Chapter 68

All the sounds around were drowned out by the intense noise of the nuclear explosion.

The ground shook violently.

"About 15 kilometers away, against the wind, we should be fine for now. Radioactive contamination will reach us in 15 minutes; we need to evacuate immediately," the gunman assessed.

The commander pointed to the truck.

Everyone ran towards the truck.

Falcon and the gunman jumped into the cab, Wu Xiaode threw them the car keys, then climbed onto the top of the truck.

Xiao Baihong followed him, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

The commander and Eagle sat in the back of the truck.

The truck roared to life and drove off in the direction the general had left earlier.

About seven or eight minutes later.

The truck entered a valley.

A dark cave suddenly came into view.

A white light flashed behind them again.

Amid the deafening roar, a mushroom cloud rose once more.

White light continued to flash.

This was the scene of nuclear explosions occurring consecutively in the mountains.

"They're crazy!"

The gunman couldn't help but shout.

"Let's go, forget about what's happening on the ground. We need to regroup immediately," the commander said.

The six of them rushed into the cave.

Someone immediately came to check their credentials—

Despite the nuclear explosions outside, the work here continued in an orderly manner, though everyone's faces were grim.

Everyone was armed, and several concealed positions had already been set up with machine guns and assault rifles.

When Wu Xiaode and the others entered, a significant number of weapons were aimed at them. They were only lowered after the verification was complete.

"This place has strict checks, I really—"

Xiao Baihong squinted and smiled.

"Be more normal," the commander interrupted.

Xiao Baihong shut his mouth, looking somewhat sulky as he put his hands in his pockets.

The polite and refined military officer's ghost appeared again, whispering:

"There are others like you here. They're not from our world either; I've heard them talk about many things."

"Where are they?" Wu Xiaode immediately became alert and asked.

"They're here— the colonel in charge is from your world," the ghost said.

By this time, Wu Xiaode and the others had already been verified, including the token given by the high-ranking officer, and were allowed into the cave.

Wu Xiaode looked in the direction the ghost had pointed and immediately recognized a familiar face.

Fu Zhengyang!

This martial artist of the Tiger Crane style had come to deliver a message from the elders in the night market, which Wu Xiaode had refused, and had openly threatened to kill him!

He was tall and muscular, his military uniform bulging, and he strode over to Wu Xiaode.

"Second Excavation Squad?" he asked.

"Yes," Wu Xiaode replied.

"Why didn't you salute me?" Fu Zhengyang demanded.

There were people all around, and Wu Xiaode smiled, saying, "Sorry, sir, I was too nervous."

He saluted.

Fu Zhengyang's lips curled in a mocking smile. "Now is the time for you to serve your country."

"I have always served my country, but there are many obstacles."

"Soldier, what obstacles are you talking about?"

"Like those non-human things outside, sir."

Fu Zhengyang clenched his fists.

Wu Xiaode smiled at him, his hand on the hilt of his knife.

A faint aura of killing intent emanated from him.

—If you push me any further, I won't care about this identity and will take you down.

"Soldier, speaking like that is a bit—"

Fu Zhengyang took a step forward, then suddenly remembered something and scanned the group around Wu Xiaode.

He clearly saw that Wu Xiaode and his team were not ordinary and immediately closed his mouth, stepping back with a wary look.

"Listen, you arrived last, so you'll be the rear guard—"

"Remember, you must hold the position!"

"Wait for my signal to retreat."

"That's an order!"

Fu Zhengyang said loudly, waved his hand, and quickly walked away.

Old fox!

Wu Xiaode cursed silently in his heart.

If Fu Zhengyang had really attacked, the S-level Club members would have torn him apart immediately.

But this old fox knew how to assess the situation.

Wu Xiaode looked around.

He saw that the others were already moving deeper into the cave.

The six of them were left alone at the entrance.

"We're the rear guard? What a great task, are they expecting us to fight the monsters head-on?" the gunman said sarcastically.

But there were many guns and bullets here, and he had already started picking out weapons.

"Prepare yourselves. In this world, don't disobey military orders unless absolutely necessary, or we won't be able to blend in," the commander said.

Everyone moved to the equipment boxes and started selecting usable gear and weapons.

Several small drones flew out from around Falcon and headed outside the cave.

"We'll send some reconnaissance drones to get a better understanding of the situation," Falcon explained to everyone.

Wu Xiaode had many thoughts but couldn't express them.

Being the rear guard was a dangerous task.

Fu Zhengyang had assigned them this role without hesitation, clearly not intending for them to retreat.

But he could kill enough monsters and return.

What was his plan?

He must know something!

Wu Xiaode picked up a military water bottle from the equipment box.

The bottle had a small inscription:

"Sealed energy liquid, United Era 2035, March production, one-year shelf life."

The bottle was heavy, and when he unscrewed the cap, he smelled a faint, sweet scent.

—No sense of danger.

"This is a marching supplement, good for boosting energy, no problem," the commander nodded.

Wu Xiaode took the water bottle and attached it to his waist.

—His advantage was having the ghost's help.

With this in mind, he silently called out.

The ghost officer immediately flew over and asked, "What is it?"

"Check what that guy who gave us orders and his team are doing," Wu Xiaode said, loading a pistol with bullets.

"Okay." The ghost officer disappeared.

After a while.

The commander and the others had already set up the defensive position, and the ghost officer reappeared.

"There's a tunnel leading underground. He and his team have installed many timed bombs in the tunnel, saying they will call you to retreat soon."

"After you board the underground train and are halfway through, they will detonate the bombs," the ghost officer said.

Wu Xiaode's heart sank.

Indeed, they all had over 10 points of soul power and exceptional physical abilities.

But the tunnel led deep into the mountain.

If the tunnel collapsed, no matter how strong they were, they couldn't withstand the weight of the mountain.

Even if some managed to escape, they would surely be injured.

Then, Fu Zhengyang would ambush them—

It would be over.

But something didn't add up.

How did Fu Zhengyang know they would definitely retreat?

That was the key!

Wu Xiaode was deep in thought when he heard Falcon shout, "Commander, Xiao Wu, come look."

Falcon turned the surveillance screen towards them.

The latest footage from the drones showed—

Beyond the mountains.

Infinite white fog had risen, enveloping everything on the plain.

In the fog, a massive figure could be seen slowly crawling.

Its size was comparable to the mountains, but its appearance was strange—

Clearly human in the upper body, but with a spider-like lower body, covered in dense, jointed limbs.

Missiles whistled through the air, exploding on its body, creating black and red smoke.

The monster was unharmed, even smiling.

—It seemed to find it amusing.

The monster was slowly approaching the mountains.

Everyone watched in silence, speechless.

At that moment.

Everyone felt their own insignificance.

Xiao Baihong groaned, muttering:

"Commander, it's coming."

"It will be here in about 15 minutes," the gunman estimated.

Ding-ding-ding—

The phone in the position rang.

Falcon walked over and picked it up, saying:

"This is the Second Exploration Squad, holding the cave entrance."

"You can retreat now! Confirm if received."

"Received!" Falcon said with a relieved smile.

The call ended.

"Let's go," the gunman said eagerly.

They were about to run into the cave—

"Wait!" the commander shouted.

"That big guy is coming, Commander," Eagle shivered.

The commander remained calm, looking at Wu Xiaode and said:

"Wu, when that officer gave the order, he looked at you with hostility. What's going on?"

—This woman is too perceptive!

Wu Xiaode said, "He's from our world and has a grudge against me. He will try to kill me."

"But he ordered us to retreat," the commander said.

"Yes," Wu Xiaode replied.

Hearing this, the others didn't rush to retreat.

None of the people who could enhance their soul power beyond the world's limits were simple.

Xiao Baihong said, "There must be a surprise waiting for us below."

The commander said, "Falcon."

"Understood. I'll seal the entrance and make it look like a hill," Falcon said.

Blood still flowed from Falcon's chest, but Wu Xiaode was numb to it.

No one else could see it, and he couldn't remove this power from Falcon's body.

He could only ignore it for now.

The commander continued, "If it doesn't work, I'll use the earth escape talisman to go underground directly."

"Carrying so many people will drain your power," Eagle said.

"Commander is our main combat force. If you lose your soul power after we go down and there's a fight, it will be a big problem," Falcon added.

"There's no other way," the commander shook his head.

Everyone fell silent.

"I'll blow up the tunnel, so those people don't think we're easy to bully," the gunman said, smiling.

He pulled a colorful bullet from his belt, loaded it, and aimed.

"Target:"

"Living beings and electronic devices..."

"Eliminate all."

The sniper rifle made a mechanical grinding sound, as if responding to his command.

Just as the gunman was about to pull the trigger, Wu Xiaode stopped him.

"What? Don't want to bury so many people?" the gunman smiled.

Wu Xiaode said, "Give me some time."

"What are you going to do?" the commander asked.

"Because of my personal issues, everyone can't safely pass through the tunnel. It's my problem," Wu Xiaode said honestly.

Everyone's eyes focused on him.

Xiao Baihong seemed to understand what he was going to say and excitedly licked her lips.

"I'll go kill that guy and come back to apologize to everyone," Wu Xiaode said.

No one spoke.

The commander slowly said, "You are a martial artist, and you have a strong sense of justice, which is good, but you are the only one in our team who can lead the charge. If anything goes wrong—"

"Back in ten minutes," Wu Xiaode said.

The commander studied his expression, paused, and said, "Alright, we'll wait for you for ten minutes."

"Thank you, Commander."

Wu Xiaode finished speaking, and his figure suddenly blurred, transforming into a bird and flying into the tunnel.

His speed was so fast that he was almost a blur, quickly disappearing into the depths of the tunnel.