While the Great Hoodwinker was fighting with all his might, Ren Xiaosu had just blocked off a wave of the barbarians’ attacks at Position 4 on the other side and retreated to the rear for a short rest.
Meanwhile, the reserve ammo and supplies were finally transported to the front line.
To Ren Xiaosu’s surprise, Zero actually came down to Position 4. He asked Zero, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Zero said, “I’ve calculated the remaining quantity of ammo. There shouldn’t be much left.”
Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “Are you trying to say that we’re going to fail soon? If the defensive position falls, the nanomachines that you have will also be buried here, right?”
“That’s not important.” Zero seemed to no longer be worried about not having enough nanomachines. It said, “I’ve been thinking about it. Actually, the war in the Central Plains has nothing to do with the Northwest. Why do you all insist on defending Mt. Zuoyun? That’s not a rational call. If you all retreat to the Northwest and sit back and watch the Wang Consortium and the Pyro Company get depleted, that would be the most advantageous strategy for the Northwest.”
“In your eyes, we might be different forces that are divided. But in our opinion, the only enemies at this moment are the barbarians in the North. Be it the Pyro Company, the Wang Consortium, or the Northwest, we’re all allies.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Humans are emotional creatures. After the barbarians came to the Central Plains and started massacring cities, we were destined to stand up and fight to the death alongside our allies.”
“Why did the Qing Consortium’s people come here then?” Zero asked.
“Because they are friends.” Ren Xiaosu said firmly, “Although Luo Lan is not a decent person and likes doing violent things to others, there’s nothing much you can say about how he treats his friends.”
“Friends? That’s a term to look forward to. Are we considered friends now?” Zero asked.
Ren Xiaosu asked in return, “Do you think we are?”
Zero shook its head. “I don’t know. You humans have a very complicated set of boundaries when it comes to friends. However, I see that you often use the concept of ‘whether they will sacrifice for others’ to define who your friends are. From this point of view, I don’t think I count as one, as I’ve never done anything for you before.”
Ren Xiaosu smiled. “Actually, it’s not that complicated sometimes.”
Zero suddenly said, “Based on my calculations, you all did not carry out a detailed enough ammunition control or management at the position. Currently, you only have a 10% chance of winning, and it will soon be less than 10%. Unless there’s another miracle, you can’t turn the tide with your powers. The expeditionary army’s effective strength is too great.”
“Miracle?” Ren Xiaosu, supporting himself against the blind, stood up. “The world of humanity has never lacked miracles before. I believe that a miracle will definitely happen.”
…
“Xun Yeyu.” P5092 looked at the sand table in the command post and said, “Are you still monitoring the location I asked you to pay attention to?”
Xun Yeyu was no longer his unblemished-looking self. His face was stained with dust and sweat. Right now, he resembled a soldier of the Northwest more than an outsider who did not belong here.
He answered, “Yes, but the number of barbarians there has not exceeded 10,000 the entire time. The barbarians seem to be in a hurry to attack, but their deployment rate has remained very steady.”
In Xun Yeyu’s perception, the tens of thousands of barbarians were like a river of flames gathering in his mind. The river channel always remained open, but there were no signs of congestion. This showed that the other party had an extremely smart commander controlling everything.
“It seems that the barbarians are also quite aware that we still have trump cards,” P5092 said, referring to the seven mountains. “So while the barbarians are keeping up with their attacking efforts, they’ve always maintained a clever pace to evenly distribute the troops that join the battle. Even if we can topple the mountains here, we’ll only be able to kill 10,000 of them. That’s not enough to affect the overall situation to win.”
The nanosoldiers led by Luo Lan had already arrived south of Mt. Zuoyun. However, P5092 still could not find the key to victory. This made him feel a little helpless.
Xun Yeyu added, “Previously, I informed Future Commander that someone was lying in ambush behind the mountain. But actually, only a tenth of the Experimentals showed up that time. There’s still several hundred Experimentals grouped behind us. Once we appear to be losing, they’ll probably climb up the mountain again and attack the defensive position from the back.”
This news made P5092’s heart heavier. He asked Wang Yun, “Where is the future commander now?”
“Future Commander is at Position 4. He’s just helped them to defeat a group of barbarians.” Wang Yun said, “That position has only just replenished their ammo, so the barbarians took advantage of the downtime to attack. Do you want Future Commander to intercept and kill the Experimentals behind us? But you have to understand that even though Future Commander is strong, he isn’t a god. He’s already been fighting for five hours. Look, Future Commander’s wife’s rate of fire has slowed down, and the Great Hoodwinker is almost unable to hold on any longer. How can Future Commander be an exception?
“Yeah.” P5092 sighed. Moreover, even if Ren Xiaosu were still at his peak, he probably could not face the hundreds of Experimentals by himself.
The Experimentals that attacked Yang Xiaojin were only the ones that had transformed from the Central Plains humans. According to Ren Xiaosu, there were still many more Experimentals that were previously barbarians that were even stronger, but they just had not appeared yet.
If the strength of the Experimentals after their conversion was determined by who they were when “alive,” how powerful would they be if the elites among the barbarians were turned into those terrifying monsters?
P5092 could not let Ren Xiaosu take this risk.
He turned to Ji Zi’ang and said, “Ji Zi’ang, you might need to make your move soon.”
Ji Zi’ang straightened up. “Understood. All I’m waiting for is your word before I topple those six mountains.”
“Not six,” P5092 refuted. “Seven.”
Ji Zi’ang was clearly taken aback. “Seven?”
Remember, the seventh mountain was right behind them. If this mountain were to collapse as well, the entire defensive position would be buried underneath it!
This was the method P5092 had kept as a last gasp measure to perish with the enemy. Was he going to use it now?
P5092 said, “The last batch of ammo has already been transported to the front line at Position 4. After that, all of our positions will be facing the threat of running out of ammo. The expeditionary army’s attack is even fiercer than expected, and our ammo consumption is also quicker than expected. Thus, the defensive position will fall soon.”
Ji Zi’ang looked at Wang Yun and realized he did not look surprised. It was obvious Wang Yun already knew about this.
“Go and call the future commander over.” P5092 said, “I need him to use the steam locomotive to take some soldiers away from here. This is not an escape but to leave some of these troops as flames to carry on burning.”
P5092 had already found out about Ren Xiaosu’s power of the steam locomotive. But could they all leave? Once they left, the Wang Consortium would immediately have to bear all the pressure. Therefore, they could not leave.
Now that P5092 had confirmed that the defensive position was not salvageable, he planned to use three-quarters of his troops to delay the expeditionary army and buy some time for the remaining soldiers to get onto the steam locomotive and leave.
Then he got ready to have Ji Zi’ang topple all the mountains, including the one behind them.
“Should we continue fighting and see how it goes? What if Future Commander still has other trump cards?” Ji Zi’ang said, “There might even be a miracle!”
“A miracle?” P5092 smiled bitterly.
Along with the bitter smile, a staff officer ran in anxiously from the outside. “We’ve finished firing all the ammo at Position 1. What should we do now, sir?”
“You’ve run out just like that?” Wang Yun felt that something was not right. “I clearly calculated that it would take at least half an hour to finish expending the ammo!”
The staff officer said with a pained expression, “The barbarians suddenly withdrew their soldiers from Position 2 and concentrated their attacks on Position 1. There was nothing we could do but maximize our suppressive fire against the barbarians. It does seem like Future Commander’s wife has killed one of their officers. That’s why the barbarians are retreating for the time being. But if the barbarians come up again, Position 1 will probably be breached.”
P5092 said to Wang Yun, “Quick, go and look for Future Commander. It’s urgent that he gets to Position 1. Also, tell him that the evacuation will start immediately!”
Then P5092 asked Ji Zi’ang, “Do you realize that if we’re going to topple the seventh mountain, we’ll need you to remain behind?”
Ji Zi’ang smiled. “It’s fine. I’m mentally prepared already.”
“OK.” P5092 nodded. “Topple the mountain near Position 1 right away and buy us some time. Hurry off.”
But Xun Yeyu suddenly looked up and shouted, “Wait, another lifeform has appeared to the northwest.”
P5092 and the others were stunned. “Only one? If it’s only one, you don’t have to shout that loudly, right?!”
Xun Yeyu said excitedly, “That’s because I’ve never sensed such a powerful life force before! Y’know, I’ve encountered a lot of superhumans before, but I’m afraid that even all of them combined are probably only as strong as this person. In fact, they might even be less powerful than him!”
Everyone was shocked. All of the superhumans Xun Yeyu had come across in the past probably numbered over a 100. Even with all of them combined, they were still inferior to a single person? On what level would such a master be?
Was it a god?
But before anyone could figure it out, Xun Yeyu shouted again, “New lifeforms have also appeared in the north. There’s more than 10,000 of them, including ordinary people and several thousand others on the level of the elite barbarians. They’re rapidly approaching Mt. Zuoyun! Wait a minute, the flames of those thousands of powerful lifeforms are moving too fast. How can they be so quick?!”
P5092 was silent for a moment. “Are they reinforcements who came to look for Future Commander again?”
Wang Yun said with a smile, “I’m willing to believe that they’re reinforcements.”
A moment later, Ren Xiaosu was still resting at Position 4. As he rested, he made small talk with Zero.
Amid the conversation, the howling of wolves suddenly came from beyond Mt. Zuoyun, like a sharp sword had suddenly carved through the sky. Ren Xiaosu turned around immediately and looked at the mountain peak. He saw a massive silver wolf standing atop the mountain and looking down at the expeditionary army below like a king would.
Ren Xiaosu smiled at Zero and said, “See that? A miracle has occurred.”
Zero was stunned. It had already discovered that the troops from the Northern Plains and wolves were approaching from the north. But before this, it thought they were here to take advantage of the situation and raid the Central Plains. However, it did not expect they would also head to Mt. Zuoyun. Moreover, it seemed like they were here for Ren Xiaosu too, and he was well aware of who they were.
