Even though charging in while holding a missile looks pretty cool, Wang Jixuan chose a very cautious landing strategy. As he was about to reach the vicinity of Fortress 76, he let go of the empty missile with both hands, brought his arms together, and dove downwards, mimicking a bird's dive. He adjusted his position in the air and quickly approached the ground.
Then, he pulled open the flat backpack on his back, and two huge flat balloons burst out, turning into thick parachutes. As he slowed down, he floated gently towards the military camp on the ground below.
Things were chaotic down there. Wang Jixuan could see groups of soldiers rushing towards ventilation ducts and elevators. They were working hard to dismantle various weapons and equipment from armored vehicles and artillery to take them underground.
Wang Jixuan pressed a button on his earpiece, connecting to two channels: one with Zhou Zhengde and Wu Man, and the other with Ling Tong's supply team.
Sister Wan was speaking quickly: "Ling Tong, your mechanical arm data is off. Replacing the backup arm will take time. I've prepared it for you at the supply station, so don't rush. Right now, the main group of Blade Beasts is still in the lower city, and the slaughter is only happening in a small area. About six or seven hundred Blade Beasts have transformed into moths, attacking the passages to the middle and upper cities, trying to stop troop movements."
Ling Tong replied softly, "Yeah, I know. I'm not in a hurry. Can we track Wang Zheng's data?"
"His location is jumping; he's already above the fortress."
"I'm heading to support the seventh floor," Wang Jixuan said immediately. "Don't worry about me; I just want to save people, not throw my life away."
"Okay, Sister Wan will support Wang Zheng. I won't be back at the fortress for another forty-five minutes to help him avoid those energy users."
"Got it!"
Sister Wan agreed simply, and a small map appeared in the upper left corner of Wang Jixuan's tactical helmet, showing the general situation of the fortress. The Blade Beast swarm had already reached the forty-seventh floor. The 'Moth' Blade Beasts were climbing up the fire escape, continuously charging into the seventh floor.
Data about these Moth Blade Beasts, including their weaknesses, was transmitted to Wang Jixuan's helmet display.
With just over ten meters to the ground, Wang Jixuan unbuckled his parachute and landed steadily in front of an elevator. The elevator, which was about to descend, was suddenly stopped by a soldier nearby.
The soldier pressed the elevator button and shouted, "Someone's coming! Didn't you see who it is?"
Immediately, a soldier jumped out, and a group of people saluted Wang Jixuan: "Black Storm!" "Sir!"
"Mm," Wang Daochang nodded calmly and stepped into the elevator, while two burly men beside him quickly moved back. The elevator doors closed, and the twenty or so soldiers quickly descended to the sixth floor. No one dared to speak.
Wang Jixuan heard Zhou Zhengde clearing his throat in his earpiece: "Ahem, Wang Zheng, there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
Wang Jixuan didn’t shy away from the soldiers around him; his voice came through the helmet: "I'll pay attention to the energy user situation."
"That's not it. It's... the little fish died just a few minutes ago. The sixth gate on the thirteenth floor was broken. He helped everyone and died together with a Blade Beast... Lin Xiong and Lin Yong were injured, and Wei Na is also hurt and unconscious. She's receiving treatment now."
Zhou Zhengde sighed and didn’t say anything more.
"Okay, I understand. Stay strong; the battle has just begun," Wang Jixuan replied. "I'm going to support the seventh floor."
"Don't be too reckless. Just do what you can; you're crucial to human society."
"Alright."
Ding ding! The elevator doors opened in front of Wang Jixuan, revealing soldiers gathering and lining up outside, with a big number "6" on the wall.
The biggest problem these soldiers faced now was that while they had come down, the weapons and equipment needed to form a defensive line had not arrived, so they could only gather and wait. Regular rifles were just "weapons for fighting people."
Wang Jixuan walked straight to an equipment pickup point, quickly assembling a three-section spear and resting it diagonally on his back. He approached the equipment pickup point and unceremoniously grabbed a combat backpack, looking at the somewhat flustered supply officer.
"Give me a box of high explosives."
"Oh... okay! Thank you, sir!"
"Mm."
Wang Daochang responded simply, waiting for the backpack to be filled with egg-sized enhanced grenades before turning and rushing towards the connecting road between the seventh and sixth floors. No one dared to stop him.
Even the C-level and D-level energy users stationed at the connecting road were kept in check by the soldiers who had received orders. As long as the energy users dared to act against Black Storm, they would face a military counterattack.
Wang Jixuan crossed the checkpoint and stood at the edge of the winding road, looking down. The seventh floor was the most special area of the middle city, with a third of its space cultivated into large fields, and it was also the lowest end of the light-guiding passage.
Gunfire was heard from all directions. The distribution of energy users appeared on Wang Jixuan's helmet display. Sister Wan had already provided combat suggestions.
[Priority rescue target nearby: Nursery Center No. 3].
[Moth Blade Beasts count: 13].
With a swift movement, Wang Jixuan jumped over the road railing, his body plummeting towards the seventh floor, the spear on his back vibrating slightly. The moment he landed, he shot forward like an arrow.
A team of soldiers immediately received orders from the command center and drove a light armored vehicle towards Wang Jixuan. This was a classic tactic of cooperation between energy users and ordinary soldiers.
Before the soldiers' light armored vehicle could descend the winding road, they witnessed a scene: outside Nursery Center No. 3, in a field of golden wheat, a Moth Blade Beast suddenly darted diagonally upwards. A man in black clothes and a black helmet leaped up, and his spear flew from his hand, piercing the Blade Beast's mouth!
The Blade Beast fell in a parabolic arc, and the moment it hit the ground, the cold weapon spear flew back into the air, enveloped in a blue glow, held by the leaping Black Storm!
With a vertical strike, the Moth Blade Beast soaring through the air was split in two!
Wang Jixuan's toes touched the fallen body of the Blade Beast, using the force to propel himself upwards, crashing into the walls of Nursery Center No. 3.
'These Blade Beasts aren't too strong.'
Wang Daochang's attention was immediately drawn to a nearby scene where two young girls were protecting seven or eight children inside a school bus, while three or four soldiers lay fallen outside the bus.
The Moth Blade Beast, with its mouth stained with blood, paused to gnaw on a human corpse before turning to look at the school bus. Inside, the children were tightly held by the two young female teachers, who could only close their eyes and pray...
Bang!
The school bus window suddenly shattered. A female teacher with short hair instinctively opened her eyes and saw a dark figure rushing in from the left, colliding at high speed with the Blade Beast.
Actually, it wasn’t a collision; Wang Jixuan was moving so fast that she experienced a visual distortion. The Blade Beast was pushed out by a spear that had pierced through its chest.
The man in the black helmet stopped in front of the school bus and casually opened the door.
"Get out, quickly! I’ll take you to the building inside."
...
The cleanup at Nursery Center No. 3 was completed. A new recommended combat area was sent to Wang Jixuan by Sister Wan.
Team combat was indeed much better than fighting alone, and someone like Sister Wan, who could command, provide psychological support, and had a keen perception of battlefield information, could significantly boost Ling Tong's effectiveness.
Wang Jixuan took a deep breath, replaced his movement talisman, and took out a bag of emergency food—roasted beast meat—from his backpack. He placed the spear on his back and pulled out a few mini grenades.
To sustain a long battle, he needed to conserve his own energy.
These flying Blade Beasts looked intimidating, but they had many weaknesses; they were just basic flying Blade Beasts. There were no troublesome mutated Blade Beasts, no rank Blade Beasts, and definitely no special winged dragons.
Wang Jixuan dashed forward, his body flying low to the ground. Two grenades flew out, the first exploding the outer crystalline membrane of the Blade Beast's mouth, and the second embedding itself directly inside.
With a booming sound, Wang Jixuan jumped to evade and began searching for the next target.
His earpiece was filled with chatter from both sides; it was occasionally chaotic, but overall it didn’t affect his judgment.
From Zhou Zhengde’s side, Wang Jixuan could hear the situation at the fortress.
Dongfang Zhenghong was issuing commands continuously, but remote command was becoming increasingly difficult to manage comprehensively, only able to roughly coordinate the fortress's various forces.
The main group of Blade Beasts had reached the forty-sixth floor, and the advance team of defense troops was engaged in fierce combat with the Blade Beasts there. Due to a lack of sufficient heavy firepower, the advance team suffered heavy casualties.
Energy users were also fighting, but they hadn’t entered the forty-sixth floor; instead, they were pursuing the Moth Blade Beasts. This was a very obvious self-preservation tactic.
Yet, it couldn’t be said that they weren’t doing anything.
Wang Daochang was quite dissatisfied with this, but he didn’t want to argue with these energy users. He couldn’t just leave the Blade Beasts to attack and turn around to fight them instead. That could be settled later.
How to resolve the current disaster?
Wang Jixuan heard the technician talking with Dongfang Zhenghong through his earpiece.
"The deep-sea unit is ready and will reach the fortress in about thirty minutes!"
"Commander! A lieutenant-level reaction is approaching the bottom gap! It’s expected to arrive in thirteen or fourteen minutes!"
"Can we seal the gap in the next few minutes?" Dongfang Zhenghong asked hoarsely.
"Theoretically, we cannot, Commander!"
"What about casualties in the lower city?"
"The estimated death toll is over sixty-seven thousand. The Blade Beast swarm is surging towards the forty-sixth floor. Half of the lower city has yet to be attacked by the Blade Beasts. A small number of Moth Blade Beasts have entered the middle city and have been eliminated by the local security team. The overall casualty figure is around three hundred to five hundred. The seventh floor has suffered over twelve hundred casualties, including six hundred fifty-three children from the nursery."
Wang Jixuan was taken aback by these numbers.
So many people had died and been injured in such a short time?
The lower city was said to have three hundred thousand people...
He frowned slightly.
To be honest, Wang Daochang didn’t want to risk his life. He had already opened a path within the military, and the low-level magical tools he had gradually revealed had made the military overjoyed. He just needed to push forward step by step, not only to become a rare talent but also to gain military protection for stable cultivation, while gradually helping the people of this world.
Yes, right now he just wanted to be safe and sound.
There was no need to take risks;
No need to flood with so-called goodwill;
He was fundamentally an outsider to all beings.
Wang Jixuan stopped at the edge of a wheat field.
The seventh floor was the fortress nursery center; these fields and green trees were not just food, but also decoration, ensuring that the children could have a good psychological foundation to face a dark life.
Ahead was a black curtain, dotted with starlight, behind which were thick rock walls;
Behind the small path in the wheat field was a fire door that had been smashed by the Blade Beasts.
A line of small text appeared on Wang Jixuan's helmet display.
[Sister Wan: You’ve strayed from the preset route, Wang Zheng.]
Wang Jixuan suddenly asked, "Sister Wan, I have about a sixty percent chance of saving these tens of thousands of people, but if I fail, I might die. Should I go save them?"
"I think the mysterious technology you carry may save billions of humans in the future."
"You’re right."
Wang Jixuan glanced at the fire door, turned around, and ran a few steps toward an area where Blade Beasts were active.
He paused, closed his eyes to take a deep breath, then turned to look at the broken fire door.
"But Sister Wan, I want to go."
"Reason tells me I should advise against you," Sister Wan said gently, "but you’ve already made your decision, haven’t you? I will provide you with information support until Commander Ling Tong reaches the fortress."
"Thank you."
Wang Jixuan stepped forward, running swiftly and charging ahead.
Sister Wan asked, "Can you tell me the reason? I’m just curious."
Wang Jixuan leaped, dragging the spear and carrying the dual backpacks as he plunged into the dark descending passage.
Below, more than ten Moth Blade Beasts were flapping their wings upwards, all looking up at that moment.
A brief moment of suspension, free fall.
Wang Jixuan twisted his body, gripping the spear, and pounced towards the nearest Moth Blade Beast, calculating the descent route in his mind; these Blade Beasts were his launch pads!
The dim vertical passage flickered with green light!
As for Sister Wan's question, his answer remained in his heart, unspoken.
Where the heart desires, the path is hidden.
This immortal path he sought to take was straightforward and unrestrained!
Slay the demons!
(End of Chapter)