Inside a tavern in Provins Town, Marshal Bazaine sat surrounded by several officers in a discussion. Zelensky of the Assassination Battalion was among them, seated very close to Marshal Bazaine—a detail that clearly reflected his special status within the army.
Marshal Bazaine wore a somewhat melancholy expression, his gaze drifting as if recalling something unpleasant. On the way to Provins Town, he had meticulously set a massive trap for the Special Operations Team, a web of hidden hazards designed with lethal intent. He had hoped to use this prime opportunity to wipe out in one stroke the Special Operations Team that had long been a thorn in his side. To his utter dismay, however, the Special Operations Team seemed to have sensed the danger and never appeared, rendering all his elaborate preparations completely useless and wasting his painstaking layout. He sighed with a trace of resignation, a mix of reluctance and confusion in his tone. "Tell me, why is this Special Operations Team so cowardly?" he asked. "We gave them such a wonderful opportunity to eliminate me, yet they failed to show up, completely wasting the 'surprises' we prepared for them. Judging by their past conduct, they shouldn't be this timid. Now that we're about to reach Paris, they probably won't have another chance, and we've lost this golden opportunity. We'll just have to wait for another suitable time in the future to wipe them out."
Without waiting to see whom Marshal Bazaine was addressing or whe…
Chapter 71