Chapter 44: The Contraction of the Position
The pressure of the double-pronged encirclement completely broke the defensive elasticity of the western trench.
At the front, the psychic pressure of the wounded third-tier scaled beast constantly hung over their heads like an inescapable iron net, continuously draining everyone's mental power. On the east side, the unharmed third-tier scaled beast used the terrain to maneuver, occasionally unleashing a precise psychic burst, specifically targeting the moments when the soldiers' Seas of Consciousness were exhausted. Low-level scaled beasts surged forward like an endless black tide, wave after wave, stubbornly biting at the gaps in the trench.
The gunfire grew sparse.
It was not because the soldiers were slack, but because their ammunition had been exhausted. Many warriors had already switched to close-quarters melee weapons. The crisp sounds of metal hacking against scales, the snapping of beast bones, and the dull thuds of blood soaking into the mud had replaced the previous dense roar of artillery.
The number of casualties was increasing.
The medical bunker was already packed to the brim. Soldiers with shattered Seas of Consciousness and wounded bodies were continuously carried down, their faces pale and their consciousness scattered. Some clutched their heads and convulsed all over; this was a sign that their mental cores were on the verge of damage. Even if they survived, it would be extremely difficult for them to ever step onto the frontline again.
"We can't hold on!" A non-commissioned officer guarding the east side transmitted the message with a roar. "The right-wing trench has been breached, and three gaps cannot be sealed at all! If we keep defending to the death, we'll all be surrounded and wiped out!"
Instructor Zhou's gaze swept across the entire line. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was covered in gunpowder smoke and blood. He knew clearly that holding the position at this moment was meaningless.
The outer trenches were already dilapidated. With fortifications failing, forces divided, and ammunition depleted, forcing a desperate defense would only result in everyone perishing here.
"Everyone, fall back! Abandon the forward trenches and retreat to the secondary main fortifications!"
The resolute command echoed across the entire defense line.
This was the first time since the battle began that the Black Mountain western outpost had voluntarily abandoned its position.
The soldiers fought as they retreated, withdrawing in an orderly fashion. Old Chen led the rearguard, using his knife and gun to stubbornly stall the pursuing scaled beasts. Su Qing occupied the ruined wall of a rear high ground, precisely picking off the fastest-advancing monsters to buy time for the retreat.
Lin Yan guarded the most dangerous left-flank rearguard position.
Countless low-level scaled beasts chased frantically through the bloody mud. Driven by the will from underground, they knew no fear, no fatigue, and only knew how to madly pounce and slaughter the retreating human warriors.
Two scaled beasts attacked from the left and right, their claws tearing through the air, carrying the foul wind of blood.
Lin Yan's mind settled. His ancient martial arts footwork changed abruptly, and his body nimbly weaved between the two massive beasts. His short blade precisely cut into the gaps in the scales on both sides. With a forceful twist of his wrist, he executed a clean, lethal strike.
Two dull thuds sounded as the beasts fell, instantly losing their vitality.
But in the next second, a sharp psychic impact precisely locked onto his Sea of Consciousness.
It was the unharmed third-tier scaled beast on the east side! It had caught Lin Yan's brief pause and, from dozens of meters away across the wilderness, suddenly released a single-point psychic piercing attack. The force was condensed, vicious, and precise.
His skull suddenly throbbed with sharp pain. The cracks that had long covered the surface of his Sea of Consciousness instantly tore open and expanded, as dense as a shattered ice surface.
Lin Yan's body swayed slightly, and his vision went black for a fleeting moment.
He gritted his teeth tightly, not taking a single step back. His breathing technique operated at extreme speed, stabilizing his wavering mind. His core remained as solid as a rock from beginning to end, without the slightest tremor.
If anyone else had taken this strike, their Sea of Consciousness would have long since collapsed, and they would have lost their combat capability. Yet, he merely staggered for a split second before immediately raising his blade to continue blocking the pursuers.
This was the confidence he had honed through countless life-and-death battles.
Though both were at the second-tier peak, others relied on training to build their levels, while he relied on the ultimate foundation of breaking without shattering and exhausting without scattering to stubbornly endure desperate situations.
"Lin Yan! Retreat!" Old Chen's roar came through.
Lin Yan used his final slash to push back a lunging scaled beast, using the momentum to leap backward, landing steadily back inside the secondary main fortifications.
As the last soldier retreated into the position, the rearguard warriors immediately activated the emergency steel plates to seal the entrance. The thick alloy panels slammed down, firmly blocking the exit to the ruined forward trench, temporarily isolating the swarming beast tide.
This brief isolation allowed everyone to catch their breath.
Inside the main fortifications, everything was in chaos and dead silence.
Everyone was panting, regulating their breathing, stopping bleeding, and stabilizing their Seas of Consciousness. Everyone's Sea of Consciousness had suffered varying degrees of contusions. Stabilizers were running out, and many could only suppress the dizziness and severe pain through sheer willpower.
The outer trenches had been completely lost.
The entire forward area of the wilderness was now occupied by the scaled beasts. The two third-tier scaled beasts stood at the edge of the fallen trenches, looking down coldly at humanity's last main fortification.
They did not attack immediately.
Another eerie pause.
Neither retreating nor launching a fierce assault, they just loitered ahead, leisurely reorganizing the beast swarm, as if leaving humans a seemingly lucky window to catch their breath.
Yet, everyone present could feel that this was not mercy; it was gathering momentum.
Old Chen slid down against the alloy panel. The wound on his forearm was still seeping blood. Panting heavily, he said in a hoarse voice, "Too bizarre... If it were a beast tide like in the past, they would have swarmed in the moment they broke through the trench. They wouldn't stop at all."
Su Qing wiped her overheated gun barrel, her eyes full of solemnity. "What are they waiting for?"
Instructor Zhou stared at the jumping psychic waves on the holographic screen, his face terrifyingly grim. "They are waiting for us to completely overdraft."
"They know us too well."
These five short words summed up the desperate situation of the entire battlefield.
The enemy knew clearly that the human Sea of Consciousness had limits, drugs were limited in quantity, stamina had a peak, and casualties were a burden. Therefore, they were not in a rush to attack fiercely. They used this pause to grind away humanity's last bit of spirit and morale, waiting until everyone was completely exhausted and the defense line was at its most fragile before making a decisive breakthrough.
Lin Yan stood at the embrasure of the fortification, silently gazing into the dark wilderness.
His few faint mental tentacles sank into the earth once again.
That calm, orderly, and emotionless controlling will, hidden beneath all the frenzied beastly nature, still existed clearly.
It was reviewing the recent loss of the position, re-deploying the beast tide, and fine-tuning the positioning of the two third-tier scaled beasts.
It could even accurately predict humanity's current remaining stamina, the degree of Sea of Consciousness overdraft, and the ammunition shortage.
The chill in Lin Yan's heart grew heavier.
This was absolutely not a mutant beast.
No beast could possess such terrifying global deduction capabilities, tactical patience, and attrition layout thinking.
Deep underground, there was definitely something watching them.
Controlling this entire slaughter.
Yet, he still could not speak.
There was no evidence, no basis, and it exceeded the twenty-five years of human catastrophe cognition. Speaking of it would only be judged as a hallucination caused by mental overdraft, disrupting military morale.
He could only suppress all his doubts and close his eyes to regulate his breathing.
The damaged Sea of Consciousness barrier was slowly repairing itself, the cracks scabbing over and closing bit by bit. The bottleneck of the second-tier peak still stood majestically, firmly locking his level.
But his foundation had grown thicker by another fraction.
The rearguard action, the dual-line pressure, enduring the high-tier single-point piercing attack, and stabilizing his mind in a desperate situation—this continuous extreme tempering had caused his Sea of Consciousness resilience, mental determination, and battlefield judgment to undergo another qualitative transformation.
He was still at the second-tier peak.
But his combat potential had long surpassed everyone else at the same tier.
"Report!" The communications soldier suddenly raised his head, his voice trembling. "The command center has detected a fourth wave of clustered psychic fluctuations deep within the Black Mountain rift!"
It was not the remaining beast swarm reorganizing.
A new beast tide was crawling out from underground!
The encirclement offensive that had already pressed humanity to the point of suffocation was merely an appetizer.
The true main force had just awakened.
Inside the fortifications, the breathing of all the soldiers instantly froze.
Instructor Zhou's pupils contracted sharply as he stared死死 (fixedly) at the pitch-black rift in the distance. "They weren't just wearing us down... They were stacking the pressure in batches, until our defense line was completely crushed!"
On the wilderness, the two third-tier scaled beasts raised their heads simultaneously, letting out low roars.
Under the pitch-black night sky, countless new compound eyes of scaled beasts lit up with a幽 (dim) cold light. Like stars scattered across the ground, they densely covered the entire fallen forward position.
The final general offensive had truly arrived.
End of Chapter.
At the front, the psychic pressure of the wounded third-tier scaled beast constantly hung over their heads like an inescapable iron net, continuously draining everyone's mental power. On the east side, the unharmed third-tier scaled beast used the terrain to maneuver, occasionally unleashing a precise psychic burst, specifically targeting the moments when the soldiers' Seas of Consciousness were exhausted. Low-level scaled beasts surged forward like an endless black tide, wave after wave, stubbornly biting at the gaps in the trench.
The gunfire grew sparse.
It was not because the soldiers were slack, but because their ammunition had been exhausted. Many warriors had already switched to close-quarters melee weapons. The crisp sounds of metal hacking against scales, the snapping of beast bones, and the dull thuds of blood soaking into the mud had replaced the previous dense roar of artillery.
The number of casualties was increasing.
The medical bunker was already packed to the brim. Soldiers with shattered Seas of Consciousness and wounded bodies were continuously carried down, their faces pale and their consciousness scattered. Some clutched their heads and convulsed all over; this was a sign that their mental cores were on the verge of damage. Even if they survived, it would be extremely difficult for them to ever step onto the frontline again.
"We can't hold on!" A non-commissioned officer guarding the east side transmitted the message with a roar. "The right-wing trench has been breached, and three gaps cannot be sealed at all! If we keep defending to the death, we'll all be surrounded and wiped out!"
Instructor Zhou's gaze swept across the entire line. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was covered in gunpowder smoke and blood. He knew clearly that holding the position at this moment was meaningless.
The outer trenches were already dilapidated. With fortifications failing, forces divided, and ammunition depleted, forcing a desperate defense would only result in everyone perishing here.
"Everyone, fall back! Abandon the forward trenches and retreat to the secondary main fortifications!"
The resolute command echoed across the entire defense line.
This was the first time since the battle began that the Black Mountain western outpost had voluntarily abandoned its position.
The soldiers fought as they retreated, withdrawing in an orderly fashion. Old Chen led the rearguard, using his knife and gun to stubbornly stall the pursuing scaled beasts. Su Qing occupied the ruined wall of a rear high ground, precisely picking off the fastest-advancing monsters to buy time for the retreat.
Lin Yan guarded the most dangerous left-flank rearguard position.
Countless low-level scaled beasts chased frantically through the bloody mud. Driven by the will from underground, they knew no fear, no fatigue, and only knew how to madly pounce and slaughter the retreating human warriors.
Two scaled beasts attacked from the left and right, their claws tearing through the air, carrying the foul wind of blood.
Lin Yan's mind settled. His ancient martial arts footwork changed abruptly, and his body nimbly weaved between the two massive beasts. His short blade precisely cut into the gaps in the scales on both sides. With a forceful twist of his wrist, he executed a clean, lethal strike.
Two dull thuds sounded as the beasts fell, instantly losing their vitality.
But in the next second, a sharp psychic impact precisely locked onto his Sea of Consciousness.
It was the unharmed third-tier scaled beast on the east side! It had caught Lin Yan's brief pause and, from dozens of meters away across the wilderness, suddenly released a single-point psychic piercing attack. The force was condensed, vicious, and precise.
His skull suddenly throbbed with sharp pain. The cracks that had long covered the surface of his Sea of Consciousness instantly tore open and expanded, as dense as a shattered ice surface.
Lin Yan's body swayed slightly, and his vision went black for a fleeting moment.
He gritted his teeth tightly, not taking a single step back. His breathing technique operated at extreme speed, stabilizing his wavering mind. His core remained as solid as a rock from beginning to end, without the slightest tremor.
If anyone else had taken this strike, their Sea of Consciousness would have long since collapsed, and they would have lost their combat capability. Yet, he merely staggered for a split second before immediately raising his blade to continue blocking the pursuers.
This was the confidence he had honed through countless life-and-death battles.
Though both were at the second-tier peak, others relied on training to build their levels, while he relied on the ultimate foundation of breaking without shattering and exhausting without scattering to stubbornly endure desperate situations.
"Lin Yan! Retreat!" Old Chen's roar came through.
Lin Yan used his final slash to push back a lunging scaled beast, using the momentum to leap backward, landing steadily back inside the secondary main fortifications.
As the last soldier retreated into the position, the rearguard warriors immediately activated the emergency steel plates to seal the entrance. The thick alloy panels slammed down, firmly blocking the exit to the ruined forward trench, temporarily isolating the swarming beast tide.
This brief isolation allowed everyone to catch their breath.
Inside the main fortifications, everything was in chaos and dead silence.
Everyone was panting, regulating their breathing, stopping bleeding, and stabilizing their Seas of Consciousness. Everyone's Sea of Consciousness had suffered varying degrees of contusions. Stabilizers were running out, and many could only suppress the dizziness and severe pain through sheer willpower.
The outer trenches had been completely lost.
The entire forward area of the wilderness was now occupied by the scaled beasts. The two third-tier scaled beasts stood at the edge of the fallen trenches, looking down coldly at humanity's last main fortification.
They did not attack immediately.
Another eerie pause.
Neither retreating nor launching a fierce assault, they just loitered ahead, leisurely reorganizing the beast swarm, as if leaving humans a seemingly lucky window to catch their breath.
Yet, everyone present could feel that this was not mercy; it was gathering momentum.
Old Chen slid down against the alloy panel. The wound on his forearm was still seeping blood. Panting heavily, he said in a hoarse voice, "Too bizarre... If it were a beast tide like in the past, they would have swarmed in the moment they broke through the trench. They wouldn't stop at all."
Su Qing wiped her overheated gun barrel, her eyes full of solemnity. "What are they waiting for?"
Instructor Zhou stared at the jumping psychic waves on the holographic screen, his face terrifyingly grim. "They are waiting for us to completely overdraft."
"They know us too well."
These five short words summed up the desperate situation of the entire battlefield.
The enemy knew clearly that the human Sea of Consciousness had limits, drugs were limited in quantity, stamina had a peak, and casualties were a burden. Therefore, they were not in a rush to attack fiercely. They used this pause to grind away humanity's last bit of spirit and morale, waiting until everyone was completely exhausted and the defense line was at its most fragile before making a decisive breakthrough.
Lin Yan stood at the embrasure of the fortification, silently gazing into the dark wilderness.
His few faint mental tentacles sank into the earth once again.
That calm, orderly, and emotionless controlling will, hidden beneath all the frenzied beastly nature, still existed clearly.
It was reviewing the recent loss of the position, re-deploying the beast tide, and fine-tuning the positioning of the two third-tier scaled beasts.
It could even accurately predict humanity's current remaining stamina, the degree of Sea of Consciousness overdraft, and the ammunition shortage.
The chill in Lin Yan's heart grew heavier.
This was absolutely not a mutant beast.
No beast could possess such terrifying global deduction capabilities, tactical patience, and attrition layout thinking.
Deep underground, there was definitely something watching them.
Controlling this entire slaughter.
Yet, he still could not speak.
There was no evidence, no basis, and it exceeded the twenty-five years of human catastrophe cognition. Speaking of it would only be judged as a hallucination caused by mental overdraft, disrupting military morale.
He could only suppress all his doubts and close his eyes to regulate his breathing.
The damaged Sea of Consciousness barrier was slowly repairing itself, the cracks scabbing over and closing bit by bit. The bottleneck of the second-tier peak still stood majestically, firmly locking his level.
But his foundation had grown thicker by another fraction.
The rearguard action, the dual-line pressure, enduring the high-tier single-point piercing attack, and stabilizing his mind in a desperate situation—this continuous extreme tempering had caused his Sea of Consciousness resilience, mental determination, and battlefield judgment to undergo another qualitative transformation.
He was still at the second-tier peak.
But his combat potential had long surpassed everyone else at the same tier.
"Report!" The communications soldier suddenly raised his head, his voice trembling. "The command center has detected a fourth wave of clustered psychic fluctuations deep within the Black Mountain rift!"
It was not the remaining beast swarm reorganizing.
A new beast tide was crawling out from underground!
The encirclement offensive that had already pressed humanity to the point of suffocation was merely an appetizer.
The true main force had just awakened.
Inside the fortifications, the breathing of all the soldiers instantly froze.
Instructor Zhou's pupils contracted sharply as he stared死死 (fixedly) at the pitch-black rift in the distance. "They weren't just wearing us down... They were stacking the pressure in batches, until our defense line was completely crushed!"
On the wilderness, the two third-tier scaled beasts raised their heads simultaneously, letting out low roars.
Under the pitch-black night sky, countless new compound eyes of scaled beasts lit up with a幽 (dim) cold light. Like stars scattered across the ground, they densely covered the entire fallen forward position.
The final general offensive had truly arrived.
End of Chapter.