In the eternal darkness that knew neither day nor night, aside from searchlights so bright they could nearly burn out one's retinas, there was only the glow from atop the Iron Mountain.
The blaze of the Forging Furnace surged from its core, reflecting off the iron-curtain clouds and refracting into a scarlet glow more grotesque than hell itself.
Like a giant eye,
it gazed coldly down upon the earth.
On the ground, within the ruined transfer station, there was nothing but rubble.
When the abyssal legions finally withdrew, they left behind shattered suits of armor that no longer responded, along with wounded bodies scattered everywhere, their wails rising and falling without end.
"Ah, I've been shot! I'm bleeding all over the place!"
"My leg! Help, my leg!"
"Oh God, I'm dying! I can't be saved! This is so awful..."
"A-Qiang, don't die! Hang in there, A-Qiang!"
Cries and roars rose one after another, painting a scene of apocalypse. Nearly everyone was wounded. Countless soldiers with broken legs, severed feet, or even bodies cut in half were still yelling with astonishing vigor from the ground.
Amid the chaos, only Crow after Crow calmly pushed carts back and forth between the Solar Ship and the battlefield, shoveling up soldiers who were still breathing and screaming, tossing them into piles, then sending them to the assembly line...
In the distance, shattered frameworks ran with difficulty, while the Solar Ship was covered in scorch marks from raging flames.
The dirt-smudged soldiers began their numb, vacant patrols.
The remnants were strangers on a dead-end road; defeat had come crashing down like a mountain.
Anyone witnessing this scene could feel the frailty of the Present Realm's forces, the ferocity of the Sea of Thunder's offensive, and the terrifying gulf between them.
They looked so close to