Going Home

So it turned out to be because Daie was dead. Beneath the tractor field, the reason the Great Spike main force had suddenly pulled back into a concentrated defense was not Pegament's assault and threat, but because Daie was dead. It had died on the Antarctic Eastern Front, at the crater of Mount Erebus, the very place where Stream Blades' redemption offensive had begun. Just like the other Daie, it had died at the hands of Stream Blades. Such a reaction from the Great Spike horde was very likely a contingency it had arranged in advance. It had mentally prepared for the possibility of falling in battle and had laid out follow-up arrangements beforehand. As for the rest, although Red Shoulders possessed a degree of intelligence, they lacked the overarching strategic command required for a campaign of this scale. Having lost Daie, the movements of the entire Great Spike horde began to grow rigid and mechanical. This was by no means a battlefield shift that could be simply defined as advantageous. Because they had not descended into chaos. Following Daie's plan, the main body of Great Spikes contracted, backs against the "Spring of Life," stubbornly defending the ground beneath the tractor field. Under these circumstances, the tractor field had actually become far harder to breach than when the battlefield was spread wide earlier. The chance of success was near zero. That was Wen Jifei's immediate judgment. At the same time, the Great Spike forces sweeping back from all the front lines to encircle them were still coming. Even without Daie's command, they would continue reinforcing the tractor field, slaughtering everything in their path just as they always had. "So, this is Stream Blades' last chance of survival." The moment he understood all of this, Wen Jifei gave the order to break out without any hesitation. They had already accomplished their redemption of the entire Antarctic battlefield. In Azure's words, they had even redeemed the future and hope of all humankind. When they arrived, there were seven thousand of them; now only about three thousand remained, and among them were a large number of severely wounded whose fates hung in the balance. "So to hell with the tractor field. I'm taking them home." As the supreme commander on the scene, Wen Jifei made his decision, just as he had back on the eastern coast when he took Qingzi's place to order the start of this suicidal offensive. The difference was that his decision back then had led the soldiers to their deaths, whereas his decision now was to lead them out alive. Whether marching to death or fighting for survival, Stream Blades' officers and soldiers naturally harbored no doubt or hesitation regarding Wen Jifei's decision. What was unexpected was that Pegament didn't raise the slightest objection either. One second, the guy had been attacking the tractor field all on his own; the next, he obediently agreed to retreat with them. In truth, taking a crack at the tractor field earlier had just been an offhand attempt. Pegament had felt that since Han Qingyu had charged it, it wouldn't look right if he didn't charge it too. In truth, what Wen Jifei saw through his sniper scope, Pegament had seen just as clearly from even closer range. So at this moment, if there was one other person present besides Wen Jifei who was certain the tractor field could never be breached, it was Pegament. Not only did he believe he couldn't break it, Pegament also believed Han Qingyu couldn't break it either. Even in that state of Ten Thousand Blades Paying Homage, Han Qingyu wouldn't be able to breach it, unless he could bombard it like that a dozen times in a row. On that point, Pegament deduced from his understanding of his own strength that Han Qingyu wouldn't be able to unleash a dozen consecutive strikes. Pegament was not stupid. He simply possessed an eccentric personality and logic, which made him different from everyone else. At the same time, as someone whose trait was rooted in his state of psychological consciousness, his personal will was unimaginably steadfast and formidable. No one could hypnotize him, or Azure would have done so long ago. Nor did they dare to have a powerhouse like Chen Buer pretend to be evenly matched with him, because that would be far too foolish, fake, and contrary to common sense. The best that could come of that would likely just be Pegament thinking Chen Buer was actually pretty weak, rather than convincing him that he himself was invincible in this world. It was just like how he used to court death constantly, provoking Bochen and Christine... He really did get beaten half to death, but because he was convinced in his heart that they wouldn't kill him, even on the occasion when Christine struck out in fury and went too far, he still hadn't been hacked to death. Because of this, he had gradually accepted the fact that he was quite strong and possessed superhuman vitality, but at that stage, he was not so ignorant as to believe his combat prowess was on par with Bochen and Christine. Currently, the only person who could directly influence Pegament's self-perception was Han Qingyu, for two reasons: First, Pegament had viewed Han Qingyu as an equal from the very beginning, and this sense of "equality" later became the greatest source of unwillingness and obsession in his life. Second, everything that happened during Han Qingyu and Pegament's clashes and interactions had genuinely occurred, without a single flaw in fact or logic. Even that recent draw, when Han Qingyu blocked his slash, was a genuine all-out effort under the conditions of that moment. Pegament still did not know what his own trait was, so he didn't realize that all the flaws were actually within himself. This was probably one of the biggest, most dreaded-to-be-exposed flaws in the entire human world at present. "A defense like that... even if that old man from Huaxia were in prime health, he'd probably have a hard time breaking it." Because the slash Chen Buer had caught beyond the atmosphere all those years ago had never been made public, Pegament arrived at this conclusion in his mind. Having thought this through, he turned to glance at Wen Jifei and said, "I'll go make a couple of runs first." Then, without waiting for an answer, he launched forward with a screeching roar of his device. On the battlefield, the pink hair billowed once more. *** "He's buying us time," Little Prince said, stepping forward. "Yeah," Wen Jifei nodded. At that moment, in the center of Stream Blades' battle formation, the lightly wounded soldiers were strapping the critically wounded to their backs one by one, regardless of whether they were unconscious or taking their last breaths. "Time to go. We leave together," they said as they worked. Wu Xu carefully lifted Weize from the ground. By now, Weize's body looked almost like a thousand-year-old mummy, seemingly so fragile that the slightest force would shatter it. Yet in truth, Weize was merely unable to move. Because he had held back that final strike, stacking death energy to its absolute zenith, he was currently at the peak of his combat strength in his entire life. "When we get back, we'll have Qingzi give you more life source energy blocks. You'll be fine." As Wu Xu strapped Weize to his back, feeling as though he were fastening a bundle of dry firewood, he spoke words of comfort—a rare thing for him. Behind him, Weize parted his lips, letting out only a faint breath. He said he knew, and that he wasn't worried. At the same time, not far from Wu Xu, a soldier named A Chai ignored the cautions of those around him, silently and stubbornly hoisting a "wounded soldier" onto his back and strapping him down. That was not actually a wounded soldier... A Chai's best friend was already dead. "We can go back now, Na Wang. I'm taking you home." Having secured the body and picked up his combat blade, A Chai straightened up, looked into the distance, and said. There were quite a few others doing the same as A Chai. Only, no one had the cruelty to point it out. Little Prince noticed this. After hesitating for a few seconds, he turned to Wen Jifei. "Will this affect our combat strength? Even if we break out, there are bound to be battles all along the way back..." There would certainly be an impact, whether on fighting or marching at full sprint. Wen Jifei lowered his head, hesitated for two seconds, then looked up toward the path they had come by and said: "It doesn't matter." On this road traveled with desperate resolve, a journey called "Redemption" fought for coming and going, they had already left far too many people behind on the ice sheets. *Chilong... long, cha!* The noise subsided. Pegament's shuttling charges stopped, and that tuft of flying pink swiftly arrived at the very front of the breakout formation. Then Wu Xu, Rusty Sister, and the others took their positions. Because Pegament was spearheading the retreat path, they took responsibility for bringing up the rear. The soldiers also fell deathly quiet in an instant. The soldiers in the inner circle assumed a charging formation, while the elite combatants on the outer perimeter held off the enemy while readying themselves to wheel around and follow. *Tick, tock.* *Tick, tock.* *Bang!* A sniper rifle suddenly roared toward the sky. "Home!" Wen Jifei bellowed at the top of his lungs.