I only wanted to retire, but I ended up becoming an extremely popular character.

On the east side of Clock Tower, Hitis and her men were locked in a fierce battle, unable to advance their lines.

The Holy Kingdom's army on the east side of Zhongta Town is continuously increasing its forces, and many of them have even broken through the defensive lines on the flanks.

At this rate, it's only a matter of time before Hitis's squad is surrounded.

Proud and unwilling to lower herself, she refused to send troops to ask Zod for support.

Moreover, Zod's forces are not large, so how Zod will bring reinforcements is also a problem.

After all, both sides are engaged in combat with the Holy Kingdom's army.

"Warrant Lieutenant Hitis, I'm almost out of bullets," one of Hitis's soldiers said dejectedly to her.

"I'm almost out of bullets."

"Mine too."

One soldier after another reported that they were running out of ammunition.

Although they carried the maximum amount of ammunition when they carried out this surprise attack.

However, under the Holy Kingdom's relentless and almost frenzied high-intensity siege, the rate of ammunition consumption far exceeded expectations.

However, the squad led by Hitis has been engaged in intense combat with the Holy Kingdom's army, and it's only a matter of time before they run out of ammunition.

Hitis instinctively touched the magazine pouch at her waist, feeling its cold touch; it was nearly empty as well.

Before our eyes, the figures of the Holy Kingdom's soldiers are still indistinct in the smoke of battle, seemingly endless, and impossible to defeat no matter how hard we fight.

With the central square of Clock Tower Town within easy reach, it would be increasingly difficult for Hitis to not only conquer it, but even to maintain the existing defensive line.

As ammunition ran out, the firepower of Hitis's squad weakened significantly, and the soldiers around her fell one after another after being hit.

However, there was nothing Hitis could do.

Even though she was a sharpshooter in the "Imperial Blade" legion, facing enemies many times her size, her gun, lacking bullets, was nothing more than a fire poker.

At this moment, the revered sharpshooter of the "Imperial Blade" legion had no advantage whatsoever in turning the tide of the battle.

Hitis gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stand still, trying to use her last bit of willpower to steady herself.

However, that chilling sense of despair, like a plague, grew and spread uncontrollably in the hearts of the Imperial soldiers.

Faced with the Holy Kingdom's army closing in from all sides, a sense of sorrow mixed with resentment and deep powerlessness suddenly gripped her.

Even though Hitis was extremely unwilling, she had no choice but to accept the fate that had finally come her way.

Two streams of scalding tears finally broke through the strong defenses in my heart and flowed uncontrollably.

The liquid slid down her fair cheeks, which were stained with gunpowder and grime, leaving two clear and delicate wet streaks.

She pursed her lips, not daring to utter a single sob, but her hands, gripping the gun tightly, trembled slightly uncontrollably.

Just when she thought it was all over, the man returned like lightning!

……

……

Zod and his soldiers burst forth from the flank and rear of the Holy Kingdom's army's defenses like lightning tearing through the night!

They marched from the west side of Clock Tower Town, across the central square, all the way to the foot of the clock tower on the east side, moving as swiftly as the wind without ever stopping.

Before the Holy Kingdom army surrounding Hitis had even noticed the movement behind them, they were completely overwhelmed by the sudden attack of Zod, and their formation was scattered.

The Holy Kingdom's soldiers scattered to both sides like a receding tide, and Zod tore open a gap in what was originally an impenetrable encirclement.

Zod also managed to tear a hole in the encirclement of Hitis.

Zod, who had fought his way through like a mad dog, was not sustained by courage or glory, but by a deep-seated, instinctive, and immense fear of death.

Therefore, when Zod rushed into the encirclement, he looked around and saw nothing but the army of the Holy Kingdom.

The moment he saw Hitis, it was as if he had seen a lifeline.

Isn't Hitis a sharpshooter? Isn't she a warrant officer in the elite "Imperial Blade" regiment? Her strength must be formidable!

Surrounded and trapped, he couldn't care less about anything else. In his panic, he blurted out a direct order: "Warrant Lieutenant Hitis, I order you to protect me at this very moment, by every possible means!"

Just seconds before Zod appeared, the desperate Warrant Officer Hitis had already decided to face death and die on the battlefield.

She had given up hope of any rescue at that point.

Just when she was in despair, a man returned like lightning, bursting through the darkness with a glimmer of hope and appearing before her.

He was covered in blood, holding a blood-soaked imperial sword, tearing apart all the enemies who stood in his way.

And that man was the very person Hitis had never dared to hope for from the beginning—Lieutenant Zod.

To avoid anyone seeing that she had shed tears, she immediately wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve.

At this moment, Hitis seemed to see Zod through a natural filter.

He was like a hero from a legendary tale, the true blade of the empire, the ray of light at dawn.

It was so dazzling that she dared not look directly at it.

When Zod said, "I'll do everything I can to protect him," Hitis doubted she had heard him correctly.

She simply couldn't believe that such a powerful man would need her protection.

Hitis quickly realized that she must have misheard; Zod couldn't have said "protection," it must have been "cover."

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why Zod needs Hitis's protection; wasn't he there to save Hitis?

Hitis immediately understood and gave orders to her soldiers: "Did you hear the lieutenant's order? Everyone, provide cover fire for Lieutenant Zod and do not let any irrelevant personnel interfere with Lieutenant Zod's battle."

With Zod's arrival, the morale of Hitis and her soldiers soared to unprecedented heights.

Zod's arrival was like a shot in the arm, and the morale of Hitis and the soldiers soared.

At this moment, Cassius's squad also successfully joined up, and he immediately ordered his soldiers to allocate some ammunition to replenish Hitis's team.

Immediately afterwards, all the soldiers moved toward Zod, with Zod at the center.

All the soldiers began to form a formation centered on Zod.

At that moment, all the soldiers knew that the safest place was obviously where Zod was standing.

At the same time, the encirclement that Zod had once torn apart was showing signs of closing in again.

It was only a matter of time before Zod and his men were surrounded, given the overwhelming disparity in troop strength between them.

Zod was almost certain that Colonel Xavier's intelligence was wrong, and that the Holy Kingdom's army in Clock Tower Town had a force of at least three times more than 80.

With reinforcements arriving from the east, the town of Clock Tower was nothing short of a meat grinder, a death trap, for Zod and his soldiers.

The situation is far from optimistic.

It's unclear whether Colonel Xavier deliberately gave Zod false information or whether the Holy Kingdom garrison in Clock Tower Town temporarily increased its forces.

However, Zod doesn't have time to dwell on this issue right now.

Fortunately, Hitis misheard his hasty shout of "Protect me" and heard it as "Cover me."

Otherwise, his public image would collapse.

The outcome is exactly as Zod expected.

With Hitis's cover, at least Zod can be somewhat protected from being shot from behind, thus increasing his chances of survival.

His biggest problem right now is how to survive in this overwhelming situation.

We definitely can't stay in Zhongta Town any longer; enemy reinforcements are heading in that direction.

Should we run back? No, absolutely not. Running back the way we came, without the Imperial troops to meet us, would be impossible.

Zod will not only be chased by this group of Holy Kingdom troops, but he will also likely encounter Holy Kingdom troops blocking his way on the way back.

At that time, they will also face a situation of being attacked from both sides.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Zod could only think of one way: to run towards the Giant Cannon Fortress.

The special forces are certainly not weak, especially those capable of carrying out surgical-like missions to destroy enemy fortresses.

For the sake of mission success, Xavier wouldn't send incompetent people.

Furthermore, the actual evacuation plan may be in the hands of the special forces.

Elite troops are not disposable resources; even elite regiments don't have enough assets to squander.

This is completely different from Zod's decoy force.

Regardless of the mission's success or failure, Xavier would always have troops or plans to support the special forces.

Therefore, if Zod and his group wanted to survive, they had to cling to the special forces.

This time, they have succeeded in drawing the Holy Land forces' attention to Clock Tower Town.

Now that their objective had been achieved, Zod believed there was no need for them to hold out here to the death.

Besides, there's no point in dying here.

Regardless of whether the mission succeeds or fails, he must survive, no matter what.

Zod solemnly issued the next operational order: "Warrant Lieutenant Hitis, Cassius, take all the soldiers and cover me. We are about to break out."

"Yes!" Hitis and Cassius answered in unison.

If these words came from someone else, they might just be a cry of despair.

But when Zod says it now, they all feel that this goal is achievable.

Because of their trust in Zod at this moment, they didn't even ask Zod which direction he wanted to break out from.

In order to further improve their own strength and increase the success rate of breaking through.

Zod put all 6 potential points into Strength.

Increasing power will not only boost Zod's attack power, but also increase the strength of "Iron Defense".

As the points were allocated, a notification popped up in my mind.

[Six potential points have been allocated to 'Strength' for you. Your current Strength is 'Strength +6'.]

As his 'Power' potential points increased, Zod could clearly feel a surge of heat rising from within his body, and power coursing through his bones and muscles.

A strange sense of confidence welled up within him; he even felt that, with the support of the "Iron Defense," he could break through the current encirclement once again.

Zod used the martial arts technique "Iron Defense" to harden his hands and vital areas on his chest.

With a determination to live or die, he launched another attack on the Holy Kingdom's soldiers.

This time, he knew he had no backup; he could rely on no one but himself.

If he cannot even muster the resolve to die and live on, it is tantamount to giving up his own life, and no one can save him.

Therefore, unlike any other situation before, Zod is now fighting only for his own survival, and certainly not for any damn imperial glory.

An invisible pressure spread across the battlefield centered on Zod.

The soldiers of the Holy Land who were blocking Zod's way seemed to sense the dangerous aura emanating from him, and their bodies involuntarily retreated.