Chapter 554 - 357: Safe Return (Part 2)
The brutal scenes played out repeatedly on the battlefield, with intense flames traversing the sky, plasma ravaging everywhere, and deadly venom splattering like raindrops. Everywhere you looked, there was nothing but flying blood and flesh.
The beasts galloped back and forth on the battlefield, slaughtering each other, much like they did when fighting for territory in the Land of No Master. The air was filled with an unprecedentedly strong stench of blood, with every variety of screech and the sound of flesh tearing rising and falling, forming a symphony of death.
The Mercenaries witnessed this astonishing scene. They originally could only watch helplessly as the situation turned against them, with morale dropping every second.
But now, seeing the beasts inexplicably start slaughtering each other, regardless of the reason, it was as if everyone had been injected with adrenaline, reigniting their fighting spirit.
"Brothers, these beasts are falling apart!"
"Someone must have done something! We’re about to win!"
"Strike while they’re weak, kill them!!!"
Cheers erupted like a tidal wave, spreading across the battlefield, almost piercing the heavens.
The Mercenary forces were greatly encouraged. Taking advantage of the beasts’ chaos, they unleashed their full firepower, easily wiping out the monsters that were slaughtering each other. For the first time, there was even a forward trend on the battlefront.
The scales of victory completely tipped in favor of humanity at that moment!
...
The massive explosion in the Northern Border District destroyed the corridors and the Tunneling Insects themselves, cutting off the source of the beast outbreak.
The invading beasts in the Border District inexplicably fell into chaos and began slaughtering each other.
Most importantly, deep underground at a depth of one hundred thousand meters, Su Mo successfully disabled the black spire beacon, leaving the beasts in the Land of No Master unable to sense it anymore.
Humanity’s victory was now assured.
Meanwhile, reinforcements from other places finally began to arrive, gradually taking over the battle from the Mercenary troops.
In the ensuing days, the reinforcements dug deep into the Border District, sweeping out the remaining beasts.
Though there were still many beasts present, and battles continuously broke out throughout the Border District, compared to the prior wave of group assaults, this sweeping battle posed no real pressure, only needing time to be thoroughly cleaned out.
In this disaster, the Border District was nearly completely destroyed, with barely one in ten buildings surviving. All around lay ruins, and potential beast threats still persisted; it was no longer habitable.
The City Council at this time finally stepped in, establishing an official resettlement area in the Rust Wall District to accommodate the millions of refugees entering the Inner City from the border regions.
The previously chaotic situation began to stabilize step by step.
After a long journey, Su Mo finally returned to the surface from deep underground.
As for the conspicuous Earth Navigation Spaceship, it had a self-destruct system that had been designed by Future long ago. After Su Mo reached the surface, he let it fall into the depths of a mine shaft to self-destruct, before quietly returning to Edge Mansion with the Infant Construct.
Su Mo met with Future at a hidden back door, handing over the Infant Construct, then immediately rushed to the elevator, pressing the button for the medical area.
"Boss!..." Future called out, failing to stop him, only able to watch the elevator doors close.
When the elevator reached the medical floor, before the doors were even fully open, Su Mo violently forced them apart and rushed out from inside.
In the corridor, KK and others were sitting outside the door of Intensive Care Unit No. 1. Seeing Su Mo, they all stood up.
Looking at the slightly ajar door of the ICU, Su Mo felt like his heart was being clenched by a giant hand, with an oppressive weight on his chest that made it hard to breathe.
He pushed the door open absentmindedly and saw Qi Ling covered by a white cloth.
Qi Ling’s body lay alone on the bed, her face covered with a layer of white cloth, making her face unseeable. Her small hands were placed lightly crossed over her chest and abdomen, motionless, as if in silent prayer.
Beside the bed were many white chrysanthemums for mourning the deceased, as white as snow, yet it was this very whiteness that seemed even colder.
Su Mo stood numbly beside Qi Ling’s body, feeling as if his heart had been slashed by a sharp blade, leaving only unbearable pain.
Memories of happier times played out scene by scene in his mind: walking hand in hand through the park, watching the ripples on the river, sitting together under a tree listening to the wind rustling through the leaves...
But now, everything had become the past. Each breath was torture, each heartbeat was a tear. The cold white in front of him seemed to mock his powerlessness, constantly reminding him that it was his incompetence that had killed Qi Ling.
Overwhelmed by an indescribable agitation, Su Mo roared, punching a hole through the wall next to him.
"Dong——"
"Ah!!!" Without warning, a terrified scream suddenly rang out in the room.
Su Mo turned his head and shivered in shock.
Only to see Qi Ling’s "body" sit up straight, she pulled away the white cloth covering her face, looked Su Mo up and down rather puzzled and scolded: "What are you doing?! That sudden bang scared me to death!"
Su Mo was stunned, taking a while to process what was happening before widening his eyes and retorting: "Wait, what are you doing?"
Qi Ling spread her hands defiantly: "I was sleeping."
Su Mo, eyes wide, asked incredulously: "If you’re sleeping, then sleep, why do you have a white cloth over your face???"
Qi Ling rubbed her reddened eyes, somewhat helplessly saying: "A few days ago, after the brain implant, the load was quite large. My eye capillaries were a bit damaged, and the doctor told me to avoid light to recover, so I used a cloth to cover them."
Su Mo nearly couldn’t hold it together: "Sis, could you not pick another color??? You put a white one over your face, I thought you were dead!"
After saying that, he pointed to the white chrysanthemums placed on the ground for mourning the deceased, angrily scolding: "And those flowers, you’re giving flowers, and you give white chrysanthemums? Who did this?!"
KK stood up awkwardly, scratching his head: "The flower shop sold out of other flowers, only these were left... I didn’t know flowers, didn’t realize these were for mourning, so just bought them back..."
Su Mo was so infuriated he nearly blacked out: "Fine, you’re all really something, teaming up to scare me, huh."
At this moment, Future peeked in from outside, having hidden the Infant Construct in the lab, and said begrudgingly: "Boss, you ran off so fast I didn’t get a chance to say... Qi Ling was out of immediate danger after the emergency surgery that day."
Su Mo sat down with a sigh of relief, already too spent by these people who had taken his breath away with their words.
After rubbing his throbbing temples for a bit, he asked with concern: "Has she been thoroughly checked? Is Qi Ling alright? No lasting effects?"
Future smiled and said: "No lasting effects, her resilience is the strongest I’ve seen. In such a condition, an ordinary person would not only die but might be disabled, yet she pulled through. The doctors and I were all amazed."
Qi Ling lazily lay on the hospital bed, raising a "Yeah" victory sign to Su Mo.
Su Mo nodded, finding it reasonable. The director of Venus Eden Garden, Miyata Junren, had told him that Qi Ling was a perfect creation among countless test-tube babies.
Aside from her congenital inability to feel pain, every other aspect of her body was perfect; she didn’t even get sick, with a constitution far beyond that of ordinary people, more resilient and robust.
Regardless, knowing Qi Ling was alright lifted the huge weight in Su Mo’s heart, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
Though the beacon incident was tumultuous, at least the predetermined strategic goals were achieved. The people of the Border District were rescued as much as possible, and the Infant Construct was obtained without anyone knowing.
His gaze became more content as it swept over the faces of his companions.
Suddenly, something seemed off.
Someone was missing.
Su Mo’s heart suddenly clenched again: "Where is Dongdong? Why isn’t she with you?!" Everyone’s expressions turned somewhat complicated.
Su Mo’s voice began to tremble: "She..."
KK quickly said: "Big brother, don’t worry, Dongdong is okay, it’s just..."
He hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and said softly, "She lost someone very important..."
"The old doctor Gordon who once saved Dongdong, he sacrificed himself."