Landing

On this day, a human Swordfish-class source energy airship that had stayed hidden in the mountains for over a month took off in the early dawn, leaving Huaxia and heading south. Around the same time, in the Americas, a massive source energy force that had completed a long southward march suddenly appeared at the southern tip of the continent. The highest-ranking Azure commander left behind, Lieutenant General Anthony of Mitli, stepped out of the defensive fortifications with deep unease, forcing himself to appear calm. Stretching out before his eyes were at least fifty thousand men. These people had neither uniform attire nor uniform weapons, and lacked even a proper formation or battle line. Their hair, skin, and eye colors were a motley assortment. "What a massive force—three supers..." Anthony smiled faintly, then hardened his expression, his gaze boring into them as he demanded, "So, do you not know General Bochen is here? Do you not know that after the retreat from Antarctica, seventy thousand Azure troops are defending South America to the death?!" The man standing at the front of the opposing ranks slowly lifted his head, glanced at him, and said, seeming almost too indolent to speak, "Bochen is already gone. Right now there's at most one super here, and twenty thousand men." "..." A barely perceptible flicker of panic darted through Anthony's eyes. Because what this man said was very close to the actual truth. In fact, General Bochen truly had departed in secret, taking fifty thousand American coalition troops with him. "Is that so?" Anthony smiled without denying it; hearing the other party's words, he knew their intelligence was accurate, and denying it served no purpose. As he spoke, Anthony swept his arm across in a signal. Behind him, the final twenty thousand Azure soldiers remaining in the fortifications tensed in unison, preparing to face a bloody battle. Because... the people who had appeared before them now all came from that city of wickedness: the City of Sin. Among them were Shu You and Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet. As for the third—the bald man—he was likely Dao Dali of the legendary Azure Dragon Gang. Aside from Eric the Viking remaining behind, the super combat powers of the City of Sin's rumored four great factions had mobilized in full force. Furthermore, the fifty thousand rogues behind them not only outnumbered the defenders by more than two to one, but in terms of individual combat strength, were very likely superior to the ordinary Azure soldiers behind Anthony. There were probably many top combat powers among their ranks. For in the source energy world, a saying had long circulated: Any scoundrel who could survive in the City of Sin was far from simple. It had once been the place on earth where the Daie landed most frequently—a city where virtually everyone was a fighter, a wicked, brutal land of exile... A place where the principle of fair resource allocation had never existed. Thus, in a sense, it was an environment even more conducive to producing powerful combatants than Azure, and its source energy population base was not smaller than that of many major nations in Azure. "God knows why the great forefathers allowed and tolerated the existence of such a place! Even leaving them land rich in resources..." Anthony felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, for Azure now lacked any means to restrain this sinful city. Once again, he looked up at the white-haired man opposite him—a pinnacle human super, ranked seventh on the Dome Leaderboard, Solyu... Rumor had it that he bore a blood feud against Azure. "So, you intend to test Azure's blade and resolve now?" Having braced himself for the worst, Anthony delivered a final threat. "Not testing, not interested." Shu You rolled his eyes at him and turned away. "If possible, just pretend we aren't here..." Anthony froze. "Also, you're too weak." "..." "If the Daie forces from Antarctica really attack South America, we'll go in first." With that, Shu You turned and led the force to begin establishing defensive positions in front of the Azure troops. Throughout the loosely scattered ranks, the rogues smoked cigarettes, some even swigging liquor from small metal flasks, hurling curses over their shoulders at the Azure fortifications. Some raised middle fingers or flashed thumbs-down gestures. They showed not the slightest hint of friendliness, nor any intent to cooperate in battle with Azure. Yet they truly were deploying defensive lines facing south, directly in front of the hollowed-out Azure coalition forces. "Could this... be some kind of plot?" Anthony's ingrained preconceptions prevented him from wrapping his head around the situation, though he made no move to order any hostile action, as doing so would be tantamount to suicide. A figure with an East Asian face walked toward him. Stopping around ten-odd meters away, the man tossed over an Azure officer's credential bearing special inscriptions, then said with a calm smile: "Don't worry, they really are here to help." Anthony looked closely, but did not recognize him. He quickly opened the officer's credential to inspect it. The document was genuine—a rank verification from the Huaxia Council system. And... a super combat power?! "Azure Huaxia super combat power, Major General Pang Jinghe (Civilian Staff), has come alongside the people from the City of Sin." "Furthermore, the Azure Dragon Gang, led by the other rumored super combat power Dao Dali, seems to have always maintained close ties with Major The Qing..." Thinking of this, Anthony finally felt slightly relieved. Raising his head again, he looked at the defensive line stretching out before him... After hesitating for a few seconds, he called out, "Thank you!" In that moment, Anthony was genuinely touched. The other side, however, felt nothing of the sort. What answered him was a storm of boos and roughly ten thousand profanities. ………… North of Oceania, upon the sea, night. In the Azure Huaxia Front, Sole Witness Legion, Ninth Army, Squad 1777, Captain Lao Jian sat on the deck alongside Qin Guowen, Qi Rourou, and a dozen or so others. For this decisive battle, Huaxia, as one of Azure's four main pillars, despite facing the grave reality of two of its own cities suffering carpet attacks, had still mobilized nearly twenty thousand personnel from four armies—the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth—to take part. The public commander of the expeditionary force was General Liu Yiwu, former commander of the First Army and current deputy chief of staff of the legion. A sea breeze drifted through the night... "Many in the squad have never taken part in a large-scale battle like this," Lao Jian said, looking around. "As you all know, this is completely different from ordinary missions or urban street fighting. When the time comes, I'll be relying on you. You must help me keep the formation steady." All those seated before him now were veteran members who had fought in the Xilang Peak Flag War and possessed relatively strong combat power. Among them, Qin Guowen was already a top combat power. Squad 1777 now had two top-tiers. "Yes, Sir," Qin Guowen acknowledged, then chuckled. "All of a sudden, I'm thinking of Xilang Peak again... Hey, do you think Qingzi and the guys will show up this time?" "Who knows?" Qi Rourou turned her head away, seemingly still holding a bit of a grudge over Han Qingyu and the others slipping away without saying goodbye at Lao Jian's wedding. "It's the same whether they come or not. What's there to fear?" "Who's afraid?" Qin Guowen protested softly. In truth, Squad 1777 had long outgrown their dependence on Han Qingyu. Yet participating once more in a large-scale battle of this scale, they couldn't help but recall that nineteen-year-old Han Qingyu—rushing over while on his way home, striving with all his might to protect everyone. And Wen Jifei heading into battle clutching a Milla 9, Rusty Sister who would die if injured, the silent Wu Xu, He Tangtang... "He's injured," Lao Jian said softly, sharing news that had previously been known only to him. "What?! Qingzi?" "What happened? Is it bad?" Anxious concern spread all around. "He's alright, it shouldn't be life-threatening." Lao Jian stood up and stretched. "Honestly, when I think about it too much, I'm actually kind of afraid they'll come..." No sooner had Lao Jian spoken than the voice of Regiment 425's commander aboard the ship, Li Wangqiang, came through the communicator on his chest: "Orders from command headquarters... Fleet, prepare for landing."