Among the twenty-seven survivors of Squad 1923, some had attended college or technical school, and some had seen the world. Others had never stepped foot in a classroom in their lives, burying themselves in farm work back in their hometowns before joining Azure, having never even visited a proper city; shortly after joining Azure, they had been posted to remote mountain garrisons and were only reassigned toward urban areas today.
Others had worked long-haul transport, crisscrossing the country north and south for years and weathering every kind of storm. Some had once been chefs capable of whipping up authentic Sichuan and Cantonese dishes; some had left behind girlfriends they were courting while working in factories; and some had once been notorious local thugs who had brought their sworn brothers along to enlist...
At this moment, the sole, shared conviction among them was that behind them stood an elementary school, and inside that school were over a thousand children.
After the initial chaos, the children had been reined in by their teachers and were no longer running around frantically. Even so, no one could keep the fear, breakdown, and weeping of these young children under control.
On one side, over a thousand children were crying and wailing; in the distance, a crowd of parents was weeping as well... so hard that they were almost out of breath.
It was good. At least this way, it kept things a little less chaotic and irritating.
Still, it was damn rotten luck... When that newly arrived shuttle craft slammed into the hillside on their flank, two more Great Spikes leaped out, bounding toward them.
The soldiers, who had already fought desperately to hack down three Great Spikes, paused collectively for an instant.
In terms of distance, they probably had a chance to retreat, but they could not.
Pain and despair showed in the eyes of the wounded as they looked up.
Yet, even where they halted, they still instinctively arrayed themselves into a staggered line, barring the way before the front gates of the school behind them.
When source energy warriors were present, Great Spikes generally did not actively attack ordinary people, unless the civilians screamed or ran in hordes...
So, this was perhaps the greatest remaining value the soldiers had right now, other than waiting for reinforcements.
"Keep it up, soldier uncle!"
Just then, from a classroom window behind them, a little head poked out. A young girl around seven or eight years old, with tears streaming down her face, trembled as she raised a clenched fist and shouted toward the soldiers of 1923.
A touching scene...
Lei San, once a notorious local thug, whipped his head around, glared at her ferociously, and snapped in exasperation, "Keep it up, my ass! Get down, you! Move it!
"Where's your teacher? Do your teachers have nothing between their ears except teaching books? Letting you poke your head out here! Quick, tell your teachers to take you and hide farther away, or I'll twist your ears right off in a minute!"
The little girl was instantly terrified and ducked down obediently.
Here, even a stray pebble kicked up in combat could take the lives of the teachers and children.
"I swear to God, I've never liked brats! They don't know a damn thing and they're annoying as hell! But what can you do? It's not like you can just tell them to die, can you?" Lei San cursed under his breath as he turned back, then raised his blade toward the crying, restlessly stirring crowd of parents in the distance. "Move! I dare any of you to move again! Come over here and make a mess for me, see what happens!"
Earlier, during the first wave of fighting, several impulsive—or brave—parents had grabbed whatever makeshift weapons they could find and charged over to help, causing immense trouble.
"Try it again! If the Great Spikes don't kill you, I'll kill you myself!"
Knowing it was impossible to drive these parents away right now, this was all Lei San could do.
His completely unapproachable "soldier" demeanor intimidated both sides into silence.
"Turns out thugs really are the most effective," his teammates muttered beside him, baring their teeth in pained grins.
"They're so damn annoying! I can't stand it!" Lei San muttered another furious complaint, lowering his arm and hanging his head to spit. But as his throat relaxed, he coughed with a splat, spraying out a mouthful of blood.
"How are you holding up?" Vice Squad Leader Da Wu asked from the side, glancing over.
The squad leader had already fallen. Squad 1923's vice squad leader had the nickname Da Wu because of a dark birthmark on his face. He used to drive long-haul freight and loved to brag that there were tens of thousands of highways and he had a dozen women along the way.
Everyone said he was full of hot air. Da Wu's only flaw—or rather, hobby—was that he loved boasting too much.
"Minor thing. It's just... why the hell haven't reinforcements arrived yet? Forget it, not counting on them anyway," Lei San said, wiping away the blood.
Da Wu didn't pick up the thread. Instead, he turned to a young soldier on the ground whose youthful face looked no more than seventeen or eighteen.
"What about you, Xiaojie?"
"Re—Reporting to the vice squad leader, I'm fine." Even now, the young soldier named Xiaojie faithfully adhered to military discipline. After reporting, he struggled to support himself against the wall and stand up, looking as if he intended to snap to attention.
He had only graduated from boot camp and joined 1923 last year, less than nine months ago.
Once, during an ideological exchange meeting held by the squad, Xiaojie had poured his heart out to Da Wu, saying he wasn't really afraid of anything; he was just heartbroken that Azure's soldiers had to die in utter silence.
"We protect the world like this, so how come even when we sacrifice our lives, we can't openly tell people that we put our lives on the line for them, for this world? I just can't wrap my head around it. Every time I think about it, I feel suffocated," Xiaojie had said back then.
He steadied himself against the wall.
"Azure Huaxia, Sole Witness Legion, Squad 1923, Private Yin Xiaojie!" The vice squad leader suddenly tilted his head up, source energy surging within him, and bellowed the young man's name with every ounce of his strength.
The shout rang through the air, carrying far into the distance.
"Here!" Yin Xiaojie snapped to attention, swayed slightly, and threw his head back to shout in response.
Their eyes met. Xiaojie understood what Uncle Da Wu meant. Happy yet a little awkward, he grinned, revealing two rows of teeth coated entirely in blood.
"Prepare for battle."
"Yes, sir!"
The thundering footfalls of the Great Spikes drew near. Three Great Spikes converged into one group, howling as they swung their column swords and charged head-on.
Vice Squad Leader Da Wu turned back and stepped to the very front. Without looking back, he asked, "Lei San, I remember you once invented a formation, and when you submitted it, the squad leader cursed you up and down, right?"
"Yeah, didn't he only know how to curse about that?" Lei San turned his head and looked at the squad leader lying on the ground. "Isn't that all you knew how to curse about, you..."
"What was it called again? That formation, I forgot," Da Wu pressed.
"Single-Line Rushing Thunder Formation," Lei San said solemnly as he turned back.
"Good, let's do it! Today, we're going with this! Single-Line..."
Da Wu raised his arm and his blade, shouting at the top of his lungs.
With the state of Squad 1923's wounded, they could no longer execute defensive or offensive formations that required precise coordination. Facing three Great Spikes with those formations would be meaningless now anyway...
"... Rushing Thunder!" Da Wu barked out the remaining words.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Lao Ga and Guancai, two brothers who had once run the streets with Lei San and later helped develop this formation, bolted ahead of Lei San, taking the lead and charging out at full speed.
"Fuck! I'll kill you bastards!" Choked with a sob, Lei San cursed loudly, his source energy erupting as he sprinted after them.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The rest of the squad fell in behind, running in a straight line.
Squad 1923 charged head-on at the Great Spikes.
So this was the fucking Single-Line Rushing Thunder Formation. No wonder the squad leader had cursed back then, saying, 'Lei San, your mother's Single-Line Rushing Thunder...'
Schwing! Bang!
Lao Ga's blade plunged into the flank of the foremost Great Spike. At the same moment, the sweeping column sword smashed him into the air, killing him on the spot.
Without a single heartbeat of hesitation, Guancai shouted, "It's in!" and practically buried his head into the Great Spike's chest...
The blade in his right hand drove precisely into the wound Lao Ga had just opened.
His body crashed to the ground.
"Shove it in!" Lei San drove the third blade in, twisting his wrist the moment it sank deep.
He twisted it just as the Great Spike's sideways collision hurled him through the air.
Da Wu followed right behind, driving in the fourth blade as the column sword tore a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.
The fifth blade...
This was the motherfucking Single-Line Rushing Thunder Formation. One after another, strike after strike, they pierced right through half of the Great Spike's belly, tearing it completely away...
With a sharp crack, the Great Spike's body folded in half, collapsed, and crashed heavily to the ground.
Chapter 607