Chapter 299: Dragged into the Water

Chapter 299: Pulling Down Into the Water

The trigger was pulled, and the gun cracked.

Yu Qian didn’t switch his Type‑191 rifle to full‑auto; instead he aimed at the beast sprinting not far away and squeezed the trigger shot by shot.

“Bang—bang—bang—bang—bang—”

Bullets sang out with a rhythm, and after each crack he swiftly adjusted his lead.

In turn, the creature seemed to be deliberately dodging the rounds.

Using its uncanny speed, the monster weaved left and right ahead of Squad Five’s line, even exploiting natural cover to evade direct fire.

The distance closed to within twenty metres in an instant.

And now it lay within the beast’s striking range.

Yu Qian’s magazine still held twenty‑five rounds.

He resolutely flipped the selector to full‑auto.

“Bang—bang—bang—bang——”

A hail of fire rained down, and the blood‑red “fetus” was ripped from the sky by the bullets.

At the same moment, the rest of Squad Five opened fire, their supplemental fire shattering the fetus’s body to pieces.

“Fall back to new positions!”

The squad leader issued the order again; Yu Qian swapped magazines and sprinted behind him toward the second line.

Behind them, the monster’s spearhead finally breached the flimsy barricade of fallen foes from the first wave.

Under constant flank harassment and the shepherd‑dog‑like infantry‑tank coordination team’s drive, the gathering horde pressed onward toward the Bay Lake.

They were still twenty‑five kilometres from the Bay Lake defensive line.

At their current pace, the tide would reach it in at most an hour.

The true hammer was about to strike, when suddenly Yu Qian’s headset crackled with Shen Yue’s command.

“Detected isolated monsters on the southern Yao‑tou River, more than ten heads.”

“The infantry‑tank team cannot arrive in time.”

“Insert Company, Squad Five, fall back to the launch point, board the Beast‑Rider and intercept at the east side of Yao‑tou River, north‑mountain tail direction!”

“We must not let the isolated monsters mass; they must be forced along the route we set.”

“Otherwise, all our tactics will be for naught!”

“Understood!”

The squad leader ahead of Yu Qian halted abruptly, then flashed a hand signal and ordered:

“Head east back to the launch point!”

“Board the vehicle for the designated objective!”

“North‑mountain tail direction!”

“Copy that!”

Squad Five’s men stopped, turned east, and raced toward the launch point set at the sole paved crossroads near Poyang Lake.

Along the way they cleared the ever‑appearing small monsters, and Yu Qian noticed the “blood‑red fetuses” multiplying by the minute.

He kept pulling the trigger, weaving a dense web of fire with his comrades, trying to fell each fetus the instant it emerged, lest it grow into a greater threat.

Yet even so, they could not eradicate every single one with precision.

The fetuses that slipped past Squad Five’s fire forced the entire insertion company to call in drone assets for pinpoint elimination.

Already‑scarce firepower was once again re‑allocated, leaving a gaping hole in the horde’s flank.

That very gap birthed the isolated monsters.

“What the hell is this thing?!”

Yu Qian cursed, swapping in his last magazine.

By then the team had reached the launch point; without a moment to rest they hurried to resupply ammunition and weapons, then swarmed onto the Beast‑Rider, hauling gear toward the north‑mountain tail.

Only then did the squad leader have time to answer Yu Qian’s question.

“I’ve already reported it.”

“According to the regiment commander, it could be an embryonic form of a Saint‑Blooded.”

“Saint‑Blooded?!”

Yu Qian stared, mouth agape.

He came from the Imperial Capital, so he knew what a Saint‑Blooded was.

But.

Now you tell me the Saint‑Blooded are fetuses gestated by monsters??

That shatters everything Yu Qian understood.

He didn’t know the term “reproductive isolation,” but he knew humans cannot bear children with other species.

Monsters, after all, are one of those so‑called “other species.”

Then why could a monster interbreed with a human??

Or is there some hidden agenda we’re missing?

There was no time to ponder; the Beast‑Rider surged along the paved road straight toward the north‑mountain tail.

The arm‑shield close‑range system on the remote‑weapon station peppered the surroundings, wiping out any unaffiliated lifeforms.

Nothing in its path could outrun the rotary machine gun’s hail.

That was good news.

Even the swift blood‑fetuses could not outrun the radar.

Yu Qian drew a deep breath, his nerves taut as he watched the world beyond the window.

With a screeching brake, the Beast‑Rider came to an abrupt halt.

“Get out!”

At the squad leader’s command, everyone flung the doors open and poured out the windows.

“We’re coming!”

“The isolated monsters are a kilometre away!”

“Recon reports at least two beasts above grade‑3!”

“We lack heavy weapons; we must use what we have to block them!”

“Set up heavy‑machine‑gun positions! Ready the rocket launchers!”

“Hurry! The faster, the better!”

“Understood!”

The crowd answered again, and a new position was swiftly erected; in less than a minute, the first monster appeared within their sight.

——

It was a creature of unparalleled strangeness.

A being that seemed to “float” in the air, moving with a lethargic gait, yet its drifting speed was terrifyingly swift.

It resembled a giant manta ray that had risen from the abyssal sea onto land, its side membranes inflating into massive “air bladders” that bore its weight, allowing it to launch itself with a light bound into the heavens hundreds of meters above.

From the ground it did not appear enormous—only a little over ten meters tall.

Yet when it swooped down from the sky, the pressure it exerted was incomparable.

The wind drew nearer, and Yu Qian waited silently for orders.

The next second.

“Yu Qian, bring it down!”

The squad leader shouted the command, and Yu Qian without hesitation pulled the trigger of his rocket launcher.

“Bang!”

A soft crack rang out as the rocket surged toward the monster that looked part toad, part manta.

In that instant, an ominous foreboding rose in Yu Qian’s mind.

And indeed, just as he had anticipated.

The moment the rocket struck the beast, a violent explosion erupted.

It was an unnatural blast far exceeding the power of the rocket’s detonation.

“Boom!”

A surge of wind roared outward, flames swept across the sky, then transformed into a rain of fire that fell toward the earth.

“Hydrogen! Hydrogen!”

Yu Qian shouted, his voice tinged with panic.

“Not hydrogen, it’s swamp gas!”

The squad leader lay prone on the ground; the searing heat from the burning swamp gas had singed his hair into curls, yet he paid no heed to the burning of his skin, turning instead to continue his assault on the next monster in the line.

“Bang, bang, bang—”

The rhythmic crack of sniper grenades rang out, and a massive arthropod convulsed and collapsed, its wound oozing a phosphorescent blood.

“It’s coming!”

The squad leader’s voice echoed in his ears.

Yu Qian lifted his gaze; the remaining dozen or so monsters of varied shapes were charging straight toward his position.

One kilometer away. He could already see the monsters’ faces with clarity.

Ten men against ten beasts.

In that moment, the intensity of the battle interlaced with the monsters surged to a fever pitch!

Meanwhile, on the Bang Lake defensive line.

The hastily assembled “expedition force” had been arranged by He Shuo into two rows with a blunt, straightforward formation.

The first row clutched the crude Type‑75 assault rifles, while behind them, a line mainly of veterans was dotted with fire points built from heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

Such an arrangement might not be entirely fair, but He Shuo knew that with limited weapons and manpower, this was the best configuration he could muster.

Relying on the terrain of Bang Lake, he could easily curb the massive monsters’ speed and agility; once they were slowed, a dense hail of bullets and precisely aimed rockets would rain upon them.

“Hold your formation!”

“Watch the person beside you!”

“Follow my orders—do exactly as I command!”

“Fear not! Bang Lake is our natural shield!”

“These monsters cannot break through!”

“Use the lake’s water as cover! It will be our strongest wall!”

“Do not retreat! Do not be afraid!”

“Fear leads to death! Without fear, you will not die!”

He Shuo moved back and forth among the troops, shouting encouragement, and his words seemed to take effect.

At the very least, even after witnessing the massive tide of beasts on the horizon, not a single soldier abandoned the formation.

—

Of course, a greater reason might be that they had already become “desensitized” in the previous battle and had then witnessed He Shuo’s uncompromising tactics.

So everyone there realized that fleeing to meet a certain death was less appealing than fighting for a chance, however slim, to survive.

The formation remained steadfast; He Shuo continuously deployed unmanned combat clusters, using the distant monsters’ speed and scale as a benchmark to organize flexible firepower.

He handled it with ease, yet beside him, Li Xian was trembling to the extreme.

The final test was about to begin.

Whether this unit could endure the pressure as the commander of the Chinese forces claimed would be known in a few minutes.

He still lacked confidence.

Yet having reached this point, he knew there was no longer any chance to run away.

“What exactly do you plan to do??”

Li Xian looked at He Shuo, standing at the rear of the line, his demeanor calm, and could not help but ask.

“We’ll fight according to the plan.”

He Shuo stared at the PDA in his hand, answering without lifting his head:

“First we must hold back the first wave of the beast tide, keeping them on the southern side of Bang Lake for at least half an hour.”

“After half an hour, the bombing run from Base 011 will arrive, dropping aerial bombs onto the densely packed horde.”

“According to Fuxi’s calculations, that bombardment will disable at least twenty of the monsters.”

“After suffering such heavy losses, the true commander of the beast tide will be forced to reassess the feasibility of their tactics.”

“The monsters controlled by neural implants will halt; once they stop, they will fall into the encirclement we have prepared in advance.”

“At that moment, the hammer‑anvil tactic will finally take effect.”

“But that hinges on us holding them for the full half hour!”

Li Xian spoke urgently, but He Shuo ignored him.

“Notify all combat personnel to stand ready!”

He Shuo barked the order decisively:

“the beast tide has surged within a 500‑meter radius.”

“ten‑second countdown, prepare to attack!”

“.understood.”

Li Xian clenched his teeth and sprinted to convey the order to the messenger soldiers.

The messengers, formed of the Holy Blooded, scattered swiftly to the various points of the defensive line, awaiting He Shuo’s further commands.

400 meters.

Li Xian’s breathing grew more frantic, his hands trembling.

He had been away from a true battlefield for far too long, and now, at a moment when life and death hung in the balance, he could not still his nerves.

300 meters.

Through the dust and smoke, the silhouettes of the monsters began to emerge.

Li raised his 75‑style rifle, identical to those of his fellow expeditionaries, and waited for the order to fire.

——

Yet, at that very instant, a gunshot cracked through the ranks.

“Bang!”

“Bang‑bang‑bang‑bang———”

Instinctively, Li Xian turned his head, only to discover a nervously trembling expeditionary who, upon sighting the monsters and before any command, could not restrain himself from pulling the trigger.

It was over.

A thought flashed through Li Xian’s mind.

This expeditionary force’s firepower was already pitifully scant; the outcome of a battle often hinges on the thinnest margin.

The expeditionaries had fired prematurely.

Even a single man, in a cascade of panic, can set off a chain reaction that makes everyone fire!

As he had feared, the first shot unleashed a roar of gunfire along the entire defensive line.

Those soldiers, still unfamiliar with their weapons, hammered the triggers madly; within seconds the chambers were emptied.

And when the rifles emitted the dry “clack” of spent ammunition, those soldiers only…

…awoke from their dream‑like stupor and realized their mistake.

They fumbled to change magazines, but by then the monsters had already surged within two hundred meters.

Li Xian, frantic, turned to gauge He Shuo’s reaction, only to find the commander as if he had foreseen it, unmoved by the sudden crisis.

He Shuo’s expression remained placid, his voice still calm as he issued orders.

“Second line, prepare!”

“Aim!”

“Fire!”

The moment the commands rang out, heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, 107 rockets, rifles, and recoil‑less cannons unleashed their fury.

Every piece of heavy firepower in the unit roared to life.

Simultaneously, autonomous combat clusters, guided by unseen forces, began their own specialized assaults.

Swarms of cruise missiles were released, rockets rained down upon the monsters’ midst.

The shockwaves of the explosions indeed felled several beasts and slowed their advance.

Yet

Isn’t this merely a drop in the ocean?

There is no time.

The first monster had already plunged into the lake, followed by more massive yet astonishingly agile creatures that had escaped effective strikes.

How can we block them?

Half an hour? ?

Even a single minute would not suffice!

As the monsters drew ever nearer, Li Xian squeezed the trigger of his weapon.

“Bang‑bang‑bang‑bang———”

Bullets poured out, carrying away the last sliver of his hope.

Futile.

The scant heavy weapons were too few, their lethality too weak.

To halt this wave of beasts was simply impossible.

It was all a deception.

Li

Xian forced a bitter smile and lowered his barrel.

——

But at that very moment, a massive explosion thundered.

“Boom!”

“Boom‑boom‑boom!”

Li Xian stared up in astonishment.

In the midst of the monsters, blossoms of smoke and sparks erupted.

Giant cannon

Li

Xian turned his gaze toward He Shuo, then looked toward the direction from which the artillery shells were raining.

Has the true support of the Huaxia army finally arrived?

——

Wait.

Li Xian’s eyes snapped open to realization.

The artillery fire did not come from the Huaxia troops, nor from “Jinling New City”; it came from Jiujiang!

This He Shuo had never imagined that a mere three hundred men could hold back the tide of beasts.

He had dragged Jiujiang into the water as well!

(End of chapter)