In truth, if Krov and the three hundred-odd soldiers had not arrived in time, Old William would have fallen at police headquarters the previous afternoon, and the city of Nijia would probably have fallen completely then as well.
It was precisely because Krov and the three hundred-odd soldiers had joined them, coupled with Krov's unified command, that teetering Nijia had held out until now.
But in the end, Krov was still a man, not a god.
Under the National Liberation Alliance's relentless attacks, they had still been driven into a desperate situation, standing at the edge of a cliff.
They could be smashed to pieces at any moment!
"Rrrr-"
Amid its agonized groans, the diesel generator squeezed out its last drop of fuel. As the lights went out, Nijia Public Hospital lost its most vital resource: electricity.
Looking at the corridor plunged into darkness, an emotion called despair appeared in Krov's eyes as well. He turned his gaze toward Old William and asked quietly:
"Dad, will the reinforcements... really arrive before noon?"
Krov's voice was very soft, yet in that dark corridor filled with despair, it stood out so starkly.
Everyone turned their eyes toward Old William, like drowning people clutching at their last lifesaving straw.
"..."
Hearing his son's question and feeling everyone's eyes on him, Old William fell silent. His gaze passed beyond theirs toward the end of the corridor.
There stood a window whose glass had already been shattered by stray bullets. The sun outside shone through it, bringing golden sunlight into the corridor.
Old William withdrew his gaze and looked at his son, then at everyone around him. He nodded and answered in what might have been the firmest tone of his life:
"Yes. They definitely will!"
But Old William's heart plunged into the abyss along with the ever-closer gunshots, the ever-closer explosions, the ever-closer sounds of fighting!
"Clang-"
Just then, a soldier with bloodshot eyes and blood still dripping from his bandaged hand burst into the corridor and roared:
"The enemy's about to break in! Everyone who can still move, grab your weapons and come downstairs with me!"
His original intention might have been to have these wounded police officers and soldiers take up their weapons for one final battle.
But the result went beyond his expectations.
After hearing those words, a nurse with blood-covered hands decisively picked up the weapon belonging to a police officer beside her who had lost both eyes. Then, with her head lowered, she silently headed downstairs.
"..."
The sight stunned everyone.
After a brief silence, one doctor and nurse after another picked up the weapons near them, brushed past the soldier standing at the stairway, and headed downstairs.
Then,
A police officer whose right hand and left leg were both wrapped in bandages stopped a female nurse who was reaching for his weapon.
He picked it up and struggled to his feet, supporting himself with the gun. Smiling at the nurse, he said:
"You're so beautiful. If we meet again, I'll give you the most beautiful flower, then ask if you'll be my girlfriend!"
With that, without waiting for the nurse's response, the police officer limped downstairs.
Close behind him, one gravely wounded police officer and soldier after another struggled to their feet as well and headed downstairs with their weapons.
Blood kept welling from their torn wounds, then pattered onto the corridor floor and stairs like pearls spilling from a broken string.
It stained the whole world red!
"Dad, don't go so fast! Wait for me!"
Old William, who had likewise taken up a weapon and was preparing to head downstairs, heard the voice behind him and looked back.
He saw that his son, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, had climbed out of bed and was standing unsteadily in the corridor, propped up on a crutch.
Tears instantly welled from the corners of Old William's eyes. He abruptly turned away, presenting his back to Krov, and waved as though saying goodbye as he replied:
"I can't wait for you. Just follow along slowly behind me!"
With that, Old William went downstairs without looking back. But the tears at the corners of his eyes still slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the floor, mingling with blood whose owner he did not know.
11:40 a.m.
Downstairs at Nijia Public Hospital.
"Charge, all of you! Anyone who dares stop, I'll kill them!"
As noon drew ever closer, the National Liberation Alliance's officers grew increasingly frenzied and irritable, as though they were high on drugs.
Whether those officers had actually taken any was unclear, but they had indeed forced the militants under their command to take large quantities of heroin.
The aim was to make these militants forget themselves through the extreme excitement brought on by taking a massive dose of drugs all at once, and even forget their fear of death.
As for whether these militants would die from overdoses after the battle ended?
That was not something these high-and-mighty officers needed to consider-or rather, they had never considered the question at all.
Uh... well, there was no need to wait until the battle ended anymore.
Several militants had already abruptly collapsed without being struck by bullets, then started foaming at the mouth and convulsing all over.
"Which bastard came up with this idea? I'll flay him alive! Didn't he know to use a smaller dose?" Not far behind the lines, the National Liberation Alliance's leader, who was watching the battlefield, flew into a rage at the sight.
It was not because he cared about these militants' lives.
Rather, it was because-
Fueled by excessive doses of drugs, the militants who had previously hung back out of fear of death began charging into the bullets like supermen, with no idea what cover even meant.
Then, before they could run more than a few steps, the defending police officers and soldiers simply shot them dead like targets!
Enemies who had lost their reason and did not fear death were not actually frightening at all. What was frightening were enemies who retained their reason yet did not fear death.
"How could they do something so stupid?" Old William, who was hiding behind cover and seizing openings to fire a few shots now and then, killing a few militants, also saw this and could not understand it.
The battle continued.
Although these irrational militants were like targets, together with those who still retained their reason, they ultimately broke through the last defensive line and stormed into the hospital.
At that moment, the time also reached 11:50 a.m. Only ten minutes remained until noon, which was crucial to both sides.
"Tick, tock, tick, tock..."
As life after life slipped away, time vanished second by second.
"Looks like I really am going to die here today."
Old William, who had hunkered down on the second floor with the remaining troops, watched the militants pouring in downstairs, shook his head with a bitter smile, and muttered to himself.
Just as Old William was about to save a bullet for himself, a deafening roar came from the sky!
"!?"
Old William froze for a moment, because he seemed to have heard that sound before.
It was-
The sound of fighter jets tearing across the sky!!!