After confirming the monster’s lethality, Jin Zhong didn’t even have time to tidy his comrades’ bodies. He merely gathered them hastily and immediately led the remaining soldiers swiftly towards Liangxi.
At this moment, they were still 30 kilometers away from Liangxi, and they had already completely exited the coverage area of Jinling New City’s cellular network, with no transport trucks available for use.
He wasn’t sure if he could arrive in time.
But now, he could only find a way to try.
"Going back to Yanling to find transportation is too late, we have to rely on running!"
"Drop all supplies, take nothing, only carry rifles and grenades!"
"We must reach Liangxi at the fastest speed."
"The monster’s movement speed isn’t particularly fast, we still have time!"
While striding forward, Jin Zhong shouted to the remaining 60 team members.
"For the honor of the Holy Trinity!"
"For the honor of the Holy Trinity!"
The crowd shouted back in response.
And this, was their final shout in this long chase.
This team discarded everything, charging forward like a group of silent knights.
They blocked their ears, covered their eyes, with nothing left in front of them but the road extending ever forward.
The robust physique of the Holy Temple Guards was their last reliance; a 30-kilometer chase, a task nearly impossible for ordinary teams, became attainable for them.
The sound of breathing and footsteps gradually became synchronized on the relatively flat ground. Jin Zhong glanced at the map marked on the drone screen, discovering they had covered 12 kilometers in an hour since departure.
But the road ahead would become even harder.
The difference in the team’s stamina started to show lines, and the originally united team began to stretch out.
Jin Zhong kept running in front, aware that under the current circumstances, he had no way to care about those who fell behind.
The surrounding monsters had been roughly cleared, and they wouldn’t be in danger.
The greatest crisis, was still ahead!
How far was the monster from Liangxi?
Had the Mechanical God Sect’s Guardian Army in Liangxi reacted?
Had the civilians in the city started evacuating?
Where had they evacuated to?
Had the Huaxia Army been deployed?
If they were fast enough, their planes should have arrived by now, right?
A weapon capable of destroying all enemies should also be able to bomb that monster to death, right?
Jin Zhong harbored hope in his heart.
He hoped he’d just overestimated his role.
He hoped the Huaxia Army could respond immediately.
At this moment, any stance, any belief was no longer important.
As long as the civilians in Liangxi could survive, he was willing to deploy all powers, use all means.
Breathing grew more rapid, two hours had passed.
Only 5 kilometers left.
Jin Zhong launched the drone but at this moment, he didn’t see any trace of the monster.
Instead, not far from Liangxi City, there were two obviously freshly blasted huge craters.
Jin Zhong breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Rest for five minutes!"
With the order given, the team that had still been moving forward finally came to a halt.
The soldiers collapsed to the ground, sweat thoroughly soaking their clothes.
"011, this is Jin Zhong’s Guard Brigade!"
"Repeat, this is Jin Zhong’s Guard Brigade calling!"
"Have you reached Liangxi City? Has the monster been eliminated?"
"Please respond upon receiving, over!"
Jin Zhong gasped for breath as he called out over the radio, moments later, Fu Xi’s voice came through the headset.
"The support team is 50 kilometers away from Liangxi City, estimated arrival in two hours."
"Huaxia Army Air Force has completed one round of bombing on the monster, about to carry out a second round."
"Bombing expected to arrive in 5 minutes, bombing coordinates have been transmitted to the map, please avoid the bombing zone."
Jin Zhong answered briefly.
But at this point, a question suddenly emerged in his mind.
What kind of monster could withstand one round of bombing from the Huaxia Army and still require a second round of bombardment?!
So the previous round of bombing actually did not achieve the desired effect??
A hint of worry flashed in Jin Zhong’s eyes, then he continued to ask:
"Did the bombing not achieve the expected effect? Over."
"Did not achieve the expected effect."
Fu Xi responded briefly:
"The 2 kilometer perimeter around Liangxi City has been confirmed as a death danger zone, please be cautious when entering."
Jin Zhong breathed a long sigh of relief.
He operated the drone to continue forward, and as the drone descended, the horrifying scene appeared before him.
Civilians who couldn’t evacuate in time lay one by one on Liangxi City’s streets, not feeling the pain of suffocation in their last moments, merely fainting due to the lack of oxygen like their teammates.
And once down, they had no chance to escape again.
"At least hundreds dead..."
Jin Zhong’s tone was somber.
"No... more than hundreds."
A military doctor nearby suddenly interjected.
"What we see now are merely.... the bodies of those attempting to evacuate."
"They didn’t evacuate because the monster arrived."
"They evacuated due to Huaxia Army’s bombing, due to their fear of airplanes!"
"Two hours... the Guardian Army here barely organized an effective evacuation."
"More should be dead... possibly... the whole city is already dead at the monster’s hands."