CHAPTER 445: CHAPTER 216: IT’S OVER

He also needs to be responsible for these people.

Zhang Tao took a deep breath and ordered:

"Let’s go."

In an instant, the steamship started immediately.

The giant wheels on both sides rotated rapidly, pushing the vessel into the depths of Qili Lake.

At this moment, the Beast Tide was already very close.

Even without the aid of binoculars, Zhang Tao could clearly see the enormous figures of those monsters.

By estimation, their distance wouldn’t exceed three kilometers.

And at their speed, it might only take... a dozen minutes to catch up with our last steamship.

Zhang Tao’s heart skipped a beat.

Now, all hope for this team was pinned on the remaining battle formations.

If they can hold out, at least someone can survive.

If they can’t hold out or can’t endure until the evacuating team sets up a bombardment position, then everyone on the Xuyi Defense Line... will be swallowed by the Beast Tide.

The sound of cannons had already started.

"Boom—"

"Boom—"

"Boom—"

Shells fell toward the Beast Tide one after another.

And those continuous cannon blasts were like farewell bells, ruthlessly pounding on Zhang Tao’s nerves, already stretched to the limit...

...

At this moment, by Nushan Lake.

The Forbidden Army Leader carried his long-empty rifle along with Zhang Chao and Liu Hao, stumbling toward the direction of the Beast Tide.

"We can’t catch up with those monsters!"

The leader panted as he spoke:

"They run too fast... We don’t have vehicles, we simply can’t keep up."

"It’s absurd... Are we actually meant to survive?"

Hearing his words, Liu Hao, standing beside him, shook his head and replied:

"Surviving like this is a form of shame."

"We must catch up... Perhaps we’ll encounter other brothers who got scattered."

"We need to find them and regroup."

"Only then will we have a chance to reorganize."

"Maybe we can even take down a few monsters!"

"You’re right."

Liu Hao spat out the dirt from his mouth and then said:

"But the problem is, the main force must have already evacuated to the east bank of Qili Lake."

"Even if we rush over now, we can’t possibly reunite with others."

"For us, the best plan is to bypass the Beast Tide from the south side and take the long route to the Qili Lake defense line."

"Doing this, at least we can avoid unnecessary casualties."

"That’s too slow."

The Forbidden Army Leader shook his head.

"Bypassing from the south side, by the time we arrive, the battle will probably be over."

"Let’s just follow them directly."

"These monsters are completely ignoring us now, that’s originally our advantage."

"Understood."

"Listening to you."

The other two responded one after another, and this three-man group "left behind" on the front line no longer hesitated, but simply followed the traces left by the monsters, pushing forward.

Their speed was not exactly fast, but given their exhaustion, it wasn’t too slow either.

After spending over half an hour, relying on the faintly visible paved path through the forest and the open road forged by the Beast Tide, they covered about 5 kilometers.

And at this time, gunshots gradually reached their ears.

"Someone!"

"They’re still on the west bank of Qili Lake!"

The Forbidden Army Leader immediately made a judgment, and as his voice fell, the expressions of the other two changed instantly.

"They didn’t have time to leave?"

"They’re trapped??"

Zhang Chao and Liu Hao asked successively, and the leader slowly shook his head, speaking solemnly:

"They didn’t fail to leave; someone was left behind."

"I know what’s happening."

"The nuclear bomb didn’t explode, and the speed of the monsters is far beyond expectations."

"The main force couldn’t all evacuate, because if they did, they would likely be caught in the middle of the lake by the monsters, losing all ability to resist."

"So, someone must stay to hold back the monsters and buy time for others."

"They..."

"They’re doomed."

Liu Hao suddenly spoke up.

After he uttered this sentence, the three exchanged glances, and even the most steadfast Forbidden Army Leader felt a momentary thought of retreat.

But, it was only for a moment.

Fear quickly gave way to anger, and then was infused with a broader, more "simple and straightforward" belief.

"We have to find them."

"Even if we die, we must die with them."

"Holy Trinity warriors must never abandon their brothers!"

"Understood."

Liu Hao nodded slowly.

"But we don’t have any weapons left."

"The road ahead will be more difficult, we must proceed with caution."

"Stay concealed."

The Forbidden Army Leader decisively discarded the rifle in his hand and instead drew the long knife that had always accompanied him from his waist.

"I remember, long ago, we too used long knives to hunt monsters like the Holy Blood."

"Now, we are returning to tradition."

"I hope you haven’t become rusty with this skill."

"Of course."

The other two followed suit, drawing their long knives, and then the three lowered their bodies, carefully avoiding the sight of scattered, lone monsters, continuing towards Qili Lake.

They used the forest to shield themselves, trying to avoid making any noise as much as possible.

They were seasoned warriors, perhaps their individual abilities were not enough to hunt a single monster, but concealing themselves like Scouts was absolutely not a problem.

At the closest, they were less than 50 meters away from a monster.

Yet the monster did not detect their presence.

At this time, the sound of gunfire was becoming louder and more pronounced.

However, the density of gunfire and artillery sounds was also constantly decreasing.

The defense line on the west bank of Qili Lake was about to give in.

The Forbidden Army Leader frowned tightly, looking anxious.

He wanted to quicken his pace, but just then, he suddenly saw a strange monster ahead.

Humanoid.

Armored.

Its whole body almost blended into the environment.

If his gaze hadn’t just happened to stop there, he probably wouldn’t have discovered the monster’s presence.

Behind the monster was a strange artificial device, flickering with a faint light.

The equipment was huge and emitted a low humming sound.

For a moment, he even thought it was some Huaxia Army coming to reconnoiter.

After all, he had only seen similar gear on them.

But quickly, when he saw the monster’s face, he realized it couldn’t be Huaxia Army.

Huaxia Army were at least human.

And this monster was not.

The Forbidden Army Leader stopped in his tracks.

He didn’t know what this monster was.

But he knew it was definitely not ordinary.

He signaled to the other two.

"Conceal."

"Encircle."

"Hunt."

There were no defensive forces around the monster; it seemed exceedingly confident in its concealment.

But its luck was truly poor.

Or perhaps, it was too focused on what it was doing, thus ignoring potential danger?

But that was no longer important.

The three had already completed the encirclement.

The nearest, Liu Hao, was less than 10 meters away from the monster.

The Forbidden Army Leader raised his hand and then swung it down forcefully.

This was the signal to attack.

In an instant, all three charged forward simultaneously.

Long knife in hand, accompanied by the rise and fall of their bodies, it carved a stunning full-moon-like arc in the air.

"Ching----"

"Bang----"

The long knife precisely hit the monster’s left shoulder, but contrary to what was expected, rather than smoothly slicing through or making a crisp clash with armor, the blade striking the monster’s shoulder produced a muffled thud.

"Soft armor!"

Liu Hao shouted:

"Trap it!"

"Understood!"

Zhang Chao discarded the long knife in his hand and lunged forward, using his own momentum at the moment the monster was about to rise to forcefully pin it to the ground.

"Hold it down!"

The Forbidden Army Leader stepped forward and delivered a heavy kick to the monster’s head.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound, the monster’s neck bent nearly ninety degrees.

If this kick had landed on a human, they would have surely died on the spot.

However, this monster did not die.

It was still struggling, its twisted neck rotating at an eerie angle, desperately trying to return to its original position.

"Get its head off! Get its head off!"

The enraged Forbidden Army Leader locked the monster’s chin with his elbow, while Liu Hao and Zhang Chao threw themselves forward and tightly held the monster’s lower body.

Then, all three exerted their strength simultaneously.

"Rip----"

The sound of fabric tearing echoed.

A bright flash of electricity flickered.

"Bang!"

The monster’s head was forcefully torn off!

Blood splattered everywhere.

The armor on the monster immediately lost its color.

The Forbidden Army Leader discarded the blood-soaked head and said with lingering fear:

"What the hell is this thing..."