Chapter 132 I Am Not Dead
"What are you guys waiting for? Let''s run! That fe will live forever in our hearts," Zander crawled out
of mud and shouted. He then took a direction and ran like his life depended on it. Watching, Thor and
the rest thought that Rocky was dead already so they followed Zander''s lead.
At this moment, Rocky appeared besides that pool of mud, a devilish smile on his face.
Zander, leading the sixth squad to find other remaining spirit maniptors, ran for the better part of the
night, until they were too tired to continue anymore.
"Do you think Rocky could be still alive? We should not have left him behind. I mean, after all, he is the
one that saved us," Joss said with grief.
"He gave his life so that our entire squad could live. He finally did something good back there." Zander
nonchntly answered his colleagues. For a long time, he had wished Rocky dead.
That very moment, light popped on, catching Zander and his men by surprise. A group of spirit
maniptors from the northeast military camp hade searching for them.
Immediately Zander identified them, and called them over.
Those soldiers and a couple of spirit maniptors came immediately. They were a little shocked to see
Zander and his men were stark naked and baked in mud.
When all the three squads assigned to the Maze Forest had failed to report in sincest night, the
Commander led a search party, looking for them all around. These soldiers along with the spirit
maniptor from the second squad had gone out to search for their missing colleagues.
Soon after Zander and the rest of the sixth squad were brought to a tent outside of the Maze Forest.
The portiere was drawn up and then a woman in a silver armor appeared in front of everyone.
"Commander Ma!" Everyone, including the spirit maniptors, soldiers and the rescued sixth squad,
shouted in surprise.
If Rocky were here, he would have been astonished too as this was Marin Ma, twenty-three years old,
the samedy he had met at the beast stall. It had not urred to Rocky that she was the Commander
of the northeast military camp, let alone a royal spirit maniptor at the first grade of the Heavenly
Stage. She was born and raised in a family with generations of military service. A few years back, she
lost her parents and all siblings and close rtives in the war. Marin bore the dying will of her father.
And thanks to her charisma, she had quickly risen through military ranks to be a royal spirit
maniptor. Her dedication to military services for her country was exemry. Although she was very
young and ady, she was apetent leader who readily earned the respect of everyone under her,
both men and women alike. So she had been promoted. Within three years, she had be a leader
of a small military camp. Her future was promising, and there was no limit to what she could achieve.
The second the spirit maniptors of the sixth squad appeared before her, all muddy and half-naked,
she turned away and demanded to know what had happened. "Why didn''t you return to basest night,
only to show up here looking like this?"
Zander stepped forward to report exactly what happened, but he intentionally left out the part where
Rocky hade to their rescue. The incident shocked everyone including Marin. They had never
anticipated that the mere three squads dispatched would attract the wrath of a formidable spirit-
manipted beast.
But they were relieved to hear that any of their squads had made it out safe and sound, except for one
missing member. A spirit-manipted beast of the Earthly Stage was far beyond the capability of their
dispatched squads. However, from the sixth squad that had been found already, all members had
escaped unscathed except for one missing. They must have escaped by sheer luck.
However, Zander imed the credit for such low causalities. Although Thor and the rest of the team
were very unhappy with it as they knew that Zander was lying, they dared not say anything. If indeed
Rocky was dead, no one would dare call Zander out for falsely iming credit. Challenging Zander
would definitely make him retaliate. Zander was a vindictive person who easily held grudges. He would
not make it easy for anyone that challenged him.
"Commander, we have found the third and the fifth squad. Unfortunately, the two groups suffered heavy
causalities." One spirit maniptor reported to Marin, dampening the mood, even before Zander was
done with his boasting.
Soon after what was left of the third and the fifth squads were escorted out of the Maze Forest. Out of
seven members of the third squad, only three were left, with two badly injured. At least the fifth squad
fared slightly better as they only lost three members of the team. But all their surviving members were
wounded, except for the squad leader.
Inparison, the sixth squad was nothing short of a miracle.
"Is it the same beast that you all fought against? Howe the sixth squad sustained only one
casualty while you two squads took such a heavy loss?" Marin questioned the leaders of the third and
the fifth squad.
The two leaders exchanged a look and lowered their head in shame, feeling jealous of Zander. They
wondered how he could be so lucky to escape with almost all his entire team.
However, they did not know that it was Rocky who had saved Zander and his team.
The truth was, all of them were ill-prepared to take on the enemy this time. It was just that they had
been arrogant and overrated their strength. Due to selfish ambitions, they had separated after they got
into the Maze Forest, each squad leader bull-headed to im full credit. Now, they were forced to eat
humble pie.
"Commander, we met members of the third squad in the Maze Forest once. But they were so scared
and ran for their lives, without trying to help us," said Zander, angry at members of the third squad.
"Is it true?" Marin stared at the members of the third squad in fury.
The whole third squad was petrified. They had wished that no one from the sixth squad made it be
back alive.
"The sixth squad has outdone themselves this time. They remained calm during the crisis. Thanks to
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Zander, under whose excellent leadership, they minimized causalities. He is worthy of double honor."
Marin ruled with firmness.
"Thank you. Commander! I risked my life for my men but this is part of the job being a squad leader. I
intend to inspire my other men with my example," an excited Zander said.
"What is the name of that missing spiritual maniptor?" Marin asked.
"His name is Rocky and he is a newer. He chose not to follow my instructions and ended up
paying for it. If he hade with me, he would be here. He paid the ultimate price for his
disobedience," Zander said, feigning empathy.
Thor and Joss were infuriated by this straight-out lie from Zander. He had already imed the credit
which had nothing to do with him. Yet he still painted a bad picture of Rocky, the very person who had
saved them.
"Commander! I have something to report," Joss reported after a bit hesitation.
"Speak." Marin nodded her approval.
"It was not Zander who led us out of there. To the contrary we were almost killed following Zander''s
orders." Joss could no longer hold it back.
"That is right! It was not Zander who saved us." Thor joined Joss.
At once, Marin frowned at their im.
The other soldiers exchanged curious gazes, gleeful to see the sixth squad turning on each other.
"Commander, they must be jealous of my reward. Let''s not get sidetracked." Zander had never thought
that Thor and Joss would defy him for the protection of Rocky. They had always been cowards. It was
on that assumption of theirck of a spine that he openly tried to defame Rocky for his own benefit.
"Commander, they could all testify against him." Thor pointed to the other spirit maniptors.
However, his colleagues were undecided. As they looked at Zander in confusion, they knew he was no
doubt hoping they would keep quiet. Marin, too, was staring at them with keen interest. Fearing for their
lives, they did not wish to go against Zander, so they chose to remain quiet.
"Speak! Rocky gave his life for us! You guys have no honor! You''re wretched cowards!" Joss was livid
at theirck of courage and principles.
"Commander, these two...... They just want the attention. I saved their lives yet they came back at me
over a dead teammate. I will see to it that they learn a lesson." Zander threatened, smiling insidiously.
Rocky had not returned yet so he must be dead. With no other witness willing to step up, it was almost
certain that the credit would fall onto him.
But just then, the unexpected happened. Out of the blue, a figure emerged from the Maze Forest and
appeared in front of everyone. "I am not dead!"