CHAPTER 454: CHAPTER 222: WHERE DO I SIGN UP? (2)

Here, they encountered a large group of civilians moving north from Huzhou City.

"Where are they going?"

Huang Yu asked, puzzled:

"We’ve already clearly told them that the threat of the Beast Tide from the south has been eliminated. Why don’t they just stay here and still go north?"

"Are they looking to die?"

"It’s quite normal."

Watching the civilians outside the car window, who had all stopped and were looking at this convoy expectantly, Chen Jian spoke:

"All the people are blind."

"They inherently believe in more powerful forces, yet have an innate distrust of them as well."

"They know we can save them, yet they don’t trust us."

"They only believe in their own experience and judgment."

"What we can do is only to change their experience."

"Let’s go, don’t worry about them."

"Notify the base to prepare to receive them."

"Regardless, we must give them a way to survive!"

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....

On the other side, Base 011.

When Yu Qian woke up from more than a dozen hours of unconsciousness, he opened his eyes to see a white blur of light.

For a moment, he had no idea where he was. The first thought in his head wasn’t the joy of waking up, but regret.

The regret was that he likely didn’t make it and ultimately died on the way back to the base.

The regret was that the two children he left behind would become orphans completely.

---- but this thought only circled in his mind momentarily.

The next second, a familiar face appeared in his sight.

"Dad!"

"You’re awake?!"

His son was full of joy, while his daughter, nestled in his arms, was biting a plastic bottle, which contained a white liquid.

Is it milk?

Yu Qian struggled to sit up, raising his hand to touch his son’s face.

The warm, real sensation instantly made him feel back in the human world.

However...

"Where is this?"

Yu Qian asked, looking around in confusion, quickly discovering that he was lying on a simple bed, with many familiar comrades lying around him as well.

"This is a ward!"

"The ward in the base!"

His son’s answering voice was thrilled.

"Dad, you’re indeed awake!"

"The adults of the Huaxia Army---- the leaders of the Huaxia Army said you’d surely wake up, and they were right!"

"They said your injuries aren’t severe, they just look scary. You’d wake up after sleeping for at most two days!"

"Today is just two days! You’ve been asleep for two days, Dad!"

Two days?

Yu Qian blinked hard.

Has it been two days since he was injured and unconscious?

Then why didn’t he feel any fatigue or hunger, even a bit energetic as if?

He raised his right hand and clenched it hard.

The movement was smooth, his muscles strong.

This wasn’t an illusion.

Yu Qian slowly inhaled and exhaled, his lungs still faintly painful, but it was worlds apart from the excruciating pain and suffocation when he was first injured.

His injuries were healing; he had actually been healed.

Yu Qian looked at his body in disbelief.

He found himself wearing a thin outer garment, and there was a needle inserted into the back of his left hand, the needle tip connected to a soft plastic tube.

"What’s this?"

As his voice fell, his son was about to answer, but the comrade lying to his left spoke first:

"That’s an IV drip."

"Every person who wakes up asks the same question. I’ve answered it dozens of times in the past two days."

His comrade showed a slightly teasing smile and continued:

"Squad leader, you woke up too late."

"Otherwise, you’d be the one answering everything for everyone’s questions."

"If you have anything you want to ask, just ask. I’m the first to wake up, and I’ve recognized everything in this ward already."

"So..."

Yu Qian nodded thoughtfully before raising his left hand to ask:

"What’s this clipped on my finger?"

"That’s a monitoring device for tracking your physical condition."

His comrade answered:

"Look above your head, there’s a screen that displays your status."

"Heartbeat, blood pressure, blood oxygen... There’s all sorts of data, most of which I don’t know what they’re for."

"But as long as the numbers are green, you’re fine."

"Right now everything is green, so you should be okay."

Understood.

Yu Qian nodded slowly and continued:

"Actually, I can feel it myself... How long have you been awake?"

"Just two days---- I was lightly injured and will soon be able to leave."

His comrade raised his right leg, and Yu Qian could see that it was wrapped in thick bandages below the knee.

This didn’t look light.....

Noticing Yu Qian’s expression, his comrade explained:

"It’s just a fracture; the leader said it was an open fracture."

"When I first arrived, I was bleeding continuously, but after stopping the bleeding, it’s not much of an issue."

"Now I just can’t walk, so a crutch would suffice."

"Later, more brothers were brought in, so I have to make space for them..."

Hearing his comrade’s words, Yu Qian’s brow furrowed instantly.

Being brought in continuously?

Clearly, this was a ward specifically for treating severely wounded, and being continuously brought in meant people were continuously getting injured.

So, the battle hasn’t ended?

Not only has it not ended, but it’s rather unfavorable?

His muscles instinctively tensed, and his heartbeat suddenly hastened a bit.

The numbers on the screen turned from green to yellow, and Yu Qian asked eagerly:

"What’s the situation now? Where has the Beast Tide reached?"

"Can we still hold?"

"Calm down, calm down."

His comrade gestured for Yu Qian to lie down first and then answered:

"This is a question everyone asks... But battle reports are updated daily, at least it’s something new."

"Yesterday, the situation wasn’t very good."

"But today is different."

"Today, Regiment Commander Chen Jian led the Assault Company to scatter the last major Beast Tide in the southeast direction, lifting the crisis in the south and southeast. They are currently rushing back to base."

"In the southwest direction, the Penetration Company coordinated with the Expeditionary Force led by Commander He Shuo from Han Shui City to destroy stray monsters from the northwest Beast Tide. The northwest is now basically stable."

"Now our threat primarily comes from the southwest and north."

"The Beast Tide in the southwest numbers around 200 beasts, but due to the terrain, their progress is relatively slow, needing at least four days to reach the base vicinity."

"As for the Beast Tide in the north..."

At this point, his comrade paused, while Yu Qian urgently asked:

"What about the north?"

His comrade lightly shook his head and answered:

"The Mechanical God Sect failed to halt the Beast Tide in the north."

"Over 800 elite members of the Supreme Army were casualties, and the defense line retreated from Xuyi to Jinling City."

"The Saint of the Mechanical God Sect died on the defense line while covering the retreat of the remaining forces, but he couldn’t stall for much time."

"Now, the Beast Tide to the north still numbers over a hundred, and Jinling City... is already besieged."

As his comrade’s voice fell, Yu Qian’s heart skipped fiercely.

Besieged....

That’s the largest human city.

If Jinling City is breached, how many people would die there?

"Can we hold it?"

Yu Qian asked.

"I don’t know."

His comrade shook his head.

"Even the Regiment Commander can’t make an accurate judgment."

"But it most likely can’t be held."

"Now, the newly appointed Saint of the Mechanical God Sect has sent us a request for aid. We are also gathering forces to prepare to support them."

"Frankly, I don’t think there’s any need to save those... fools in the Mechanical God Sect."

"But after all, there are tens of thousands of civilians."

"Also, it’s our last line of defense on the north side."

"So I..."

"Wait."

Yu Qian interrupted before his comrade could finish.

"We haven’t said that much."

"Tell me, where do I sign up?"