Chapter 60: The Master

Hu Chenggang’s face lit up with joy the moment Shen Lie agreed. With a wave of his hand, the soldiers behind him brought out a large crate filled with a significant number of explosive packs. These packs were roughly the size of hand grenades. Shen Lie picked one up, asked how to use it, and then told Hu Chenggang to load a hundred of them for him.

"A hundred? Isn't that a bit much? These things aren't light!" Hu Chenggang hesitated, offering a word of caution.

Each explosive pack weighed over a pound; a hundred of them would total more than a hundred pounds. While such a weight might be manageable under normal circumstances, in this situation, even with the enhanced physique of an Awakened, it would severely hamper one's speed. He didn't want them to be killed by the spider monsters before they even had the chance to detonate them.

"It’s fine. I have a strength-based talent, so this little bit of weight is nothing. There are so many monsters over there; what good would a small amount do?" Shen Lie waved his hand dismissively, signaling the soldiers to continue loading.

Seeing this, Hu Chenggang said no more. He needed their help and feared that pushing the issue might prove counterproductive. In the end, Shen Lie took a hundred packs, and Du Lili took fifty. The two of them strapped on large military backpacks and climbed into a jeep. Shen Lie took the wheel, Du Lili sat in the passenger seat, and the open-top jeep roared to life, charging straight toward the swarm of spider monsters.

"Division Commander, please retreat! We can’t hold on much longer, I’m begging you!" A small squad of about twenty men was surrounded by over a hundred spider monsters, with even more continuously closing in from behind. The situation was dire.

A bald man with a fleshy growth on his head slashed a spider monster back with his blade and shouted at Zhang Kaitai beside him. Distracted, he was caught off guard when a spider from the side clawed his arm, leaving him drenched in blood.

"No! If we retreat, we retreat together. Hold your ground, pull back slowly. We still have hope, don't give up!" Zhang Kaitai was covered in blood, but his voice remained calm and steady. Holding a large-caliber rifle, he continued to fire while issuing orders.

"Division Commander, there’s no time! We can't all make it back alive. You and Battalion Commander Han go first; we’ll carve a path for you!" Another Awakened approached, his face deathly pale, his eyes filled with despair.

"Division Commander, go! Ah! You beasts, I'll take you all to hell with me!" A non-Awakened soldier, his nerves finally snapping, screamed as he pulled the fuse on his explosive packs and charged headlong into the monster swarm.

A deafening blast tore a gap in the swarm, but it only slightly injured one or two monsters, while the soldier was reduced to a bloody mist.

"Xiao Wu!"

"Damn you monsters!" A burly Awakened, who seemed close to the fallen soldier, let out a pained cry and began frantically unleashing fireballs until his bloodline energy was exhausted. He collapsed to his knees just as a double-striped spider leader closed in. A flash of dark purple light flickered, and the soldier’s head was instantly severed, rolling far away as a fountain of blood erupted from his neck.

"Battalion Commander Hong!" Zhang Kaitai watched helplessly. He hated himself for not being an Awakened; he possessed high ambitions but could only watch his men die while others had to risk their lives to protect him.

"Everyone, listen to my orders! Break out in different directions, save as many as you can! Go!" Seeing his men falling one by one and knowing that staying meant total annihilation, Zhang Kaitai grew desperate.

"No, Division Commander, you go first!"

"You all pull back, I’ll provide cover!"

These men were comrades-in-arms who had been together for years—Zhang Kaitai’s inner circle. They shared a deep bond, and even knowing that every second of hesitation meant death, not one of them was willing to break out first.

Zhang Kaitai’s eyes reddened. He deeply regretted the decision to attempt this decapitation strike. He had thought that even if they failed, they could withdraw safely, but he had underestimated the situation and placed too much faith in the new explosives.

"Division Commander, look behind us!"

Amidst their despair, a non-Awakened soldier suddenly shouted. Everyone looked to see an open-top jeep speeding toward them in the distance.

"Is that... reinforcements?" A flicker of hope appeared in Zhang Kaitai’s eyes, only to dim immediately. Even if they were reinforcements, how many people could a single jeep hold? Besides, Zhang Kaitai knew that he had brought nearly all of the military’s combat-capable Awakened on this mission. Reinforcements were impossible, and if they were just ordinary soldiers, their presence would be meaningless against such a swarm.

Unless?

A thought stirred in Zhang Kaitai’s mind. Could it be people sent by Gu Chengfang? He immediately dismissed the idea; Gu Chengfang’s defensive zone was to the left, also facing a massive swarm of monsters. He couldn't spare the manpower, and even if he could, he might not be willing to help.

"Then who could it be?" Everyone wondered. In their current state, one or two ordinary Awakened would be useless unless someone with the immense power of Gu Chengfang arrived to shift the tide of battle.

The gap between Awakened was vast. The reason Gu Chengfang could stand independently under the military’s nose was that he was the strongest among them, with terrifying personal power—ten ordinary Awakened might not be a match for him.

In their current squad, the strongest were the burly man who had just fallen and a earth-element user. If not for their coordinated teamwork, they wouldn't have lasted this long.

"Ah, is that? That’s Heavenly King Shen and Heavenly King Du! It’s the Red Fog Group!"

The jeep moved with incredible speed, reaching them in an instant. Shen Lie and his group were well-known to the military, and most of the squad recognized them immediately. Cries of surprise erupted as Shen Lie came into view.

Zhang Kaitai felt a surge of hope. It was rumored that these two Awakened from the Red Fog Group were extraordinary, especially the masked woman, who was said to be on par with Gu Chengfang. If the rumors were true, they might actually have a chance to return.

The roar of the jeep’s engine alarmed the spider monsters. Before Shen Lie could get close, a dozen spiders screeched and charged toward him.

"Dragon Fire!" Shen Lie kept driving, but Du Lili raised her hand. Two dragons of fire writhed and lunged at the charging spiders.

The sheer power of the fire dragons stunned everyone, including the swarm. The spiders attacking the squad recoiled, and the two double-striped leaders let out strange, shrill cries.

Before the dozen spiders could even reach the jeep, they were incinerated into mounds of black ash by the fire dragons.

"Hahaha, excellent!"

"Heavenly King Du is mighty!"

"We’re saved!"

The spider swarm retreated, giving the soldiers a chance to breathe, and a wave of cheers erupted.

"Division Commander Zhang, get on the jeep! Someone who can drive, escort the Division Commander back to the main force! The rest of you, hold the line with me!" Shen Lie jumped out of the car. Seeing how effectively Du Lili’s fire suppressed the spiders, his mind was eased.

Zhang Kaitai tried to protest, but this time his men wouldn't listen. Two Awakened soldiers hauled him into the jeep, and an ordinary soldier took the driver's seat. The jeep spun around and sped toward the main force.