When Shen Heng returned to Bedrock City, his steps were somewhat unsteady.
Within his body, the Origin Power had returned to its usual gentle, flowing state, but his burning breaths and occasional twitches told him that his physical condition was not good.
Footsteps approached, and several figures jogged towards them.
Han Ling slowly stopped, her gaze lingering on Shen Heng's injuries. She opened her mouth, but hesitated to speak.
Qin Yu followed beside her, his usually expressionless face tense.
"Captain!" Zhou Xuan called out, making a gesture to help Shen Heng up.
"It's not that bad." Shen Heng waved his hand and asked, "But what about you guys? Are you injured?"
"No, a few Calamity Beast came to harass me, but Zhou Xuan blocked them, and I just managed to take care of them when I had a moment." Han Ling breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that she didn't need anyone's help meant that her injuries weren't too serious.
Shen Heng nodded, his gaze sweeping briefly over the group.
The three men were covered in dust and blood, but compared to the others, they were in relatively good condition. The others...
He turned his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the city wall.
Everywhere you looked, there was devastation.
Several sections of the city wall were dented, and dark red bloodstains were everywhere, indistinguishable as to whether they were from humans or Calamity Beast.
Corpses lay scattered inside and outside the city walls, some mutilated, others still in fighting poses.
Beside the corpses sat one soldier after another, slumped over.
One medic after another moved through the city, either calling for other soldiers to help carry people or providing basic treatment.
As Shen Heng was observing, a figure quickly walked over.
" Captain Shen, let me treat you first!"
Chen Xin, a healing-type personnel assigned to Bedrock City, has the ability of Vitality Guidance, B-Class.
There are three other healers like him in Bedrock City.
It's obvious they had already planned it, and they wanted him to come over.
"Go treat the others first. My injuries are still manageable," Shen Heng said calmly.
"This..."
Chen Xin hesitated for a moment, his gaze lingering on the barely closed wound on Shen Heng's shoulder.
"The war has just ended, and there are many seriously injured people. Your abilities can more effectively bring back those who cannot be saved by ordinary medical means," Shen Heng said simply.
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Xin finally nodded.
He saluted Shen Heng, then quickly ran off in a certain direction.
There, a soldier had a large gash in his abdomen, and part of his intestines were spilling out.
His companion was covering it tightly with his hand.
Everyone silently averted their gaze.
At this stage, bringing back as many people as possible is definitely the priority.
After exchanging a few words, Shen Heng went to the command room.
Zhou Zhenguo, who was initially pleased that he had held his ground, frowned again upon seeing Shen Heng's injuries.
Why didn't you take care of your injuries first?
"No need. It's better to prioritize treating those with more serious injuries right now." Shen Heng shook his head and then asked, "Have the casualty statistics been compiled yet?"
Upon hearing this question, Zhou Zhenguo nodded, and the slight relief in his eyes disappeared.
"Preliminary statistics are in: 1,247 ordinary soldiers killed in action, 309 seriously wounded, and others slightly wounded... Almost every member of the combat team was injured."
"As for your Supervision Bureau system," Zhou Zhenguo continued, "One hundred and thirty-three people were killed, including twenty-three Late Fourth Tier cultivators."
Twenty-three, Late Fourth Tier... Shen Heng nodded slowly.
"Where is the Calamity Beast?"
"The exact number of Calamity Beast hasn't been tallied yet, but a rough estimate is around 11,000 to 12,000," Zhou Zhenguo said.
Shen Heng nodded.
Is the casualty ratio roughly ten to one?
Even at the base, this proportion would probably be similar.
But the base's advantage was that its firepower, defenses, and everything else were much more abundant.
As for Bedrock City, it was due to its advantageous location.
More importantly, they held on.
If we fail to hold on, the casualty ratio could suddenly drop to two to one.
But, more than a thousand people...
Shen Heng remained silent, the sounds of groans, muffled cries, and sobs filling his ears.
The cheers subsided, and the atmosphere began to soar.
"What? Regretting it?" Zhou Zhenguo asked.
Shen Heng brought his thoughts back and sighed softly.
"No, it's just that hearing those sounds made me feel a little heavy!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zhenguo also sighed.
"Get used to it slowly, this kind of life might be going on for a long time!"
Shen Heng nodded slowly.
" Old Zheng!"
Zhou Xuan walked quickly towards the members coming up the mountain.
Unlike Shen Heng, they did not go up the mountain immediately, but waited until all the Calamity Beast had left before coming up.
How are things over there?
"Nine were killed in action, and we still haven't killed that beast!" Zheng Guomin said, letting out a heavy sigh.
" S-Class Calamity Beast isn't so easy to kill. It's already quite an achievement to have managed to entangle it and prevent it from wreaking havoc on the city walls." Zhou Xuan patted his uninjured shoulder.
"But Wu Hao's team killed them!" Zheng Guomin turned his head to look into the distance.
Zhou Xuan was speechless for a moment. He had also heard about the situation there. They had indeed killed the S-Class Calamity Beast, but at the cost of losing nearly two-thirds of their members.
"Ah, what a pity, the corpses of the Calamity Beast have all been taken away..."
Yes, it seems they were notified that, before leaving, a Calamity Beast specifically went to take away the Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi.
Zheng Guomin nodded and said nothing more.
After a while, as if remembering something, he asked:
"By the way, where's the captain?"
"I was just summoned by the commander, so now..."
As Zhou Xuan spoke, his gaze swept around, then he raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction.
Zheng Guomin looked in the direction he was pointing.
There, a figure was crouching on the ground.
In front of him lay the body of an inspector, which had been simply tidied up.
He reached out his hand, and very gently and slowly, closed the still-open eyes of his deceased colleague...