Fatal Strike: Paladins Mercenary Road

Chapter 746: Opponent’s Purpose

The old fisherman Queda was very experienced...

He set up an incandescent lamp on the shore, then took an iron skewer and walked onto the ice, testing its thickness by repeatedly poking the ice with the skewer as he walked.

After walking about 300 meters, Queda left a mark on the ice, then returned to the shore and called to Old Joe and Mountain Eagle to drag several sleds onto the ice.

The mountain eagle had witnessed the Inuit people's methods of camping in the wild. Their traditional tent, the 'tupik,' was made from more than ten birch tree trunks, each about six meters long, covered with animal skins, which helped them withstand the cold in the frigid wilderness during winter hunting.

However, the camp is now very well-stocked, and Queda has become quite wealthy as well. He used the remaining materials in the camp to make a detachable 'Tupik' skeleton...

Fifteen steel pipes, each about 8 meters long, were assembled together, and a rather rough-hewn top fastener was added. In just over ten minutes, a tent frame large enough to accommodate 10 people was erected.

Next, an oilcloth is placed over the tent, followed by an animal hide, and snow is used to press down the edges of the tent to prevent drafts. This completes a traditional Inuit 'tupik'.

The top of the 'Tupike' tent is not sealed, which is intended to allow for ventilation and smoke extraction. However, Quetta is now more particular and has glued a transparent acrylic sheet above the top fastener to block rain and snow.

The whole process sounds simple, but it took so many people almost two hours to set up the tent.

The children did more harm than good, slowing down the progress, but they were still very enthusiastic about their work.

Because everyone was encouraging them to learn more, from small things like how to tie a knot to big things like how to drill holes in the ice, all the details and safety principles were instilled into their minds during their work.

It's certainly not enough to teach several children how to set up a tent in one practical session, but both the indigenous people like Old Joqueda and the father like Mountain Eagle maintained their patience with the children...

Take it one step at a time. It doesn't matter if you can't learn it right away. As long as you've experienced it and it's left an impression, you'll do better next time.

After the tent was set up, Queda used a hole drill to make eight holes about 20 centimeters in diameter in the ice as fishing spots...

The tent was very spacious inside. After a quick calculation, the mountain eagle carried eight folding cots one by one from the sled into the spacious tent, unfolded them along the edge of the tent, and then laid out thick furs and sleeping bags.

Old Joe dragged some stones and firewood from the shore with a sled, then built a large fire pit in the middle of the tent for warmth. He also set up an iron tripod above the fire pit and hung a large kettle on it to boil water.

As the flames rose, the smoke, influenced by the chimney effect, quickly gathered at the top of the tent and was released from the open top. However, the heat spread outwards, quickly warming the inside of the tent.

Of course, this warmth cannot compare to that provided by a fireplace or air conditioning; it is merely enough to keep one warm against the harsh cold outside.

After everything was settled, Yue Yi took out a two-foot-long whale bone fishing rod. Instead of competing with Luna for his father, he cleverly pulled Queda along and had the old fisherman help him tie the fishing line and bait. Then he moved a small stool and sat down next to the ice to start fishing.

After warming herself up at the hunter's cabin, the playful Marta sneaked into the tent, wanting to experience the fun of ice fishing. However, she was quickly dragged out by Tiffany, who said they were going to explore the surrounding woods and learn about polar survival.

I heard that Tiffany wanted to abandon the hunter's cabin and the Tupike tent and instead pitch a tent in the woods by the shore for the night, and Marta almost cried...

She clung to her boss, Mountain Eagle, throwing a tantrum to stay, until Tiffany threatened to fire her. Only then did the girl obediently change into thicker clothes under Old Joe's guidance, get a thick waterproof fur from Queda, and, carrying a double sleeping bag, follow Tiffany into the forest, braving the bitter cold.

Mountain Eagle didn't care at all about this little girl who was determined to become a mercenary...

He herded Marta out of the tent like a sheep and loudly praised Tiffany's self-enhancing ideas.

After seeing them off, Mountain Eagle fed the two fully armed Magengxie wolves, checked their equipment again, and then ordered them to head north...

Baron then led the remaining four Magenxi wolves into the tent. The four half-grown Magenxi wolves, which were already about the size of a German Shepherd, nestled together around the children...

The wolves were quite intelligent; while keeping the children warm, they kept their eyes on the ice cave, hoping to sneak a bite when their little masters had a good harvest.

Baron sat down beside the mountain eagle, resting his large head on the eagle's lap, and stared at the ice cave in front of him in place of his distracted master...

While the kids were laughing and joking about their ice fishing competition, Mountain Eagle's attention had already shifted to his tactical goggles...

Before setting off, he released all the newly created peregrine falcons and snowy owls, replacing the crows that needed charging.

Snowy owls, with their excellent camouflage, serve as fixed sentry posts, extending the camp's reconnaissance radius to approximately 25 kilometers. They can enhance their endurance by standing still, and also act as signal repeaters, increasing the flight range of other mimic birds. Peregrine falcons partner with snowy owls, taking off in pairs to conduct on-site reconnaissance once radar detects an alarm.

A peregrine falcon has now located the paratrooper team and landed on a large tree nearby.

A team of 12 people had been trekking for several hours during the day, and had traveled several kilometers south...

They dug a snowdrift in the ground, piled up snow to form a circular windbreak, lit a campfire in the middle, ate something, and then, wrapped in sleeping bags, leaned against the windbreak and went to sleep.

The mountain eagle carefully observed these creatures through the eyes of the peregrine falcon...

His first impression was that these people were very well-equipped...

Judging from their appearance, although they were dressed quite warmly, they were by no means bulky. Moreover, the fact that they could fall asleep in the extreme cold of around minus twenty degrees Celsius with just a simple snow wall and a campfire indicates that they had very good thermal equipment. At the same time, these people must have undergone such extreme cold training.

Their weapons were nothing special; the American-made M4A1 and M110A1 were not particularly advanced. However, the things on the sleds surrounding the snow wall caught the mountain eagle's attention.

The sleds were loaded with various ammunition and supplies, as well as two Igla anti-aircraft missiles. What surprised Mountain Eagle even more was that the group was also carrying more than a dozen Switchblade drones.

Mountain Eagle was almost instantly certain that this group was after the Brown Bear Camp, and that the aftereffects of his mountaintop confrontation with the Livingston family in Los Angeles were also starting to show...

The enemy is already aware that he possesses extremely advanced air strike capabilities. They may not be able to find a way to defend against it for the time being, but they are capable of using the same capabilities to launch an attack.

At this stage, the combat range of the Switchblade 300 is only 10-15 kilometers, the flight time is only about 15 minutes, and frankly speaking, its power is very average.

However, this phenomenon made Mountain Eagle a little uneasy, because it was just a small team, and their behavior puzzled and worried him.

If the enemy really intended to use these switchblades to attack the camp, they shouldn't have airdropped them to such a distant location, and there was no need to carry Igla missiles; such heavy weapons would have been more efficiently transported by water.

What are they going to do?
For the Mountain Eagles, intercepting these people was not difficult; the difficulty lay in not knowing their purpose, and therefore being unable to determine what other plans the people behind them might have.

This group's destination is definitely the brown bear camp, but their actions don't seem to indicate a direct attack on the camp...

The mountain eagles needed to figure out their target, as this was crucial to dealing with any subsequent attacks!
Just as the mountain eagle was carefully observing through the peregrine falcon's perspective, Zack, who had been completely focused on fishing, suddenly cheered, forcefully pulled up his two-foot-long fishing rod, grabbed the fishing line, and began to yank it upwards...

Queda found the fishing spots, not only choosing the locations of the ice caves but also hanging a small LED light on each one to attract a type of blackfish unique to Alaskan lakes.

But to everyone's surprise, Zack actually caught a rainbow trout that was a foot and a half long...

With great effort, Zack pulled the fish to the entrance of the cave, then called on his friends to work together to pull the big fish out of the ice cave.

Yue Yi looked at the red stripe running from the gills to the tail of the large rainbow trout, enviously gesturing to show the length of the fish. Then, sniffing, he high-fived Zack and said, "Zack, Dad brought some seasoning. Let's grill it and eat it..."

I didn't eat much tonight, this big guy must taste amazing..."

Zack happily removed the fishing hook, cast the green fluorescent bait back into the ice hole, and then pulled up the big fish with both hands, saying happily, "I'll clean the fish. You wait, we'll eat grilled fish..."

Queda watched as Zack dragged the large fish to the fire pit, took out a Swiss Army knife and began to demonstrate. He then smiled and pulled out a shovel-shaped Inuit traditional knife, saying to Zack, "Kid, this is a traditional treasure of the Inuit people. Let me teach you how the Inuit prepare a large fish..."

When the mountain eagle heard the word 'aboriginal people', it paused for a moment, and then its eyes suddenly froze...

He turned his attention back to the group, ordered the peregrine falcon to fly high, and after confirming the direction they were heading by the tracks in the snow, he muttered to himself, "So they were planning to besiege the group and ambush their reinforcements..."

However, this location wasn't mine, but rather Huai's tribe...

These guys want to move our manpower around. If we use helicopters to provide support everywhere, then...

"Damn, they definitely had more than one team..."

(End of this chapter)