Falling From the Sky

The chance of survivors was minuscule—they were mainly going in to retrieve the bodies of General Xie Hong and Major Xie Wei.

But now, seeing Tu Ran carry out someone in a white high-grade combat suit, everyone froze.

Ding Naiqing and Yao Bei stepped forward together and helped Xie Wei down from Tu Ran's shoulder.

Yao Bei glanced at the name tag on Xie Wei's chest, then looked at Tu Ran. "Where's General Xie Hong?"

Tu Ran handed the laser gun to a guard who had stepped forward, then worked her slightly sore shoulders. "He went to support the west section and had me bring this man back. Where are you headed?"

"We're supporting the west and north sections, and searching for survivors in the east along the way."

Yao Bei and Ding Naiqing laid the unconscious Xie Wei on a stretcher, and two guards carried him to the helicopter for transport to the Medical Department.

"Are there any survivors left in the east?" Yao Bei looked at Tu Ran.

Tu Ran shook her head. "Hard to say. Probably not—with an explosion that big, neither the gene monsters nor the people would've made it."

Yao Bei's expression turned grim as she glanced at the small number of guards and pioneers who had been hastily assembled for support.

"The original search-and-rescue team splits into three groups: one goes with Ding Naiqing to the west, one with me to the north, and the remaining group searches for survivors in the east."

Tu Ran volunteered. "I'll go with them to search the east—I know the terrain there better."

The east was safe. She had no intention of going to the west or north.

Ding Naiqing blinked at Tu Ran. "Ran Jie, aren't you going to find your own team members?"

Tu Ran: Oh right, she had brought five second-generation pioneers here, and they'd all apparently gone to the west section to support Xie Xu.

Leaving them on the front line taking risks while she lounged in the rear didn't sit right, either.

"Which section are you responsible for?" Tu Ran looked at Zhao Yan, who hadn't spoken since she came out.

She needed to avoid him first and foremost.

Zhao Yan was speechless, and answered with irritation, "The east. Searching for survivors."

Tu Ran raised an eyebrow. "Ding Naiqing, let's go. I'm heading to the west with you."

Zhao Yan: "…"

Ding Naiqing's eyes lit up, and he grinned. "That's what I wanted to hear from you, Ran Jie."

"Move out!" Yao Bei gave the order.

The crowd split into three groups and headed toward their respective destinations.

Tu Ran led Ding Naiqing's team straight through the factory interior, saving them considerable time.

As they neared the west section, the sounds of fighting grew louder—gunfire, the clash of blades, monsters' roars, heavy objects crashing to the ground—all mixing together in a chaotic, crackling din.

They finally reached the border between the east and west sections, where finished machines four or five meters tall were piled before them, completely blocking the path ahead.

Tu Ran quickly climbed atop a machine four meters high and surveyed the scene from above.

Giant gene monsters filled her sight.

Every single gene monster she could see was as massive as the one she'd killed with "Flowers and Moonlight."

Their defense had skyrocketed—a single bullet could no longer pierce them; two bullets had to hit the exact same spot just to force their way in.

And even the gene monsters hit by bullets still had resistance. Just like the one she'd dealt with earlier—the bullet had sunk into its skull, blood and brains splattering out, yet it could still control the moss to attack.

At this moment, the entire battlefield reeked of moss, mingled with the blood of both humans and gene monsters. The stench slammed straight into the crown of one's head.

Tu Ran hadn't put on a helmet, so she had to endure it.

It was a melee between humans and beasts.

Tu Ran spotted several familiar figures.

Her five team members.

Good—they were all still alive.

But one of them was clearly on his last legs.

It was Shen Yunhe.

He was trapped in the encirclement of three gene monsters, attacked from three sides, hard-pressed on all fronts. Because the distance was too close, his gun was useless, so he could only barely hold on with a dagger.

The gene monsters' sonic attacks battered his brain. Caught off guard, his left arm was seized by one of the monsters—his combat suit absorbed some of the impact, saving him from having it bitten clean off.

He raised his right arm high, gripping the dagger, intending to stab through the monster's eye, but the second gene monster leaped up and bit down on his right arm, shaking its head wildly. The dagger in Shen Yunhe's hand was flung to the ground, instantly wrapped in moss and corroded into nothing.

He was a fish on the chopping block now, unable to break free no matter what. The moss spread rapidly from his arm toward his torso—the Pioneer Team's combat suit would only hold out for so long.

If the moss touched his skin, he'd be corroded alive.

Shen Yunhe panicked and called out for help to those around him.

But everyone was trapped in their own battles—who could spare a thought for him?

He struggled in despair, legs kicking frantically.

He didn't want to die.

He had only just left the training base. For five years of intensive training, he hadn't missed a single day. He'd pushed himself to improve every aspect of his abilities—could he really not even survive his first day?

He'd never even entered the Threshold or seen the world inside it. He didn't want to die.

But worse—the third gene monster charged at him. Its twisted body leaped, mouth wide open, revealing two rows of dense, razor-sharp teeth. It was going to swallow him in one gulp.

Shen Yunhe's pupils contracted.

All the strength in his body drained away in an instant.

He gave up struggling.

In this final moment of his life, he remembered Tu Ran's advice.

Life was what mattered most.

She was right. Honor, points—for a pioneer who walked on the edge of a blade, they were all nonsense.

The honor he'd chased with all his might was nothing more than a shackle the higher-ups had placed on his neck, a whip to drive him forward.

The higher-ups got everything, enjoying his achievements while he lost his life.

His arrogance and self-righteousness before—it had all been a joke.

"Heh…"

Shen Yunhe gave a bitter laugh and closed his eyes.

What awaited him was being devoured alive by three gene monsters.

But the pain he'd imagined never came.

He moved his neck.

His head was still there.

He heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

Then something round rolled to a stop at his feet.

Someone had come to save him?

Shen Yunhe didn't dare open his eyes—he was afraid everything was just his imagination.

Everyone was busy dealing with their own gene monsters; who had time for him?

But a face involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

Could it be her?

He cautiously opened his eyes.

A cold, gleaming long blade was swinging down at his head. The edge was razor-sharp, leaving a brilliant arc of light as it cleanly severed the head of the gene monster that had been biting his left arm.

The path of the spurting blood had been planned by her as well—it splashed onto the face of another gene monster a mere ten centimeters away.

That monster's face was covered in a layer of human skin, fragile as could be.

When the corrosive blood splashed onto it, smoke rose immediately. The gene monster flung his arm away and clutched its head, howling in agony.