Chapter 1

At dawn, the deafening explosion of an anti-personnel mine jolted Wang Wuyin awake from his exhausted slumber.

Instinctively, due to the prolonged tension he had lived in, the awakened Wang Wuyin grabbed the rifle beside him and quickly crawled to a cluster of boulders hidden in the dark shadows nearby. He pulled down the night vision goggles on his helmet and, crouching low, nervously observed the firelight that had not yet completely dissipated over 700 meters away in the valley below, through the gaps between the boulders.

The anti-personnel mine was filled with nitrogen ion N5 explosive, a high-energy explosive synthesized from glycine ferric, with an explosive energy ten times that of TNT and six times that of RDX. A single anti-personnel mine filled with 100 grams of N5 explosive could create a tremendous noise, making the surrounding sleeping mountains rumble in the deep night, causing a huge commotion. The countless birds and hidden animals in the surrounding valleys were startled by the explosion and the firelight.

Wang Wuyin had placed that anti-personnel mine at the entrance of the valley below as a warning.

The current year was 2052, and Wang Wuyin was located in the vast mountains of southwestern China. His identity was that of a technical support officer at the Great Wall No. 6 Base of the Southwest Military Region, with the rank of major. As a technical support officer of this era, Wang Wuyin's task in the base was not only to maintain and repair the equipment and weapons of his comrades but also to provide battlefield medical support. In short, the mission of a technical support officer was to ensure that all combat personnel and equipment were in the best condition for battle or could endure the longest on the battlefield. Of course, Wang Wuyin was also a soldier. As a Chinese man of this era, especially a Chinese man, as long as he could still fight, he would pick up his rifle and fight the invaders to the end, defending the last dignity and hope of the country and the nation.

Half a month ago, the Great Wall No. 6 Base, which had been defending the southwest for many years, was destroyed by the enemy. Wang Wuyin, who had fought for many years relying on the Great Wall No. 6 Base, had to evacuate with the few survivors from the base and transfer in batches to the vast mountains of the southwestern hinterland.

These mountains had water and food, and the vast mountains could temporarily isolate those terrifying hunters. This place naturally became Wang Wuyin's temporary resting place. The Great Wall No. 6 Base was one of the few remaining resistance strongholds in southwestern China. The fall of the Great Wall No. 6 Base marked that most of the southwestern provinces of China had been largely occupied by the enemy.

But Wang Wuyin had not given up hope, or rather, he had experienced too much despair and had become numb to it. Although the Great Wall No. 6 Base had fallen, other bases were still fighting. The fires of resistance still burned across the land, especially the Kunlun Base in the vast mountains of the Qinling Range had not fallen, and the 4188 Subterranean Base in the vast desert was still fighting. A few days ago, Wang Wuyin had received a quantum communication broadcast from the Kunlun Base, learning about the situation on the European front. The Russians had launched another offensive and were engaged in a bloody battle with the enemy at a base in the heart of Siberia. The Zheng He Base, which supported Africa, was also still fighting...

At this moment, he and his companion, Li Zhitao, who had also evacuated from the Great Wall No. 6 Base, were preparing to cross the vast mountains and report to the Great Wall No. 11 Base at the border of Sichuan and Tibet, to rejoin the ranks and fight the invaders to the end...

Originally, Wang Wuyin's group had many people, but Li Zhitao had been injured in the leg during the retreat, and Wang Wuyin had stayed behind to take care of him, thus losing contact with the group.

Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao had been traveling through the mountains for more than two weeks, and Li Zhitao's leg injury had gradually improved. Wang Wuyin had thought that they could temporarily hide from the pursuers here, but the explosion that had just sounded made his heart sink to the bottom.

A rustling sound came from beside him. Without looking, Wang Wuyin knew that Li Zhitao was crawling over.

"Was it an animal that stepped on the mine..." Like Wang Wuyin, Li Zhitao had a beard, and his face, weathered by the smoke of battle, showed a sense of沧桑 (cang桑) and determination. He licked his lips and spoke softly. Li Zhitao's voice was hoarse, and his tone carried a faint hope, almost a luxury. A few days ago, Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao had encountered a wild wolf in the mountains, and the roasted wolf leg was still in their food backpacks. As he spoke, Li Zhitao also lowered the night vision goggles on his helmet to observe the situation in the valley below.

Wang Wuyin did not speak. He hoped Li Zhitao was right, but his reason told him that it was unlikely to be an animal. He had placed the anti-personnel mine at a necessary passage on the way up the valley, where there was no water or food. Animals like wild boars would not pass through there, and he had set the mine's pressure sensitivity to the third level. At this sensitivity, ordinary-sized animals like wolves would not trigger the mine. Only a person or something heavier could set it off.

Under the night vision goggles, everything in the valley was clearly visible in a faint green light. The fireball that had risen to over thirty meters in the sky was gradually dissipating. The N5 explosive in the anti-personnel mine, with its explosive speed of 14,000 meters per second and a pressure of 90 gigapascals, had left the area around the mine's detonation point in a state of chaos. Several boulders the size of cows had been shattered, a large tree had fallen, and the nearest patch of shrubs had been completely obliterated, leaving the ground bare.

Wang Wuyin carefully searched the area. As his gaze moved, the night vision goggles automatically adjusted the focus, presenting all the images in the darkness to Wang Wuyin.

Suddenly, a patch of shrubs collapsed, and a large gray metal spider, more than half a person's height, struggled to reveal its terrifying and hideous half-body from the shrubs. The metal spider's two legs had been blown off by the anti-personnel mine, and its gray metal body was marked with the scars of explosives and bullets. Beneath those marks, the machine spider's body clearly displayed a symbol of two black snakes entwined in a swastika, the emblem of the Black Snake Group and the enemy.

The mine had torn a large hole in the metal spider's abdomen, exposing the metal structure and some sparking wires inside, but it was still struggling and moving. Advanced bionics and strong protective armor allowed this terrifying killing machine to maintain many of its functions.

As soon as Wang Wuyin saw the metal spider, its row of compound eye-like sensors rotated twice and immediately locked onto the place where Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao were hiding.

Seeing this, Wang Wuyin's face instantly changed. This machine spider was the pursuer he least wanted to see. If it had been a humanoid, it would have been better, but this thing was extremely difficult to deal with in the mountains. He knew that the T450's detection devices included infrared imaging radar and electromagnetic induction radar. Although he and Li Zhitao were wearing anti-infrared camouflage, it had been worn for a long time and was damaged in many places, greatly reducing its anti-infrared effect. They also wore electronic night vision goggles, quantum communication radios, and a small Tesla free energy generator. The electromagnetic shielding devices on their bodies were also damaged. As long as the T450's detection devices were not broken, they could likely capture the infrared signals and electromagnetic signals from the equipment on their bodies at this distance. The T450's artificial intelligence would analyze the two signals and quickly determine their hiding place.

These thoughts flashed through Wang Wuyin's mind. He cursed and instantly jumped up, shouting, "Run, we've been discovered..."

Li Zhitao also started running.

As they ran, Wang Wuyin quickly loaded a spider web grenade from his tactical vest into the grenade launcher on his rifle and took out a steel ball grenade.

Li Zhitao was doing the same thing. Long-term combat experience had taught them what to expect when facing a T450 killing robot.

As they started running, the two metal doors on the metal spider's back slid open, and more than ten palm-sized black drones emerged from the compartments on its back, like a swarm of killer bees, charging toward Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao. At the same time, several palm-sized machine spiders emerged from the metal spider's abdomen, leaping nimbly on the ground, moving much faster than real spiders, and chasing after Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao into the grass and crevices of the rocks...

Wang Wuyin ran with all his might through the forest. Since Li Zhitao's leg injury had not fully healed, he had taken over several heavy items from Li Zhitao, carrying them to reduce his comrade's burden.

But before they could run far, Wang Wuyin heard the buzzing sound of the drones in the air. With his rich combat experience, Wang Wuyin knew what this meant. The hunting drones were already within seventy meters of them, and if they got within ten meters, it would mean certain death.

As they ran, Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao exchanged a glance. They didn't say much, but their long-term combat experience had given them a strong sense of默契 (mo qi). They turned around simultaneously, threw their steel ball grenades far away, and then dove behind two large rocks.

Each steel ball grenade contained 50 grams of N5 explosive and over a thousand small magnetic steel balls.

Two fireballs exploded in the air, and the grenades detonated, sending countless small magnetic steel balls flying in all directions like a shower of metal. The incoming drones were instantly cut in half, and a few more drones sparked. Many steel balls hit the two large rocks where Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao were hiding, making a series of "pfft" sounds, like sand hitting paper. The surface of the large rocks immediately became pitted.

Wang Wuyin and Li Zhitao simultaneously rushed out from behind the rocks, one on the left and one on the right, firing their guns at the drones.

Li Zhitao was holding a shotgun, and each shot sent a spray of steel balls, not much different from the steel ball grenades. "Eat this, eat this..." Li Zhitao cursed in his hometown dialect as the shotgun's muzzle spat out a series of sparks.

Wang Wuyin knelt on one knee and fired the spider web grenade from his rifle. The grenade exploded ten meters from the muzzle, forming a super-strong and sticky fiber net that instantly caught and entangled several drones forty meters away, causing them to fall from the sky.

The remaining drones fell from the sky, but one drone quickly charged toward Li Zhitao.

The drone flew within ten meters of Li Zhitao, and as Li Zhitao shot it down, the drone's self-destruct device was activated.

"Boom..." A burst of fire engulfed Li Zhitao, and Wang Wuyin was hit by the shockwave, feeling as if a large hammer had struck his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood and rolled to the ground.

If they had not separated, and the large rock had not blocked 80-90% of the explosion's force, Wang Wuyin would have been finished too.

"Zhitao..." Wang Wuyin got up and rushed to Li Zhitao.

Li Zhitao was covered in blood, with over thirty bloody wounds on his chest and neck, bleeding profusely. One side of his face was gone, revealing his bloody teeth and bones, and the exposed skin was severely burned, blackened.

Wang Wuyin knelt on the ground, quickly tearing open the last first-aid kit he had, but he didn't know where to apply it to Li Zhitao's wounds. Tears streamed down his face. Even though he had seen death many times, the sadness of losing a good brother with whom he had fought for over twenty years still made him cry.

"Wuyin... don't... don't waste it... I can't make it... you keep it... you go... to the next base... those... those things are coming... don't forget our vow... you fight for me and all the fallen brothers... let them know... we... we Chinese will not fall... even if only one Chinese person is left... we will fight... if you survive, remember to burn some hotpot base for me on Qingming... I'm afraid... I'm afraid... I won't be able to eat it... go..."

Even as he was dying, Li Zhitao was still joking with Wang Wuyin. In his last moments, he strained to remove the last two grenades from his body, opened the safety pins, and pressed them with his fingers, his eyes wide and fierce, his will as hard as iron.

This was Li Zhitao's glory grenade! They were all prepared...

Wang Wuyin wiped away his tears, stood up, saluted Li Zhitao one last time, and then gritted his teeth and quickly left.

After running 300 meters, a huge explosion and a burst of fire sounded behind him, like a defiant roar echoing through the mountains.

Wang Wuyin gritted his teeth, held back his tears, and continued running, with only one thought in his mind—survive and fight those beasts to the end!

But before Wang Wuyin had run a kilometer, a large black Reaper X drone, like a ghost, flew through the thick clouds and the night, locking onto Wang Wuyin, who was running quickly through the forest.

Wang Wuyin also noticed the Reaper X in the sky. He knew that the T450's data link must be sharing information with other enemy units in the area, but he didn't expect the Reaper X to arrive so quickly.

Wang Wuyin ran even faster, and as he ran, he discarded all the extra equipment he was carrying, anything that could be detected by the electromagnetic induction radar. Without the extra weight, Wang Wuyin's speed increased, and his movements became more agile...

A guided glide bomb silently dropped from the Reaper X, like a cold arrow shot by an assassin in the darkness.

"Damn!" At the moment the bomb dropped, Wang Wuyin's body suddenly turned, diving into a depression on the hillside. He activated the anti-shock protection device on his body. In just 0.1 seconds, a gray foam sprayed from a nozzle on his tactical vest, instantly enveloping Wang Wuyin. The foam quickly expanded and solidified upon contact with the air, forming a cocoon-like protective shell around Wang Wuyin.

The heat and flames from the bomb explosion passed over the foam protective shell, tearing it in half. The flame-retardant high-molecular foam protected Wang Wuyin from the heat and flames, but the shockwave from the ground still caused him severe vibrations, as if his internal organs were being torn apart. The surface of the forest floor, like a thin layer of potato skin, was torn open by the bomb, and Wang Wuyin was thrown down the hillside by the shockwave, falling into the rushing stream below and disappearing from sight...

The drone flew over, found no biological signals on the ground, and after circling twice, quickly flew away.

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