Extraterrestrial demons invaded; I laid the groundwork eight years in advance.

at the same time

The urban-rural fringe area.

A dark red rift hung above the abandoned construction site. The light stained the surrounding area crimson.

Monsters kept emerging.

Dozens of Blackscale Demon Dogs, Bat-winged Demon Birds, and Poison Sac Crocodile Lizards have already rushed out, rampaging through the ruins.

Emergency response teams constructed a second line of defense on the perimeter.

An armored vehicle blocked the only road leading to the outside world. Machine gun positions were set up behind temporary bunkers, and dozens of emergency response team soldiers were either armed with rifles or carrying rocket launchers, while several others were sniping from high ground at the monsters attempting to breach the defenses.

Wang Hai crouched behind the bunker, holding a walkie-talkie in his hand.

He is 45 years old this year. He retired from the army when he was young and entered the public security system, where he has worked for more than 20 years.

After the monsters appeared, the emergency response team was urgently expanded. Wang Hai, with his military and law enforcement background, familiarity with the local situation, and experience fighting monsters, was temporarily seconded to serve as the acting captain of the emergency response team in this area.

He was fully armed at this moment, and his sideburns under his helmet were already gray.

Beside him, Li Yang's hand holding the gun was trembling slightly.

He was twenty-two years old and had just graduated. Last time, he fought against monsters with Wang Hai and saved a female office worker, and this time he was also temporarily seconded.

"Brother Wang, these monsters have incredibly strong defenses," Li Yang said in a low voice.

Wang Hai didn't say anything; he had seen it.

Heavy machine gun bullets rained down, scattering sparks as they struck the monster's scales. The impact swayed the creature several steps, its scales cracking open and black blood seeping out.

The rocket launcher blasted the monster, sending it tumbling twice and shattering half of its scales, but it still managed to get up and limp forward.

It is difficult for ordinary heavy firepower to achieve a one-hit kill.

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Beside the distant rift, several people in dark gray combat suits were locked in combat with monsters. But there were too many monsters; they blocked most of them, but some always slipped through.

Wang Hai's mission was to hold this defensive line. He couldn't allow any monsters to break through.

He glanced back; the residential area was just three kilometers behind him.

Li Yang's hands were still trembling.

Wang Hai glanced at him and whispered, "Scared?"

Li Yang did not deny it and nodded.

Wang Hai patted Li Yang on the shoulder and gazed at the monster in the distance.

"My grandfather was a veteran of the Red Army. He lost a leg during the war, and he would writhe in pain whenever it was cloudy."

"When I was little, he always told me about things from that era."

Wang Hai's voice wasn't loud, but it revealed a kind of determination.

"Back then, resources were scarce, and even in winter, people wore only straw sandals. Many people fell asleep and never woke up again."

"I was young then, so I asked him, how can you fight a war in such cold weather wearing only a pair of straw sandals? He said he didn't plan to survive that winter."

"Seventeen people from his village went to join the army, including his brothers and uncles. In the end, only he returned to the village."

Wang Hai paused.

"He told me he had no regrets. If his generation hadn't fought that battle, it would have been their next generation. They risked their lives so that the living could live better lives."

"This is our home."

Li Yang didn't say anything after listening, but his grip on the gun became firmer.

"Captain Wang! There are monsters breaking through the defenses on the left!" the observation post shouted.

Wang Hai suddenly turned his head.

In the dim red light, a black-scaled demon hound moved swiftly. Unlike other monsters that charged head-on, it instinctively weaved through the ruins, searching for a way out.

The machine gunner turned his gun, the bullets chasing after it. The demon hound kept changing direction among the ruins, bullets hitting the ground and kicking up clouds of dust, but none of them hit any vital organs.

Its direction is clear—the gap on the left side of the fire blockade line.

There were only two makeshift sandbag fortifications. Behind them were four young team members. Their rifles were no different from toys to the demon hounds.

If the demonic dog rushes out of the construction site, there is a residential area three kilometers away.

Wang Hai did not hesitate.

"Xiao Li, come with me!"

He climbed over the cover and rushed towards the dark figure. Li Yang hesitated for a moment, then immediately followed.

Wang Hai ran while observing the terrain. Fifty meters to his left, there was an unfinished building. The concrete frame was exposed, with no doors or windows, only hollow floor slabs and rusty steel bars.

He veered slightly off course and ran towards that building.

The demonic hound charged towards the breach. Wang Hai raised his gun, and the bullet struck the hound precisely in the head and face. The hound cried out in pain and turned to look at him. Seeing this, Wang Hai continued firing.

The demon hound has no intelligence, only instinct.

Seeing Wang Hai not far away, it was completely enraged, abandoned the direction of the gap, and pounced on Wang Hai.

Wang Hai turned and ran into the building.

Li Yang followed from the flank, shooting at the demon hound as he ran to distract it.

The building was dimly lit. Only a dark red light shone through the cracks in the doors, windows, and corridors.

Wang Hai walked around the concrete pillars while firing at the demonic dog, which he dodged several times.

Li Yang fired from another direction, and the demon dog was hit in the hind leg by the bullet, causing it to stagger.

It glanced back at Li Yang, and Wang Hai fired another shot, drawing the demon hound's attention back.

Wang Hai knew what he was doing.

He intends to use himself as bait to lure the demon hound into this building.

Time ticked by, and Wang Hai's breathing grew heavier. His body, at forty-five, was not as strong as it had been in his twenties.

The demon hound suddenly accelerated and pounced from the side.

Wang Hai couldn't dodge in time and was pounced on by the demonic hound, which pierced his bulletproof vest and plunged into his chest.

The demonic hound lowered its head, revealing two rows of serrated teeth, and its foul breath sprayed onto Wang Hai's face.

A sharp pain shot through his chest, and Wang Hai's consciousness began to fade.

He thought of his daughter who was in college.

The last time we met was after summer vacation, when I took my daughter to school.

In the car, his daughter said to him, "Dad, you need to take care of your health and not always push yourself so hard."

He said "I understand," but then worked overtime for half a month.

When I was little, every time I picked my daughter up from school, she would skip and hop over with her little schoolbag on her back, grab my hand and make me squat down. Then she would climb onto my shoulders, wave her little hands, and happily shout, "Giddy up~ Big horse, let's go home~".

One day, his daughter asked him, "Dad, why did you become a sheriff?"

He said, "Because Dad wants to protect you."

Her daughter's silvery laughter rang out, as bright as the sunshine.

His gaze refocused—a gaping maw of abyss was almost within reach, the red light illuminating the monster's profile, making it appear exceptionally ferocious. Wang Hai smiled and reached for his waist.

He suddenly straightened up, grabbed a grenade with the pin pulled from its pin in his right hand, and shoved it into the open mouth of the demon dog.

The demonic hound instinctively bit down, severing Wang Hai's arm with its teeth. Blood gushed out, and the intense pain blurred his vision for a moment.

He held the demon dog's head tightly with his other hand, while also holding a grenade against the side of the dog's head.

"Don't come any closer!"

Wang Hai shouted loudly to Li Yang, who was rushing towards them.

Upon hearing this, Li Yang abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"Boom—Boom—"

A loud explosion rang out, and the entire building shook.

A plume of red mist surged from the explosion site, resembling a silent flag amidst the dark red light of the cracks.

Li Yang was thrown to the ground by the blast wave. He got up, trembling all over.

"Brother Wang?"

"Brother Wang!"

A silver ring rolled down in front of him, with two words engraved on the inside: Go Home.

He knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

It felt like something was blocking my chest, making it hard to breathe, and a trembling sob escaped my throat.

He wanted to do something, but found he couldn't do anything. He could only kneel there, staring at the ring that had fallen to the ground.

The days he spent with Wang Hai flashed through his mind; it was Wang Hai who taught him how to be a sheriff.

To him, Wang Hai was a colleague, a comrade-in-arms, and a teacher.

He refused to believe that the person who had just been talking to him now only had a ring left.

He didn't even have a chance to say thank you.

After a while, Li Yang heard the sounds of fighting outside again.

He remembered what Brother Wang had said: they risked their lives so that the living could live better lives.

There are still many people fighting outside, and this is just one of the battlefields.

Li Yang gripped the ring tightly and stood up.

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

Some people fell before dawn.

But it was the sparks they ignited that illuminated the darkness before dawn.