New Chapter, Powerstones please.
...
In Haican, there were only three ways to leave.
One, the tunnel that led to the Fire Nation bay. This one was the tunnel Luca and the group found themselves in, as well as the tunnel that transported skilled workers to the Fire Nation.
Two, the heavily guarded tunnel used as the transport route to Omashu.
And three, The even more heavily guarded front gates.
All soldiers in the stronghold knew of the three spots, although only a very select few knew what the first one was actually for.
And now, there was a fourth.
A secret passageway within the sewer systems that led far away from the base itself.
As long as one could avoid security and sneak in before anyone else noticed, then escaping the base was easy.
Honestly, it reminded Luca of a similar sewer passageway in the "Return To Omashu" episode of Book 2, EP 3.
A loophole in a secure facility. How convenient, honestly a bit too convenient.
But that wasn't an issue for one to immerse themselves in.
Luca's original escape plan was to avoid the patrols until he reached the east wall. Then phase through it and start moving towards the forest.
With his training, stealth and array of skills, he was confident in completing the first step while going completely unnoticed.
After all, his stealth skill on the panel wasn't for nothing.
- Stealth 16 -
Invisibility right? Wrong. Although quite far off, your ability to keep yourself hidden is superb even among experts. Including sound suppression, camouflage, scent control, visual concealment, situational awareness, route planning and so on.
- Subskill -
All stealth effects are greatly increased at night. 20% additional increase when blending into shadowy areas while dressed in black -
15% decrease when being actively searched for -
— Note ..... This stat is directly affected by the level of external perception—.....
There was no detailed explanation of how potent this ability to hide oneself from other's perception was.
But as always, he would have to make evaluations based on his level of knowledge.
If the average perception of a person was ten, and with him, a trained spy and assassin having no more than fourteen points in the same stat, then as long as it was dark, there were no obvious clues, he made proper efforts to conceal himself, and he didn't stand openly in front of the other party, no one without a fourteen point perception stat would ever sense he was there.
That was if he made any movements.
Plus, stealth wasn't all about hiding in one place. It also involved moving quietly and discreetly to avoid others finding something was off and getting discovered.
So within cities, villages, or large structures with multiple corners, as long as he wasn't being actively searched for, staying out of sight was certain.
After all, there were many places he could use to conceal himself.
But that advantage would change the moment he phased through the wall. Haican wasn't surrounded by lush vegetation. No, the area around it for hundreds of meters had been cleared off.
All that remained was sand and flat earth. There was no cover, no camouflage, no way to hide himself once he stepped out into the open.
Worst of all, the moon was particularly bright tonight.
Once he made a mad dash, unless the guard on duty was sleeping on the job, he would definitely be spotted. The only uncertainty being how long it would take.
A second, two seconds. Perhaps five, six ….
When that happened, what followed would be a rain of boulders in his direction and a forward pursuit after he made it to the lush forest.
Usually, an unauthorized black shadow rushing away from their base through anywhere apart from the front gate could only mean one thing. Spy.
In his analysis, perhaps he would be mistaken for a fire Nation spy, running away with sensitive intelligence.
After all, it was impossible for all soldiers in this base to be collaborators. Those who weren't would undoubtedly be on the lookout for abnormalities.
Regardless of what they thought, troops would be sent to quickly hunt him down and capture him.
Dead or alive would do.
So for Luca, getting to the North wall was never a problem, neither was the followup escape into the forest. No, it was the pursuit right after.
He could transverse the stronghold unseen, but unless something was wrong with the lookouts, then it was impossible to complete his escape unnoticed.
Once he got to the forest, then everything would be left to play out depending on the situation at the time with on the spot adjustments.
Perhaps he could escape smoothly, perhaps a battle would take place.
For this situation, Luca honestly felt a little helpless. If not for the memories and intelligence as a former spy, it was impossible for him to think this far ahead.
He had observed the layout of the stronghold unconsciously long before he entered the base so he knew there was no vegetation to aid as cover.
This wasn't his doing, but belonged to his predecessor, honed through years of experience.
It was a nice feature, but it wasn't omniscience. He honestly never expected this situation and hence couldn't plan for it in advance.
Nor could he predict every step he would take following his escape.
At the end of the day, despite his knowledge, skills and abilities, he was still a human being incapable of wiping out a mountain with a single strike like some arrogant dance kings, always asking others if they wanted to dance.
'What a scam. By my count, this will be my third breakout after transmigrating. That's not adding the ones before and the planned escape from Capital City'.
This was his breakout plan. So compared to this, leaving through the fourth secret sewer passage sounded a whole lot better.
As long as the guards weren't alerted, she was right. It couldn't be easier than this.
Luca could understand why she thought this way, and why her condition was for him to take them with him.
She was worried. Worried that one wrong move, one unexpected irregularity, one slipup would cause her and her friends to lose their lives.
This was something she would rather not see, and his display of strength had raised his value in her eyes. With his participation, their chances of success would greatly increase.
Even if they were discovered, a forced breakthrough might be possible.
Hence, she was willing to risk her safety and cooperate with a dangerous stranger just for the possibility of ensuring their survival.
He didn't know whether to label her as smart or foolish. It probably depended on how you looked at it.
How did she know that he wouldn't just kill them and take the blueprints for himself?
He wouldn't do that, but still.
But that aside, this whole operation had one single problem she had overlooked.
"No".
The curt reply stunned the female. Clearly not expecting him to refuse after already asking what did she want.
"What?"
Unfortunately, Luca wasn't going to indulge in another round of question and answers. He had already wasted enough time here.
Thud, Thud …
His figure turned back as he disappeared into the darkness, headed for the tunnels entrance.
All that was left was the four teenagers who were still processing what they had experienced in less than a short half an hour.
"Well then ….". Meilin uttered. "What do we do now?"
Mingxia took a deep breath. Closing her eyes and reopening them.
"What we planned to".
Outside the tunnel.
Thud, Thud,
Luca's steps halted as he stood in-between the two frozen soldiers in the square.
His gaze slightly thoughtful at the sight.
'Unless external forces help, these guys will probably stay this way throughout the night and for most of the coming day'.
Nevertheless .....
Crack! Squelch!
His weapon shone with a metal luster as both twin blades pierced through the ice and embedded themselves into their skulls from the back.
It didn't matter whether it would take a full day for these guys to thaw out. Nor did he care if they would still be alive when it happened.
In a world of elemental bending, anything could happen.
Luca wasn't taking any chances, period. As for the matter of a guilty conscience? Anyone else in this base could be innocent, but the ones stationed as guards here were exceptions.
Luca wouldn't believe they didn't have an inkling of knowledge on where this tunnel led. So he had mental burden in doing this. Although he wasn't sure he would have said burden if it weren't the case.
Pulling out his blades, blood slowly spurted out with it.
Taking one last look at the tunnel, he cleared all distracting thoughts from his mind and began moving.
And so, it was at this moment that the teenage assassin faded into the darkness ..... Or at least he tried his best to.
As an Earth kingdom stronghold, there were naturally lanterns placed in various areas to provide illumination for the patrolling soldiers.
And just like the Fire Nation lanterns glowed red, their lanterns glowed green signifying the color of the nation.
Of course, they weren't much and were spread out farther from each other.
Where there was light, there would be darkness. And where there were lanterns, shadows would still exist.
Taking advantage of this, Luca made his way through several patrols without getting spotted.
Arriving at a corridor, he was about to turn left when he heard the sound of footsteps emerging from that direction.
'Another Patrol'.
Although he didn't see it, he could guess the identities of the people coming.
In a matter of moments, the footsteps drew closer and five patrolling guards emerged from the corridor.
Four wore green uniforms, large dark green, round looking rice hats, with spears in one hand and lanterns in the other.
The last member of the patrol wore similar clothes, with the only difference being that unlike his patrol members, he rode an ostrich horse with the lantern attached to its neck area and carried no weapon.
An Earthbender.
After going months without receiving attacks from the Fire Nation, the inspection of the patrol guards around the base had grown somewhat lax.
They didn't even bother taking their lanterns to illuminate the dark shadowy corners and proceeded to walk right by.
Unfortunately, there was one exception.
Grunt!
The moving ostrich horse suddenly let out several grunting sounds while shaking slightly.
"Huh?"
The riding soldier was startled at the mount's movements.
"What is it boy?"
The noise attracted the other patrolling soldiers.
The animal didn't respond, just raised its nose and sniffed the air.
Only the animal knew what had wafted into its nose to startle it.
The faint, unnoticeable smell of blood.
The soldier's eyes narrowed. His gaze sweeping across the poorly illuminated area with a hint of wariness.
"What's the matter?" He heard a voice call out to him.
"Spread out". He uttered. "Perform a light search".
And so, the soldiers spread out with their green lanterns and began examining. The shadowy areas, the corners, behind the barrels .
"All clear". They called out.
"Oh". His facial expression eased up as he nodded. "Carry on".
With that slight disturbance, the expressionless soldiers finished their momentary sweep and carried on their patrol to other designated areas.
Unknown to them that a figure stood high above, his body hanging off the wall, watching them depart.
'So this is how ninjas feel like after initial mastery of wall walking'.
He thought to himself as he moved upward.
Meanwhile .....
Back at the tunnel.
Mingxia and her group similarly emerged from the tunnel just like he did, their black hooded cloaks covering their bodies as they made their way to the sewer passage.
Seeing everyone stepping out, Peng took action and within ten seconds, covered up the exposed tunnel.
The fuses for the barrels containing blasting jelly had been lit. In at least five minutes, Haican would soon descend into pandemonium.
"You've gotta be...". Meilin's eyes widened at the frozen soldiers who now had blood flowing down their bodies.
The frozen guards were already incapacitated.
Unless they were Firebenders, it was impossible for them to escape until they were thawed out.
Then why would he kill them regardless?
"Did he …".
"He did". Mingxia uttered in a heavy tone. He was the only one who could.
"But we can't do anything about that now. We need to move".
She wasn't clear why he would do this, and for the moment, she couldn't bring herself to care either.
After all, they were strangers who practically knew nothing about the other party other than what their eyes could grasp.
Now, they had to get as far away from here as possible.
After waiting for twenty seconds, the first patrol team passed.
"Now". She whispered in a low voice as the group immediately began moving.
The military of the four nations carried major differences and some similarities, with the standards of the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation being particularly strict.
So much so that the foot patrols in Earth Kingdom strongholds usually followed a specific formation.
After careful observation, they had deduced the movement patterns, effective observation range, and time intervals of the patrol teams.
Each team was made up of a five-man squad supervising an area of up to a hundred meters to and fro or in a roundabout pattern depending on the area itself. Within this hundred meters, there were typically no checkpoints that required stoppage of any kind.
This would of course change after leaving the designated hundred meters area.
Since squads would change with shifts alongside human characteristics changing from person to person, the specific patrol time could never be narrowed down to an exact number due to everyone having slightly varying walking paces.
So the rough estimate could only be used.
Mingxia repeated the time in her mind. 1.5–2 minutes at best and anything between 1.1 to 1.4 minutes at worst if they patrolled more briskly.
This patrol had already come halfway before passing them. Meaning they would return to this exact point in roughly forty seconds. Perhaps more, perhaps less.
Not only must they make sure they leave the hundred-meter patrol range before they arrived, but they must also avoid the one patrolling the next hundred meters vertically while doing so.
In such a situation, every second was precious, requiring very strict management of time, quick thinking and observation, accurate pacing and situational awareness and most of all, a great deal of luck to avoid unexpected circumstances.
If they were required to follow such measures constantly in order to make it all the way to the East wall, then their capture was basically set in stone.
After all, only Mingxia had formal combat training and slight reconnaissance study. For the others to follow her lead perfectly in the absence of unexpected circumstances was asking excessively much from a bunch of teenagers.
Unlike Luca, they weren't assassins, spies, or thieves.
It would be good enough if one of them didn't accidentally stumble on a barrel and make a lot of noise.
Luckily, they didn't need to.
As long as they made it through the first three patrol teams, then they would reach a sewer line that could take them towards the refugee center near the West wall.
It was using this method that they had managed to make their way here in the first place.
Unfortunately, the sewer passageway leading outside the base was disconnected from the other sewer lines. If not, they could have gone straight through to the exit point without needing to resurface near the refugees center.
Of course there was another reason why this was necessary.
To get Fenfang's mother.
"Move quickly".
Seeing Mingxia taking the lead, the others rose from their crouching positions. Peng and Dandan followed.
Meilin who was behind them didn't rise immediately but turned her head and shot a cold glance behind her at the blonde girl wearing similar cloaks.
"Keep up. And you better not blow our cover". She uttered mercilessly, her disgust evident in her tone before turning to move.
That's right, out of the five, the last figure among them was Fenfang. The one who had previously betrayed them.
.....
Patreon.com/Future805