"Hey, hey, hey, what ominous words are you saying? Who are you calling ghosts?" Domo's complaint rang out.

"Can you shut your mouth for once? She just woke up from her injuries," said Dondon. It was exceptionally rare to see Dondon actually arguing.

At this time, the Storm commander noticed with astonishment that Dondon and Master Crystal were actually people of the same race as her.

"Who are the two of you? Where are you from?" asked the commander in astonishment.

Instead of answering, Master Crystal asked, "Who are you? Why are you here? Answer me first."

"Why should I tell you? You don't look like a good person at all!" retorted the little cat without a trace of politeness.

'Looks like this little fellow is quite a fiery one. It might be hard to communicate with her,' I thought.

"Little cat, watch your attitude. You're our prisoner. Know your place," said Zhang Bao'er unhappily.

"Victory and defeat are to be expected in any military operation. However, defeat does not mean that I will leak any information to you," said the little cat unyieldingly.

With that, the atmosphere turned awkward.

"Deputy Commander, may talk to her in private?" Dondon suddenly requested.

I immediately agreed. Having Dondon talk to her seemed to be the best option we had. Everyone withdrew, allowing Dondon to talk alone with the fiery commander.

"Canyue, the battlefield has been cleaned up. The team is also ready to set off. What are we still waiting for?" asked Kelly, who had rushed over after reorganizing the soldiers.

"A group of military officials is waiting for two kittens as the kittens whisper to each other," said Domo, indirectly raising his status in the team.

"The battle at the base is very intense. We need to attack the barbarian base as soon as possible to reduce the pressure on the commander's side," said Lin Feixue, who was getting anxious.

In truth, I was also very concerned. However, I still hoped that Dondon could obtain some information useful for our operation from the Storm commander. 

Just like that, everyone waited anxiously for five minutes. Finally, Dondon ran toward us.

"Her name is Wind Spirit. She's a girl," said Dondon.

"She also has the Wind surname?" Master Crystal was astonished.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"You little fellow, you only care about the gender, right?" said Zhang Bao'er.

Dondon glared at Zhang Bao'er before saying, "She is Master Wind's daughter, here on an important mission."

"Sure enough. I knew she had to be related to Wind," said Master Crystal after his guess was verified.

"Yes. I gave her a rough description of our relationship with Master Wind and the Storm race. She indicated that she's willing to help," said Dondon.

"Good! With her help, we can do even more. She must know the barbarians more than us," I said in excitement.

"But she also added a remark at the end. She said she's waiting for a tragedy to befall us," said Dondon doubtfully.

"What does she mean?" I asked, confused.

"That little fellow is acting very mysteriously. Also, she betrayed her original master so easily. Will she also betray us in the future?" asked Zhang Bao'er, who was uncomfortable with trusting our captive.

"That's not betrayal. Her official position is a military observer of the empire. She has the power to enter any territory within the empire's borders and take part in all military operations," said Dondon.

"I understand. She must have an imperial token from Emperor Fille himself. That grants her the highest level of authority in terms of supervision. In fact, there are only three military observers in the entire empire," said Baron Sisse.

"If that's the case, that little fellow is surprisingly powerful. But as a military observer, why did she command the barbarians during the last battle?" asked Old Du.

"Uhm, I forgot to ask about that," said Dondon awkwardly.

"That's not surprising. Military observers have the right to participate in any conflict they deem a threat to the empire at any time. I believe she had merely acted instinctively based on what had been occurring on the battlefield," said Baron Sisse.

"Dondon, how is she? Can she move immediately? We're squeezed for time," I asked.

"Yes. But I need Old Du to help carry her for a part of the journey," pleaded Dondon.

"That's no problem at all," agreed Old Du easily.

Dondon hurriedly helped Wind Spirit over. The little female cat was first rendered unconscious before being forcefully awakened. Even when walking, she was wobbly. Clearly, she had not recovered fully. Old Du easily lifted her and placed her in his backpack.

Before we set off, everyone stood before a crude gravestone and observed a moment of silence for our single casualty in the battle against the barbarians. As a comrade born on the same planet as us, he had sacrificed his life in the name of freedom, leaving his body on this floating piece of rock over a thousand lightyears away from Blue. After the moment of silence, we set off toward the barbarians' base.

"Why is your name Dondon? If you're abandoned and thrown out the first time, and then abandoned and thrown back the second time, won't you be back again?" asked Wind Spirit from behind Old Du.

Dondon did not know whether to laugh or cry. However, he wasn't angry. He constantly jogged beside Old Du, never abandoning his new friend.

"Canyue, look at that little cat. He's not acting normal," whispered Zhang Bao'er.

"Even if you know it, don't say it, fool. Don't create trouble for no reason," I reminded.

The 7th Armored Division and Coco's Youth Guards were able to march rapidly with the help of our morph-capable gear. Along the way, Dondon was not in the mood to be the contact person between us and the base. Thus, we got our information from Kelly instead. She learned that the battle at the base was extremely intense. However, Zhang Xingxing was able to tenaciously defend the base and repel numerous waves of attacks.

'I wonder if the base is already filled with corpses. Perhaps everything we did earlier to preserve life will be for nothing,' I thought somewhat dejectedly.

Suddenly, Old Du called me, looking like he had something important to discuss with me.

I approached him immediately and asked, "What is it? Can't you say it directly?"

"Wind Spirit has something to share with you," said Old Du.

"If my guess is right, that dumb brute Gunda must have occupied the barbarians' base by now," said Wind Spirit.

"That's not surprising. The barbarians have sent all their forces out, leaving an empty base behind. But it's also pointless to occupy such an empty place," I replied.

"If you know that, why are you rushing to the barbarians' base instead of your own base?" asked Wind Spirit.

"I want to take this chance to work with Gunda to surround Maley's defeated army. We will take them out in one fell swoop," I replied.

"Hahaha, you're really looking down on Maley. If he's really so incompetent, how could he be King Carter's enemy for so long?" said Wind Spirit as she roared with laughter.

"Why? What do you have in mind? Also, what did you mean earlier when you talked about our tragic ending?" I questioned when I saw how she was behaving.

"Since this little abandoned fellow has been decent, this princess shall let you in on a secret. This is a good opportunity for me to observe your capability. Maley has long prepared an inescapable trap at our base, waiting for the fool Gunda to step on it," said Wind Spirit.

"What? How is that possible? From numbers alone, that does not seem possible. Unless the barbarians have a terrain that is extremely advantageous to their side," I said in disbelief.

"As a military observer, when I first arrived on Rumble, my initial task was to observe King Carter. However, the Kingdom of Kenante wasn't able to defeat the barbarians despite having the upper hand. Thus, my interest in Maley's military strength was piqued. Therefore, I decided to observe the barbarians instead," said Wind Spirit.

"I heard that the barbarians only had an army of slightly over 10,000. Despite their lower numbers, they are flexible and valiant in battle. Thus, it has been very difficult for Kenante's army to defeat them," I told Wind Spirit what I had heard.

"That's the issue. Maley has been wanting to destroy Gunda's army of 30,000 for a while now. He has been working toward that single goal. Today, Gunda is finally going to walk into the painstakingly prepared trap," said Wind Spirit.

"To defeat 30,000 with 10,000, it will certainly require a lot of preparation," I said.

"The so-called army of 10,000 is merely a number Maley used to fool the dumb brute Gunda. In fact, the barbarians have an army of 50,000 elites. If I'm right, Gunda is probably already encircled by now," said Wind Spirit confidently.

"What?" Old Du and I exclaimed in alarm.

Baron Sisse, Zhang Bao'er, and Master Crystal also came over when they heard our shout.

"Fifty thousand people? How is that possible? Where did they get so many people? How can an army that big hide from Kenante's surveillance?" I asked.

"What did this female cat say? The barbarians have 50,000 soldiers?" Zhang Bao'er was similarly shocked.

"Why would I lie about that? I reckon that dumb brute Gunda was already destroyed by now," said Wind Spirit with a laugh.

"No. If there is really such a big ambush waiting, why did Maley need to ambush Luxisi's army earlier?" Zhang Bao'er asked.

"Fatty, you have quite a lot of questions, don't you? But you asked the right question. Maley is also arrogant and conceited. He was out of patience and had decided to first crush one small army while giving his army some practice," said Wind Spirit furiously.

"Little female cat, you must have given some suggestions to Maley and were rejected," said Zhang Bao'er.

That seemed to hit a sore spot—Wind Spirit's face turned red from anger. She shut her mouth and stopped talking.

"Canyue, I don't think Wind Spirit is lying. I suggest we have Anxashe send his mechanical birds to the barbarians' base to get the latest update on the situation there," suggested Baron Sisse.

I agreed with the suggestion. After receiving his order, Anxashe immediately sent out two mechanical birds. We were still two hours away from the barbarians' base. Everyone started marching silently. Due to what Wind Spirit had said, we were also forced to slow down our march.

Suddenly, I recalled something and took off my backpack. Inside, Bulu was still sleeping like there was no tomorrow. The massive battle seemed to have not disturbed its sleep at all. However, this time, I wasn't trying to get Bulu's help. Instead, I took out some canned space food from the backpack.

Then, I offered the food to Wind Spirit. Immediately, the shared gluttonous trait of the Storm race surfaced from within her. She accepted the food in excitement and gorged it down. In no time, she ate everything. Even after finishing the food, the little female cat was licking her lips, looking like she wanted more. Meanwhile, Dondon continued to walk silently, not complaining that he wasn't offered any food. I was rather surprised.

"I don't take without giving. Since you offered me food, you must have something to ask me. Out with it. Don't forget to give me more food after asking your question," said Wind Spirit, the peculiar little fellow that had directly revealed my intention.

I grinned and said, "What is up with the barbarian soldiers? Since there are so many of them, where do they hide at normal times?"