Chapter 125: The Pursuit

Clift and Nick’s bodies were only discovered after dawn, yet no one cried out or vowed vengeance for them. The cold-heartedness of capitalists was laid bare in that moment. If they were still alive, they might have held some utilitarian value, but now that they were dead, no one from top to bottom dared to trouble Feren and the three sisters. On the contrary, after this ball, everyone was convinced that like attracts like—these three sisters had clearly inherited their eldest’s reckless tendency to resort to violence at the slightest provocation. Truly, those who are not family do not enter the same door...

Feren never cared about others’ opinions, whether in the past, present, or future. Moreover, after the ball ended, he received the “gift” he needed.

It was a record of the Caesar Legion’s previous operations, sent by Miss Yue.

“Although I don’t know what you intend to do with this, from my position, I hope you act quickly. Otherwise, we will have to take matters into our own hands.”

“I understand.”

After listening to Miss Yue’s message, Feren nodded. Then he reached out and lightly traced his fingers across the frame before him. Soon, a stream of green light points emerged, swirling around his fingertips like magnetized particles before coalescing into a green cube. Feren then clenched the information block in his hand, and in the next moment, the green cube shattered, its fragments merging and transforming until, in the blink of an eye, a detailed map appeared before him. On the map, countless red dots rapidly spread out, marking all the previous actions of the Caesar Legion.

“Looks like the Fuyuan Society has indeed long planned against the Caesar Legion,” Feren muttered, whistling softly at the overly detailed map. It was clear that Fuyuan Society had embedded numerous spies within the Legion, constantly monitoring their movements. Evidently, they had been seeking an opportunity to weaken the Legion and absorb it under their control. Given how readily they provided this intelligence, this must be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Fuyuan Society.

“Hmm...”

Regardless of Fuyuan Society’s motives, they had given Feren very valuable intelligence. Narrowing his eyes, he began searching for clues.

Judging from the map, most of the Caesar Legion’s actions were typical. Given their notorious reputation, ordinary caravans and people naturally avoided them. Thus, the Legion often resorted to bandit-style raids. They would scout smaller outposts and then use various tactics to forcibly breach these settlements, capturing whatever prey they desired. Unlike Feren or the Seven Giants, the Legion did not utterly destroy these settlements; it offered no benefit. Instead, they preferred to keep these small colonies intact, like fishing or pig farming—waiting for them to attract more people or reproduce, only to plunder again later.

Because of the unique nature of the energy network, people could not survive outside these settlements. This allowed the Legion to freely select and control the settlements within their sphere to serve their interests. The map showed that the Legion’s movements stayed close to settlements under their influence, occasionally striking along caravan routes to rob them. Everything appeared normal, without any anomalies.

“How’s the situation, master?” Delin looked up at the map displayed before Feren, then asked.

Feren shrugged upon hearing her question.

“From what I see, the Caesar Legion hasn’t made any unusual moves. If that’s the case, things become troublesome... hmm, it’s quite possible they merely stumbled upon this thing in a basement of some settlement. If so...”

Delin twitched her ears but said nothing. Indeed, what Feren suggested was the most troublesome scenario at present. The Legion might not even know what this thing was—they had just accidentally acquired it somewhere. Considering that someone had told him the cryo-chamber contained a signal device, it was likely that when the Legion removed it, they activated a transmitter, alerting someone who then ordered the Federation to negotiate with the Legion.

But if that were true, why didn’t they act directly? Was there some reason forcing them to delegate?

Before pondering further...

Hmm?

At that moment, Feren noticed a subtle change in the lower-left corner of the map. He quickly reached out, tapped, and zoomed in. Soon, a piece of information appeared before him.

“What’s this?”

“This seems to be a record of the Caesar Legion attacking a certain caravan...” Feren whispered, staring at the map. This trajectory caught his attention because, unlike other battles, this caravan was not quickly wiped out. Instead, after the attack, they abandoned their front-line fighters as a shield to delay the Legion, then rapidly retreated toward the wilderness. Eventually, after a prolonged fierce battle, they were finally overwhelmed at a particular location marked by a building on the map.

What intrigued Feren was that the caravan’s escape route far exceeded the Legion’s usual control area. Moreover, the final site of their defeat was near a building, implying they had found an abandoned structure in the wilderness to use as cover and fought the Legion to the last.

With this realization, Feren swiftly opened the combat record before him. A weathered voice sounded in his ear.

“Day 13, overcast. Today, as usual, we went out patrolling and looking for amusement. The chaos within the Caesar Legion hasn’t changed. They lack strict discipline and patience to organize. Members often clash, yet the Legion is still a formidable fighting force. Today, we headed to the trade route, hoping to catch some fat sheep. I’m fed up with this life, but I must endure...

“We spotted a large caravan, its banner unfamiliar—unlike any faction in this wilderness, and certainly not Vegas. The captain suspects it’s some outside force looking to expand here. They must have brought many valuable goods. The brothers were eager. As usual, we set a perimeter and waited patiently for prey to fall into our trap...

“These people’s firepower was fiercer than expected. They seem to be from a well-trained large group. They barely flinched at our ambush and even counterattacked, killing our commander. We couldn’t retreat. Damn it... press forward! Forward!

“We chased them deep into the desert. These guys looked desperate, but that’s no good for us. We all sensed the surrounding network energy density—if caught in an electromagnetic storm, we’re done! Fortunately, we contacted nearby patrols, who promised support. This time, those bastards won’t escape!

“We trapped them! They huddled inside a place resembling a warehouse. Damn, shouldn’t these abandoned junk piles in the wilderness be cleaned up? I hoped it was a mutant or Death Claw’s den, but luck was with them... though not for long!

“We finally won, and I can’t believe I survived. Who the hell are these people? Even the most reckless mercenaries cry and surrender when down to their last few, but not these bastards—they all chose to fight to the death. I don’t want to cross paths with such fearless people. Luckily, our leader said he found something valuable here. Looks like we might get some benefits on this return...”

The recording clicked off in Feren’s ear. Staring at the marked spot, a faint smile played across his lips.

“Looks like we found what we were searching for.”

He spoke softly.

(To be continued.)