Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 291 Warhammer and Han Sword

Inside the base in Gaochang City, after Liu Yi finished her conversation with Xuan Chong, a member of the Dragon Group gave a briefing.

Liu Yi said, "They're here? So quickly."

Another member of the Dragon Group said, "They're here."

Liu Yi nodded: "I'll go now."

Compared to Liu Yi's condescending attitude of "observing" when Xuan Chong gathered at the Dragon Group base, he dared not be negligent in front of this Tiger Group member now.

Liu Yi activated the photon barrier. A curtain of light, like a water curtain cave, unfolded, leading him into the reception room. Three people were seated on the sofa. Two of them stood up in a polite gesture of respect. The third person, however, did not need to stand; instead, Liu Yi politely reassured her on behalf of the Emperor.

Beside the desk, a woman who looked only sixteen years old, with facial features suggesting Central Asian ancestry, was gently stroking the rim of a teacup. If Xuan Chong were to see her, his first thought would be, "What a beautiful Central Asian woman."

Of course, if you were to speak so freely and without restraint when meeting other people, then trouble would ensue.

Some people here possess the ability to "read minds," and these members regularly report to their leader. This woman with short white hair is the leader of the Tiger Group.

She disliked the term "Hu Ji" (胡姬). In the Han Dynasty, Hu Ji referred to a type of entertainer. Ma Feiyan came from a noble family in the Northwest, her ancestors tracing back to Ma Chao, a founding hero of the Han Dynasty. They had been highly regarded throughout history, and during the Han Dynasty, she was enfeoffed near the Tianshan Mountains.

She had fair skin and white hair because she suffered from a congenital condition that prevented her from being exposed to the sun, and because she was a woman, her family had originally intended to let her fend for herself.

However! It awakened the "Dragon Seed" at birth, and possessed the highest level of dragon power, capable of compensating for any innate deficiencies. This ability is the power of space-time.

Its abilities include, but are not limited to, reversing regional entropy increase (reconciliation), calming all things with a stirring mind (spacetime stillness), revisiting the past and manipulating cause and effect (observing the past and interfering with it to a limited extent, influencing the present), and leaving traces in the future (reaching the future and making crucial interventions).
So, people with albinism can't be exposed to the sun? That would freeze time.

Returning to the topic, Liu Yi is currently avoiding Ma Feiyan's wrath because Xuan, wielding the imperial sword, has killed many members of the Guanzhong Group along the way. While this has strengthened Yandu's power, it has also offended many. Liu Yi is now figuring out how to extricate herself from this hatred.

Liu Yi had already prepared her explanation: that child (Xuan Chong) was just being immature.

…the strongest Heavenly Rank…

Currently, the Dragon Group is the leader, the Phoenix Group has the most members, the Black Tortoise Group has infrastructure in all the land veins of the world, the Qilin Group has the richest research funds, and the Tiger Group, which has the fewest members, has the widest range of activities in the west.

Because Ma Feiyan's ability to manipulate time and space can provide a boost to everyone in the department.

Liu Yi: "My lord, I have already made arrangements with the generals of the Yuezhi. I request your assistance this time."

Ma Feiyan put down her teacup and said, "The enemy has invaded our borders. This is not only a matter of state, but it also affects my family. I should be the one expressing my gratitude for your help."

Liu Yi smiled and said, "We are all of the same kind, so there's no need for further words."

After saying that, he constructed a photon projection and displayed the forward-looking combat map markings.

However, just as he unfolded the map, Ma Feiyan said, "I know the situation."

Liu Yi was slightly taken aback, and then a chill ran down her spine—it was a feeling that her counterpart from another time and space had already confirmed it.

Each time Ma Feiyan peers into another dimension, it's like her foot touches another river. And her "foot" can be withdrawn from the river of another dimension at any time, bringing with it a few "drops of water."

These "water droplets" are also the "information from conversations" between her and others in another time and space. For example, in the present moment, Ma Feiyan has argued with Liu Yi in another time and space, and even fought with her.

A small portion of this "information" will reach the object (Liu Yi) whose timeline she interfered with.

Liu Yi felt that she had already finished her conversation with Ma Feiyan in another timeline, but what exactly did Ma Feiyan "interrogate" her into in that other timeline?
He has only received a little bit of information about "water droplets" so far.

…Scene change…

At the forward base, Xuanchong faced immense pressure due to the promises made to the rear.

In the makeshift battlefield laboratory, Xuan Chong examined the flesh and blood, which had transformed into something resembling a Tai Sui in a petri dish, and then into a fungal-like organism.

Suddenly remembering something, Xuan Chong opened the Fierce Soldiers and found the plot of "Treemen having control over the Feather Clan," attempting to sketch it out.

Xuan Chong picked up the pen, only to find that the ink had dried up again. After shaking it, he realized that he couldn't use it for the time being.

However, at this moment, Xuan Chong hallucinated the roar of "waaagh!" again. He then felt the pen slip from his hand. He glanced at the pen refill, then looked in the direction of the hallucination, and frowned. This time, the violent roar of "waaagh!" contained a recurring rhythmic quality.
Xuan Chong listened carefully to this "phantom sound," as if it contained some kind of "coded information." Moreover, the pattern within it was particularly obvious.

…Let's turn our attention to the Oak Group…

In an abandoned factory, the Orks have transformed it into a base. One by one, Ork engineers known as "Great Techies" use their fingernails to pick up screws and begin assembling monsters.

On a motorcycle, a massive, bipedal beast, 3.5 meters tall, is wielding what looks like a warhammer but is actually concealed with dozens of machine gun bullets.

Similar to the energy field of dragon power, energy fluctuations bounced across the weapons and the bodies of these beasts. As the energy field bounced across the weapons, it activated certain structures, adding a touch of logic to the otherwise nonsensical assembly.

For example, if the beasts stuff bullets into an iron box, they shouldn't be able to fire them; however, due to this strange force, the bullets inside the iron box will weld together, and an extra fuse will appear. Although it still makes no sense, the bullets will be fired when the iron box is struck.

That motorcycle was even more extraordinary, exceeding the imagination of Han's current engineers. Its exterior was rough, but its core rotor was extremely sophisticated, and its fuel tank contained not gasoline, but high-precision coal powder.

Coal powder is not unusable in internal combustion engines, but it requires very stringent pretreatment because the particles will separate into layers when stationary. Incomplete combustion leads to carbon buildup in the engine.

But these beasts, through their unconscious banging and bumping, always managed to keep the coal powder in the fuel tank in a uniform state. This should have been random and unreliable, but the Orks' unreliable actions consistently maintained an ideal mixture inside the fuel tank.

…the power of contemplation…

In early November of the year 2108 in the Han calendar, after reinforcements from the rear of the Han army arrived at the front, Xuan Chong, as the chief of staff, discovered that the beasts were bypassing the northern defense line and attacking his rear.

Xuan Chong immediately "coordinated" with his colleagues, three regiments from the 021st Division, to defend the outposts along the defensive line.

The term "coordination" is used because Xuan Chong, the General of the Cavalry, was of equal rank to the commanders of the various divisions.

But in reality, Xuan Chong came to "coordinate" with the blessing of "Heaven." He was the Commander-in-Chief of all military affairs.

However, Xuan Chong was too young and lacked merit, so granting him a "real position" would be illegitimate. Xuan Chong's demonstrated "resource allocation ability" aligned with the desire of the rear capital, Yandu, to micromanage the front lines.

Thanks to Xuan Chong's timely "coordination," a few hours after the Orks began to assemble, the biplane reconnaissance plane discovered a large number of beasts riding motorcycles "migrating" to the north.

This discovery silenced many professional officers in the staff who had "opinions" about Xuan Chong's "deployment".

Hey, how come these monsters who were riding monsters (alien mounts like Skullg) just two months ago have suddenly come up with a bunch of motorcycles? And these motorcycles are even traversing this muddy ground, with only about 70% of them being damaged.

It's important to know that many armored vehicles have a serviceability rate of less than 50% after traveling 100 kilometers in the field. There are no proper paved roads in the north, and the failure rate of automobiles was extremely high during the First Industrial Revolution.

Xuan Chong didn't take the opportunity to undermine the confidence of these professional officers. Instead, he said empathetically, "After hearing your analysis, I didn't believe they would bypass the north to invade us. But my department has the technology to detect that these alien species in the north have very dense communications."

The officer immediately asked, "What kind of 'technology' is this?"

Xuan Chong shook his head and said, "The technology is still in the experimental stage."

Actually, it wasn't anything high-tech. As a Dragon Power user, Xuan Chong could hear "waaagh!" coming from the north. Xuan Chong had already reported this to Liu Yi's team, but Liu Yi said that the other action groups hadn't "heard" it and told Xuan Chong to keep observing. Of course, Liu Yi believed that Xuan Chong was just having auditory hallucinations because he hadn't rested well.

This time, however, during the military "coordination," Xuan Chong specifically noted down the situations where he could hear "waaagh!" in both the Dragon Group and Yandu directions. And this time, he successfully predicted the beasts' sneak attack.

As a result, the rear had to pay attention to the intelligence that "Xuan Chong can hear waaagh!"

As the Western Regions Protectorate began to mobilize a large portion of its territory under this foreign force, Yandu bypassed Liu Yi of the Dragon Group, and the Emperor sent an order to Xuan Chong: Pay attention to the situation of hearing "waaagh!"

Of course, it wasn't exactly a case of commanding beyond one's rank, but rather following a "private" phone call from the emperor to Xuan Chong.

Liu Yi immediately added an "order" to Xuan Chong's procedures.

Clearly, the emperor believed that Liu Yi's lack of ability was exposed in the current situation, as she was unable to grasp the key points in the event of an emergency.

The Emperor and his cabinet feared that Xuan Chong, at the front lines, might resist Liu Yi, leading to a situation similar to "Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang having a conflict." Therefore, they directly offered Liu Yi "Buddhist face," allowing Xuan Chong to show Liu Yi "monk face."

Xuan Chong is also very sensible. When he has a direct official dialogue with Liu Yi (the more superior Xuan Chong is, the more sensible he is), he expresses his obedience to Liu Yi, the "Tang Monk" leader, without mentioning the Buddha's words, "You too sit on the lotus throne."

…The beasts evolved…

In mid-November, on a new battlefield north of Kunlun, these upright beasts launched another attack. But this time it was clearly different; it was no longer a mass charge like before.

On the Gobi Desert, the wild beasts began to divide into skirmish formations and launch their attack. Their weapons were still bizarre and strange, including motorcycles assembled from oil drums as tires, and some even recoilless rifles.

Another type was a machine gun with a pair of wings attached and a gas cylinder welded to its belly. After the gas from the cylinder was introduced into the tail nozzle, it would glide for hundreds of meters like a flying fish. This thing, once airborne, had to be considered whether it would explode upon landing, turning into a bomb. These rough-looking beasts would fire during these short glides to suppress enemy fire.

Most people were amused by the bizarre weapon of the wild beast.

Just as novel concepts in journalism can obscure the essence, the "weird" weaponry of these beasts can easily make humanity overlook their progress.

Xuan Chong looked at the charging formations of the wild beasts scattered across the battlefield, and saw a terrifying improvement compared to ten days ago.

The orcs began to use a tactical formation similar to the three-man formation, which, under the Han army's shooting accuracy system, could maximize the offsetting of firepower density and allow them to strike back and concentrate accompanying firepower during the attack to hit exposed points.

And most importantly, these beasts seem to know how to strike the Han army's command nodes.

These beasts have also started using similar tactics, and their level of organization seems to be mimicking that of the Han army. —What's going on with these beasts?

Xuan Chong seemed to sense the beast's condition. Aside from the sounds of artillery fire, the "waaagh!" that Xuan Chong could hear began to grow clearer and more distinct in rhythm.

A barrage of mortar shells and machine gun fire, following the tactical system established days earlier, covered the Ork's charging group, and the mushroom juice of Ork's deaths splattered in the sand and smoke.

As Xuan Chong listened to the orcs shouting "waaagh!", he gradually sensed that something was wrong with the current battle situation!

To reiterate: The four aspects of investigation of things in the modern Chinese dictionary include "physical study," and under "physical study" is a sub-item called "pulse diagnosis." After doing many such "pulse diagnosis" exercises, one will subconsciously be able to distinguish all rhythmic phenomena. For example, by listening to the knocking sound of a telegram, one can directly understand its meaning.

The auditory hallucinations of "waaagh!" that Xuan Chong is currently experiencing vary in intensity. If he hadn't practiced pulse diagnosis beforehand, they would have sounded like the incessant cries of monkeys on both banks of the river. However, with more practice in pulse diagnosis, he has discovered some patterns in these "auditory hallucinations." Specifically, the distribution of the "waaagh!" sound sources resembles the current situation on the battlefield.

The largest source of "waaagh!" is still in the distance, and it erupts about once every ten minutes.

Xuan Chong's investigation confirmed that the location was likely the headquarters of the largest Wild Beast Group.

Forty hours ago, Xuan Chong had deliberately adjusted his plans, attempting to lure them into a trap, but the cunning Beast Group did not fall for it. Instead, they dispatched small forces in multiple waves to defuse the situation.

Meanwhile, in the small forward unit, Xuan Chong also discovered that the little "waaagh!" he was hallucinating was noisy, but it had a strange correspondence with the small groups of beasts on the front line.

Narrator: It's like hearing knocking sounds around you with your eyes closed; it sounds chaotic. You also feel chaotic when you see someone banging on the table with your ears plugged in. But when you hear and see simultaneously, you realize that the phenomenon of banging on the table corresponds to the noise.

Xuan Chong immediately picked up a pen and paper, and at the same time, the "torque" calculation system was activated. He then asked the military scholar who was assisting him to go to the telegraph machine to inquire about the attack deployment of the Orks who were conducting reconnaissance at the front.

Based on the telegram, the scholar drew Oak's attack points on the map of the position.

Xuan Chong took out his arithmetic paper and quickly drew on the draft paper with a pencil. After he finished drawing, he compared it with the Euler distribution marked on the map by the scholar. In the end, the probability distributions of the two were surprisingly consistent.

At this moment, in the headquarters of the 021st Division, the division commander was cursing and swearing, "Their tactical changes are too timely and rapid."

During the beasts' charge, motorcycles mixed in with the attack would suddenly appear and drop bombs, forcing machine guns and artillery to divert their fire to intercept these motorcycles. This created gaps in the firepower network originally intended to intercept the Ork group's charge.

The scholar accompanying Xuan Chong in the command post gradually became uneasy, as Xuan Chong issued a gag order to them. —Because there was a terrifying speculation involved.

Xuan Chong could hear the battlefield commands of the beasts, so could the beasts hear the battlefield commands here in the present Han Dynasty?
Scholar 1: "General, it's impossible for anyone here to leak information to alien beasts."

Scholar 2 interrupted: "When these alien beasts first arrived, they were just like the nomads hundreds of years ago, living by following the water and grass. But that's really all they were. How did they survive in interstellar space? So they must have something else to rely on."

Xuan Chong stopped their discussion: "As a scholar, one should not be superstitious or make wild guesses. I will report the matter. Now, let's get back to work."

(End of this chapter)