Having temporarily halted the monster’s attack, Luo’er quickly replaced the cartridge. Although these soldiers kept making mistakes, they were clear-headed enough at this critical moment to check their weapons, which gave Luo’er a brief respite.
The gunshots and screams were incessant in the forest. The number of monsters did not seem to be large, but they were unusually troublesome for these soldiers. As a result, they we paid a high price to deal with these monsters.
Luo’er considered whether or not to group up and join the other squads of the Purification Legion. After all, strength comes in numbers, and powerful firepower is enough to suppress these monster’s attacks.
Lucky, Carter had previously accepted his suggestion to disperse the squads for the search. This prevented the Purification Legion from being punched through their battle line by the monsters. However, the downside might be that each squad is fighting on its own now.
Now, the key thing was to integrate the squads into larger teams that would be able to deal with the monsters and retreat calmly. However, it was clear that Luo’er overestimated the awareness of these soldiers. If they had understood the importance of grouping up from the very beginning, they wouldn’t be fighting individually.
Just as he was thinking about his next move, a soldier suddenly shuddered and fell to the ground. They were all shocked to see that he had been shot in the back of the head at some point, with bright red blood gushing out of a hole in his helmet.
"Friendly fire again!" Cheng Ziang cursed angrily, while quickly dropping his gun to cover the soldier’s wound in hopes of stopping the bleeding.
However, his efforts were in vain. The soldier had died the instant he was shot. The bullet had pierced his spine and penetrated into his brain.
"Everyone, keep down, watch out for stray bullets from our side!" Luo’er ordered loudly.
It was only now that he realized grouping up with the nearby allies was unrealistic. Who knew if these green soldiers who had first been exposed to the battlefield would mistake them for monsters and open fire. When the advance team had approached this squad earlier, Luo’er had nearly been killed. Luckily, Fulajie’er had blocked the bullet.
At Luo’er’s command, everyone crouched down low, fearing to be hit by friendly fire. The surviving soldiers stared wide-eyed at their fallen comrade, their thoughts unknown.
"Luo’er, call for a vehicle, prepare to evacuate the battlefield!" Cheng Ziang shouted, wiping the blood from his hands.
His words immediately reminded Luo’er. That’s right, the advance team was not without options. The transport plane and airboat were still on standby in the air tens of kilometers away, ready to provide Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform.
"Understood, give me three minutes!" Luo’er responded loudly, quickly pulled out pen and paper, and began to write a distress message. This time his magic messenger was not paired with Nightingale, but with a Mage from the Otherworld on the airship, who could directly call Li Si.
With time pressing, Luo’er wrote hastily, his pen trembling, the resulting words slanted and distorted. After sending the messenger, he finally had a chance to catch his breath.
At the same time as he sent out the messenger, a piercing signal flare was shot from not far away. The sound was so loud it almost drowned out all the gunshots and screams.
"It’s the retreat signal of the Purification Legion!" Cheng Ziang shouted.
"Let’s retreat too, no more trying to regroup!" Luo’er ordered.
If even the Purification Legion couldn’t hold on, they certainly could not stay either, they could only retreat with them. Theoretically, the Purification Legion’s armor was not invincible, but its firepower was strong. Therefore, they should be able to easily deal with such encounters.
But theory is always just theory. The Purification Legion was almost entirely composed of new soldiers who had never been on the battlefield before. Both officers and soldiers were novices, and their training time was only a few months. Therefore, they naturally struggled to cope with this sudden situation.
If the Temple Knights were here instead, they would probably turn this encounter battle into a massacre. Although Luo’er disliked their pompous behavior in peacetime, he never dared to belittle their combat strength.
"Retreat, retreat, alternate cover and retreat," Luo’er ordered loudly, then grabbed a soldier and queried, "Do you know what alternate cover and retreat means?"
"Yes, I know..." The soldier’s eyes widened; he stammered slightly. They had encountered these terms before.
"Then carry it out. When running back, make sure to run in a straight line, and don’t cross the fire line of our own troops!" Luo’er instructed, then pushed the soldier forward and began retreating in an orderly fashion.
Murong’s squad was still on alert in the rear. However, this time their line of defense had become the main direction of attack. Luo’er’s squad backed up the remaining soldiers in alternate covering retreats.
The noises in the forest were growing louder again with the eerie clicking sounds of the monsters. The soldiers responsible for the retreat immediately started firing in the suspicious direction. They tried to mimic the continuous suppressive fire technique of the Advance Team. However, they hadn’t mastered it, and almost everyone had pulled the trigger all the way.
After a round of gunfire, their magazines were emptied again. However, by now, Luo’er and his team had retreated to a relatively safe location. They turned their barrels around to cover the retreat of these soldiers.
"Run quickly, don’t bother reloading!" Luo’er yelled when he saw them struggling to change magazines.
Upon hearing his words, the soldiers turned and ran, clutching their guns. The sight of them fleeing seemed to ignite the attack desire of the monsters, who charged at them once again.
One of the monsters suddenly flew out of the bushes and pounced on a soldier. The soldier turned his head in fear and let out a desperate cry.
The gunfire erupted from the rear. The Advance Team was far more accurate than these soldiers. The monster that chose to take the lead was literally brought to the forefront of their attack, receiving a shower of bullets.
A rain of bullets penetrated the monster’s armor, scattering its body in pieces mid-air, tearing it apart under the barrage of gunfire.
The soldiers were rolling and crawling back, looking utterly pitiful. Though it was supposed to be an alternating cover retreat, it seemed more like the Advance Team covering their escape.
The soldier who was almost pounced upon stumbled on the spot and then struggled to his feet. But before he could continue running, another monster attacked, pouncing on his back. In an instant, the monster’s sharp, scythe-like forelimbs pierced through the soldier’s back like daggers.
The soldier’s simple reinforced armor was no match for the penetrating power of the monster. The monster’s limbs pierced right through him, emerging from his chest covered in blood.
The soldier let out a few screams then suddenly fell silent, as a large amount of fresh blood began to spurt from his mouth and nose. Clearly, the monster had punctured his lungs, causing severe spasms and bleeding.
Then, the monster produced a pair of sickle-shaped ten-centimeter mouthparts and bit hard on the back of the soldier’s neck. The soldier’s life was extinguished immediately with his powerless head drooping. The monster’s mouthparts were extremely sharp, severing the soldier’s spine with just one bite.
Fulajie’er couldn’t hold back a scream at the terrifying sight of the monster. Luo’er cursed inwardly before aiming his gun at the monster and unleashing a barrage of bullets.
Although the monster was terrifying, it had no way to defend against the bullets. Luo’er fired a round, instantly blasting a hole in its head, while also knocking its sharp mouthparts away. The monster stumbled back a step and then collapsed on the ground.
However, soon other monsters surrounded them once again. Clearly, they were extremely interested in the fresh prey and didn’t even pay attention to the fire from the Advance Team. Instead, they began to fight over the corpse.