Chapter 269: Victory

Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Victory

Just then, a convoy of transport trucks rolled up from the rear. Scores of reserve soldiers jumped out and began hauling crates of ammunition into the trenches.

Long Ming and his men gazed into the distance, their expressions grim.

「More than two hours later.」

Bathed in the glare of searchlights, a black tide of monsters appeared once more on the horizon.

"Damn it, they’re back! Just how many of these Blood Breath Beasts are there? It feels like we’ll never be able to kill them all."

Jing Chuan said, his face looking awful.

"It doesn’t matter how many there are. We have to hold out until the decapitation team succeeds!"

Long Ming replied in a grim tone.

"Sigh... All right, I get it."

Jing Chuan let out a deep sigh.

Soon, the approaching tide of Blood Breath Beasts merged with the surviving, evolved ones and began to advance on the defensive line.

"The tide is coming! All units, prepare for battle!"

Luoxue yelled to the others, her voice ringing with grim determination.

"Understood!"

Long Ming and his men watched the tide draw ever closer, their nerves stretched to the breaking point.

However, just as the horde was about to enter attack range, the vast tide of Blood Breath Beasts suddenly halted without any warning.

"What’s going on? Why did the horde suddenly stop?"

"I don’t know!"

...

The soldiers were utterly baffled, but they all remained vigilant, fearing the horde might suddenly charge.

Just then, the oppressive black tide of monsters suddenly began to fall back.

Seeing this, the Pilates Streamer shouted with excitement.

"Everyone, the monster tide is starting to retreat!"

"Am I seeing this right? They’re actually falling back."

"I heard the hordes at Star Tower and Sinful City have stopped attacking and are retreating too."

"No way... does this mean the decapitation strike succeeded?"

"It’s very likely."

"Does that mean we won?"

...

In an instant, the viewing audience erupted.

「Command Area.」

Lin Qi reported to Qian Wu in astonishment.

"Lady Qian Wu, the horde has started to retreat! And the situation at the other two cities is the same. Don’t tell me... the decapitation strike actually succeeded?"

"I’m not sure. Deploy recon drones to keep an eye on the horde and see how far they fall back. Order all troops not to let their guard down."

Qian Wu issued the orders cautiously.

"Yes, ma’am!"

Lin Qi immediately relayed the command.

「Sector C11, the Trenches.」

Luoxue and her squad fell back, gathering by Long Ming’s side.

Long Ming asked Luoxue curiously.

"Luoxue, what’s the situation?"

"I’m not sure. Supreme Commander Qian Wu has ordered us to stand by. But either way, the horde retreating is a good thing for us. Plus, I heard the hordes at the other two cities are pulling back too!"

Luoxue explained briefly to Long Ming.

"Could the strike on the Royal City have actually succeeded? I’ll check the Civilization Forum."

Long Ming immediately raised his wrist-terminal and opened the Civilization Forum.

Just then, he saw a top-trending post titled, "The First Monarch-Grade Blood Breath Beast Slain in History."

Long Ming’s eye twitched as he clicked on the post. Inside was a photo of the dead Makari.

The comment section below the post had absolutely blown up.

"Holy crap, they actually pulled off the decapitation strike."

"Awesome! We won!"

"That’s Mountain City Mountain for you!"

"They finally did it!"

...

Long Ming looked up in astonishment and said to Luoxue and the others.

"Qian Yun and his team breached the Royal City. They killed the Monarch-grade Blood Breath Beast."

"Haha! So does that mean we’ve won?"

Jing Chuan and the others instantly broke into wide, joyous smiles.

The news spread like wildfire, and in moments, the entire defensive line erupted in cheers.

"We won!"

...

Legion Commander Rein looked at the Pomide Clan Leader in utter disbelief.

"Clan Leader, they actually killed a Monarch-grade Blood Breath Beast."

"It’s unbelievable. They actually pulled it off."

For a moment, the Pomide Clan Leader’s mind seemed to be in a daze.

"Clan Leader, does this mean we don’t have to flee for our lives anymore?"

Legion Commander Rein asked the Pomide Clan Leader, his voice filled with excitement.

"That’s right. As long as the king of the Blood Breath Beasts is slain, it doesn’t matter how many remain. Without a leader, we can slowly but surely clean them up."

The Pomide Clan Leader replied with absolute certainty.

"That’s wonderful!"

Hearing the Pomide Clan Leader’s words, Legion Commander Rein was ecstatic.

...

「Several hours passed in the blink of an eye.」

The tide of Blood Breath Beasts retreated to a certain distance and then stopped, its members lying motionless on the ground.

After receiving the field report, Lin Qi immediately relayed the information to Qian Wu.

"Lady Qian Wu, the Blood Breath Beast horde has retreated to two hundred kilometers out and stopped."

’What the hell are these monsters up to?’

Hearing this, Qian Wu’s brow furrowed. She couldn’t fathom what the Blood Breath Beasts were planning.

The monsters had retreated, but not far. They were still surrounding Mountain City Mountain.

In truth, Qian Wu could never have guessed the real reason. The Blood Breath Beast hordes had stopped simply because their Royal City was under attack. Subsequent waves of monsters had diverted to defend the city, cutting off the flow of reinforcements to the front line.

Thus, without reinforcements, the Blood Breath Beasts had ceased their assault and chosen to fall back to regroup and await new orders.

"Lady Qian Wu, what do we do now?"

Lin Qi asked, at a loss.

"Have our people keep a close watch on the horde. Everyone else, rest in shifts. And tend to the wounded, quickly!"

Qian Wu ordered immediately.

"Yes, ma’am!"

Lin Qi nodded.

...

----------------------------------

「Southeast of the Aniska Royal City.」

「Inside the secret supply depot on Katan Peak.」

"Argh..."

Wounded soldiers lay on the ground, groaning in agony.

"Medic, over here! Zhang Xiao’s not going to make it!"

"Does anyone have more medical supplies?!"

...

Medics scrambled to treat the wounded soldiers.

Qian Xing and his team had found this secret supply depot earlier. Now, they had no choice but to take refuge here.

Just then, Qian Yun slowly began to stir.

Seeing Qian Yun awaken, Luo Lie was overjoyed and immediately spoke.

"Sir, you’re finally awake."

Qian Yun pushed himself up and scanned his surroundings. The muscles in his face twitched, and his eyes looked like those of a man-eating Fierce Beast.

Seeing Qian Yun’s fury, Luo Lie immediately dropped to one knee to accept his punishment.

"Sir, the situation was desperate. I had no choice but to order the retreat. I am prepared to accept any punishment!"

"Luo Lie, stand down."

Just then, Qian Xing walked over and spoke to Luo Lie.

"Sir!"

Luo Lie, taken aback, looked up at Qian Yun. Seeing that his commander said nothing, he rose and withdrew.

Qian Yun turned to Qian Xing and asked hoarsely.

"How many do we have left?"

"27,000 remaining, with 1,425 wounded."

Qian Xing replied, his expression grave.

"Dammit! We were so close!"

Qian Yun slammed his fist into the nearby wall in a rage.

"It was an impossible situation. There was truly nothing we could do."

"I just don’t get it. Killing one Monarch-grade, only to find another—fine. But why was there yet another monster that was even stronger?"

"All we can say is that we were a step too slow."

Qian Xing said with a sigh.

"Slow? How long have we even been in this world? Our strategy was optimal, and we moved as fast as possible. So where the hell did we go wrong?"

Qian Yun demanded, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Qian Xing.

"I don’t know either. Logically, we shouldn’t have been defeated. Civilization Paradise isn’t supposed to give us a no-win scenario. Something must have gone wrong somewhere."

Qian Xing was also completely baffled.

"Damn it all. I think this Civilization Paradise is just screwing with us. Giving us an impossible mission... it’s disgusting. They might as well just put us all out of our misery."

Qian Yun cursed through gritted teeth.

Qian Xing fell silent at Qian Yun’s words. After a long pause, he spoke.

"Anger is useless. We’ve been backed into a corner. We have to be calmer and figure a way out of this, or we’re all going to die."

"What good is saying that? You think those monsters are going to give us time to breathe?"

Qian Yun retorted angrily.

"They will. I got a report from the Civilization Forum—the monster hordes have stopped their assault. Which means our raid wasn’t for nothing."

Qian Xing told Qian Yun calmly.

"Sigh... Damn it all!"

Qian Yun swore, seething with frustration, and said no more.