Chapter 25: The City's Great Retreat

After retrieving the two headless red-armored beetle corpses, Chu Yunsheng, without a second thought for the shocked crowd behind him, quickly merged into the darkness with a trembling heart from excitement.

One unit of essence energy to eliminate one red-armored beetle; it seemed to have a similar effect to the Ice Arrow. However, Chu Yunsheng was very clear that an Ice Arrow freezing a red-armored beetle was only possible under ideal conditions and had no practical combat value.

In all previous battles, only the first Ice Arrow could generally ensure the efficiency of freezing one beetle. When other bugs got close to him, he often needed to consume two or even more units of essence energy to eliminate one red-armored beetle!

Moreover, being attacked by the frenzied bugs posed a serious threat to his life!

Now, things were different. With the protection of the battle armor, even a direct collision with a red-armored beetle was not a disadvantage! Furthermore, a single sword slash, consuming only one unit of essence energy, was effective and had practical combat value.

He was confident that if he had a full nine units of essence energy, he could at least kill eight beetles in battle without any problem.

Carefully cleaning the Qianbi Sword, Chu Yunsheng stood on the rooftop of a twenty-story building. The joy brought by the battle armor did not last long, as it was quickly overshadowed by the news from the military.

With a complex mood, he watched the three imposing Type 99 main battle tanks and the six Type 97 infantry fighting vehicles that followed, all lights on, and the loudspeakers continuously broadcasting the General Command's "Urgent Notice":

"...

... We call them red-armored beetles...

... We have spared no sacrifice, no cost, to try to eliminate these strange bugs that have appeared in various places...

... The city is riddled with numerous insect passages that cannot be destroyed, and red-armored beetles continue to pour into our city...

... Now, we must announce that the situation has continued to deteriorate. In recent days, the number of red-armored beetles in the city has surged again!...

... It is out of control! Extremely dangerous!...

... After careful deliberation by the General Command, from today, the entire city will be forced to evacuate! The entire city will be forced to evacuate!...

... All citizens who hear this resolution can evacuate with the military, with the destination being Jinling City...

... The only good news we can share is that, according to scientific analysis, the main area of Jinling City contains a large amount of an unknown substance, and no insect passages have been found there. The General Command has decided to establish a new defense system in Jinling City! There, our troops, after months of bloody battles, have completely cleared the red-armored beetles that entered Jinling City from the outer city. Currently, they are building a solid defense line around the main area of Jinling City, successfully preventing multiple insect invasions...

... The General Command has decided that from the issuance of this notice, the military will hold out for 72 hours. Those who wish to seek refuge in Jinling City must leave the city within 72 hours. After 72 hours, the rear guard of the military will be the last to leave, ensuring the safety of the evacuating citizens...

..."

Is it finally time to abandon this place? The evacuation of over twenty million people? Chu Yunsheng felt his scalp tingle just thinking about it!

Perhaps the military can no longer hold out, or perhaps the situation has become so dire that it cannot get any worse.

The city's great retreat might just be the military's last desperate attempt to give the people a sense of closure, a form of abandonment. This is a disaster for Shencheng, and a disaster for all of humanity. People around the world must be trembling under the threat of the bugs, right? Perhaps...

Chu Yunsheng's thoughts became chaotic. Although he had heard such rumors before, and some people, like the expert on the floor above him, had already evacuated to the military camp, when the day finally came, he found it hard to accept!

Over twenty million people, what an enormous crowd! He could hardly imagine it!

The chaos, disorder, struggle for survival, insect attacks, lack of food, and lack of medicine—how many people would die on this journey?

Chu Yunsheng did not know why the General Command had issued such a resolution. For over three months since the sun disappeared, Shencheng, as a major city, had received the highest level of defense deployment from the General Command. It was said that to protect Shencheng, the General Command had abandoned many small and medium-sized cities, concentrating the most elite and powerful military forces in the East China region to defend Shencheng!

But now, they were about to abandon it! Chu Yunsheng vaguely felt that the General Command must have discovered some new situation, perhaps a new monster or a sudden increase in the number of bugs, making them realize that they could no longer waste military and combat resources. Instead of eventually losing the city, it was better to preserve their current strength and reinforce the new defense system to secure the last place of human survival!

However, these were just his speculations. Regardless, his escape journey was about to begin!

Although he had the battle armor, the Qianbi Sword, and the Ice Arrow, these did not make him overconfident enough to think he could face the thousands of bugs that were about to appear alone!

Joining the large evacuation force was his only and best choice, and his only relative was in Jinling City.

The escape was about to begin!

But before that, Chu Yunsheng felt he should prepare something, kill more bugs to store essence energy, and search for useful items for future needs.

He was not naive enough to think that the nearly 300 kilometers to Jinling City would be safe and free of danger!

As long as he had the ancient book, the battle armor, and the essence talisman, Chu Yunsheng still had confidence that he could safely reach Jinling City.

Wasn't it said that the main area of Jinling City had been cleared of bugs? There, relying on Jinling City, he could focus on training himself and hunt red-armored beetles outside the city, which would be better than his current situation where he had to be on guard against bugs even while sleeping, eating, or using the bathroom!

He wondered how his aunt's family was doing. Chu Yunsheng was worried; his aunt was his only remaining relative after his parents passed away.

During the period before and after the sun's disappearance, he had called his aunt several times, repeatedly reminding them to be cautious and even asking them to come to Shencheng to his fortified nest. However, at the time, his aunt did not take it too seriously and instead advised him not to worry and to go to work. Later, communication was cut off, and Chu Yunsheng could not contact them.

Chu Yunsheng had been working hard to cultivate essence energy not only to save his own life but also to protect his loved ones and friends.

What he did not expect was that the bugs would come so quickly and be so vicious, disrupting all his previous plans. After the bugs arrived, he could no longer contact them.

Fortunately, the news from the military gave him some relief. Jinling City was still standing, and if his aunt's family had survived the initial insect attacks and were still alive, they should be safer now. However, he was worried about whether they had enough food. Chu Yunsheng was anxious.

According to the ancient book, the Earth and the otherworldly space's celestial track intersected, and the celestial track passage opened but, for some unknown reason, bypassed the main area of Jinling City, preventing the bugs from entering the main area. This was very advantageous for the military to clear the city.

Unlike Shencheng, where there were many celestial track passages within the city, once cleared, the bugs would re-emerge, making it impossible to eliminate them completely. This was perhaps one of the reasons why the General Command decided to abandon the city!

Chu Yunsheng gathered his thoughts and thought: First, I need to go back to Mingdu Huayuan to pack up my things, then use these three days, 72 hours, to gather some supplies and kill some bugs, preparing for the unprecedented great evacuation!

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