Chapter 326: We Are the Heroes?

Chapter 326 – Are We the True Heroes?

The commander of the Imperial Guard, or rather the man known as Guo Xu, sat upon a barren patch of ground, the hulking corpse of the monstrous beast looming behind him.

Opposite him sat, besides Jin Zhong, a woman of the Holy Blood whom he had never seen before but who was unmistakably the highest‑ranking commander of this detachment.

——

Of course, that was Ji Xing.

After devouring the rations Ji Xing had handed him in a greedy gulp, he exhaled a long breath, brushed the sweat beading on his forehead, and said:

“So the battle for Jinling City has already ended?”

Hearing this, Jin Zhong nodded and replied:

“It’s over.”

“In fact, not only has the fight for Jinling City concluded, the clash at New Jinling has also been settled.”

“The beast tide has, in effect, been shattered—though a few stragglers still roam, it is now impossible for a tide to reform.”

“Now, apart from our own squad, the only forces still grappling with the monsters are the garrison troops of the smaller towns, or mercenaries hired by merchant caravans.”

“Nevertheless, every engagement now is essentially a cleanup operation.”

“Just as we are doing now.”

“Cleanup?”

Guo Xu clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“The world truly has changed.”

“When we were still part of the Imperial Guard, how could the word ‘cleanup’ ever have applied to a fight against monsters?”

“Whenever a battle involved a Grade‑Four or higher behemoth, each encounter was a trial of life and death.”

“Now you chase after a third‑grade creature from place to place, and you dare to call that a cleanup.”

“It’s simply—”

“The dynamics of attack and defense have become alien.”

From beside them, Ji Xing interjected:

“Humanity cannot be forever suppressed by monsters, nor can we forever cower beneath their claws.”

“We must, in the end, carve a path for ourselves, must we not?”

“Indeed, that is sound reasoning.”

Guo Xu placed his finger to his lips, sucking clean the oil that clung to it, then asked:

“So how did Jinling City manage to hold?”

“Jinling City did not hold.”

Ji Xing’s tone was flat, yet Guo Xu’s face shifted abruptly.

“Did not hold?”

His eyes flickered, a barely perceptible flash of ferocity surfacing in his gaze.

If Jinling fell, what of the civilians within its walls

And them?

“Do not be rash.”

Ji Xing waved a hand and continued:

“Jinling City was not lost to a breach; it was the toxic aftermath of the monstrous onslaught that forced the populace to evacuate.”

“But now they should already be making their way back.”

“Jinling will recover swiftly; the city still stands.”

“That is good.”

Guo Xu relaxed once more.

“How was that war fought? Did the Huaxia army intervene?”

“The remaining Sacred Guard and the Garrison troops in Jinling could not stem a tide of that magnitude, and reinforcements from other cities arrived too late.”

“You actually still had the strength to aid Jinling?”

“We did indeed send aid to Jinling.”

Ji Xing shrugged.

“But the forces we dispatched suffered heavy losses, and in the end they did not deliver a decisive blow.”

This time, Ji Xing offered no riddles, speaking plainly:

“It was you who saved Jinling City.”

“Us?? Who??”

“You— you three.”

As Ji Xing’s words fell, the trio of Imperial Guard soldiers opposite him froze in place.

We saved Jinling City?

The three stared at one another in disbelief, momentarily unable to grasp the meaning of Ji Xing’s statement.

They had merely been lost for a few days.

They had done nothing, yet how could they be hailed as the saviors of Jinling?

—

Wait.

It seemed they had not done nothing after all.

That device.

“Because of that device??”

“Exactly.”

Ji Xing nodded again.

“That device is a beacon used to control the beast tide; two of our comrades slipped into the mountain city, and by certain means seized the beacon’s terminal.”

“They transmitted false commands to the tide, provoking the monsters to turn on one another.”

“Most of the beasts perished in that internecine slaughter, and we seized the opportunity to mop up the remainder.”

“When the tide north of Jinling was extinguished, the crisis of the beast tide was essentially over.”

“Understood.”

Guo Xu exhaled slowly.

In that moment, an unspeakable thought rose within him, one that nonetheless filled him with profound relief.

Fortunately!

Fortunately, I heeded the counsel and handed that device over to the Huaxia forces!

Had we merely destroyed it, or even surrendered it to the Sanctuary,

the outcome would have been utterly different!

The Sanctuary lacks the capacity to wield such a contraption, nor can they dispatch anyone to the Mountain City to procure any terminal.

Wait, what?!

Guo Xu's eyes widened in a sudden, startled stare.

“Mountain City?!”

“You have entered the Mountain City?!”

His tone trembled with a fierce shock, and Liu Hao and Zhang Chao beside him mirrored the same awe.

What a joke!?

That is the Mountain City, after all!

It is the holy ground of the Mechanical Cult!

None of us have ever set foot in the Mountain City, yet now you casually tell me that your men have already entered it??

And moreover, using gear obtained there, you claim to have ended the Beast Tide??

Guo Xu rose to his feet, his whole body trembling.

To him, this was no longer a simple case of “faith being desecrated.”

No, it isn’t desecration at all.

Rather, it felt as though he had suddenly realized he no longer possessed any claim over his own belief.

If you have reached our sacred ground, then what are we, what do we become??

His mind swirled in chaotic disarray.

Ji Xing noticed his expression and could not help but smile wryly.

“I have seen such a thing in the commander’s dossiers—when a faith lost Jerusalem, it reacted in the same way.”

“Never mind, you needn’t dwell on it.”

“That so‑called ‘Holy City’ bears no relation whatsoever to the Mechanical Cult.”

“It is not the abode of the Great Trinity.”

“Most likely, it is merely an intelligent city, akin to Base 011 but on a grander scale.”

“Impossible!”

Zhang Chao, standing beside Guo Xu, sprang to his feet.

“There lies the dwelling of the divine! There—”

Mid‑sentence, he suddenly found himself unable to continue.

He knew the people before him had no reason whatsoever to deceive him.

Not because they could not, but because they would not, perhaps even despised the notion.

Thus, her words were most likely true.

The three turned their gaze toward Jin Zhong, who had stood aside all along, hoping to draw a negating reply from him as their final solace and hope.

But Jin Zhong merely shook his head.

“Ji Xing is right.”

“That place is not a sanctuary.”

In that instant, Guo Xu felt all strength drain from his body.

After a long, heavy silence, he finally spoke again:

“What exactly is that place?”

“How did you get in? Can we still enter?”

“Not for now.”

Ji Xing shook his head and said:

“But soon we will launch an assault on it.”

“Attack.”

If anyone else had uttered such brazen words before Guo Xu, he would have already pressed his barrel to the other’s

temple.

Yet when facing the Huaxia troops, he felt no confidence at all.

Because he

knew that the other side might truly have the right to speak so.

Guo Xu closed

his eyes.

After a moment, he spoke:

“Have your operations concluded?”

“I wish to go with you to the New City of Jinling.” — an hour later.

After Ji Xing’s Sanctified Blood‑bearers cleared the last great beast in the vicinity, the Imperial Guard’s three

men joined the Sanctified Blood‑bearers and set out on the road home.

They emerged from the forest, returned to the paved road, and boarded the unmanned cargo

vehicle.

Guo Xu turned back in astonishment and asked:

“How on earth did you find your bearings?”

“The environment here has been utterly

distorted; even a compass is useless.”

“How do you

know which way you are heading?”

“Inertial

navigation.”

Ji Xing replied offhand.

“Inertial navigation—what is that?”

It’s

hard to explain to you.”

Ji Xing was too lazy to elaborate.

“If you wish

to know, once you reach Base 011, you may go to the reading hall and peruse the books yourself.”

“Can I

go?? May I go as well?”

Guo Xu’s eyes

went wide in astonishment.

In his conception, such “profound

” knowledge

is usually

monopolized, much like the great library of the Mechanical Cult, sealed behind impenetrable defenses that

completely lock it away.

But now, hearing Ji Xing’s tone,

the Huaxia troops seem

to care

not at all

about it?

What

exactly

is

this

organization

?

Ji Xing let out a hum but gave no answer, and Guo Xu, being considerate, did not press further.

The group rode back toward the 011 base, and only when the convoy reached the riverbank did he finally realize that his original position was already quite close to Jinling City.

They were now on the opposite bank of Jiangning Town, at most thirty kilometers north of Jinling City.

“We actually looped around this huge circle.”

Guo Xu clicked his tongue and said:

“I thought we had been heading west all along, but in fact we were going south.”

“What kind of creature could it be, that can affect the surrounding magnetic field?”

“The magnetic field was not affected.”

Jin Zhong, sitting beside him, interjected:

“Your compass has become demagnetized.”

“The device you discovered emits a strong interference; any nearby ferrous object is influenced—Huaxia troops had already tested this.”

“That’s it.”

Guo Xu nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked:

“You understand this too?”

“I just learned it.”

Jin Zhong said little more, yet Guo Xu felt an indescribable emotion rise within him.

In truth, not long ago he had harbored many criticisms toward Jin Zhong.

Though in secret he could comprehend Jin Zhong’s retaliation against the uncooperative clergy troops of Liangxi City, whatever the case, what he did was still betrayal.

Now that he himself had committed a betrayal, he began to see that perhaps Jin Zhong’s choice was, in a sense, justified.

And what about himself?

Now he was heading into territory controlled by the Huaxia army.

Could it be that he, too, would be driven to a complete betrayal?

The thought sent a chill down Guo Xu’s spine.

A term long unspoken flashed through his mind.

Mimetic heresy.

Those mimetic heresies that spawn ideological plagues.

If the Huaxia forces still bear that ‘charge,’ perhaps he would be labeled a ‘plague carrier.’

What fate would await him then?

Conflicting thoughts collided within him, and Guo Xu fell silent, drifting unknowingly into sleep.

In fact, calling it sleep would be a misnomer; it was more akin to a coma.

His strength had been utterly exhausted; he could no longer hold on.

In a hazy daze, after an indeterminate span, a violent crash rang in his ears.

Immediately, someone shoved his shoulder and woke him.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar city.

——

Calling it a city seemed inaccurate.

It resembled more a small town.

Dense, low‑lying houses clustered together to form a residential quarter, while beyond its edge stretched vast fields.

The convoy halted in a plaza, where many people moved about, apparently trading with merchants.

The place was bustling.

It was Guo Xu’s first impression.

Unlike the ruined metropolis he had imagined after the great war, this new Jinling bore no scars of monster attacks.

Later, after disembarking, he saw even more familiar sights.

It gave him a second impression of Jinling City.

Here lay boundless potential.

New and under‑construction workshops, smokestacks belching black plumes, machines, workers in uniform.

Isn’t this

a city on the rise?

Guo Xu surveyed everything with curiosity, and at that moment a man in armor stepped before him.

He recognized at a glance that this was a Huaxia “regimental commander.”

He did not know which of the four commanders he faced.

“Welcome.”

The newcomer extended his hand to Guo Xu.

“I am Chen Jian, one of the leaders here.”

“You are the commander of the Imperial Guard, Guo Xu, correct?”

Guo Xu nodded immediately and grasped Chen Jian’s offered hand.

“Yes, I am Guo Xu.”

“Thank you for your contributions.”

Chen Jian smiled and said:

“I thought we would never have the chance to meet you, yet clearly you are fortunate.”

“Indeed, that is fortunate for all of us.”

“You may stay here for a while, rest, or wander about as you wish.”

“If you wish to return to Jinling City, we can arrange transport for you.”

“But at the earliest, until tomorrow morning.”

“We would like to express our gratitude; may we?”

“Of course.”

Guo Xu straightened his posture slightly.

“We also thank you for your sacrifices and dedication during the Beast Tide.”

His tone was neither servile nor arrogant.

He knew that at this moment he represented the

final face of the Mechanical Cult.

“Then it’s settled.”

Chen Jian raised his hand, pointing toward the main corridor of Base 011 behind him.

“You head that way.”

“Someone will escort you inside to rest.”

“Get some sleep first; once you’re refreshed, I’ll come talk to you again, alright?”

“No problem.”

Guo Xu nodded, and after saying goodbye, led Zhang Chao and Liu Hao toward the main passage.

Chen Jian, however, stayed where he was.

Through his headset came He Shuo’s voice.

“Make sure you keep those people; you must keep them inside the base.”

“Our next plan against Jinling City will start from them.”

“If the operation goes smoothly.”

“We could even seize the whole city outright!”

“Don’t worry.”

Chen Jian gave a slight nod.

“I won’t let them leave.”

“But you must also hurry the progress at your airport.”

“In six hours, the bombers must take off.”

“Within ten hours we must complete the bombing of the mountain city.”

“Whether Lin Yu survives the mountain city depends on how well we drop these few nuclear warheads!”

(End of chapter)