CHAPTER 451: CHAPTER 220: AWAKENING (PART 2)

But he totally couldn’t understand the choice of these three Forbidden Army members.

If they really stayed behind, it wouldn’t be a sacrifice; it would be suicide!

The premise of knowingly doing something futile is at least to be sure that what you’re doing is meaningful, isn’t it??

Lei Jie took a deep breath and said:

"I’ll ask you one last time, are you leaving?"

"If you don’t leave, you will surely die!"

"Not necessarily."

The Forbidden Army Leader slowly shook his head.

"The Holy Trinity has already given us enlightenment, allowing us to acquire such critical equipment."

"Its glory will continue to accompany us."

"We will survive."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lei Jie felt as if he suddenly understood.

It’s that foolish mysticism belief again!

Without further ado, he decisively ordered:

"Jiang Yu, leave your weapons and ammunition with them."

"We are setting off immediately!"

"Understood."

Jiang Yu took out the short model 191 rifle from the bomber’s cockpit and threw it to the Forbidden Army Leader.

Lei Jie did the same, and after receiving the guns, the three expressed their thanks once again.

But Lei Jie was already too lazy to bother with them.

The engine started, and the bomber roared skyward.

When the two planes were once again side by side at an altitude of a thousand meters, Lei Jie couldn’t help but complain:

"The brainwashing power of the Mechanical God Sect is truly impressive... don’t they feel like they’re martyring themselves?"

"No."

Jiang Yu’s voice came through the headset.

"They are atoning."

"They believe they must die."

"Because they chose humanity, they must atone to the church..."

...

Meanwhile, on the east bank of Qili Lake.

The last line of defense was on the verge of collapse, and seeing the approaching Beast Tide in the distance, Zhang Tao felt an overwhelming sense of sadness.

He never truly understood what had happened from beginning to end.

He seemed to have made all the perfect preparations.

Plenty of artillery, an elite, restructured, loyal force.

Adequate auxiliary troops, sufficient supplies.

If you looked at the troop numbers and equipment situation on paper, this force, although not as good as the main forces of the Huaxia Army, was vastly superior in combat capability to the expeditionary forces they had deployed at the Benghu Defense Line.

But why couldn’t his Supreme Army achieve what the Huaxia Army could?

Not to mention failing.

From the start of the battle until now, the Supreme Army hadn’t even gained any advantage.

When that secondary Qin Yuan howled, the entire force immediately fell into chaos.

And after that, no matter how he maneuvered or attempted to salvage, he couldn’t change the situation from plummeting into an abyss.

It was only a matter of hours.

Hours ago, this force was well-disciplined and ambitious.

Hours later, there was only one path left.

Retreat.

"Is the steam locomotive ready?"

Zhang Tao asked the Archbishop beside him.

"All prepared; we can start retreating immediately."

"It’s only 65 kilometers from here to Jinling City; we can arrive within three hours."

"Those monsters won’t catch up with us—or perhaps they won’t even pursue us."

"Sir, you must have noticed that the Beast Tide’s attack pattern has changed."

"They’ve lost ’organization,’ fighting based on instinct alone."

"I believe our attack must have had an effect, destroying some key element within the Beast Tide."

"Our retreat is reasonable."

"Even if we leave now, the Beast Tide won’t hold on for long."

"They’ll disperse and return to their normal state."

"These gathered monsters might even fight amongst themselves over territory disputes."

"We’ve already won, sir."

"Won?"

Zhang Tao sneered with a hint of sarcastic smile.

"You call this winning?"

"We sacrificed more than 800 loyal warriors of the Supreme Army, and our remaining forces are less than a quarter of what we set out with."

"If this is victory, then we’ve never lost."

When he finished speaking, the Archbishop stood there awkwardly.

What else could he say?

In front of Zhang Tao, in front of the current Saint of the Mechanical God Sect, should he say we’ve lost completely, and the reason was your incorrect command?

He could only remain silent.

Moments later, Zhang Tao took a deep breath and said:

"I might not be suited to be the Saint of the Mechanical God Sect."

"I don’t have such talents; I was just reluctantly pushed into this position because I happened to meet some ’requirements’ of the Huaxia Army."

"Since becoming a Saint, I haven’t done a single thing right."

"I have only brought suffering to the Mechanical God Sect, to Jinling City, to civilians."

"The Huaxia Army was right."

"The blood debt of Liangxi City should be on my head."

"I should repay this debt, and now, it’s time."

After saying this, the Archbishop’s gaze toward Zhang Tao changed in subtle ways.

He could, of course, see the negativity in Zhang Tao at this moment.

But behind this negativity, he saw something even deeper.

This new Saint had truly grown.

Perhaps everyone should give him another chance, give him more time.

Thinking this, the Archbishop said:

"You don’t need to be too harsh on yourself; you’ve done well."

"Most of your measures were clearly the right ones, just needing more time..."

"The monsters won’t give us time."

Zhang Tao raised his hand to interrupt the Archbishop, then said:

"I’ve made up my mind."

"Next, I’ll hand over the Saint’s seal to you."

"You’ll take over for me, lead these brothers back to Jinling City, and reestablish defenses there."

"And I will lead my Forbidden Army to hold back the pursuing monsters and buy you time to evacuate."

"This is absolutely unacceptable!"

The Archbishop stood up in shock and said:

"The succession of a Saint is a sacred matter; it must receive the approval of the Holy Trinity!"

"We still have a chance! We can let the Forbidden Army cover our retreat, but you don’t need to..."

"This is the last command from the Saint."

"You must obey."

With that, Zhang Tao stood up and walked off the steam locomotive.

The Forbidden Army outside had heard his conversation with the Archbishop. With profound devotion, over thirty members gathered around him.

"I believe you’ve all heard my decision."

Zhang Tao reached out and took the armor handed to him by a Forbidden Army guard, and pulled the bolt of a brand-new Type 75 rifle.

"The Supreme Army must retreat to Jinling City, rebuild defenses there, and fend off the final attack from those heretical creatures."

"They need time; someone needs to cover their retreat."

"This is our unshakable duty."

"Now, the most loyal warriors of the Holy Trinity, are you prepared to head toward the Divine Country?!"

"For the Holy Trinity!"

The Forbidden Army warriors shouted in unison.

Zhang Tao donned his armor and commanded once again:

"Leave sufficient weapons and ammunition."

"We need ample explosives, grenades, rocket launchers... Leave them all for us."

"We don’t have enough manpower, so equipment must compensate."

"There’s not much time; quickly allocate the equipment."

"Then follow me to Jianxi Town Gorge."

"We’ll build a defense line there, and we’ll march toward the Divine Country there!"

"For the Holy Trinity!"

Once again, a coordinated shout, Zhang Tao took a rocket launcher and slung it over his back.

Then, he took out the seal of the Holy Trinity from his bag and handed it to the Archbishop.

"This is it."

"Take the others back to Jinling."

"But this..."

The Archbishop wanted to argue further, but Zhang Tao raised his hand to interrupt him.

"This is my resolve."

"Don’t worry; maybe we’ll survive."

"After all..."

"I was once the strongest commander in the strongest Guard Brigade."