Chapter 216
Chapter 216: The Death of the Commander-in-Chief
Everyone’s heart began to pound when they heard Li Mu’s words.
They were all leaders of Linyuan City.
Which one of them did not understand Linyuan City’s situation?
Since when had unaffiliated martial artists and family clans ever been so easy to command?
If it really was a monster siege, those experts might genuinely go outside the city to resist it.
But calling them over and assigning them missions was another matter entirely.
In public terms, these people were not soldiers of the Abyss-Suppression Army. They did not live off the Abyss-Suppression Army’s payroll.
They had never enjoyed its benefits.
If they refused to obey its orders, it would not count as a crime.
In private terms, everyone prioritized their own interests and safety first. There was nothing wrong with that.
That was precisely why Li Mu had used the word “summon” rather than “order.”
These people truly had no intention of risking their lives for the Abyss-Suppression Army.
But Li Mu had never said that those willing to risk their lives for Humanity would not be rewarded...
“Yes!”
The Minister of Publicity in charge of Voice of the City did not think much of this plan either.
But he had to obey Li Mu’s command.
After the Minister of Publicity left, Li Mu took out his phone and dialed Ma Jun’s number.
He did not know where Ma Jun was.
But ever since Li Mu entered, Ma Jun had never strayed too far away from him.
The phone rang right outside the door.
Ma Jun strode straight in, his steel prosthetic limbs thudding heavily against the ground.
He saluted and said, “Overall Commander, please give your orders!”
“Where are the brothers of the Tiger Roar Army?” Li Mu asked.
“Standing by at the North City Wall!”
“Prepare for battle. Get ready to reinforce the main force!”
“Deputy Commander-in-Chief An, come out with me. Everyone else, continue discussing the emergency response plan.”
After Li Mu finished speaking, he turned and left with swift decisiveness.
An Xing and Ma Jun followed closely behind him.
In truth, many people present did not fully support Li Mu’s handling of the matter.
It was not that they had any objections to Li Mu himself.
It was simply that, in their view, the city’s safety came first.
At a critical moment when monsters could attack the city at any time, concentrating every available force on the city’s defense should have been the proper course.
However, none of them dared to refute Li Mu.
An order was an order!
Who would dare oppose Li Mu’s command?
Had they not seen that even the deputy commander-in-chief of the Military District followed his lead?
However, very soon, an officer from the Red Horse Military District came trotting in.
“Report, Commander Chu!”
“At present, a total of 228 people from the family clans and independent martial artists have gathered!”
“Tiger Marquis Li has already taken 100 of them!”
“The rest are under your command!”
Bang!
“Excellent!”
Chu Ying slammed the table in excitement and stood up.
Linyuan City had fewer than three hundred Profound Rank experts in total. With a single summons, Li Mu had actually mobilized more than two hundred of them!
The real significance of this was not whether Chu Ying could use these people today.
It showed that the status of the Military District could no longer be compared to what it had been before.
These family clans and independent experts were all showing goodwill toward the Military District.
For the Abyss-Suppression Army, this represented an enormous rise in prestige!
So Li Mu had also intended to test their loyalty?
Those who had wanted to question Li Mu earlier were now inwardly shaken to the core.
Fortunately, they had not lost their minds and spoken out against him.
What a joke.
The force defending the city would naturally mainly come from the Abyss-Suppression Army, an organized regular army.
But Tiger Marquis Li had not moved a single soldier from the regular city-defense forces.
He had taken his own special force, the Tiger Roar Army.
He had even added 128 Profound Rank experts to their side!
Without Li Mu, if a monster siege truly happened, who could guarantee that all of these experts would charge onto the battlefield and go all out?
Even if they did, could their effect compare to an organized, coordinated battle under command?
It could not!
Moreover, to put it plainly, the monster siege had not yet happened.
But more than twenty thousand soldiers being trapped in the Abyss was an urgent crisis right before their eyes.
At that moment, the Tactical Watches of all the officers from the Three Great Military Districts flashed red and began beeping!
Chu Ying and the others opened them in shock.
This kind of alarm could usually only be triggered by officers at the Tiger Marquis rank or above.
As soon as Chu Ying opened it, an urgent voice shouted, “Can anyone at headquarters hear me?”
Chu Ying responded immediately, “This is Linyuan City Headquarters. Speak!”
The voice on the other end was so agitated that it was almost frenzied.
“Linyuan City Headquarters!”
“I am Yu Shaoheng, Death Row Minister of the Wanren Military District!”
“The trapped personnel of the Three Great Military Districts were intercepted by a large number of monsters on their way back to Linyuan City!”
“The enemy has too many Profound Ranks! Requesting reinforcements!”
“The coordinates have already been uploaded! Requesting reinforcements! Hurry!”
Yu Shaoheng was shouting every word.
The earth-shaking battle cries and beast roars around him had already merged into a deafening uproar.
One could imagine how massive a battlefield with tens of thousands of people would be.
Chu Ying quickly walked out of the conference room and rushed straight to the command room. At the same time, he ordered the overall commander beside him, “Activate the command console at once. Locate Yu Shaoheng’s position! Open the Tactical Watch recording!”
Even those in the conference room who were not from the Military District quickly followed after him.
Curiosity was part of the reason, but they also needed to understand the latest situation so they could plan more effectively.
As Chu Ying entered the command room, he asked Yu Shaoheng, “How many Profound Rank experts do the monsters have?”
Yu Shaoheng was clearly locked in fierce battle with the enemy. Only after a long while did he find a chance to shout back, “At least one hundred! Their numbers are still increasing!”
“Commander Hong is being besieged by more than a dozen top-grade Profound Ranks!”
“He’s about to...”
Before Yu Shaoheng could finish, a thunderous crash cut him off.
Then the voice vanished completely.
At that moment, the command console had only just opened the first-person feed from his Tactical Watch.
But all they received was pitch-black darkness.
A shadow fell over everyone’s hearts.
More than a hundred Profound Ranks?
Even if Hong Liangpeng took on twenty of them!
Even if their other ten Profound Ranks each fought one!
There would still be at least sixty or seventy Profound Ranks left to slaughter the soldiers at will!
At this moment, everyone had only one thought.
What a blessing!
It was a blessing that Li Mu had sensed this crisis in advance.
It was a blessing that he had insisted on reinforcing the trapped soldiers!
Now, everyone even felt that Li Mu had brought too few people with him.
Chen Chong, the overall commander at the command console, immediately connected to Li Mu’s Tactical Watch.
“Tiger Marquis Li!”
“Open the map. The trapped soldiers’ location has been confirmed!”
Li Mu replied, “I heard everything!”
His voice was dark and carried a terrifying chill.
Clearly, Li Mu’s Tactical Watch had also flashed just now, and he had heard Yu Shaoheng’s shouts.
What stirred his emotions was that they finally had an exact direction.
Li Mu had originally planned to have the Tiger Roar Army spread out and advance in a carpet search toward the rough direction where he had seen the Military District emerge when the world stretched.
His main goal had been to locate the trapped soldiers.
Now that there was an exact position, Li Mu directly had Ma Jun run toward the coordinates, while he himself rushed straight to the target on his Somersault Cloud!
Chen Chong said nothing.
He simply displayed Li Mu’s location and Yu Shaoheng’s position on the map across the large screen.
At the same time, he applied to open the first-person feeds from Hong Liangpeng’s and Li Mu’s Tactical Watches.
The old maps in the Wanren Military District’s system had long since become completely invalid.
The current map was entirely blank.
For the time being, it could not recreate the previous effect where, whenever soldiers reached a location, that territory would be clearly revealed on the map.
However, since the Abyss had reached the surface, mapping would probably become even more convenient in the future. That was a matter for later.
What horrified everyone was this.
Li Mu’s coordinates were sliding toward Yu Shaoheng’s position almost in a straight line!
According to the distance, there were at least thirty kilometers between them!
Yet Li Mu only used a mere...
Thirty... seconds!
Less than half a minute!
In the footage from Li Mu’s Tactical Watch, they could only see the scenery below sweeping past. Everything had become afterimages!
And yet, within that half minute...
Hong Liangpeng pressed the response button, and the first-person feed from his Tactical Watch appeared.
In the footage, they could clearly see that Hong Liangpeng was already covered in blood.
That face of his...
It could no longer be recognized as a human face.
A green-furred humanoid monster blasted him from midair down to the ground.
It directly smashed a huge pit into the earth!
Hong Liangpeng’s entire body lay there like mud, completely motionless, his limbs twisted at bizarre angles.
At that moment, a green-furred Profound Rank monster descended from the sky toward Hong Liangpeng.
It was preparing to finish him off.
But just as it was two meters from the ground, Hong Liangpeng, whose body was already battered beyond recognition, suddenly erupted upward!
After all, he was still a Profound Rank Ninth Grade expert!
“Die!”
From his blood-filled mouth, Hong Liangpeng released a hoarse roar.
He grabbed the head of the green-furred Profound Rank monster, and red light flashed violently from his hand!
As the Profound Rank Seventh Grade green-furred monster struggled wildly, its head exploded with a boom!
The green-furred humanoid monsters in the sky and in the trees all let out furious howls at once!
Terrifying killing intent surged in their blood-red eyes!
It was as though they wanted to avenge the dead green-furred monster!
More than twenty Profound Rank green-furred monsters shot toward Hong Liangpeng!
“Hahahaha!”
“Ahahahahahahaha!”
Hong Liangpeng burst into a frenzied laugh.
His body looked as though it had been pierced through by thousands upon thousands of bullets, then stuffed with a red high-powered lamp!
Countless beams of red light burst from within him!
Hong Liangpeng actually erupted with a powerful Earth Rank aura!
The surrounding trees all trembled and rustled.
Terror instantly appeared in the eyes of those green-furred monsters!
They braked madly, trying to flee!
But it was too late!
Every green-furred monster illuminated by the red light from Hong Liangpeng’s body, no matter what grade of the Profound Rank it was, slowly melted into a pool of blood while struggling!
And Hong Liangpeng himself...
Amid his crazed laughter, he too slowly melted into a pool of blood...