I chose the safe house, and the Human Alliance regretted it.

Five hundred people stood still, like five hundred walking corpses.

No one moved, no one spoke.

The look in their eyes had completely changed.

There was no fear, no despair, and no resolute determination to die.

There is only one kind of chill, a bone-chilling cold that seeps from the very marrow.

Fang Yuanshan's words still echoed in my ears.

"If we don't go, then the people will have to face the monsters head-on."

"For all mankind," "I will die without regret."

……

Those impassioned slogans now sound like resounding slaps in the face.

Every grand and solemn vow has become a cold irony.

It turns out that from the very beginning, they were not heroes who willingly went to their deaths.

They were chosen as victims by certain people.

It's not because they are the strongest, but because they offer the best value for money.

It's not because it's the most suitable, but because "having enjoyed the resources, one should fulfill one's obligations."

It's not because they can create miracles, but because "it's not a pity for an ordinary person to die when they awaken to SSS level."

Does Fang Yuanshan know?

Was what he just said sincere, or was it an act for these "guinea pigs"?

Or perhaps he himself didn't realize that what he thought was a glorious mission was actually someone else's life?

No one can answer.

Because Fang Yuanshan is already dead.

Together with the twelve men in black, they were reduced to scorched earth.

Shi Lei's shoulders were shaking violently, his anger barely contained.

"Damn it," he cursed.

Qi Wen tilted her head back, her expression obscured by the crimson mist.

The expressions of the five hundred people shifted from fear to shock, and from shock to self-mockery.

"Were we... chosen to die?" someone murmured, their voice hollow like that of a dead man.

No one answered.

Because the answer is no longer important.

The day before, they had fought a bloody battle against an endless horde of beasts right here.

Upon returning to the capital, they were hailed as heroes, cannons boomed, and the whole city cheered.

Those waving flags were unaware that the hero they spoke of was currently surrounded by monstrous beasts deep within the Kashgar Mountains, being used as a "sample collection tool" and a "most cost-effective consumable."

Gangzi slowly raised his head and looked at the scarlet pupils around him.

The strange beasts were still surrounding them, like a group of patient hunters, not in a hurry to reel them in.

He laughed suddenly.

The laughter wasn't loud, but it was particularly jarring in the deathly silence.

Shi Lei looked at him, Qi Wen looked at him, everyone looked at him.

Gangzi was laughing when tears started streaming down his face.

No one speaks.

This passionate young man was the first to step forward and take on what he considered a "glorious" task.

At this moment, it's probably hard to accept.

The crimson mist surged, and the horde of strange beasts began to slowly tighten their encirclement.

Their patience finally ran out.

Qi Wen took a deep breath, the last trace of hesitation in her eyes disappearing. "It was all for death—kill!"

"kill!!!"

Five hundred people poured all their anger, grievances, and resentment into this roar.

No longer for the alliance, no longer for those high-sounding slogans.

He was only fighting his way out for himself.

"boom--"

The supernatural power exploded within the crimson mist.

Five hundred figures, like moths, crashed into the crimson sea of ​​stars.

The battle reached a fever pitch in the very first breath.

Shi Lei pushed out with both palms, and more than a dozen cyan wind blades roared out from his palms, drawing a piercing shriek in the air.

The wind blade sliced ​​into the horde of beasts, cleaving the three-headed Crimson Mist Beast in two at the waist. Black blood gushed out like a spring, and its internal organs slid out from the broken ends, filling the scorched earth with a stench.

But before he could catch his breath, five more thunder beasts pounced from his flanks, their arcs of electricity forming a net that blocked his escape route.

Shi Lei suddenly turned to the side, and the wind blade exploded at the extreme distance, slicing off half of the head of the nearest Thunder Beast. The remaining arc of electricity grazed his left arm, and the smell of burnt flesh immediately filled the air.

Qi Wenchong was at the very front.

Her superpower is speed—enough to make most alien beasts unable to even touch the hem of her clothes, even at the SSS level.

Her figure appeared and disappeared in the crimson mist, and wherever she passed, strange beasts fell to the ground.

However, something strange happened.

The five hundred men fought with increasing ferocity, managing to tear a gap in the encirclement and slowly but steadily moving outwards.

Most of the high-level alien beasts, including the SSS-level alien beasts that had previously joined forces to annihilate Fang Yuanshan and his thirteen companions, merely watched coldly without joining the battle.

Only a few occasionally made a move, as if casually dismissing them, or more like... driving them away.

"They're driving us away!" someone shouted hoarsely.

The others also sensed something was wrong, but didn't have time to think about it.

Because deaths and injuries are constantly occurring.

A superhuman was ripped open by the claws of a frost beast, and his screams came to an abrupt halt.

A middle-aged woman was struck by the lightning bolt from the Thunder Beast. She was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing into a rock. Her spine cracked with a crisp sound, and she never got up again.

A burly fire-type man was simultaneously attacked by three equally powerful beasts. Before he died, he detonated himself, and a ball of flame engulfed himself and the surrounding beasts.

Five hundred people, four hundred people, three hundred people... The number of people began to decrease sharply.

"Gangzi! Watch out!"

Qi Wen's voice boomed from the side.

Gangzi snapped back to reality, only to find that a high-level Thunder Beast had somehow circled around to his side and behind him.

It was lunging at Gangzi, its front paws crackling with intense electric light, less than five meters away.

Gangzi's pupils suddenly dilated.

The next second, a figure slammed into him with incredible speed.

Qi Wen.

She used all her strength to push Gangzi aside, but in doing so, she was exposed to the Thunder Beast.

The beast's forepaws, wrapped in high-voltage arcs of electricity, pierced through her chest like a thunderous spear.

"puff--"

Fresh blood spurted from Qi Wen's mouth and scalding hot splattered onto Gangzi's face.

Gangzi stared at the sharp claw that had pierced through Qi Wen's back, watching her gaze shift from intense pain to a vacant look.

"Sister Qi!" Gangzi's voice was hoarse.

Qi Wen's lips twitched, as if she wanted to say something.

Her eyes were fixed on Gangzi, her lips moved a few times, but she could only manage to squeeze out a few indistinct words.

"Go...don't look back..."

The Thunder Beast swung its front paws violently, sending Qi Wen flying.

Her body tumbled through the air several times before crashing heavily onto the pile of rubble, where she remained motionless.

Gangzi's mind went blank.

He tried to rush over, but Shi Lei grabbed his collar tightly from behind and dragged him backward.

"Let's go!" Shi Lei roared. "Did she die in vain? Let's go!"

Tears blurred his vision, mingling with blood as they dripped from his chin.

Three hundred people, two hundred people, one hundred and fifty people...

A one-armed metal-type ability user stood at the very back of the group.

He used his remaining superpowers to metallize his entire body, clinging tightly to the hind legs of a thunder beast, and was dragged for more than ten meters.

Until the beast impatiently turned around and crushed his skull.

But his fingers were still embedded in the beast's leg bone, and he couldn't pry them off.

One hundred and twenty people, one hundred people, ninety people...

Of those who survived, fewer than ninety remained.

Of the 500 people who set out, less than one-fifth returned.

However, something even stranger happened.

The horde of beasts suddenly began to retreat!

One head, ten heads, a hundred heads, a thousand heads... those scarlet pupils, like the receding tide, surged away from all directions, into the cracks, sank into the ground, and disappeared into the red mist.

In just over ten seconds, all the strange beasts that had covered the mountains and fields vanished completely.

All that remained were corpses scattered all around.

The crimson fog gathered again, leaving the area as empty as if nothing had ever happened.

Those who were alive stood frozen in place, at a loss for what to do.

Gangzi raised his head, his face covered in tears and blood, staring in disbelief at the retreating beasts.

Shi Lei jumped to his feet, his first thought being, "Let's go!"

The remaining eighty people also came to their senses and wanted to escape.

However, a voice came from the depths of the crimson fog.

It was very light and calm, but every word carried an undeniable meaning.

"Bring the samples, otherwise how are we going to report this?"

Everyone froze.

who is it?