Because the destination was a newly reclaimed area the Northern Union had just snatched from Chaos’s hands, the remnants of Chaos could be lurking nearby. Moreover, Jon had mentioned that Chaos remnants had indeed been found in the ruins area, so Malin had applied for a squad of Punishers from the Church of Justice—Malin directly requested Nameless for people, and after receiving divine revelation, the old Bishop of Carterburg handed over his most Elite squad of Punishers to Malin.
Of course, Malin was responsible for their equipment.
Malin had no objection to this point, and he also selected a team from the Punisher Sequence of his own Church of the Goddess of Harvest. The team wasn’t large, and including him and Lulu, there were only fourteen people, but Malin provided them with the best firearms—bullets were something each of Malin’s people could easily handle with their personal space, suitable for any situation. Hence, the Punisher squad from the Church of the Lord of Justice was uniformly equipped with Malin’s trench warfare assault rifle, a weapon renowned for its formidable firepower within 100 meters.
In usage reports from various places, a pair of these things could suppress the enemy in some narrow spaces so effectively that they couldn’t stick their heads out, teaching any Chaos daring to peek out from cover what it meant to die without a place to be buried.
For their second firearm choice, the Church of Justice selected magazine-fed shotguns and M14 rifles. With three of each, the Church of Justice would accompany Malin as the assault force, so the shotguns with large-caliber surface damage and the high-penetration rifles with large calibers were the best choices.
The Half-human Punisher squad from the Church of the Goddess of Harvest would use short-barreled trench warfare assault rifles and pulley crossbows; the former an essential self-defense weapon, and the latter, a silent weapon, which could accurately hit targets within a hundred meters—an extremely effective armament for the Half-humans.
Lulu, as a Night Watcher, also had some knowledge about firearms, and during her time with Faye, had played with quite a few modern firearms. Malin had equipped her with a modified short-barreled assault rifle, complete with a front grip, a stock that mitigated recoil, a new panoramic red dot sight, and an extended magazine that could switch between fully automatic, semi-automatic, and three-round burst modes—should this girl be caught in battle while accompanying Malin and the Half-humans, the 45-round extended magazine would give the enemy a unique experience.
Once they were fully armed, Malin led the team to set out—the all-terrain tracked vehicle sent from Regensburg had already been delivered to Karen City, now a rear base in the Northern Administrative Province—of course, "all-terrain tracked vehicle" is an art name. If introduced in a way to please both refined and popular tastes, the tracked vehicles used by the Germans in World War II would be a fitting description.
It’s that type of small, dual-purpose, three-wheeled tracked vehicle. Malin had moved the engine to the front and added two wheels to increase traction and off-road capabilities, then enlarged the cargo bed, and transformed it to be convertible, able to switch between a cargo bed and back-to-back style seating, allowing it to now seat four people.
With the four-wheeled tracked vehicles, not only could they accommodate two squads of personnel, but one of the vehicles would also carry various life necessities—including many tools, such as Fire Gel or other things. Malin would use an even smaller four-wheeled tracked vehicle; besides seating Lulu, it could carry a loaded launcher and four ninety-millimeter rounds.
If they encountered any mechanical beings, Malin could give them a blast to test the actual lethality of this thing.
In Malin’s view, while shooting at mechanical creatures with it wasn’t a guaranteed hit every time, at least you had to fire it once, right?
When the convoy left Carterburg, Malin also made a point to notify all the major Churches, so they wouldn’t spread false news if they couldn’t find him, and he asked them to seize those who released false information and hang them from the street lamps.
While the crime didn’t warrant death, hanging upside down on a street lamp to reflect for a day was still necessary.
"Your son-in-law really is a trouble magnet," Anna said upon receiving news of Malin’s departure from Carterburg, as she turned to look at her husband, who was sitting on the balcony, enjoying the warm sunlight of winter days.
"What’s he done now? His wives are still pregnant; where has he run off to?" His Majesty of the Mowish family asked, quite dissatisfied.
"The North, to the territories of the Central Administrative Province of the Engma Empire. It’s said someone found a key to a refuge; he’s gone on an expedition." After finishing her explanation, Anna caressed her gradually swelling belly: "Speaking of which, you don’t really have a position to criticize Malin. When Faye was still in my belly, weren’t you running around the world just the same?"
"...Alright, you’re right, I really don’t have the grounds to criticize." His Majesty of the Mowish, reminded by Anna in this way, didn’t argue this time. He sighed and then looked at his wife: "But speaking of refuges, can you confirm that it’s in the Central Administrative Province of Engma?"
"Yes, the key was found in the ruins within the Central Administrative Province. It’s certain that the location should be further north." Anna continued, and simply handed the report she got from Lena to her husband: "It’s certain that this child is very close to the mechanical intelligences of the Old World. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but from the current situation, there shouldn’t be any mistakes. He really is an expert in this regard—this child is extraordinary."
"After all, he is my son-in-law; he’d have to be somewhat smart not to end up fooling himself to death." Turning a page of the report, the King of the Mowish family suddenly fell silent for a moment: "By the way, with whom did he go there?"
"I knew you were going to ask that question; he’s operating with two Punisher squads from the Church of Justice and the Church of the Goddess of Harvest," Anna said, pausing deliberately.
"Good, that sounds like he’s on official business." His Majesty the King nodded in satisfaction, his focus returning to the report in his hands.
"And Lulu from the Hagelberry family," Anna added the other half of the sentence she’d been holding back.
Then she saw her husband’s impotent rage—his eyes bulging, the King exclaimed, "What?! Why bring the little daughter of that albinism-afflicted family! What the devil is my son-in-law thinking?! Can’t he ever stop?!"
"It was your daughter who let the Hagelberry girl accompany them," Anna revealed the specially highlighted part of the report.
"My daughter?! Has she gone mad? Does she think she doesn’t have enough rivals?!"
"I believe our daughter doesn’t care, or rather, she thinks her Malin is qualified to obtain new spoils. Speaking of which, I also think you are qualified."
"Ah ha, you speak prettier words than a song, but I’d rather not face the violence that comes rushing at my face."
The conversation between husband and wife halted here, leaving the atmosphere somewhat cold. His Majesty the King lowered his head to the report, while his wife shook her head.
"Dear, you see, this is the only difference between you and Malin."
"Enough, dear, can’t you tolerate your legendary warrior husband’s unrealistic fantasies?"
"Look, I am tolerating you, of course, I just hope you can understand the efforts our daughter is making to preserve the family legacy. We all know Malin is a good kid, but he’s too outstanding, so outstanding that all families under heaven covet him. Our daughter, being the first to invest and achieve success, has a natural advantage. So don’t feel sorry for our daughter. Believe me, she will be the biggest winner."
"...You talk a good theory, fine, I believe what you say, but if that boy ever does something to wrong my daughter, I will surely slaughter him."
"If it really comes to that, believe me, dear, I would hand you the knife," said Anna.
The encouragement from his wife delighted the King of Mowish, and he discarded the newspaper, "I’ll buy you some pastries, the ones from that little rascal Malin’s pastry shop."
Having said that, the middle-aged man who was approaching his fifties left the room with the spry steps of a younger man.
Standing behind Anna, Lena now bent down and voiced her doubt beside her sister and lady, "Are you sure you would pass the knife to this fool?"
"Of course, rather than letting him die miserably at Malin’s hand, why not give him a knife for a quicker release? A legendary mage fighting a warrior? Unless one has a problem with their brain, how could one possibly lose?" With that, Anna smiled and picked up a cup beside her, "Here, Lena, my dear sister, pour me a glass of water."
"As you wish," said Lena, taking the cup and walking toward the water pitcher.
Pouring water for her lady, Lena handed the cup back to Anna, "Speaking of which, I’m also puzzled by Faye’s choice. Why would she tolerate that Hagelberry girl joining them?"
"My daughter said it’s normal social interaction, but she lied. I know it’s not true, and that puzzles me, too. If it was a lie, then why lie to her own mother? And it’s not just her; Nova is no pushover either. Why would she remain silent?"
In Anna’s view, none of Malin’s lovers were to be trifled with. The fact that they could unite with her daughter was all about possessing Malin.
As such, they formed alliances, empathizing with each other’s feelings—a compromise Anna saw as reasonable. If one couldn’t have him all to oneself, then why not join together?
But why would they allow a newcomer to join? Money surely couldn’t buy those girls’ loyalties. Anna’s daughter and her friends had established corporate groups that had already earned plenty of gold. They were not lacking in funds. So if money was not an issue, why then would they let the daughter of the Hagelberry family join their ranks?
Therefore, the lady chose to wait and see.
When the dust settled, she would surely see the answer.
What a delightful wait it was going to be, certainly a significant one.