On the Xilang Peak battlefield, Han Qingyu was back. Drawing his blade as he sprinted, he prepared to repeat the trick. If conditions permitted, he intended to loop back and forth just like this... and knock all the remaining thirty-six shuttle craft down the mountain.
At the same time, the other three super combat powers had already reached the upper battlefield.
Azure's four super combat powers prepared to join forces and slay the Red Shoulder.
Everything was drawn taut on the bowstring.
*Wuu-wung...* Right at this moment, a deep alarm resonated once again from the dreadnought atop the peak, its pitch seemingly a bit higher than before.
Intermixed within it was another sequence of bizarre syllables, sounding like the exact same voice that had issued the earlier command.
So, the one issuing commands inside the dreadnought was not this Red Shoulder after all?!
Just as shock and bewilderment gripped everyone, an eerie shift abruptly occurred across the battlefield.
The nearly five hundred Great Spikes that had previously fallen back to defend the dreadnought suddenly charged downhill in mass toward the Red Shoulder's position.
Meanwhile, the five hundred-plus Great Spikes trailing behind Han Qingyu also decisively abandoned their pursuit. Roughly four hundred of them pivoted uphill from below, surging to encircle Azure's four super combat powers.
The remaining hundred or so held fast on the mountainside.
They were guarding the remaining shuttle craft.
"What do we do?" On the mountain, the four super combat powers exchanged glances. Even they dared not let themselves be hemmed in by so many massed Great Spikes; once encircled, only death awaited.
"What do we do?" The commanders at the base of the mountain conferred in rapid succession.
Communications on the mountain were jammed!
*Whoosh!* A colossal Azure military banner was raised high upon the command platform, ready to signal a retreat at any moment.
If the situation did not change, Azure could not afford to lose four super combat powers on Xilang Peak just for the sake of a single attempt. With this sudden turn on the battlefield, it was practically impossible for them to slay the Red Shoulder before the swarm closed in.
Wait—the Red Shoulder suddenly pulled back of its own accord. More accurately, it ran, breaking off from the engagement to rendezvous with the Great Spike swarm.
Now, even the chance for a final attempt was gone.
With a loud *whoosh*, the colossal battle standard on the command platform dipped outward into the distance, waving repeatedly and frantically.
The command was given: retreat.
"...Sigh!" Lü Moyi looked up toward the high ground at the Red Shoulder and the descending swarm of Great Spikes. Clenching his teeth, he threw down his hand in bitter frustration. Reluctant as he was, he had no choice but to break out laterally alongside the other three super combat powers and rush down the mountain.
At the same time, down below, Han Qingyu had been given the cold shoulder by the Great Spikes, left isolated where he stood...
Taking one last look at the remaining thirty-six shuttle craft, Han Qingyu turned away with tears in his eyes, clutching the column sword as he erupted with full power and sprinted down the mountain.
Immediately following, nearly a thousand Great Spikes assembled, wheeled around, and thundered down the mountain.
At the mountain's foot, the entire army braced for combat.
Yet bracing for combat did not mean massing together; rather, they dispersed. Over thirty thousand soldiers scattered, preparing to evade the brunt of a concentrated frontal charge by the Great Spike swarm before seeking opportunities to cut in.
*Wuu-wung...* Another command sounded from the peak.
The downhill charge halted abruptly at the mountainside; the Great Spikes advanced no further. Quickly, a detachment peeled away to resume guarding the dreadnought at the summit.
The remainder dispersed across the mountainside to hold their ground.
The Red Shoulder was there as well, holding an ordinary column sword in its hand. It stood alone on an escarpment, gazing from afar as that silhouette vanished into the vast night along with its starlight column sword.
The scene held an inexplicable melancholy.
Was it over?
It was over.
At least, today's battle—from a large-scale offensive, to a failed desperate rescue, to escaping by the skin of their teeth, to sheer chaos, and finally to nearly having a chance to slay a disarmed Red Shoulder... had taken a sudden turn and ground to an abrupt halt.
Amidst all the shifts and intricate details, the only thing that had run through it all from beginning to end seemed to be that silhouette, running relentlessly.
Seeing the Great Spikes halt their charge and watching everyone on the mountain withdraw safely, the generals on the command platform collectively exhaled, only for their brows to furrow deeply a moment later.
They had already come to terms with the failure of Operation Voice and the poor results of the new combat doctrine; at the very least, it had earned Azure experience and lessons.
However, the intelligence gathered from today's battle was sobering: the Great Spike swarms were capable of rapid battlefield recovery to fight again; they operated under highly effective command; and the dreadnought could jam technological equipment, including aircraft and communications, across a certain radius...
This meant that for Azure's future battles, the level of difficulty was undoubtedly multiplied several times beyond their past experience and imagination.
Moreover, what their desperate defense of the dreadnought revealed—forcing everyone to ponder and stay vigilant—was terrifying.
Previously, people had been perplexed: why hadn't the Great Spikes launched any large-scale active offensives after the dreadnought arrived? Had they been intimidated? At the same time, their own scouts had found no sign of subsequent traction arrays being established.
For a time, they had felt fortunate.
Now, however, combining the Great Spike language translations and tactical analysis from the rear, they could roughly guess the truth—the dreadnought at the summit was the real traction array.
If a traction array established by two shuttle-shaped craft had brought this dreadnought, then with this dreadnought as its core, what would a colossal traction array that took so long to construct bring down?
Perhaps... a mothership?!
Maybe even an entire army.
And humanity—or rather, Azure—was clearly far from ready for a decisive battle against them.
They had not even had time to absorb and digest the experiences, lessons, and gains from this battle.
Azure needed time. Humanity needed time.
If so, the Xilang Peak front probably could brook no further delay... The commanders turned their heads, gazing once more at the snowy peak, the dreadnought on its summit, and the Great Spikes dispersed across the slopes.
Should they assault and wipe them out directly?! It seemed imperative, and immediate.
A decisive battle! But how could they fight it?!
***
If there was anything else worthy of celebration and gratitude tonight, it was probably this: proof that two or more of Azure's super combat powers had a chance of contending with a Red Shoulder; the narrow escape of those two super squads; and then, that Huaxia soldier. He had plundered the Red Shoulder's weapon—a detail that could prove immensely significant on future battlefields.
Otherwise, just imagine the scene of that weapon shuttling back and forth through tens of thousands of ordinary Azure soldiers.
By the way, where was he?
"Dug out five, used five... I can't keep thinking of what I used as mere waste and agonizing over it. After all, my body absorbed it and improved. I need to change that mindset going forward. Then there's one from the blue-light craft, and Wu Xu and Rusty Sister helped me retrieve five... plus what I already had, that makes eleven blocks in total. The one from the blue-light craft is larger and seems to have higher purity; I'll study it properly once I'm back."
After breaking away from the battlefield, Han Qingyu had slowed from a run to a walk, tallying up his haul as he went.
"As for bone source, I don't feel any depletion at all. That's pretty impressive. And then there's this column sword. This thing can actually be guided by source energy, and there seems to be some kind of connection between it and bone source. What a treasure... Even if I have to hand it over, I at least have to study it thoroughly myself first."
Suddenly, *clap, clap clap clap clap...*
Thunderous applause erupted ahead.
Snapping back from his thoughts, Han Qingyu looked up, stunned.
A few hundred meters ahead, lined along both sides of the road, were at least several thousand soldiers. Every gaze was fixed on him, every pair of hands clapping for him—Black, White, Asian, faces of every kind, eyes of every color... battle fatigues from every nation of the coalition.
*What's going on?!*
*Are they cheering up because I swiped the Great Spike's column sword? They didn't notice the metal blocks I stole, did they?!*
Han Qingyu was somewhat dazed. Sincerely acknowledging the crowds on either side, he trudged forward, feeling weak.
His combat uniform was soaked in blood.
With the four-turbine state ended, an overpowering exhaustion settled over him.
*Now what is this?*
Reaching the middle stretch, Han Qingyu noticed the crowd on either side had left a clear opening, where only two squads stood formed up neatly in two lines.
"Salute!" Wei Jiang barked out an order.
*Swish!* On the left, over forty members of White Eraser raised their hands in salute in unison.
Then came a voice in clumsy Mandarin: "Thank you."
*Swish!* On the right, a squad of forty-odd soldiers—from who knew where, or what nation—also raised their hands in a collective salute.
Under the night sky, across the mountains and plains, soldiers were saluting him.
*What on earth did I actually do?!*
Having focused solely on counting his metal blocks the entire way, Han Qingyu was completely baffled. Yet he showed none of it, calmly raising his hand to return the salute.
*White Eraser is saluting me en masse—what do they want? And this bunch of foreigners, especially those women—what do they want?*
"You saved our lives, the entire squad... I won't say thank you. Words can't repay it," Wei Jiang said as Han Qingyu walked up before him.
...Saved your lives? Han Qingyu desperately wanted to ask, *When did I ever save you?* But naturally, he couldn't ask that in front of everyone.
"Qingzi, Qingzi!" Amidst the shouts, the members of 1777 came running over together from up ahead.
Han Qingyu quickly flashed Wei Jiang a smile, then turned toward his teammates.
"Are—are you all right?" Amidst scrambling, hurried footsteps, they reached him.
Han Qingyu was just about to say he was fine.
"The commanders are coming!" someone shouted from behind right on cue.
The commanders were coming? Han Qingyu thought for a moment. "I..." Before he could finish his sentence, his entire body swayed, and he pitched forward headfirst.
Quick on their feet, Wen Jifei, He Tangtang, and Lao Jian hurriedly caught him.
A chorus of gasps rang out around them.
"Clear out, everyone disperse! Keep the air circulating... Put him down first, don't hold him upright. Lay him down, lay him gently on the ground. Put coats under his head, cushion him with coats..."
Unconscious on the ground, Han Qingyu still clung for dear life to the starlight column sword in his arms.
Medical personnel arrived.
Three minutes passed...
"We can't pry it loose. What should we do? He's gripping it so tightly he won't let go no matter what," a medic said.
"...Forget it, let him hold it." The circle of generals from various nations exchanged looks, several with reddened eyes. "Perhaps in his stupor, he still thinks he's up on the snowy mountain."
***
"You awake?" In 1777's barracks, Wen Jifei saw Han Qingyu open his eyes.
"Yeah."
"You were awake the whole time, weren't you?"
"Yeah."
"The people from that Venezuelan Very Big Squad outside are waiting for you!"
"Waiting for me for what?"
"To express their gratitude! Before they could do it earlier, you fainted." Wen Jifei briefly explained how Han Qingyu had saved the two super squads, White and Mérida.
Then he made an embracing motion in the empty air... and smacked his lips.
"Forget that. No way." Han Qingyu finally understood what he had done. Coming to his senses, he shook his head and whispered, "Just act like I'm still unconscious."
Certain that Han Qingyu had seen those female soldiers from the Very Big Squad earlier... Wen Jifei gave him a dead-eyed look of absolute, inhuman disbelief.
A moment later, Wu Xu, Shen Yixiu, He Tangtang, and Liu Shiheng all came in as well, chiming in all at once to say that the Very Big Squad had headed back for now and would probably return tomorrow; that the coalition commanders might also come; and that phone calls from back home kept pouring in...
With that said, Wu Xu and Rusty Sister handed the retrieved metal blocks to Han Qingyu.
*Turns out I accidentally accomplished such a massive feat... I wonder how many source energy blocks they'll reward me once the battle is over.* Thinking this, Han Qingyu took out his remaining blocks as well, pooled them together, counted them carefully, and tucked them away against his chest.
"I really have to say this, Qingzi—you risked your life way too recklessly just for some metal blocks," Wen Jifei finally couldn't hold back and started lecturing him on the spot. "You've got plenty now. It's not like this is your only chance to get them..."
Everyone present either spoke up or nodded in agreement, expressing their disapproval of Han Qingyu's reckless stunts today.
"I'm afraid this bit of metal blocks won't be enough to sustain this battle."
Shaking his head, Han Qingyu reached out and parted a slit in the tent flap.
Halfway up the snowy mountain, tiny silhouettes of Great Spikes seemed to be hauling things higher up... likely the craft.
Those—"They're all mine!"
Han Qingyu looked like a man who had just been robbed blind.
"..." Wen Jifei hesitated for a second. "On that note, I have to speak up on behalf of the Great Spikes: those were clearly theirs to begin with."
Soft chuckles rippled through the tent.
That night, snow began to fall on Xilang Peak—heavy snow that fell without ceasing... restoring the battlefield to how it once was, concealing all traces of blood.
Chapter 257