Chapter 2 Deception is the Key
"Forced secrecy will bring upon suspicion, steps must be taken as commoners."
Walking without any means to hide his presence, Hei moves toward the group of soldiers.
"Who is there?" A soldier stands up at the same time when Hei walks out of the bushes. His hand is holding onto his weapon tightly. Three other muscular men soon follows suit. In the same time, Hei is surrounded by four fully equipped soldiers, looking at him with suspicion and alert.
Turning his head, Hei searches through the soldiers from his glasses… No, "soldiers" would be an overstatement. The armor on their bodies are riddled with holes, and their spears are rotten, perhaps by blood.
"Reaction time relatively low. Analyzing the rotten spear heads, the estimated time for weapon renewal would be a few years. Soldiers appeared worn-out, the armor indicates intense battle."
Not making any moves in the middle of immediate danger, Hei continues to analyze his current environment with his observations in his mind.
Noticing the navy sky, it is clear that night has arrived. There are a few tents located near the camp fire. Talking about tents, these tents are, on the most part, abnormal when comparing to the ones in Hei's memory. Perhaps due to the ongoing steam from the soil below them, the tents are bubbled up by this rush of airflow.
"This geography represents…" The dark eyes under these light glasses decide to blink a few times.
"Hey?! Are you deaf? We are talking to you! Who the heck are you? Why the heck are you here?" One of the soldiers shouts out.
"Detain him, we cannot allow for any risks of spies at this point" The man, who is probably the leader of the small group, orders his soldiers to search for weapons on Hei's body.
A soldier glances at Hei, seeing his emotionless expression, and starts to search through his shirt and pants. "No weapons found." he says.
"I think this person is suspicious. We need to take him to General Hector. Tie his hands." The leader passes a rope to the soldier that just finished searching. He ties Hei's hands behind his back.
"Let's go!"
…
Hei does not seem to care for his current situation. Walking toward the direction the leader is taking, he only seems to care for the unending white gas scattered around in the air.
"High temperature of the ground indicates adequate geothermal energy. High density of trees allows for little steam to escape this area. If utilized correctly, potential explosion can be manipulated from this current state. Camp fire is burning, but no sign of previous explosion. Interesting. Not enough concentration for combustibles."
Squinting his eyes, Hei observes the soldiers again with a mysterious look.
"Therefore, verification will proceed."
…
The foggy air consumes the atmosphere around the tents. Sitting in this position, it is clear that one's breathing can be hindered by this environment easily. Why would the revolutionary soldiers position their tents in this type of location?
Perhaps a strategic upper hand is the answer to that question. With the white fog covering their positions, visibility is extremely low. One can only see what is ten to twenty meters in front of him. If the leader of those soldiers is considering guerrilla warfare, this would be a heavenly place for them.
However, it seems that the revolutionary soldiers are not in any mood to fight a guerrilla warfare. The first line of attack consisted of more than fifteen thousand soldiers, but they have unfortunately come to face the legendary General Esdeath, which results in a casualty that is higher than ninety percent. After barely escaping their first battle, the remaining number for the soldiers are only about five hundred.
Powerless! Completely powerless! When facing absolute power, any type of guerrilla warfare will just be consumed by the innumerable empire troops, sooner or later. Desperation fills the entire atmosphere, nobody is willing to fight a losing battle, when there is absolutely no hope.
Or is there?
At this time, Hei is standing in the middle of the brightest tent. His hands have been untied, but the guards around the tent are still holding their weapons tightly, trying to eliminate any potential danger. Hei turns his head and looks at the officers in the tent.
Emotionlessly, he pushes his glasses back to where it should have been. Then, his eyesight lands on the general in the middle seat.
The shining armor of this general creates a metaphysical force field around him, a psychological one, that seems to suppress anyone coming near him. He opens his eyes, and his eyesight directly sends Hei a message of disdain.
However, Hei does not flinch. Silently, and emotionlessly, Hei continues this staring contest.
The atmosphere seems a bit too dignified for a situation like this.
Straightening his back, Hei's glasses reflects the light of the camp fire directly into the vision of the sitting general.
At this moment, no one is supposed to speak first. Whoever speaks first will show a sign of weakness when comparing to the other one.
Therefore, this strange staring contest will just need to continue.