1258 The darkest hour (Beginning of The End)

On the final day.

In Fortress 178.

All of the residents stayed by their radios to keep up with the latest news on the conflict.

If there was no radio at home, the entire family would gather at their neighbors’ houses to stay updated. Everyone would hold their breaths as they waited for any breaking news to be announced.

The male broadcaster’s voice was very pleasant to the ear, but it was always accompanied by bad news on the radio broadcast.

Entire formations of the Northwest Army got wiped out. Sometimes, the listeners would fall into infinite silence as they listened to the broadcast. When they heard a news report saying that an entire unit had been annihilated, earth-shattering wails would ring out next to the radio.

That was because their families might be among the fallen troops.

The streets of Fortress 178 were completely silent.

After the autumn rain, the weather had gradually turned a little cold. Everyone could not help but raise their shoulders and hunch their backs as they walked the streets.

Qing Zhen checked his watch at the lodging arranged for him. There were only 12 hours left in the countdown.

After putting on his white suit, he said to Luo Lan, Zhou Qi, and Xu Man, “Let’s go. It’s time for us to get to work. We mustn’t let down the Northwest Army.”

After that, he turned around and walked out of the lodging. A Northwest Army vehicle was already waiting at the entrance. After the four of them got into the vehicle, it drove straight to a quarry west of the stronghold.

At some point in time, martial law was enforced at the quarry. Soldiers dressed in the work uniform of the quarry stood quietly on guard around the site.

Xu Xianchu was waiting outside the quarry. After he received Qing Zhen, he turned around and led the group inside without saying a word.

At the plant, a woman in a red dress was already waiting. She was the representative Qing Zhen had sent to negotiate with Zhang Jinglin and also the executor of the entire plan.

At this moment, there were no quarrying machines to be seen inside the plant. Although the exterior looked very crude, the interior was extremely technologically advanced.

To get into the plant, one would have to change into a blue clean suit first. On the inside, there were a large number of sophisticated instruments and 1,374 busy researchers working.

Qing Zhen, who had put on his clean suit, asked the woman in red next to him, “Is everything prepared?”

The woman nodded. “Everything is ready.”

Xu Xianchu asked Qing Zhen, “You mentioned this place might become a target for missile strikes, so I was assigned to protect it. But it seems we’ve not come under attack yet.”

Qing Zhen was confused. He shook his head and said, “If we calculate the range of the Wang Consortium’s missile troops, this place should be within their range. Moreover, the AI should be able to detect the unusual activities going on here, so it doesn’t make sense why it hasn’t bombed this place yet. I’m not sure what exactly happened, but someone must have worked hard to help us.”

Next to them, Luo Lan thought for a moment and said, “Will our plan really work?”

“Whether we can pull it off depends on whether Ren Xiaosu can survive the next 12 hours.” Qing Zhen said, “If he can’t, all our previous efforts will have been in vain.”

Luo Lan shook his head. “I’m not sure, but he has never disappointed me before.”

To get to this day, the Southwest had also paid a huge price. Some of their people died in battle at the Three Mountains defensive line, such as Qing Yi. Others, such as Tang Zhou, died trying to pass on information to their allies. But there were also too many nameless others who had died fighting for the same goal and hope.

Those people had accompanied Qing Zhen in his ascendance at Mt. Ginkgo and witnessed with him the gilded ginkgo forest on the mountainside. They had sacrificed themselves for the glory of the Qing Consortium.

Besides the battles, there were also 1,374 researchers from the Qing Consortium working in absolute secrecy. No one knew what they were working hard on, not even their own families.

Qing Zhen felt that if the plan were to fail, no one would ever know about the effort these people had put in.

Therefore, they had to succeed.

…

On the evacuation route.

“The AI’s troops in the southwest did not make an attempt to stop us.” P5092 was a little puzzled. Based on his calculations, they should have encountered the enemy blocking their way by now.

But at this moment, the path ahead was still empty. There was not even a single enemy trooper to be seen.

Someone must have stopped the enemy forces in the south, but P5092 could not figure out who might be capable of stopping nearly 10 million of the artificial intelligence’s troops.

Ren Xiaosu suddenly reacted. “If someone really managed to stop Zero’s two armies in the southwest, then excluding all possible reinforcements, Li Shentan is the only person left I can think of.”

Ren Xiaosu used the process of elimination to determine who could’ve come to their aid, and Li Shentan was the only one left who could’ve appeared at a time like this to help the Northwest.

After eliminating all possibilities, the remaining option would have to be the answer.

Previously, Hu Shuo said that Li Shentan had gone to fulfill his promise to Ren Xiaosu.

What had Li Shentan promised him? Li Shentan promised Ren Xiaosu he would use the demon’s salvation in exchange for Chen Wudi’s return.

As such, Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized his disciple, Chen Wudi, might also have returned!

Thinking of this, he got a little excited. But in an instant, Ren Xiaosu’s mood turned gloomy again. That was because he knew full well what salvation meant for a demon.

Previously, when Hu Shuo mentioned Li Shentan, there was a hint of desolation in his expression. It seemed that Hu Shuo also understood the answer.

“Another friend has left us,” Ren Xiaosu suddenly said.

A soldier up front suddenly shouted, “We’ve arrived at Fortress 178!”

Ren Xiaosu turned around and looked ahead. He abruptly saw the towering outline of Fortress 178 in the distance. It looked so familiar and endearing at the same time. The expansive walls were like the dependable back of a giant, filling everyone with a sense of security the moment they saw it from afar.

However, everyone knew they had only come into view of Fortress 178. It would still take at least six hours for them to get there even as they continued to evacuate. As Fortress 178 was a lofty presence, there was still quite a distance between them despite the stronghold’s silhouette coming into view. But regardless, the sight of Fortress 178 represented there was still hope.

But before the soldiers could rejoice, they suddenly received news from the troops behind them that the enemy’s mechanized troops had appeared on the horizon. Moreover, the enemy’s infantry would probably catch up soon as well.

When this news was relayed over, Ren Xiaosu glanced around and realized a lot of people had a look of despair in their eyes.

They had only needed to stall for nine days, yet it seemed like they were about to fall at the final hurdle.

Everyone knew they couldn’t stop the enemy on flat terrain like this. That was because the enemy was too numerous.

They were only a day or half a day away from achieving the final victory.

Although no one knew what kind of plan Qing Zhen and Commander Zhang had come up with, since Commander Zhang said he trusted Qing Zhen, it meant this plan was feasible. However, it didn’t feel like they could wait until then.

Ren Xiaosu stood quietly in the crowd and watched as everyone’s hopes gradually faded. He suddenly wanted to do something about it.

This war had been way too tragic.

At the Three Mountains defensive line, entire formations of the Qing Consortium’s troops had been wiped out. But before their deaths, the Qing Consortium’s soldiers were still thinking about how to bring a few more enemies down with them. They had earned the most critical data that was used to buy time for the Northwest’s Dawn defensive line.

The soldiers of the 6th Field Division had also conducted guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines to buy another two days for the Dawn defensive line.

Meanwhile, the soldiers in the first and second echelons of the Dawn defensive line also died one after another. Even when they got injured, they refused to retreat with the 1st Military Corps.

Everyone only fought for a glimpse of hope they would achieve the final victory, but that hope was also fading fast.

He had to do something. He definitely had to do something about it. He wanted to protect this hard-earned hope.

P5092 said, “Wang Yun, relay the order for me. Everyone from the 1st Military Corps is to stop retreating. Find cover on the spot and prepare for battle! Commander Zhang, Ren Xiaosu, you two continue to evacuate the wounded. I’ll stay behind and lead our troops in a defensive battle!”

“We’ll die if we stay behind and fight a defensive battle,” Wang Yun said in seriousness.

P5092 laughed. “So what?”

“There’s no need to do that.” Yan Liuyuan, who was sitting on the Wolf King’s back, jumped down and said with a smile, “Y’all can continue retreating. Leave the rest to me.”

Everyone was stunned. They did not expect Yan Liuyuan to suddenly say that.

Yan Liuyuan chuckled and said, “Why? Don’t you trust me? I’m still a demigod-level supernatural being.”

Next to him, Xiaoyu nervously grabbed Yan Liuyuan’s arm. “Liuyuan, you can’t use your power anymore. You really can’t, or you’ll die.”

Yan Liuyuan looked at Xiaoyu quietly and could only let out a sigh. The person he could not let go of the most was still Xiaoyu. He regarded Li Xiaoyu as his own sister.

But at this moment, the Wolf King suddenly howled at the sky.

Then it turned around and headed towards the enemy with the rest of the wolf pack following slowly behind it.

Yan Liuyuan called out to it twice, but the Wolf King did not turn around.

The silvery wolves picked up their pace, running faster and faster, as the wind brushed through their fur. It was a really dazzling sight to witness.

P5092 said calmly, “Continue with the evacuation. Keep moving!”

Suddenly, Ren Xiaosu summoned the steam locomotive and headed towards Fortress 178 alone at full speed.

The soldiers of the 1st Military Corps were stunned. What was going on? Why did the future commander leave by himself when he heard that the enemy was gaining on them? Was he trying to escape or was it something else?

The steam locomotive swept up a huge gust of wind in the wilderness as it sped off into the distance.

No one knew what Ren Xiaosu was up to.

Wang Fengyuan watched as the steam locomotive left. He looked to Zhang Jinglin in surprise and said, “Commander, this…”

Zhang Jinglin shook his head. “I don’t know what he’s planning either.”

As they continued retreating, discussions broke out within the 1st Military Corps. Everyone was wondering why the future commander had left by himself.

Some people speculated that the future commander might have other plans. However, there were no reinforcements at Fortress 178, so what could the future commander do even if he managed to get back to Fortress 178?

The steam locomotive was getting closer to Fortress 178 as it traveled at full speed. When the garrison troops on Fortress 178’s walls saw the train, they hurriedly shouted, “It’s Future Commander! Hurry up and open the city gate!”

The gate slowly opened, but Ren Xiaosu’s steam locomotive did not linger. It passed right through the city gate and drove towards the memorial square.

Coincidentally, it was 3 PM sharp, so the copper bell in the memorial square was struck three times. The sound of the bell was melodious with a sense of vicissitude.

When the Fortress 178 residents saw the steam locomotive, they instinctively made way for it. They saw the future commander sitting alone at the front of the train with a cold expression and not saying a word.

“It’s Future Commander. Why has he suddenly returned by himself?”

“The steam locomotive is headed towards the memorial square. Why is Future Commander going there?”

The steam locomotive came to an abrupt stop in front of the memorial square. More and more residents, who were unaware of what could be happening, chased after it out of curiosity and started gathering around the memorial square. Under everyone’s gaze, Ren Xiaosu jumped off the steam locomotive and strode over to the copper bell.

Ren Xiaosu looked at the copper bell and said, “When you all asked me how old I was, I answered that I was over 200 years old. Actually, I wasn’t joking at that time. Y’all might not believe it, but I’m really over 200 years old this year.”

“I’m the No. 001 Experimental. I fell into a coma due to cancer and a genetic mutation more than 200 years ago, and my father was Ren He, the founder of the Riders. So I’m a little older than all of you.

“I witnessed the most glorious era of human civilization. Almost everyone had food to eat, and the people all over the Earth lived and worked in peace, enjoying the brand-new era they were in. The Internet and technology at that time were so advanced that everything seemed better than what we have now.

“In this era, many people don’t even get to have a full meal. There aren’t any LCD televisions, and most people’s entertainment only consists of tuning in to the radio. The so-called lives of the rich aren’t even worth mentioning in my opinion, and no one has ever traveled to faraway places. Back then, it would only take a little less than a day to travel from one end of the world to the other.

“I’ve previously said not to let the sorrows of our era become our sorrows as well. That’s because I felt that this era has already completely decayed. But when I saw everyone sacrificing themselves one by one to fight for that glimmer of hope, I suddenly realized this era isn’t actually that bad. Absolute darkness can really nurture new hope.

“I don’t have great ambition. In the past, I always felt that it was good enough to have a simple place to call home. I wasn’t willing to be the future commander of the Northwest Army, nor did I want to take over as fortress commander of the Northwest Army. I kept getting the feeling that someone like me wasn’t suited to be a fortress commander.

“But if someone wants to take away this last glimmer of hope now, I would like to ask of y’all… the 270,000 pioneers of humanity lying under this copper bell, if you’re willing to become martyred spirits to fight back alongside me against the enemy.

“It might be a little unfair to ask y’all to become martyred spirits. After all, you’ve already done so much for the Northwest, but now you’re going to have to become a vassal of someone else’s power. Moreover, once y’all become martyred spirits, there’s the possibility of dying again. At that time, it will be eternal death, and you won’t ever get to read the newspapers again.”

According to Luo Lan, martyred spirits were not immortal. Once they suffered damage beyond their limits, they would dissipate.

This was also the reason Ren Xiaosu and Luo Lan always exercised restraint over this power.

However, Ren Xiaosu continued, “It’s just that I really want to show the AI what the pride of humanity is.”

Ren Xiaosu stood alone in the square and waited quietly for the 270,000 pioneers to respond.

At this moment, the residents outside the memorial square were also looking at Ren Xiaosu in surprise and wonder.

They did not know what was going on. All they knew was that after this future commander entered Fortress 178, he suddenly came to the memorial square and started rambling for some reason.

As they were too far away, they did not even know what Ren Xiaosu was saying. The Fortress 178 residents did not understand what Ren Xiaosu was doing.

But a moment later, a voice suddenly came from the center of the memorial square. “We are willing to join you.”

“We’re obligated to do our duty.”

“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

These voices were no longer only audible to Ren Xiaosu. Everyone else could hear them too.

A golden figure walked out from the center of the square. It was Commander Li, the most respected figure of the 270,000 martyred spirits.

Then a second, a third, the thousandth, the ten-thousandth, the hundred-thousandth…

Ren Xiaosu had initially thought that summoning 10,000 martyred spirits would be his limit. However, he did not expect there to be no limits to his power.

More and more golden martyred spirits appeared from under the copper bell, flooding the memorial square like a golden sea. Eventually, the memorial square could not hold any more of them, and a large number of martyred spirits squeezed the residents out onto the next street.

The residents did not know what was happening, nor did they know where these golden figures had come from.

At this moment, a young-looking martyred spirit suddenly said to a woman in her thirties, “Jellybean…”

The woman stared blankly at the young soldier in front of her. He looked exceptionally handsome in the Northwest Army’s standard-issue military uniform. She had seen her hero, her father, in photos more than once before.

17 years ago, just before she headed out to school, her father stuffed a piece of candy in her hand and told her he was going to be away for some time.

In the end, he left for 17 years and never came back again.

When she was younger, she used to hate him a lot. But when she grew up, her hatred faded. That was because her husband was also a soldier in the Northwest Army.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in front of her, the woman immediately teared up. She finally understood what was happening at this moment.

On the other side, a middle-aged man in his forties looked at a young martyred spirit in front of him and wondered, “Fang Yuan?”

The martyred spirit named Fang Yuan suddenly turned around and looked at him. After trying to recognize him for half a minute, he asked hesitantly, “Lin Ke?”

The 40-year-old Lin Ke suddenly burst into tears. “You’ve come back to life. I’ve had nightmares every day for the past 17 years. I dreamed that I didn’t get transferred out of the outpost on the day that war started. I dreamed that I perished in battle along with you all!”

Fang Yuan grinned and said, “Well, that’s gotta be fucking hard on you.”

Gradually, everyone realized what was happening.

The future commander, who was standing in the middle of the memorial square, was reviving all of the former martyrs of the Northwest Army!

“The martyrs of the Northwest Army have all been resurrected.”

“The martyrs are going to save Fortress 178 with Future Commander!”

Loud cheers erupted outside the memorial square. Almost everyone had the same expression on their faces as tears of excitement welled up in their eyes.

The martyrs who had sacrificed their lives for the Northwest had returned to life.

Ren Xiaosu could feel his adrenaline rushing again.

He turned around and headed out of Fortress 178 with all the golden martyred spirits following behind him.

A martyred spirit at the back shouted to the residents, “Does anyone know Liu Xu living at Weizi Road? Let him know his old man has returned and is heading out into battle against the enemy.”

Some of the martyred spirits even muttered, “I initially thought this kid would be easy to deal with, but it turns out he’s actually a 200-year-old prehistoric monster. We’ve fucking encountered an old ancestor this time!”

“Since we’ve become martyred spirits now, can we beat him up after the war is over? That guy really annoyed us quite a bit….”

“Yes, we must not let what he did to us go!”

Ren Xiaosu was not listening to the martyred spirits’ chatter behind him. His pace got faster and faster until he started running.

The golden torrent of martyred spirits followed behind him and made their way out of the city, charging in the direction of the enemy.

This was the first time Ren Xiaosu had used the power of the Martyr’s Palace and gained his own martyred spirits. Although the physical fitness of Luo Lan’s martyred spirits had increased to a certain extent, there was still a limit to how powerful they became. They were only around 1.5 times stronger than before since Luo Lan wasn’t actually that strong either.

But Ren Xiaosu was different. He was much stronger than Luo Lan to begin with.

When the martyred spirits felt their brand-new bodies, they were filled with strength. This was a powerful feeling they had never experienced before. Almost all of them felt like their strength had increased threefold.

This was a group of 270,000 T3 combat troops, and they even used to be the bravest warriors in the history of the Northwest Army.

Ren Xiaosu sprinted madly at the front. Looking down from above, the golden torrent behind him exuded a majestic presence.

It was full of killing intent.

———————————–

A message from weirdo and Legge:

Thank you all for being such patient readers in this tale of Ren Xiaosu. It has been fun translating and reading your comments, and I hope the quality was up to expectations. Every word chosen, and every character’s motivations were analyzed to reconcile possible “out of character” behavior. It is my belief that translations should bring across the author’s intended message in its most original form.

I know I took a long time clearing up at the end, but I know you’ll understand. Yes, we’re really reaching the end. My thoughts are that The Speaking Pork Trotter had planned out the story very well, and most side characters were not forgotten. Their backstories also endeared to me as I translated their parts. My personal favorite has to be P5092, depicting how everyone has two sides to them. Sometimes, you just can’t judge a person if you don’t understand their motivations. Who can forget Hu Xiaobai and Wang Yuexi, two side characters who aren’t extraordinary in strength but made a difference in the Prosperous Northwest goal. Zero’s story affected me pretty deeply as well.