Chapter 1887 - 1886: Rearguard

The jingling sounds echoed across the open construction site.

The grocery store boss sat in his chair, stretched lazily, and turned on the old television in front of him.

"Currently, the Federation Army and the Consortium Mercenary Corps assigned by the Federation have completed the defense and preliminary attack on the eastern Federation city of Lank City."

"Lank City, located in the southeast of the Federation, is a critical fortress city, once within the power sphere of Dawn City. After the rebel leader Christos rebelled, Lank City fell under the control of forces loyal to Dawn City."

"Situated on the transportation hub of three key rebel cities—Yilan City, Dawn City, and Kaye City, Professor Seines from Ains Military Academy analyzed that after capturing the city, the Federation could separate these three cities and defeat them one by one."

"The battle for the city’s defense has lasted nearly two months, during which the Federation Army invaded the city multiple times, only to be repelled by the city’s defense forces, supported by mercenary corps from Nolanka Group and City Defense Army from Yilan City."

"But according to reports from the front line, amidst this long struggle, Lank City is already at its breaking point. This time the Federation Army is about to completely capture the city."

"Once Lank City is breached, according to Federation Central Army military experts, conquering Yilan City is just a matter of time. The Federation Army will swiftly destroy the rebel troops and seize those cities held by rebels, bringing them back under the Federation’s radiance."

"President Skewis claims he can quell the rebellion and end the war within three months."

"We’ll keep you updated on the war situation, Ains Post brings you the reports..."

...

The TV screen flickered as the boss changed channels.

A smartly dressed attractive woman appeared on the screen.

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Click—

The grocery store boss turned off the TV.

Outside, the jingling sounds continued, followed by a clear sound of tapping on the desk. Then a voice sounded outside the counter, "Elderly sir, may I ask you something, what’s this construction site about? I see the site fence is rusty and has been here for quite some time, why isn’t it finished?"

The grocery store boss looked up, seeing a man with sharp features, wearing a simple shirt, muscular and looking somewhat earnest, standing outside the counter, smiling at him, with a luxury SUV parked behind the man.

"Abandoned construction," the grocery store boss waved his hand, said hoarsely, "There was a boss who bought this land, saying he wanted to build a big building, but later that boss went bankrupt and jumped off a building, so this land became desolate, being so poor and broken, no other bosses took over."

"But I see there seem to be machines operating inside," the man asked curiously, "Isn’t that construction?"

"Don’t know," the grocery store boss shook his head, "Last year the City Government took back this land, sold it to someone, then started construction with the sound of clanging, but after a year, nothing’s been seen, just excavation downwards instead of building upwards, looks like they’ve been digging a basement for a year."

"Okay, thanks." The man smiled, waved his hand, picked up a pack of quite expensive cigarettes from the top of the grocery store, raised his wristband, and paid.

The grocery store boss waved his hand, then reclined back on the lounge chair.

He briefly glanced at the turned-off TV and then at the tablet placed on the table on the other side, whose screen now lit up, displaying a series of news on the lock screen.

But as he looked, he only saw a sequence of words like ’war.’

The boss withdrew his gaze, leaned on the lounge chair, looked at the ceiling, and slowly closed his eyes.

Outside, the construction site resounded with clinking noises, everything seemed to have changed, yet seemed unchanged.

And outside the grocery store, Geslo walked to the SUV beside it, looked at the information on his wrist, then at the construction site, muttering, "Sir, we’ve just checked, the one who bought this land is a small real estate developer, doing commercial real estate. According to the normal development schedule, if it were for commercial real estate, it shouldn’t have taken a year without progress."

He took a telescope from the SUV, quickly climbed to the car roof, and swiftly surveyed, "Not many workers are on site, only seeing many excavators in action, it doesn’t look like construction, rather looks like excavation."

"See those two towering peaks in the north," He Ao’s voice sounded in his ear, "Go inside the construction site for a look."

When Denos was old, he often sat nearby, staring at the peaks not far away.

The walls of Kovotra are considerably shorter than Vissen’s, offering more views of mountains and scenery.

Walking a bit further is where Denos’s former home was.

Geslo was slightly stunned and looked northward.

Indeed, beyond the towering walls, two towering peaks stood there.

He lowered his head, looked at the construction site ahead, jumped down from the SUV, "Alright."

Then he glanced around and cautiously asked, "Sir, are you coming with me?"

"Don’t worry about me," He Ao replied, "Just go inside directly, when it’s time to act, I’ll advise you."

"Then I’ll first go into the engineering department, see if there are any documents." Geslo quickly said.

His experience far exceeded Anke’s, knowing where to find critical clues.

"Alright." He Ao replied softly.

With He Ao’s instruction, Geslo immediately moved forward, leaping over the construction site’s fence.

He rolled to the ground, glanced at the surrounding cameras, quickly sneaking towards a rising temporary building at the site’s edge.

Soon, he found a safety helmet at the entrance, wore it, and entered this temporary building.

People were walking back and forth inside the building, some dressed in work attire with safety helmets, seemingly workers, while others were formally dressed with ties, appearing as office workers.

Geslo quickly followed one of the office workers, walking with him into the office work area.

A large television hung in the office work area hallway, seemingly used for some displays and advertisements.

A young man in a shirt was drinking coffee, switching channels on the television with a remote.

It seemed to be a soap opera channel, at a critical moment, the male and female leads already embracing.

Just as the male and female leads were about to kiss, the television flickered.

"...Now breaking news, last night in Ilotan City a rebellion occurred, led by the former City Defense Department Minister Eric, the City Defense Army young officers took over the City Government, imprisoned the Mayor, closed all city gates, declared the establishment of a provisional committee to take over supreme power in Ilotan City, and broadcasted they would support Christos..."

The young man sipping coffee saw this advertisement, slightly stunned, "What’s this nonsense again."

He sighed, switched the channel.

The next channel directly switched to a live studio, a host sitting behind a curved desk with an aged but spirited elderly beside him.

The elderly man at this moment was spreading open a map and pointing to a light spot, "We can see here, Ilotan is located at the crucial transport junction in the Central Federation. Currently, more than half of the supplies and troops being transported from the Western Federation to the Eastern Federation take the trade routes near Ilotan."

Several routes surrounding the light spot were displayed on the map, "If Ilotan falls into the hands of insurgent forces, all nearby logistic transportation routes will become unsafe,"

He pointed at the map, those routes quickly spread, extending across a large section of the map, opening branches like tentacles, reaching the area marked in red with the names ’Yilan City’, ’Dawn City’, and ’Kaye City’.

"Losing this logistical support would affect the otherwise smooth war situation."

He raised his hand and pointed to some routes west of Ilotan, "The logistics routes that originally ran through the Central Federation are forced to detour to the south and north."

The routes stretched from behind, looping around from the south and north, reaching the southeast part of the map, "It can be clearly seen that the time and cost of transportation will greatly increase."

"So, Professor Seines," a young and pretty host in a red suit looked at the elderly man curiously, "what kind of impact will the rebellion in Ilotan have on the overall situation?"

"It depends on the length," the elderly man said slowly, "if the rebellion is quelled in a short period and Ilotan returns under the Federation’s control, then this will only temporarily impact the Federation’s logistics, dragging the Federation Army back a bit, giving the insurgents some breathing room, preventing them from being crushed all at once by the Federation Army."

He pointed to the cities flashing red, "but if the rebellion in Ilotan lasts longer and the city falls under the control of insurgent forces for several months or even years, then the logistics of the Federation Army will bear heavy pressure. The insurgents are very likely to seize this gap to gain some breathing space, of course,"

He looked at the host and smiled, "My overall judgment doesn’t change; the rebellion in Dawn City is just a small uprising, not enough to threaten the order of the Federation. With the combat power of the Federation Army and the Mercenary Corps, this rebellion will eventually be suppressed, restoring the previous peace."

"Then, what do you think," the female host asked somewhat curiously, "how long will Ilotan be occupied by the insurgents?"

"The Federation senior management can clearly see the current situation," the elderly man smiled, "so they will by all means attack Ilotan, seeking to regain control of this city in a short time. If I’m not mistaken, the Rockville Energy Group has a reinforced Mercenary Corps stationed near Ilotan precisely to address the current situation."

The elderly man continued to smile, "In as short as a week or at most half a month, we will see the Federation’s achievements."

"So we just have to wait for good news from the Federation?" the female host smiled.

"In principle, yes," the elderly man nodded, "but unforeseen events can happen, after all, the nature of war is such that no one can predict it precisely..."

Click—

The young man drinking coffee switched channels.

"...Ilotan and Vissen are similarly crucial trade node cities in the Central Federation..."

A young male host appeared on the screen.

"Why is everyone talking about this?" The young man shook his head, returned the television to the broadcast screen, turned his gaze, and walked towards an office on one side.

At that time, Geslo also followed behind him, passing by the large office.

"Did you know? There’s a rebellion in Ilotan too!"

"I saw it, today’s headline news."

"The insurgents even held a press conference."

"That insurgent leader, the one named Eric, he’s very handsome."

"That one called Davis is also not bad, so cold and charming, that’s exactly my type."

"Not as much as Mayor Linen of Yilan City, now he’s really manly."

"Isn’t Linen dead already, and he was quite old, with all his hair turned white, you still like him?"

"What do you know, older men have more flavor."

"Girl, while everyone is free, your preference is kind of weird."

"Why are you discussing this too?"

"Today’s the hot topic everywhere, all about Ilotan’s news."

"So where is Ilotan exactly?"

"Let me check the map... It’s just next to Vislo!"

"Whoa! So close!"

"Oh no, oh no, won’t they attack us here?! I heard those insurgents eat children."

"It’s probably not that terrifying, just look at those two insurgent leaders in Ilotan, they’re quite decent, especially Eric, he seems quite refined."

"What do you know, those who seem polite are the ones who are the worst behind the scenes."

"So does Linen eat people too?"

"What does that have to do with Linen, he’s been dead for so long."

"He was from Yilan City too, and Yilan City is a key stronghold for the insurgents right now."

"You’re discussing it so seriously, have you really seen the insurgents eating people?"

"Isn’t that what they said on TV? All those dramas show that."

"Actually, the insurgents are quite good; I have a relative in Yilan City who says the benefits and treatment there are pretty good."

"Actually, some of ’K’s ideas aren’t wrong either."

"Are you crazy! Is that something you can discuss? If you want to die, don’t drag us with you!"

"And you don’t know what kind of bad things they’re doing behind the scenes..."

"So is Vissen going to war? I have some money at home, would it be safest to convert it to gold and cryptocurrency..."

Geslo passed by the door, listening to the chatter inside, his gaze somewhat downcast, letting out a sigh, "The consortium’s propaganda machine is still too powerful, they misinterpret us so much, if only they had interacted, they’d know what a good person Eric is."

He Ao made no response to this issue.

At this moment, Geslo also stopped, looking towards the tightly locked office door ahead.

A nameplate was affixed above it, which read ’General Manager.’

Geslo reached out and twisted the door handle, but it was locked.

Then he simply applied a little force, pushed forward slightly, and this thin door swung open without making any sound.