Danger Descends

"Feels good to be alive."

Sitting on the rear bed of the military vehicle, Xiao Yunlong let his body relax as a deep wave of fatigue washed over him—a side effect of the adrenaline injection that even he, a Tier 2 Psionic User, couldn't avoid.

"Yeah."

Qin Dadi sighed with emotion. This operation had been a failure. They hadn't taken the Golan Heights, and casualties were heavy. The Clone Cannon Fodder Troops were down to barely ten percent, Elite Warriors had suffered over thirty percent losses, and not a few Special Forces Squads had been completely wiped out.

That they had survived, and without serious injury, was truly fortunate.

On the road back to the barracks, the cabin was rather quiet. Even Xiao Yunlong, usually a chatterbox, said only a few words. Everyone's mind was still stuck on that brutal battlefield, struggling to move on.

Beep beep~

Just as they were about to reach the barracks, the three of their Smart Watches chimed simultaneously. They opened them and immediately showed expressions of pleasant surprise.

"Damn, that many Military Merit Points."

Xiao Yunlong shot upright, his face full of excitement.

Liu Zhaozhao's eyes lit up, and her previously tired face instantly became bright and radiant.

"We've got Qin Tian to thank for this haul."

Qin Dadi looked at Qin Tian and smiled. "If it weren't for Qin Tian, our points might not even have been a fraction of this."

In the great battle just now, the Earth Dragon Squad had actually only completed one mission: successfully killing the Tier 2 Spirit Cat.

By rights, the Military Merit Points shouldn't have been much.

However, Qin Tian had shone brilliantly during the battle. The number of orcs that fell to his gun was in the hundreds. Even though those orcs weren't killed by the other three, as members of the same team, they could still share a considerable amount of points from Qin Tian.

"Haha, Qin Tian, I love you!"

Xiao Yunlong threw an arm around Qin Tian's shoulder, excitedly trying to plant a kiss on his face. But Qin Tian reacted quickly, shoving his face away with a hand and saying with disgust:

"Stay away from me."

"Wah, so heartless."

Xiao Yunlong pretended to be heartbroken, but couldn't keep it up for even two seconds before breaking into a grin.

Pfft~

Liu Zhaozhao couldn't help laughing at Xiao Yunlong's rapid face change.

Having a goofball like him in the team was really fun.

She also noticed that Qin Tian was no longer as cold and icy as before. He seemed to be gaining more "humanity"—capable of speechlessness, tension, concern for his teammates, and... disgust.

Qin Dadi smiled. Then, thinking of something, he spoke up: "Qin Tian, the military is fair. You'll get the Military Merit Points you deserve too. But since your status is special and you haven't registered your identity within the Empire yet, the points can't be issued to you for now."

"Don't worry, though. Once we're back, I'll report it to the Logistics Department right away and get your Identity Registration done as soon as possible."

Qin Tian was a Clone, born only three days ago. No one would have registered an identity for him.

And within the Empire, lacking an identity didn't make it impossible to move, but at least normal commuting, travel, accommodation, and various welfare benefits would be out of reach.

"Alright."

Qin Tian nodded. To be honest, he was looking forward to seeing exactly how many Military Merit Points he would get, and also curious about what good things he could exchange them for.

Before long, the main force arrived at the barracks.

The Command Center ordered all personnel to pack their luggage immediately. In two hours, the Legion would withdraw from the Camp and retreat to Scorching Sun Valley.

"Looks like the Legion has completely given up on the Golan Heights."

Qin Dadi sighed. So many people had died, and in the end, they still couldn't take the Golan Heights. He felt a bitter unwillingness in his heart.

"Captain, there's nothing we can do about it. Who can blame us for not having enough manpower?"

Xiao Yunlong was very open-minded. He had no obsession with the Golan Heights. As long as he survived and earned enough Military Merit Points, his goal in joining the army was achieved.

Now that his expected points were saved up, he'd be happy if there were no more battles at all.

"Ah, it's just a bit of a pity."

Qin Dadi shook his head. If the Legion had more Psionic Users or Ability Users, they definitely could have taken the Golan Heights.

In the thousand years of struggle against the Orc Empire, the Galactic Empire had always held the upper hand in non-supernatural fields, relying on the advantages of technology and weapons.

However, Psionic Users and Ability Users had too great an impact on warfare. If the High-end Combat Power didn't match up, no weapon could change the course of the war.

This was a world that belonged to the strong.

A high-tier Psionic User could single-handedly destroy a Legion, a city, or even an entire continent—something no weapon could compare to.

"Forget it. No use talking about it now. Let's pack up."

Qin Dadi waved his hand, walked into the room, and started packing his luggage. Xiao Yunlong and Liu Zhaozhao also went inside to gather their things.

Qin Tian entered his room and briefly sorted through the belongings of the former Sharpshooter, Huang Xun. He put useful items into his suitcase and tossed the temporarily useless ones into his Space Bag.

During this process, he kept experimenting and discovered that besides his hands, any part of his body that touched an object could also draw it into the Space Bag.

This also solved a problem for him.

Back on the battlefield, he had wanted to collect some scattered firearms, War Blades, and equipment into the Space Bag. But picking them up would have required crouching or bending over—inconvenient and likely to arouse his teammates' suspicion.

But if he could use his feet as well, from now on he would only need to walk up to his target, give it a light kick, and spirit the item away without anyone noticing.

Half an hour later, the Earth Dragon Squad, luggage in hand, set off with the main force toward Scorching Sun Valley.

Night fell.

The Legion did not march through the night but made camp on the spot.

The Earth Dragon Squad settled into a large tent, only a few dozen meters from the vital logistics supplies.

This was the task they had just received: guard the logistics depot.

"Heh, lucky break—no patrol duty for us tonight."

Xiao Yunlong lay down on the carpet. Before he could even exchange a few words, his eyelids grew heavy, and soon he drifted into sleep.

Then Qin Dadi and Liu Zhaozhao also fell asleep one after another.

After enduring a brutal and perilous battle, everyone was utterly exhausted. They had held on this long by sheer force of will, but the moment their heads hit the pillow, fatigue crashed over them like a mountain flood or a tidal wave, swallowing their Willpower.

Hoo~ Hoo~

The tent filled with the sound of snoring rising and falling.

Qin Tian crossed his hands behind his head, staring at the tent ceiling. For some reason, he couldn't fall asleep.

The vivid scenes of his past life and the brutal, bloody battles of this life intertwined, playing on a loop in his mind like a badly edited slideshow.

For a moment, he felt as if he had fallen into a dream, unable to tell whether what lay before him was illusion or reality.

Late into the night, pitch darkness reigned outside the barracks.

Drone swarms patrolled the skies, their infrared radar covering an area several kilometers in radius with no blind spots.

Puff~ Puff~

A hundred meters outside the barracks, the earth suddenly bulged into a small mound. An enormous snake head slowly broke through the soil, its body ice-cold, completely evading infrared detection.

Beneath it, the Shadow Cat unit crouched in readiness, pairs of ghostly green eyes flickering like will-o'-the-wisps, gleaming with cunning and cruelty.