D−7.

The wilderness in the Northwest seemingly turned into a deep sea all of a sudden.

The general impression people had of seawater was that it was an azure blue. The sea that most people knew was sparkling and calm.

But when seawater became dangerous, it would no longer look blue but a dense black instead.

All kinds of unknown horrors could happen in it. The remote mountains in the wilderness were like an unexplored ocean trench filled with dangers.

The size of the ocean was immeasurable, and all people could feel in such an environment was a sense of fear.

Black Fox led the Pyro Company's fighting force of the 6th Field Division to undergo a short reorganization. They had just shaken off the artificial intelligence's pursuit at a mountain pass in the south.

In guerrilla warfare, having intel was the most important. As such, before Xu Ke left with P5092 and the others, he recalculated when the orbit of the artificial intelligence's satellites would leave the battle zone.

Unfortunately, ever since P5092's previous ambush on the artificial intelligence, there were fewer and fewer opportunities to take advantage of the satellites' blind spots when they traveled out of the observation range. It would be another ten days or so before a similar opportunity arose again.

However, while there were no big opportunities, some smaller ones still existed.

Yesterday, Black Fox had taken advantage of a three-hour window when the satellites went "blind" to launch a sudden attack on the enemy's artillery troops at the rear, causing the other party to suffer a great loss.

But after three hours of one-sided fighting, the remaining 21 hours were wholly spent fleeing.

There was no other choice. All Black Fox and his men could do now was to try their best. They were already very lucky to have had a chance encounter with the enemy's artillery troops.

Although they did not manage to destroy them, the 6th Field Division's current mission was to stall for time.

As long as the enemy chased after them, it was a good enough outcome.

During the 21 hours of their escape, the Pyro Company's soldiers kept taking cover here and there without rest until everyone was exhausted before they were able to get clear of the enemy's encirclement.

However, Black Fox discovered a pattern in the enemy's pursuit. Their pursuers needed to take rests as well. After the first group of pursuers chased after them for 13 hours, they actually turned around to reorganize and sleep. Another group of troops would then continue to pursue them.

It was as though the enemy wanted to avoid a prolonged period of fatigue.

Black Fox sat on a mound and looked around while muttering, "Could it be that not resting for an extended duration will cause the AI's computing power to decrease? Is that why it wants to keep its 'servers' well-protected?"

At the side, a battalion commander said, "Sir, it's obviously looking down on us by having the pursuing troops sleep right in front of us. We should have just set up our mortars and bombarded them directly when they did that."

Black Fox patted off the dust and dirt on his body. "Forget it, it's already a very good outcome that we could escape. Who knows if it's a trap? By the way, I've always wanted to ask you all. Any complaints that Commander P5092 is sending us on a suicide mission?"

The Pyro Company soldiers surrounding Black Fox fell silent for a moment.

A T5 combatant said as he ate his hardtack, "It'd be a lie to say that I don't have any complaints. Although all of our lifespans might only be 40 years, we still have over a decade left to live, right? This was what we were taught since childhood, but it's still a little difficult to accept when it's our turn to sacrifice ourselves."

Black Fox looked at them. "With your physical fitness, I can't catch up to you even if you all tried to escape. After all, I'm only a T3 combatant."

The T5 combatant laughed. "You've said it yourself as well. If we ran away, who the fuck would protect you?"

Not everyone was born to be a war machine. Sometimes, when people looked back on their lives and wondered if they could start over again, they would probably hope to live differently.

But there were no "ifs" in this world.

The T5 combatant said, "P5092 put it so calmly when he said none of us would live past 40 anyway, and that almost all of us have already lost our reproductive fertility, so that makes our value inferior to normal people. When we heard that, it definitely felt a little uncomfortable."

Black Fox thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I've been working with him longer. In my memory, he has made even crueler decisions. But after every victorious battle, he would sit by himself in the command tent. No one knew what he was thinking, but I could feel his sadness. While everyone was cheering, he would say to me, 'Black Fox, war is not something we should celebrate even if we win.' From that moment, I realized he was actually not happy."

In this era, people were forced to do things they did not like but were adept at.

It was the same for Ren Xiaosu, Qing Zhen, Zhang Jinglin, as well as P5092.

It was as though this era had chosen them in mysterious ways. They had no choice about which era to be born in.

The T5 combatant next to Black Fox laughed. "Sir, we understand what you're saying. Actually, Commander P5092 didn't want it to be like this either. Do you have any more gossip about Commander P5092 to share? Tell us more."

In fact, this group of people were not much different from normal people outside of war. They would check out beautiful girls and also be very enthusiastic about gossiping.

Black Fox thought for a moment and said, "Well, there's one incident that I remember. When I was still in the military academy, I was interviewed by Commander P5092. After that, he explicitly stated I would be transferred to his 3rd Division. I consulted my teacher about Commander P5092 to see if the rumors regarding him were true. In the end, my teacher said he used to teach Commander P5092 back in the day. He told me Commander P5092 had the T4 gene and was supposed to be posted directly to the military base. At that time, he was not keen on killing anyone, so he worked hard to get into the military academy so as to qualify for a noncombat military job. Eventually, he earned his stripes and became a commander. When that happened, my teacher mercilessly shattered the impression he was under and told him that being a commander just meant killing more people with his brains…. That hit him real hard."

When the Pyro Company soldiers heard this, they laughed out loud. They tried to imagine the young P5092 and the struggle he felt when this bad news was broken to him. Suddenly, they found it really interesting.

At this moment, the Pyro Company soldiers in charge of reconnaissance returned with news that the AI-controlled troops had quietly intercepted them at the front. They even had a lot of troops.

All of a sudden, the laughter they shared a moment ago died down. They all knew what this meant.

Their last option for retreating to the defensive line was gone now.

Black Fox got up and said with a laugh, "Is everyone done resting? If we continue resting, we'll probably die here."

"I'm done resting. Awaiting your orders, sir!" the T5 combatant said.

Everyone had not gotten any shuteye in 24 hours already. Now that they had only taken a short break of an hour plus, how could it possibly be enough?

But that was how it was on the battlefield. Working round the clock was a common occurrence, and everyone was still able to endure it.

Black Fox looked at the Pyro Company soldiers and said, "Commander P5092 once said that we should look at the big picture when fighting a war. We can't only think about our own interests. Individuals should serve the collective will. When we as individuals lose hope on the battlefield, we should learn how to create hope for others so they can win the war on our behalf."

Black Fox glanced at his watch and double-checked the notebook the Riders had handed to him with the calculations of the satellites' orbits. He continued, "Since we're left with no way out, shall we all pull off a big one together? Based on the Riders' calculations, the satellites above us will be leaving again in another hour. When that happens, it will buy us a six-hour window."

"Six hours?" The T5 combatant said, "Sir, what are you planning?"

"We'll use these six hours to kill our way to the enemy's rear. Do you all remember when the AI destroyed the enchanted doorway previously? I've roughly calculated the range of the Wang Consortium's missile troops from that incident. They should be deployed right behind their artillery's cover."

A message from weirdo and Legge:

Thank you all for being such patient readers in this tale of Ren Xiaosu. It has been fun translating and reading your comments, and I hope the quality was up to expectations. Every word chosen, and every character's motivations were analyzed to reconcile possible "out of character" behavior. It is my belief that translations should bring across the author's intended message in its most original form.

I know I took a long time clearing up at the end, but I know you'll understand. Yes, we're really reaching the end. My thoughts are that The Speaking Pork Trotter had planned out the story very well, and most side characters were not forgotten. Their backstories also endeared to me as I translated their parts. My personal favorite has to be P5092, depicting how everyone has two sides to them. Sometimes, you just can't judge a person if you don't understand their motivations. Who can forget Hu Xiaobai and Wang Yuexi, two side characters who aren't extraordinary in strength but made a difference in the Prosperous Northwest goal. Zero's story affected me pretty deeply as well.

If you're feeling empty after this, do check out my other translated work: I'm Really a Superstar on Webnovel. (disclaimer: the story might not be for everyone)

Alternatively, you can support me on patreon/legge if you like and appreciate the work I've done.

Also, please check out weirdo's work by searching @ wxw "the grandmaster strategist". He has been a great editor, and I often consult him when parts of the story did not add up.

Thank you, :')

-translator, Legge

Thanks for sticking with us for so long, and I hope you enjoyed the story!

-editor, weirdo

Video resources for The First Order:

https://youtu.be/LFq6fiMqXS4

https://youtu.be/F-yUuSUvm7c

https://youtu.be/v0i8m5EPWz8

…

In the Qing Consortium in the Southwest, the Three Mountains defensive line was already history.

After the wars between the Li Consortium, the Yang Consortium, and the Qing Consortium in this chaotic region, many people thought they were finally going to lead a peaceful life.

The Qing Consortium had managed this region very well, and the people lived and worked in peace. However, it was once again destroyed with the advent of war.

The turbulent horde controlled by the artificial intelligence rushed into the various strongholds, and the Qing Consortium's soldiers who had pledged to defend the Southwest died one after another. It seemed that no one could stop the enemy's advance.

As the horde rushed in, some people arrived with the last batch of nanomachines produced in the Sacred Mountains not long ago and firmly placed the entire population of the southwestern region under control.

As the size of the horde increased, they finally split into two groups and headed north.

Seemingly realizing the urgency of the situation, the artificial intelligence controlled the crowd and started conscripting all available modes of transportation, sedans, trucks, and even motorcycles, to send the first group of troops northwards along the highway.

Of the vehicles it conscripted, most were even the Qing Consortium's military vehicles at the Three Mountains defensive line that had been preserved.

From the look of things, Zero had already planned for this.

As for the remaining enemy troops that were advancing slower, they directly crossed the wilderness on foot as the second group. This group was like a knife stabbing straight at the north.

Under normal circumstances, a typical army's marching pace would cover about 40 to 50 kilometers per day, while a forced march would be around 60 to 80 kilometers per day.

However, this was under the situation where they had to carry dozens of kilograms in supplies.

However, the artificial intelligence's troops did not need to carry any heavy loads. At most, they would be carrying some weapons and equipment on them, with each person loaded with a maximum of eight kilograms of weight. If it were weapons like mortars, four personnel would be made to carry it together.

Moreover, other than the eight hours of sleep a day, these people who were being controlled were mostly marching forth every second they were awake.

There was another group of people helping to massage and stretch the muscles of those who were sleeping. They did not waste any time eating either, with the average meal duration lasting only four minutes.

There was no need for entertainment or other emotional fluctuations.

This group of troops advanced at a pace of 130 kilometers per day. If nothing unexpected occurred, they would be able to reach the vicinity of Fortress 178 in about eight days.

If Zero's control over these troops were more precise, they might be able to march even faster.

In the established war zone, the artificial intelligence's troops were divided into four groups, and these four groups were like sharp arrowheads pointed at Fortress 178.