Old Wang's accusations were not entirely unfounded.
The order to abandon supplies and retreat collectively had indeed come from Chen Yuan.
While the original intention was to preserve their forces, it had objectively given the enemy an opening to exploit.
Chen Yuan trembled with rage, pointing at Old Wang, his lips quivering as he struggled to speak.
When had he ever been subjected to such slander?!
"You... you're full of shit!"
"Chen Yuan, with a single command from you, all field teams and shelters discarded their strategic supplies. Isn’t that suspicious?" Old Wang grew increasingly agitated, spittle flying as he spoke.
Even some staff who had previously trusted Chen Yuan without question now began to waver.
The doubts Old Wang raised were impossible to ignore.
Just then, a young operator’s fingers flew across the control panel.
Seconds later, his face paled, and he looked up sharply. "Report! The C-4 zone surveillance feed was replaced with a 45-second loop twenty minutes ago! The real-time feed has been cut off since then!"
"Only someone with clearance here could’ve—"
The truth was laid bare in an instant.
Every pair of eyes in the room turned toward Old Wang like daggers.
Old Wang merely offered a resigned smile.
He’d stalled Chen Yuan long enough.
It was sufficient.
"Why...?" Chen Yuan’s voice was thick with anguish and disbelief. "Why?! Wang Zhenguo! Why the hell would you do this?! What has Great Xia ever done to wrong you?! How can you live up to your name?!"
Old Wang—Wang Zhenguo—shed his facade, revealing a twisted, venomous expression. "Everything has wronged me!"
"Knowing resistance is futile, yet you keep sending us to die, just like in this operation."
"My wife, my son—both were forced to carry out suicide missions with guns to their heads."
"And then what? The commanders sit safely in the rear? Get promoted for their ‘brilliant leadership’?"
"What about my son and wife? Their names crammed into a list of hundreds during the post-war briefing, flashed on screen for a single second?"
"Damn it all! Those on the front lines just have to obey orders and die, while cowards like you, Chen Yuan, get to overthink and cling to your lives in the rear."
"I lost my wife, my son, and got a ‘special promotion’ out of pity. But you—a spineless coward—how the hell did you climb this high?!"
"None of it matters now."
"‘The God’ is coming. This rotten world will be cleansed!" Wang Zhenguo spread his arms, his expression manic. "And all of you will be sacrifices for the new era!"
"You bastard!" Chen Yuan roared, yanking out his weapon and leveling it at Wang Zhenguo.
At that moment—
BOOM—!!!
A deafening explosion erupted from outside headquarters!
The entire command center shook violently.
On the main screen, the pale-blue energy barrier flickered precariously.
The cyan tenth-tier Origin Beast, which had been hovering at the battlefield’s edge bombarding them from afar, suddenly seemed empowered by some immense force, unleashing a strike rivaling that of an eleventh-tier.
Then, under the horrified gazes of everyone—
CRACK!
The energy barrier in that sector shattered like glass under a hammer, exploding into countless shards.
A gaping breach over ten meters wide was torn open.
Thick clouds of ash, reeking of the Origin Beasts’ foulness and frenzied aura, surged through the breach like a flood.
Chen Yuan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. "Take this traitor away! Lock him up under heavy guard!"
He swiftly returned to his command post. "Little Liu, attempt remote restoration of the energy supply immediately! All available engineers, grab backup power modules—we’re reinforcing the barrier nodes by force!"
"But Chen Yuan, there are already Origin Beasts breaching—"
"I know it’s dangerous!" Chen Yuan cut him off. "But we have no choice! Teams One, Two, Three... hell, everyone who can still fight, follow me! We’re clearing a path for the engineers!"
He turned to Su Qi. "Brother Su, at this point, command is irrelevant. The only variable is that tenth-tier... Keep an eye on it. If it moves—"
"Put it down."
Su Qi nodded. "Understood."
At the breach, several massive high-tier Origin Beasts roared as they charged in, their crimson eyes locked onto the headquarters’ metal doors.
The quickest-reacting security teams were already engaging.
Though the doors were a last line of defense, they couldn’t afford to let the beasts get close.
The clash of blades, flashes of card-based abilities, and the beasts’ claws and fangs collided in a cacophony of thunderous impacts.
But their resistance seemed pitiful against these creatures—most at seventh or eighth-tier, with two even at ninth-tier.
A security officer was sent flying by a ninth-tier wolf-like Origin Beast, his chest caved in, blood gushing—clearly beyond saving.
Then—
A black blur streaked past like a ghost.
An eighth-tier bear-type Origin Beast, its massive paw raised to crush a defenseless fighter.
The man shut his eyes, bracing for death.
The expected pain never came.
He opened his eyes.
Chen Yuan, eyes bloodshot, held his blade against the bear’s paw, his voice strained to the point of distortion. "Damn... first time fighting an Origin Beast of the same tier. This is fucking brutal."
"All remaining combat personnel, to the breach! Hold it at all costs!"
"Guardian Jiang will be here in half an hour."
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
