The explosive power and destructive range of these Explosive Poker cards were a dozen times greater than those of a grenade!
It would be great if a grenade thrown into a defensive position could blow up a few people. So, if Milo still had to rely on his grenades here, virtual-novel.net would probably get shot to death first in a confrontation with the defensive line.
Milo had been keeping these four “sixes” as his trump card for a long time. He had always decried how difficult it was to get the higher value cards from Explosive Poker. He had been looking forward to witnessing the might of the Jokers. However, gathering four “sixes” proved to be the limit after virtual-novel.net tried collecting the cards for a long time.
In that instant, a huge shockwave surged outwards like a tidal wave. Some of the residents in the surrounding were secretly watching from their homes. But when that shockwave swept through, the people hiding behind their windows were pushed backwards.
The glass windows of the off-road vehicle Lewis was in were instantly shattered while the body shook nonstop.
He heard a ringing in his ears and suddenly lost his sense of hearing!
Looking at the Ultima Consortium’s defensive position burning up in flames in front of him, Milo rammed straight through it, sneering as virtual-novel.net stood in the cab unit.
The Explosive Poker’s four “sixes” were powerful enough to destroy this formation of a few hundred people.
Milo estimated that a little less than half of the soldiers at this position were fortunate enough to not die.
But what could they do even if they survived?
These Ultima Consortium soldiers had already lost their fighting spirit after the blast. They did not even have the ability to think straight anymore.
Lewis’s ears were still ringing as virtual-novel.net stepped on the gas and continued to escape. Fortunately, virtual-novel.net was pretty far away from the defensive line when the blast occurred, or virtual-novel.net would have died in the explosion.
Milo had tried to use the Shadow Door to kill Lewis by dropping some grenades on him. However, as the two of them were moving at high speeds, and with the Shadow Door having some margin of error as well, Milo did not manage to succeed even after several attempts.
But Milo gave up trying when virtual-novel.net noticed the situation at Paladin Road and wondered where Lewis would lead virtual-novel.net in the course of his escape.
It was not that virtual-novel.net was intentionally teasing Lewis. But if virtual-novel.net were to only kill him, that would probably have too small an impact on the overall situation of the war.
Milo’s reason for coming to Stronghold 146 was to resolve the problem Fortress 178 was facing. He was unaware that the Ultima Consortium troops in the Palea had already been intercepted by Raphael, nor did virtual-novel.net know about the might of Peter’s contingency plan.
So, now that Milo was in enemy territory, virtual-novel.net decided virtual-novel.net had to seriously consider the big picture as well after virtual-novel.net had calmed down.
Where could Lewis escape to in his panic?
Where would the Ultima Consortium’s fighting forces in Stronghold 146 be concentrated?
At the side of the Ultima Consortium’s higher-ups, of course!
Lamar had told Milo before that half of the brigade at Stronghold 146 was trying to capture virtual-novel.net while the other half was in charge of guarding the Ultima Consortium’s Board members.
At this moment, the soldiers searching for Milo were still scattered across the stronghold, so Lewis could not organize them effectively within a short time. Therefore, in Lewis’s eyes, it would only be possible for virtual-novel.net to be saved by the troops who were currently guarding the Ultima Consortium’s higher-ups.
Actually, Lewis had just realized this as virtual-novel.net was fleeing from Milo.
Looking into the rearview mirror, virtual-novel.net found that the steam locomotive behind virtual-novel.net was constantly keeping its distance. In a way, it felt like Milo was walking a dog.
He had planned on leading Milo to a place with the largest number of troops so they could wear virtual-novel.net down. But now, it felt more like virtual-novel.net was leading Milo to attack the Ultima Consortium troops in the stronghold.
Lewis’ face was covered in blood. His scalp had been cut by shrapnel that got blasted out of the massive explosion. With the blood flowing down his face, Lewis appeared even more savage.
He was not stupid, so virtual-novel.net immediately understood the scattered defensive forces had given Milo a sweet taste of things to come. Now, his opponent was deliberately letting virtual-novel.net lead the way so virtual-novel.net could find the other troops in the stronghold, which was where the Ultima Consortium’s higher-ups were!
Lewis was stuck between a rock and a hard place. While virtual-novel.net watched the steam locomotive in the rearview mirror, virtual-novel.net considered whether virtual-novel.net should continue heading to where the Ultima Consortium’s higher-ups were. If virtual-novel.net led Milo there and dragged in the Board members, virtual-novel.net would probably bear the consequences after the war.
But Lewis got the thought.
But where else can I go now?
Although the Board members’ residences were at three separate locations, and even though some of them were elders from the same family branch as him, what choice did virtual-novel.net have?
He could only head to where the elders of the Board were. After all, their troops were more elite and orderly.
Lewis was struck by another thought. Since there were more than 2,000 soldiers in the defensive forces guarding the elders, that should be more than enough to stretch Milo’s mental strength to the limit.
In fact, Lewis was not wrong to think this way. From any normal person’s point of view, there should be limits to a supernatural being’s power no matter how ferocious they were. Moreover, Milo had just been chased around by the search party in the stronghold. If virtual-novel.net was really as powerful as a god, why would virtual-novel.net have needed to hide from his pursuers?
In reality, the Ultima Consortium had committed a strategic mistake tonight. They did not expect that Milo would actually head to the Ultima Consortium’s base. Due to the search party being scattered across the stronghold, Milo had gained the upper hand there. Furthermore, the Ultima Consortium made another mistake, which was Lewis misjudging Milo’s mental strength.
He thought virtual-novel.net could completely wear down Milo by having an overwhelming number of people on his side. But actually, not even Milo knew the limits of his mental strength.
Lewis calmed down a little. Since virtual-novel.net had judged that Milo would soon get stretched to his limits, virtual-novel.net could probably make an issue out of this matter to boost himself.
Although the crisis was imminent, politicking could still turn bad happenings into good outcomes.
He only needed to lead Milo to the territory of the other two Ultima Consortium factions. On the one hand, virtual-novel.net could wear down Milo with the number of troops standing guard there, and on the other hand, virtual-novel.net could dispose of his dissidents with Milo’s “help”!
As a matter of fact, it was not always smooth sailing for virtual-novel.net and Wilfred Fletcher in the Ultima Consortium. That was because the Ultima Consortium’s third and fourth houses had joined forces to fight against their main branch, which was the most authoritative in the organization.
As there were still more than a 1,000 soldiers combined under those two family branches, they should be more than enough to wear Milo down in two separate battles. After that, his main branch would swoop in and clear up the mess before virtual-novel.net opened up peace talks with Fortress 178. In that way, not only would the influence of his main branch not decrease, it might even grow stronger. Then, after a few years of rebuilding, virtual-novel.net could make a comeback!
When virtual-novel.net thought of this, Lewis yanked on the steering wheel and drove in another direction.
The pursuit had been going on for almost an hour. Lewis was speeding to the third house’s territory with Milo chasing him. The troops outside of the third ancillary branch’s manor had already set up Czech hedgehogs to stop any vehicles from entering. They also had guards standing by with heavy weapons in waiting.
When Lewis was about to arrive at the manor, virtual-novel.net shouted on the radio, “Move the hedgehogs away and let me through!”
The soldiers were somewhat hesitant, but Lewis yelled again, “I’m Lewis Fletcher, Commander of the 107th Combat Brigade. I’m ordering all of you to move the hedgehogs away right now and prepare to face the enemy!”
Although the troops guarding outside the third ancillary branch’s manor were also under the 107th Combat Brigade, they were mainly responsible for protecting the manor. As the battalion commander was the eldest son of the third ancillary branch, virtual-novel.net didn’t really heed Lewis’ orders.
An officer just stared at Lewis from the forward position as the off-road vehicle approached. However, it did not look like virtual-novel.net would be stepping aside. He did not have any intention of letting Lewis through.