The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

"The Great Xia people have come to our cable line. There are quite a few of them, and they're moving very quickly. Several of our resource points have been taken, and our men have been scattered. I've lost four brothers; they didn't hold back at all."

"It's the same on my side. It seems like they were waiting for us to cross the line, and after we dropped our men on the other side, they went to our side instead. Now our forest area is full of people from Daxia."

"None of our sneak attacks succeeded. There were some really good guys on the other side. Our ten-man team was counterattacked, and only two of us managed to escape."

When Ishikawa Yu saw those lines of text, he stopped in his tracks.

The scarred man beside him also changed his expression, lowering his voice to curse, "When did these Great Xia people become so cunning?"

"We're still looking for them here, but they've already attacked our rear." Another person frowned. "What do we do now?"

"We can't go back," Ishikawa Yu said.

Everyone was looking at him.

"The challenge rules are there, and we've already deployed to the other side. The only way back is through their ground teleportation point, but we can only get off the cable tomorrow." He put away his communicator, his voice turning cold. "Since we can't go back, we'll keep killing here. They go to our side, we'll kill here. Our losses are temporary, but their ordinary people won't have an easy time."

"That's right." The scarred man clapped his hands. "It's all about who's more ruthless. Our overall strength on the southern front is far superior to theirs. Even if they eat our resources for a day, they won't cause any trouble. We'll just block them here and wait for them to come back. We'll kill them one by one when we see them."

"Let's go to the teleportation point," Ishikawa Yu decided. "They'll have to go back to the cable car eventually. Let's cordon off that area and wait for them to walk right into our trap."

"Should we leave a few people behind to continue clearing out the scattered people?"

"Stay. But send the main force to the teleportation point." Ishikawa Yu's lips twitched into a shallow, emotionless smile. "Today, I'll let those Great Xia people know that they made a mistake in this challenge."

The group's pace quickened again, and they moved swiftly in a fixed direction through the sandstorm, like a pack of wolves that had caught the scent of blood.

......

At the same time, in the dense forest that the cherry blossom cable line passed through.

Zhou Zhenguo and several guild leaders had just taken down a small resource point together. There were several monster corpses that hadn't been cleared yet and two wooden crates scattered on the ground.

"I've finished clearing this area, and the harvest is so-so. The monsters are quite high-level; killing one level seven monster is equivalent to killing a bunch of level five monsters over there." Zhou Zhenguo's voice came through the communicator, and his breathing was relatively steady.

"I just led a group in a raid too," Han Lei chimed in. "The resources here are definitely much better than in the desert. There are trees, rivers, wild fruits, and a wide variety of monsters. The experience gained here in one day is equivalent to two days back home."

"Don't get too excited yet."

Zhao Hongyuan cautioned, "According to the intelligence we obtained earlier, this cable line is manned by a military unit. The fact that they were able to deploy their main force to our side so quickly after the challenge began shows that they have unified command and strong execution capabilities. We just had the advantage of striking first; they haven't fully reacted yet."

"That's true," Li Zheng added. "The group we encountered didn't break formation when they retreated, and they even counterattacked twice. If we hadn't had a numerical advantage, we would have suffered a great loss."

"Ultimately, it all comes down to Ash City," Chen Shan sighed. "The improvement in the strength of our cable line largely relied on the support from the Great Wind Army at the time, plus the benefits from the subsequent collective defensive battles. Without Ash City, we might not even be as good as the Sakura Kingdom line."

The channel was quiet for a short while.

Zhou Zhenguo suddenly said, "You all say that there are troops along this cable line in Japan, so what level of military presence do our cables along the Dragon Kingdom have?"

"Definitely not weak," Han Lei said. "The Chinese army has a strong foundation. If they were to be fully integrated and brought over, they would be no weaker than the Japanese army."

"These survivors with military backgrounds had a much higher starting point than us."

Zhao Hongyuan shook his head. "Ordinary people would still be looking for ropes when they first came in, but they've already set up defenses in groups. We've done pretty well to have caught up to this point."

These words evoked a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, deep emotion) among the group.

After a moment, Chen Shan suddenly spoke up: "By the way, where's Su Mu?"

Zhou Zhenguo said, "I sent him a message before to ask how the monster progress was. He didn't reply."

"Was he too focused on the fight?" Zhao Hongyuan said. "Someone with his skill level definitely wouldn't be paying attention to his communicator when he's in the middle of a fight."

"Probably," Zhou Zhenguo said. "But the monster density here is good, and the level is suitable. I left him a message saying he can come here to farm tomorrow. Once he arrives, even if the people from the Sakura Kingdom call back their main force, they won't be able to stop him."

"That makes sense," Han Lei laughed. "I think I understand now. Someone like Su Mu is on a completely different level from us. He can do whatever he wants, we're just there to pave the way for him."

"Don't say that," Zhou Zhenguo chuckled. "It's his business if he's strong, but we also need to manage our own people well. This cable isn't being held up by him alone."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Zhou Zhenguo switched the channel back to the main cable channel and took a look.

On channel 886, people have started posting about the attack. Cries, curses, and pleas for help are all mixed together.

Zhou Zhenguo frowned and typed a few words: "Don't panic. The core team is already leveling up in the enemy's area. This is a base trade; we're on their side, that's why they're coming back to defend. You should avoid direct confrontation if possible. Su Mu is on our side; he won't let you suffer a major loss."

After the message was sent out, the emotions in the channel calmed down a bit, but many people were still asking about Su Mu's location.

Zhou Zhenguo did not reply.

He glanced at the map, calculating the time in his mind.

Then he sent Su Mu another message: "We've established a foothold here. The monster resources are good. Come here tomorrow; it'll definitely be more efficient than in the desert. How's it going on your end?"

There has still been no reply.

Zhou Zhenguo did not send any more messages.

He believed that Su Mu could handle it well.

......