Chapter 204: If You Want to Leave, Leave Now!

Over the next twenty-plus days, for Su Zhan’s squad and all the students training at South Cang Fortress, every single day was high-intensity and high-risk.Mission difficulty and frequency rose sharply.

They began to take part in frequent short-range clearance patrols, pushing into the buffer zones outside the fortress, actively hunting down and eliminating wandering Mist Creature clusters.

These missions often led to sudden encounters;medium-risk units rarely showed up, but they were still far from easy.

Whenever they went out, everyone had to be on full alert.

Rotating duty at the forward outposts became commonplace.

They started rotating among several different forward posts to experience the different defensive pressures and tactical points of each position.

Nighttime could erupt into life-or-death fighting at any moment.

Almost everyone collected fresh new scars.

But correspondingly, their growth was obvious to the naked eye.

Battle reactions became faster.

Coordination smoothed out.

They gained a deeper understanding of various Mist Creatures’ habits.

They stayed calmer when facing sudden emergencies.

Although assignments were grueling, no one dared slack off on training.

The fortress provided training resources—crude, but at least sufficient.

Now…

With only a few days left before their two-month training period ended, Su Zhan’s squad had each made breakthroughs.

Su Zhan reached Stream Realm, second tier.

Feng Jue reached Dew Realm, tenth tier.

Liu Ziming and Xu Hao reached Dew Realm, ninth tier.

Xie Xi even broke past the Dew Realm barrier and reached Stream Realm!

…

Night deepened.

Continuous high-intensity missions and watch duties had drained almost all the trainees’ energy.

In the temporary barracks, snores rose and fell.

Su Zhan, Liu Ziming, Feng Jue, and Xu Hao collapsed on the hard planks, sleeping as if dead.

Even Xie Xi in the neighboring female barracks had fallen into dreamless slumber.

Their bodies’ self-preservation forced them to use every second possible to recover.

This rare peace did not last long.

“Woo—!!! Woo—!!! Woo—!!!”

Suddenly!

A blaring urgent alarm sounded with no warning.

This alarm was unlike any they had heard before!

More piercing!

More rapid!

It instantly rang through every corner of the fortress!

“Holy—!”

Liu Ziming was the first jolted awake, almost reflexively springing from his bed.

He bashed his head on the upper bunk’s plank, too panicked to care, shouting, “What’s happening!? What’s happening!? Enemy attack!?”

“Alarm! Top level!”

Feng Jue reacted quickly and swung his legs off the bed.

Xu Hao groped in the dark for his combat uniform: “Wait for me! Where are my shoes?! I can’t find my shoes!”

Su Zhan’s heart clenched.

An intense sense of crisis instantly wiped away every scrap of sleep.

“Don’t panic! Put on clothes! Grab gear! Muster at the training ground! Move!”

Su Zhan snatched the standard-issue uniform folded at his bedside and roughly pulled it on, cinching the tactical belt, boots, canteen… one piece of equipment after another fastened onto him.

The entire barracks erupted into activity!

The same frantic, urgent noises came from other rooms.

“Where’s Xie Xi?”

Liu Ziming asked as he buttoned up.

“She definitely heard it! She’ll head to the rendezvous point!”

Su Zhan pulled the door open: “Let’s go!”

The four dashed out.

The corridor was utter chaos.

Students from other academies were likewise disheveled.

Some ran while putting on helmets, some clutched their guns.

All of them wore that startled expression of having been violently ripped from sleep.

“Move! Move! Move!”

“Muster at the training ground!”

“Damn! What the hell happened?!”

No one knew the answer.

But everyone knew that whatever triggered this alarm was no small matter!

Su Zhan and the others plunged into the panicked stream of people and sprinted toward the training ground.

Passing the female barracks’ doorway, they saw Xie Xi bursting out.

Her long hair was slightly messy, but her uniform was neatly worn.

They exchanged a glance.

No words needed—Xie Xi immediately joined the squad.

The five surged with the crowd out of the barracks area toward the familiar assembly field.

On the training ground, massive searchlights were already blazing, turning the whole place as bright as day.

Under the harsh lights, countless soldiers and squads poured in from all directions like streams converging into a sea, forming up quickly.

Officers barked orders, sergeants called the roll, units reported numbers…

“Vermilion Bird Academy! Su Zhan’s squad! Over here!”

A sergeant spotted the prominent insignia on their combat suits and loudly directed them to the assigned area.

The five ran over and took their positions.

Only then did Liu Ziming manage to draw a breath;taking in the grim atmosphere, he swallowed and muttered, “Jesus… this turnout… it’s scarier than when we got surrounded by those medium-risk monsters last time… what the hell happened?”

Xu Hao’s face was tense;he said nothing.

Feng Jue scanned the rapidly forming units with a grave look.

Xie Xi inhaled deeply, steadying her breathing.

Su Zhan stood straight, eyes fixed on the high platform at the front of the field.

There, several senior fortress officers stood with grim faces.

The one leading them was the scar-faced officer.

He stood in silence.

But that silence carried a suffocating pressure more terrifying than any shout.

A dreadful atmosphere, like a storm about to break, blanketed the whole field.

Su Zhan’s heart sank slowly.

The real storm had arrived.

Under the blinding searchlights, ranks of soldiers and students stood silently.

The scar-faced officer climbed the platform;his voice came over the loudspeaker:

“Rookies, and all brothers here.

No long speeches.

We’ve run into a Mist Surge.

This isn’t small-time—this is a true large-scale Mist Surge.

Right now, outside our walls, tens of thousands of Mist Creatures are launching a furious assault! That’s why the alarm went off!”

Even though the worst-case feeling had already been settling in their minds, when the officer spelled it out like that, a faint ripple of unrest passed through the ranks below.

However…

Within that orderly formation, not a single person made a sound!

Whether seasoned veterans or students hardened by more than fifty days of blood and fire, they bit down on their shock and forced back any cry that rose to their lips!

Those fifty-plus days had stamped a near-instinctive military soul into their bones!

No talking in front of officers without permission!

That was iron law!

The scar-faced officer took in every reaction in the ranks and continued:

“Let me be honest with you—this Mist Surge is a hell of a lot stronger than any I’ve experienced before! Much stronger!

I can’t even promise you we’ll hold!”

He fixed his gaze on the students’ ranks:

“You are students, treasures of your academies, the future’s hope. Your talent surpasses us old guys;your potential isn’t reached yet.

So now, I’ll give you a choice.

If you want to leave, you may leave now!”

A storm of emotions crashed in every student’s heart!

But the formation remained silent, countless eyes snapping to the officer.

“This isn’t cowardice!”

The scar-faced officer emphasized: “This is my permission! There are still a few transport planes at the airfield;show your student IDs and you can get on! Leave this damned place immediately!

Listen up! Staying alive to grow stronger later is better value than dying here today!

Better for Daxia’s cause! I can and will account for that!

Now! Those who want to leave! Raise your hands! Step out of line!”

At his words, the training ground fell into a deathly quiet.

The wind swept across the field, fluttering uniform hems, but it could not disperse the atmosphere as solid as a mountain.

One second, two, three…

No student moved.

No hand went up.

No one stepped out.

They had spent fifty-plus days eating dust with the soldiers, patrolling together, cursing together, enduring sleepiness on watch together, fighting and bleeding together on the battlefield, bandaging wounded comrades, silently burying fallen brothers…

They were no longer merely students.

They were soldiers of South Cang Fortress!

Maybe still raw, but their blood had already mixed with the fortress and with those beside them!

Self-preservation and cowardice? Perhaps they had felt it.

But in this moment, something stronger than fear rose: responsibility and comradeship.

Leave?

They might have yearned for home, for the academy’s safety—but to leave in this manner was never considered!

Su Zhan straightened his spine as well.

He did not say he would leave.

First, honor would never allow it!

No matter how nice the officer’s words sounded, the essence remained desertion in the face of the enemy!

If he left today, the word deserter would be branded on him for life!

Anywhere, whenever South Cang Fortress or this Mist Surge was mentioned, he would be the reviled negative example!

Second, he did not believe they would be allowed to simply leave without consequences!

The officer sounded magnanimous, but this was the army—this was a disciplined frontline fortress!

How could large-scale on-the-spot desertion truly be permitted?

Even if the officer, for whatever reason, let people go, what would the Military Court say?

Su Zhan doubted it deeply.

He was almost certain that anyone who raised a hand today—even if they somehow survived—would be held to account later!

Their files would forever carry a dishonorable mark;their futures ruined!

Third, however unlikely, this might be a test!

Could this be the final test—testing their courage and loyalty?

Testing whether they were truly qualified to be soldiers?

If this was a test, those who raised their hands would be removed in the eyes of the officer and the fortress’ evaluation system.

Even if they lived, they should forget any future recognition or resources.

Su Zhan could not gamble his future on that.

So…

No retreat! Not one step!

Retreat meant disgrace, ruined prospects, and possibly severe unknown punishments.

Stand firm—though the front might be a mountain of blades and fire, though survival odds might be slim—they would at least die standing!

A last stand!

Su Zhan had never been afraid.

The scar-faced officer on the platform looked at the silent, seemingly burning youth formation below.

He waited a full ten seconds.

No one raised a hand.

“All right! Since none of you have the guts to be cowards, then get your spirits up!

Everyone! Hear my orders! Effective immediately, enter the highest combat readiness! Replenish ammunition and spiritual energy! Form up according to prearranged defensive groups! Mount the walls!

Prepare—fight to the death!”

“Yes!!!”

A roar shattered the silence and suppression, like thunder exploding across the plain, booming into the sky.

Orders were given.

The massive force sprung into motion.

Each squad moved toward their assigned defensive sectors.

They rushed quickly and orderly toward the passageways and stairways leading to the walls.

Su Zhan’s squad mixed into the sweeping human tide, sprinting up a wide staircase scarred by combat.

“I… fuck…”

Liu Ziming panted as he ran upward and cursed under his breath: “Tens of thousands… a Mist Surge… I never saw that many monsters in my life… how long do we have to kill?”

Xu Hao half-joked: “Bro, don’t scare me… my legs are a little weak…”

“Shut the hell up about weak!”

Liu Ziming swore: “Hold it together! We didn’t chicken out earlier, don’t start now! Stick with Brother Su, we’re guaranteed winners!”

Su Zhan led at the front without looking back: “Conserve stamina and spiritual energy. When you reach the wall, follow orders, watch each other, don’t fall behind.”

Feng Jue ran in silence, an icy sword aura spreading about him, curt: “Where’s the highest pressure point?”

“Don’t think about personal heroics! Holding your post is the biggest contribution! Wall defense is a whole!”

Xie Xi ran just behind and beside Su Zhan and asked, “Su Zhan, what do you make of the officer’s words?”

This was the deepest fear in everyone’s heart—no one dared voice it easily.

Su Zhan kept running and after a moment’s silence replied, “Whether we can hold or not isn’t the question for now. We should be thinking about how to survive on the wall, how to kill more of them.

As for the rest… we’ll deal with it after we fight!”

Right—what use was worrying now?

Life or death, defense or collapse, only combat would tell!

“Damn! Right on!”

Liu Ziming wiped his face hard: “Let’s do it! Killing one is breaking even, killing two is profit! I want to see how fierce this so-called Mist Surge really is!”

Xu Hao gritted his teeth: “Yeah! Let’s go all out!”

At this moment, they burst up the final flight of stairs.

Deafening shouts, explosions, bloodthirsty roars all hit them!

The thick smell of gunpowder and blood filled every inch of air.

They had reached the wall!

Battle was right before their eyes!

The scene in front of them was far more shocking—far more terrifying—than any imagination!

It was like the gates of hell had opened beneath the walls!

Endless Mist Creatures surged like black tides, battering the towering alloy walls!

They came in all shapes and horrors.

Some massive brutes, cloaked in heavy bony armor—movable fortresses—peak-tier abominations assaulted the wall’s base using huge bodies and thick horns.

Some, agile as phantoms, scaled vertical surfaces at high speed—the peak-tier Bone-Eating Hunters.

Some hovered midair, spitting corrosive acid globes or emitting waves that disturbed consciousness—the Soul-Stealers.

There were even more creatures whose names couldn’t be spoken;they howled and roared, forming a flood of destruction!

On the wall, humanity’s counterattack was equally brutal!

“Open fire! Shoot them to death! Aim for the big ones! Break their legs!”

An officer screamed hoarsely.

Behind the wall, heavy artillery positions unleashed thunderous roars!

Fiery shells cut through the night and landed among the dense monster hordes below!

“Boom!!!”

“Rumble!!!”

Massive fireballs rose.

Terrifying shockwaves tore the monsters within range into pieces in an instant;flesh and organs scattered everywhere!