Seeing me carry Long Xi back, the Dragon Girl burst into tears. "Brother, are you alright? They said you were captured, I was so worried about you."

Long Xi, having already surveyed the situation at Dragon Mountain City from the air, could no longer attend to his sister's words. He slid off my back, stood on the parapet, and glared down at the sea of fire below, tears tracing paths through the grime on his face.

Elena clung tightly to my arm, unable to bear this war where life held less value than an ant. Her body trembled, her lips turning blue. "Zhao Qian, Dragon Mountain City is about to fall—what do we do?"

Looking at the Dragon Girl standing beside Long Xi, I replied, "What do we do? I don't know either. When it's time to go, I’ll get you out. As for what comes next, no one can predict. We'll take it one step at a time."

Long Xi suddenly snapped, violently snatching a laser rifle from a nearby soldier and charging down from the city wall. The Dragon Girl cried out and rushed after him. Elena leaped onto my back. "Hurry and follow the Dragon Girl, don't let anything happen to her."

I knew the Dragon Girl was deeply concerned for her brother’s safety. Though a flicker of jealousy pricked me, I followed them closely. Soon, the four of us plunged into the enemy ranks, firing wildly. Whoosh! A sphere—black, foul-smelling, and emitting a faint light—suddenly plummeted onto the ground inside the inner city. A dozen soldiers busy filling sandbags to plug a breach in the city wall were directly hit. Splash! A cloud of white vapor erupted, and in moments, a dozen living men were reduced to piles of white bone.

I cursed inwardly. Kang Hui's giant insects had arrived. This time, Tai Hao was truly facing annihilation! Whoosh! Another glob of acid liquid shot in. The Dragon Girl and Long Xi were directly beneath it. Aghast, I sheathed my laser sword onto my waist, darted forward, scooped up both the Dragon Girl and Long Xi, and fled.

Smack! Although the acid liquid missed a direct hit on anyone, the splatter upon impact injured scores of people. Their skin was perforated with burned-through holes, eerily similar to wounds inflicted by laser weaponry.

Boom, boom, boom! Large sections of the city wall collapsed. Giant stones were hurled into the inner city like rain, smashing buildings into unrecognizable rubble, as if they were dough being kneaded. After several volleys devastated the wall, the bombardment shifted deeper into the city center. Following the crumbling fortifications, armored tanks crawled onto the battlements, their muzzles spitting fire that sent flesh flying. Yet, all the laser weapons proved useless against this armor, leaving the Tai Hao soldiers utterly defenseless.

Blood streamed from Long Xi’s mouth. The Dragon Girl hugged him tightly in terror. "Brother! Brother! Don't scare me. You have to take care of yourself. As long as we are alive, we can rebuild even if we lose Dragon Mountain City. You are my only family. Please don't frighten me, okay?"

"Rebuild? Impossible, impossible! The rebel forces are too massive; they’ve been meticulously plotting against our Long family for hundreds of years. Everything is over now. I have failed the ancestors of the Long family; I am a great criminal to our name. Sister, go with the Dragon Envoy—go as far as you can. As the ruler of this nation, I must stay and share the fate of my people!"

"No! Brother, I won't leave. I want to stay with you. I am also a descendant of the Long family, and our family never produces cowards. I will stay by your side."

Elena and I couldn't understand what the siblings were saying. Meanwhile, the rebels swarmed in along the circular wall. Seeing the soldiers dwindling beside me and the enemy’s lasers and artillery growing fiercer, death seemed imminent with every passing moment. Elena squirmed desperately on my back.

Long Xi suddenly ignored the stray laser beams and positioned himself at the edge of the wall, shouting down at the exhausted soldiers still fighting below. A laser beam struck his thigh, but he paid it no mind, leaning on the wall to continue speaking. The resistance, which had been nearly extinguished, suddenly seemed injected with adrenaline upon hearing Long Xi's resonant voice.

When the tanks couldn't be pierced, people ripped open hatches and fought the drivers hand-to-hand. When the walls fell and defense lines vanished, they retreated into the inner city structures and kept firing. The UFOs overhead, the giant locusts, and the deadly sulfuric acid were treated as if they didn't exist. When one person fell, two stepped up to take their place; bodies piled up, meters deep.

I spoke to Elena clinging to my back. "Perhaps we truly shouldn't have gotten involved in this war, but it's too late to say anything now. Take care of yourself. If I don't return, you must find a way to get the Dragon Girl out of Dragon Mountain City, and then seek out my three friends. Two of them are very fat—one named Zhu Da and the other Cai Bao’er. The last one is cold and doesn't talk much; his name is Xia Huren. Those three will take you back. Tell my wife I love her and them always."

Elena wrapped her arms around my waist, refusing to let go. "What are you doing, Zhao Qian! I won't let you go."

I shook off Elena’s hand. "There are things a man must do sometimes; you women wouldn't understand. Remember what I said. Don't worry; I won't die easily."

With that, I ignored Elena's pleas and leaped off the city wall. "You bastards! Your uncle Zhao has arrived! Let you taste the might of a true instrument of destruction!"

The most troublesome foe for the defending soldiers right now were those artillery tanks. I dove directly into the cluster of tanks, swinging my arms left and right as if crushing garlic. One punch flattened a tank into a crumpled ball. Combined with my extreme speed, in less than half an hour, not a single operable, firing tank remained in the inner or outer city.

The remaining citizens and soldiers of Dragon Mountain City, still fighting desperately, began calling out towards my location. I didn't understand their words, but I knew that in their eyes, I was now a true god, akin to how primitives might gaze upon a UFO—a look of pure reverence.

However, the tanks weren't the most lethal threat; it was the ceaseless barrage of massive stones and acid liquid falling from above. The launch sites for both weapons were heavily encircled by enemy forces. The only way to destroy them was to fight our way into the main rebel camp. Looking at these prehistoric people who trusted me so implicitly, I knew I couldn't refuse their unspoken request.

With a flash of my laser sword, I leaped down into the inner city and sprinted toward the siege weaponry arrayed across the open ground outside. There were ten formations of rock-throwers, each heavily guarded. I charged into the first formation, and in one sweep, I destroyed over a hundred machines. The cavalry and infantry guarding them immediately swarmed me. Simultaneously, thousands of giant locusts converged overhead, weaving an inescapable net. To destroy the remaining rock-throwers and giant insects, I had to eliminate them all first!

Kill! My eyes were already bloodshot; I knew no mercy. Watching heaps of corpses pile up beneath my attacks, a feeling of savage exhilaration surged through me. The more I killed, the redder my eyes became. After furiously dismantling five rock-thrower formations, I couldn't help but laugh wildly at the sky.

No one came forward to flatter me by asking, "General, why do you laugh?" because I was the only one left fighting on my side on the entire battlefield. I sprang onto the back of a giant locust, kicking the clone off, and surveyed the scene: five rock-thrower formations remained, along with ten giant insect formations. What nearly made me fall was that two of the rock-thrower formations I had just destroyed were already being re-manned with new machines, resuming their violent bombardment of the inner city.

Laser fire rained down upon me like pellets. I roared and plunged back into the fray. Come on! I’ll kill as many as you send! Do you think I, Zhao Qian, would be intimidated by these prehistoric people from six thousand years ago?

I had no idea what the situation was inside the city walls, nor if Elena and the Dragon Girl were safe. I fought until dawn broke in the east, my limbs numb, my hand gripping the laser sword trembling.

After a night of ceaseless fighting, I had slain no fewer than 300,000 men! As I killed, they poured in fresh forces; it seemed cloning these replicants cost nothing. Their sole objective was to conquer Dragon Mountain City. However, by interfering, I’d made the rock-throwers and giant insects less effective than the UFOs and giant locusts in the sky. From my vantage point, resistance still flickered within Dragon Mountain City; it seemed the rebels had not yet fully occupied the inner core.

Seeing two rock-thrower formations reignite their firing, I realized my efforts had been wasted again. I considered capturing the leader first, but upon searching, these clones and beastmen had no discernible command structure. They seemed to operate on a single protocol: Attack the city!

I returned to the spot where I’d seen the command post, but it was deserted. I couldn't ascertain where they had moved. I decided to use the little strength I had left to check on Elena and the Dragon Girl; after all, they were my greatest concern.

Returning to the inner city, I found that the defenders still held the summit of Dragon Mountain. Everyone who saw me saluted. Soon, someone escorted me to Long Xi’s location, where the Dragon Girl and Elena indeed were.

Seeing them, my spirit relaxed, and I collapsed onto the ground with a thud. The two women rushed over, weeping, "Zhao Qian! Dragon Envoy!"

I managed a weak smile. "I told you I wouldn't die easily. Losing my clothes doesn't matter; no one is laughing anyway. Fortunately, I wasn't wounded—I'm just completely drained of strength. I'm afraid I can't get you two out this time."

Long Xi dropped to his knees before me and solemnly bowed three times. I tried to reach out and help him, but my body was too weak to obey. The Dragon Girl interjected, "Let my brother thank you properly. If you hadn't repelled the tank cluster last night and stopped the siege weapons from operating effectively, Dragon Mountain City would likely be ruins by now."

I thought to myself, Last night, we were fortunate enough not to become ruins, but today it seems we will be.

As Long Xi finished his obeisance, the surrounding soldiers and citizens of Dragon Mountain City also bowed to me with deep piety. This made me feel that my grueling efforts had not been entirely in vain; at least I received some psychological comfort.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Suddenly, a series of low-powered laser beams shot down from the sky, causing immediate, heavy casualties among the troops on the ground.

I looked up—it was the fleet of UFOs! They were attacking again! I struggled to stand. "I'll go eliminate them!"

Elena held me back. "You can't go! You are exhausted like this. Fighting again will cost you your life!"

I leaped into the air with all my might. "If I don't go, everyone will die!"

Damn it, I really was spent. This was the second time this had happened, just like when my power abruptly vanished above Zhou Ni's fish pond. Last time, my body evolved, significantly improving my resilience and strength. Could it be that by exhausting myself completely, my body instinctively knew it needed to evolve again to adapt to the environment? This was terrible timing—was it trying to kill me?

Thud! I crashed back to the ground from the air. The Dragon Girl and Elena rushed to cradle me, crying, "Zhao Qian! How are you? Are you alright? If you must die, we all die together."

My eyelids felt impossibly heavy. I figured I’d be unconscious for another full day this time. But what about the battle outside? What to do? I forced my eyes open and asked myself: If only they could give me one more hour to destroy those UFOs.

At this critical juncture, fresh disorder erupted among the defenders. I forced myself upright and looked down the mountain slope. I saw columns of clones advancing, carrying shields. Those shields must have been made of the same material as the tanks, capable of blocking intense heat. All the defenders on the mountain only had laser rifles, rendering them useless against this advance for the moment. All the loose stones on the peak had already been thrown down.

Anxiety surged through me, and Pfft! I spat a mouthful of blood. This truly terrified the two women, who hugged me tightly, tears streaming down their faces. I looked up at the heavens and asked inwardly, Surely the heavens don't intend for Zhao Qian to die here today!

Why was the sky darkening again? Were the giant locust forces attacking simultaneously? I strained my eyes. Since my vision was better than everyone else's, I saw why the sky was darkening before anyone else did. This time, it wasn't giant locusts, but large birds! Perhaps not exactly birds; they looked more like ancient pterosaurs. But pterosaurs had been extinct for over sixty million years. Could this be another one of Kang Hui’s cloned products? Damn those bastards for pushing too hard! I’m practically dead, and they’re still deploying reinforcements. Does Dragon Mountain Peak, with its small resistance force, warrant deploying tens of thousands of these monsters?

These monstrous birds had wingspans of ten meters. They glided with incredible speed, quickly moving from the 'horizon' to hover above us. Elena and the Dragon Girl momentarily forgot my existence, staring fixedly at the creatures in the sky.

Whoosh! Balls of flame erupted from the mouths of the winged beasts, striking the UFOs one by one. They...

They were loyal! The rebels were treacherous; therefore, those attacking the rebels must be loyal. Loyal men, loyal birds.

Elena jumped up. "They—they are here to help us! We are saved! Dragon Girl, is this some hidden force of yours? Why did you wait until now to send aid? You nearly scared us to death!"

The Dragon Girl blinked. "I don't even know what these things are!"

Long Xi also looked bewildered. All eyes turned to me. I shook my head. Forget it—I’m nearly 'dead'; I have no idea what they are either.

The joy of the group lasted only a moment before they realized the situation was dire. These pterosaur-like creatures—let’s call them Pterosaurs—though their firepower was fierce and highly effective against the giant locusts trailing the UFOs (burning them off in swathes), they were useless against the UFOs. The UFOs, impervious to laser fire, were clearly unfazed by fire. They unleashed powerful laser beams, actually shooting the Pterosaurs down from the sky, one by one.

Everyone on the ground, including me, was filled with anxiety. Suddenly, two thunderous roars echoed from the sky. "I’ll curse their ancestors eighteen generations deep! How dare they hurt my great birds! Hand me the bronze hammers, you fools! Give these grandsons a taste of something good!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Two giant bronze hammers suddenly flew from the backs of two large birds. The hammers struck the UFOs directly. Boom! With a loud explosion, two UFOs were punctured with huge holes and fell like kites with cut strings. Surprisingly, chains were attached to the tails of the hammers. The wielder, successful in the first strike, recalled the hammers and immediately aimed at the next UFO.

At that moment, a fifteen-meter-long giant bird executed a dive-bomb, plunging into the UFO cluster. It weaved left and right, skimming rapidly past the front of each UFO. Those watching on the ground saw a person standing atop it! This individual, daring and skilled, held something unknown in his hand. He tossed an object onto a UFO, and it stuck to the outer hull without falling off. Soon, hundreds of nearby UFOs were coated.

The voice that shouted about the bronze hammers sounded again. "Everyone, cover your ears! Fire the cannons!"

Boom, boom, boom... Continuous explosions erupted from the UFO cluster in mid-air. It turned out the objects stuck onto the hulls were high explosives. Even if the UFO shells could withstand explosions, the internal components couldn't endure such violent shocks. With a series of crashes, they plummeted to the ground, destroyed.

The UFO cluster was quickly cleared. Tens of thousands of Pterosaurs continued to spray fire. The remaining giant locusts burned like roasting pigs and fell from the sky. Some, with fire trailing from their wings, even ignited the shield soldiers who had successfully climbed onto the summit of Dragon Mountain.

Once the sky was cleared of locusts by fire, the flames immediately rushed toward the besieging rebel army. Instantly, the base of Dragon Mountain was engulfed in a sea of fire, the smell of roasting human flesh pervasive everywhere.

The flames quickly reached the main rebel camp. The rock-throwers, made of wood, ignited instantly. Although the acid and plasma spewed by the giant insects downed quite a few Pterosaurs, thousands more quickly replaced them. Once engulfed in fire, the giant insects were also ablaze and could no longer spew their 'filth.'

Whoosh! Hit by the massive attack, the rebels recoiled like a tide surging outward. But what no one expected was that two-meter-tall giants covered in long hair began leaping down from the backs of the Pterosaurs. They wielded huge clubs, possessed astonishing strength, and cracked open the skulls of anyone they met. The millions of rebels were swiftly routed by a mere tens of thousands of these giants, leaving behind a scene of sticky brain matter everywhere.

On the summit of Dragon Mountain, no rebels remained. Three enormous Pterosaurs circled a few times before descending. Three figures jumped down from their backs. "Hey, Commander Zhao, why are there women wherever you go? Wow, look at these fairies!"

My maternal ancestor! I'm exhausted. I'll just sleep first.