Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 215 The Chaos Resumes
In the Storm City prison, a horned man with a face covered in knife scars sensed the mass sacrifice of his kin. He gripped the dungeon's iron bars and shook them violently, letting out a chilling howl.

The winged prison guards outside the cell didn't take the horned people's madness seriously, after all, they hadn't given them water; the harsh conditions of confinement were enough to drive prisoners insane. So, the guards simply locked the cell doors, deciding to avoid seeing or hearing about it.

However, this former subordinate of Silver Horn melted away in the prison, leaving only a skeleton. And the flesh, after separating from the skeleton, didn't become liquid, but instead turned into countless tiny chunks of flesh, about the size of soybeans, which flowed away through the cracks in the prison's underground.

…The perspective shifts to outside the cell…

In a simple stone cave within a slave camp outside Storm City, the imprisoned horned people, held as obedient slaves, heard cries of "Freedom!" "Awaken!" "Rebel!"

Then, these chained, haggard, and disheveled slaves all saw a "flesh pill" appear before them, and a tempting voice echoed in their minds; so, under the wicked moon, they stretched out their filthy hands and put the flesh pill into their mouths. After swallowing it, their flesh began to regenerate.

The mutated horned beings simultaneously looked up. Arcs of electricity crackled from their horns, and they now possessed coordinated sensory abilities. They then began to stare frantically in the direction of Storm City. Their crimson eyes revealed a deathly silence.

Note: Xuan Chong saw a record in Sky City that the Horned People in ancient times had horns on their heads that could receive radio waves for communication, and their collective combat capabilities were quite strong.

One-third of the horned people mutated, while the rest watched their enlarged kin with trepidation. Although something in their sensed electromagnetic waves told them, "Everyone, this ritual is for selecting powerful warriors for our race!" their genetic instincts warned them that they were in great danger, as vulnerable as antelopes among tigers and leopards.

Soon, these horned people without mutations had their limbs broken and were restrained before being devoured and torn apart alive.

Several hours later, a group of terrifying, upright creatures appeared in the horned people's camp. They weighed 1.5 tons, were five or six meters tall, and had exceptionally thick arms that reached past their knees; their arms were also covered with horns.

These horned beings have now undergone a primitive mutation, developing hooked, barbed structures on their arms and knees. Tracing back to their original genetic origin, it was a regular "ring," similar to a needle for threading; its function was to attach exoskeletons.

Just as in the 21st century, when designing firearms and individual projectile weapons, the comfort of the grip and shoulder rest must be considered. The Horned Man was originally designed to better fit heavy armored mechs.

There are now irregular entities on the Evil Moon that cause the horned people to mutate. The horned people have pierced their horny structures and tied them with battle axes and saw blades.

In the early hours of the morning, in Storm City, the Feathered Race soldiers standing guard on the city walls detected the pungent smell of blood emanating from the slave market through the mist.

Some of the winged scouts tried to fly up to investigate, but as soon as they took flight, they were completely cleaved in two by the boomerang blade, which was a meter long.

Then came countless screams of agony and the wailing of conch shells signaling an enemy attack—the horned people had begun their assault on the city. Once the horned people breached the first line of defense, the winged people were plunged into fierce fighting within the city.

Especially after several large monsters emerged, they were almost impossible for the winged warriors to defeat.

The five- or six-meter-tall horned giants, like the Hulk, crushed and collapsed a large number of buildings in the city; due to their own circumstances, the Feathered Clan did not produce as many skilled spearmen as the Yao Clan.

Soldiers in the Great Yao Formation can extend their spears to 1.5 zhang (approximately 3.3 meters), and in some extreme cases, even to 2 zhang (approximately 6.3 meters).

The method of using this type of spear involves swinging it from a great distance; the spearhead is so far that it even needs to be attached with markers, such as red tassels, to help the spearman lock onto the miscellaneous soldiers on the left and right sides with his peripheral vision. Under the skillful control of the Wu family army's spearmen, not only could large beasts not break through the spear formation, but even some melee warriors skilled with swords could not get close.

…on the other side…

Xuan Chong's return capsule landed back in the camp. In these short ten days, there were already signs of unrest within the expeditionary force; some soldiers had stopped training and were fishing by the sea.

As a huge fireball fell from the sky and then the parachutes opened, the soldiers who had been fishing on the beach dropped their fishing rods and began to rush back to the camp, hastily picking up their weapons.

However, quite a few unlucky ones failed to sneak into the camp before the fence closed and had to squeeze through the fence. These men were naturally assigned to the suicide squad. Half an hour later, after confirming Xuan Chong's return, the all-clear was lifted. Those assigned to the suicide squad were then taken to a small, dark room for individual re-education.

Xuan Chong, having landed, looked at the soldiers clinging to his legs and weeping, and was both amused and exasperated. —To be honest, he had no right to punish them; his ten-day disappearance as their commander (known only to a few leaders) had already caused panic among the soldiers.

Xuan Chong returned to the military camp and conducted a three-day reorganization; he arranged for the punishment of over a hundred cases, both major and minor. Of course, all of them were dealt with by light lashes, and even the lashes were very light, without the supervision of the military police, and no merits were deducted.

In fact, Xuan Chong was just using the kicking motion in the buttocks to let the boys know that he was back and to let them get back into shape.

…The evil army is developing…

In May of the third year of the Tongzheng calendar, Storm City had already been occupied by the Horned People slaves. Most of the Feathered People fled, but a small number remained, and Golden Horn performed a blood sacrifice on these elderly and weak Feathered People.

Waves of red beams descended, and the horned beings who had participated in the blood sacrifice began to mutate further under their influence.

The horned monsters began to devour everything around them—corpses, soil, rocks. Their bodies swelled rapidly.

Strangely, after some horned people grow larger, the horns on their heads no longer become visible. — In the species encyclopedia that Xuan Chong has seen, the original horned people are three meters tall, while the degenerate horned people he sees now are mostly in their "juvenile stage," and will become adults after a sufficient supply of energy.

Of course, Xie Yue couldn't make the horned people perfectly revert to their ancestral form; he would always make them more ugly. Some had multiple arms, while others had horns on their heads that turned into crooked, hooked shapes.

Five days after the destruction of Storm City, the Horned People marched north and once again besieged Griffin City. The Winged People, who were xenophobic in the city, had no choice but to send envoys—and once again plead with Xuan Chong to fulfill the contract.

In Dingling City, Xuan Chong, who was debugging the packaged genetic modification facility, saw Kau covered in blood.

Upon hearing that Storm City had fallen and that the cities of his allies had also been breached, Xuan Chong inquired, "Where is your king? Isn't he supposed to be able to fly?"

In Xuan Chong's memory, the winged people would probably flee if they couldn't win. Kau: "My king has already perished in the battle within the city; now the prince is leading his troops to gather the people on the east side of the city-state."

Xuan Chong pondered for a moment and then dispatched the Dragon Horse Cavalry Regiment to check on the situation on the other side.

…confusion…

Griffin City is burning as the Horned People pour in through breaches in the northern walls, looting and killing throughout the city.

In particular, mutated horned people emerged from the prison, coordinating with the horned people who had invaded from the outside. Large numbers of winged people from the city fled to the shore, escaping on fishing boats.

In the culture of the Feathered Tribe, when an army invades a city, its priority after conquering the city is to plunder and loot, rather than to control information such as household registration, population, or territory.

After all, it was a system of slavery, and the value of human labor was often limited to manual labor and playthings.

On the east side of the city, Prince Lurger led his infantry phalanx to regroup.

Angri circled for a while, assessed the situation, and sent a small team back to report. He himself landed in the phalanx of Lurger.

Angri: "Your Highness, it is a pleasure to meet you. My general's troops are preparing."

Lurger: "Have you arrived?"

Angri: "The army is ready. My lord sent me here to assess the situation first." Lurger's tone was somewhat agitated: "Are you here or not?"

Angri: "Your Highness, we will naturally come. But whether we come here to defend the city or to protect you and your people, our decision will depend on your current situation."

Ruger suppressed his anger: "If you are unwilling to help us, we will fight to the end ourselves."

Angri: "The general is inclined to help His Highness the Prince reclaim the city. But it requires—"

Luger rudely interrupted him, saying, "We will not be your servants!"—his eyes flashing red as he said this.

Anger took a deep breath: "We have never intended to treat our allies this way, but since you think so, I feel there is a lack of consensus between us."

…Our ally is clueless…

Twelve hours later, Xuan Chong arrived with four hundred reinforcements five kilometers outside the city. By then, black smoke could already be seen rising straight into the sky. —This number was insignificant compared to the tens of thousands fought at Thorn Plains, but those who had reached this point were all highly skilled!
These elite soldiers have already begun to put on lamellar armor and stuff their warhorses with chocolate-flavored nutritional blocks.

As two groups of dragon-horse knights landed one after another in the sky, reporting on the situation of Golden Horn's occupation of Griffin City and the lukewarm attitude of Prince Lurger, Xuan Chong lowered his head and pondered for a while.

The generals from the north cursed angrily, saying that the Feathered Clan did not appreciate kindness.

Xuan Chong looked up at the group of people, and they immediately quieted down. After confirming that the atmosphere in the room was quiet, Xuan Chong focused his attention on Mu Yun Kuo Hai.

Xuan Chong: "Kuohai, come help me hold the map."

Xuan Chong marked some important areas on the map: "The docks, warehouses, and the high points of the city walls are not heavily guarded now. We need to take them by surprise and then block the city's road junctions."

Xuan Chong then issued orders for the light cavalry to capture all the key points and hold them for two hours. The rest of the troops, fully armored, advanced at full speed.

After all the orders were given, Xuan Chong patted Mu Yun Kuo Hai on the shoulder and said, "You need to be a hero!"

The veterans in the military camp understood what was going on. After Xuan Chong left, they congratulated the bewildered Mu Yun Kuo Hai.

When Xuan Chong was on his expeditions abroad, he had planned to use the locals as the "source of strength." Now that Luerge has gone ungrateful, it's no wonder that the Wu family army has arranged backup candidates after the victory.

The airdropped cargo holds that Xuan Chong brought down now contain twenty-four samples of Feather Clan gene-modification materials, as well as chips inserted into the brains.

This genetic modification is the reward that the Feathered Clan has always dreamed of in the King's Trial. That's right, most noble trials are just for fun. In the end, only the King can fly up and get the genetic modification reward to maintain the bloodline of the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the kingdom's nobles maintained their bloodline from degeneration by having illegitimate children through promiscuous relationships with the king. Etiquette and laws did not apply to them; the purity of their bloodline was paramount.

Xuan Chong can now select twenty-four kings! He can then create two round tables for himself.

…to proclaim power, to offer comfort…

Based on intelligence, Xuan Chong determined that the troops that Jin Jiao had sent out of the city to find Lurger were unable to turn back, and immediately issued an order to lead elite troops to launch a surprise attack on Griffin City!
In Eastern military strategy, "To save Zhao, you don't necessarily have to go to Zhao; you can simply destroy the enemy's main base!"

Of course, this might be considered unfair by the Feathered Clan. Rurger believed that since the outsiders were allies, they should focus on their own strategy!
The dragon horses of the Wu family army flew close to the ground at a height of three zhang (approximately 10 meters), advancing at an extremely fast speed over the flat coastal area.

Compared to the more free-spirited Guiche, Taiyue Luan, and Yuzu, the Longma mostly utilizes ground effect for flight. They even have small claws on their wings. Now, when the Longma form a line, the small claws on the wings of two Longma are linked together, and this chained arrangement makes the overall wing surface more aerodynamically stable.

The dragon-horse force swiftly arrived at Griffin City. The cavalry had initially planned to charge up the ten-meter-high wooden-brick walls and then ram the horned people to the ground; however, this beachhead-style battle did not materialize. The dragon-horses activated their stealth spells, standing like stone sculptures on the platform of the white tower of Griffin City.

The platform here displays a relief of a griffin. But unless one is a winged person who lives here permanently, no one would suspect the presence of this statue. The horned people have long been shackled and have no habit of looking up at magnificent landmarks.

Ten minutes later, the soldiers of the Wu family army, who had rushed to the scene, successfully scaled the city wall. Seeing that the inhabitants of the city were still oblivious and obsessed with looting, they did not charge down to fight.

Instead, they quickly dispersed to the various city gates, and then, with a cannon blast, acted in unison, slitting the throats of all the remaining horned people who had just finished eating and drinking and were still fast asleep inside the city's defenses. Then they closed the city gates.

During the process of seizing the city gate, the looters and ransackers in the city only saw a firework rise from the outer edge of the city before the city gate was closed.

The leader, Golden Horn, was not inside the city. He led a hundred large mutants, five twisted monsters each three zhang tall, and over a thousand henchmen to besiege a small castle a hundred li to the northeast. Prince Lurger of Griffin City had retreated there with his remaining forces.

Storm City was home to over two thousand scattered horned people. Although still numerous, they were like headless flies after being ambushed from all directions. It was just like the scene when Wu Hengyu attacked a county town in the prefecture years ago.

As Xuan Chong's main force arrived, Longma swooped down from the city wall, first to the left, then to the right, like a broom gathering dust into a pile, driving the horned people into the city's main road and forcing them to trample each other.

Then a dark shadow appeared in the sky, and the ghost carriage landed high on the street. Its nine heads looked down at the street, like a Western dragon attacking a castle, and spewed a hazy yellow evil breath at the horned man.

Xuan Chong has analyzed the components of this "toxic breath," finding that it contains chlorine, oxygen, and carbon, and is slightly heavier than air. His initial guess is that it might be phosgene. However, the possibility of other components cannot be ruled out.

Xuan Chong didn't want the fiery breath to damage the wooden buildings, so he had the ghost chariots use "poisonous breath." In the narrow passage, the poisonous breath had a miraculous effect, causing many of the horned people to clutch their throats and convulse violently. This malevolent energy was confined to a fixed area.

At each street entrance, the large spearmen formed a spear formation to block the way, and any person who tried to escape was stabbed to death.

"Hey ha, hey ha!" The spearmen array held the city gate for half an hour, piercing right through the Horned Man team.

Most barbarian and peasant armies often experience a sharp decline in fighting strength after entering a city. The Horned People are a typical example of this.

As the spearmen advanced with unwavering steps, every able-bodied person in the street was shot. Bags and bundles of loot fell to the ground, but the spearmen showed no sign of bending down to take them.

The officers would later send a separate team to collect this money.

The entire army was like a sophisticated harvester, shredding the horned people like grass; and their collected wealth was piled up on carts like ears of wheat.

The strongest moment for an army is when "the superiors and the subordinates are of one mind," while the weakest moment is when "each has their own agenda."

Blood flowed like rivers in the streets. A few winged people hiding in the gaps of tall buildings such as the clock tower were allowed to peek out from the gaps in the buildings to observe the situation below after being identified by the crow-people soldiers of the Wu family army; of course, everyone had to wave a flag, otherwise they would be mistaken for horned people and shot down by crossbows.

However, the winged creatures who were "parading" saw a scene of carnage in the city and dared not make a sound, for fear of disturbing the cleanup work below.

(End of this chapter)