Chapter 21: There's Nothing to Fear; I'll Lead the Way

Morning mist spreads.

The Nest City's black clouds press overhead, dawn arrives, yet the world remains dim.

A spot on the Chaodu Waipi far from the Imperial Control Zone.

In the sunken outer depression below ground, human soldiers crawl densely on the slope.

The officers keep steady faces, but many recruits show varied complexions, some flushed, some pale.

A rustle of footsteps comes from behind the soldiers, and a lowered voice echoes continuously:

"In the last half Terra Time, eat, then fix bayonets."

The Messenger Soldier crouches and runs past, and the recruit who hears the words "fix bayonets" cannot help but tremble.

If it weren't for the veteran officers beside them, if it weren't for Xisi's Hundredfold Amplification of their nearly depleted morale.

After this command, a succession of gun executions should follow.

Because directly above the crowd, at the end of the flat ground, lies the endless, continuous Wubian Green Skin that has already formed a tangible sea.

Moreover, it's not just endless Green Skin youths and motorcycles, tanks; within the Luchao, there is even a towering Green Skin Mech called 'Ancient Giant'.

At this moment, as the world brightens, the Green Skins awaken, beginning to ponder amid the clamor who to fight today.

And the towering Ancient Giant, together with the Green Skin master of great techniques leading its subordinates, continues to pound and strike.

Various bones, metal plates, even wooden boards begin to pile onto the excessively tall Mech.

At the same time, the Ancient Giant's size also draws further toward the humans' Light Titan.

And following a few erratically fired rockets that the Green Skins use to wake their youths, they curve and twist toward the distant towering Nest City; the deep steel, never exactly "sunny", oddly exudes a dark, dead silence in the gloom.

The Nest City rises from the earth, its towering body piercing the sea of clouds; under the dim sky it resembles a steel tomb piled with the dead, awaiting outsiders to knock.

Even though they were prepared, Xisi, watching the scene of the Nest City and the Green Skins, still again and again thanked the Emperor in his heart.

He also turns to the terrified recruits behind him, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

After all, the hope that once burned so high now makes the desire to die burn equally fierce.

"The Green Skins have just awakened; this moment is the optimal time to launch a surprise attack."

A cold Electronic Voice from behind Daiweiluo's helmet comes from nearby.

Xisi pulls back from the soldiers behind him, turns to Daiweiluo, who points at a massive external passage in the Chaodu Jiaoluo.

Unlike the previous Nest City Xisi saw, this city's external passage is built unusually wide.

"Later, we will charge through that passage; we have already obtained the Control Code from the Tower Top Noble. Once inside the Nest City, simply close the passage again, and we can isolate the external Alien Form."

After speaking, Daiweiluo does not look at the soldiers, but gazes seriously at Xisi:

"Charge forward, open the gate, close it."

"That's all there is to it."

Those brief words make Xisi unable to help but take a deep breath; the veteran soldiers beside him, including Bunoke, look stiff.

As for the newer recruits, originally deserters, their faces turn utterly pallid under this brief command.

Daiweiluo also knows he cannot expect much from these deserters; after all, persisting on the slope until now already exceeds their prior morale.

Glancing at the recruit behind whose breathing is about to cease, Daiweiluo, rare for him, sighs behind his helmet.

"Squad Leader Xisi, perhaps before departure you could inspire your soldiers."

Daiweiluo is not an Astarte adept at stirring hearts, nor a regiment chaplain.

He can only hope Xisi can, before battle, spark some fighting spirit in the soldiers.

By now, more than half a Terra Time has passed; the recruits, bearing terror, forcefully swallow food, and tremble while fixing bayonets.

Only thanks to Xisi's Hundredfold Amplification does their bodies, which should have gone limp or fled recklessly, remain nailed to the position.

In the distance, the sky brightens further; Daiweiluo no longer hides, standing up directly from the sunken slope.

Simultaneously, the cold Electronic Voice reminds Xisi.

"Final five minutes."

The Electronic Voice sounds, and the recruits' bodies shudder violently.

All eyes turn to Xisi, a yearning in their gaze that they themselves cannot even define.

Although Xisi knows whatever he says, these lives may forever remain on this nearby land, he looks at the crowd, sees their fear, and ultimately does not utter the Imperial Political Commissar's rousing words.

Xisi simply raises his Paired Gun Long Knife, his face... oddly showing some comfort:

"There's nothing to fear; I'll go ahead later."

The air stalls; Daiweiluo, holding no expectation, freezes in place at Xisi's gentle words.

Even the other two Death Watch freeze, shocked, looking at the calm Xisi.

As if for ages, yet as if in an instant.

The stagnant air moves again.

And the recruit who was trembling all over, his gaze fixed on the Xisi standing before him, without scolding or blame, merely the comforting Xisi, his body...

Gradually steadies!

Meanwhile, on the other side, veteran soldiers like Bunoke, whose stiff faces quickly dissolve, their eyes beginning to fill with bloodshot veins.

With no extra words, Xisi finishes speaking, turns, and before the mortal soldiers, before the three Death Watch of Daiweiluo, leads the way onto the high ground.

His steps descend, and in the distance the Green Skins raise a raging tide!!!

Cannonball, Rocket, Mech, Great Axe.

Across the broad land, tens of thousands of mortals raise bayonets, charging toward the endless Luchao.

Fresh blood, together with limbs, shatter in the explosions.

Mortals who thrust bayonets into the Green Skins are then cleaved in two by the Great Axe.

The brave mortals wildly pull the trigger, but the roaring motorcycle ahead, with its frenzied battle cry, smashes them to the ground.

A few rocket soldiers fired long flame tails that struck far away, leaving fragments of cracks on the ancient giant rubbish before being blown into blood mist by its barrage.

No small-scale combat experience, no roughly balanced strength gap.

Tens of thousands of new soldiers conscripted from deserters, with physique, equipment, and skill far inferior to the Green Skin, fervently carried out the assault.

Death constantly unfolded nearby; the scene before them was even more terrifying than previous nightmares.

But this time no one fled; everyone merely held their breath, eyes fixed on the figure ahead.

Watching the figure, chasing the figure!

The ancient giant rubbish's violent barrage swept past Xisi's side, turning at least a thousand mortal infantry on his flank into scarlet mist.

But Xisi had no weapon to counter it; he simply quick-stepped around the ancient giant rubbish and rushed toward the endpoint of this charge.

Daiweiluo had already brought two Death Watch to the gate.

They uploaded the door-opening command, and the heavy gate slowly opened amid mechanical rumbling.

Veterans continually seized the moment to boost morale; Daiweiluo, who had opened the gate, did not immediately enter and re-close it, but stood at the doorway and unexpectedly began shielding the mortals behind him.

When Xisi also rushed into the gate, Daiweiluo, with one Death Watch, desperately poured fire outward.

The other Death Watch watched the warnings continually lighting up on the inner gate control panel, right hand clenched into a fist.

"The close-gate order given by the Nobility is wrong!"

The Death Watch flew into a rage; hearing this, Xisi instantly glared at the Death Watch, then immediately looked toward the gate at the Green Skin surging behind his soldiers to slaughter them.

That towering ancient giant rubbish continually turned, pointing its exaggerated muzzle at the gate!

"Leave someone to hold the rear, and blow up the passage with Thermal Melt Bombs."

Daiweiluo's voice remained cold and electronic, but the soldiers who heard it instantly turned their gaze to Xisi.

There's still a big difference between almost dying and being doomed to die!

Xisi too was only briefly silent; his reaction was not even slower than Daiweiluo's.

Directly looking at the veteran running last outside the gate, Xisi was equally cold.

Without words, and with no time to hesitate, Xisi suddenly raised his hand and solemnly saluted the rearmost soldier.

The veterans outside the gate, whose faces had been anxious, instantly fell silent in this scene; though no order was given, they nevertheless knew the command.

The steps seeking hope gradually slowed, until they came to a complete stop in place.

There was no panic or disappointment, nor any frenzied dissatisfaction.

The veterans merely stared deeply at Xisi, unable to return the salute, and then shouted in unison:

"For the Empire!"

The Green Skin were forced to halt their steps, and Daiweiluo together with three Death Watch personally affixed Thermal Melt Bombs to each gate at speeds far beyond mortal.

Then, accompanied by a tremendous roar, the boundless steel on the gate collapsed and isolated amidst the roar.

Through the final slit, outside the gate the rearguard mortals still fervently shouted 'Emperor'.

Inside, the roar awakened Nest City; the remainder looked toward the depths of the passage, where countless black surged forward under the gradually brightening firelight.