Salute To The General



No humans could be seen anywhere at the Doom Canyon.

It was a wasteland with hardly any animals or plants in sight.

On the contrary, cars had been left behind by explorers along the road. In fact, there were quite a number of corpses of animals and humans as well.

Just then, an unmarked jeep was driving along the Doom Canyon.

Nathan, Colin, Sevan, and Kerry were seated in the jeep.

All four of them donned black combat uniforms and different kinds of masks.

Nathan had on his face a menacing-looking dragon mask.

Colin was wearing a ferocious-looking tiger mask.

Sevan had an intimidating serpent mask on his face.

As for Kerry, she wore the mask of a phoenix.

At that moment, Colin was driving the jeep while Sevan was snoozing away in the front passenger seat.

Both Nathan and Kerry were seated in the back seats. Kerry glanced at the passing view, and there were sorrow and worry in her eyes.

As for Nathan, his eyes behind his mask might be shut, but his back was erect. His body was swaying to the movement of the jeep.

No one knew if he was sleeping or just resting his eyes.

All of a sudden, the vehicle came to a halt.

Nathan opened his eyes.

Colin turned around and asked him, "Mr. Cross, the restricted military area is right in front. We can't continue with the jeep. Otherwise, we will be spotted in no time."

Nathan and the others noticed a sign at the side of the road that read: Restricted Area. No trespassers allowed. Enter at your own risk.

Nathan said calmly, "In that case, let's get out of the car and continue on foot."

"Yes, Sir!"

It was not long before the passengers got out of the jeep.

After that, Colin parked the vehicle at a secluded corner and hid it out of sight.

At that moment, Sevan was looking around. There was obvious emotional turbulence in his eyes as he did that. Perhaps the surrounding was beginning to jog his memory.

Nathan asked, “Sevan, do you find this place very familiar? Have you recalled anything?"

Sevan shook his head and gibbered, "It all looks very familiar to me. I seem to have come here before, but I can't remember..."

"Don't rush yourself. You won't be able to recall everything in such a short time. But I believe you will remember eventually. Let's go!"

With that, Nathan led Colin, Sevan, and Kerry into the depths of Doom Canyon on foot. They headed in the direction of Heavenly City as indicated on the map marker.

Nathan and the others moved at a mind-blowing speed.

Six hours later, the four of them arrived at the deepest depth of the Doom Canyon.

Colin looked up at the mountain afar and said in a deep voice, "Do you see the cluster of buildings up on the peak of that mountain? That's where Heavenly City is situated."

"Let's go. We're about to reach our destination," Nathan said.

They began to walk along a path.

Suddenly, they saw that there were guards at the intersection.

More than a dozen guards were either sitting or squatting at a security post.

The guards were barbequing some meat and having some beer as well.

They did not expect any intruders to show up at a deserted place like that.

When they spotted Nathan and the rest of them, the guards threw their food and drinks aside swiftly and surrounded them. The guards also had their hands on the hilts of their swords.

The leader of the guards was a blond-haired, blue-eyed man. He questioned Nathan and the others warily, "Who are you guys? Who gave you permission to enter this area?"

Nathan, who was wearing the dragon mask, asked calmly, "Are you guys from Heavenly City?"

The blond-haired man replied coldly,

"We are the outer guards of

Heavenly City. What are all of you doing here? Remove your masks at once. Allow us to check you out so as to avoid any misjudgment"

A hint of mirth appeared in Nathan's eyes. "Remove our masks?"

The man with blond hair uttered in a deep voice, "That's right. If you refuse to cooperate, I'll have all of you killed."

Nathan nodded. "Fine!"

With that, he raised his left hand and looked as if he was about to remove his mask.

However, just as Nathan raised his

hand, he did not remove his mask.

Instead, he caught hold of a falling leaf and said casually, "Autumn is here. Is that why the leaves are falling?"

The blond-haired man and the others were dumbfounded.

It's summer right now. What autumn is he talking about? What falling leaves?

Nathan stretched out his left hand as if he was grabbing something in the air.

All at once, the one and only tree nearby moved as if an invisible force shook it. The leaves of the tree began to fall instantly like the slashing of swords.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.