Starforce Warriors

Chapter 441: Leave It To Me

Li Lan handed him three blades of grass. They were green. Somehow, they ended up on his head. This... his head was now adorned with green. Li Xiaofei felt a bit uneasy.

After returning to White Deer Academy and successfully applying for extended leave, he made all the necessary arrangements and waited for the Dragon Group's response.

A small aircraft was prepared. It took off secretly, passed through security checks, and swiftly departed from Xiajing City. The aircraft soared through ultra-high-altitude airspace.

“Sir, the southern airspace has been rather unsafe lately.” The pilot remarked. “Additionally, in line with the organization's confidentiality protocols, we are not allowed to know the destination of your mission. According to the plan, the aircraft will land in two hours, after which you will proceed alone by land.”

Li Xiaofei nodded in acknowledgment.

Two hours later, the aircraft landed. After receiving navigation equipment, Li Xiaofei embarked on the journey to Haijing City alone. He walked for dozens of miles before ascending into the air on his sword. Once he determined the correct direction, he accelerated toward Haijing City.

At that moment, only half an hour remained until dawn. However, after traveling barely a hundred miles, the sky ahead suddenly erupted in flames. The deep, dark horizon seemed stained with blood, and faintly, the roars of countless beasts echoed in the distance.

Li Xiaofei's heart sank. According to his navigation device, the area ahead should have been a small base city called Xu Base City. Xu Base City was a small settlement, similar in size to Liuhe Base City. However, since it was located in a coastal region, it constantly faced invasions from marine star beasts and was perpetually in crisis. Its population was barely five hundred thousand, making it even smaller than Liuhe Base City.

In the early years, there had been suggestions to abandon Xu Base City altogether and relocate its residents to a safer, larger base city. Unfortunately, relocating over half a million people in this era was an enormous and challenging endeavor. Large-scale migrations often triggered attacks from star beast swarms. Furthermore, the long journey posed risks of devastating casualties, making the plan untenable.

What happened to Xu Base City?

An ominous feeling rose in Li Xiaofei's chest. He soared into the air on his sword and rushed toward the city. He arrived at the scene within a few minutes.

Xu Base City was a sea of flames. Buildings were engulfed by fire while collapsed structures lay in ruins. Chaos and death danced through the streets. Star beasts surged into the city like a tidal wave. Their blood-red eyes glimmered in the night, resembling countless restless spirits drained of life. They roared and howled, frantically scouring the streets for prey.

Xu Base City had fallen!

"This is bad," Li Xiaofei muttered, panic surging within him. Without a second thought, he propelled himself forward on his sword.

Suddenly, dozens of eagle-like flying star beasts shrieked and charged toward him.

“Beasts, perish!”

A flash of sword light cut through the air. Riding his sword across the heavens, Li Xiaofei slashed his way through demons and banished evil. The dozen or so grade four flying star beasts were instantly decapitated, their lifeless bodies plummeting from the sky.

Dozens of strands of sword qi swirled around Li Xiaofei as he dove into Xu Base City. The streets were overrun with rampaging star beasts. Burning flames filled the city, smothering every corner in chaos and despair.

Wherever Li Xiaofei passed, the star beasts fell, their heads severed from their bodies.

“Hm?” He noticed something unusual.

Despite the chaos in the streets, there weren’t as many human corpses as he had expected. Nor could he hear the screams and struggles of his fellow humans.

This realization gave him a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the situation wasn’t as dire as he had initially feared. Ascending into the air, Li Xiaofei landed atop a hundred-meter-tall building, scanning the area below. Star beasts filled the city. But there were surprisingly few signs of intense battle.

Remnants of explosions marked the ground around the city center's iconic landmarks, leaving behind craters surrounded by large groups of star beast corpses. The star beasts’ bodies were blackened and charred, frozen in postures of retreat as their lives were snuffed out in an instant.

“Someone set traps in these areas and lured the star beasts to their deaths,” Li Xiaofei concluded.

All signs indicated that the majority of the residents had already been evacuated before the city walls were breached. It must have been the work of the city's garrison. Only the defenders of Great Xia were known to risk everything to ensure the evacuation of their fellow citizens when a city was about to fall.

Li Xiaofei recalled numerous news articles he had read online. In most regions abroad, when a base city was overrun by star beasts, the ruling authorities’ first priority was to preserve their military forces and able-bodied youths, avoiding unnecessary battles.

The elderly, sick, and infirm were often abandoned. In extreme cases, they were even used as bait and driven in the opposite direction of the escape route to divert the beasts' attention and buy time for the military’s retreat.

Boom!

Ratatatatata!

Suddenly, a violent explosion echoed from the southeastern part of the city walls, interspersed with the distinctive roar of power guns. There were still humans resisting there.

Li Xiaofei sped toward the commotion on his sword, cutting down star beasts along the way as he quickly closed the distance. As he neared, his suspicions were confirmed. A military unit had set up a defensive position using the collapsed sections of the wall. They were fiercely holding back the star beasts that were attempting to break through to the city’s interior.

Power guns, energy cannons, flame rifles, and grenades; every form of firepower was unleashed without restraint upon the beast horde. Fireworks erupted in the sky as warriors clad in power armor assisted the ground forces in battle.

A massive mech, its mobility destroyed, stood like a fortress on the verge of collapse. Swarms of star beasts clambered up its frame, tearing at its armor with razor-sharp claws and teeth. Despite this, the mech’s enormous arms continued to swing its colossal energy blade, cutting down the attackers with relentless precision.

Amid the chaos, three Five Spirits Realm masters roared furiously as they fought. They were surrounded by high-grade star beasts as their situation grew increasingly perilous.

At the center of the beast horde stood a giant star beast: a towering ape over a hundred meters tall. Its presence radiated an overwhelming aura of icy, murderous intent. Its eyes gleamed with the cold, merciless light of death.

The massive ape let out a series of deafening howls, commanding the horde to press their attack with unrelenting ferocity. A Beast King! It was the orchestrator of this beast tide that had brought the city to its knees.

“Commander, we can’t hold out much longer! The thermal incendiary bombs are depleted!”

“The right flank is in critical condition!”

“Not good! Get the power armor units out of there; the Titan is about to explode!”

Amid the deafening roar, the sole remaining mech detonated in a blinding burst of light, taking tens of thousands of star beasts with it in a final act of sacrifice.

“Sorry, brothers... I’ve done my best. I’ll be leaving ahead of you.”

These were the last words broadcast across all channels by the Five Spirits Realm mech operator before his life was consumed by the explosion.

Feng Ning, the commander addressed as Captain, watched the scene unfold, his eyes wet with grief. The surrounding soldiers were overcome with both sorrow and fury. The flames illuminated their faces, each one twisted with a thirst for vengeance.

“Draw your blades!” The captain's voice rang out loud and clear, “Brothers, draw your blades!”

Clang, clang, clang!

The sound of swords unsheathing filled the air.

This marked the beginning of close combat; a brutal melee that signified humanity’s last stand against the star beasts.

Countless star beasts, numbering in the millions, surged forward like an unstoppable tidal wave, filling the battlefield in every direction.

The captain gripped his battle blade tightly and roared, “Brothers! Today will be the final battle for our Steel Blade Battalion. We have no ground left to retreat to, for behind us, in the shadows of the night, our families, parents, wives, and daughters are racing against time to escape. As soldiers, the only thing we can do is give everything we have to stop these star beasts at the foot of this wall. Do not fear! This is our ultimate glory as soldiers and warriors. Kill! Kill! Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

The surviving soldiers, swords and blades in hand, shouted in unison, their voices echoing through the battlefield. The captain spun around sharply. As he prepared to raise his blade and charge into the fray with a furious battle cry...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Suddenly, the sky was filled with an overwhelming storm of sword qi that descended like a tempest. In mere moments, it tore through swaths of the beast horde, cutting them down with lethal precision.

A lone figure appeared, riding his sword. Standing tall, he hovered in the air like a celestial Sword Immortal, radiating an aura of unshakable power.

“You must retreat immediately.” The figure commanded, his voice firm and resolute.

In the darkness, his face was obscured, but his presence was unmistakable.

“Leave the task of holding back the beast horde to me.” He declared, his tone leaving no room for doubt.