Chapter 312: Where Do I Sign Up

Chapter 312: Where to Register

When Lei Jie successfully ferried the cargo back to Base 011, Chen Jian was leading the Assault Company in pursuit of the last great tide of beasts sweeping from the southeast.

The seizure of crucial equipment reshaped Chen Jian’s strategy; no longer seeking to annihilate the southeastern beast tide entirely, he organized a decisive yet brief offensive that shattered the tide outright.

Meanwhile, far away in Hanshui City, He Shuo made a corresponding strategic adjustment.

After the Interleaving Company’s remaining forces cleared the stray monsters around Hanshui City, the expeditionary force quickly expanded and began selectively bolstering the Interleaving Company with personnel of superior combat capability.

Thus the operational focus of the Huaxia Army shifted.

From the previous phases of segmentation, encirclement, and decisive battle, it transformed into seeking the enemy, interleaving, decapitation, and final confrontation.

According to the experience of the Mechanical Cult on the northern front, if the core commander of each beast tide can be eliminated, the difficulty of the fight drops dramatically, even turning a clash of ‘organized’ versus ‘disorganized’ into a crushing onslaught.

Wiping the splattered monster blood from his explosive rifle, Chen Jian exhaled a long breath.

‘We saw no commander among this tide of beasts.’

‘Two possibilities: either the enemy, sensing an irreversible turn, has already withdrawn.’

‘Or they are able to acquire our position in real time and have taken evasive action.’

‘Both scenarios are highly plausible, but if it is the latter…’

‘Our drones and bombers have flown the skies countless times, our reconnaissance balloons have long been released—why have we never encountered their aerial surveillance devices?’

‘It can’t be merely high‑altitude scouting; what level of technology and industrial completeness must Mountain City possess?’

‘Three hundred years.’

When Chen Jian’s words faded, Huang Yu, standing beside him, nodded.

‘Indeed astonishing, commander. Is there any other means of reconnaissance?’

‘Perhaps our unmanned combat gear, or radio‑monitoring equipment?’

‘Impossible.’

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

‘In this world, although the electromagnetic environment is relatively clean, it is not entirely free of noise.’

‘To rely solely on radio‑signal positioning, one must deploy multiple receivers within a confined area and employ the TDOA method.’

‘Yet even with that method, our frequency‑hopping communications would severely impair positional accuracy, perhaps to the point of impossibility.’

‘That avenue is blocked.’

‘If there are any other reconnaissance avenues…’

Chen Jian paused, then lifted his head.

‘Satellites.’

‘Only satellites remain.’

‘Last time, Fuxi mentioned that after three hundred years, some satellite signals are still receivable.’

‘It is conceivable that Mountain City has seized one or two reconnaissance satellites and, by some method, excluded them from our usable roster.’

‘The result: they can use them, we cannot.’

‘If we infer thus, our current predicament makes sense.’

‘We have an informational edge, but it is slight.’

‘That aligns perfectly with the outcome of satellite‑based reconnaissance.’

‘If that is the case…’

‘We may even have to wrest control of the satellites.’

Chen Jian let out a long sigh.

It was becoming ever more tangled.

At first, he had thought Mountain City was merely a nest dominated by some super‑monster.

Later, he imagined it a ‘shell city’ driven by artificial intelligence, devoid of consciousness.

Now, every sign points to a complexity far beyond what he had previously perceived.

It not only shares an intense link with the myriad secrets of the wasteland world, but also exhibits hints of a transcendent entity.

No, not a transcendent.

Rather, a regulator.

The city seems to constantly project its influence upon the world in its own unique manner, yet no one knows what outcome it truly seeks.

Perhaps only by venturing there in person can the answer be found.

The beast tide.

It is time to end this protracted war.

When all is concluded, the Huaxia Army will march westward.

Chen Jian swiftly packed his gear and ordered Huang Yu to begin inventory of personnel and equipment.

Two successive large‑scale battles have taken a heavy toll on the Assault Company.

Nearly ten soldiers are dead or wounded, more than a dozen unmanned units are damaged, ammunition is nearly exhausted, and each combat element now possesses less than a single full load of rounds.

They must return to New Jinling posthaste for resupply and rest.

Otherwise, any unforeseen engagement could leave the squad gunless, ammo‑depleted, and helpless.

‘Commander, what is our next move?’

Huang Yu spoke up:

‘The Yangtze’s waterway routes have virtually ceased operation; we cannot use the river for rapid maneuver.’

‘That’s fine.’

Chen Jian waved his hand.

‘Even if the waterway were usable, we cannot risk it.’

‘To the satellites overhead, it would be a glaring beacon.’

‘We must take the land route.’

‘Just over two hundred kilometres. First to Suzhou, passing through Huzhou, then follow G25 back to base.’

‘Understood!’

Huang Yu immediately began rallying the troops, all vehicles spooling to life.

Minutes later, the column set off toward the southwest.

After nearly three hours, they arrived at Huzhou City and took a brief first respite.

There, they encountered a massive civilian convoy that had set out from Huzhou and was now heading north.

‘Where are they going?’

Huang Yu asked with puzzlement:

“We have already made it clear to them that the beast tide from the south has been neutralized; yet they refuse to stay here and insist on heading north?”

“Are they courting death?”

“It’s only natural.”

Watching the civilians outside the window halt their steps and stare at his convoy, Chen Jian spoke:

“All the populace is blind.”

“They instinctively revere greater powers, yet they harbor an innate skepticism toward those very forces.”

“They know we can save them, yet they do not trust us.”

“They trust only their own experience and judgment.”

“All we can do is to alter their experience.”

“Let us go, ignore them.”

“Notify the base to prepare for reception.”

“Regardless, we must give them a way to live!”

On the other side, Base 011.

When Yu Qian awoke from a dozen hours of unconsciousness, his eyes beheld a sea of blinding white light.

In that instant he had no notion of his location; the first thought that rose was not joy at waking, but regret.

He lamented that he likely would not have survived, that he would have perished on the road back to base.

He mourned that his two children would become complete orphans.

——

Yet that thought merely circled in his mind.

In the next second, a familiar face materialized in his sight.

“Father!”

“You’re awake?!”

His son’s face shone with delight, cradling a daughter who clutched a clear plastic bottle filled with white liquid.

Is it milk?

Yu Qian struggled to sit up, his hand brushing his son’s cheek; the warm, real touch instantly reminded him he was among the living.

But

“Where am I?”

Yu Qian looked around in bewilderment and quickly realized he lay on a simple cot, surrounded by several comrades he recognized.

“It’s a ward!”

“A ward inside the base!”

His son’s voice trembled with a hint of excitement.

“Father, you truly have awakened!”

“The senior officers of the Huaxia army said you would surely wake; they were right!”

“They told us your injuries were minor, merely frightening to look at; at most you’d sleep two days and wake.”

“Today is exactly two days! You have slept two days, Father!”

Two days?

Yu Qian blinked his eyes hard.

Has it truly been two days since his injury and unconsciousness?

Yet why does he feel no fatigue, no hunger, and even a surge of vigor?

He raised his right hand and squeezed it firmly.

The movement was smooth, the muscles strong.

This is no illusion.

Yu Qian inhaled slowly, then exhaled; his lungs throbbed faintly, but the pain was worlds apart from the searing agony and suffocation of his injury.

His wounds were mending; he had, astonishingly, been healed.

Yu Qian lowered his head in disbelief, scrutinizing his own body.

He noticed a light garment draped his frame, and a needle embedded in the back of his left hand, its tip linked to a soft plastic tube.

“What is this?”

Before his son could answer, the comrade lying to his left spoke:

“It’s an IV line.”

“Everyone who wakes asks the same question; I’ve fielded it dozens of times these past two days.”

A teasing smile flickered on the comrade’s face, and he continued:

“Sergeant, you awoke far too late.”

“Otherwise, the job of answering everyone’s doubts falls to you.”

“Ask whatever you wish; I was the first to wake, and I’ve memorized every item in this ward.”

“That’s how it is.”

Yu Qian nodded thoughtfully, then raised his left hand and asked:

“What is this clamped to my finger?”

“That’s a monitor, tracking your vital signs.”

The comrade replied:

“Look up; there’s a screen above you displaying your condition.”

“Heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen—every metric is shown, ...”

“As long as the numbers stay green, you’re fine.”

“All yours are green now; you should be alright.”

Understood.

Yu Qian nodded slowly, then said:

“In fact, I can sense how long you’ve been awake.”

“Exactly two days—my injuries are light; I’ll be out soon.”

The comrade lifted his right leg, and Yu Qian saw thick bandages wrapped below the knee.

That doesn’t look light at all.

It seemed he had noticed Yu Qian's expression, and his comrade explained:

"Just a fracture; the commander called it an open fracture."

"When I first arrived I was bleeding nonstop; after I stopped the bleeding, there wasn't much of a problem."

"Now I can only not walk; a crutch will do."

"Brothers keep being brought in behind me; I have to make room for them."

Hearing his comrade's words, Yu Qian instantly furrowed his brow.

People keep being brought in?

Clearly, this was a ward dedicated to treating the gravely wounded, and a constant stream of arrivals meant a constant stream of injuries.

So the battle hadn't ended yet?

Not only hadn't it ended, but the outlook was decidedly bleak.

All the muscles in his body tensed involuntarily, and his heartbeat quickened a few beats.

The numbers on the screen shifted from green to yellow, and Yu Qian asked with a hint of urgency:

"What's the situation now? How far has the beast tide advanced?"

"Can we still hold the line?"

"Don't get worked up, don't get worked up."

His comrade gestured for Yu Qian to lie down first, then answered:

"That's a question everyone asks. Still, the battle reports are updated daily, at least there's something new."

"If it were yesterday, the situation wouldn't have been very good."

"But today is different."

"Today, Commander Chen Jian led the assault company to scatter the last massive beast tide from the southeast, relieving the crisis on the south and southeast, and is now racing back toward the base."

"On the southwest front, the interleaved company, cooperating with the expeditionary force from Hanhui City led by Commander He Shuo, eliminated the stray monsters that had broken away from the northwest beast tide; the northwest front is now essentially stable."

"The threats we now face come mainly from the southwest and the north."

"The beast tide in the southwest still numbers around two hundred, but the terrain slows their march; they won't reach the vicinity of the base for at least four days."

"The northern beast tide"

He paused there, and Yu Qian, impatient, asked:

"What's happening up north?"

His comrade shook his head lightly and replied:

"The Mechanical Cult's attempt to block the northern beast tide failed."

"More than eight hundred elite Holy Soldiers were lost, and the defensive line fell back from Xuyi to Jinling City."

"The Cult's saint perished on the front line while covering the retreat of the remaining forces, yet he bought us very little time."

"Now the northern beast tide still numbers over a hundred, and Jinling City is already under siege."

With those words, Yu Qian's heart leapt.

Under siege

It is humanity's greatest city.

If Jinling falls, how many will die within its walls?

"Can we hold it?"

Yu Qian asked.

"I don't know,"

His comrade shook his head.

"Even a commander can't make a precise judgment."

"But the odds are overwhelmingly against holding it."

"Now the newly appointed saint of the Mechanical Cult has sent us a request for aid, and we are mobilizing forces to go to their assistance."

"Frankly, those idiots of the Mechanical Cult—"

"But after all, we're talking about tens of thousands of civilians."

"And it's also our last line of defense on the northern front."

"So I"

"Wait."

Before his comrade could finish, Yu Qian sat up again.

"No need to say so much for now."

"Tell me, where do I sign up?"

(End of chapter)