I only wanted to retire, but I ended up becoming an extremely popular character.

Cassius quietly led Zod aside and said in a low voice, "Lieutenant, the deadline... there's only one day left."

His voice betrayed his anxiety, and his eyes glanced unconsciously toward the group before quickly looking away.

"What if... I mean, what if we can't find the mother and daughter or the murderer..."

He leaned closer, his breathing slightly rapid with tension: "Let those two bandits we caught take the blame."

"At least this way we can give the higher-ups an explanation, and we won't be in too much of an embarrassing situation."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter who kidnaps whom. Besides, these two scoundrels have indeed trafficked many innocent people, so they deserve to die."

Cassius was not questioning Zod's abilities.

But as time ticked away, he became increasingly afraid that he would ultimately be unable to safely rescue the hostages.

If the powerful figure who holds the key to Zod's advancement were to take his anger out on him, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Cassius's own future was secondary.

If the other party is narrow-minded, a single transfer order can send him and Zod to the bloodiest meat grinder on the front lines.

He had to find a way out for himself and for Zod.

"It won't work, Cassius."

Zod shook his head slightly, his tone calm but leaving no room for negotiation: "Without solid evidence, those old foxes will never believe the bandits' one-sided story."

"Moreover, deception is a far more unforgivable sin than mission failure."

He paused, his gaze drifting to the distant rolling hills, and continued, "There's no need to worry too much. Aren't there still areas we haven't searched completely?"

"But, Lieutenant—" Cassius wanted to argue.

Zod raised his hand and placed it on his shoulder, his touch steady and firm: "No buts, Sergeant Cassius."

"What you need to do now is trust me and follow my orders. Remember, there is always a solution to every problem, everything!"

"...Yes, Lieutenant!" Hearing Zod's confident reply, Cassius finally felt a sense of relief.

That steady voice seemed to possess a reassuring power.

At first glance, it sounds like a solemn promise.

However, upon closer examination, one will realize that Zod never actually gave any specific guarantees.

This is just an empty promise.

The phrase "anything can be solved" refers to Zod's ability to escape to another country without anyone noticing when the mission reaches the border.

What he needed to do now was to get Cassius and all the soldiers to follow him without any doubt, all the way to the border of the empire.

Once he successfully crosses the border, as long as Cassius is clever enough, he can shift all the blame for the failure onto Zod, who "defected".

Anyway, Zod would have already flown far away by then, so no amount of imperial accusations would matter.

Zod then dispatched several soldiers to escort the two rescued women back to their hometown.

The two bandits were handed over to the nearby police station.

According to imperial law, Zod had neither the power to try criminals nor the power to execute them.

Thus, Zod wasted another half a day because of the kidnapping incident involving the two bandits.

It was already afternoon, and there was only one day left until the deadline for the mission.

The troops carried out the search mission according to the established plan.

Zod did not order his troops to speed up the search, nor did he pass the pressure of the mission deadline down the chain of command, cancel rest time, or force soldiers to devote all their time to the search.

"Is this the composure of the strong?" Cassius thought to himself with admiration.

Despite the crisis, Zod remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic.

He had seen too many junior officers who, when faced with pressure, would jump around and force tasks onto soldiers, prioritizing currying favor with their superiors over the well-being of their subordinates.

Only Zod always maintained a relaxed and at ease demeanor, as if everything was under his control.

Cassius attributed this composure to the fact that Zod probably already had a complete plan in mind for completing the mission.

The search continued until dusk.

According to the plan, the entire investigation of the route drawn by Zod will be completed tomorrow.

Whether the hostages can be found remains to be seen.

Just as Zod ordered the camp to be set up for rest and to continue the search the next day, Cassius couldn't contain himself any longer: "Lieutenant, tomorrow is the deadline. We don't have time to rest here. Let's search a bit more of the area tonight."

Zod remained calm and smiled as he said, "Rest is also part of the mission. Without a good mental state, you can't complete the mission well even if you're running around like crazy."

While he spoke in a grand and respectable manner, Zod had other plans in mind.

Zod could only cross the Imperial border at night when it was dark and windy.

According to the plan, their troops will reach the border of the empire by late tomorrow evening.

Arriving at the Imperial border too early would be completely pointless and would only delay Zod's plans.

Without rest and recuperation, how could Zod escape far enough?

"Yes, Lieutenant!" Cassius was once again captivated by Zod's charisma.

……

……

It was dusk on the second day.

Zod led his troops to Ancol, a border village of the Empire.

Ancol Village is a village located on the border of the Holy Kingdom of Baines, a country currently at war with the Empire.

Due to the spread of the war, the village is now a ruin, with broken walls standing silently, collapsed roofs, open doors and windows, and deep craters left by shells on the ground.

The villagers had scattered and fled when the flames of war broke out, and now the village is deserted, revealing a scene of desolation and ruin.

However, even after reaching the border of the empire, they did not find out any information about the two hostages.

Those two hostages seemed to have vanished into thin air, as if they had never existed in this world.

Following Zod's orders, Imperial soldiers thoroughly searched the ruined village, but found nothing.

Cassius walked heavily to Zod, sighing deeply, "Lieutenant, there's not a single person left in the entire village, and naturally, there's no clue about the two hostages either!"

Zod nodded slightly; the result was not beyond his expectations: "Well, let the soldiers rest here for now!"

After all, it was still a bit early.

"Rest?" Cassius's voice rose with anxiety. "Lieutenant, now is no time to rest! If we don't find any leads tonight, the people demanding answers will be here first thing tomorrow morning!"

"No, Cassius, who said we were going to rest tonight? You have a mission tonight."

Zod then took out a map and gestured for Cassius to come closer: "According to the map, there are three relatively weak points in our defenses along this section of the border. This is just one of them, located in the far north."

Cassius said thoughtfully, "You're planning to search the other two locations tonight, right?"

"That's right." Zod traced his fingertip across two other marked points on the map:

"Considering that we haven't found any clues about the hostages along the way, nor have we had any witnesses, I suspect that the kidnappers may only move them at night."

"Otherwise, they couldn't have escaped the Empire's heavily guarded checkpoints and avoided the people within the Empire's borders so quietly."

Zod's words made Cassius realize, "No wonder they were able to disappear so completely within the territory..."

The troops took a brief rest amidst the ruins of Ancor.

Zod then issued the order to divide the troops into three teams, with Zod himself forming one team to guard the area near Ankol.

The remaining soldiers were divided into two teams, one led by Cassius and the other by another experienced soldier, to guard two other points on the Imperial border where defenses were relatively weak.

Once any suspicious individuals are discovered crossing the border, they should be apprehended immediately.

This is the last chance.

Every soldier was on high alert, their nerves taut as they blended into the deepening night.

Of course, all of the above-mentioned battle plans, analyses, conjectures, and deployments were just made up by Zod.

All the plans, analyses, conjectures, and deployments revolved around one goal: to completely shun Zod's people once they reached the border of the Empire.

Now, Zod is the only one left in the entire village of Ancol.

Haha!

Zod was about to begin preparing his escape plan.

Nige Ludayo!