Chapter 31

But at this moment, everyone was surrounded, and there was no way out for the time being.

Qianye felt that enemies were all around him, and even a random slash of his blade could take down a few of the dark race's cannon fodder. He had stabbed down over a dozen of them when he was caught off guard by a sudden black shadow that pounced on him. The shadow then bit into Qianye's neck, the intense pain almost tearing apart his consciousness!

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out by Qianye's ear, and the head of the bloodline warrior who had pinned him exploded into a mist of blood. Then a large hand lifted Qianye up.

"Are you okay, rookie?" It was a Red Scorpion squad leader.

"Fine... I'm fine!" Qianye didn't know how to respond; his neck still stung. However, the blood and brain matter of the bloodline warrior had splattered half of his body, covering the wound on his neck.

In the distance, two airships that had been floating in the sky were being attacked by dozens of flying black dots, burning and crashing to the ground.

Qianye's heart sank, but the Red Scorpion squad leader dragged him and rushed out of the city. Perhaps the strong enemies were concentrated in the inner circle, so the resistance on the outskirts was relatively light. They broke through layer after layer of interception until they reached the edge of the city.

The Red Scorpion squad leader pointed in the direction where the airships had fallen and shouted, "There are escape pods on that airship! As long as you get to the escape pod, you can escape, understand? Rookie?"

"Understood, sir!" Qianye responded as loudly as he could.

The Red Scorpion squad leader patted Qianye's shoulder in satisfaction and said, "Great! Go, rookie, I'll cover you!"

"But..."

The Red Scorpion squad leader directly interrupted Qianye, "Escape! That's an order! Live on! That's also an order! Find the mastermind and avenge us! Go, rookie, leave now!"

Qianye's mind went blank, and his habit of absolute obedience made him involuntarily run towards the crash site of the airship.

The Red Scorpion squad leader turned and walked back into the city. At the end of the road in front of him, countless dark race warriors poured out from several street corners, forming a terrifying black tide that surged towards the Red Scorpion squad leader!

In front of the surging black tide, the Red Scorpion squad leader's figure seemed so small. But his steps were powerful, and each step left deep footprints on the stone ground as he charged towards the tide of dark race warriors!

The black tide instantly engulfed the Red Scorpion squad leader, then suddenly stopped and slowly retreated! The black tide formed by countless dark race warriors was actually being pushed back by the Red Scorpion squad leader alone!

Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from the black tide, followed by more beams. The silver light columns shot up into the sky, and the dark race warriors hit by the light columns screamed in agony, some even beginning to melt!

Then came a deafening explosion! Hundreds of dark race warriors were blasted into the sky, leaving the street corners empty. The figure of the Red Scorpion squad leader disappeared forever.

At this moment, Qianye had already found an escape pod on the crashed airship and opened the hatch. The terrifyingly strong enemies who had brought down the airship had returned to the city to fight, and no one noticed a small rookie slipping through the net.

Before climbing into the escape pod, Qianye looked back and saw the deafening explosion. The dazzling light was like a star burning and falling, searing Qianye's eyes.

That missile was extremely powerful, originally intended to destroy dark race bases. Each Red Scorpion squad leader carried one. But it was never expected to be used in this way.

The explosion seemed to be a signal, and in the city, intense explosions began to occur one after another, destroying entire blocks. Nearby dark race warriors had no chance of survival. But each explosion also meant the disappearance of a Red Scorpion. The entire Red Scorpion corps had only about a hundred Red Scorpions, and this battle had already cost nearly a third of them.

Qianye forcefully closed the hatch, forcing himself not to look at the city, and punched the control panel to activate the escape pod. The five-meter-long escape pod shook violently, detached from the mother ship, quickly ascended, and then sped away!

Qianye finally breathed a sigh of relief, then felt an intense heat throughout his body and dizziness in his head. He finally couldn't hold on and fainted. The metal cabin was silent, with only the faint mechanical clicks as it flew towards the preset drop coordinates.

After an unknown amount of time, Qianye finally regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes but had no idea what he was seeing.

After a long time, Qianye realized he was looking at the night sky.

The night sky was dotted with countless stars, and a crescent moon hung on the horizon, casting a cold light over the land. Qianye barely moved his head, looked around, and then struggled to sit up.

He found himself on a small hill, with no signs of human or dark race activity, just a primitive mountain area.

Qianye gradually recalled the battle, but his memory only went as far as him activating the escape pod and leaving the battlefield. What happened in between was completely forgotten.

Qianye suddenly felt a burning sensation in his body, and his throat was extremely dry, as if he hadn't had a drop of water for days. But ordinary water seemed unable to quench this strange thirst.

Qianye looked around and suddenly saw a dead elk not far away. The elk's body was very shriveled, as if it had been drained of all its blood, like a vampire had sucked it dry.

Vampire!

A flash of lightning seemed to strike in Qianye's mind, and he immediately raised his hand to touch his neck! He then remembered that in the final moments of the battle, a bloodline warrior had pounced on him and seemed to have bitten his neck!

Qianye's fingers suddenly touched two round wounds, deep and surrounded by areas that felt like they were on fire, but he had no sensation when he touched them. Although he couldn't see, Qianye immediately visualized the shape of the wounds in his mind!

These were the marks left by vampire fangs!

He couldn't believe this conclusion and, with a trembling hand, pulled out the military knife from his waist, using the smooth, silver-coated blade as a mirror. This time, Qianye saw two deep holes in the mirror. He had seen such wounds many times before. Everyone bitten by a bloodline would have similar wounds.

Qianye suddenly felt a wave of weakness, and all his strength seemed to drain from his body. He heard a crisp sound, and the world shattered completely.

He had been bitten by a bloodline, and his body was already polluted by dark blood. It wouldn't be long before he turned into a blood slave, a creature with only instinct, always craving fresh flesh and blood!

Qianye couldn't remember how many blood slaves he had killed, but he had never thought that he would become one himself.

Qianye checked the wound again, and the last bit of hope in his heart disappeared. He stood up, staggered to the elk's corpse, and examined it. The elk had died from being drained of its blood, but from the wounds, it seemed to have been bitten by human teeth, with no marks from vampire fangs.

There was no doubt that Qianye himself had killed the elk and, in a state of lost reason, drained its blood. It was probably the elk's blood that had allowed him to regain consciousness.

Qianye sighed and slowly placed the military knife on his neck. This was a ritual for Red Scorpion soldiers. Each Red Scorpion was prepared to end their life if bitten by a bloodline, rather than become a lowly blood slave controlled by the bloodline.

The silver blade touched the skin of the wound, and a burning pain suddenly surged. The blade hissed as it touched the flesh, and a wisp of smoke rose, burning a small patch of skin. From this reaction, Qianye knew that the dark blood had spread throughout his body, and there was no way to return to being a normal human.

Qianye closed his eyes and was about to apply force. Just one cut would be enough to sever his neck and end his tragic fate.

But before he pressed down the blade, a question flashed through Qianye's mind: Why was he still rational?

After being bitten by a bloodline, a person would usually lose their reason in one to two days, or as little as ten minutes, turning into a blood slave with only animal instincts. Nothing could enter a blood slave's consciousness except fresh flesh and blood and orders from higher bloodlines. This process was irreversible.

Since Qianye had already hunted and killed an elk in a state of lost reason, he shouldn't have regained his reason.

This question, like a ray of sunlight in the darkness, gave Qianye a glimmer of hope.

Qianye slowly put down the military knife.

He never gave up easily. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would fight for it. Although he didn't understand why he was still rational, as long as he hadn't completely lost his reason, he would strive to live on.

Of course, if he was about to turn into a blood slave, Qianye would end his life without hesitation.

Qianye searched the area and saw that the escape pod had crashed a kilometer away. He walked to the escape pod and retrieved a spare force gun, a clothing pack, dry rations, and water, as well as a signal flare. He picked up the signal flare, pointed it at the sky, and was about to pull the trigger when he suddenly hesitated!

The signal flare would explode in the high sky, releasing a special force wave that could activate nearby military alarm devices, allowing the military to determine the approximate location of the person in distress for rescue. But the problem was, how would Qianye explain his identity when the Imperial soldiers arrived?

A Red Scorpion rookie? No, he was no longer an Imperial soldier. His current identity was a blood slave, one who would be burned on the spot if discovered!

Even if Qianye had many battle achievements and still retained his reason, the best treatment he could expect would be to be thrown into a dark mine, working for life, exchanging the mined ore for a meager amount of food until he died and became a pile of bones.

The raging fire in that nameless small city had made Qianye realize that the Empire had no mercy or forgiveness for blood slaves. Once his identity as a blood slave was discovered, he would be dead no matter what.

As for returning to report that the mission was a trap, that was completely impossible. How could the high-ranking officials of the Imperial military listen to a blood slave?

Even if Qianye were still a normal person, a trap that used Lin Xitang's order to mobilize the Red Scorpions and eliminated a third of the Red Scorpions' core strength would be beyond the reach of a mere rookie.

Just as the Red Scorpion squad leader had said, in specific matters, some people and forces could indeed cover the sky with one hand!