Chapter Thirteen: The Hostage

“Are you going alone? That’s too dangerous,” someone immediately objected.

Lei Bin chuckled and said, “I’m infantry. For reconnaissance work like this, you’re no match for me.”

With that, Lei Bin swiftly dashed forward.

Going alone meant if danger arose, he could retreat quickly. If others accompanied him, they wouldn’t be able to overpower the enemy, and escaping would be more cumbersome.

Lei Bin had the neural wave scanning ability of Xingmeng, so even in the dark of night, he could detect enemies in advance. The safety factor was still quite high.

He ran steadily until he approached about one kilometer from the enemy’s blockade line, then began to crawl forward to avoid detection.

Crawling was no challenge for Lei Bin. It was basic infantry training, and later, Xingmeng’s rigorous training had greatly enhanced his bodily coordination. Crawling on the ground, he moved quickly.

At about five hundred meters from the enemy, Lei Bin halted and observed the flickering searchlights and patrolling soldiers ahead, carefully studying their weaknesses.

Xingmeng’s neural scanning had a range of only a few dozen meters, nowhere near that far, so Lei Bin had to use his own eyes to observe and feed the information back to Xingmeng’s mind for further analysis.

In essence, Lei Bin’s eyes served as Xingmeng’s eyes. Xingmeng could utilize all of Lei Bin’s bodily functions.

“Their defense line is indeed tight. Every thousand meters there’s a mech unit with armored vehicles for support. With our current strength, charging through has a slim chance of success,” Xingmeng said inside Lei Bin’s mind.

“Then we can only capture some of their men to pass through. But their patrols are concentrated, not scattered, making it difficult to find an opportunity,” Lei Bin frowned.

“In this situation, we have two options: create an opportunity ourselves or wait for one,” Xingmeng suggested.

“If we wait, it might be even worse. Those people are hard to pacify, and we can’t stay in the jungle forever. The jungle isn’t safe either; we might get eaten by the insectoids,” Lei Bin said. Although they could fend off insectoid attacks now, a large-scale assault would cause heavy losses, possibly wiping them out. The jungle was definitely no place to linger; otherwise, the Imperial forces wouldn’t have allowed them to escape there without pursuit.

“If we create an opportunity ourselves, we can lure a small patrol squad over, then eliminate them. If we manage to find their neural implants, I can infiltrate their network and control some of their mechs,” Xingmeng explained.

“Hmm, but usually only senior officers have neural implants, since both sides fear their neural data falling into enemy hands,” Lei Bin acknowledged Xingmeng’s capability without doubt.

Lei Bin and Xingmeng simulated various strategies in their minds to attract a portion of the enemy, ensuring not too many would come, then kill them all.

After many trials, Lei Bin crawled toward a chosen spot and suddenly slapped the ground with a loud smack.

Immediately, the Imperial searchlights swung over.

Lei Bin then jumped up and sprinted toward the jungle.

“Someone… there’s someone over there!” the Imperial soldiers spotted Lei Bin, their beams illuminating his figure running in the clearing.

“Only one person, pursue him!” The Imperial forces dispatched a squad with armored vehicles in hot pursuit.

“Good, they’re using armored vehicles, not mechs. And only a single squad is coming after me,” Lei Bin mentally calculated.

In fact, his deliberate exposure was precisely calculated by Xingmeng. The position allowed the enemy to find him, confirm he was alone, and still gave him enough time to run back to the jungle.

If the enemy hadn’t seen he was alone, they might have sent more troops, which ten men couldn’t handle. If the distance was too far, he’d be caught before reaching the jungle.

This distance was optimal. Such was the power of computational precision.

The enemy’s armored vehicles rumbled behind, firing as they advanced. Perhaps due to distance or their intent to capture rather than kill, none of the shots hit Lei Bin.

He was gambling; in war, no method was completely safe—risks were inevitable.

His speed was remarkable, thanks to Xingmeng’s grueling training. If he weren’t fast, he’d have been cut into pieces by now.

Still, no matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t outrun armored vehicles. Soon, they closed in behind him. The Imperial soldiers laughed mockingly, clearly intent on capturing him alive.

Recently, attempts to breach their blockade line were frequent. The Imperials deliberately exposed weaknesses to capture Federation soldiers alive.

But Lei Bin was near the jungle now, a smirk on his face. Since they wanted to capture him, that gave him an opportunity.

With a swift leap, he plunged into the jungle, vanishing into the thick grass.

The pursuing Imperial soldiers reached the jungle’s edge. Their armored vehicles couldn’t enter, so they dismounted and chased on foot.

The jungle’s terrain was complex, but Lei Bin was in his element. Xingmeng’s relentless training had taught him to use any terrain advantageously.

Xingmeng calculated that the jungle distance was some way from Loulan and the others’ hiding place, so they hadn’t arrived yet.

Even alone, Lei Bin was not afraid of these soldiers. Under Xingmeng’s harsh tutelage, he had died countless times in training and faced every imaginable situation.

“Come out… Federation pup. Keep running and we won’t be merciful. Return as my slave—I won’t mistreat you. You know, capturing a Federation slave is a great honor,” the squad leader boasted, pistol in hand, arrogance shining on his face.

The Federation and Empire spoke the same language. Long ago, the two had been one nation but split over ideological differences.

Lei Bin hid in the grass, ignoring their taunts. He just needed to wait for Loulan and the others to arrive.

The squad had seven men. Ten of their own versus seven enemies was an easy fight.

Gunfire erupted as the Imperials fired wildly to flush him out.

As they advanced, Lei Bin seized the moment when they passed his hiding spot. He grabbed the last soldier and slit his throat with a dagger.

His close-quarters combat skills were refined to perfection by Xingmeng. The attack was swift and silent, aided by the sounds of rustling leaves masking the deed, leaving others unaware.

After killing the soldier, Lei Bin gently laid him down, took his gun, and followed behind the others, pretending to search with them.

It was dark, and although the enemy had flashlights, they didn’t illuminate Lei Bin’s side, so they failed to notice the last man had been replaced.

Further ahead, gunfire rang out — Loulan and her team had arrived, opening fire.

At that moment, Lei Bin dropped to the ground and returned fire.

Caught in a pincer attack, the enemy had no chance. They screamed in despair before being wiped out.

“Captain Loulan, it’s me, don’t shoot! They’re all dead,” Lei Bin shouted to avoid friendly fire.

“Lei Bin, are you alright?” Though Loulan deeply disliked Lei Bin, she couldn’t help but be concerned. He had risked his life scouting alone and lured the enemy back for their benefit.

Lei Bin chuckled, “Don’t worry, Captain Loulan. I’m fine—not a single hair lost.”

Loulan’s face darkened. His crudeness was as irritating as ever.

The other soldiers barely reacted. Among men, such foul language was normal.

They approached and asked, “Lei Bin, you really drew some of them here. What’s our next move?”

Looking at the fallen Imperial soldiers, Lei Bin grinned, “We’ll change into their uniforms, disguise ourselves as Imperial soldiers, and then figure out how to get an Imperial mech.”

“What? You mean infiltrate their camp and steal a mech?” The others were shocked by his bold plan.

Without looking up, Lei Bin began stripping the enemy, “Exactly. Only by capturing their mech can we access their network, learn their strategic plans, and break through.”

“That’s impossible. Even with their mech, how can we access their network? Mechs require identity chips, DNA authentication, and more. It’s not that easy to hack.”

They shook their heads, certain it was unfeasible.

Both sides had strict identity verification to prevent hacking. Only authorized operators could enter the network, and only at certain levels.

Without these credentials, they couldn’t even pilot the enemy mech.

Lei Bin smiled confidently, “Relax. If I say there’s a way, there’s a way. Come with me; we’ll get a mech. But Captain Loulan, you might have to endure a bit this time.”

Loulan frowned sharply. His tone meant trouble.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked cautiously.

“Nothing much. We don’t have enough uniforms for everyone, so I think it’s best if one person pretends to be a prisoner. That way, we can catch them off guard,” Lei Bin said, already pulling out a rope with a mischievous grin.

“Why must I be the prisoner?” Loulan glared at him angrily.

“Heh, Captain Loulan, sorry. You’re a female soldier, so you’re easier to spot. Pretending to be a prisoner suits you best. Your skills and surprise attack will be more effective,” Lei Bin said with a sly smile.

Loulan glared hard but had no better idea. He was right; they had no choice but to trust him for now. She allowed them to tie her up.

With Loulan bound, they exited the jungle, boarded the armored vehicles, and headed toward the enemy mech’s location beyond the blockade.

As they neared, an enemy soldier shouted, “Well? Got any prisoners?”

Lei Bin stood on the armored vehicle, laughing heartily, “Turns out they’re not alone. We’ve captured several, including a female captain. Damn, she’s gorgeous.”

“What? You caught a pretty female captain? That’s a windfall! Imperial nobles love Federation female officers,” the sentry exclaimed enviously.

Lei Bin laughed again, “Yes, everyone rejoice. Let’s hope you catch some prisoners too, so we can sell them as slaves.”