Four Split Personalities

The young girl’s "Dawn Divine Favor - Calm Aura" spread out, its effectiveness definitely not inferior to that of a High-order Archbishop, if not even stronger due to her being God’s Chosen.

The nearly solidified tension finally eased a little, and although everyone’s expression still carried some unease, these elite troops who had not been withheld any intelligence were no longer utterly listless.

The very next second, Yu Chen, who had just lowered her hand, suddenly froze. Then, with a somewhat surprised expression, she turned to Snow Mane and said, "Tell everyone to turn around and head back to the hill we passed earlier."

"What?!"

The latter was completely baffled and repeated with an astonished face, "You mean retreat?"

Yu Chen nodded firmly, her small face filled with seriousness, "Yes, Hei Fan has ordered us to retreat immediately. Please hurry, Sister Snow Mane."

"This... okay, alright."

The mammoth Knight opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately she sharply pulled on the reins of her mount, Windsor, and yelled loudly, "Everyone stop and turn around immediately, follow me back to the previous hill."

Fire Tongs’ face drained of color in shock. While he instinctively obeyed the command and reined in his goat mount, he asked incredulously, "What did you say..."

"Do not question the commands!"

Snow Mane, having already turned her mount 180 degrees, cut him off forcefully and bellowed, "Everyone, do as I say!"

None here were cowards fearful for their lives, so despite being full of questions, they quickly turned their mounts around and sped back the way they came, led by Snow Mane at full pace.

Which meant, from this moment on, they were heading for an unspoken clash with over two thousand mutants beyond their line of sight.

No doubt, this was an act tantamount to suicide, yet the twenty-plus individuals still complied, firstly because of the promise they had made before leaving to fulfil their duties without fail, and secondly because there was no better plan at the moment, so they all turned around with a resolved determination to face death.

Luckily, they turned around...

At the same time

’This is Falcon Eye Eighth Team, Her Highness the Saintess and her guards have turned around, requesting disengagement.’

’Mutants in area S19 have begun moving rapidly! The direction is due west!’

’Six hundred mutants in area S20 showing major unrest, sprinting northward!’

’Zombies in area S6 have left the lure and are also rushing to the southwest!’

Four pieces of news refreshed nearly simultaneously before Motan’s eyes, exactly as he had previously anticipated, down to the last second.

’The execution speed is still acceptable, am I overthinking it...’

Drenched in sweat, Motan let out a breath, then quickly synthesized the intelligence reports from the remaining areas while he exercised his stiff shoulders. After minutely adjusting several details, he immediately issued a host of new instructions—

"Authorize Falcon Eye Eighth Team to disengage. You have three minutes to traverse the wild woods to the north and then make a detour southeast along the river bordering Special Observation Area S13. Move at full speed to rendezvous with Falcon Eye Second Team at ETC Sector Three. Be careful not to alarm the mutants along the way."

"Hang back behind those mutants until they have moved away from the current area. Then head directly south. You won’t come across any enemies within half an hour, but still, make haste. Eagle Eye Sixth Team will meet you midway.."

"Stand by at your current position. A batch of ’guests’ will pass by in two minutes. Remember to use Death Dust in advance to mask your scent, then switch your monitoring target, reporting to me at a rate of once per minute."

"Clear out the bait laid down earlier within fifteen minutes, then rendezvous with Third Supply Team to collect another batch of Revitalizing Powder. You have about ten minutes of rest time. Your new duties will begin shortly."

...

If at this moment there was an Eye of the Mage of extremely high resolution looking down from the sky, its master would surely be shocked speechless. For in the southern territory of Misha County, there was a simultaneous presence of utmost tranquility and extreme activity. At the most southern waters of the Jin Hui River tributary, countless mutants were packed tightly together, slowly surging towards the two long bridges as if frozen in time, never able to set foot on the bridgehead. The monsters at the forefront were constantly being crushed, while those blocked behind would tread over their kin in a new vanguard, only to be crushed again, in a cycle of destruction, like a brief and grandiose looping video that quickly became tiresome to watch.

This was the utmost tranquility.

On the other hand, multiple mutant groups ranging from hundreds to thousands were charging wildly across the entire southern territory. Their actions seemed without any pattern, blindly and chaotically rushing in one direction, oblivious to everything they passed. However, upon closer inspection, it could be seen that these monsters had unintentionally formed a massive net. Regardless of their path, they were all moving around a bait set at the center of this web. The seemingly random chaos was merely a result of their different relative positions and distances from the target. If one could locate that non-existent ’bait,’ this messy scene would instantly transform into one of artistic precision,

This was the extreme activity.

Both scenes, taking place within the same frame yet evoking entirely different sentiments, were the handiwork of a single individual. As the opening prelude to a plan called Requiem, it played out in stark contrast to its rhythm.

In front of the Twin Cities, Cordova and Xia Lian, who had been the main characters of the last section, were entrenched in bloody combat, firmly blocking the endless wave of monsters at the bridgehead. Yet, they had gradually become part of the backdrop, which was precisely their role in the second phase.

Elsewhere, to be more precise, throughout the entirety of Misha County’s southern territory—excluding the area surrounding the Twin Cities—a petite figure and an invisible hand were orchestrating a frantic dance.

Yu Chen, who was at the center of the princess’s guard with an absolute allure to the mutants, and Commander Motan, the weaver of the entire Requiem plan, were stirring an unstoppable storm in this land pushed to madness.

The troop, almost negligible in size compared to the countless mutants, had returned to the hill with an excellent view, but they didn’t collide head-on with the innumerable monsters as many had speculated. Quite the opposite: Snow Mane and the others, ready to fight or even die, didn’t see anything that posed a threat to them. In fact, apart from the familiar scenery, they saw nothing at all.

However, as of this moment, over four thousand mutants had been incorporated into the rhythm woven together by Motan and Yu Chen, simply put, their aggro had been successfully stabilized.

As for why they had not yet appeared within the view of the princess’s guard, the reason was simple—a few subtle differences in timing.

With an intelligence network built through tremendous manpower, Motan was constantly calculating the position of each mutant group. He could even direct those groups that hadn’t yet been aggroed by Yu Chen to a certain extent. It was this ability that allowed him to always be steps ahead, placing his pieces in advance. Like an invisible hand, he continually adjusted the position of each chess piece with a chilling frequency, making new deployments, then adjusting, improving or even overturning tactical nodes based on actual conditions, strangling any surprises in their cradle while constantly maintaining observational and interventional control over the whole situation. Ultimately, by directing Yu Chen with almost hands-on, real-time commands, he connected everything together, creating a vast web—a web composed of countless mutants, a net of heaven and earth targeting Yu Chen...

And because Motan was the mastermind behind this web, it was doomed never to capture its target, ultimately entangling itself into a cumbersome and sluggish mess.

Then...

It would be fiercely slashed apart with a swift blade!

Chapter 424: The End