William Carter quietly crawled out of the mud pit; after all, being buried in a stinking swamp for half a day and a night was no pleasant experience.

While in the mud pit, William Carter already knew he was in big trouble this time.

Imperial mechas, transport vehicles, and soldiers were constantly moving back and forth through the jungle. It seemed the Imperial Army was planning to stay here until the war ended—they had even cleared a small airstrip in a forest clearing for ultra-small transport ships to land. Troops were gathering here in a steady stream, and supplies were piling up like mountains.

Even with his toes, Fatty could figure out that the Federal Army had surely retreated to the second line of defense; maybe the Sujiang Bridge had already been blown up by the Federals.

Even though he was in the mud pit, Fatty had the skill to distinguish, just by listening, exactly what kind of Imperial unit was stationed here and how large it was. This was his only pastime while hiding in the mud. William Carter remained motionless, “observing” this wicked Imperial Army.

During this day and night, the Imperial Army here was struck twice by the Federal Air Force, but it seemed they were well hidden, as their supplies and manpower didn’t suffer much loss.

But as the Imperial Air Force gradually strengthened its aerial blockade, nothing happened in this jungle anymore that could make William Carter happy. Disguised as a huge lump of mud in the grass, Fatty’s mind kept spinning: “Damn it, if this goes on, I’ll either be discovered and shot or starve to death.”

If it weren’t for his childhood patriotic education, his fear of torture, and his attachment to the family villa and flying car back on Capital Star, Fatty would have almost just walked over and let himself be captured by the Imperial Army.

“No matter what, I have to escape from here,” Fatty thought fiercely. “If things keep going like this, I’ll probably be blown to pieces before I even get out of this forest.”

After thinking it over, Fatty was out of ideas. It seemed that the good luck of escaping smoothly without taking risks was never going to be his.

As a scout, in this kind of situation, one would usually try things like: assassinating enemy officers, sabotage, disguise, guiding missiles for the air force, poisoning the water supply—creating chaos and surviving in the confusion. But for Fatty, these were all too dangerous; he hardly wanted to even think about them.

Assassinate an officer? If the officer dies, so does Fatty.

Sabotage? If the supplies blow up, he won’t survive either.

Disguise as the enemy? What is this, a movie? Fatty could speak a couple of words of Imperial, and he’d overheard the password, but what if he couldn’t find the right clothes? He usually had to shop at stores that specialized in plus-size clothing.

Guide for the air force? Are any of those battered Federal planes even still flying? Fine, even if he were an ace pilot, breaking through the Imperial Air Force’s blockade would be nearly impossible.

Poison the water supply? Fatty was just a mechanical maintenance soldier, not some special forces guy with a bag of tricks—where would he get poison?

Fatty felt like his brain was about to explode, caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Damn it! Screw it!” Once pushed to the brink, Fatty’s reckless side came out again.

William Carter didn’t know if he was lucky or unlucky.

Just as he made up his mind and was psyching himself up, a tall, strong Imperial soldier escorted two Federal prisoners into the jungle, passing right by Fatty.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Seeing no one else around, Fatty acted on impulse, leaping up without thinking. With a twist of his hands and a soft crack, the Imperial soldier’s head was wrenched around, and he collapsed like a ragdoll whose neck had been twisted by a child. It was Fatty’s first time killing someone, and it wasn’t that simple—he immediately stabbed a dagger into the unlucky soldier’s throat, then drove his knee hard into the man’s groin.

Even after laying the body down, he wasn’t reassured, so he gave the unlucky soldier’s head a whack with the butt of his gun, then sneakily dragged the corpse into the bushes.

The whole thing took less than five seconds.

Fatty’s legs were shaking uncontrollably, his heart pounding as if it would burst out of his chest.

He’d killed someone. This was really risking his life.

With those swift, deadly moves, the two prisoners were left dumbfounded.

Two female prisoners.

One was a pilot, the other a medic.

Both as beautiful as flowers, stunningly attractive.

Fatty had no time to care about the two dazed female soldiers. Shamelessly, he stripped himself naked and quickly changed into the Imperial soldier’s uniform.

The two Federal women felt like they were about to break down.

What kind of monster was this pale, chubby guy?

Chapter Four: Modified Mecha

William Carter looked at the two Federal women staring hard at him and felt a wave of melancholy. Maybe if he were facing two ugly women, Fatty could shamelessly say, “I’ve taken care of your guard, so hurry up and escape.” But with these two beautiful women in uniform, Fatty just couldn’t bring himself to say it.