Starting from the Planetary Governor

Fighting is a matter where the winning side always ends up with more spoils.

Besides wiping out a considerable number of Green Skins, they had gained something else: an improvement in the army's spirit and morale.

This had been a somewhat hard-fought battle, but they had won in the end. Although the process had its twists and turns, as long as they won, it bolstered the entire army's morale, combat confidence, and experience. The soldiers who had directly confronted the Green Skins and survived would be less fearful when facing them again.

The shadow that these Green Skins had cast over them during their time as adventurers had been profound.

Any alleviation in their phobia of Green Skins was welcome.

...

While the 4th Infantry Battalion was cleaning up the battlefield, a 33-member special operations squad had already embarked on their journey once more.

From this point onwards, there would be no more friendly forces to cover them.

But that wasn't much needed anymore.

After breaking through the enemy's most concentrated front lines and reaching the rear, within the 60-kilometer-wide and nearly 100-kilometer-deep urban ruins, it was clear that the Green Skins couldn't possibly staff every area with their forces.

On the contrary, with only tens of thousands of them, the area "belonging" to them was full of gaps.

Occasional glimpses of Green Skins and goblins did not mean they could easily spot the traces of the squad.

The space marines' stealth capabilities were unrivaled. Despite being clad in heavy powered armor, when they wished to be silent, their footsteps were indeed soundless. Likewise, the 28 special forces members were just as proficient in the art of stealth.

They would spot the enemy first in most instances; it was rare for them to be discovered.

When operating deep behind enemy lines, they avoided combat as much as possible to reduce the chance of being exposed.

However, if they couldn't avoid a confrontation—for example, if they were actually discovered, or if someone was on their route of advance and bypassing them would take too long—they would then choose to engage.

Even when they engaged, they would strive not to fire their guns.

They would close in quietly, strike swiftly, with combat daggers and military sabers becoming their primary weapons.

Matins' chainsword did not rev its roaring sound, merely relying on its teeth to tear through people was enough.

And truly, there was no target worthy of engaging his chainsaw for.

And so, they operated within the ruins for approximately twenty-four hours, with only a few hours of rest in between.

They pushed as deep as possible and then spread out as much as possible to broaden their reconnaissance.

Unfortunately, the Green Skins were very difficult to communicate with, and since there was no common language, they couldn't capture one for interrogation to obtain the desired information.

But in the afternoon of the second day, they made a significant discovery.

They discovered a staging ground for the Green Skin Tribe.

Located some sixty kilometers deep from the front line, a team from Storm Squad stumbled upon a group of goblins driving trucks and pushing carts, converging on a particular spot.

After relaying the information back, the entire team began moving in that direction, and soon they found the staging ground.

The Green Skins had cleared a large open area where over ten thousand Green Skin creatures were rowdily assembling. One-third were Green Skin younglings, and about twice their number were goblins.

Goblins are also a kind of Green Skin, monstrous creatures that grow from Green Skin spores as well. They are much smaller and weaker than the orc young, cowardly and timid, but not any less cruel. They bully the weak and fear the strong; facing a strong enemy, they quickly disintegrate in morale and scatter unless kept in line by orcs.

But when the enemy is weaker than them, or vastly outnumbered, their psychological advantage kicks in, and they become the cruelest executioners, especially fond of torture.

In Green Skin society, goblins often serve as slave laborers, orc servants, or even food.

In this starting position, the mere number of enemies was already substantial. Setting aside those nimble devils, there were more than three thousand orcs alone. This was almost more than any other Green Skin Orcs they would face on the front line.

Moreover, reinforcements continued to stream in from all directions.

As for the final number they could gather, no one knew.

Not to mention, the Green Skins gathered here not only outnumbered others, but their equipment was also very "sophisticated."

Armed pickups and iron barrel cannons had already been encountered, but Matins and his crew had spotted two other big fellows.

One of them was an armed truck.

It was called a truck, but in reality, its rear cabin was covered with armored plates and provided outward extending firing positions, making the whole back of the truck awkwardly shaped. On top of the cabin was a turret gun, and the front was equipped with a bulldozer blade. Overall, the appearance was one of chaos, wildness, and irrationality.

However, this is the essence of Green Skin technology. No matter how irrational it might seem, if Green Skins believe it to be rational, then it can move and is quite effective.

The other invention, also in the same style, made those present feel somewhat heavy-hearted: it was a "powered armor," a "war mecha?"

Whatever it was, it had been seen among many of the Green Skin Tribes. Humans called it a "killer can."

They stuffed a nimble devil or a disabled orc into a metal can. Due to the Green Skins' staggering technology, this was clearly not something that could be worn or removed at will, but rather something that would fuse with the machine for life.

From the upper and lower sides of the can, mechanical structures extended out as limbs. On the upper limbs, there were melee or ranged weapons attached, and on both sides of the can were large-caliber machine guns.

This contraption had appeared on many battlefields ravaged by Green Skins. They were not the main armored force of the Green-Skin Army, as they had even bigger contraptions. However, when such a three-meter tall device appeared on the battlefield and could maneuver in places where many armored vehicles couldn't, its level of armor and firepower caused despair among human infantry.

Even interstellar soldiers could not ignore such an adversary. A few shots from the machine guns on the sides of the can were enough to breach powered armor; the twin-barreled, auto-loading rocket launcher it held in one hand also had formidable lethality, and being hit by that large axe was fatal.

Of course, generally speaking, the interstellar soldiers won more often. Each of the five veterans present had destroyed at least five killer cans in their careers.

But those were career achievements, not the result of a single battle. If they were suddenly surrounded, even two or three of them could be overwhelming.

And now, in this still-gathering Green-Skin Army, they had spotted ten killer cans.

With more Green Skins joining, who knew if there would be even more.

The armed trucks comparable to Strider Armored Vehicles, the killer cans equivalent to a beggar's version of powered armor, over three thousand Green Skins gathered with several powerful leaders, or "tough" lads far stronger than the average orc...

Such a force, if directed to the front line for a direct assault, would result in catastrophic consequences.

Unprepared humans would almost certainly be crushed instantly.

Fortunately, they had discovered them.

Now that they were aware of the intelligence, things were easier to handle.

They did not alert the enemy, and after marking the coordinates, they quietly left and conveyed the intelligence to the governor.

They had not brought any communication equipment, nor was it necessary. The powered armor worn by the interstellar soldiers was equipped with the necessary communication modules and was already connected to the frontline command post's wireless communication channel.

The communication towers erected at the command post did this job, and during encounters with Green Skins, there was little concern about the threat of eavesdropping on the radio.

What the governor would do with this intelligence was beyond their concern for now.

They received further orders to continue their reconnaissance, following the designated objectives to find the Green Skins' main base, their armories, their "farms," their breeding grounds.

They might have lacked clues before, but now things were manageable.

Two interstellar soldiers were left with a few members of Storm Squad to keep an eye on the large group of Green Skins at the starting position, while the rest followed the route of the converging Green Skins in the opposite direction to search for the source.