Chapter 728: Section 516: Assault Plan
Tan Mo and Beach Loach were discussing intelligence on the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps when another group was pondering.
Snowbird Port, slums.
"This is all the information about our target for this operation," the leader said as he placed a stack of intelligence reports in front of the Transcendents.
The Transcendents exuded a rugged aura, with most of them at the Black Iron Level. A few of the leaders were at the Silver Level.
The intelligence quickly circulated among them.
"Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps..."
"Their strongest is their squad leader Long Fu, who, despite his youth, is exceptionally powerful in battle. His most outstanding victory was in the Snowbird Duel Arena. In that battle, he, at the Silver Level, slew someone at the Golden Level, an event rare in a century!"
"The recording of that battle has been widely sold across the country and is still very popular to this day."
The intelligence report naturally included footage of the battle.
The Transcendents quietly watched, with most having seen it before, while only a few had not.
Those who hadn’t seen it were almost all moved after watching.
"Long Fu’s victory over Lord Teng Donglang was actually quite close,"
"But his fighting spirit is very resilient; from the beginning, he was at a disadvantage, but he never gave up."
"Killing Lord Teng Donglang in the end was somewhat down to luck. But how should I put it? The victor takes it all!"
"Such fighting spirit... If he weren’t an enemy, I would very much like to be his friend."
The Transcendents exchanged a few words among themselves.
The leader coughed, his expression stern, "We must admit, Long Fu indeed has a lot of personal charm. He fought a gallant duel against Lord Teng Donglang, fighting one-on-one, winning against the odds through skill, and achieving victory fair and square, without any points of criticism."
"That’s why he has become the hottest new star in duels across the country recently."
"Many duel fields are inviting him to fight, but he has declined them all. At the moment, he and his officers are traveling through the Kingdom’s major towns, setting up Magic Potion sales outlets."
"You may not be aware, but the Dragon Power Riding Potion is the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ flagship Magic Potion. This potion has already appeared throughout the Kingdom’s Magic Potion Market and is very popular with strong momentum!"
"From this, we can see that Long Fu understands strategy very well."
"He is doing something more important, more meaningful."
"According to other people’s analysis, if their business plan continues to be carried out, they will be able to establish a foothold in the Kingdom’s Magic Potion Market and carve out their own territory."
"Not to mention their subsequent alchemy products, just the continuous sale of the Dragon Power Riding Potion alone could make them rich beyond measure!"
"This is the greatest significance of our operation this time."
"To destroy the four Alchemy Workshops in Snowbird Port, which are the production base for the Dragon Power Riding Potion!"
The leader pointed to the next section of the intelligence report, "Long Fu is currently far from Snowbird Port, we don’t need to engage him directly."
"Our biggest enemy in this mission is him!"
Everyone looked and saw two characters—Lion Flag.
Zong Ge, acting as Lion Flag, was the Vice Captain of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
This time, he disguised himself as Long Fu and set out with Zi Di. At the same time, he arranged Alchemy Puppets using the Deception and Disguise Skill and the Anti-Intelligence Prophecy Skill, posing as Lion Flag with the pretense of the squad leader departing, while the Vice Captain manned the branch office.
The Deception and Disguise Skill is greatly sophisticated, easily deceiving the enemy, leading this group to always believe that Lion Flag was in the Snowbird Port branch, making him their primary target.
"Long Fu’s combat power is extraordinary, and Lion Flag’s combat ability should not be underestimated either."
"In the naval battle on Snake Rat Island and the melee on Twin Eyes Island, he both performed impressively."
"His fighting energy is already tinged with a golden hue, indicating that he is just one step away from the Golden Level!"
They constantly studied the intelligence, trying to find Zong Ge’s weakness to strike at.
The atmosphere grew tense as the group analyzed and discussed.
"Lion Flag hardly has any weaknesses!"
"He is a fighter, capable of sustaining high damage and has a strong recovery ability; it’s very difficult for us to kill him in one blow."
"His bare-handed skills are already not weak, and with a weapon in hand, he becomes even more powerful. During combat, we should figure out how to keep him away from weapons!"
The Transcendents came up with three combat plans in succession.
No matter which plan, there were bound to be significant casualties.
There was no helping it; although they operated from the shadows and had the element of surprise, ever since Long Fu left, Lion Flag had stayed at the docks and seldom went out, not even undertaking mercenary tasks.
The dock was normally guarded by the City Guard.
Most importantly, there was a Mage Tower!
The Transcendents prepared for a sudden assault in such an environment with the willingness to embrace death.
However, the next moment, the leader suddenly received the latest orders from above.
He stepped out for a moment and, upon returning, his face bore a look of joy, "We don’t need to worry about how to deal with the Lion Flag anymore; those above have already dispatched a Golden Level assassin."
With this news, the Transcendents were all delighted.
The toughest nut had been taken by others; now, their target was the various alchemy workshops scattered around.
A large alchemy workshop was situated at the southeastern coast of Snowbird Port.
Two medium-sized alchemy workshops were respectively located at Mercury Cave and Rose Beach.
A small workshop was situated within the city and was presided over by Bu Quan year-round.
Within the intelligence about the four workshops, there was an abundance of video material, as well as sand table models with an aerial view perspective.
"The large workshop by the sea can be directly stormed; it doesn’t have too much in the way of defense. In fact, excessive defensive forces are also seen as a threat not permitted by the City Lord’s mansion."
"We can use heavy firepower, making it the last to attack here, and arrange the retreat route nearby along the coast."
"The Mercury Cave is easy to defend but hard to attack, and this workshop has quite a few alchemy puppet guards. Given that we’ve already determined the command methods for these alchemy puppets, we can use alchemy tools tailored to them, causing them to be briefly paralyzed."
"The terrain at Rose Beach is also open, so a direct assault is possible. A retreat route can be left there as well, destroying it during withdrawal. But the previous large workshop will need to set up cannons for shelling. In short, both locations can be directly assaulted or shelled."
"The small workshop inside the city is the most difficult to strike. That location is already very close to the City Lord’s mansion. Those who carry out the assault order there will likely fail to withdraw in time—they must be prepared to fight to the death!"
"This small workshop contains extremely high-end facilities; it is the most crucial and the primary target for us to destroy."
"Bu Quan is likely inside. According to intelligence, she has been working long-term at the small workshop! Therefore, we’ll also face a Silver Level Mage."
"The only consolation is that Bu Quan is a full-time alchemist with very weak combat capability. But even so, she is a Mage after all with strong alchemy ability—we must not be careless!"
Someone inquired, "If Bu Quan displays formidable combat strength and we cannot hold back, may we kill her?"
The leader fell silent, revealing a hesitant expression.
The others then began to discuss.
"Bu Quan is a member of the Alchemy Guild; she is one of our country’s people—we should spare her life if possible."
"No, my view is that since she has already joined the enemy, she’s a traitor, our enemy! When dealing with an enemy, one must strike with lethal force."
"Are you brainless? Didn’t you see the intelligence report? Bu Quan is talented, merely blinded by emotions for a moment, agreeing to Long Fu and joining the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps."
"Her joining the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps merely shows she’s a person of love and loyalty. It’s just that she’s too young; fixated on alchemy year-round and oblivious to the world’s depravity, she fell for Long Fu’s use of a honey trap."
"Bu Quan is valuable, but if we don’t kill her, sparing her life, even if we destroy the four alchemy workshops, it won’t have much effect, right? Clearly, Bu Quan is the core figure in the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ alchemy."
The leader pondered and eventually spoke up, "Try to capture her alive as much as possible. If that fails, then retreat and spare her life."
"She is a rare talent and also a native-born citizen of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. I believe time will make her mature and help her understand who is kin and who is the enemy."
Having said this, the leader added, "If the operation goes smoothly, we’ll play it by ear. If we find an opportunity, we’ll do our best to destroy the new flagship of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps."
"You all have already realized that the demon energy ship they bought as their flagship is actually a warship of our Kingdom. It was just retired early due to this round of military optimization."
At this, the faces of the other Transcendents all flushed with indignation.
"The bunch of fat pigs in the military supply department are corrupt; they even dare to sell off warships!"
"These people, for their own benefit, betray the country’s interests; they should all be hanged!"
"If I don’t die in battle this time, when those people are eventually found, I’ll go kill them all!!"
"Count me in!"
"That’s awesome—I couldn’t stand those people when I was in service. Count me in as well."
While discussing, the Transcendents inadvertently revealed their identities.
They had all once served in the Kingdom’s regular army and, after their discharge, still retained their loyalty to the Kingdom, along with formidable combat strength.
And the one leading this operation was Mei Lin.
She was an officer of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom’s First Navy, but she could not make use of the regular forces. Previously, she had led a part of the Holy Fighters in an attack against the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ caravan. But several days had passed, and the supply of Dragon Power Riding Potions on the market had not diminished.
Mei Lin immediately realized that the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps must be transporting the Magic Potions covertly through other channels.
In the short term, she had no way to trace it back to Peak Commerce.
But she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to strike and immediately organized a group of elite veterans to infiltrate Snowbird Port and launch an attack on the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ division as well as the alchemy workshops!
The leader gave a final caution, "The time to act is set for the day of the culinary duel."
"By then, the majority of Transcendents will gather at the Snowbird Duel Arena, and some from the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps division will go there to watch."
"The division and the alchemy workshops’ defenses will surely be at their weakest. It’s the best opportunity for our assault."
"If any of us are defeated and captured, do you remember what to do?"
The Transcendents responded in unison, "Understood, Commander! We will take our own lives immediately; we will not leave any means for the enemy to attack our Kingdom, we will not let our country be dishonored!!"