Cannon Fire Arc

Outside Balas City, inside a dilapidated church, the base of the altar slowly moved aside, revealing a narrow secret passage.

The first thing to emerge was the muzzle of an MP40 submachine gun, followed by a Prosen dressed in Paratrooper Hunters' military gear who crawled out of the passage and quickly took cover behind the stone benches in the church, adopting a guard stance.

Then a few more Hunters came out and occupied the most defensible positions near the exit.

It was only then that the Prosen Ambassador Schmidt crawled out of the tunnel, patted the dust off his cap solemnly, and put it on his head.

King of Tutka peeked out from behind Schmidt, trying to crawl out of the tunnel, but was stuck due to his overly corpulent body.

He struggled a few times, only to remain immovably wedged in.

"This exit is too small, why isn't it as wide as the passage? No, the passage itself is narrow too! Aren't you Prosens known for being meticulous? How could you not consider that a ruler might be broad-minded and plump?" King of Tutka bellowed.

Schmidt shook his head, "Pull him out! Those in the back push hard too! Quickly!"

Thus, two Paratrooper Hunters who were on guard dropped their weapons and rushed over, tugging at the King's hands and clothes with all their might—yet the King did not budge.

Schmidt said, "We need to do it together, I'll count us down, one, two—lift!"

The robust Paratrooper Hunters exerted all their strength, and finally popped the King out with a thud.

The two Hunters who exerted force lost their balance and fell to the ground along with the King.

Only then could the Hunters trapped behind the King crawl out of the tunnel, frowning as they looked at King of Tutka who was still panting on the ground.

Schmidt, puzzled, asked, "Why those expressions?"

One of the Hunters replied, "We were pushing him from behind, and then he farted. That fart was unprecedentedly foul; I suspect his digestive system is nothing but rotten meat now. Look, even the edelweiss on my collar has wilted from the stench!"

Schmidt looked at the edelweiss, noticing the white petals indeed looked less vibrant, but he wasn't sure if it was from the fart or simply because they had been picked too long ago.

"Alright, forget about that, get His Majesty up, we still have a long way to go. The Hansa company's plane should have landed, but we still have a hundred kilometers of mountain road to cover to get to the stretch of road straight enough to serve as an airstrip.

"The good news is that this road was built by us Prosens to high standards, so a hundred kilometers will be covered quickly."

Finishing his speech, Schmidt looked toward the captain of the Paratrooper Hunters, "There should be a truck hidden nearby, it's disguised as a pumpkin transport vehicle, go bring out the vehicle!"

King of Tutka exclaimed, "Pumpkins! I love pumpkins!"

"This is specially grown for you in your estate to ensure pumpkins could flourish in Balas' climate. We certainly spared no effort!" said Schmidt proudly, "Prosen science and technology is reliable!"

King of Tutka nodded repeatedly, "Reliable, reliable! So, are we eating pumpkins now?"

"No. We are using this pumpkin truck to escape."

Just then, the captain who had gone to fetch the vehicle rushed into the church, "Anteans are coming! They're at the foot of the mountain, almost here!"

Schmidt gasped in shock, "How could they appear here? This shouldn't be happening! Quickly, you go rely on the church's outer walls for defense, make sure to stop them before the church!"

After saying this, he grabbed King of Tutka's arm, "Please come with me."

Then he pulled the King outside without further discussion.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" the King shouted loudly, "My hand! My hand is about to be torn off by you! I'll tumble! Slow down!"

Schmidt ignored the King's cries, pulling him outside the church to the front of the truck.

At that moment, Paratrooper Hunters stationed at the church's low wall opened fire, spraying bullets down the mountain with their submachine guns.

A clearly commandeered Prosen three-wheeled motorcycle was hit, its front veering into a roadside rock, and the driver tumbled out although the machine gunner in the cart returned fire.

The Paratrooper Hunters armed only with submachine guns were immediately suppressed.

Machine gun bullets flew past Schmidt's head and struck the rear panel of the truck in rapid succession.

Schmidt opened the rear panel, and bullets hit the pumpkins inside, splashing their juice onto his face.

"Get on!"

King of Tutka looked at the height of the truck and immediately became gloomy, "Look at me, can I climb into such a high truck bed? I can't even get on with help."

Schmidt immediately called to the Hunters trying to return fire, "Come here! Throw him onto the truck!"

"No, isn't throwing him a bit too much?"

However, the Space Huntsman didn't care, directly grabbing the King and tossing him onto the truck.

The King screamed as he fell among the pumpkins, fortunately, his layer of fat cushioned the impact.

"Schmidt, I'm going to report you to the Emperor! Just you wait!"

Schmidt himself jumped onto the truck and shouted to the hunters outside, "Release smoke bombs to cover our escape; block the Anteans' pursuit!"

"Yes!" The Paratrooper Hunters, seemingly unconcerned about being trapped or potentially killed or captured, saluted and carried out the orders.

The smoke bomb was thrown, and white smoke quickly obscured the highway in front of the church.

Schmidt closed the tailgate and yelled to the cab, "Go now! Fast! If the Anteans catch up to us, we're done for!"

The pumpkin truck immediately started and, using the smoke as cover, rushed out of the church yard and sped down the highway.

Just two hundred meters after the truck had left, a three-wheeled motorcycle burst through the smoke and directly chased after the truck.

Then came the second one, followed by a Jeep clearly not of Prosen style—it was a Federation's Willys Jeep!

The three vehicles raced after the truck at breakneck speed.

Schmidt turned around and urged, "Drive faster! Hurry up!"

The Prosen driver yelled back, "The pedal is to the metal! It can't go any faster! This is a truck, not a race car, Your Excellency!"

Schmidt cursed, pulled out his Luger pistol, and fired a shot at the pursuers.

Immediately, the machine gunner in the motorcycle sidecar returned fire with a burst of gunfire.

It was only because the motorcycle was so bumpy, and the machine gun was inaccurate, that King Tutka and Ambassador Schmidt didn't end up sacrificing themselves for their countries.

Schmidt was about to return fire—yes, with a pistol against a machine gun—when he nearly tripped over a pumpkin.

An idea struck him, "It's these pumpkins meant for camouflage! Throw out the pumpkins! Otherwise, we can't go fast!"

Saying this, Schmidt picked up a pumpkin and threw it behind him.

The pumpkin smashed on the road, spilling its juice everywhere.

The three-wheeled motorcycle immediately skidded over it, swerving wildly like a drunk Antean.

But the Antean driver actually managed to stabilize it!

"Try this one!" Schmidt hurled another pumpkin.

This pumpkin didn't smash but rolled down the highway like a tire, heading straight for the motorcycle.

The Antean rider was swerving when he saw the pumpkin coming straight at him and swung the bike's head.

The motorcycle zipped off to the side and disappeared from the road.

Schmidt roared with laughter and kept hurling more pumpkins!

To avoid the pumpkins, the second motorcycle crashed straight into a roadside sign, severing the connection between the bike and its sidecar.

The motorcycle rider, quick as lightning, planted his foot inside the sidecar and used his broad hips as a makeshift joint between the bike and the sidecar.

Schmidt was baffled, "Can you Anteans have some respect for the laws of physics?"

King Tutka handed Schmidt another pumpkin, "Quick, keep throwing!"

Schmidt flung his hand, hurling the pumpkin.

But the last vehicle was a Willys Jeep, and the pumpkin smashed against the Jeep's front, crumbling to pieces while the Jeep was absolutely fine!

Yes, Willys Jeeps are just that durable!

The Antean in the Jeep ducked their head, even lowering the windshield, as if it would reduce the Jeep's air resistance.

Schmidt furiously kept throwing pumpkins, but the Jeep took more than a dozen hits without any trouble!

Schmidt got fierce, kicked open the tailgate, and shoved all the pumpkins off in a rush.

But the Jeep safely crossed the yellow area created by the smashed pumpkins.
Your journey continues on empire

Schmidt reached back and grabbed another pumpkin—this one was a bit soft, possibly rotten.

King Tutka gasped, "No! That's my head!"

In a flash, the first motorcycle that had left the road earlier, now came slashing back onto the scene, using roadside stones to leap high into the air; its front wheel crashed directly into the pumpkin truck's sidecar.

The Antean on the motorcycle lunged, knocking Schmidt off the truck, and both men rolled on the ground continuously.

At last, the Antean stood up first and punched Schmidt.