"Bad news, PN Lieutenant Noda!" A PN Soldier rushed in. When he saw another PN Soldier in the room, he paused.
"Speak," PN Lieutenant Noda said weakly.
No matter how bad the hit, he could take it.
"Our empire's warriors were on patrol, and many went missing. We sent people to search and found… found…" The PN Soldier stuttered, afraid to go on.
"Found what?" PN Lieutenant Noda asked.
"We found more than twenty of our empire's warriors killed and dumped in a trash pile." They were only found because there were too many bodies to be covered by the trash. Maybe the person who dumped them didn't even bother to hide them well.
And that number only included the bodies found. There were likely more that hadn't been discovered.
Winn and Uziel: We're innocent! We didn't plan for it to turn out this way.
They had only meant to dump the bodies nearby, not realizing the other had already thrown so many PN Soldiers into the same garbage pile.
"Stpid! Stpid! St*pid! Damn those Hua people!
Lock down the entire city. I want those Hua people caught.
Shut the gates. No one leaves, only enters.
Search house by house. Find them!" Even though he had mentally prepared for anything, PN Lieutenant Noda still jumped up in anger.
Things could be stolen and taken back. But once people were gone, they were gone.
Every PN Soldier, traitor, and collaborator sprang into action.
They searched street by street, door to door.
As soon as Paige saw what was happening, she brought Winn and Uziel back to the hotel.
Anyone roaming outside, whether man, woman, old, or young, was thrown into the prison.
Soon, the prison was overflowing.
Paige didn't interfere, as long as the PN Soldiers didn't torture or kill randomly.
Everyone was locked together anyway; she'd just release them all later.
From the moment she entered this city, she never intended for the PN Soldiers to leave alive.
Now she was just squeezing out their last bit of value and letting Winn and Uziel gain some field experience.
To Paige, their training had been all theory.
In real action, they were still awkward.
The fact that they hadn't been caught and killed so many PN Soldiers showed that the training had worked. But on a larger scale, it wasn't enough.
Take this full-city search, for example. They would've been caught if she hadn't stepped in.
They had no escape plan.
Also, they could only handle lone PN Soldiers.
If faced with dozens or hundreds, they wouldn't stand a chance.
As for the ones heavily protected by groups, it wasn't impossible, but extremely hard.
And if they had trained this long just to kill a few weaklings, it wasn't worth it.
If you're going to strike, aim for the top. What's the point of going after nobodies?
While the PN Soldiers were tearing through the city looking for them, Paige and the other two were in their room reviewing the day's operation.
She pointed out every flaw in their actions.
Even though they were technically acting alone, Paige had been watching them the whole time.
This was a training mission, not a suicide one.
Winn and Uziel listened carefully to Paige.
They knew they had many shortcomings, but couldn't put them into words.
Paige listed them one by one.
"How can none of you find the killer after a full-city search? What are you even good for?" Every PN Squad Leader who had been scolded by their superiors shouted at their subordinates.
One order from above meant all the pressure fell on the lower ranks.
They had been working since morning without even time to eat.
Their legs were nearly worn out from all the running.
But if they couldn't find the killer, what could they do?
Orders came from above, they only carried them out.
Even if they failed to catch the target, it wasn't really their fault.
But rank crushes all. So they only dared to complain in whispers.
As they searched, they vented their anger on the civilians.
Paige kept an eye on the bigger picture. Anyone who crossed the line dropped dead and never got up again.
Although their deaths were strange, people slowly started to realize something.
Next time they went to search homes, they acted much more polite.
Even the civilians being searched were left shaking in fear.
By nightfall, Paige picked up her big blade and began her hunting hour.
No matter how violent the day had been, the PN Soldiers had to return to base at night.
Even if there was extra work to be done, the traitors and collaborators were the ones doing the running.
That night, PN Lieutenant Noda was furious and wanted to take it out on someone.
Maybe, he thought, they'd even get something useful during questioning.
Seeing this, Paige took Winn and Uziel to the place where the civilians were being held.
PN Lieutenant Noda entered the prison, scanning the frightened people inside.
"Bring that one out," PN Lieutenant Noda ordered, pointing at a man. The man was too tall, even while crouching.
"Sir, I'm a good citizen! A very good one!" the man shouted in panic.
PN Lieutenant Noda walked over to choose a torture tool.
After looking around, he decided a whip would do.
He walked toward the man, step by step. The man's fear grew with every step.
Just as PN Lieutenant Noda raised the whip
"Bad news, PN Lieutenant Noda! Someone is trying to storm the prison!
Many of our traitor guards have already been killed. Our empire's warriors are unharmed, though," a PN Soldier rushed in to report.
Everyone had been shot in the head. They didn't even see the attacker.
"Why panic? If they want to die, we'll help them.
Ha, we searched the city for them and they came straight to us," PN Lieutenant Noda sneered.
A few educated people in the prison wanted to correct his poor grammar, but stayed quiet since he was a PN Soldier.
Still, they found it very frustrating.
PN Lieutenant Noda cheerfully walked back to the man and raised the whip again.
"Bad news, PN Lieutenant Noda! That mysterious person has already broken in.
Our warriors are being badly hurt!" another PN Soldier ran in, panicking.
He didn't mention that every kill was done with a blade, two strikes per person, evenly placed.
"Stpid! Stpid! St*pid!
What are the machine gunners doing? How did they let someone get inside?
Tell the gunners and snipers to aim carefully. Kill anyone suspicious on sight!" PN Lieutenant Noda shouted.
"Lieutenant, it's not safe here. Maybe you should fall back?" the PN Soldier said hesitantly.
"No. There are so many of our warriors here. I'll stay with you all until the end," PN Lieutenant Noda said seriously.
"Yes, sir!" The PN Soldier felt instantly encouraged.
Their lieutenant was right here with them, so they weren't afraid anymore.
But in reality, PN Lieutenant Noda was cursing inside.
Idiots. There's only one way in or out. If I don't stay here, where would I even go?
He glanced at all the people behind him.