Chapter 304: Even If Only One Person Remains

Chapter 304 Even If Only One Remains

When he beheld the commander clad in his iconic armor, Yu Qian realized his fight could finally end.

He had intended to rest, yet he never imagined that after following the commander safely to the supply point, the commander would slice him with a single stroke.

—–

Of course, the cut was to the chest.

“Closed pneumothorax, textbook case.”

“Fortunately, the delay wasn’t long; there’s still a chance of rescue.”

“That one, Liu Qi!”

“Take Squad Five and move out first, loop around to Pengze Town; there a steam locomotive of the Mechanical Cult awaits.”

“Board it, head north to Huko, then take the steamship back to Base 011.”

“Xie Liu, go with them and bring the other wounded along!”

“Understood!”

Xie Liu, ever at Shen Yue’s side, answered at once and immediately set about arranging the evacuation.

Yu Qian dared not move, and could only lie obediently upon the stretcher.

Yet seeing Shen Yue, bloodied and with glaring cracks in his armor, he could not help but ask:

“Commander, aren’t you withdrawing yet?”

“I cannot withdraw.”

Shen Yue did not turn his head, replying offhand:

“We still have to go to the Han River.”

“He Shuo——Commander He’s line is about to collapse.”

“His expeditionary force has already suffered over half its men; even now they cannot retreat.”

“I must go aid him, cover their withdrawal from the position, then have the bombers deliver a nuclear strike to seal the rear.”

“You needn’t worry about me; just tend to your wounds.”

“This battle was fought well; I’ll record your merit when we return!”

“—Yes.”

Yu Qian longed to rise, straighten himself, salute the commander in true Chinese‑military fashion, and answer with a vigorous “Copy that,” but his present condition plainly forbade such actions.

Two injections of adrenaline pierced his skin, barely keeping his consciousness afloat.

Yet any further sweeping motion would be courting death.

At that moment, Xie Liu had already organized the wounded’s extraction; two soldiers from Squad Five lifted the stretcher and followed Xie Liu onto the supply truck.

Yu Qian tilted his head upward, gazing at the sky where two bombers streaked by.

As the bombers dive, their payloads were released.

“Boom!”

The deafening blast rattled Yu Qian’s eardrums; he felt the bomb’s impact land not far from him.

So close?

The situation was truly grim.

Yu Qian furrowed his brow, aware he needed rest, yet sleep eluded him no matter how hard he tried.

“If only I were a Saint‑blooded one like you,”

he blurted out.

Xie Liu, who had been on guard beside him, froze briefly, then said:

“Saint‑blood may not be a blessing; it is more akin to a poison‑quenching curse.”

“We cannot reproduce naturally; that is our greatest plight.”

“The more Saint‑blooded there are, the fewer ordinary humans remain.”

“One day we will perish because of it.”

“But at least we won’t die at the monsters’ hands, right?”

Yu Qian managed a wry smile.

“The commander has a better solution.”

Xie Liu, unwilling to linger on the subject, cut straight to the chase:

“Stop talking.”

“Your lung is pierced; try to die slowly.”

“Hold out until we reach the base; we can still save you.”

“—Understood.”

Yu Qian closed his eyes once more.

Scorching sunlight poured from above, filtered through leaves, painting his vision alternately black and crimson.

In his mind echoed Xie Liu’s words.

The commander has a better remedy.

She was right. The truck rolled onto the paved road, no longer shielded by foliage; enveloped in a warm, reddish glow, Yu Qian slipped into sleep again.

Meanwhile, on the Bang Lake front.

As Li Xian had foreseen, this fragile line, after its first breach, soon endured a second and third savage onslaught.

Monsters surged into the crowd, slaughtering indiscriminately; the fastest of them raced all the way to the makeshift command post where He Shuo stood.

At that moment, no one could react in time.

As the command post teetered on the brink of being shattered by the beast’s monstrous claw, the man named He Shuo stepped forward, crushing the creature’s skull with a weapon mounted on his armor.

Then, brandishing the weapon dubbed “the bomb gun,” he led his “personal guard”—a handful of elite soldiers hand‑picked from the expeditionary force—and the ever‑present Saint‑blooded beside him, launching a fearless counter‑charge.

Within minutes, the four monsters that had breached the line were utterly annihilated.

He himself was wounded in the fray, but the armor shielded him from any fatal harm.

Yet his blood‑soaked left arm bore unmistakable testament to the battle’s ferocity.

Now he stood before the line, wielding an array of weapons to pick off the monsters attempting to storm the lakeshore with surgical precision.

Each gunshot that rang from his barrel spurred the remaining fewer than two hundred mixed troops onward.

Li Xian crouched beside He Shuo, firing his rifle at the swarming small beasts, and asked:

“How much longer must we hold?”

“Half an hour.”

He Shuo swapped the magazine of his explosive rifle and immediately replied:

“the main force of the infiltration company will arrive in half an hour; they’ll bring tanks and new unmanned combat equipment.”

“Their mobility far exceeds ours; with their cover we can withdraw safely.”

“Why??”

Li Xian furrowed his brow.

“We can’t hold any longer; our ammunition is about to run out. If we don’t leave now, we’ll all die here!”

“Leaving now is to die here!”

He Shuo’s tone was unwaveringly firm.

“It’s precisely because our ammo is insufficient that we cannot engage in mobile warfare that requires alternating cover.”

“If we stay here, the lake’s water barrier blocks them; we can still hold out with our limited ammunition.”

“If we abandon the position, if the monsters cross the lake area, we’ll die far faster than we do now!”

“Why?! We can run!”

At that moment Li Xian’s mind was a chaotic fog; continuous combat and lack of rest had severely impaired his reasoning, so much so that he asked a question that left He Shuo speechless with astonishment.

“Are you a fool?! Do you think you can outrun the monsters?!”

“If you truly can’t hold on, go take a nap; stop spouting such nonsense!”

“.I can still make it.”

Li Xian drew a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

He intended to use the deep breath to calm himself, to pause and rest.

Yet the instant he exhalated, he suddenly collapsed heavily onto the ground.

“Bang!”

He Shuo looked at him in astonishment, having thought he’d been hit by some ranged weapon and moving to rescue, when Li Xian abruptly lifted his head again.

Blood welled from a shard of stone that had bruised his forehead, but that brief blackout cleared his mind a little.

“How much longer must we hold out??”

Li Xian, while quickly swapping the empty magazine, asked.

“.28 minutes!”

He Shuo gritted his teeth and answered.

“Bang bang bang bang—”

Li Xian pulled the trigger.

“Will they come??”

“I’ve heard they’re not in good shape either!”

“Is there anyone left in the infiltration company??”

“That’s not a concern of yours.”

He Shuo turned his head toward Li Xian, and said firmly:

“They will come.”

“Even if only one person remains, they will still come!”

(End of chapter)