Chapter 318: The Rising Tides of Disaster

He ignored the pleading gazes cast his way.

Yenir felt a tinge of irritation bubbling inside him.

Still, he knew deep down that there was no real one to blame.

From now on, the sea beasts emerging would not be like the disasters of the past. Moreover, the Huaxia Battle Zone had barely encountered genuine deep-sea monsters during the previous apocalypse. The earlier calamities, at best, were swarms of nearshore mutant creatures—a far cry from what lay ahead.

Nearshore sea beasts were mostly arthropod-like or deformed fish, small in size and not particularly strong. Their danger, however, lay in their sheer numbers.

In contrast, the deep-sea mutants were colossal, primarily composed of true deep-sea creatures.

Not only did they possess formidable defenses, but almost each one had evolved a natural protective shield, as if endowed with an inherent pressure-resistant structure.

To defeat these monsters, there were only two strategies.

One: deploy the entire army to gradually deplete their spirit energy until they wither away. Compared to the terrestrial mutants, the sea beasts were relatively slow—a minor exploitable weakness, provided someone could stand in front of them.

Two: send in an Awakener superior to the sea beasts—a direct assault to shatter their defenses and finish them off!

Having never encountered such deep-sea monsters before, it was only natural that the Military had misjudged the situation.

As for those who had ignored his orders…

Yenir let out a bitter laugh.

Once disaster erupted, he had grown accustomed to reverting to his old commander mindset. In his previous life, every order he issued was obeyed without question—such defiance simply never occurred.

In his habitual oversight, he had forgotten to emphasize the severity of the situation or even to supervise the operations himself.

All these factors had led to the current predicament.

“Let all high-rank members bleed out! Each team, extract a batch of advanced sea beasts!”

“Forget about holding the line!”

“Low-rank units, operate in groups of thousands as independent squads. After two hours, whoever is left alive is who we salvage! Evacuate them from the sea zone!”

Suppressing his mounting frustration, Yenir issued another set of orders.

There was no other choice.

At this point, the only option was to use all Awakeners as bait, spreading them along the coastline.

For any mutant or monster, the blood of an Awakener was an irresistible lure.

Of course, luring them in with blood would only drive the monsters into a more frenzied state, inflicting even greater losses.

Listening to Yenir’s plan, the Military Awakeners exchanged shocked glances.

Attract them with bleeding?

He understood the logic, but he also realized that this method would spell endless pursuit by the sea beasts for the high-rank members…

Under siege and forced to maintain distance, disasters were bound to happen!

Yet, by now, they could not conceive of a better alternative.

Still, one question nagged at him.

“Evacuate from the sea zone? What does that even mean!?”

“Yenir, do you mean our troops cannot retreat via the rear on land!?”

“If they retreat by sea, what about the low-rank units? They simply can’t traverse the ocean!”

In response to the Military Awakeners’ queries, Yenir shot him a cold, blank look.

“There’s no time.”

“Originally, after dispersal, we still had time to set the area ablaze for a retreat.”

“At this pace, to ignite a barrier to block the sea beasts from entering the East Sea Safe Zone, we have to act preemptively!”

“What? Are you planning to have our troops retreat through a sea of fire?”

Yenir quickly zoomed in on the map before saying no more.

At this stage, he had no choice but to prepare for the worst.

Once the bleeding lure was set, the troops couldn’t retreat, for the sea beasts would relentlessly pursue them—the deeper they fell back, the greater the danger!

Thus, the only solution was to use the army as a sacrificial pawn! Create a fire barrier in advance to incinerate every trace of human presence!

As for the Military caught between the flames and monsters, they could only withdraw via the sea.

As for how many would survive…

Yenir remained unmoved, no longer willing to dwell on that question.

Continuous errors and miscalculations inevitably demanded a price!

Perhaps this tragic sacrifice would finally serve as a wake-up call for the Military!

With that thought, Yenir stopped wasting words and headed straight for the next Air Raid Shelter.

Along the way, he contacted several Military Regions he had ordered to prepare fuel.

The originally allotted two-hour window was now hopelessly short.

He needed to ignite the East Sea in just one hour!

Just as Yenir initiated his communication, a series of angry roars from the ground caught his attention.

Inside a building, four Awakeners emerged from the underground defense, chasing after a Middle-Aged Man while shouting furiously.

“Catch him!”

“Don’t let him escape!”

In sheer panic, he looked back.

A Middle-Aged Man, clad in a white lab coat, sprinted desperately on the streets, his face etched with despair as a Burly Man closed in.

Even though he was clearly about to be caught, he clutched a heavy Iron Box as if its contents were more precious than his own life.

In the midst of the fleeing crowd, these defiant figures stood out starkly.

……………..