Chapter 319: Beacon

Chapter 319: Beacon

"We can't get out."

The scout lay on his back, his chest heaving violently.

Outside the building, the monster's heavy breathing roared like a gale, even the glass in the windows shivered faintly.

Light flickered across the window, alternating bright and dark, a massive shadow swept by, then vanished in an instant.

Through the window, not only shadows fell into the building, but a fierce, bottomless terror.

Lin Yu sat up, instinctively stepping back, away from the doorway.

Only after confirming nothing entered from the door did he relax his fingers that had been gripping the hilt of his knife.

"Protocol Three"

"What is Protocol Three??"

"The monster can't come in because it can't destroy the structures here?"

Lin Yu, still trembling, muttered to himself.

Clearly, the rule "No damage to disaster‑relief facilities" had saved his life.

But how long could such safety last?

The mountains near the city held more than just colossal beasts!

They had once encountered small machines on the perimeter, and that silent, invisible force that could ignite and scorch a person in an instant.

Even without tearing down buildings, the city could devour itself in another way, couldn't it?

We must hide.

We must find a truly safe place!

Lin Yu rose and walked to the scout, extending his hand toward him.

"Pull yourself together!"

"We're still alive, at least we're still alive!"

"We've entered the mountain city—something no one has ever managed before!"

"We must keep living!"

"Even gaining one more second of life is a monumental achievement!"

"Rise!"

"In the name of the Holy Father, you must bear the responsibility!"

When the words fell, the scout slowly lifted his head.

His eyes flickered a few times, then he clasped Lin Yu's hand.

"How much time do we have left?"

"Don't know."

Lin Yu shook his head.

"I don't know how much time we have left, nor where we can go."

"But at least we can be sure that as long as we stay inside this building, we are temporarily safe."

"Come with me."

"This building only leads upward—let's go up and see!"

"Understood."

The scout followed close behind Lin Yu, the two moving in single file toward the stairwell on the interior side of the structure.

They were no strangers to exploring ruins, nor to the architecture within them.

Climbing the stairs, Lin Yu pushed open the door to the second floor.

But when he stepped inside, he froze in place.

There was nothing inside.

Empty, utterly empty.

Clean, orderly, almost immaculate.

Every object within sight was brand new, as if time itself had halted in this city.

It was a stark contrast to the ruins he had known.

In those ruins, even when some structures seemed relatively "new" for special reasons, the traces of life were impossible to conceal.

He would find rotted tables and chairs, paper that turned to ash at the slightest breath, bizarre devices of unknown purpose, and even partially weathered bones.

But here, there was nothing at all.

It was as if the entire building had just been erected, never having housed a soul.

A sudden, intense unease rose in Lin Yu's heart; he spun quickly, leading the scout upward.

Third floor—identical.

Fourth floor—identical.

The whole edifice exuded a dead, stagnant aura; the higher they climbed, the more Lin Yu's heartbeat hammered.

"What on earth happened here."

"Perhaps nothing happened at all."

The scout whispered,

"I have a feeling—this city is waiting for something."

"It feels like a newly built city, yet its master has not arrived."

"So it remains empty, forever empty."

When the words faded, Lin Yu furrowed his brow.

Waiting?

The description fit all too well.

Indeed, this sense of a vacant throne awaiting its occupant was exactly what the city projected.

But what is it waiting for?

The Chinese army?

No,

Impossible.

If it were waiting for the Chinese army, such a fierce clash could never have erupted.

The crater left by that nuclear bomb was still vivid in memory; Lin Yu believed that even a hint of détente would never have allowed the Chinese forces to unleash such a terrifying weapon on this city.

But if not the Chinese army, then who??

Lin Yu ascended steadily, and the final door now loomed before his eyes.

Keep climbing, and the rooftop would be within reach.

Lin Yu glanced at the scout; the two met each other's gaze and, in unison, thrust the door open.

“Bang!”

The massive door slammed into the wall with a thunderous crash; Lin Yu had intended to use the building’s height to sprint to the edge and scout the surrounding terrain.

Yet when the scene before him came into focus, he was utterly dumbfounded.

There was no rooftop.

He found himself back on the ground.

He stood at the very heart of a colossal plaza!

A wave of absurdity crashed over him, even slowing the forward rush of his steps.

He lingered bewildered at the plaza’s center, unsure where to go next.

“Turn back!”

The scout shouted loudly, pivoting to retreat.

But in that instant, Lin Yu’s understanding snapped into place.

Mountain city.

He was perched atop a mountain’s summit.

“No!”

“We press onward!”

His stride grew resolute as he surged forward.

Each tower was a step; by threading through the densely packed buildings, they could reach the highest point of the city.

If the city possessed a “core district,” it must lie at its apex.

It was a simple, almost naïve deduction, and Lin Yu trusted it implicitly.

No hesitation remained; he devoted himself wholly to the ascent.

Monsters, machines, unseen threats—all of them.

In that moment, every danger was cast aside; all he could think of was climbing to the summit to see what lay there.

Perhaps there, communication with the Huaxia army could be restored?

His feet never faltered, and to his surprise the climb proved astonishingly smooth.

The city was indeed reviving, yet it seemed not to have awakened to his current altitude.

And the monsters that posed his greatest peril were barred from entering the city.

He encountered no obstacles.

After merely twenty minutes, his path ended—there was nowhere else to go.

He had reached the very top.

Looking down, the entire mountain‑city unfolded before his eyes.

In that instant, he realized with crystal clarity that this was neither a divine realm nor a “city that does not belong to this world.”

It was something singular.

Yet its singularity was not beyond explanation!

“Machinery.”

Lin Yu whispered.

“No wonder the Mechanical Cult regards this place as their so‑called Holy Trinity.”

“It is a city driven by machines.”

“Sir!”

The scout’s voice rang out abruptly.

“Someone!”

The words sent a shiver up Lin Yu’s spine.

Instinctively he turned, looking toward the direction the scout indicated.

There, a slender figure was slowly making its way forward.

In that figure’s hand glimmered a weapon— a flashing weapon.

Lin Yu’s eyes widened to the brink of rupture.

“Run!”

The moment the command left his mouth, flames erupted from the scout’s chest.

Lin Yu lunged toward the scout’s position, slamming his shoulder into the man with force.

Only then did the scout finally regain his senses.

“Are you mad? Why stand still??”

“Everything in this city is an enemy!”

“Move quickly!”

“Return the way you came!”

Lin Yu hauled the scout up, and the two sprinted toward the shelter.

The acrid scent of scorched flesh filled Lin Yu’s nostrils; he glanced instinctively at the scout’s chest, where burnt fabric clung to a blood‑smeared wound as if seared by a scorching branding iron.

What on earth was that weapon?!

Lin Yu believed he had already witnessed enough advanced armaments with the Huaxia forces, yet faced with the enemies’ weapons in the mountain city, he remained utterly clueless.

He did not even know whether the shelter could block the onslaught, nor did he summon the courage to retaliate—he could only pour all his strength into fleeing.

In terms of speed, the two of them, as source‑blooded warriors, should not be slower than that foe, should they??——

Yet he was wrong.

The opponent’s speed was equally pushed to its extreme.

The three silhouettes darted up and down between buildings and stairways; each time they reached a relatively open stretch, the enemy raised his weapon and aimed at the two fleeing ahead.

More than once Lin Yu felt a searing pain blaze across his back, and gradually he understood the weapon’s purpose.

Remote ignition.

And it could only ignite fire along a straight line.

It didn’t seem all that terrifying, after all?

Lin Yu’s wildly beating heart suddenly steadied.

Having vaulted down a further stair, he seized the scout with a sudden grip.

“I’ll draw its attention; you strike from the side!”

“Understood!”

The scout nodded without hesitation, and the two split apart at once, each dashing toward a different direction.

The pursuer seemed to falter briefly, but in the end it lunged toward the evidently nearer Lin Yu.

The head of that strange weapon emitted a dim glow, and Lin Yu’s clothing ignited abruptly.

His skin had already been seared through, and the temperature of his innards rose sharply.

His time was running out.

——

And at that very moment.

Blade light flickered!

The scout descended from aloft, his long sword cleaving down, and the pursuer’s weapon shattered in response.

“Boom!”

A massive explosion roared, hurling the scout backward.

Immediately, Lin Yu, having altered his course, surged forward.

A second strike.

The pursuer’s body was cleaved completely.

Blood sprayed.

On the silent square, the pursuer dragged his upper half, struggling forward.

“Protocol. Protocol.”

“Protocol One.”

Lin Yu leaned in to hear what it was saying, but it fell silent all of a sudden.

When the opponent finally collapsed and ceased moving, Lin Yu turned its corpse over.

A slightly twisted face stared back at Lin Yu.

“Human.”

“It’s not a monster.”

“It’s a human!”

Meanwhile, outside Tongling City.

Chen Jian’s grenade launcher had fired its last 40‑mm shell; from this moment onward, for a long time to come, he could no longer wield that weapon.

Because this was not only his final 20 mm caliber grenade, it was also the last 20 mm grenade of the entire 011 base, of the whole Huaxia army.

Ammunition was exhausted.

Not only him—during this operation, aside from the small‑caliber rounds used by light weapons, the assault company had nearly depleted all its ammunition.

In this fierce, maddening battle, no one held anything back.

To inflict as much damage as possible on the beast tide sweeping from the southwest, they had exhausted virtually every means at their disposal.

Artillery shells, grenades, aerial bombs, rockets, large‑caliber bullets

Higher‑lethality weapons were employed first, and when those fell silent, the blood‑shot assault company, eyes already glazed with fury, even took up rifles to charge the hulking monsters with reckless abandon.

With the aid of the expeditionary force and the interleaving company, they achieved a tremendous haul.

Over a hundred beasts were slain, and the entire southwestern beast tide was shattered.

The smarter monsters, however, had long ago scattered at the first sign of abnormality.

When the final gunshot echoed, the battlefield outside Tongling fell silent once more.

Chen Jian panted heavily; as he surveyed his surroundings, beyond the corpses of monsters he saw even more—

the bodies of Huaxia soldiers.

The great majority of them had died in the final moments of the fight.

When firepower waned and alternating cover could no longer hold the line, they were forced to sacrifice their lives to plug the breach.

Their sacrifice bought the ultimate victory, yet they themselves were laid to rest in the mud‑soaked, blood‑stained, filthy earth.

In the distance, Huang Yu was meticulously examining each corpse, hoping to find one or two survivors.

But his efforts were in vain.

This assault company faced the beasts of the tide as its enemy.

Before those terrifying monsters, a soldier under attack has only two fates.

If he evades, he lives.

If he cannot, death is certain.

Between life and death lies a void.

After inspecting the last corpse, Huang Yu lifted his head with a mournful expression.

He looked at Chen Jian, shook his head gently, and said:

“None survived.”

Chen Jian remained silent, merely nodding lightly before opening the radio.

The fighting here was essentially over.

But the crisis facing the Huaxia army, the 011 base, had not yet been resolved.

While they were locked in fierce combat with the southwestern beast tide, Jinling City was also under monster attack.

He had to learn the situation there at once, to decide how to dispatch support.

“Yu Qian!”

“This is Chen Jian.”

“Report Jinling’s status!”

His words fell, and moments later a slightly noisy voice crackled through the headset.

“Report, commander! We can still hold!”

“But we need reinforcement; Jinling’s defenses are collapsing!”

“We can only sustain for at most two more hours!”

“Understood!”

Chen Jian drew a deep breath.

“I’ll organize support immediately.”

"Hold on for another two hours!"

"Copy! Copy!"

The transmission cut off abruptly.

Chen Jian's brows knit tightly; when he turned his gaze northeast, toward the direction of Jinling City, his eyes sharpened with a sudden keenness.

He had no more strength left to wield.

All ammunition was exhausted; even if he rallied the expeditionary force, the assault company, and the infiltration squad—already battered to half their numbers—he could not alter the tide of battle with the scant weapons at his disposal.

Perhaps that city truly ought to be abandoned.

If he could evacuate every civilian from the city swiftly, at least he could still play his final card.

A nuclear bomb.

Chen Jian clenched his fists.

He knew he had to issue that order.

——

Yet, at the very moment he was about to speak, a new voice crackled through his headset.

"This is Lin Yu! I am Lin Yu!"

Chen Jian's eyes widened in an instant.

He's still alive?!

Immediately, Lin Yu's voice rang out again.

"I'm in the mountain city!"

"I'm in the mountain city!"

"Beacon!"

"Activate the beacon!!"

(End of Chapter)