Steel steam and flame

I don't know if they are passing by here, or the rebel forces have arranged people around, preparing to wait until all the people from last night have returned before closing the net together.

"That shouldn't be the case." Cassia ate the food bit by bit and thought, "Assuming they know the location of Finia and others' stronghold, it means that the two people caught last night have vomited all the information under interrogation. It is certain that there are people lurking outside the stronghold, but it is still unclear whether they will catch all these people. The first task of the rebel forces is to ensure the safety and smooth assembly of the armor. Once All these people have lost contact, and the king's forces will definitely send people over to continue the exploration work here. Those will be new people, and their strength will definitely rise to a level."

"I don't know if they are willing to spend more time dealing with this group of people. On the other hand, the rebel forces may not take action, but just use Finia and the others as captive prey to attack the king's forces. It is not impossible to convey false information while doing so. After the armor is assembled, transporting it as a whole will also be a problem. 'Why don't we attract them here and send them a surprise when the war starts.' I don't know if the rebel forces have this idea."

After finishing the food, Cassia picked up the cup and drank the juice. The two people at the window also paid and left, quickly disappearing into the street. Cassia paid the money and walked out of the restaurant with Finia.

After wandering around the streets, Cassia finally took Finia to a cosmetics store and bought the cosmetics she needed on the pretext of buying things for Finia. After finishing dressing up in an almost deserted alley, Cassia and Finia walked towards the stronghold.

Without explaining anything to Finia, in Cassia's eyes, she couldn't control her body. Even a small movement may give clues to an attentive enemy.

Sound perception was maximized at this time, and everything within a radius of three thousand meters was under Cassia's detection. But doing this is very energy-consuming. Searching for suspicious characters without a specific goal, and the tedious identification and processing work made Cassia obviously distracted while walking.

Eyes also come in handy at this time. Cassia often does this kind of thing lurking herself. Which places are suitable for observation and which places are not easy for people to find. Within the field of vision, Cassia can determine most of the locations just by taking a quick glance and relying on the first impression alone. Intuition and instinct, Cassia thought, just like when you hold a gun in your hand, you will subconsciously check whether the safety bolt is open.

Finia seemed silent along the way. The helpless mood in the restaurant just now was relieved as the distance got closer, and she was even a little happy. She did seem very uncomfortable next to the man who had saved her halfway. One is the strength, and the other is the atmosphere that she can't understand.

A serious and dull person who doesn't know how to observe other people's expressions, Finia commented in her heart. She felt that she had done a good job with her expressions many times, but this person just couldn't extract the words of the person involved from her expressions.

"By the way, how did you receive the commission?" Cassia suddenly asked when comparing the map in his head and seeing that the distance was close. At the same time, the sketch-like lines detected in the specific stronghold location provided by Finia began to gradually improve. He hasn't left yet, but seems to be packing up his things and dealing with traces.

"They took the initiative to find us." Finia hesitated, "Each area will have a circle of mercenaries and bounty hunters. Everyone will exchange information at some agreed-upon locations. When the employers issue commissions, , will also send people to those locations. If you are powerful and famous, these commissions will be found proactively."

"That is to say, if I know your name, in the circle you mentioned, I can get information about you by paying some money. Is this necessary work to know whether you meet the requirements of the entrusted content? "

Finia thought of what Cassia wanted to express and nodded: "That's it, it's inevitable."

Cassia looked understanding. The speed of the two was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, and the distance to the stronghold was getting closer and closer. Soon, the figures of three people entered Cassia's list of focused observations. As the distance gets smaller, more and more suspicious figures are added to the list. The frequency of the sound waves increased, and Finia said that with less than a kilometer to go, fifteen people who had been screened and judged were identified by Cassia.

"Finia, are you sure that all the people you met last night have undergone mechanized transformation?"

Not understanding what Cassia meant, Finia thought for a moment before replying: "I have seen many surgeries, and among them, less than four or five have not undergone mechanized transformation. All of those last night have undergone transformation surgery." .”

"I know." Cassia whispered. I could already feel the eyes sweeping over me from time to time. After having the target, as the sound wave detection picture became clearer, Cassia could clearly see what they were carrying. Weapons are only standard for self-defense, and more are equipment for observation such as cameras and telescopes. It seems that they have chosen the latter and are waiting for the next move of the king's forces.

,,,,,,

"Captain, two more people have returned to the base." A voice came from the communicator, and soon, the photo was transmitted.

Occam picked up the warm paper, looked at it, and then handed it to Crony.

"The temperature response is normal, not much higher than expected." Croney said. He looked at the photo carefully and knew that Ockham would have something to say, so he just waited for a while.

"Are you sure?" Finally, it was Croney who asked first.

"It is roughly certain that the woman is very similar to the sketch they drew. But I don't know who the other man is. According to the situation last night, the group we surrounded did only have seven people. The other group immediately realized that something was wrong. Evacuated. Being able to kill Swousey shows that this man is very powerful. You have also inspected the body. The grip was huge, and the alloy plate embedded in Swousy's neck also changed its shape."

"Could it be that imperial man?"

"No, the appearance can be disguised, but in terms of body shape and height, if you want to deceive other people's eyes, you have to do a lot. Just going back to the base, I don't think it is necessary at all. And last night, no matter the time or the The location didn’t quite fit the situation at the time.”

"Another man from the empire?" Croni gave his own answer. He closed his eyes again and waited for a few minutes before opening them. "You can't detect anything just by perception. But let's just regard him as that person's teammate. Mr. Occam, I have to remind you that when you meet the two of them, Everyone must be treated with caution. There are some things I can’t tell you, but at this time, it is a bit abnormal for someone from the empire to appear in the opponent’s force. From my personal point of view.”

"I don't know what Mr. Croney means..."

"Competitors." Croni summed it up in four simple words, and then explained, "You know where we come from and why we are stationed here. My team is not the only one who came here. There are still more teams. There are a lot of them. So for everyone’s safety, Mr. Occam wants to remind your men to pay more attention to these people."

"The next step is to observe the process. I will ask my people to keep an eye on them. Also, Mr. Occam, the safe distance is eight hundred meters away. This is the safest value." Croney said again. Cam didn't quite understand, "The standard temperature sensing ability was at the limit at that time. But there must be some special people, but they are not easy to encounter, and there is no need for them, for many people."

At the same time, Pigu and others returned to the mine in the afternoon, leading their new team to protect the safety of the air defense system and steam furnace. What happened last night was reported to their leader, and the order they received was to hold on until the armor was assembled at all costs. Of course, this was their worst-case scenario. Another instruction is to strengthen defense measures at several key nodes.

This is what Pigu and his people are doing now. Various warning traps were deployed two thousand meters away, and a lot of preparations were made to confuse them. Just like some inflatable rubber toy models, they were carefully camouflaged after being spray-painted and aged, and were placed everywhere in the mine.

Lieutenant Colonel Cromwell spent the entire afternoon in a communications conference. It was a meeting held by the leader of the rebel forces who contacted the general leaders of various gathering places and areas in order to deal with the active war preparations of the king's forces. The Intelligence Section provided a lot of real-time information, all of which confirmed that the king's forces seemed not to want to let this internal war drag on any longer.

Midway through the meeting, the rebel forces also introduced a new member to join them, a man from the Empire. The general description is that during the execution of the mission, one wants to establish a permanent base in the nearest area. The benefit of running this stronghold in a cooperative relationship is that not only can you buy some things in the empire more conveniently and cheaply, but you can also get special access to many items that are subject to control and restrictions. Technology, surgical development project information, and high-quality alloys are all included.

This information was brought up by the person who participated in the meeting, and several people who were initially skeptical immediately agreed.

In the evening Lieutenant Colonel Cromwell received a communication from Occam. In the communication, Occam briefly explained the plan he had made with Crony and the news he had now received. Due to the full cooperation of the people in the Intelligence Section, around 4 p.m., based on the photos taken, the information of 13 of the 14 people in the stronghold was found, and it was detailed enough to be used for launching operations.

"There are no members of the king's force in it. It seems to be just a test." Cromwell replied as if he was talking to himself. "You need to pay close attention to the map you mentioned. It can be so detailed that it is definitely not short-term." Time will do it. The clues are likely to be in the person who invaded the inside of the mine. You need to seek more help from Croni. At present, we have reached an alliance partnership with Croni's general team, so There’s no need to be polite.”

If he got the lieutenant colonel, Occam was sure he could let go and do it. After hanging up the communication, he summoned his men and issued the surrounding observation mission.

"Let's get started." At nine o'clock in the evening, after Janet came over, Occam said, looking at the dozens of people in the room.

This time, people from the Intelligence Department also participated to discuss how to use the current situation to convey wrong information to the king's forces.

,,,,,,

"Mr. Soriato." Cassia turned around when she heard Finia calling her, "I'm very sorry." Her face was full of apologies, and even her brother, Gers, who was standing behind her, also showed his face at this time. apology.

"No, if it were me, my reaction and decision would be the same." Cassia said. Things that have been anticipated will not be trusted by others, because it not only involves the commission fee, but also involves their lives. This is starting from the direction of Harrington and others. From Cassia, many of these people are corpses that can still move, and they will not be able to jump for too long.

He wants to use these people as part of his plan to bring them closer. Cassia currently thinks this way. What happens next depends on Hessler and Waters' situation. And the sound wave detection situation in the afternoon also required him to take time to think carefully. I didn't see the metal parts, but judging from the strength, it won't be low, at least starting from the middle to late stage of the second stage.

"I agree with the idea of ​​changing the base." Cassia stood up and said, looking at Finia, "But when you have nothing to do, I think if you two go to other gathering towns, you may have unexpected things. Harvest. You don’t have to collect information yourself. Sometimes, it is very practical to spend some money to let others help you.”

With that said, Cassia walked towards the exit of this small building: "Are you waiting for reinforcements from the king's forces?"

Seeing that the two of them were silent, Cassia smiled: "Don't have high expectations. Also, give up when it's time to give up. You won't make enough money. The amount of the commission is proportional to the risk. You have to believe it." This point. The other party controls a country, and some personnel may not be as strong as you, but when it comes to power research, the gap is huge."

"Mr. Soriato, thank you." When Cassia walked to the door, Finia said, "I don't know how I can contact you?"

Cassia shook her head: "When necessary, I will take the initiative to come to you." After saying that, under the gaze of several eyes, Cassia left the small building. He did not leave the area immediately, but chose to walk around a few times. After changing his clothes and attire, he quietly returned again and carefully approached a person lurking around the stronghold.

We still need to determine where these people come from, Cassia thought. He remembered that there were two other small countries supporting the rebel forces.