High-Martial World: System Arrives 30 Years Late-Chapter 278 - 238: Island Amidst the Beast Tide, Embers of Resistance

Chapter 278: Chapter 238: Island Amidst the Beast Tide, Embers of Resistance

The defense line has been breached...

The division commander has also fallen in battle...

Su Mu felt a heavy weight on his heart. The ferocity of the Beast Tide exceeded his expectations.

"What about the reinforcements?"

"Reinforcements?" The one-armed man shook his head. "They kept saying reinforcements are on the way, but all we’ve encountered are endless waves of Fierce Beasts and the breach of the defense line..."

"Does the sub-war zone know about the breach?"

"They know because we received the evacuation order after the breach."

"Why didn’t you evacuate?"

"The division commander didn’t retreat, he died in battle. The brothers plan to stay with him, even if they can kill just one more Fierce Beast..."

Su Mu fell into silence, the cruelty of the battlefield laid bare before him—thousands or tens of thousands of warriors left with only one survivor, countless families losing their loved ones overnight.

"Does the sub-war zone know about the 996th Division’s casualties?"

"Probably not yet, because the last order from the division commander was for evacuation..." the one-armed man lowered his head slightly, hiding the grief on his face.

"What would be the consequence if the defense line you were guarding completely falls?"

"The division commander said our defense line might not appear strategically significant on the map, but it is crucial in reality. It seems there was an error in the sub-war zone’s judgment, as our defense line is located at the junction of Beast Cave 004 and 005. Once this defense line falls, it won’t just endanger the cities behind it..."

"It will also put the defense lines guarding Beast Cave 004 and 005 into an encirclement by Fierce Beasts, which is why the division commander didn’t retreat after receiving the evacuation order; he planned to hold fast..."

The one-armed man’s voice was hoarse, and after a pause, he continued, "In short, the division commander’s meaning was that once this defense line completely falls, many will die, and it will drag comrades from other divisions into dire straits as well."

Silhouettes flashed in Su Mu’s mind, a look of respect washing over his eyes. Compared to the Martial Saint, Su Mu found himself admiring these warriors, whose Martial Arts Realm was far weaker than a Martial Saint.

"I understand. Tell me the coordinates of the defense line."

"Coordinates?"

"Sir, that area is probably completely overrun by now, even a Grandmaster Level..."

"I understand, but tell me the coordinates."

Su Mu’s voice was firm, and the one-armed warrior felt the resolute determination behind it, his gaze finally falling on the corpses of the Fierce Beasts littering the ground, involuntarily revealing the coordinates of the defense line.

After receiving the coordinates, Su Mu nodded and with a flash, a small porcelain bottle appeared in his hand. He handed it to the warrior and pointed in a direction.

"Head this way and try to survive..."

Su Mu turned and left. As his figure was about to vanish completely, the one-armed man snapped back to reality and shouted with all his strength, "Sir, be careful!"

Su Mu said nothing, merely waving his hand with his back to the warrior. The warrior took a deep breath, showing genuine admiration on his face, and then solemnly saluted in the direction Su Mu was leaving.

...

After traversing the ruins, Su Mu climbed to a high vantage point and looked down, seeing the aforementioned defense line described by the one-armed warrior. The roars of the Fierce Beasts reverberated through the air, a scene shrouded in darkness.

The defense line was indeed completely overrun.

Su Mu pulled out a specially made satellite phone, which was given to him along with the coordinates by Zhen Yue, allowing communication even on the battlefield. Generally, only a few would be allocated to an entire division.

The call was quickly connected, and Su Mu briefly reported the situation with the one-armed man but did not mention the destruction of the 996th Division. "Sir, I plan to take a look."

"Alright, I understand. The defense line on our end won’t be a problem for now; the warriors have recovered, and with the elite squad you brought, the reinforcements are sufficient."

"That defense line, I remember, is being guarded by the 996th Division, right? It’s good for you to provide support. When you meet Old Zhou of their division, pass on my regards..."

"It’s strange, the sub-war zone recently issued an order allowing retreat if necessary... In any case, even if the defense line falls, retreating temporarily to the rear is an option. I have only one request for you, Su Mu—make your own safety the top priority and stay in touch."

"Understood."

Amidst the flames of war at the frontline, Zhen Yue was nearly shouting into the phone, and the content was overheard by the nearby elite company warriors.

For a moment, every gaze of these elite warriors was filled with admiration, reverence, and aspiration...

After hanging up, Su Mu placed the satellite phone into his Space Ring, his figure blurred as he dashed toward the distance.

Amidst the ruins of the city, damaged armored vehicles, artillery vehicles, and corpses lay strewn across the ground. In one area, a defense line formed by dozens of armored vehicles caught his eye.

This particular defense line seemed to have been forcefully breached by a monstrous force, allowing waves of Fierce Beasts to surge in, completely tearing apart and destroying the defense line.

Such scenes of breached directions weren’t uncommon amidst the ruins, with each defense line bearing rivers of blood, a testament to the fierce battles that occurred.

Su Mu tightened his grip on his Long Saber.

"I’ll give it my all... and see how it goes."

Su Mu intended to try, but his premise was to ensure he could retreat safely.

Piercing through the torn-apart defense lines, Su Mu arrived at a skyscraper turned to ruins, climbed to a high point, and his gaze abruptly stopped at a certain point, revealing surprise and joy.

Amidst the black night, a dense tide of Fierce Beasts surged like a black tidal wave toward a direction, uncountable and seemingly endless.

Yet amidst this despairing black wave, there was a flickering flame, extremely weak but standing unyielding, like the last spark of hope amidst despair.

Holding back the endless Beast Tide here, delaying its complete onslaught toward the rear.

Taking a deep breath, Su Mu faintly heard the distant sounds of gunfire, explosions, and combat.

"Are there survivors from the 996th Division?"

"They’re still holding on..."

...

A solid building constructed with special alloy, once a military museum of a city-administered base in Yun Province, has now become a military fortress.

A lonely island amidst the Beast Tide that could be wiped out at any moment.

Outside the isolated island, it was piled with abandoned armored vehicles, and the corpses of the fallen Fierce Beasts had also become a defensive line of sorts.

Inside the fortress, a team of ten people had moved all the machine guns and ammunition stored in the museum’s basement to the first floor. Five of them were continuously firing heavy machine guns frenetically, while two others were responsible for reloading and transporting ammunition.

The remaining three were continuously throwing grenades and firing rocket launchers, with one of them holding a large bow, continually shooting burning arrows into the Beast Tide.

Ample ammunition was a crucial reason the squad had been able to hold on until now.

"These damn beasts, there’s just too many of them."

"We can’t kill them all, it’s impossible to finish them."

"What’s there to be afraid of? Leader Cao died in the Beast Cave to cover our retreat, our lives are given by him. Since he fell in battle, we might as well all die here."

"That’s right, every beast we kill now is a bit more revenge for the Leader. When we get down there, we can face him without remorse."

The leader, a lean man, said fiercely, as he tied several grenades to an arrowhead, then drew the bow to full stretch and shot it out.

Boom!

A small mushroom cloud exploded in the midst of the Fierce Beasts, and seeing the scene of flesh flying, several people shouted with exhilaration.

Cough, cough, cough.

At that moment, a man carrying ammunition coughed violently, then dropped the ammo box. His face was ashen.

Immediately, someone took out the last half-pack of cigarettes from their chest, lit one on the red-hot gun barrel, and passed it over.

"Old Chen, hang in there."

"Okay, I’ll try to hold out a little longer and go meet the Leader with you."

"And kill a few more beasts for me."

"Alright."

The man took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, leaned against the wall, took a drag, and his face showed a look of intoxication. His eyes began to show signs of dispersion; everyone knew he was near the end.

The others looked visibly pained. His abdomen was dark red, signaling that his life was in its twilight.

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

A sudden, sharp, piercing screech echoed through the entire area.

Suddenly, the few people inside the fortress felt as if their heads were hit by a heavy hammer and were stupefied.

Once they regained their senses, ten or so rusty steel bars were shooting out at the fortress from the Beast Tide.

"Not good, such terrifying Spiritual Power, it’s a Grandmaster Level Fierce Beast!"

"Captain!"

With a resounding boom.

The few people inside the fortress instantly fell into chaos.

Pfft.

Over a dozen steel bars precisely shot through the small windows of the fortress. The leading lean man couldn’t dodge in time and was pierced through the abdomen and chest by two steel bars, then pinned to the wall.

The others, though dodging the strike, now faced a breach in what seemed to be a solid fortress.

This isolated island holding out until now was already a miracle, but miracles wouldn’t always favor the squad; now the island was about to collapse.

Amid screams and wails, blood spurted inside the fortress.

"No, Captain, Captain hold on!"

The lean man’s pupils rapidly dilated, feeling an intense chill. He started to curl up, but the curling motion provoked his wounds.

With a loud moan, he suddenly spat a mouthful of dark blood.

In a trance, he saw before him a man of tall stature with graying hair at the temples; the man finally took off his hat, gently wiped the Golden Star emblazoned on it, then put his cap back on meticulously.

"Leave this to me, you all fall back..."

"Leader Cao..."

The scene of the Fierce Beasts engulfing that tall figure overlapped completely with reality.

"Leader Cao, I’m afraid we won’t be able to complete the mission you entrusted to us..." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Wen Zhongjun’s squad reports to you, we’re coming to accompany you..."

The lean man, at this moment, reached into his pocket for an item, then his arms fell limply down.

The few inside the fortress appeared pained, yet at that moment, several couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief; this hopeless night was finally ending.

"Finally... relief..."

In the final moments of life, they felt an indescribable ease.

Right then, a beam of Golden Light pierced from the endless darkness.

"Haha, our luck isn’t bad... to see a glimpse of dawn at the end, just that Captain’s luck is perennially bad, just a bit short and he would’ve seen it too..." One person retrieved a button from an ammo box, preparing to press it to blow up the fortress.

A Great Sun descended.

The brilliance of the Great Sun illuminated the dim fortress entirely; under its light, the approaching Fierce Beasts wailed in anguish and instantly turned to char.

"If you don’t want to die, open your eyes with all your might and take big breaths!"

A calm voice suddenly echoed in their ears, prompting everyone to snap their eyes open.

Then...

They saw a tall, majestic figure.