C3 Chapter 3

She was all skin and bones. If you didn’t know she was a girl, you’d easily mistake her for an underage boy.

The blotchy scar on her left cheek was stomach-turning. The dagger in her hand was caked with blood—and it was clearly chipped.

Her? With that chipped dagger, she’d wiped out Captain Li’s entire squad? Captain Zhao couldn’t quite believe it.

“Miss, you do realize murder means you pay with your life. You killed everyone in Squad Seventeen—an important unit in this force. So no matter what, you’re dead today. If you don’t want it to get ugly, stop fighting.”

“...” Give up? In Tang Yao’s world, “give up” wasn’t even a thing.

She didn’t argue like other women might, because here, any explanation was pointless.

Squad Seventeen wouldn’t have dared barge into her tent without approval from higher up.

To them, she—someone who was basically useless to the unit—had killed people who actually mattered on the battlefield. That was the real unforgivable crime.

“Let me live, and I can get you out of this mess. No one else has to die here.”

Captain Zhao frowned hard, his ruddy face full of doubt. “Miss, anyone can talk big. That’s not a reason to spare you.”

He seemed done wasting time and ordered his men, “Kill her. Right here.”

Captain Zhao might only be in charge of Squad Sixteen, but he still had the authority to execute someone who didn’t matter.

With the order given, eight soldiers stepped forward at once, closing in and boxing Tang Yao in.

Tang Yao pressed a hand to her forehead, a headache flaring. Why couldn’t they just believe her for once?

Fine. Then she’d fight.

The dagger spun fast in her palm. The once-dull edge seemed to blaze with killing intent, sending a chill through anyone watching.

Tang Yao moved like a ghost—one heartbeat she was there, the next she was behind one of the soldiers from Squad Sixteen. A spray of blood flashed, and the man’s throat had already been cut.

As a mercenary, she was best at killing fast. The soldier dropped to the ground and didn’t move again.

That move stunned everyone.

Chief Zhao’s pupils tightened. He said coldly, “Didn’t expect it. Looks like our Wind God Battalion has been hiding a real expert like you.”

“Too bad the army’s a man’s battlefield. A woman shouldn’t stand out too much.”

With that, he flicked his hand. “All of you—get her. Kill her, now!”

The remaining seven from Squad Sixteen surged forward.

Squad Sixteen was no joke. In this unit, their overall strength was easily above average.

Everyone thought Tang Yao was as good as dead.

But in less than half an hour, all seven were corpses, sprawled in a rough circle on the ground.

Tang Yao was clearly running on fumes too, standing there with a hand pressed to her lower abdomen, breathing hard.

It was dead quiet.

Wiping out two squads in a row—none of them could’ve pulled that off.

After a long moment, someone finally broke the silence. “I know that girl. She’s been helping out in the mess hall. Always kept her head down. Didn’t know she was this good!”

“Could she be a spy? Otherwise, why would someone like that be stuck in the kitchen?”

“Yeah… it’s got to be connected to espionage.”

“This is strange. We should report it up the chain,” another squad leader suggested.

Chief Zhao waved him off. “No reporting! We’ve got one last fight left. Reporting it now would only shake morale. Best to execute her on the spot!”