“Everyone, follow me.”
Led by Mayor Chen, the stay-behind force eventually grew to about 300 people.
After the artillery on the city walls was set to automatic fire, Mayor Chen led this final, resilient group.
They carefully navigated through the rioting crowds and arrived at the most central area of the Base City.
This was the location of the barrier device that covered the entire city.
A tower stood here, rising nearly to the dome, continuously releasing energy to maintain the Base City’s barrier.
Here, Mayor Chen sent a final message to the Core Base City. He then dialed the power to its maximum and stood guard with the others.
“Mayor, is it true… they won’t be able to escape?”
During the wait, a team member could not help but ask. His gaze was fixed on the civilians trapped below.
“The creatures attacking this time aren’t Abyssal Creatures. They are Gray Fog Creatures, which possess much stronger hunting instincts.”
“They… of course they can’t leave. Those with their own cars might stand a chance, but without one, no one can outrun the Gray Mist Tide on two legs. This is a necessary sacrifice. It’s unfair, but it’s better than everyone dying here.”
Chen Xun’s cruel words caused the team member to lower his head in silence.
As time slowly ticked by, one hour quickly approached.
At that moment, they heard a series of loud bangs powerful enough to make the earth tremble.
Someone pressed their ear to the ground and immediately felt the intense vibration.
“Mayor Chen, the final battle is about to begin.”
“It seems everyone felt it? Come, let’s keep drinking!”
Chen Xun spoke as he raised another glass of wine.
The group gathered around the table and began to drink the final cup of their lives…
Outside the South of the City, two Commander-rank giant beasts had already reached the gates.
Once the last Commander-level Mist Ghost arrived with heavy steps, it suddenly extended an arm and lashed out at the city gate.
In the next instant, a violent tremor rang out, and the barrier protecting the Base City began to develop massive cracks.
After only a single breath, the city’s entire barrier collapsed instantly.
Without the barrier to block them, the Gray Fog Creatures outside began to push past the fire of the automatic turrets and spread into the city.
The citizens who had not yet evacuated were the first to suffer.
At the same time, the glowing core zone successfully attracted the attention of the Gray Fog Creatures.
The two Commander-rank giant beasts began to move their massive bodies toward the pillar of light.
It wasn’t just the Gray Fog Creatures heading that way.
The surviving citizens within the city also seemed influenced by the soaring pillar of light.
Believing it to be their chance for survival, they all began to run toward it.
……
Two hours after the main force withdrew, a thunderous explosion roared through the sky.
A mushroom cloud large enough to cover the entire Base City instantly rose from where the city once stood.
Even the Gray Mist drifting in the sky was pushed back, momentarily creating a vacuum zone.
However, things soon returned to normal.
A massive crater was left at the core of the explosion.
Most of the Gray Fog Creatures had been turned to dust.
Yet, two massive figures could still be seen faintly trembling.
Gray blood sprayed everywhere like small streams.
The two Commander-rank giant beasts were not entirely dead; instead, they let out long, shrill cries of anger and pain.
The sound echoed across the horizon.
Following these screams, countless Gray Fog Creatures began to gather.
A terrifying scene unfolded: the scarred Commander-rank giant beasts actually began to feed on their own kind!
In that instant, the bodies of these two Commander-rank giant beasts began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye!
……
“It exploded.”
Sitting in the passenger seat, Shen Yan spoke with a heavy expression.
Shen’s Father, in the driver’s seat, looked the same, his eyes even rimmed with red.
“I should have died in battle on that city wall.”
The moment Shen’s Father said those words, Mother Shen muttered in dissatisfaction, “There you go again. What nonsense!”
“If you died in battle, what would become of us!”
“Besides, you still have to protect Xiao Yan and his Talent!”
“Yes, you’re right… as a survivor, I truly have no right to say such things…”
Shen’s Father spoke with heartache.
Shen Yan did not speak again. He stared out the window with a grim expression.
The outcome in this life was completely different from his previous one.
In his previous life, the Base City had not been detonated. Although the City-Destroying Crisis was discovered late, there had still been one day to prepare.
The main force, consisting of over 80% of the citizens, had successfully fled toward the North City.
On the way, they encountered an S-class Squad sent as reinforcements, and more than half of them survived.
In this life, however, the City-Destroying Crisis had occurred early. What had caused the disaster to happen ahead of schedule?!
Furthermore, Shen Yan knew that the power of the Base City’s core explosion was nowhere near enough to pierce the cores of Commander-rank giant beasts.
At most, it would damage them, but it wouldn’t reach the level of a fatal blow.
‘The world seems to be changing. Perhaps in the end, it will be impossible to follow the path of my previous life exactly.’
Shen Yan remained silent, but this only strengthened his resolve to protect his family and loved ones.
He never wanted to experience such a powerless scene ever again!
There were still seven days before the S-class Squad would arrive, and it would take ten days by car to reach the Sub-Core Base City.
The sound of the explosion behind them urged the evacuation force to speed up their flight, leaving no chance to look back.
For a moment, an atmosphere of despair enveloped the survivors. No one felt like they had escaped death; instead, it felt like a more painful, delayed execution.
In another vehicle, the mayor’s secretary gripped a document tightly after hearing the explosion.
It was a list. A list of those who had volunteered to stay behind at the Base City. There were over 3,000 names.
‘Rest assured, Mayor. I will not let your sacrifice be forgotten!’
……
This low, desperate atmosphere lasted for an entire day.
As survivors, they could not immerse themselves in past despair and ignore the hope of tomorrow.
To do so would be a desecration to those who had sacrificed themselves to give them this chance at life.
Two days later, the first bit of good news arrived. During this period, no more Commander-rank giant beasts appeared.
Only some Elite-level Mist Wraiths blocked their path, but they were quickly slain by the accompanying A-rank Warriors.
It seemed they had temporarily escaped the pursuit of the Commander-rank giant beasts.
Gradually, they followed the address provided by Mayor Chen Xun and arrived at an abandoned Base City.
“Everyone, abandon your vehicles! Carry as much as you can!”
As someone shouted through a megaphone, Su Aoxue’s family stepped out of their car.
Su Muqing had just woken up a few hours ago, looking dazed.
Based on what she said, it sounded like she had been having a wonderful dream.
“We brought too much. We can only take the most useful things.”
Su Aoxue looked at the items in the trunk with a headache.
If they had known they would eventually abandon the car, they wouldn’t have wasted so much time packing things that seemed important but actually weren’t.
After rummaging through everything, Su Aoxue managed to fit the items into two backpacks.
One backpack was filled with clothes and daily necessities, while the other was filled with food.
However, seeing the three pieces of Mo Stone in the trunk — which were nearly the size of a basketball when put together — Su Aoxue couldn’t help but feel conflicted.
“Sister Ling Feng can’t even put this stuff into her Ring Space…”
Su Aoxue recalled that on the day the Mo Stones were purchased, he had wanted to store them in Ling Feng’s Ring Space.
After all, they were expensive and rare items.
However, Ling Feng had explained that because of their unique properties, space rings could not hold this type of ore. Ultimately, they were left in the trunk of the car.
As Su Aoxue was wondering how to stuff them into a backpack, Shen Yan suddenly walked over.
“Xiao Xue, we’ll be heading into the underground tunnel soon. Are you ready?”
“Oh, I’m still preparing. Almost done.”
“Right. I came over to warn you about the dangers we might face once we enter the tunnel.”
Just as Shen Yan was about to explain, his gaze caught the three pieces of Mo Stone in front of Su Aoxue.
For a moment, he froze in place.
His mind was filled with confusion. He wondered where Su Aoxue had managed to get his hands on Mo Stone.
“Do you know what these are?”
Seeing Shen Yan staring at the Mo Stones, Su Aoxue couldn’t help but ask.
However, Shen Yan shook his head. “I don’t.”
“Oh, these are Mo Stones. They’re an extremely rare type of stone.”
Shen Yan was stunned. He asked tentatively, “It seems to be an ore I’ve never heard of. Where did you get this strange thing?”