The Rearguard, the Decisive Battle Begins!

Break through?

The moment Lu Yongyi's voice came out, everyone was stunned, as if they thought they were hallucinating.

But when they turned around and saw the same puzzled expressions on the faces of those around them, they realized that Lu Yongyi had indeed uttered the words "breakthrough."

Half a day ago, they were the ones who proposed the counter-attack and breakout.

However, before their breakout plan could be fully realized, Lu Yongyi, as the team leader, sternly rejected their idea and made Zhang Long explain his reasons.

At the time, Zhang Long's reasoning convinced everyone, making them abandon the idea and focus on defense.

But after fighting for half a day, losing more than 200,000 men and using up hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, Lu Yongyi is now saying that he wants to launch a counterattack and break through the enemy lines.

Is he possessed by an alien?

"No, I disagree. If we charge now, wouldn't that be like sending ourselves to our doom?"

"It's so dark. If we rush out, we won't even be able to tell our own people apart. How are we supposed to fight?"

"Lu Yongyi, don't be so selfish. There are hundreds of thousands of people watching you. I strongly disagree with the counter-charge."

"Even if I die, I want to die within the defensive perimeter, otherwise I won't be at peace!"

Now that they have received ammunition support and the defensive perimeter has been established, from any perspective, a counter-attack and breakout is the stupidest option.

All the captains were indignant, shouting as they rushed angrily toward the makeshift Command Room.

They wanted to question Lu Yongyi's choice and, incidentally, see if Lu Yongyi had truly been possessed by some method of the alien race.

But when they lifted the curtain and actually went inside, they saw Lu Yongyi and the drawing board hanging on the wall of the Command Room behind him.

In an instant, the words they had just prepared vanished, and even the reason they had come in was forgotten.

"Lu Suo..."

Hearing the gasps of shock from everyone behind him, Lu Yongyi did not turn around.

His eyes remained fixed on the canvas, on the alien cloud that was now half the size of the Tundra Fleet's cloud formation, and he murmured to himself.

Just ten minutes after the game entered the update, this cloud cluster, under Lu Yongyi's watchful gaze, had already expanded by 35% at an incomprehensible speed!

Based on the current fleet of 180,000 people, the number of alien races surrounding the fleet is now close to 90,000.

Furthermore, countless red dots are gathering around the canvas.

Following this trend, once the tsunami subsides in twenty minutes, the number of alien races will recover directly, even exceeding the number during the previous general offensive.

At that time, there would be no more ammunition as generous as before, nor the resistance force of nearly 400,000 people.

The surging alien races will crush the defenses, which are currently only at 40% of their peak effectiveness.

By then, even if you want to leave, you probably won't be able to!

"Let's go! We'll cover the rear, let the rafts go first!"

"If we keep dawdling, everyone will die!"

This time, it wasn't Lu Yongyi who spoke, but Zhang Long, who had been in control of the data from beginning to end.

Before anyone else could figure out what had suddenly become so irreversible, Zhang Long was the first to react.

If the reinforcements Lu Yongyi mentioned are true, and all the survivors below are at their peak physical and mental strength, then it will be difficult for humans to launch a direct attack against 100,000 aliens, but they still have a great chance to stall the battle.

But that's precisely the problem!

The battle had just ended, and everyone on the rafts was basically at their physical limit.

Previously, three people could fight an alien race to a draw, but now it takes at least five, or even six, people to barely defeat one alien race.

Given this shift in power, unless the number of survivors quadruples to 700,000, there is absolutely no chance of winning this battle!

But if, as Lu Yongyi said, everyone were to launch a counter-offensive and flee, the number of the 180,000 people present would certainly be far greater than the number defending this location.

"Let's go, you all follow them. The alien race's target is me, the Tundra!"

"I'll cover the rear. Zhang Long, Liu Neng, go and break the chains. You two go with the rafts and boats!"

"As long as you hold on until midnight, until our reinforcements arrive, you will all survive!"

Before the remaining captains could panic, Lu Yongyi, who had been sitting upright staring at the drawing board, seemed to have figured something out, shook his head and turned around.

His gaze was calm, showing no sign of panic.

His expression remained normal, showing no sign of fear of death.

Aside from the barely concealed regret in his eyes, his aura was even stronger than it had been the day before.

"You're not leaving, huh? Then stay with me and die!"

Looking at the captains below who were stunned, Lu Yongyi emphasized the word "death" while revealing a "relaxed" smile on his face.

As he spoke in a chilling tone, the captains present all shuddered, feeling as if they were being watched by a venomous snake.

In the past, Lu Yongyi was a qualified fleet captain and a benevolent leader.

Now, in the eyes of all the captains, Lu Yongyi has become a hungry wolf.

A starving wolf that hadn't eaten for three days and had been cornered.

Even though he was skin and bones, and looked like he could be defeated with a single blow.

But everyone believed that anyone who dared to rush up and kill him at this moment would be bitten by him with their last bit of strength and die together with him!

In the end, Lu Yongyi still didn't force the others in the Command Room.

He stood up and staggered out, ready to confront the greatest fear he had felt since arriving in the wasteland.

But to his utter surprise, he was stopped as soon as he took a step.

"Leave? Director Lu, this ship is only so big, and the sea is only so big. Where are you going?"

"It's great that you sacrificed yourself for these people, but if you let me run away, you'll get all the credit for yourself. I, Liu Neng, don't agree to that!"

"Hahaha, it's just death. Whether you die sooner or later, what's the difference between dying somewhere else and dying here? You look down on me?"

Fear is a human instinct.

But when humans can confront their fears, it loses all meaning.

Seeing that Liu Neng had stopped him, Lu Yongyi's smile remained unchanged as he nodded.

Aside from their different appearances, heights, and injuries, the two are like mirror images, even their smiles seem to be from the same mold.

Lu Yongyi figured out his fear, and Liu Neng also figured out his fear.

Turning around, this time Liu Neng walked ahead.

But just as he blocked Lu Yongyi, he was also blocked.

This time, however, what stopped him was no longer just one person, nor just a few, but all the rest of the people!

"What's going on? You two are putting on an act here, aren't you? Liu Neng, your own boat has sunk, what are you still pretending for?"

"I, Li Tian, have learned many words since I was born, but I haven't learned the words 'fear' and 'run away'!"

"It's just death. More than 200,000 people have already died. One more won't make a difference!"

"Haha, still waiting for reinforcements? But let's not talk about anything else, you're really lucky. How about I be your reinforcement?"

"The person I'm following is Lu Yongyi. How can I leave if Lu Yongyi hasn't left? I was born in China. How can I kneel down when the people haven't even risen up?"

You and I are talking back and forth, clearly saying that a great calamity is about to befall us, clearly that we are going to die a heroic death, clearly that we will not even see the sun rise tomorrow.

But in this small Command Room, no matter what you look at or listen to, all you can hear are hearty laughter and relieved faces.

People in peacetime often can't understand why so many generous ancestors calmly faced death during times of war.

They put themselves in that situation more than once, but they still couldn't understand why, among all the options, they had to choose the one that seemed the most incomprehensible.

Is it a mission? A sense of responsibility? An impulse?

Looking at the relieved smiles on the faces of those around them, no one could explain why, but they all had their own answers.

"Director Lu, I'll go and direct the evacuation. By the way, could you give me Explosive Pack? My arms are getting numb from climbing the escalators on the Tundra every time I go up or down. I'm too lazy to climb them later!"

"Good!"

"Commander Lu, give me one too. These damn sailors never manage to throw it into position. It's driving me crazy. This time I'll throw it myself. If I mess it up, I'll be begging for your life!"

"Good!"

"Commander Lu, I want one too! These alien races are already pulling off Decapitation Operation like this, we can't fall behind! Watch me give them a... surprise!"

"Good!"

"Land Institute"

"Good!"

Hearing his subordinates' captains making "unreasonable" demands, Lu Yongyi didn't reprimand them as he usually did. Instead, he smiled and nodded, saying "okay" as he spoke.

In less than five minutes, as Lu Yongyi said "hello" 39 times, the 39 captains who were still alive all laughed heartily and filed out of the Command Room with a completely different feeling from when they came in.

Some disembarked, some took command, and some prepared weapons.

With nearly forty minutes remaining until 9:30 PM when the tsunami ended, the captains still have plenty of time!

At 9:03, the raft warriors who had received the order seemed to understand something.

However, even though they understood, few people chose to object, and instead began to silently carry out the fleet's final orders.

Sacrifice is not terrible.

What's terrible is the wasted sacrifice; if they don't leave, it's the same as the more than 10,000 people who stayed behind to cover the rear... dying in vain!

The remaining twenty-two rafts, carrying a total of 150,000 people, began to gather supplies and prepare for evacuation.

In terms of evacuation strategy, all the rafts were scattered in one fell swoop.

There are a total of fourteen directions. Even if the alien race wanted to encircle and pursue them, they could only chase a handful of directions at most.

At 9:11, the sea suddenly trembled a few times.

Inside the densely packed alien lines on the opposite side of the Tundra Fleet's defensive perimeter, three streaks of fire, one after the other, accompanied by shockwaves, roared into the sky.

Because the explosion occurred internally, even from a great distance, everyone could hear the screams of the alien race after the explosion ended.

Without a doubt, this attack caught the alien race off guard and made them feel "pain"! But unlike before, with the waves surging, no one was shocked or surprised.

Everyone simply looked up, took three seconds to silently salute in the direction of the explosion, and then returned to their tasks.

At 9:19, the first raft, under the cover of the tsunami, gradually drifted away from the main force and headed in a completely opposite direction to the alien race.

Then, at a rate of one boat per minute, eleven Raft Ferry disappeared within the defensive perimeter before the tsunami ended at 9:30.

At 9:31, it was clear that the alien race did not immediately launch an attack, but instead continued to gather its strength in the distance.

The evacuation of the Raft Ferry did not stop; the remaining eleven raft ferries evacuated in sequence at the same frequency as before.

At 9:45, all the Raft Ferry had been evacuated, and the 150,000 people had been separated from the main force in fourteen directions.

The already crumbling defense line, instead of deteriorating due to the departure of the raft, miraculously became streamlined and comprehensive.

Even with the current defenses in place, if we had the previous ammunition reserves, even 100,000 alien races wouldn't be able to cross the Thunder Pool.

Unfortunately, estimates are just estimates. Before the actual fighting begins, all regrets are merely feelings of resentment towards past achievements.

At 9:59, a full forty minutes had passed since the first raft had been evacuated.

The red dots on the canvas stopped gathering and eventually stabilized at around 120,000.

This number is much less than the captains expected, but it is still an "astronomical figure" for the current defensive force of just over 10,000.

At 10:03, looking at each other from afar, the alien race seemed to have discovered the current weakness of the Tundra Fleet, or perhaps they had finally gathered enough strength.

They stopped waiting.

The real battle has begun!