Chapter 105 Chapter 103 Difficult Journey (Part 2)
The explosion that killed people was so wonderful. The logistics base was like an ant nest that had been blown open with a firecracker, instantly thrown into chaos, mice scurrying back and forth, some rushing to extinguish fires.
Ji Ma was immersed in appreciating this chaotic scene, momentarily forgetting to leave in style, not looking back at the explosion.
At the edge of the logistics base, white light flashed.
Ji Ma raised her binoculars and saw George spinning his golden giant sword, wreaking havoc, with the rest of the team following behind.
This guy, as expected of him, had an excellent grasp of timing.
A smile appeared on Ji Ma’s lips as she put away the monocular, turned, and flew away, continuing her reconnaissance mission.
The reason she was in such a hurry was that Ji Ma had previously scouted in a dream and knew there was an insurmountable abyss ahead.
After flying for two or three hours at high speed, she passed winding tunnels, avoiding the mouse people’s eyes.
An abyss appeared before Ji Ma. At its narrowest point, it was approximately one kilometer wide, very deep below, with the glow of lava illuminating the smooth rock walls. Ji Ma’s curiosity kicked in as she invisibly flew over the abyss…
This was the chasm, so deep, like a scar on this planet that could be seen to the bone, with a “lava river” flowing below.
Ji Ma looked up. The stone walls on either side rose up to the surface, with just a thin sliver of sky visible.
This abyss had torn the wide stone road built by ancient dwarves in half. A stone bridge connected the abyss, starting from its narrowest point. Though built by dwarves, this stone bridge was very shabby compared to the wide stone road, looking more like a toothpick stuck in a sausage.
On either side of the stone bridge were two dilapidated dwarf fortresses, where the mouse people had exercised their evil imagination, building many watchtowers, traps, and mazes, heavily guarded.
Or perhaps it was just that the mouse army was crossing the bridge, having to temporarily station there. The stone bridge was crowded with mouse soldiers, bustling about, reminding Ji Ma of the tourist scene during National Day back on Earth.
Steel cables spanned the chasm, suspending cargo and supplies; square supply boxes were often filled with slave mice, swaying unsteadily. Below was the lava river, with hot air rising, baking them. It was far more dangerous than walking on the bridge, but the lives of slave mice meant little.
Ji Ma saw a few slave mice occasionally fall from the supply boxes, accompanied by loud screams, dropping down and leaving a small black dot on the “lava river.”
For the savior team, this was a significant obstacle.
The terrain was narrow with many mouse people; it was almost impossible to force a way through. They had to exploit information gaps, disguised to mix in.
Regarding exploiting information gaps, Ji Ma, who liked to lead cavalry in battle, had some experience.
It was simple; as long as they killed fast enough, they could reach the enemy’s nose before they completely grasped their information.
Ji Ma believed that with George leading the way, they could tear through the logistics base. According to her estimate, the savior team would meet her at around nightfall, so she had plenty of time to lay groundwork for a clever crossing of the abyss, planting foreshadowing.
Thinking this, Ji Ma quietly descended through the darkness, landing in the heavily guarded fortress, and hid in an empty corner. She took out a black mouse ear from her bag, put it on her head, and fabricated a story: “I am a mouse person.”
In a wide corridor, a pair of mouse soldier squads had just come down from the wooden planks set up over the maze.
Ji Ma confidently blended in, encountering at least twenty mouse people along the way, none of whom doubted this demon, who wore what looked like a Mickey Mouse accessory on her head.
After a quarter of an hour, Ji Ma had become an officer with some authority among the mouse people after using divination to clarify his social relationships. The mouse officer was attacked by Bald Strong, who dragged him into the “Silent Obscurity” barrier, delivering a brutal punch that crushed his spine, and his corpse was thrown into the “Dream Palace.”
Thereafter, Ji Ma took advantage of her position, spitting into food everywhere, serving as a strong medium for her curses. Even if caught, the other party would dare not voice their anger.
An hour later, with her mouth dry, Ji Ma spat into a large water bottle, sprinkling some around.
Three hours later, someone reported to the mouse mage lord guarding the fortress that Ji Ma had successfully convinced them that the water contaminated with her saliva was beneficial to their health. To prove it, she drank a mouthful in front of them.
Her water bottle was then seized.
An hour later, it was dinner time.
After dinner, most mouse people had eaten food infused with “pretty girl” saliva.
From the darkness of the fortress, a faint song rose, both mournful and pleading, with rumors swirling.
Ji Ma claimed it was the ghosts of the dwarf fortress wreaking havoc. They were calling for a flutist with a giant sword to come, who would quietly step on the tails of all the mouse people on the first night as a warning.
On the second night, all the mouse people whose tails were stepped on would face certain death.
No one believed her, as Ji Ma’s rumor-spinning skills were not as good as those of the other mouse people.
Therefore, Ji Ma, using the “strong medium,” cursed the mice, causing their tails to sting painfully.
Ji Ma’s rumors spread exponentially, becoming more sinister, turning the flutist into a naked dwarf butcher, always chewing on three mice.
A mouse assassin traced the source of the rumors with alarming efficiency, quickly finding Ji Ma, demanding she silence herself and come forward to clarify, preparing to accept punishment.
Bald Strong cut the mouse assassin in half with his giant sword, and Ji Ma took up his dagger, draping herself in the assassin’s “skin.” She also pulled out the corpse of the mouse officer from the Dream Palace, the body of the role she had previously played.
She publicly announced to the mouse people that the mouse officer was malicious, misleading the crowd, and Ji Ma had executed him on the spot.
As Ji Ma expected, the mouse people took the rumored clarification as an admission of guilt, leading more mice to be deceived, believing her completely. Ji Ma gained a lot of power through her lies.
At this moment, reports began to come in from the watchtower, claiming someone had broken through.
Ji Ma knew the savior team had arrived, and it was time for her to leave. She dragged the mouse assassin’s corpse from the Dream Palace, placing it in the corridor, slipping a note into its claw, and departed quietly.
Soon, the mouse people discovered the corpse of the mouse assassin. The autopsy results came back quickly, and those with battlefield experience could see that it was struck down by a terrifying weapon that cut him in half. A weighted ball had also smashed his skull.
Who could kill such a battle-hardened assassin in one blow? A layer of gloom enveloped the hearts of the mice.
They found a note in the assassin’s tightly clenched claws, written in blood, the common language scrawled in a crooked, glaring way, filled with malice.
It read: “When the song stops, the end of the mice has come.”
The note was immediately burned.
All informed mouse people vowed not to divulge a single word.
However, this incident spread quickly, one telling became ten, and ten became a hundred.
All the mouse people were horrified to discover that the elusive song had ceased.
“So it is.”
Ji Ma toyed with the bloodied songstress in her hand, reporting to George: “I’m really concerned that the team’s magic power has dwindled to nearly forty percent.”
The personal panel showed thirty-five percent, but Ji Ma had been intentionally avoiding exposing her golden finger.
“Good job.” George had his mask pulled up. His armor had been washed by water and still bore remnants of blood and flesh, though thankfully, it wouldn’t rust.
“I’ll also report the battle situation.” George said, but he hadn’t taken out his notebook, realizing that in the intense fighting, there was no time to write.
“You blew up the mouse base, which is great. Taking advantage of the chaos, we passed through the mouse swarm. There are simply too many of them; if they hadn’t stirred up a ruckus, we would have paid a heavier price.”
Ji Ma put her hands on her hips, her chest puffed out, like a proud rooster, saying:
“Even getting through wouldn’t have been possible. Originally, there was an elite mouse unit stationed in the base, but I talked them into leaving. They’re probably still at some entrance, standing guard, prepared to fend off the coalition of order coming from who knows where. How ridiculous.”
In the distance, on a high rock, Eve Frostleaf, cloaked and resembling the nearby stalactites, had her long ears twitch. Only she caught the humor in Ji Ma’s words, a slight smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.
“Could they come to encircle us?”
“Based on my experience, there’s an eighty percent chance they won’t.” Ji Ma said: “You’re too fast; by the time that mouse lord figures things out and brings troops back for reinforcement, it’ll probably be tomorrow morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure. Leading a troop is not as simple as leading a squad.” Ji Ma said: “The larger the army, the slower the reaction, because the decision-makers need to sift through a pile of confusing information to find the real intel. After finding it, mobilizing the army is an exceedingly tedious affair, not to mention logistics; even on narrow paths, they must proceed in a specific order.”
“Okay.” George nodded in appreciation. “Next, we’ve hardly rested at all except for healing. According to the maps you provided, the dwarves are our guides.”
The dwarves sat on the ground, silently eating bread made from mixed mine flour. This was very unusual; the dwarves usually preferred to stand while resting, to flaunt their innate toughness, and enjoyment of idle chatter, but it seemed they were truly exhausted.
Their armor bore dents, stained with blood, flesh, and dirt. Felix lay on the ground, his armor covered in blood, motionless, eyes closed.
Ji Ma asked, “Is he dead?”
George said, “He’s exhausted.”
George continued: “We’ve encountered numerous battles along the way, including breakthrough battles and mosquito repelling battles.”
“Mosquito repelling battles? Are there mosquitoes underground?”
Just as Ji Ma finished speaking, a stealthy mouse person fell victim to Eve Frostleaf’s arrow, tumbling from the uneven rocks.
“Creeping gutter mouse.” George said: “They just hang back at a distance, not engaging, just to monitor us. Thankfully, we have Frostleaf.”
A bowstring twanged in the distance.
An escaping mouse was shot in the back and died.
“The current magic power levels are as follows: I have eighty percent, Jenna sixty percent, Frostleaf fifty percent. That’s my report.”
“We’re probably about two kilometers away from the fortress.” Ji Ma said: “The terrain is treacherous, and even if we were at full strength, we couldn’t break through the fortress let alone cross the chasm.”
Butcher Goret suddenly interjected: “Is that the Sorrow of the Earth ahead? Is there a ritual with an abyss, with raging lava below?”
What a cliché name.
Ji Ma nodded: “Yes.”
Butcher Goret looked to the left and right, saw Eve Frostleaf far away, and a pained expression crossed his face as he said:
“That really was a hard battle… In ancient times, a seismic quake split the mountains apart, burying many of our ancestors’ cities under rocks. Since then, we dwarves have been deteriorating; it is one of the countless scars left by that tragedy.”
All the dwarves looked sorrowful, lowering their heads in mourning for the past.
Ji Ma used only two sentences to lift the dwarves’ spirits; she whispered: “With Frostleaf’s hearing, she can hear everything clearly at this distance.”
Butcher Goret didn’t catch that: “What did you say?”
“I said Frostleaf has excellent hearing; she can hear very clearly at this distance!”
Butcher Goret’s face turned pale; driven by an absolute need to avoid embarrassment in front of the “albino goblin,” in less than half a second, not just he, but all the dwarves’ sorrowful expressions disappeared without a trace.
“How many years ago was that? It’s all in the past!”
“We must wash away our ancestors’ shame.”
“Push all the mouse people into the lava!”
