I lay prone on a weathered rock, scanning the canyon below.
"Two hundred infantry, thirty Warg cavalry." Chewing on a grass root, I whispered the data. "This configuration is enough to escort a nuclear warhead. Is the Wolf Clan paranoid?"
"That's because they have good stuff." Lyn sniffed beside me, her green fox eyes glowing in the dark. "I can smell it... the aroma of wheat! And that pungent black oil smell! Right in the biggest wagon in the middle!"
Behind us was a "Suicide Mixed Brigade" of fifty people.
Including twenty Ursine heavy infantry led by Brad, twenty Cat-kin Shadowblades led by Zayla, and ten Vulpine sappers led by Lyn, responsible for carrying and arson.
“Listen,” I said, looking into those hungry, desperate eyes. “I know you’re ready to tear those wolves apart and turn them into a barbecue. But if you want to eat tonight, we'll do it my way. No chaos, no heroics. We follow the plan, step by step.”
I held up three fingers.
"First, Black Fire Oil is the highest priority. Even if wheat spills, oil barrels cannot leak. That determines whether we can send the Wolf army to the sky."
"Second, do not engage. Grab and run. Our retreat route is Pass B—complex terrain, full of gravel slopes, Wolf cavalry can't catch up."
"Third, and most importantly..."
I looked at Brad, who was doing warm-up exercises, cracking his joints.
"Brad, don't tackle the guy who looks like a BOSS. Your mission is to be a roadblock, not a hero."
Brad grinned, showing white teeth visible in the night. "Don't worry, Coach."
"Action."
A loud noise broke the night's silence.
Bjorn and two Ursine warriors pushed down a pre-prepared boulder. The multi-ton rock roared down with massive gravitational potential energy, smashing precisely in front of the Wolf convoy, instantly flattening the lead Warg chariot into a 2D plane.
"AMBUSH!!!"
The Wolf commander's roar was cut short by this sudden "engineering accident."
"Go!"
Brad roared, leaping from the ledge like a cannonball.
Brad gripped the massive shield—a brutal slab of salvaged plating Sarak had welded together from scavenged wolf armor. Using the raw momentum of his fall, he turned the shield into a falling piston. A Warg, caught looking up, didn't even have time to howl; Brad smashed the beast and its rider directly into the dirt, grinding them into a red smear beneath Sarak's heavy ironwork.
Chaos erupted.
This wasn't an elegant sword duel, but a savage robbery for survival.
Zayla's figure moved like a ghost through the chaotic convoy. She targeted the mounts of the Wolf cavalry.
Cutting girths, stabbing stirrups.
Those majestic Wolf cavalrymen fell off their mounts inexplicably before they could draw their swords, then were mercilessly finished off by stone hammers from the Ursine warriors following closely.
"Move! Move it!"
I stood on the roof of the lead wagon, bracing my feet against the reinforced frame.
In my hands was Sarak’s latest masterpiece: a pneumatic nail gun powered by a high-pressure canister.
As a werewolf lunged from the shadows, I lined up the iron sights.
THWACK— A six-inch steel spike buried itself into the beast’s throat with terrifying velocity.
"Lyn! Forget the flour! Get the black barrels! Careful, that's a liquid bomb!"
Vulpine sappers crawled onto the wagons like worker ants. Though small, the temptation of "a full meal" gave them amazing strength. Heavy oak barrels were rolled down and quickly loaded onto prepared simple sleds.
"Got it! Twelve barrels of black oil! And thirty bags of wheat!" Lyn screamed, voice full of ecstasy.
"Enough! Retreat!"
The battle lasted thirty minutes.
"All units! Execute Plan B! Run to the west rift!"
The retreat should have been smooth.
Pass B was a hidden path known only to local goats, rugged and full of sharp gravel. This terrain was a nightmare for heavy cavalry but a paradise for light infantry.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
This was the "Perfect Retreat Route" I had simulated repeatedly on the map.
However.
The moment Brad, carrying two bags of wheat, led the team into the pass.
THWIP—THWIP—THWIP!
Countless cold lights suddenly lit up on both sides of the silent, dark pass.
Rain of arrows fell like locusts.
"How..." Zayla's pupils shrank. "This is our most secret route..."
"Shields up!!!"
Brad threw away the wheat, rushed to the front, and smashed the giant tower shield into the ground.
CLANG—CLANG—!
Dense arrows hit the shield, making tooth-aching metallic sounds. Several slow-reacting Ursine warriors were hit instantly, falling with screams. Bjorn, protecting Lyn beside him, took three arrows in his back, blood dyeing his fur red instantly.
"They were waiting for us!"
Brad gritted his teeth, his shield groaning under the massive impact of armor-piercing arrows. "Alex! This script is wrong! How did these dogs know we'd take this road?!"
I huddled behind a jagged rock, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I looked up at the pre-built shooting positions above the pass. That wasn't a random encounter; it was a carefully designed kill box.
Someone sold us out.
My mind went completely blank with panic as another volley of arrows shattered the stone inches from my face.
"Brad!" I screamed. "Smash one of the oil barrels!"
"What?! That's our loot!"
"Do it, or we're dead!"
Brad didn't argue further. He swung his heavy shield, slamming its edge viciously into one of the oak barrels strapped to the makeshift sled.
Wood splintered, and the thick, pungent black crude oil poured out, rapidly pooling across the narrow pass.
"Get back!" I yelled, blindly hurling the glass explosive bottle toward the spreading puddle of oil.
BOOM!
The alchemy bomb shattered, its chemical fire instantly igniting the highly flammable crude.
A wall of blinding orange fire and thick, choking black smoke erupted into the sky, creating an impenetrable inferno between the Wolf archers and us.
The intense heat forced the wolves to recoil, their arrows flying blind into the thick smog.
"Now! Run! Leave the rest of the oil, just RUN!" I coughed violently, grabbing Lyn's arm and sprinting frantically into the dark, using the chaotic wall of fire and smoke as our only shield.
4:00 AM. Star Fort.
The team fled back to the fortress in disarray.
Although we brought back life-saving food and crucial black oil, the cost was high.
The square smelled of blood and Ela's anxious shouts. Seven Ursine were critically injured, three Cat-kin were dead, and even Bjorn needed two Vulpine to support him.
This should have been a perfect, zero-casualty heist.
"We were sold." Zayla walked over, wiping blood from her face. Her voice was light, but carried a killing intent almost solidified into substance. "The Wolves ambushed Pass B with at least a hundred archers. One second later, and we'd be wiped out."
"I know." I pushed up my glasses, lenses reflecting the cold light of the campfire.
Brad was checking the large leather suitcase snatched from the Wolf command vehicle. He cursed while rummaging, "These wolf pups are rich, even their toilets are gold-rimmed... Hey? What's this?"
From the lining of the suitcase, Brad pulled out a rolled parchment.
"Alex, look at this." Brad handed the drawing over. "Looks like a map of our rift?"
I took the drawing and unrolled it.
By the torchlight, I saw the content clearly.
In that instant, I felt the air around me freeze.
It wasn't just a map of the rift.
It was a Star Fort Phase 1 Defense Blueprint.
It detailed the gate thickness, tower blind spots, and even circled the Zone C Drainage Outlet with a red pen, noting in Cat-kin script:
"Structure here not yet hardened, feasible breach point."
My finger traced the line of text. I couldn't read the jagged Cat-kin characters, but I recognized the diagram instantly.
It was the exact flaw I pointed out during yesterday's meeting. I remembered watching Zayla frown as she translated my engineering assessment onto the map with her own hand.
Only four people saw this map.
Me, Zayla, Brad, and...
I looked up at Lucas in the distance, who was directing the transport of the wounded, looking anxious. The old Captain looked so loyal, so worried.
"Heh..."
I let out a short, cold laugh. I rolled the map slowly, stuffing it into my shirt, against my cold heart.
"What is it?" Zayla keenly sensed my mood change. "Problem with the map?"
"No problem."
I stood up, dusting off my clothes, voice terrifyingly calm. "Very useful map. It helped me confirm an 'Engineering Hazard' I should have solved long ago."
I turned to Zayla, eyes revealing a coldness unfamiliar to her.
"Your Majesty, sharpen your blade."
"Before the Wolf army arrives, we need to clean up the rats in the house."
Alex hates two things: shoddy construction and traitors. And Lucas just became both.
Question of the Day: How should we deal with the traitor?
(Click to pass judgment)
?? A) Public execution.
Result: Classic but Boring. It sends a message, sure. But cleaning blood off the pavement is a non-value-added activity. Efficiency: Low.
?? B) Use him as bait.
Result: Recycling. He wanted to join the Wolves? Now he can feed them. It's eco-friendly and solves the monster lure problem. Pragmatism: 100%.
?? C) Launch him via catapult.
Result: The Physics Lesson. Alex needs to calibrate the torsion springs anyway. Lucas has volunteered to be the test weight. Calculated Trajectory: YEET.
Follow and Rate for the purge!