I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

Then came the voice of a young soldier, his voice trembling with tears.

"Commander! You have a leg injury, you can't go!"

"Stop talking nonsense."

Wei Changfeng's voice was unusually calm.

"I've fought for forty years, and today, in this final battle, I must be at the forefront myself."

"Stay close to me."

"No one is allowed to back down."

"We need to buy the convoy behind us another twenty minutes."

"Just twenty minutes."

"Is it possible?"

"……able!"

Wei Changfeng led the charge out of the cover.

Four hundred veterans followed behind him, some carrying explosive packs, some carrying Molotov cocktails, and some using empty rifles as sticks.

Their uniforms were tattered, and their faces were covered in blood and ash.

They charged into the ranks of the Black Tide and detonated all the explosives on their bodies.

A burst of firelight shot up from the beach, illuminating the entire night sky as if it were daytime.

In the firelight, Wei Changfeng's figure appeared one last time.

He stood atop the burning wreckage of a tank and glanced back towards the western passage.

His lips moved, as if he were saying something.

Then the explosion engulfed everything.

"Commander Wei has been killed in action!"

"The entire rearguard unit will be annihilated!"

The communications soldier's voice was so hoarse it was barely audible.

Gu Yan stood at the exit of the west passage.

He heard the voice, but his body didn't stop.

The seven-colored light continued to emanate, controlling the rebellious calamity to block the pursuers from the convoy.

His eyes were burning, but he didn't turn around.

He cannot turn back.

The convoy was still passing by, and the civilians were still walking.

He couldn't let the twenty minutes that Wei Changfeng had risked his life for go to waste.

By the time the last vehicle passed through the western passage, it was almost dawn.

Gu Yan stood at the entrance of the passage, watching the taillights of the convoy disappear into the morning mist.

He slowly turned around and looked at the urban area of ​​Shanglu, which was shrouded in firelight and smoke.

The sea breeze carried the smells of burnt food and blood.

His uniform was covered in ash and blood, making it impossible to tell whether it was his own or someone else's.

Pei Youyi fell from the sky.

She stumbled when she landed, but Gu Yan caught her.

Her face was frighteningly pale, and the blood at the corner of her mouth had congealed into a dark red scab.

Her wind-elemental spiritual power was almost exhausted, and she leaned against Gu Yan, unable to even stand up straight.

"All civilians have been evacuated."

Her voice was soft, carrying the weariness of someone who had survived a disaster.

"How many troops... are left?"

Gu Yan did not answer.

He helped her up and looked at the remaining troops who were gathering.

The ranks were sparse, the soldiers supported each other, and each of them was wounded.

The staff officer ran over, holding an inventory report in his hand.

His lips trembled, and it took him a while to utter the number.

"Originally 600,000 soldiers."

"Now... there are 400,000 left."

"Two hundred thousand dead."

"The number of injured has not been counted."

Gu Yan closed her eyes.

The sea breeze blew in from the beach, carrying ash and debris.

Two hundred thousand.

In addition to the 100,000 troops from the previous beachhead defense battle.

In the Battle of Shanglu, 300,000 people died here.

Wei Changfeng is dead.

The last S-level support from the reclusive family was all dead.

The rearguard of four hundred men was completely wiped out.

The passage they created with their lives allowed millions of civilians to leave the city alive.

That afternoon, the global power rankings were updated again.

Yuzuru Hanyu's assistant has risen to third place.

The whole world is talking about this mysterious spiritual power expert and his record of twice repelling the main force of the Kuroshio Current at the Shanglu Beach.

But Gu Yan didn't look at the rankings.

He stood at the forefront of the retreating troops, watching the city behind him being swallowed up little by little by the black tide.

He touched the Qilin badge in his pocket, and then touched Han Jae-hee's commando arm patch.

Then he turned around and walked west.

The soldiers behind him followed, step by step, silent and resolute.

......

The news of the complete loss of the coastal provinces of Great Xia was officially announced the day after they arrived at the seventh line of defense.

Shanglu and Lin'an, those familiar city names, appeared one after another on the list of fallen cities.

Each name is followed by a string of numbers.

The population that fell, the soldiers who died in battle, and the civilians who went missing.

Those numbers looked like they would never end.

On the same day, the authorities issued a civilian mobilization order, calling on all civilian superhumans and ancient martial arts practitioners to report to the Seventh Defense Line.

The reward was so generous that it made many people envious.

Advanced cultivation techniques, rare resources, tax-free fiefdoms, and even hereditary titles.

With such a generous reward, a large number of skilled individuals from all walks of life flocked to the area.

Gu Yan stood on the city wall of the seventh defense line, watching people carrying swords and dressed in various styles line up to register.

There were bald-headed martial monks, Miao doctors carrying medicine baskets, northern hunters with hunting dogs, and groups of young students in school uniforms.

Their faces showed passion, anticipation, and also uncertainty about what was to come.

Gu Yan looked at them, feeling a mix of emotions she couldn't quite describe.

These people don't realize that they might not even live to spend the bounty they receive.

Xuanyuan Cheng found him in the evening.

This man from the Xuanyuan family, who had lost his left arm, now unconsciously leans to the right when he walks, but he takes each step very steadily.

He walked to Gu Yan's side, followed his gaze to the registration line below the city gate, and remained silent for a while before speaking.

"Ms. Pei's injuries may be more serious than previously reported."

"The medical officer said that her meridians were fundamentally damaged during the retreat, and her spiritual core also developed cracks."

"She can still walk, but she can no longer go to the battlefield."

"You...go and see her."

Gu Yan's pupils contracted slightly.

He knew about Pei Youyi's injury.

On the night of the retreat, she single-handedly used a wind wall to protect the entire convoy, exhausting her spiritual power to the limit.

Later, while entangled with a skeletal dragon in the air, he was also hit head-on by the mental attacks of several Gorgons.

When she landed, she was limp and her face was as white as a sheet of paper.

Gu Yan always thought that she had just overdrawn her spiritual energy and would recover after a few days of rest.

He didn't expect it to be this serious.

When he pushed open the door to the easternmost ward in the medical area, Pei Youyi was leaning against the headboard.

The window was ajar, and the setting sun shone in, casting a pale golden glow on her profile.

She wore a moon-white cheongsam with a light gray cardigan over it, and her hair was loose and flowing over her shoulders.

Her face was almost transparently pale, and her lips were almost bloodless, but when she saw Gu Yan come in, she still smiled and waved to him.

"They're here."

"Please sit down."

Gu Yan sat down beside her bed.

He held her hand; her hand was cold, as if it had been soaked in ice water.

Her fingers used to be cold, but that was the coldness brought about by the constant use of spiritual energy by wind-elemental ancient martial artists, completely different from the coldness that seeps into her bones now.

He could feel that the spiritual energy within her body was like a river about to run dry; every now and then, a slight ripple would cause her whole body to tremble.

She hid her injuries well, but these wounds couldn't be completely concealed.

"Sister Youyi, your injury..."

"It's alright."

Pei Youyi interrupted him, her tone still gentle and soft.

"My abilities aren't quite there yet, so my recovery is a bit slower."

"It will be fine in a few days."

Don't listen to their exaggerations.