Return to Jiangkou

And so, they marched on, fighting all the way.

Comrades died one after another, and new personnel were constantly drafted to fill the gaps.

In just half a day, the assault team had lost four men. The original forty-plus soldiers of the first and second platoons were now reduced to fewer than thirty.

"Rest! Take a thirty-minute break right here!"

"Huff, huff..." Everyone, Wang Ji included, let out a sigh of relief. Li An walked over, plopped down beside Wang Ji, and said, "How's it going? I heard you're a beast out there!"

Wang Ji waved a hand wearily. "Not bad!"

Just now, that must have been my footwork reaching the Micro level! Wang Ji thought to himself. The feeling of having everything under control—it's truly magnificent!

"Sigh, finally a chance to catch my breath..." Li An said, carefully pulling a magazine from his chest pocket.

"Huh? You thick-browed, big-eyed guy, you read this stuff?" Wang Ji looked in surprise at the scantily clad young woman on the cover. Li An glared. "Shh! Keep it down! You have no idea how hard it was to find this spiritual sustenance! With monsters everywhere, I risked my life nine times out of ten just to snatch this from a newsstand. Don't worry, if you perform well, I'll lend it to you later."

"Then I suppose I should thank you!" Wang Ji retorted dryly.

"Heh heh! You're welcome!"

In that instant, Wang Ji felt this kid's shadow overlap with Fatty Yu's. Fatty Yu's drawer had never been without a dirty magazine.

"Little Li!" Platoon Leader Old Liu shouted from nearby. "Give me a few more men!"

"Damn! Old Liu, that's the third time you've asked me for men today! Just say it, how many?" Li An feigned indignation.

"Fifteen!" Old Liu said with a sincere face.

"You...! Go to hell!" Li An glared. Everyone under Li An was a fresh recruit, while Old Liu only wanted the capable fighters from the third platoon.

Li An complained to Old Bao with a mournful face. "Old Bao, look at this..."

Old Bao's expression remained wooden. "Give them to him!"

Li An looked miserable. "Fine, fine! I owe you! I've only got sixty people here; if you take fifteen of the best, the rest of mine will really become a ragtag bunch. Whatever, forget it!"

Wang Ji chuckled. "Little Li! Heh, that nickname from the platoon leader is quite affectionate, isn't it?"

"Get lost! You dare call me that and I'll fight you!" Li An was flustered. "Old Liu dares to call me that because I can't beat him!"

Wang Ji squinted at him. "And can you beat me?"

"I... we're through! You're not getting a look at this magazine!" Little Li glared.

"Move out! Move out!" the messenger shouted, blowing his bugle.

Jiangkou. It was already afternoon.

"Third Company Commander! Bao Changshun!" a major commanded.

"Present! Battalion Commander!" Old Bao snapped to attention instantly, ignoring his wounds and exhaustion.

"All personnel of the Third Company, assemble at the north side of the town, in the open field!" the major ordered.

"Yes!"

Wang Ji's eyes widened. Damn, it's this guy! So this is Li Dawei. The same Li Dawei who will later become the commander of Jiangnan Base City. I've run into him again! Wang Ji felt a surge of hatred. Don't tell me he's going to draft us as cannon fodder again. Wang Ji thought of the Black-Backed Apes in the woods beside Jiangkou Town. Damn it, this guy was cold-blooded.

The Sharp Knife Battalion was fully assembled.

"Now, we need to select fifteen martial artists for a difficult mission! Whoever is willing, step forward!" Li Dawei said in a steady, measured voice.

"Whoosh!..." Almost all the regular military martial artists stepped forward. Half of the drafted martial artists followed suit.

Before Wang Ji could stop him, Little Li was the first to run out. "Damn it!" Wang Ji cursed, but after a moment's thought, he had no choice but to step forward as well.

Five minutes later, Li Dawei had selected fifteen men to form the squad. Little Li and Wang Ji were among them.

"The objective: eliminate the pack of Black-Backed Apes that has been harassing our Sharp Knife Battalion! Five of them, all Beast General-level monsters! We suspect the largest one is a high-level Beast General super-monster! The rear will provide sufficient fire support! Now, move out!"

The fifteen men marched aggressively toward the dense forest.

"Boom!" A rock the size of a table smashed toward them like a cannonball.

This time, Wang Ji roared at the first moment: "Rocks! The Black-Backed Ape pack throws rocks! Watch out!"

A moment later, a rain of stones pelted down. But because someone had warned them, the squad dodged in time, and only one person suffered a minor injury.

"Charge! Charge them!"

"Boom, boom, boom!" Mortars cleared the path and opened up a line of fire.

In the blink of an eye, the squad clashed with the pack of Black-Backed Apes.

Wang Ji immediately locked onto a Beast General-level Black-Backed Ape. His Micro-level footwork allowed him to entangle the ape tightly while ensuring he remained untouched.

In the rear, Li Dawei asked in surprise, "Who is this young man? His footwork... that's Micro-level! There aren't even a handful of people in the entire Jiangnan Military Region who have reached the Micro level! What a powerful talent!"

"Battalion Commander, that appears to be one of the martial artists temporarily drafted by the Third Company."

On the battlefield, Wang Ji clung to the Black-Backed Ape. After finding an opening and landing a desperate strike, the ape was finally slowed for a split second by Wang Ji.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..." The Black-Backed Ape was hit by concentrated fire from the snipers in the rear and died instantly.

Wang Ji did not look back, once again entangling himself with the next Black-Backed Ape.

Behind him, Li Dawei exclaimed in wonder, "As expected of footwork at the Micro level! Just him alone is worth as much as Captain Nian Kai. And Nian Kai is a War-General level fighter! Well done!"

In this instant, Captain Nian Kai, who was at the War-General level, Wang Ji, and the rest of the squad all achieved results, and in a flash, only the silver-furred Black-Backed Ape remained from the pack. The results were astonishingly good, exceeding Li Dawei's imagination.

"Roar!" This silver-furred Black-Backed Ape had originally been somewhat indifferent. It had been tailing and harassing this military unit for days, and at least dozens of soldiers had died at their hands. As for the civilians, there were even more. Who could have known that this time, they would be wiped out in a single moment.

The Black-Backed Ape's eyes became violently bloodshot. "Roar!" Its body instantly swelled in size as if it were being inflated.

"Watch out, it's going berserk!" Wang Ji shouted a warning.

"Bang!" The Black-Backed Ape charged straight at the squad! The captain tried to intercept it in an emergency, but was sent flying by the impact. However, the Black-Backed Ape was also delayed for a split second.

Wang Ji had been waiting for this potential opportunity. Hiding behind the captain, the moment the captain was sent flying, Wang Ji revealed himself from behind. "Swish!" Wang Ji swung his blade, hacking at the Black-Backed Ape's knee.

"Bang!" Although it was a Grade 5 combat blade, Wang Ji's strength was ultimately too low, and he only managed to carve out a wound a little over an inch deep. "Roar!" The Black-Backed Ape was extremely enraged and swiped down with a paw.

The paw, moving so fast that only an afterimage could be seen, bore down on Wang Ji with the crushing pressure of a collapsing sky.

Dodge! I can't dodge it! Wang Ji screamed from the depths of his soul, dodging with every ounce of his strength, only to find it impossible to evade! A high-level Beast-General monster's speed was at least seven or eight times that of Wang Ji's! Skill could not bridge this chasm of a gap.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..." A series of armor-piercing sniper rounds bombarded the Black-Backed Ape. The Black-Backed Ape dodged rapidly, instantly moving more than ten meters away. The claw attacking Wang Ji was retracted, and the pressure on Wang Ji was instantly lifted.

Thank goodness! Thank goodness! I'm still alive! Wang Ji's heart hammered incessantly.

The captain returned to the squad, coughing up blood. "Form up! Again!"