Chapter 162: Fierce Battle in the Fir Forest

*(Note: Thanks to Qingshi for the precious monthly vote)*

In Slate Town, Night Rain, a solo player, sat right next to Wang Yu and Zheng Tianshou. Every single word of their conversation fell clearly into her ears. Believing himself to be the initiator of the attack, Wang Yu thought he held the initiative, never imagining that his every move was already under surveillance.

After Wang Yu and Zheng Tianshou left, Night Rain quickly departed the restaurant and found Situ Feng outside Slate Town. Upon hearing Night Rain recount Wang Yu's plan, the corners of Situ Feng's lips curled upward slightly. "A mere clown!" he said. "Does he really think he can go up against Chen Baxian?"

Night Rain said coldly, "Don't just sit there talking big. Even if the opponent is incompetent, he still has forty formidable Yihetuan NPCs under his command. You had better come up with a plan quickly!"

Situ Feng shrugged. "Wang Yu assumes Chen Baxian only has those few people and knows nothing of our existence; he has no idea he's being tracked. Dealing with him couldn't be simpler. If he deploys non-quest players to participate, we will launch a rear assault and completely annihilate them. No matter how skilled those Yihetuan NPCs are, they are ultimately just cannon fodder."

Liu Yishou said with a look of regret, "I prepared quite a few homemade thunder mines this time. It seems they won't come in handy after all."

Situ Feng smiled. "Old Liu, you don't need to feel regretful. Your thunder mines might not work well against players, but they should be quite effective against the Yihetuan NPCs. Once the battle starts, just run up and toss a few thunder mines at the Yihetuan NPCs. I guarantee they'll be scared out of their wits. Those Boxer boxers claim to be invulnerable to swords and spears, but in reality, they're terrified of firearms..."

In the Huaxia gaming world, there were thirteen exceptionally powerful solo players who excelled no matter what game they played. They never established guilds nor joined any major factions. Each of them was unruly and untamed; if members of a major guild were blind enough to provoke them, that guild would face their relentless and fanatical revenge.

Some called them the Thirteen Freaks. Each of them ranked within the top 1,000 players in Huaxia, making them figures that many major guilds dreaded. They lacked affection for large factions, yet they never bullied the weak. Sometimes, on a whim, they would join an obscure small guild and help it rise to prominence.

Situ Feng, Night Rain, and Liu Yishou were among the Thirteen Freaks, and furthermore, they were at the core of the group. Their presence in Slate Town this time was at the behest of Chen Hao, tasked with monitoring the players who had accepted the ambush quest from the Yihetuan.

The Thirteen Freaks had gathered together over the years because they shared the same ideals. They were cut from the same cloth and loved high-difficulty challenges, disliking the pomposity of joining major guilds. Upon entering *War*, they keenly realized that this game was different from the ones they had played in the past. While previous games were discarded after a short period, *War* involved too many vested interests and would likely be played continuously.

Situ Feng had been the first to propose continuing their past approach: finding a faction whose leader was capable yet lacked background, and joining them. They had not yet encountered a suitable candidate until a few days ago, when posts appeared on the forums detailing Chen Hao's humiliation of Three-Life Stone and the Guanning Army, as well as dragging Xuanyuan Sword through the dirt. This instantly made them feel they had found a kindred spirit.

Both Xuanyuan Sword and Guanning were players with deep backgrounds, yet they had been miserably trapped and sabotaged by Chen Hao. Such exploits were precisely what the Thirteen Freaks loved to do most. Since Situ Feng and the other two had previously cooperated with Chen Hao and knew his strength, Situ Feng had suggested that if Chen Baxian were to establish a command headquarters, they would join his faction in the future to create a miracle and contend with those aloof, so-called major guilds.

Two days ago, Chen Hao had already received a pigeon message from Situ Feng. Having witnessed these people's capabilities firsthand last time, he naturally would not refuse, so he had arranged to meet with them in the Northeast in a few days. He dared to reveal his plans in the Northeast to them because he believed that top experts usually possessed their own pride; players like Situ Feng, Night Rain, and Liu Yishou would never fake submission to extract intelligence.

Upon learning of Chen Hao's plans in the Northeast, Situ Feng had laughed heartily, repeatedly declaring that placing all their chips on Chen Baxian was an immensely wise move. The other members of the Thirteen Freaks found it equally thrilling. They were eager to head to Fengtian Province. Because Tang Qunying had not yet arrived, Chen Hao had told them to wait a couple of days, not expecting that the escort mission involving Nie Shicheng's family would give them a chance to make themselves useful.

Chen Hao did not know who his enemies were, but he trusted the capabilities of the Thirteen Freaks, so he had asked them to find a way to locate the quest-participating players and intervene at the appropriate moment.

Had Wang Yu chosen not to utilize non-quest players, the Thirteen Freaks would not have made a move. However, after ambushing twice in the town and failing to wait for Chen Hao, Wang Yu lost his patience and decided to lead the non-quest players to ambush in the forest, inadvertently presenting the Thirteen Freaks with the opportunity to display their skills.

The Thirteen Freaks were also non-quest players, but they would not attack the Yihetuan NPCs; they would target only the subordinates Wang Yu brought along, thus ensuring Chen Hao's quest remained undisturbed.

After informing Situ Feng of Wang Yu's plan, Night Rain mounted a pitch-black warhorse and galloped away. She needed to track Wang Yu and determine the exact location of their ambush.

Wang Yu had chosen the fir forest as the ambush site. The mountains were tall and densely wooded there, and with fir trees lining both sides of the official road, it was disadvantageous for shooting. The players under his command were ambushed on the higher ground to the left, while the forty Yihetuan NPCs were hidden on the right side of the road. Once the target appeared, the players on the high ground would be responsible for suppressing the firepower of the Maxim heavy machine gun, while the Yihetuan NPCs would use the cover of the fir trees to close in on the carriages for close-quarters combat.

Night Rain moved through the forest like a nimble cat. She had also practiced lightness skills, and unlike Chen Hao who was constantly busy with various matters, her mastery of lightness skills far surpassed his. Climbing up a large tree on the right peak, Night Rain clearly observed the hiding spots of the ambushing players, then circled around the other side of the mountain back to the official road.

After relaying the enemy's ambush setup to Situ Feng, Situ Feng arranged to notify Chen Hao of the enemy's position, instructing him to slow his pace. Led by Night Rain, the Thirteen Freaks made a wide detour, climbed up from the opposite side of the mountain, and laid in wait at the summit. The moment Wang Yu's subordinates opened fire, they would charge down from behind them.

At a concealed spot, Chen Hao had Nie Shicheng's family disembark from the carriage, assigning five personal guards to escort them to a farmhouse. He then had the passerby player fishing transfer the Maxim heavy machine gun to the larger carriage. Thief San drove the preceding carriage ahead, with the large carriage following about five meters behind, moving at a steady, unhurried pace along the official road.

Wang Yu had arranged for players to scout the route ahead, knowing that the first, smaller carriage carried the Maxim, while the second carried Nie Shicheng's family. He had instructed the players hiding on the hillside that as soon as the first carriage entered range, everyone was to aim and fire at it simultaneously. Even if the carriage was fitted with iron plates, thin iron plates could not stop rifle bullets fired from within 100 meters. With thirty players firing at the carriage at once, Wang Yu did not believe the heavy machine gunner could escape with his life.

As they approached the fir forest, Thief San, who was driving the first carriage, agilely slipped from the carriage shafts down beneath the carriage, then rolled along the ground into the grass on the left. Scarcely had he jumped off when the forest on the left suddenly erupted with a dense flurry of gunfire. The leading carriage was struck by over twenty bullets, and the iron plates mounted on its sides were pierced with several bowl-sized holes.

With forty Yihetuan NPCs, Wang Yu was lying in ambush below the right side of the road. Seeing that the hillside players had riddled the carriage with bullets and no heavy machine gun fire had emerged from it, he immediately led the boxers in a charge. Even though the heavy machine gun on the carriage had not fired, Wang Yu carefully avoided the killing zone of the first carriage, leading the boxers in a rapid approach toward the second carriage, intending to eliminate the personal guards first and take control of Nie Shicheng's family.

Every single one of the forty boxers possessed agile reflexes, and it wasn't long before they left Wang Yu behind, closing in on the large carriage. At that exact moment, the carriage curtain was pulled back, revealing the thick barrel of a heavy machine gun. The passerby player fishing laughed heartily and pulled the trigger, and the crisp *tat-tat-tat* of gunfire echoed through the mountain forest.

Charging forward with boundless valor, the Yihetuan boxers hadn't dispersed at all. Under the fierce sweep of the heavy machine gun, they fell in swathes. In a mere five seconds, only three of the forty formidable boxers were left standing. The scene before his eyes made Wang Yu's eyes bulge with shock. Before he could even process what was happening, Chen Hao, standing on horseback beside the carriage, raised his Mauser G98 rifle and brought Wang Yu down with a single shot.

The players on the hillside had no idea what was happening. Just as they prepared to move closer to provide fire support for the boxers below, gunfire erupted behind them. Wielding short-barreled firearms, the Thirteen Freaks appeared in the rear of Wang Yu's subordinates. Each of them possessed deadly accuracy, and their unexpected sneak attack quickly plunged Wang Yu's men into utter chaos.

Unaware of the situation down below and ambushed from behind, the thirty hiding players rushed downward, intending to coordinate with the boxers led by Wang Yu. As they fled, the few players lingering at the rear quickly fell in the forest under the pursuit of Situ Feng and the others.

Only twenty-two players managed to charge onto the official road, only to find neither Wang Yu nor the boxers anywhere in sight. At that instant, the passerby player fishing pulled the trigger once more. The Maxim roared to life, instantly mowing down six players. The remaining players frantically scrambled for cover in the dense forest, only to be met with the systematic purge of the Thirteen Freaks.

The battle concluded in a matter of minutes. Situ Feng holstered his dual pistols, strolled lazily over to Chen Hao, and said, "Boss Chen, you had us risking our lives before we've even officially pledged allegiance. We'll need to settle this score properly."

Chen Hao smiled, cupped his fists, and replied, "Many thanks, brothers. Once we escort Lord Nie's family to Qilu, I shall head to the Northeast together with all of you. You should start thinking about how to deal with those old Russian Cossacks!"

With the assistance of the Thirteen Freaks in this battle, the forty Yihetuan boxers and thirty subordinates brought by Wang Yu were completely wiped out. Having suffered such a crushing defeat, not only would he receive no rewards, but Zhang Decheng would likely come looking for trouble with him as well.

Even though Chen Hao had arranged for the forty boxers to be killed, Zhang Decheng wouldn't let the matter go easily, and the escort mission was not yet over. However, the more enemies defeated during the escort, the better the rewards upon completion. With careful planning, undertaking this quest was still highly profitable.