Around two o'clock yesterday morning, twelve Rhodes members were brutally murdered by "Snow Ghost" and then hung upside down on crosses.
As dawn broke.
Rhodes personally led a team, even driving out over sixty prisoners to search the snowy ground of the Eastern Defense Zone section by section with branches and similar items.
They found nothing.
But at dawn this morning, another twelve defense members were found hanging upside down on two crosses!
As before, their heads and other vital areas had suffered severe trauma.
Yet, during the time of their deaths, the drones in the sky and Brent and others in the inner defense line had heard no gunshots, nor seen any trajectories.
What was going on?
Upon hearing the news, Rhodes immediately led over twenty followers and rushed to the scene, firing his weapon aimlessly along the way.
It was useless.
The sky gradually brightened.
Rhodes remained frozen beneath the crosses, watching the bodies sway in the wind.
Deep in his eyes, there was nothing but fear of the unknown!
If he was like this, it was even more so for his subordinates.
Enemies were not scary.
What was scary was not knowing where the enemy was!
They didn't even know if the enemy was human or ghost!!
Because they all knew that even if they wore the thickest clothes and remained motionless in the snow all day, they would freeze to death.
Not only were they afraid.
Even Jiao Yin, who was watching from the sidelines, felt a chill of apprehension.
She had lost all interest in continuing her broadcast, simply snapping a couple of photos before retreating several hundred meters to the east.
She first uploaded the latest news online.
Then, she contacted the Chief Executive and briefly recounted the events.
The Chief Executive advised, "Director Jiao, I think you should evacuate Blackwater Forest and return to the East.
Return to the East now?
Jiao Yin considered it and nodded.
The Chief Executive then said, "As a lone woman here, you have guarded for two nights, which is justifiable to anyone. Don't worry about encountering any danger on your way back. I estimate that the people from the Li family will secretly escort you."
Jiao Yin strongly agreed with the Chief Executive's assessment.
She had basically completed the missions assigned.
She had already garnered the attention she sought.
There was little point in staying any longer.
It would be better to return home and take advantage of the vampire infestation to harvest some wealth.
After all, the Rhodes family had promised the Dark Web that Jiao Yin would be a reseller of Luminaries in the East.
Moreover, the Bai family of the Eastern Heaven had monopolized 70% of the glove market in the Eastern Heaven.
Most importantly, Jiao Yin needed to have a thorough discussion with the Fifth President!
As for Li Qianfan's fate—
Jiao Yin really couldn't think of any reason for him to still be alive.
"Li Wujiang is currently by the Longjiang River, you don't need to go there."
The Chief Executive continued, "Just a few hours ago, several Western experts attempted to probe Li Wujiang, and she single-handedly defeated them. The deaths of those experts have officially triggered the War Emperor's Palace's defense mechanism. It's certain that Athena will personally come to Longxu to negotiate this matter. However, due to her substantive relationship with Li Xiao, there's a high possibility of wrangling. But now that Li Wujiang's whereabouts have been discovered, she can only remain by the Longjiang River for the time being. No one would dare allow the mother of a deceased only son to come to the West."
The situation was chaotic!
This was the predicament the Rhodes family faced after planning the siege of Blackwater Forest.
Furthermore, the Dark Web had confirmed that negotiations between the two sides would likely commence for the fourth round soon.
Because Li Qianfan might have perished in Blackwater Forest, not only would Li Wujiang fight desperately, but the current mood in Longxu was very unstable.
At this juncture.
The Dark Web, not too deeply entangled in the Blackwater Forest incident, had no need to linger.
Jiao Yin accepted the Chief Executive's suggestion.
Just as Rhodes was once again leading his men on a carpet search of the defense zone, Jiao Yin drove eastward alone.
Rhodes and his men paid her no mind.
They were all eager to find out who had slaughtered Tostav and over twenty others!
While Rhodes was digging three feet into the ground—
Li Qianfan was sleeping soundly in one of the containers at the Rhodes command post.
After he had dealt with Tostav yesterday, he had slipped away amidst the chaos, using the cover of night to come here.
Due to the deaths of Tostav and the others, there were many empty bunks in the containers.
Based on basic habit—
A shift of men would be assigned to sleep in the same container.
This was to avoid disturbing others' sleep when changing shifts at night.
Rhodes also had this habit.
Due to limited conditions, twelve members would reside in each container.
After Li Qianfan had wiped out those twelve members the night before, one container became vacant.
It was simple for him to figure out which container housed the twelve men who had been wiped out.
He just needed to lurk in the snow and observe which container no one emerged from to participate in the search operation.
Container number nine remained empty.
This was the dormitory of the twelve men who had been wiped out.
Li Qianfan snuck in under the cover of darkness and slept with audacious boldness.
After waking up, he changed into fresh clothes, grabbed a lunchbox, and headed to the "mess hall" for a hearty meal.
Anyway, the temperature was too low, and everyone wore thick hats, scarves, and the like even when getting food.
As long as he didn't foolishly shout, "I am the Snow Ghost you're looking for," it wouldn't be easy for anyone to find him.
After eating his fill, Li Qianfan returned to his dormitory and continued to sleep soundly.
Around midnight, he coated himself in "insulating paste" again and, using the cover of night and the thermal imaging scanner, easily bypassed the sentries within the inner defense line and reached the outer defense zone.
He began his work—
After finishing his work, he slipped back into the dormitory amidst the chaos to sleep.
Except for the night before last, when Li Qianfan hid in the snow, he had slept in the dormitory for the past two nights.
His men were not at the scene at all, so what if Rhodes and his men searched the outer defense zone with a fine-tooth comb?
During the past two days and nights, Li Qianfan had had the opportunity to assassinate Rhodes.
But why would he assassinate Rhodes?
The ultimate goal of this plan was to trap Rhodes and his men in the forest!
Let them taste what it was like to be besieged and have reinforcements attacked!!
If it were merely for the sake of slaughter—
Li Qianfan, who had successfully infiltrated the communal dormitories, could have sneaked into each container under the cover of darkness and sent those people on their way.
"I can kill you, but I don't."
"I can also kill those within the inner defense line, but I don't."
"I only kill anyone within the outer defense zone."
"This will not only create a greater sense of fear but also make everyone believe that the unseen killer only operates in the outer defense zone; it will make their subconscious believe that as long as they hide within the inner defense line or the dormitory, they will be safe."
By doing this, Li Qianfan also ensured that Rhodes would not suspect a hidden threat within the command post.
Thus, he would not realize that Li Qianfan was taking a roundabout route when he went out to kill under the cover of darkness.
Once sufficient fear was generated in the outer defense zone, no one would dare to stand guard there anymore.
Then, when that time came, the hidden Dark Blades outside the outer defense line could break through this kilometer-long death zone of the outer defense without suffering too many casualties after receiving Li Qianfan's signal to attack!
Of course.
Li Qianfan was not in a hurry to summon the Dark Blades for the general offensive for four other reasons.
First.
He had to find a way to ensure the relative safety of the sixty-six hostages.
Second.
He had to destroy the enemy's drone command center.
Third.
Up until now, he had not encountered the experts from the War Demon Temple.
Fourth.
It would be best if he could blow up the enemy's ammunition depot.
Among these four important tasks, Li Qianfan found the fourth one to be the easiest.
He had already located the ammunition depot container, which was in the open space between the dormitory and the command post.
As long as the two guards were eliminated, a loud bang would follow.
Once the bang sounded here—
That would be the signal for the Dark Blades to launch their general offensive!
Destroying the enemy's drone command center did not seem too difficult for Li Qianfan.
The drone command center was located next to the Rhodes command post.
Li Qianfan could simply walk over there brazenly, throw in a watermelon or something, and it would be done.
In terms of finding those so-called War Demon Temple experts—
Since Li Qianfan already knew they were here, he naturally had to be extra cautious.
He did not believe he was invincible just because his original 209 had been activated.
Underestimating the enemy was like knocking on the King of Hell's door, and Li Qianfan knew this better than anyone.
However, Li Qianfan had not seen where those experts were yet.
He even suspected that these experts might not have come to Blackwater Forest.
But regardless, Li Qianfan had to take these people very seriously.
After all, it was their incident that had forced Shen Yue to abandon his beloved wife and daughter and personally rush back to Misty Town to take charge.
Among the four tasks—
The one that gave Li Qianfan the most headaches was how to protect that group of pigs!
Once the war escalated.
If those pigs were used as hostages, it would make the Dark Blades hesitant.
Any hesitation on the battlefield was fatal.
Especially since Li Qianfan had not yet discovered where the captured Miss Murong was.
"No need to rush. Since I've waited for so many days, a few more days won't matter. I'll go to sleep first and continue working tonight."
Glancing at Rhodes and the others still searching for the Snow Ghost in the outer defense zone, Li Qianfan tapped his lunchbox with a fork and returned to the container.
He had just fallen asleep—
He vaguely heard a bang from the adjacent container (the containers were right next to each other).
The adjacent container was number ten.
It was clear that someone was inside.
Li Qianfan paid it no mind.
He rolled over and mumbled, "Damn it, instead of searching for people, they're slacking off like me."
Soon, he fell into a deep sleep.
In the adjacent container number ten—
Miss Murong, who had been kicked against the container wall and then thrown to the ground, coughed violently. As she knelt on one knee and stood up, she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Then, with her pale blue eyes, she glared fiercely at the eight people in front of her.
These eight people were all wearing conspicuously black clothing.
They all wore black masks on their faces.
Fox masks!!