Chapter Eleven: The Duel

While Zhang Desen was waiting, he took the opportunity to ask the village chief a few questions, mainly to find out if anything unusual had happened recently. He inquired about things like whether anything had fallen from the sky, because before coming to this universe, General Li Guoshou had told him that his old comrade Tang Shijie’s spacecraft was capable of sending out a distress signal. Yet from the village chief, Zhang Desen learned something even more shocking.

It turned out that strange objects frequently flew over this area, so often that the villagers had grown accustomed to them and no longer paid any attention. This revelation left Zhang Desen deeply shocked, but also somewhat helpless. It seemed that finding Tang Shijie would not be as straightforward as he hoped, and shortly after Zhang Desen landed in this region, the distress signal that had guided him here suddenly vanished. Whether it was due to an energy failure or some other reason, the signal was gone for now.

Nevertheless, Zhang Desen reasoned that if it was merely an energy issue, careful monitoring might still allow him to receive the signal again, so he decided not to worry too much about it for the time being. He believed that even if Tang Shijie couldn’t be found immediately, he would have the skills to survive and await rescue, since they were both special forces soldiers.

What troubled Zhang Desen now was the realization that strange objects frequently flew over the area. Combined with his own experience of being tracked and attacked upon arrival, he sensed the situation might be more complicated than he had anticipated.

But for now, he decided to focus on dealing with the bandits. He stopped asking the village chief further questions, took his rest, and prepared for the coming battle.

...

Meanwhile, in the command center of the coastal base of the Olmei Empire, the chief of staff, Damore King, entered holding some documents and addressed their leader, Yuri Gotner:

“My leader, I’ve carefully reviewed the reports on the tracking of the unidentified flying object and our fighter jets. I am certain that the landing site of the UFO is near our coastal base—it’s very likely here to search for its companion.”

Yuri Gotner listened and asked, “Are you sure they come from the same place?”

Damore King replied, “My leader, we don’t need to be one hundred percent certain before we act.”

Yuri Gotner looked at him, “Tell me your thoughts and reasons.”

Damore King explained, “First, although the previous UFO and the one that has appeared now look different, their designs are not worlds apart, and both bear the same insignia.”

He glanced at Yuri Gotner, who showed no reaction, so he continued, “Second, the timing of their appearances is perfectly logical—one after the other, consistent with the pattern of sending a second craft for a rescue mission after the first is lost.”

Damore King grew excited, continuing, “Third, why would this newly appeared UFO come to this area? The answer is simple: after we captured the first craft, we did not prevent it from sending out a distress signal.”

Yuri Gotner seemed about to speak but gestured for Damore King to continue.

“So, after this second UFO evaded our space fighters, why did it come straight here rather than anywhere else? Clearly, it tracked the distress signal sent by the first craft.”

Damore King paused to catch his breath, then pressed on, “And why did it suddenly hide and disappear after arriving here? Because our technicians happened to be examining the first UFO’s technology at that exact time, and temporarily disabled its signal transmitter.”

Now Damore King was even more animated, speaking faster:

...

“Let’s call this newly appeared UFO ‘Number Two.’ It hid because it suddenly couldn’t find the signal anymore, so it was forced to observe the situation. There’s nothing uncertain about this.”

Yuri Gotner, though agreeing inwardly, maintained a calm facade. “What do you want to do?”

Damore King answered, “My leader, I wish to handle this matter myself. Let me choose the right moment to reactivate the distress signal transmitter of the first UFO, and make preparations in advance to ensure everything goes smoothly.”

Yuri Gotner was about to agree, but then thought for a moment and said, “My friend, I do agree with you. But hold off on any action for now…”

Damore King grew anxious, “My leader, the opportunity will slip away…”

Yuri Gotner cut him off with a gesture, then said, “My friend, have you forgotten that I’ve already assigned the Intelligence Director to carry out his plan? If we arbitrarily change the current strategy, it will cause great confusion.”

He looked at Damore King and continued, “So, what you need to do now is cooperate with him. If he fails, then implement your plan. Don’t say anything further. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to suddenly change plans while you’re carrying out your mission just because I heard a new opinion, would you? Enough. Go ahead and do your job. I’ve noted your suggestion. Dismissed!”

Damore King responded reluctantly, “Yes, sir!” Then he left, clearly unhappy.

...

Meanwhile, Zhang Desen, waiting for the bandit leader in Mushi Village, had been waiting for quite some time. At last, clouds of dust appeared in the distance. Zhang Desen took out his binoculars, looked, and smiled to himself:

“Finally, after all this waiting, they’ve arrived.”

The village chief saw the dust and hurriedly said to Zhang Desen, “They’re here! They’re here!”

Zhang Desen waved his hand and said, “Take the villagers and hide. I’ll handle them.”

The chief bowed deeply, “Thank you, brave man! Thank you!”

The villagers echoed his gratitude, then quickly retreated into their homes to hide. Soon, a force of several hundred bandits arrived before Zhang Desen.

The second-in-command was among them. As soon as he saw Zhang Desen, he pointed to a man beside him—bare-chested with tiger skin, muscular arms, fierce eyes, bald head, and wielding two massive iron hammers—and said, “Big brother, that’s him! He killed our third brother and many of our men!”

Zhang Desen smiled, lounging with his legs crossed, drinking the fine brew provided by the chief, and said,

...

“Well, isn’t this the coward who didn’t even dare collect his brothers’ bodies before running away? Back again to die? Come on then, haha!”

The second-in-command, enraged, shouted, “Now that my big brother is here, you dare act so arrogant? You killed our brothers—after he deals with you, I’ll chop off your head to honor them. You’d better kneel and kowtow, call him grandfather, maybe you’ll get a swift death. Otherwise, you know what’s coming.”

Zhang Desen replied, “I don’t know what you lunatics are thinking, but I do know you’ll soon be reunited with your third brother. Who’s going first?”

Everyone was momentarily stunned. The bandit leader spoke, “Boy, you’ve got guts. But let me tell you, when I was rampaging through counties, you were still suckling at your mother’s breast! I’ll send you on your way right now.”

With that, the leader dismounted, hefted his heavy iron hammers, and strode forward. The surrounding bandits jeered:

“Big brother, kill him! Send him back to his mother’s womb to learn some sense!”

“Kill him! Kill him!”

Seeing the bandit leader finally take the stage, Zhang Desen leisurely picked up his Type 95 assault rifle, fixed the bayonet, and stood up, walking slowly toward his opponent. He taunted,

“Are you so slow because your two hollow hammers are too heavy?”

The crowd hesitated, amused but afraid to laugh. The bandit leader, furious, roared,

“You reckless brat, if you’re in such a hurry to die, I’ll oblige you. Take this!”

He charged at Zhang Desen, swinging his twin hammers. Zhang Desen, rifle and bayonet ready, charged to meet him.

But just as they were about to clash, Zhang Desen suddenly released his left hand from the rifle. The bandits, thinking he was paralyzed with fear, started laughing and pointing.

Yet, in the instant before contact, Zhang Desen deftly dodged under the bandit leader’s left arm, emerging on his left side. Before the leader could react, Zhang Desen leapt, braced the left arm with his hand, and with the right, thrust the bayonet into the leader’s carotid artery. Blood gushed forth.

The leader’s hammers fell to the ground; he screamed, then collapsed, dead. Stunned silence swept through the bandits.

Zhang Desen strode onward, addressing them,

“Hey, you bunch of idiots—who’s next?”

Panic erupted; the bandits scattered like frightened birds and beasts, fleeing in all directions. The second-in-command tried to rally them,

“Come back! Big brother treated you well—do you repay him like this? Come back, or I’ll kill you myself!”

But no one responded. To them now, Zhang Desen was the god of death; who would stay and die?

Watching the scene, Zhang Desen sneered at the second-in-command,

“Stop shouting. Even if you scream all day, it’s useless. Go join your brothers. What are you waiting for? I’m ready.”

The second-in-command was seized by terror. He turned, trembling, and looked at Zhang Desen as if seeing the grim reaper, his eyes full of fear, not knowing what to do.

Zhang Desen, rifle slung lazily over his shoulder, watched, waiting to see what he would do.