At the Snow Lotus headquarters, the Subglacial City, communications with the outside world had been severed for a long time, but the arrival of the Azure expeditionary army and the outbreak of war could still be detected.
After all, with several hundred thousand source energy warriors launching repeated charges, a collision of blood and fire, calling the commotion above earth-shattering was hardly an exaggeration.
To Liu Shiheng, this meant that after stalling for nearly four years, the footsteps of fate had finally resumed moving forward. Whether what lay ahead was good or bad, he did not know.
Sitting cross-legged beneath a bookshelf in the library, Young Master Shiheng held a German book in his hands, poring over it. He had never been stupid. When Alice slipped this book among four or five different volumes and tossed it to him time and time again, Liu Shiheng knew there had to be something in it.
"Except I can't fucking read it!"
"It's not that the contents are too profound—it's that I barely even recognize a few damn words."
In the midst of his frustration, *thud*—a thick, heavy, hardcover dictionary tumbled down from high up on the shelf, hit Liu Shiheng squarely on the head, and bounced onto the floor.
Thinking it was Alice's doing, Liu Shiheng tilted his head to glance at the graceful figure sitting quietly at the far end of the bookshelf. She was still barefoot, her gossamer skirt failing to cover her ankles.
*Don't be rash, I'm studying.* Young Master Shiheng bent down to pick up the dictionary.
*Boom!* A series of dull rumbles sounded one after another, and the entire space seemed to tremble with moderate force.
Books on the shelves rustled and flapped, tumbling down like startled pigeons.
*Did they breach this place?* With that thought crossing his mind, Liu Shiheng hastily activated his device, scrambled up, and called out with a trace of nervousness and urgency, "Alice!"
He had made up his mind to lay bare his choice and plans.
"Don't worry, it won't collapse. This place is sturdy." Alice turned her head and looked at him calmly, a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips. "It's just that volcanoes erupted in some places, that's all. Not here."
She tilted her head upward in a slight gesture, roughly meaning: *We are right beneath the traction field; it's extremely safe and well concealed.*
Yet she had said *some places*, not somewhere or a single volcano... Liu Shiheng felt puzzled and worried. "A lot of volcanoes erupted together?"
"Mm." Alice nodded mildly, turning a page. "The Great Spikes used modified miniature traction devices to draw up volcanic magma. It sounds complicated, but it isn't actually very difficult, and the preparations began right after they retreated here."
So Alice had known about this all along, likely from Ne. To them, it might just be a trivial matter of no consequence, but Liu Shiheng was different. He had people he cared about up on the surface: Qingzi, Plague Chicken, Stream Vanguard, Squad 1777...
The tremors in the Subglacial City ceased.
The shaking had lasted about five minutes. Thinking about it, given the conditions of Antarctica, continuous large-scale volcanic eruptions were simply not realistic.
The library wasn't heavily impacted; aside from books littering the floor, not a single shelf had fallen over. Sitting among the piles of books, Alice continued to focus intently on the Sanskrit text in her hands. Liu Shiheng could not calm down so quickly, yet there was nothing he could do.
"So, they wouldn't have retreated seeing things go bad, would they?"
"Especially Stream Vanguard. What kind of person that Han Qingyu bastard is—the outside world might not know, but how could I not?"
"He definitely ran."
"It's good that they ran. Better not to meet again; your buddy here is doing just fine."
...
On the surface battlefield, if they could truly run, it would have been a blessing. Unfortunately, all paths of retreat had been severed. Daie's meticulously calculated design was not for self-preservation, but for slaughter.
The first five minutes after the surprise attack began were undoubtedly the most terrifying and grueling. The consequence of a hundred thousand dead in such a brief span drove General Siglo's mental state to the brink of despair.
Therefore, when he finally contacted Stream Vanguard to make that request to "go to their deaths," he chose text rather than speech.
If they spoke directly, Siglo didn't know what tone he would use to say those four words, or whether he would suddenly break down and lose control.
As for why Xu Xiaohong had also contacted them via text, perhaps he was afraid that if he spoke, Han Qingyu wouldn't be able to memorize the words.
Wen Jifei had none of these issues or considerations. His reply call dialed directly into the Antarctic Front Command's staff room rather than to Siglo himself; from the phrasing of the dispatch, he had already deduced General Siglo's current state.
"Hello, this is Stream Vanguard. I'm Wen Jifei."
"Sir!" The operator on the other end grew exaggeratedly agitated in an instant. "This is the Azure Antarctic Front Command Staff Department."
"We cannot reinforce," Wen Jifei said.
"..."
"I just received a battlefield report from the Rejectors. Judging by the current situation, once we attempt to fall back and reinforce, eighty percent of our people will die on the way back. And even if we ultimately manage to arrive, it will be too late, or we will no longer have the strength to do anything for you."
The assessment was objective and calm: first, Stream Vanguard could not turn back to reinforce; second, reinforcing would be useless. As Stream Vanguard's true decision-maker at present, Wen Jifei spoke in a voice that sounded just as calm, even overly rational.
"But," the seemingly young staff officer on the other end was still trying to persuade him, "but you people have always created miracles, haven't you?"
"...Sorry. The man who always created miracles has forgotten it all himself." If Stream Vanguard still had the Han Qingyu of his peak right now, perhaps they could have given it a try. Wen Jifei knew this better than anyone, but they didn't have him anymore.
"Therefore, if the situation is truly beyond salvation... we will find a way to leave." Wen Jifei kept his head lowered as he spoke, so that no one saw his eyes, which had reddened without him even realizing it.
"But—but Lieutenant Wu Xu is still there! You can't just give up like this—"
*Beep, beep, beep.*
The call was disconnected. Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei had hung up.
*But—but my own fucking wife is with you people too! If she could be saved, would I refuse to save her?! The problem is, we clearly know now that even reinforcing won't save them. When they can't be saved, do you expect me to send six thousand brothers to die in vain?*
Wen Jifei wanted to go to the Antarctic Peninsula. If he had been alone here today, he would have gone, even if there was a one hundred percent certainty that he would die along the way.
But right now, Wen Jifei could not go. Every subsequent decision for Stream Vanguard needed to be made by him.
"Yao Yue is on the peninsula, isn't she?" Han Qingyu walked over and asked abruptly in a low voice.
Wen Jifei was in the middle of studying the second battlefield report sent by the Rejectors. The only piece of good news was that on the peninsula and the Western Front, most of the volcanoes had ceased erupting. It was just that the smoke on the battlefield had yet to disperse, and combat order had yet to be restored... Even if it were restored, the ratio of forces on the peninsula would merely slow the Great Spikes' pace of slaughter.
On the Eastern Front, the violent eruption of Mount Erebus was still continuing. With his back to the sky full of magma and firelight, Wen Jifei looked up at Han Qingyu. "Yeah."
"Are we really not going back to save her? And the others." Han Qingyu asked with a lack of conviction, because he had actually overheard Wen Jifei's conversation with command just now.
"We... can't make it in time. It's too far... She—she should be in a space mothership; she's still safe for now." Wen Jifei forced a smile. "Right, the chief of staff told you to contact Pegmont. Have you contacted him?"
"No," Han Qingyu shook his head.
Wen Jifei's gaze went blank for a second.
"I don't know his channel code, and none of you had time to pay attention to me," Han Qingyu said earnestly, holding the communicator in his hand.
Chapter 792