Chapter 36: The General of the Blood Sun

Half an hour later, the entire building had been cleared.

It had to be admitted that when facing scattered, small groups of enemies, the combat effectiveness of the Holy Bloods was quite formidable. Li Shi, acting as a shield guard, would stand his ground with a massive door-like shield planted on the ground, flipping over every Terror Demon that charged from the front with a short spear, while those attempting to flank were easily dispatched by Zeng Yi and Xu Lie. Xie Liu was only responsible for defending the rear, which was under little pressure to begin with, and given that she was faster than the other three, she handled stragglers with ease.

After one round of combat, Chen Jian had gained a more intuitive understanding of their fighting capabilities. To summarize in a word: strong, but not to an unimaginable degree. Especially in confined spaces, their ability to perform high-speed, wide-range maneuvers—granted by their superior strength and physiology—was severely restricted, meaning the actual power they could exert was likely less than a third of their potential.

So, if he ever had to turn against them in the future... it would be best to finish them off indoors.

Chen Jian silently recorded this weakness into his PDA. Within that same intelligence folder, he had already logged over twenty similar entries: on the Mechanicus, the Holy Bloods, the Terror Demons, the Water Ghosts, giant monsters, and more. This data would become one of his most important bargaining chips and the trump card that would allow him to establish a foothold in this land.

Of course, the members of the Holy Blood squad would never know that every weakness exposed during their battles had been documented. They probably still thought Chen Jian had them mop up the remains simply to save ammunition.

Returning to the roof, He Shuo, who had been left behind, had already cleared an observation space and set up his .50-caliber sniper rifle, aiming at the Terror Demon camp two kilometers away. Serving as the spotter, Shen Yue held a VECTOR 23, reporting to Chen Jian while observing:

"The target camp has been marked on the map. It can be confirmed as the main camp of the Blood Skulls on the west bank. The camp size is roughly 400 meters square, with buildings packed very densely. We have detected over 100 active targets outdoors; it is estimated there are at least 300 enemies inside. A large number of cold weapons have been spotted, along with a small quantity of firearms, mortars, and rocket launchers. Some are moving weapons into the central corrugated iron building; we suspect that is their armory. If we want to seize it, we would have to penetrate deep into the camp, but there is basically no possibility of infiltration. The situation is complex and difficult to handle."

After Shen Yue finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded slowly. As Xu Lie had said earlier, this Blood Skull camp was truly a tortoise shell. The Terror Demons were clearly not as adept at complex tactical layouts or defensive deployments as humans, so they had chosen the most mindless and simple defensive strategy: concentrating all their combat power in one place. The denser they gathered, the lower the chance of being infiltrated or breached.

How the hell was he supposed to play this?

If his goal were merely to wipe out these Blood Skulls and erase this camp from the map, Chen Jian had a hundred ways to deal with them, even with limited ammunition. But the problem was that his objective was not "clearing out," but "looting," which made things troublesome. He had to ensure the safety of the supplies in the armory while also killing all several hundred Blood Skulls? What kind of high-stakes military exercise script was this?

Chen Jian finally understood why the Hanshui City Defense Department didn't send people to take down this entire camp—simply put, the cost-effectiveness was too low. The same applied to his own squad. If they really tried to clear it out bit by bit, even if they succeeded, the expenditure of bullets would be staggering. It would be a net loss if all they recovered were a few mortar shells and a couple of rockets.

Chen Jian frowned, watching the Terror Demons on a rooftop in the camp torturing captured prisoners for amusement. He was momentarily at a loss. Seeing his expression, Lei Jie pondered for a moment and asked:

"What about a fire attack? It’s almost October; the weather is dry, and the wind direction is favorable. If we can circle to the north side and set a fire, it should spread quickly."

"No. As soon as they discover the fire, they will definitely retreat with their equipment. It will become even harder to catch them then," Chen Jian shook his head.

Shen Yue immediately followed up: "What about poison? They have to eat and drink, right?"

"...Do they look like they have a centralized food source? With hundreds of them, it’s too hard to poison them all unless we find some VX gas or something to spray over them. But as far as I know, you can't find that kind of agent in this country."

The situation reached a stalemate. Xu Lie, standing to the side, was observing the camp through a makeshift telescope he’d scavenged. After a long while, he spoke:

"Like I said, we really don't have much of a way to deal with these Terror Demons. If it comes to it, let's just pull back for now. The equipment issue will eventually be solved. Maybe if you wait patiently for a few days, the shells you need will appear on the market? Or, in a worst-case scenario, you could take the initiative to contact the Mechanicus and try to get supplies from them..."

"You’re talking nonsense," Chen Jian interrupted mercilessly. "If we considered those options as our first choice, we wouldn't have come here in the first place."

As he spoke, Chen Jian raised his telescope again, trying to find a vulnerability in the Terror Demon camp. But the moment his gaze focused on the camp, his expression shifted.

A massive, obese, hideous humanoid monster, draped in thick, discarded metal scraps linked by iron chains, was crawling out of the corrugated iron building at the center of the camp. All the Terror Demons who saw it immediately threw themselves to the ground, seemingly kowtowing to it. It held a twisted iron spear made of rebar, randomly skewering a Terror Demon by the roadside, lifting the corpse to its mouth, and tearing into it savagely.

The cheers erupting from the Terror Demons could be heard clearly even from two kilometers away. Chen Jian felt a chill run down his spine and asked:

"What the hell is that?"

Xu Lie hurriedly looked in the direction Chen Jian pointed. After finally focusing, he replied:

"The Blood Sun General. Some call it the Blood Lord. It is the supreme leader of this Blood Skull camp. It rarely moves outside, so there must be some kind of ritual today."

The Blood Sun General? The name sounded quite formidable.

"Is it strong?" Chen Jian asked.

"Not too strong," Xu Lie shook his head. "If classified by monster levels, it would only rank at level five. But the problem is, it has almost no obvious weaknesses, so fighting it requires pure, head-on confrontation. You’ve seen it—four meters tall, immense strength, plus an agility that completely defies its size. The combat power it can unleash is quite considerable. It’s almost impossible for the four of us to deal with it. We would need at least 12 Holy Bloods to gather, including at least 4 shield guards, to have a chance at taking it down."

"That is indeed quite strong," Chen Jian mused for a moment, then suddenly asked: "If it dies, what will the remaining Terror Demons do?"

"I don't know," Xu Lie shrugged. "But they would probably launch a reckless retaliation, like flooding into Hanshui City to siege it... Wait, what?!" He looked at Chen Jian, his expression horrified.

Before he could continue, Chen Jian asked: "Can the defenses of Hanshui City hold them off?"

"They probably could—but you can't do that! Think of the civilians in the city! They might die because of this!"

"They won't," Chen Jian shook his head and replied. "The administrators of Hanshui City collect taxes, right? If the people collecting the taxes let the people paying the taxes die first, then it is truly time for this city to change its master."

Xu Lie seemed to be persuaded by Chen Jian, but after a moment, he asked hesitantly: "Is it worth causing such a huge commotion just for some equipment?"

Chen Jian shook his head again. "This isn't just about the equipment—don't you get it? I am creating an opportunity for Hanshui City, an opportunity to completely resolve the threat posed by the Blood Skulls in the surrounding area. We are taking huge risks to act selflessly for the benefit of others. It’s not too much to ask for a small reward, is it?"