I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield

Chapter 384: Chapter 340: Flame Mountain, Demon Source

The camp of the Xingyuan Battle Group was shrouded in a thin layer of volcanic ash when suddenly, a ripple-like spatial fluctuation spread through midair, like a stone cast into still water, accompanied by a subtle yet undeniable energy tremor.

Inside the tent, Xia Qi’s heart tightened abruptly. Almost instinctively, like an arrow leaving the bow, he dashed out, his military boots leaving two shallow pits in the red soil.

Almost simultaneously, experts from all over the camp hurriedly came out, each releasing spiritual energy fluctuations.

The next second, everyone was stunned.

A silver Gate of Space was slowly contracting, its edges glowing like a breathing halo.

Standing in front of the gate were two figures. The one on the right was wearing a gray-black military uniform with the Xingyuan Battle Group insignia. The hem, torn and stained with dried black blood, identified him as communications soldier Zhao Feng. His mouth slightly agape, his eyes still filled with shock, as if he hadn’t yet recovered from the teleportation.

The man on the left was entirely different. The black military uniform looked particularly sharp on him, his face stern, and his deep oceanic eyes swept over the camp with an undisturbed sense of pressure.

“Zhao Feng!” someone exclaimed softly.

Everyone was familiar with Zhao Feng, the communications officer, but who was the unfamiliar officer beside him? And what was the meaning of this space gate that appeared out of nowhere?

Questions swirled in everyone’s minds, yet their hands holding weapons dared not relax in the slightest.

At this moment, Xia Qi stepped forward, eyes falling on the upright colonel’s uniform. He took a deep breath, his voice carrying an unmistakable gravity: “Commander Qin, on behalf of the entire Xingyuan Battle Group, welcome to our camp.”

As soon as the words fell, Zhao Feng suddenly came to his senses, immediately standing at attention, his voice still tinged with lingering shock: “Commander! This is Commander Qin Tian of the Chijin Battlegroup! Just a moment ago, Commander Qin took me and in the blink of an eye, we were teleported here from the Broken Blade Defense Line!”

In the blink of an eye?

Xia Qi’s pupils constricted sharply. The surging turmoil that he had forcibly suppressed earlier now roared in his heart— The Chijin Battlegroup and Xingyuan Battle Group were seventy kilometers apart, along a path full of magma chasms and chaotic demonic qi. Ordinary spiritual ability magic would be severely affected in such an environment, yet Qin Tian was able to open a Gate of Space and achieve stable, precise teleportation?

A thought flashed like lightning through his mind: As long as Qin Tian stayed at the central command, the forces of the Iron Wall, Chijin, and Xingyuan battlegroups could interchange swiftly in times of need.

When the demon tide hits, any defensive line in crisis could receive reinforcements immediately; resource allocation and casualty transport could overcome terrain obstacles… The strategic value behind this is simply immeasurable!

The blood vessels in Xia Qi’s eyes seemed to light up a bit, the fatigue accumulated over several days washed away by a surge of hot excitement.

Around him, the experts of the Xingyuan Battle Group also reacted instantly. Deputy Commander Zhou Ming’s grip on his battle sword tightened unconsciously, and Tier Six expert Lin Rui exclaimed: “Seventy kilometers… instant teleportation?”

Everyone exchanged looks, seeing in each other’s eyes an irrepressible joy—They had thought the arrival of reinforcements was already a godsend in a time of need, yet never imagined the new commander had such an astounding ability.

The wind over the red soil seemed to soften, even the rate at which volcanic ash fell slowed down a bit.

Xia Qi took two steps forward, extending his hand proactively, the calluses of his palm gripping Qin Tian’s hand with a firm and solid strength: “Commander Qin’s spatial ability really solved our urgent crisis. Come, let’s talk in the tent!”

Just like that, before Qin Tian could say a word, Xia Qi had pulled him into the tent, with several Tier Six experts and battalion leaders eagerly following inside.

“Commander Qin, please have a seat.”

Xia Qi personally pulled out a chair, signaling Qin Tian to sit down.

Just after seating on the crude wooden stool in the tent, Xia Qi leaned forward, his tone filled with unspeakable emotion: “Commander Qin, your arrival with the Chijin Battlegroup really breathes life into us. To be honest, without reinforcement stepping up, the Xingyuan Battle Group might truly be unable to withstand this wave of demon tides.”

Watching the bloodshot eyes that Qin Tian couldn’t mask, he knew every word rang true.

This commander with mixed-blood features was originally like a beacon of light—Golden hair like sunrise, brown eyes akin to amber, with distinct features softened by touches of Dongfang flavor, like a prince from a picture book.

But now, his forehead’s golden hair was tangled with dried blood and volcanic ash, matted in strands, as if he spared even the energy to smooth them out; the emerging stubble on his chin was coarse and dense, wearing down the originally handsome lines to a state of sheer exhaustion, his voice scratched like it had been ground by sandpaper.

A Tier Six expert being driven to this state, the anxiety soaked in his bloodshot eyes was telling of the pressure weighing on the Xingyuan Battle Group.

Beside him, several Tier Six experts and battalion leaders nodded vigorously, the fatigue and anxiety in their eyes were indistinguishable.

Only they could truly understand that everyone in the Xingyuan Battle Group was stretched to the limit like a fully drawn bowstrings—Ordinary warriors had less than five hours of sleep in three days, dozing off even while patrolling; among them, even Tier Five and Six experts, the spiritual energy flow was beginning to sputter, just last night’s defensive battle, Deputy Commander Zhou Ming, a formidable Tier Six expert, had his shoulder guard ripped off by a Tier Five Flame Demon, something utterly unimaginable under normal circumstances.

If they kept holding on like this, they wouldn’t need to wait for the demon tide to breach the defenses, the team would collapse on its own.

Seeing this, Qin Tian spoke with a calm and powerful voice, carrying a reassuring force:

“Commander Xia, my visit this time is to discuss the upcoming joint defense plan in detail with the Xingyuan Battle Group. Rest assured, now that the Chijin Battlegroup is here, we won’t let you continue to fight in isolation.”

“Commander Xia, could you first give me an introduction to our defensive line situation?”

“Alright!”

Upon hearing this, Xia Qi seemed like he had finally found someone to share his burden, suddenly sitting up straight, reaching for the corner of the table to grab the defense map, a movement that stirred up a pungent mix of sulfur and sweat—The scent permeates deeply from spending too long on the red-soil defense line.

“Commander Qin, please take a look.”

Xia Qi laid the rolled-up defense map out on the table, the coarse parchment steamed by magma to a brittle state, its edges curled with charred fringes.

Qin Tian’s gaze swept across the map, seeing densely packed dark red dots, like a scatter of congealed blood droplets. Even before Xia Qi spoke, he could sense the danger lurking behind these markers.

“These red dots represent flame pools or fiery pits.” Xia Qi’s fingertip pointed to one red dot, nail crevices filled with bits of red soil, “Inside each dwell five hundred to two thousand demons, mainly low-tier Little Flame Demons and Fire Beasts, but sometimes mixed with Tier Five and Six demons.”

He paused, his voice low: “Whenever the demonic qi erupts, the demons in these flame pools and fiery pits turn frenzied. They not only turn on one another but also charge the defense line with crazed abandon. Over the past half month, the frequency of demonic qi eruptions has been increasing, and we almost daily face assaults by thousands of demons—sometimes it’s a fierce attack, sometimes multiple waves of attritional warfare, leaving no chance to catch our breath.”

Qin Tian’s fingertip tapped lightly on the tabletop, finally understanding why everyone in the Xingyuan Battle Group exuded an oil-exhausted-and-lamp-dimmed weariness.

Facing unpredictable, varied demon attacks every day, constantly stretched taut like a bowstring, with no withdrawal orders from headquarters, they could only grit their teeth and hold on, anyone in their position would be driven to the brink of collapse.

His gaze finally rested on the center of the map, where a conspicuous crimson flame icon was drawn, three times the size of all surrounding red dots, with its edges sketched in vermilion with three jagged halos.

“And what is this place?”

Xia Qi followed the direction of his finger, swallowing hard, his voice heavy: “That is Flame Mountain, and it is the only demon source within a thousand kilometers radius.”