Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1314 - 62: Towering Mountain Ranges (6)

The program was over.People stared at the frozen image on the television, unwilling to leave for a long time.

"He will come back." The conversation between the two girls and Felix echoed over and over in people’s minds.

The ending image was clearly carefully selected. The photographer’s angle captured it wonderfully, and when the flowing scene came to a halt at this moment, it evoked a majestic feeling. It was a photograph, and also an oil painting, a splash-ink landscape.

The squad on the hill, those warriors covered in smoke and mud, formed the background of the picture. Closer in, with the glow of dawn piercing through the woods, warriors stepping forward resolutely to face death. Though the image was still, their expressions were so vivid. At the forefront of the Suicide Camp column, at the center of the image, a back figure stood imposingly like a mountain.

Gazing at this back figure, thinking of that sentence, people kept pondering.

This was obviously the officer leading the troop, wearing a uniform different from the Chuckna people, he was a Major General.

But, who was he?!

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Buttoning up his collar, Fatty jumped out of the Mecha, looked around and furtively lit a cigarette like a thief.

The smoke swirled in his lungs and exhaled, dispersing in the chilly night breeze. In the distant mountains, only darkness could be seen. The boundaries of heaven and earth blurred in this darkness. Nearby forests allowed faint discernment of branches and treetops, the wind passing through triggered a rustling sound, like waves undulating.

This was the valley at the intersection of several major mountains, accessible in all directions. After temporarily shaking off the pursuit of the Jiepeng people, thanks to the electronic deception led by the little kid, there was finally a chance for everyone to catch their breath.

The warriors were scattered silently among the forest on this mountainside, silently eating. They resembled statues. Not daring to light a fire, nor to start the Mecha engines, any slight noise could travel far in this night. The scout teams dispatched by the Jiepeng forces spread out widely; even with electronic advantages, extreme caution was essential.

The winter night was cold. However, for the warriors wearing multifunctional combat suits, breathing fresh air in the muddy grass was much more comfortable than staying in the Mecha cockpit.

With the environmental circulation system turned off, the enclosed cockpit felt like a confinement chamber.

A few glances were cast over, and Fatty maintained his stance of staring into the distance, motionless. His gaze was deep, as if pondering something.

However, his act did not fool the sharp-eyed warriors; before long, a circle of people had gathered around him.

Fatty, drooping his eyelids, turned to look, only to see Anthony, Li Weiguo, Baz, Hagrove, and Wagstaff, the biggest smokers, their smiles and anticipation enough to melt a person.

Fatty succumbed to the mutual affectionate gaze. Flipping his hand, he revealed the cigarettes, took a last deep draw, and painfully handed the cigarette, destined never to return, to Hagrove next to him, and painfully tossed two to the warriors who were forced back by the unfriendly stares of a few shameless officers, drawing a restrained cheer.

Hagrove took a deep draw and passed the cigarette to Anthony next to him, who took a puff and then reluctantly passed it on. The cigarette made the rounds among several muddy men. The little kid tried sneakily to get a puff from the Vice Admiral, but was grabbed and tossed like a chick back to Fatty’s side.

Everyone had witnessed this little demon before; if it took a puff, the cigarette, even if it was ten times longer, would be gone!

"Brothers, once this cigarette is smoked, there’s really no more. Don’t go too hard on it." Fatty crumpled the empty cigarette pack in his hand and threw it away, his eyes following the cigarette making rounds among the crowd.

"Stop it!" Hagrove was the first to roll his eyes. Several other rogues, who knew their chief best, also snorted coldly, looking disdainful.

Spending much time together, everyone had long become familiar with each other.

Anthony and Li Weiguo knew that the Bandit Army mecha pilots usually called Fatty the General and then affectionately called him Fatty, Fatty in jest. There was never a distinction of rank.

To them as traditional soldiers, this was truly incredible. However, for a unit that could call themselves the Bandit Army, it would indeed be strange if they acted like a regular unit.

The casualness between the subordinates and Fatty did not affect the cohesion of this group.

Anthony and Li Weiguo didn’t know how this Bandit Army was formed or what they had experienced. But they could see that this casualness was a trust built on life and death. Though the nine mecha knights joked around with Fatty superficially, once the battle began, they charged fearlessly, obeying Fatty’s orders unconditionally.

It was said that this Bandit Army had a massive fleet with thousands of Advanced Mecha Warriors.

Sometimes, thinking about it, it was truly an enviable group. To be in such a group, with an officer like Fatty, was incredibly fortunate for soldiers in this era of war.

In these three days of escape, it was Fatty who always led the unit to turn despair into hope. Without him, this small unit would have long been annihilated. At critical moments, he brought up the rear. When it was necessary to break out, he was at the forefront. Along the way, his endless traps, ambushes, and sneak attacks opened everyone’s eyes and caused the pursuing Jiepeng people quite some trouble.

Thinking of those traps made with Mechanical Missiles and Energy Cannon alone were enough to make Anthony and Li Weiguo, even though on the same side, feel their scalps tingle.

In three days, at least one battalion of Jiepeng Mecha was buried alive by Fatty. Giant rocks on cliffs, swamps, landslides... It reached the point where the warriors dubbed this mountain region the Land of Mudslides, and the unfortunate Jiepeng people, when seeing anything remotely dangerous, would first dispatch engineering units to investigate.

With such a leader, even though everyone was already exhausted from the escape, their morale remained high.

"There really isn’t any more." Fatty continued to swear in a spittle-flying argument with Hagrove on the side.

Anthony and Li Weiguo exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but laugh.

This Major General of Leray looks more like an ordinary soldier, lacking the demeanor of a senior officer. Yet it is precisely such a person who possesses a leadership charisma that ordinary generals cannot match. His imaginative thinking and somewhat shameless personality really make people want to follow him all the way, fight alongside him, and see what thrilling feats he might pull off.

"Boom," a blast from afar echoed deep within the mountains, and the sound of fighter jets whooshing through the sky followed. The warriors who had jumped up sat back down, laughing, and several officers couldn’t help but turn their heads to look at the little kid beside Fatty. In the cold, dark night, the adorable little boy pouted and made a victory sign with his hand, earning a playful beating from Fatty.

Everyone knew that the key element in their escape to this place was this extraordinary little boy.

No one knows what the relationship between the little boy and Fatty is. They don’t seem like father and son, nor like brothers. You could see the little boy constantly hassling Fatty and vice versa. People often saw him climbing onto Fatty’s shoulders, grabbing his hair and talking one moment, and fighting the next, blaming each other and often threatening to spit at each other.

Whenever this scene unfolded, everyone felt that the minds of these two were beyond ordinary. Several times, they laughed so hard they nearly risked the troop’s collapse before the Jiepeng people even caught up to them.

This was indeed an escape with a hint of amusement.

In the sky, the fighter jets seemed to multiply, and the explosions in the mountain depths grew increasingly intense.

This was almost the nightly program for the past three days.

Under the guidance of the little kid, the concealed warplanes in the darkness were like a swarm of bats in the night. Although they couldn’t directly defeat the Jiepeng Armored Division from the air, this kind of harassment greatly troubled the equally exhausted Jiepeng people.

"Showtime begins..." Hagrove chuckled, "I can’t sleep now unless I hear these sounds every night."

The few nearby nodded. Only during this time, amidst the relentless pursuit by the determined Jiepeng people, did the escaping warriors feel a bit of relief and satisfaction.

During these three days, the troop maneuvered through the mountains, engaging with the enemy repeatedly, getting caught countless times, and then fighting tooth and nail to break free.

Escape, escape! No one knew how many hills they had crossed, how many forests they had traversed, how many streams and swamps they had waded through... At this point, everyone knew the troop was running low on ammunition and supplies.

There might still be a bit of food left, but the mecha’s energy was almost depleted. The spare energy boxes had been completely emptied. Only one-third of the main energy boxes remained. Out of over two hundred warriors, only one hundred and sixty were left, and all were exhausted to the core. Even the nine Bandit Army War Gods experienced a significant decline in combat strength.

The most critical issue is...

Everyone knew that after three days of escape, there was already no road ahead!

During a battle about ten hours ago, the troop was forced into this mountainous region. The altitude kept rising, and the terrain became increasingly rugged. Ahead lay a dead end, an impasse.

Since entering here, the Jiepeng’s pursuit had noticeably slowed down. Because the mountain roads were winding and the terrain was treacherous, their pursue spread the Jiepeng forces thin; they were gathering the scattered units, preparing to steadily advance.

Perhaps by tomorrow, this road would come to an end.

"Judging by the sound, quite a few of our squadron have arrived this time," Anthony listened closely, "The second batch of landing troops have landed, the Jiepeng forces in the Northern Mountain Region have been annihilated by sixteen divisions. The entire landing zone is now established. Even if the Jiepeng people gather all the troops from Canglang Star to besiege us now, they won’t be able to shake our defense line."

Then he turned his head and asked, "Do you think we’ll wait for reinforcement?"

Deep within the mountains, hundreds of anti-air missiles shot up from various positions into the sky, the missile trails glowing in the night sky like luminous tadpoles. The mecha-hit fighter jets turned into meteors emerging suddenly from the void, plummeting toward the ground.

Everyone fell silent.

As long as the Jiepeng still had anti-air firepower, there wouldn’t be slow-moving, target-like transport ships appearing in this mountainous region.

Tomorrow, a deadly battle awaits!

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.Originally, I planned to release two Chapters today, but I returned late and managed only one. Tomorrow, I’ll attend the author’s annual meeting, so I need to sleep early. If I were to work on a second one, it would probably keep me up until three or four in the morning. Anyway, I’ll continue writing and squeeze in as much as I can before sleep. But don’t wait up expecting a full Chapter. The section about the formidable mountains is almost wrapping up, and I need to contemplate it carefully. During the annual meeting, I’ll strive to keep updating without interruption.

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.Additionally, Bai He has caught up significantly, and his request for votes stirs emotions. My update capacity doesn’t compare to his, but we have a plan. Tonight I’ll do some writing, and tomorrow I’ll squeeze in more if I can. Then perhaps invite him for some drinks. Or maybe encourage someone on the ranking list to take him drinking. Let’s quietly cast votes and leave him behind, what do you think?

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.Monthly votes, please everyone.