Two Realms Shuttle Gate: Don't Call Me a Demon!

Sin Fan Avenue, an army was marching.

Tanks and armored vehicles rumbled over the broken road, flanked by a large number of soldiers on foot, followed by many heavy trucks loaded with logistic supplies.

Sin Fan Avenue was just a simple paved dirt road that became increasingly battered under the crush of these steel behemoths, especially with the relentless downpour.

Even though most of their armor primarily used tracks, passing through the muddy road was exceedingly difficult, with astonishingly high breakdown rates, and a non-negligible number got stuck.

This troop belonged to a mixed force of Chan Country and Japan, with a total strength of over fifteen thousand, including an armored regiment, a mechanized brigade, an artillery regiment, and two infantry regiments.

They were the closest to Ji State among the hundreds of thousands of troops marching through the Ruo Kai Mountains.

At this moment, there was only eighty kilometers left to Ji State.

Aboard a command vehicle, Isaka Yuusuke sat with a map spread out in front of him.

The map showed the marching routes for Ji State and the Ruo Kai Mountains, along with the topography of the area.

"Tell the troops to speed up, strive to get out of the Ruo Kai Mountains by tomorrow afternoon and reach the territory of Ji State," he said.

Isaka Yuusuke looked out at the pouring rain, and the message from the rear command post about Scorpion Cloud Mountain's collapse causing traffic disruption filled him with a sense of unease.

Modern warfare's consumption of ammunition was enormous; not to mention those steel beasts in his own force, the daily fuel consumption alone reached astronomical figures, necessitating comprehensive logistical support.

Pushing open the door of the command vehicle, Isaka Yuusuke stepped out.

He watched as yet another tank got stuck in a mud pit, while logistics personnel and engineers were struggling to lay down broken stones and timbers below it, trying to provide the treads some traction on the slippery mud.

Two hundred meters away, a heavy truck lay overturned, its load of canned food strewn all over the ground.

Further ahead, engineers were reinforcing and repairing a bridge because the heavy rain had caused the river to swell and the currents to become too treacherous to cross without reinforcement.

Situations like these occurred now and then. Although the initial part of the march went smoothly, the latter half had become a torture as the incessant rain caused the entire expedition to struggle, sometimes with the armored units making less progress in a day than the infantry could.

The tropical rainforest of Chan Country in the Ruo Kai Mountains, combined with torrential rain and nonexistent infrastructure, was any armored unit's nightmare.

A mere few dozen kilometers, which a normal armored unit could cross in a matter of two to three hours.

However, within the Ruo Kai Mountains, this became a test of both the physical strength and mental will of the soldiers, requiring a whole day to get through.

Add to that the humid and sweltering air in the forest after the downpour, and not only were the local Chan Country Soldiers worn to exhaustion, but so were the Japanese Soldiers who were experiencing this ordeal for the first time, leaving the entire troop bereft of spirit.

"The meteorology department says the thunderstorms will continue for the next week," a staff officer reported to Isaka Yuusuke, holding an umbrella for him.

"This damned weather, luckily we only have the last eighty kilometers left. We're about to escape this mire of Hell, but it's tough on the brother units behind us," Isaka Yuusuke shook his head. When war broke out, you couldn't choose the weather.

You couldn't simply opt out of fighting because of bad weather, and the rear command post hadn't given them the order to stop and rest where they were.

"Tell the brothers to put in extra effort. Once we're through the Ruo Kai Mountains, we'll finally be able to relax," he said.

"Aye!"

.....

While this mixed force of Japan and Chan Country endured a difficult march along Sin Fan Avenue,

they were unaware that a formidable opponent had already set their sights on them.

Within the lush, primeval jungle on both sides of Sin Fan Avenue, Steel Camp Genetic Soldiers wearing Biological Armor were scattered and laying in ambush.

The rain pattered against the Biological Armor without quenching their ardent, warlike hearts. A desire for combat surged within them.

Miao Lun picked up the walkie-talkie and said indifferently, "Artillery Unit, confirm the enemy's position again and decide for yourselves when to open fire."

"Szz... Captain, I... no... problem."

"Captain... the enemy have... entered our ambush... position, ready to open fire whenever."

A few seconds later, some distorted and noisy sounds came through the walkie-talkie.

The dense vegetation of the jungle greatly reduced the range of sensors and communication equipment.

On top of that, due to the storm, the thick, wet foliage severely weakened the radio signals.

In the rainforest, at certain locations, Miao Lun's "Artillery Unit" was not the traditional kind of artillery.

They were all Steel Camp Soldiers, each carrying a specially made 120mm caliber heavy mortar on their back in addition to conventional weapons.

Typically, such a heavy mortar, weighing about two hundred kilograms, would require several strong soldiers to carry it and generally took a team of four or five to operate.

For long-distance movement, they would be mounted on wheels, with jeeps or armored personnel carriers usually towing them for mobility.

But these Genetic Soldiers' mortars were different, perfectly mounted on the back of the soldiers, as if integrated with their Biological Armor.

Wu Wo was the commander of this artillery unit, in charge of more than twenty gunners.

The entire Steel Camp numbered over a hundred and twenty personnel.

Typically, three soldiers formed a combat squad, three squads and a squad leader made up a platoon, three platoons made up a company, and the Steel Camp consisted of four such companies.

Genetic Soldiers, depending on which insect genes they had fused with, varied in how they used their weapons.