Western Frontier Defense Army's southern fortress cluster, Pebble Fortress, command center.
The Western Frontier Defense Army's General Commander, Grandmaster, and "Azure Wolf," General Li Huaiyuan, stood silently at attention before the enormous holographic sand table.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a thick back. Even dressed in a crisp everyday officer's uniform, he could not conceal the murderous aura he had forged crawling out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
His skin was nearly bronze, his facial features sharply defined. A hideous laceration scar stretched from his left temple to his cheekbone, adding several shades of ferocity to his already cold and austere appearance.
At that moment, his wolf-like eyes, alert and razor-sharp, were fixed on the southeastern section of the holographic sand table—the spreading red blotch.
The red area representing the Abyssal monsters had completely swallowed the stalled zone on the southeastern outskirts.
It was like a pool of filthy blood, slowly yet relentlessly seeping toward the trench network behind the stalled zone.
After pondering for several breaths, Li Huaiyuan abruptly turned around and strode back to the command console. His fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, entering a string of codes, after which he snatched up the communicator.
His voice was low, with a metallic timbre.
"Zhang Yansheng, this is Li Huaiyuan."
A steady response quickly came from the other end of the communicator. "Commander."
"I don't care what method you use. Organize your men and launch one counterattack for me."
Li Huaiyuan's fingers rapidly drew a line across the electronic screen on the command console, synchronizing it in real time to Zhang Yansheng's command terminal.
"Keep the Abyssal monsters outside this line!"
"I'll order the 52nd Army Group's 'Mountain Demon' mecha to provide you with accompanying fire support!"
The other end of the communicator fell