By this point in the battle, tactics were essentially out the window. Amid the chaos, only Azure's most fundamental squads still maintained their steadfast coordination and unspoken synergy.
Fighting with everything they had, every soldier slashed with the fastest, fiercest strikes they could muster. Source energy surged, and roars giving vent to stifled rage echoed along the entire coastline.
In the brutal clashes of the ground battle, Azure was not actually at a disadvantage. However, Daie still hovered in the sky, and across both sea and land, vast numbers of Great Spike craft remained poised, maintaining their looming threat.
"Boom!" Pink hair drifted from behind Han Qingyu to his front as a massive blade over two meters long pierced the air with a shrill whistle.
With a single blow, Pegmont blasted two Great Spikes flying. He pulled to a stop and cast a glance back at Han Qingyu.
He seemed on the verge of tossing out a sneer or two, but held himself back. Turning away, he carved a thundering pink line straight along the coast like a plow.
Down on the beach, Wolf was fighting a red-shoulder one-on-one.
"What a fast spear! Looks like Wolf might be stronger after all," a young soldier remarked.
"That's only because you haven't seen how much of a beating Pegmont can take," another replied.
"Really? All I know is that Huaxia's Huang Dudu is insanely gorgeous. Well, I don't know what you Westerners think," a third chimed in.
Even on a battlefield like this, some soldiers couldn't resist sneaking moments to watch and debate. In this war, nearly every one of the most spotlighted young prodigies of Azure's new generation had made an appearance, the strongest among them being Wolf and Pegmont.
"Doesn't it feel like something's missing?"
"Major The Qing."
"Bang! Bang!" Bullets whistled past, and two more Great Spikes hit the ground. With a metallic clatter, Rusty Sister's iron suit skidded to a halt in front of Han Qingyu. "Finally found you! Are you alright?"
Han Qingyu pulled his gaze back and shook his head. "I'm fine."
"Good. Captain Lao told me to escort the four of you out first."
The four: Wen Jifei, Yang Qingbai, Zhe Qiuhong, and Han Qingyu. When these four names appeared together on a list of people needing to evacuate the chaotic battle, it looked utterly bizarre no matter how one framed it.
Yet three minutes later, an off-road jeep roared to life on the edge of the battlefield.
It was the only vehicle moving across the entire war zone. Braving Great Spikes hurtling into the ground and an aerial swarm of prowling craft watching from overhead, it sped with wild, twisting maneuvers... heading in reverse, away from the battlefield.
***
In South America, the night was not yet over.
On the main battlefield, where Great Spikes rarely appeared anymore, a group of wounded Azure soldiers lay prone on the ground in the distance, watching that silhouette far away with eyes full of horror and shock.
Private He Tangtang, a core team member of Major The Qing... was squatting on the ground beside the dead red-shoulder, holding a blade.
"Regret it? You just said he was the weakest one," a soldier suddenly asked in a low whisper.
"...Yeah." The Azure officer with severe leg wounds nodded slowly and heavily, swallowing hard past a dry throat.
Truth be told, even when he had prepared to face the red-shoulder earlier, ready to die, he hadn't felt this tense and terrified.
"He's eating it, isn't he? Eating the red-shoulder?" another wounded soldier turned and asked nervously.
"Yeah. At least had a taste."
"No wonder he told everyone to leave first. Right, of the Huaxia words they yelled at the red-shoulder earlier, someone said one of them was... 'I'll eat you.'"
The skull-numbing eyewitness reality and deductive logic aligned with absolute perfection.
"Ah... mph!" On the ground, the soldiers jolted in sudden fright, clapping their hands tightly over their mouths.
Because right then, in their field of view, He Tangtang was taking a plastic bag and packing away the "stuff" he had scooped out from the red-shoulder's iron armor.
"He... he's not just eating it... he's packing some to go!"
Around the same time, Wu Xu and the Little Prince were still hurtling through the night.
After the battle on Shu You's side ended, they hadn't stayed together to look for Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet's group. It was now confirmed that only one red-shoulder remained; aside from the Little Prince, if any of the others arrived, they should be able to help resolve it.
In theory, the search area wouldn't be overly broad—Shu You had instructed them to stay as close as possible. The only question was whether the members of that group were still alive.
...She was alive! In the instant he confirmed it, there was neither excitement nor any distinct emotion. Whoosh! Wu Xu abruptly swerved and accelerated mid-stride.
"Wu Xu?" the Little Prince shouted from behind.
"I found them," Wu Xu said.
When he reached them, beneath the starlight, an Azure female super had already collapsed on the ground. She struggled to get up, but failed after several attempts.
Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet was mid-air. As the red-shoulder's column sword swept toward her, she intercepted it with her short blades. Clink—beneath the heavy blow, it made an unexpectedly faint sound.
Then, weightlessly, her entire body drifted along the trajectory of the column sword, like a feather.
This was how they had survived until now. While Wu Xu, Shu You, and the others had thought Cat Girl's special characteristics posed little threat to a red-shoulder in a head-on clash, they had overlooked the flip side: she could hold out for a very long time.
Of course, she was holding out at the cost of her life—it was anything but easy.
Due to her special characteristic, Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet wore only a thin gauze, which was currently soaked in blood...
"Boom!" A sound came from the flank.
Wu Xu stepped hard against a small earthen mound, launching into the air and tilting his head.
A black silhouette swept into the battlefield, darting toward Cat Girl.
At the same time, the black Binggu Spear extended mid-air.
Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet turned her head. "Wu..."
This scene had played out in her dreams before: Wu Xu leaping into the air, sweeping her into his arms, and simultaneously thrusting his spear straight into the Great Spike.
However—Bang!
The moment Wu Xu reached her, he spun around... and used his back to knock her flying right through the air first.
Simultaneously, thrusting his arm forward, his spear pierced straight into the red-shoulder's chest with a piercing whoosh.
***
When the battle finally ended, what flew over first was a blood-stained garment.
The cloth fluttered down, draping over Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet.
Because he wasn't wearing an outer coat, Wu Xu had stripped off the top of his combat uniform. Fortunately, he was tall enough that even just the shirt reached down to Cat Girl's thighs.
Bare-chested, the old wound on Wu Xu's chest looked terrifying, whereas the fresh injury he had just sustained was already healing. When he walked over, Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, lying on the ground, took merely one look before weakly closing her eyes.
"You! I'm sorry, you..." Only then did Wu Xu realize the gravity of the situation. Stuttering, he ran over, crouched down, and cradled her up. "You..."
Cat Girl violently coughed up a mouthful of blood, spraying it across Wu Xu's shoulder and arm.
Opening her eyes, she looked up at Wu Xu and forced a faint smile. With blood dripping from her pale lips, Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet murmured weakly, "Long time no see."
"Yeah."
"Last time... last time, I told you to go back and consider whether you could like me whenever you had time. How... how about it? Can you like me now?"
With that, she closed her eyes again.
"Huh?" It was so sudden. Why was she asking about this at a time like this? Wu Xu hesitated internally.
"Still don't know?"
"Yeah."
"But I... I might be dying."
"Then I like you."
"...Alright." Even though it felt very reluctant, and even though she had tricked him into it, it was still great. A weak yet triumphant smile tugged at the corners of Cat Girl's mouth.
Then, wriggling in Wu Xu's arms, she curled her legs, gathered the shirt tightly around herself, and unsteadily stood up.
As she stood there... Wu Xu was dumbfounded. He thought to himself, Didn't you say you were about to die? Still crouching, he looked up. "You..."
"What about me?" Cat Girl tilted her head, speaking with an aggrieved pout. "I'm so heavily injured and coughing up blood. Isn't that about to die?"
She truly was weak, but a glint of smug delight flashed through her eyes. It seemed Gina and the others were right after all—this was exactly how one had to handle Lieutenant Wu Xu.
Wu Xu: "..."
Meeting again this time, Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet seemed to have changed quite a bit. It was something Wu Xu could neither fathom nor handle. Just how many scenarios a lovestruck woman could imagine and act out on her own, and how many best friends of wildly varying personalities were behind the scenes giving coaching and advice, was something far beyond his comprehension.
"Do you want me to die that badly?" Seeing Wu Xu stay silent, Cat Girl asked again, her body swaying slightly.
"No," Wu Xu denied hastily.
"...Well, if you don't take me for medical treatment soon, I really might die."
Chapter 693