Chapter 1 Can We Still Go Back?
"Captain, can we still go back?" A pioneer, standing on the walls of Fallen Leaf City, looked at the distant horizon and whispered, "I feel so tired, I'm almost out of strength to even lift my blade."

As a second-stage evolved pioneer, such words were filled with frustration and had a great impact on morale. But the middle-aged pioneer acting as captain didn't scold him, because that was how every pioneer felt right now.

As second-stage evolved beings, they possessed almost limitless life and stamina. But in the past twenty-four hours, they had lost count of how many battles they had fought, how many times they had swung their blades, how many times they had been knocked down and risen again...

Their bodies were torn apart time and time again, only to heal again and again. But as time went on, they could clearly feel their wounds healing slower and slower, and their swords swinging slower and slower. They knew very well that their stamina was nearing its limit.

Almost limitless life and stamina was, after all, not infinite. In the continuous battles, their bodies had no time to rest and recover. Meanwhile, the Followers were able to rely on superior equipment and greater numbers to wear them down in a war of attrition.

The Followers' attrition tactics had pushed the pioneers to the verge of collapse, both physically and mentally. Although they were still standing there, no one knew when they would fall. Perhaps they could continue fighting for three days and three nights, or perhaps they would faint from exhaustion in three minutes.

"I never thought that the Followers, who we used to slaughter and send fleeing in disarray, would now push us to this point," the captain said with a wry smile.

The mood of the crowd was low. They knew that this wasn't because their combat strength was weak, but because they lacked equipment.

But in war, no one would care about martial ethics and choose to fight you fairly!

Li Tianran used heavy firepower to destroy two ancient civilization tribes, the pioneers used sophisticated equipment to slaughter the Followers, and now the Followers were using advanced individual weapons to attack them...

The level of technology was also an important point in combat effectiveness assessment.

If your tribe didn't have equipment of the same level as the enemy, then you deserved to be beaten...

The pioneers weren't children. They knew that whether they were complaining or feeling hopeless, it wouldn't change the current situation.

"Even the mecha warriors can't stop those Followers with individual weapons. How long can we hold out?" The captain glanced at the ruined city behind him and said, "Perhaps in three days, the entire human world will fall!"

The teammate next to him parted his chapped lips, about to continue speaking when suddenly, an alarm sounded again in the sky above the city.

"Strong life energy reaction detected approaching, direction... distance..."

The shrill alarm reverberated in the sky above the city. The captain wiped the dry, cracked blood scab on his face and whispered, "Here they come!"

They were already extremely familiar with this kind of alarm. It meant that Followers were approaching Fallen Leaf City again. In the past twenty-four hours, similar alarms had sounded hundreds of times in Fallen Leaf City.

And when the Followers were destroying the city, they seemed to deliberately avoid the detection department with reconnaissance capabilities. It was as if they were deliberately leaving this building standing!

The pioneers knew what the Followers meant by doing this. They wanted the humans in this city to be in a state of tension and despair at all times. When the alarm sounded, the soldiers in the entire city would have a feeling of waiting to die. They knew that the next attack was about to begin, but they didn't know who would die in this attack. That kind of despair and confusion about the future would break even the most steadfast warrior.

That was the Followers' goal!

"Prepare to die!" The captain removed his rotten armor. His eyes were filled with ferocity, like a wolf forced into a corner, flashing with the violence of wanting to die together with the enemy.

But at this moment, everyone knew that it was difficult to die together with the well-equipped Followers.

The pioneers couldn't keep up with their speed at all and could only be passively beaten. In this situation, wanting to drag the other party down with them had become a luxury...

"It will take them three minutes to arrive. We still have some time..." The captain looked at his teammates and said in a deep voice, "Does anyone have anything to say? To family, to friends, to comrades? Say it now! If anyone can go back alive, pass these words on to them!"

The teammates were silent.

The captain's meaning was obvious: he was asking them to say their last words.

The teammates shook their heads. As members of the first pioneer corps, most of their family and friends had died in the disaster. Although they had met some new friends after joining Kuangxi Island, they couldn't think of anything to say to others before their death.

Because most of their friends were also soldiers of the pioneer corps. If they died here, their friends would soon come to replace them and choose to fight to the death on this city wall as well.

"Since there's nothing to say, then let's enjoy this last bit of peace!" the captain said with a chuckle, leaning against the signal tower on the city wall.

A breeze blew, and the captain closed his eyes, seemingly wanting to rest for a moment.

But at this moment, a helicopter entered the airspace of Fallen Leaf City!