Yan Yi raised his eyelids. His vacant eyes were dim and hollow. The Gatling gun in his hands spun at high speed, the cartridge belt dragging along as spent shells were ejected, burning faint red marks onto his pale arms as they fell.
The energy stored within an A3-grade gland was enough, in equivalent conversion, to power an entire city. He could no longer feel fatigue or pain. Like a walking corpse, he was devouring everything alive that came near him.
The PBB Huai Ning branch’s automated system classified Yan Yi as an approaching catastrophic-level threat. The security forces were deployed in full. Dense squads surged out of the base continuously, and the firepower focused on him only intensified.
A stray bullet suddenly struck Yan Yi’s shoulder from behind, spraying blood into the air and forcing him to stagger forward two steps.
He discarded the depleted Gatling gun, rolled sideways into several corpses, and tore off a tactical belt from one of them, fastening it around his waist. With his teeth, he held a pistol in place while sprinting, reloading another handgun with his right hand. His left hand reached behind him and forcefully dug out the bullet embedded in his body.
Heavy machine-gun fire poured toward him. Yan Yi flipped backward, scooping bullets with his left hand—four rounds were pinched between his fingers, and together with the blood-soaked one he had just pulled out, he hurled them back.
A row of machine gunners were shot through the throat and fell from the platform.
Dozens of red laser sights locked onto him. Yan Yi held two M500 revolvers, targeting sniper positions on elevated platforms. He leapt repeatedly, using an eighty-meter cooling tower as footing, his shots landing without exception in the snipers’ eyes.
There was no sniper who could compare to Lu Shangjin. The expressions of these shooters as they aimed only made Yan Yi more irritable.
On the battlefield in the past, he had never feared anything, because no matter where he was, he was always within Lu Shangjin’s line of sight. His alpha would always, from an unseen place, protect him with every bullet.
Now he was still fearless—only a little lonely.
The base opened its underground gate. Sixteen tanks rolled onto the surface at once, locking onto Yan Yi in the center of the battlefield.
The rumble of treads reached his ears. Dozens of shells were fired. Yan Yi’s figure flickered among hundreds of PBB soldiers. The shells tracked his landing points, but he vanished and reappeared a hundred meters away. The explosion behind him lifted shockwaves that overturned dozens of soldiers, and a small mushroom cloud rose from the crater.
Scalding air burned his back, forming blisters across his skin. He knelt, hunched over in unbearable pain. His gun was empty. He crawled toward a charred corpse, ripping off two Japanese swords from it.
Sixteen tanks and tens of thousands of soldiers advanced toward him.
Yan Yi propped himself up with one blade and forced himself upright. His shredded shirt hung loosely, exposing his slender, pale shoulders.
He could not even remember how many bullets he had taken. There was only pain, and something thick and obstructive in his throat that he could not swallow. He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving only a deep red glow that cast a faint radiance over him.
He turned back toward the helicopters circling at the edge of the sunset. His dull gaze briefly reflected a flicker of light, as if waking from a nightmare. The baby might be crying.
“My baby… if Daddy doesn’t make it back to you, then you must become a kind but strong person, and protect everything beautiful in this world…”
Before he could stand, the ground trembled violently.
In an instant, a seismic force arrived. The earth shook like a volcano erupting. A tremendous shockwave exploded outward, sending thousands of soldiers flying.
Yan Yi looked up in shock. Xia Xingtian stood on a high platform, raising his right hand slightly. The shockwaves intensified around him, his lowered gaze like that of a sovereign overlooking all life.
Lion M2 gland ability: “Shockwave Fury.”
As the last glow of sunset faded, a blue radiance burst through the clouds. A massive blue butterfly broke through the sky, its wings slowly beating, scattering starlike particles that drifted down to the sea and shimmered across the surface.
Tan Meng hovered near the sea, wings flapping rapidly. A turbulent airflow formed into a violent storm, instantly raising a monstrous tsunami that surged forward like a deep-blue mouth devouring everything.
Venus butterfly J1 ability: “Storm Effect.”
Before Yan Yi could react, the tanks rushing toward him were suddenly overturned by black spikes erupting from the ground. The spikes resembled anti-tank barriers but pulsed faintly like living things.
At the same time, black vines erupted from fissures in the earth, piercing fleeing soldiers without warning. The vines intertwined wildly, forming a massive net of toxic thorns that covered the sky.
A helicopter approached from offshore. Bi Ruiqing hung from a rope ladder, his fingers transforming into long, curved vines gripping tightly. Tan Meng landed on the thorny vines in his grasp, waving toward Yan Yi with an apologetic look.
Before Yan Yi could respond, a circular hole opened beneath his feet. He fell.
He dropped only a few meters before being caught in a soft embrace.
Cang Xiaoer held him and turned to run. The solid earth beneath them transformed into a smooth tunnel, unobstructed.
“Sorry… I’m really scared…” Cang Xiaoer trembled, his small tail tucked tightly, clutching Yan Yi as he ran.
They emerged onto hidden ground. Cang Xiaoer threw him a bandage from his backpack and quickly typed on a damaged laptop, sending coordinates to every contact.
More helicopters arrived. High-grade omega forces descended, and the battlefield began to shift.
Yan Yi watched them in silence and gave a faint smile.
A massive beast emerged from the base—an enormous biomechanical crocodile, its abdomen fitted with multiple M2 gland cultivation pods.
It roared and vanished in an instant, reappearing at the shoreline, tearing down helicopters and crushing everything in its path.
Yan Yi stood, gripping a sword, and walked forward alone.
He faced the beast head-on.
…
At that moment, the final phase of war escalated across the entire battlefield.
And the world began to tip into chaos.