Chapter 75: Battle for the City Wall

Push forward! Everyone, keep pushing!

Amid the deafening explosions, orders rang out through the signalmen.

Every time a machine gunner at the firing port was violently killed by the shockwaves, soldiers in reserve surged forward. A young soldier grabbed the scalding machine gun and roared as he opened fire. Under the relentless undead assault, the corpse horde quickly formed a grim human ladder beneath the city.

Before they could break the ladder, swarming zombies reached out with their rotting hands and jerked down the nearest soldier. Amid screams, they devoured him piece by piece.

The battle was brutal; soon the first line of defense teetered on the edge.

Watching the zombies scale the wall, every eye blazed red. After fighting this long, they had long forgotten what fear felt like.

With no retreat possible, the ground beneath them was their final barrier.

With no time to reload, many soldiers simply drew their knives and fought tooth and nail with the monsters, using every means at their disposal.

Awakened Squad, push forward! Don’t let those monsters breach the wall!

At the rear of the line, squad commanders—supposed to be directing from the back—fixed their gaze on several giant mutants advancing.

Seeing their soldiers fall one after another, many officers, driven by a mix of sorrow and fury, charged ahead to try to plug the widening breach.

If these mutants reached the wall, the monsters could inflict catastrophic damage. With a single swing of their massive hands, entire groups of soldiers were reduced to a pool of mush.

Human life had become nothing more than a number—disposable fodder in an unrelenting war.

Boom! Boom-boom!

Human strength had its limits.

Under relentless attacks, breaches kept appearing along the defensive line.

Enduring a torrent of bullets and cannon fire, the mutants scaling the wall began devouring nearby soldiers. Without the Awakened to stop them, humans were as fragile as prey.

Kill!!

As if marching to their deaths, the Awakened soldiers from the rear roared as they charged the monsters.

In Yenir’s eyes, these soldiers—at most Second-Stage, with most barely at First-Stage—rushed toward doom like moths to a flame, undaunted by death.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A burst of bloody mist exploded.

Yet, before they could reach the front, the swiftest warriors were obliterated by the mutants before they even had a chance to strike.

There were no lone heroic rescues like in the movies. No matter their valor, even the bravest warriors fell silently in the face of harsh reality.

Using the path paved by fallen comrades, squads of lower-level Awakened soldiers scrambled up the mutants’ bodies like ants, launching desperate human-wave assaults against the creatures.

One group fell, and another took its place.

While Yenir was searching for equipment, he made an unexpected discovery: each time these awakened soldiers fell, they revived back in the camp. Like an unending swarm of ants, they rejoined the fight. Their cycle of rebirth allowed them to hold back the corpse tide with their very flesh.

The endlessly reviving warriors and the ceaseless zombies transformed the battlefield into a grinding mill of blood and flesh.

After a moment of reflection on the unique nature of the Ruins Battlefield, Yenir tapped into his high-level spirit perception and quickly detected a subtle system fluctuation.

“This must be it.”

Yet his emotions were stirred by the grim battle, and he couldn’t help but glance back at the soldiers still locked in combat.

His heart grew heavy.

Compared to his past life, this decades-old defensive battle was far more ruthless. In the Huaxia Battle Zone’s final hour, there were still batches of Third-Stage Awakened soldiers. Now, however, it was just ordinary people sacrificing their lives to buy time.

Taking a deep breath, Yenir turned and swiftly searched the trench without a second thought.

Seconds later, his eyes lit up as he discovered a necklace in a soil pit. Yet when he picked it up, he unexpectedly found a thin booklet, bound like a stack of letter paper, buried in the earth.

What is this?

Instinctively, he flipped it open, and several neat lines on the yellowed paper caught his eye.

(“June 7, 2033: The battalion commander appointed me as his clerk and brought the troops to Zhenjiang. I heard they were building the largest defensive line north of Guangxi, as the corpse tide from the south had already begun to move here.”)

(“July 15: The defensive line was erected swiftly, and everyone was confident they could hold back the advancing corpse tide. Though grueling and exhausting, as long as we held here, perhaps the Safe Zone we built wouldn’t be abandoned? We’ve already been on the run for too long…”)

(“July 17: I heard the latest corpse tide had crossed Zhenjiang, but a unit has been sent to intercept it. It’s a pity I’m not awakened, or I could have joined in. I must say, the new recruits from Lianshan are incredibly hardy. These boys dug trenches with remarkable efficiency—although I hardly understood their banter, it did lead to many amusing moments.”)

(“July 19: The battalion commander’s mood seemed sour; I don’t know who had upset him. Today, the new recruits from Lianshan taught me much of their way of speaking. It turns out most of the soldiers on this defensive line were locals. I felt like an outsider. They say this is their home.”)

(“July 20: Ah Yan told me that the girl he fancies is just behind the Safe Zone. This kid is only 17 and already thinking of marriage. Apparently, people in his area tie the knot very early.”)

(“July 21: News from the front arrived. The first intercepting unit seems to have failed. A few lads from Battalion 6 came by, saying they wanted to send a letter home. I suppose they must have learned something.”)

(“July 23: It seems orders have come from above. Early this morning, a mobilization meeting was held and many tanks from the Military Region were brought in. I heard that numerous awakened soldiers are being redeployed. Things look grim; many have begun writing letters. I hope… we can win.”)

(“July 24: The battalion commander pulled me aside and handed me a letter. He said that if the battle turned against us, I, as a civilian officer, would be allowed to leave with the last unit.”)

(“July 25: The first wave of the corpse tide launched its attack. I never imagined everything would unfold so quickly. Ah Yan is dead— we couldn’t even recover his body. While the initial wave was wiped out, I know this is only the beginning.”)

(“July 26: In the morning, the battalion commander asked me to find out if any of my brothers had words they wanted to leave behind. By the afternoon, he was dead. Before his final moments, I didn’t even get to ask his last words. It all felt so unreal…”)

(“The letters were all sent back, yet I didn’t follow. Although I’ve always considered myself quite death-fearing, this time, I… just don’t want to leave. If I go, I lose my home.”)

(“July 27: I think my end is near. I’ve seen them. We have nowhere to retreat.”)

(“In these final moments, I asked many if they had anything to say. I don’t know how many will make it home, but I felt there was something that needed to be expressed. I never expected these newly recruited soldiers—so fond of writing letters—to sum it all up in just one sentence.”)

As if thrown back in time, staring at the dark red stains seeping through the final page, Yenir fell silent.

“Rustle”

He carefully turned the page.

A few crooked lines filled the last page—the final words left by those young soldiers.

Take me home…

Bring me home!!