71: Chapter 71 That was... a door?

"Ah—!!"

Timid girls screamed, and several boys desperately raised the chairs in their hands, but in front of the banshee's sharp claws, these were flimsier than paper.

The banshee let out an excited hiss and lunged with its limbs, its body turning into an afterimage as it pounced straight at Amy, who was closest to the window.

Amy closed her eyes in despair. She could even smell the rotting stench of a corpse from the banshee's mouth.

Just one second.

In just one second, her neck would be bitten through.

*Chii!*

A dull thud abruptly exploded in her ears.

There was no pain.

Amy only felt some warm, viscous liquid splash onto her face.

She opened her eyes tremblingly.

She saw the man-eating banshee from a moment ago still maintaining its pouncing posture, but its head... was gone.

Like a rotten watermelon smashed by a heavy hammer, everything above the neck was empty. Only half of its body slid to Amy's feet by inertia, twitched twice, and then stopped moving.

"Who taught you to close your eyes when you're in danger?"

A somewhat gruff voice sounded outside the window.

Amy and her classmates looked up blankly.

The gray sky outside the window was now dyed bright red by a crimson glow.

A dark-complexioned man over two meters tall, with translucent muscles and wearing magnificent golden armor, was floating in the Void Realm outside the window.

He wasn't holding a gun, but golden energy spears hovered in the air behind him.

Zhao Tiezhu.

This company commander, who had once died in battle on the border, didn't look like a proper soldier at all right now. Instead, he looked like a bandit leader who had just returned from a victory to collect protection fees.

He floated into the room and kicked the headless banshee's corpse aside with his foot.

"Tsk, this monster is so ugly; closing your eyes isn't actually a bad idea."

Zhao Tiezhu glanced at the terrified students, and on his fierce-looking dark face, he forced what he thought was a kind smile:

"Uh... who speaks Chinese? Tell everyone not to be afraid. Pack up and follow us; there's someone outside giving out bread and ham sausages."

Looking at this golden-armored weirdo floating in mid-air and speaking words she couldn't understand, Amy suddenly felt that he was probably the most handsome, coolest man she had ever seen in her life.

Ten thousand times more handsome than the oppas in idol dramas.

Not knowing where she got the courage, she suddenly asked loudly, "Are you an angel?"

Zhao Tiezhu was stunned. He understood the word "angel," so he laughed heartily. "Angel? Those winged birdmen aren't as good at fighting as I am. Remember, I am Zhao Tiezhu of the Vanguard Camp, Dragon Summer Heroic Spirit Legion!"

As his voice fell, a massive roar finally reached the area.

Amy rushed to the broken window and looked down.

The campus playground, once occupied by monsters, was now filled with dark green armored vehicles. Countless Dragon Summer soldiers in exoskeleton armor were rapidly establishing a defensive line. The glowing red muzzles of their guns became the most reassuring beacons in this apocalypse.

At this moment, the vast psychological void created by the collapse of her country and being abandoned by the world was instantly filled with a certain fanatical emotion.

...

A bunker in the presidential palace of a small country.

As a head of state, Basong had no dignity left to speak of.

He sat slumped on an expensive Persian carpet, his Browning pistol already loaded, the muzzle pressed against his temple.

Outside the door, his guards had all been killed. Mutated Lizardmen were battering the final blast door.

"To think that I, Basong, with all my fame, would end up dying in this rat hole."

He gave a tragic laugh, his finger slowly pulling the trigger.

Since no international rescue was coming, he would end it himself; it was more dignified than being devoured by monsters.

Just as he was about to pull it.

*Dong!*

The ceiling above suddenly collapsed.

It wasn't blown up; it was stomped down by some terrifying force.

Several huge chunks of concrete smashed onto the floor, kicking up clouds of dust.

In the dust, a four-meter-tall "Xingtian" heavy power armor, painted in dark green and made in Dragon Summer, landed with a crash accompanied by the hiss of the hydraulic System.

The metal body, full of violent aesthetics, directly crushed the lizardman leader who had been slamming against the door.

The armor's visor opened, revealing a bearded face wearing goggles—it was a colonel from a Mechanized Division.

He glanced at the dazed Basong, whose gun was still raised, frowned, and shouted in somewhat broken English:

“Hey！Put down the gun！”

Then, seemingly finding it too much effort to speak a foreign language, he switched back to Chinese and shouted into his communicator: "Reporting to command, Target Number Three found. Still alive, currently holding a gun to his head trying to commit suicide. Tsk, his mental fortitude is lacking; how's he going to hang with us in the future?"

Although Basong couldn't understand Chinese, he understood the thumbs-up the bearded colonel gave him—which was, of course, upside down.

Immediately after, the colonel waved his hand. "Take him away! Stuff him into Vehicle Number Two. Remember to buckle his seatbelt; the road is a bit bumpy."

...

Such scenes were playing out all over the world.

This wasn't a war; it was a one-sided crushing, a redemption that had arrived far too late.

Dragon Summer Supreme Command, Operations Hall.

Su Yun sat in a chair, eating a bag of potato chips with a "crunch, crunch" sound while staring at the massive holographic map in front of him.

As time passed, the surrounding areas that were once pitch black were being lit up at an incredible speed.

Each red dot represented a squad; each trail of Beacon Smoke represented an area covered by "WIFI."

Those desperate situations and dungeons that had left other nations helpless were as fragile as paper in front of the Dragon Summer army, which was bolstered by three major cheats: "Infinite Mana," "Damage Sharing," and "Full Map Vision."

"Report! The Eastern Front has advanced three hundred kilometers! Over thirty thousand refugees rescued!"

"Report! The Southern Front's Falcon Legion has taken control of the entire peninsula! Currently clearing out residual monsters!"

"Report! The Northern Front's Mechanized Division encountered a small zombie tide and has... has resolved it! Time taken: three minutes!"

Reports of victory flew in like snowflakes.

Long Yi, standing before the command console, watched the ever-expanding red territory and took a deep breath, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemingly smoothing out.

And it didn't stop there.

As the Dragon Summer army advanced, the survivor settlements of neighboring countries that were trying to maintain some independence, and even the remnants of government forces, completely lost their composure upon seeing the "physical immunity and dimensional strike" effects of the Heroic Spirit Legion, as well as the "Crimson Gold Beacon Smoke" that looked like dragons.

They swung to another extreme.

Instead of resisting, they blocked the Dragon Summer army's path in organized formations.

For what?

To block the way? No.

Holding homemade signs and even digging out long-discarded Chinese dictionaries, they shouted for "immediate integration."

What's more, several former members of parliament from neighboring countries sent clear-text telegrams through public channels, requesting that Dragon Summer immediately take over administrative power in their regions, stating that if Dragon Summer didn't agree, they would simply refuse to leave the range of the Beacon Smoke.

After all, as long as they stood under that smoke, monsters didn't dare approach, and even their arthritis stopped hurting. Who could resist that?

"They say they don't need autonomy or to keep their organizational structure; they just want a temporary Dragon Summer ID card so they can sleep inside that golden circle," Long Yi said with emotion. "This is the will of the people. When survival becomes a luxury, so-called borders and dignity are worthless in the face of staying alive."

Thus, he understood it was time.

Turning to face the row of clerical staff behind him who were frantically taking notes, Long Yi said in a deep voice:

"Draft a telegram."

"Dragon Summer's Proposal No. 1 Regarding a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind."

"In view of the current collapse of global order and to protect the sparks of human civilization, Dragon Summer has decided that, effective immediately, a 'referendum' will be launched in all liberated areas."

"This is not annexation; it is returning home."

"Those willing to join the Dragon Summer Federation will have their pasts forgiven, be treated equally, enjoy the rights of citizens, and receive the protection of Shenzhou. Those unwilling will be given travel expenses and politely escorted out—provided they can find a place other than Dragon Summer where humans can still survive."

This wasn't just an open scheme; it was a blatant dimensional strike.

In this world where man-eating monsters filled the streets, the multiple-choice question provided by Dragon Summer had only one correct answer.

Who would refuse a country that could turn toxic gas into green rain, mow down monsters like grass, and give you chocolate and hot water in the apocalypse?

However.

Just as the entire command center was immersed in the joy of victory and survivors worldwide were cheering for Dragon Summer...

Su Yun's movement of eating potato chips suddenly stopped.

His eyes, which had been somewhat nonchalant, suddenly narrowed as his gaze locked onto a corner at the westernmost edge of the map.

It was the westernmost tip of Europe, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

That was the furthest distance the Heroic Spirit Vanguard Army had advanced so far.

Through the "Beacon Smoke" shared full-map vision, Su Yun saw an extremely bizarre scene through the eyes of a Heroic Spirit soldier standing on a coastal cliff.

There was no night there.

Nor were there any monsters.

Above the sea of clouds, which was as smooth as a mirror, permeated a layer of nearly stationary... Golden Dawn.

This light was holy to the extreme, yet it exuded a coldness and detachment that disregarded all living beings. Even the sound of waves hitting the reefs was swallowed by this ultimate purity.

What surprised Su Yun even more was that at the end of the radiance, something was faintly hovering.

It wasn't a mundane building.

But rather, it looked like a... massive door, constructed entirely of countless spiraling, intertwined halos and tens of thousands of pale wings?