guards to be more alert and protect Le Yao more carefully.
He now knew how these Orcs had broken through their security line and managed a sudden attack on their division. These people had actually used the identity of the guards of Blood Prison! These guards were also citizens of Tarot who had a special code that could be used as an entry pass during emergencies. They had come here in the guise of a 'support team', responding to the emergency on Vodapei. Xu Yao hadn't expected Blood Prison to conduct such a treasonous act by using that secret code in such an open and upright manner!
…