The sounds of slaughter from the mopping-up battle were gradually spreading beyond the campus into the city, while on the campus plaza, the sniper rifle rang out shot after shot.
*Bang!*
*Screeech...*
As they flew at blistering speed, the source energy dead iron bullets carved sharp, distinct whistles through the air.
In fact, when it came to the efficiency of killing ordinary Great Spikes, a fully stocked Wen Jifei was very likely the highest in the entire Stream Vanguard, and might even rank among the top three to five people in the whole world.
Though Han Qingyu possessed his "Blade Array Barrage," unleashing it wasn't something that could be sustained.
Time marched on. Over the plaza, the fading glow of the setting sun deepened and sank.
With the clearing perimeter expanding, students and teachers from every corner of the campus were gradually guided or escorted over, more and more people gathering near the stern of the airship where the expanded defense was still maintained.
They stood there, caught in lingering shock in the wake of sheer terror, tears brimming in their eyes as they stared numbly at the colossal black-and-gold craft before them, and at the lone back standing atop it.
That rifle never ceased firing, yet the man pulling the trigger appeared neither rushed nor frantic. With each steady pivot of the muzzle... distant monsters fell one after another, their order dictated purely by proximity, as if being ticked off a checklist.
Close as they were, and keeping an involuntary silence, the crowd could clearly hear the occasional cycling of the bolt and the click of magazine swaps amidst the relentless screech of bullets, the echoes of battle from afar, and even the screeching roars of the Great Spikes.
These sounds were calm, solid, and powerful, carrying a rhythm all their own that instilled a sense of security.
"Excuse me, are any cafeteria cooks here?" a young-faced soldier asked, hurrying into the crowd.
"Here, we're here." The crowd parted, and cafeteria cooks stepped forward.
"Can you cook?" The soldier pointed toward a dining hall not far from the stern of the craft. "There should still be reserve grain and vegetables in there. Think you can make some food?"
"...There is, yes, plenty." One cook hesitated at first, but nodded firmly by the end.
"Are the soldiers hungry?" another older cook asked.
"No, we're not like you folks—we're fine even without eating for several meals." The young soldier patted the metal box on his back with pride, gesturing over his shoulder. "Besides, we don't have time right now anyway. We've got to finish hacking them down first."
"...Ah." "Oh." Clearly, the cooks present couldn't quite wrap their heads around why going several meals without food was no issue for them.
Yet it didn't matter; they had already encountered far too many things they couldn't understand today. The experienced cooks turned around to start sizing up the headcount...
"Alright then, go ahead and cook. We'll escort you over," the soldier said, glancing back at the figure standing atop the craft. "Second Lieutenant Wen says that no matter what happens to this world, people still have to eat."
Soon, seven or eight soldiers gripping blades escorted the cafeteria staff away from the crowd.
...
Amid the continuing gunfire, the aroma of cooking began to drift through the air. Students and teachers began to feel hunger, and the world seemed to come a little more alive again.
"Lin Ya, where are you going?!"
Of Yao Yue's four roommates, one was clutching the camera she had risked her life to grab earlier, and as she suddenly started walking toward the front, the other three cried out in panic.
"Taking photos! All of this has to be captured—don't forget we're journalism majors," the girl named Lin Ya said, stopping and turning back.
"But..."
"Can't you just take pictures from here? It's so dangerous up front!"
Her roommates urged her anxiously.
Earlier, when Lin Ya took pictures of the crowd at the stern or captured the dining hall smoke drifting above them, none of them had stopped her, because all of that truly deserved to be documented. But now, she was heading straight toward the Great Spikes.
"It's not dangerous. They're still far away, just a bit scary, that's all," Lin Ya said. She moved to the side of the craft, stepping back to capture shots of the top of the airship.
Varying her distance and angles, she snapped photo after photo.
Next, Lin Ya took pictures in several directions of the soldiers locked in battle. Still not satisfied, she continued forward to photograph the swarm of Great Spikes charging head-on in the distance, and the piles of their corpses stacked on the ground.
The girl was now standing right beside the closest Great Spike corpse, her back turned to the oncoming monsters, photographing the craft and the crowd head-on along with the scene atop the ship, attempting to capture the moments of gunfire.
She backed right into the heap of Great Spike corpses on the ground, her white sneakers stepping into the repulsive monster blood coating the earth...
Until Wen Jifei finally couldn't watch any longer. He dipped his rifle barrel slightly and shouted sternly, "Get back here! Or don't blame me if I mistake you for a Great Spike and blow your head off!"
Only then did Lin Ya obediently scamper back to the rear of the craft.
"I'm sorry. Lin Ya gets carried away easily like that," Yao Yue spoke up from behind him—the first words she had said since Wen Jifei began his slaughter. "She actually isn't the bravest one in our dorm, but as our professor puts it, she's the type who blooms wildly the moment she gets a little sunshine."
"Is that so?" Wen Jifei chuckled. The rate at which the Great Spikes were landing could no longer keep pace with his slaughter. He glanced back over his shoulder and asked, "Bored?"
"Not bored at all! How could I be bored?!" Yao Yue shook her head vigorously, then anxiously alerted him, "Over there, one just dropped down over there!"
"Don't worry, I've got it covered." Wen Jifei pressed his cheek back behind the sniper rifle. *Bang! Bang!* He fired two consecutive shots and said, "How about I tell you about my past four years?"
"...Okay," Yao Yue said from behind him, watching his back.
"Where should I start?" Wen Jifei muttered. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I guess this story has to start with someone else... Do you remember Han Qingyu? Yao Yue, I mentioned that guy to you quite a few times in my letters."
"Yes, I remember. Of course I do—you said he's your most important friend." Yao Yue nodded, then asked with concern, "What happened to him? Is he in this kind of military unit like you?"
"Yeah, not only is he in this kind of unit, but he's also that person in the movie." Wen Jifei paused, then said, "In *No Retreat*, the profile standing on that snowy precipice was him, and that soaring figure at the end was him too..."
With that, he waited a moment. When no response came from Yao Yue, Wen Jifei asked, "What, you didn't watch that movie?"
The promotional campaign for *No Retreat* had been utterly unprecedented; posters had even been plastered all across the campus. Wen Jifei had assumed Yao Yue would have seen it.
"I didn't watch it," Yao Yue said softly.
"I watched it!"
"I saw it too!"
Led by Lin Ya, a flurry of chatter suddenly rang out from the side of the craft.
"I know who you're talking about... I cried when I watched it."
"I know too... It's that radiant, nameless figure, right?" Lin Ya sounded thrilled. What she quoted was actually a line translated from a foreign film review.
In truth, Han Qingyu was neither the protagonist nor a prominent character in *No Retreat*. The film never even showed a clear shot of his face; strictly speaking, he was merely part of the backdrop or one figure in a massive spectacle.
Yet those two brief scenes alone—that silhouette of someone who must surely be striking in appearance—had left an impression on the audience that was far too shocking, and far too radiant.
So much so that once the movie became a hit, the discussions surrounding him eclipsed those of most of the lead actors.
"That's right, that's him." Wen Jifei smiled from behind the sniper scope and said, "He has many names... Live well, and you'll hear about them all in the future."
Chapter 604