CHAPTER 468: CHAPTER 231: JUST REMEMBER

Victory is never easy to achieve.

But for the Huaxia Army, perhaps the cost of this victory was still too high.

The weapons and ammunition of the entire base were almost completely exhausted, and the unmanned combat equipment that served as the frontline support suffered even more heavily.

A large number of Iron Wolves and Xingtian Type Combat Robots were completely destroyed in battle, and even the relatively safe drones had a significant portion that crashed due to violent operations.

The loss rate of the entire unmanned combat group reached over 70%, and even the remaining 30% lost combat capability due to exhaustion of spare parts and insufficient ammunition.

Of course, compared to the loss of human life, the personnel casualties were already relatively light.

The casualties of the Huaxia Army’s main assault company and Penetration Company reached a staggering number of two hundred, accounting for 60% of the total forces deployed on the battlefield.

The losses of the Expedition Army and the Volunteer Company were even more shocking.

Under He Shuo’s command, the Expedition Army was caught in a cycle of fighting, dying, recruiting, and fighting again, from beginning to end.

Except for a few veteran elites, after two rounds of fierce battles, the Expedition Army could almost be said to have undergone a complete "replacement of blood."

The conservative estimate of the death toll also reached 400 people—this was still based on many casualties that could not be fully accounted for.

In short, when He Shuo reorganized the surviving Expedition Army, less than 100 could respond verbally.

Similarly, the Volunteer Company suffered a heartbreaking number of casualties.

From 300, to 150.

Among the 150, nearly 30 were seriously injured and were unlikely to survive past April.

—No, it should be said that they had only a few days left to live at most...

If a complete statistic of the casualties was conducted,

the final number would be...

"810 people."

"Among them, 50 were civilians, who were killed or injured during defense battles against sporadic monster attacks on the base during wartime."

Holding the casualty report, Shen Yue exhaled deeply after hearing the briefing from Chen Jian.

In principle, this number was actually not that large.

Compared to the Mechanical God Sect’s frequent loss of hundreds of personnel in combat, compared to a city’s destruction by monsters resulting in thousands of casualties, the total casualty number of 850 seemed almost insignificant.

However, Chen Jian knew very well what these 850 meant to the Huaxia Army.

It meant that, excluding the Expedition Army from Han Shui City, among the more than 1,400 gathered at Base 011 through multiple expansions and refugee receptions, nearly all able-bodied adults had once gone to the battlefield, with nearly half not returning.

Isn’t such a loss large enough?

In fact, if not for Base 011, if not for Fu Xi, the loss of half the able-bodied adult population would be enough to completely destroy a city.

It’s only because unmanned machinery and intelligent factories filled the labor gap, and because stockpiled food secured the base’s food supply that the base could stabilize its situation in such extreme circumstances without large-scale collapse and unrest.

Thinking of this, Chen Jian sighed deeply.

"It’s just too difficult."

He said in a low tone:

"If not for Lin Yu finding the control terminal for the Beast Tide at the last moment, our casualties could have been even higher."

"It’s possible that the remaining forces would have been fought to complete annihilation."

"But fortunately, we made it through."

"However, unfortunately, such unusual operations should have been quickly recognized and restricted."

"It’s almost impossible for us to use that equipment to control the Beast Tide in the future."

Hearing his words, Shen Yue across from him responded with an "Uh-huh," and said:

"Indeed a pity—though expected."

"Moreover, in fact, we no longer need that equipment."

"After this battle, the threat of monsters to humans has dramatically decreased, and even if future monster attacks on human settlements occur, we will be much better prepared to handle them."

"If we really want to regain access in the future... once we take Mountain City, everything will be ours."

"That’s right."

Chen Jian’s eyes flickered slightly.

Mountain City.

The next target is Mountain City.

What exactly is there? What kind of city is it?

Communication with Lin Yu has been interrupted again, but according to the information he transmitted in the brief window, it seems different from what I expected.

The biggest "difference" lies in the fact that, contrary to my expectations, it’s not a city purely controlled by AI.

Many "humans" live there, and based on current assessments, humans have considerable authority within Mountain City.

They can not only directly control the Beast Tide but also established a control terminal system that fully meets human habits.

This detail alone speaks volumes.

But it’s precisely this point that leaves Chen Jian particularly puzzled.

If Mountain City is human-led, what reason do they have to confront other humans in this world?

What reason do they have to use the "Beast Tide" to cleanse targets they see as threats?

Even more so, what reason do they have to believe that these so-called "threats" are threats at all?

Chen Jian is entirely unable to understand this logic.