City No. 489

Time passed.

After traveling along desolate highways for three days, the War Eagle Squad finally caught sight of their destination—City No. 489.

As she looked at the vast stretch of buildings faintly emerging ahead, a slight ripple finally appeared on Vinina's calm face.

We're finally here.

Three days might have seemed short, but for Vinina, whose will and body were constantly being scoured by battle intent, every minute and second had been an ordeal.

Especially toward the end, Vinina had begun to feel dissatisfied with passively enduring the battle intent's scouring. Believing that she had adapted to it, she tried to go a step further by deeply merging her will with the battle intent, hoping to truly claim it for herself and use it as a means of combat and slaughter.

Even then, she could not be considered a true Battle Formation Master, since she had yet to condense a Spirit of Battle Intent. Still, she would possess the most basic combat method of the Battle Formation Master path.

Naturally, she failed.

And Vinina suffered quite a bit because of it.

Deeply merging her will with the battle intent meant simultaneously accepting the will hidden within the Soldiers' battle intent. The nine Soldiers of the War Eagle Squad had all been tempered by war, courageous men who had carved their way through life-and-death struggles. They might not have been outstanding in strength, but their wills were incomparably resilient!

Furthermore, neither Vinina nor the Soldiers could achieve complete trust and fusion with one another. Naturally, this became the lowest form described in the inheritance: forceful control.

If she had merely used battle intent to temper her soul and body, it would have been manageable—she only needed to resist it. But what Vinina wanted was fusion, to fundamentally control the battle intent for her own use. And her will was weaker than the Soldiers' to begin with. With all these factors combined, the moment Vinina tried to do it, her will was directly shattered by the surging, violent impact of battle intent, and she fell unconscious!

She had remained unconscious for nearly ten hours!

Had it not been during a rest period, with Li Xun and the others taking turns standing guard, and had Vinina not awakened before they set out on the second day, she would likely have already been escorted back to Washington Base City by Li Xun and the others.

"Miss Vinina, from here on, don't speak unless necessary."

Li Xun approached and lowered his voice. "For the past three days, we've been traveling along highways through desolate areas, so we haven't encountered many monsters."

"But things will be different from here onward. The area ahead is City No. 489. Most monsters live in the densely built-up parts of cities. We're about to enter, so watch your words and stay alert."

"Understood."

Vinina nodded.

At the same time, the War Eagle Squad's captain issued orders to the Soldiers.

"Stay alert. The area ahead is the territory of a group of Two-Fanged Giant Lizards. Their leader should be a mid-level Beast General, and there are also many Beast Soldier level monsters in the group. Go around them. No firing. If any Two-Fanged Giant Lizard attacks, kill it immediately!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, their voices low.

Then, they moved cautiously yet swiftly along a narrow, shadowy road.

Whenever they encountered monsters along the way, even if it was only an H-class Monster, they avoided them whenever possible. If they truly could not avoid one, Li Xun and Justin dealt with it swiftly.

As High-level Battle Generals, the two of them could instantly kill Beast Soldier level monsters without the slightest difficulty.

Even among Beast General level monsters, few could threaten them.

But that was in a fair one-on-one fight!

Who talked about fairness in the wilderness?

The terror of a Monster Tide lay in its seemingly endless attrition. Facing such a situation, forget the two High-level Battle General Martial Artists—even War God level Martial Artists could be worn to death!

Thus, after proceeding carefully, avoiding danger more than ten times, and instantly killing eleven Beast Soldier level monsters, Vinina's group finally found a suitable place to camp.

It was a fourteen-story residential building.

This was considered a relatively safe shelter within the city. Ordinary monsters generally could not climb high-rise buildings, and if they took the stairs, they would be unable to attack in overwhelming numbers at once.

All they needed was to set up a machine gun and create a simple field of fire. Until their ammunition ran out, they could face whatever came without fear.

Moreover, the surrounding cluster of high-rise buildings could buy them time to escape.

"Up to the rooftop."

The War Hawk Captain took the lead, entering the residential building and heading straight for the stairs.

Vinina and the War Eagle Squad members followed behind.

Their formation was simple: those wielding combat sabers followed behind the captain and guarded the rear, while the Soldiers using firearms, along with Vinina, Li Xun, and Justin, remained in the middle.

They advanced step by step.

"Roar!"

A low growl suddenly rang out. Immediately afterward, a rabbit the size of a wild boar, its eyes blood-red, emerged from the corner ahead. The instant it spotted Vinina and the others, it let out another growl, bared its two bloodstained front teeth, and charged with a foul stench.

It was an F-Class Bloodfang Rabbit.

But before the War Hawk Captain leading the way, it was split in two with a single slash.

The difference was simply too great!

An F-Class monster corresponded to an Advanced Warrior level Martial Artist, with a required Punch Power of over 4,000 kilograms. The War Hawk Captain was an Initial Battle General level Martial Artist, whose minimum required Punch Power was over 8,000 kilograms. With such an enormous difference of more than double, how could an F-Class monster lacking even basic intelligence possibly contend against him?

They continued onward.

Before long, the group of thirteen reached the fourteenth floor of the residential building. After entering the rooftop and locking the stairway door to prevent monsters from sneaking up without their knowledge, everyone relaxed slightly.

"Don't relax yet. Check whether there are any Beast General level monsters nearby."

The War Hawk Captain took out binoculars and high-energy food from his backpack. He broke off a piece and put it into his mouth, then instructed them as he chewed, "Be careful. Don't expose too much of your bodies above the rooftop. It'll be troublesome if the monsters below spot us."

The nine Soldiers of the War Eagle Squad immediately nodded.

Vinina, Li Xun, and Justin had no objections either. Aside from the Soldiers responsible for the firearms, who opened their backpacks, set aside the ammunition, and began assembling the weapon components, the other eleven picked up binoculars and looked down in different directions.

From the rooftop of the fourteen-story building, all kinds of monsters dwelling below appeared one after another in their field of vision.

Occupying the high ground and using firearms to clear out nearby Beast General level monsters capable of threatening them was an excellent method, whether for hunting within a city or securing a temporary shelter.

Its safety, in particular, was beyond comparison.

After all, firearms could pose a fatal threat to Beast General level monsters amid monster packs from over a thousand meters away, but Battle General level Martial Artists would never dare venture deep into a monster horde.