A plea for recommendation votes~~~ Three updates tomorrow~~~ ... The city guard soldiers were startled when they saw the "General" insignia on Ye Chen's chest and snapped to attention, respectfully saluting: "Greetings, General.

The situation is this: these two only paid their entry fees, refusing to pay for the child, yet they tried to force their way into the city with him, and when warned, they attacked us." Ye Chen frowned slightly. Xu Tianguo, standing beside him, glared at the soldier, "We only have this much Ji Hua in total, and you want to charge for a child?

That's completely heartless!" The soldier spoke coldly, "She can join the army." "Join?" Xu Tianguo sneered, "If we join you, how will you treat us? It sounds nice to say 'join,' but put plainly, it means selling ourselves!" The soldier remained impassive, "These are military regulations.

If you have a problem with it, you don't have to come." Xu Tianguo roared, "Then give us back our Ji Hua, and we'll leave right now!" A killing intent flared in the soldier's eyes as he looked at them coldly, "Don't be presumptuous. I've already returned what you gave me; stop making trouble!" "Returned my ass!

You clearly wanted to pocket it!" Xu Tianguo's eyes turned red. That small amount of Ji Hua was earned after painstakingly hunting down more than a dozen zombies, only for the recipient to refuse to return it!

"You..." The soldier was furious but refrained from drawing his weapon, mindful of Ye Chen standing nearby, only stating coldly, "You had better leave, trash!" Ye Chen wrinkled his brow slightly, glanced at the soldier, then turned to look at Xu Tianguo and his companion. "If you don't mind, you can follow me.

It's not about selling yourselves; as long as you work for me, I can provide you with everything!" Xu Tianguo paused, looking at Ye Chen more intently, and frowned, "Why should I trust you?" Ye Chen dismissed it casually, "You two are penniless, and there's nothing valuable for me to extort from you. I need to move on.

If you're willing to follow, get in the vehicle." With that, he turned and walked away. Xu Tianguo was momentarily stunned.

He had expected some explanation but received this curt response, leaving him frozen, unsure whether to follow or deliberate further. "Let's go!" Huang Tianci, known as the "Golden Armored God," clapped him on the shoulder.

"This person doesn't look like a swindler, and we have nothing substantial for him to swindle anyway. An opportunity like this is rare if missed." Xu Tianguo offered a wry smile.

"Alright, let's take this gamble!" Huang Tianci smiled, took the little girl's hand, and the three headed toward the tank. They climbed in through the top hatch and immediately saw three or four people standing inside, all clad in camouflage uniforms, their eyes sharp, and their bodies strong and fit.

Ye Chen was at the forefront. "You've come?" Ye Chen turned, glancing at them with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

He had anticipated these two would follow, especially Huang Tianci, who fiercely protected his sister and would never allow her to suffer the slightest grievance, meaning he would never pass up this great chance! "To think that two prominent figures from my previous life, those who once dominated the world with unparalleled grace, were in such dire straits in the early days," Ye Chen mused inwardly, feeling quite pleased.

"Now, with these two, if I cultivate them properly, they can absolutely become the strongest pillar when I establish my faction in the future!" "May I ask what you require of us?" Xu Tianguo settled his expression and asked Ye Chen. Ye Chen smiled faintly, causing Ge Tian and Li Feng, standing nearby, to be momentarily stunned.

They had spent half a day with him and had never seen him smile before. To see him smiling now at two downtrodden youths was truly baffling.

"I will tell you shortly," Ye Chen replied with a slight smile. Xu Tianguo paused, his brow furrowed.

After a moment of thought, he glanced toward the two captains beside him, a look of understanding dawning in his eyes—he understood Ye Chen's implication—and he asked no more, standing silently alongside Huang Tianci and his sister. "How much longer until we reach Tiger's Tooth Mountain?" Ye Chen shifted his gaze to Ge Tian.

"Soon, as long as we aren't attacked by monsters mid-journey!" Ge Tian looked outside, his expression somewhat grim. Once they left the base city, they were in the wilderness, where terrifying monsters could erupt from any of these towering buildings at any moment!

Ye Chen nodded slightly, then walked to the side to sit, beginning to formulate his plan for the upcoming engagement. Just then, a piercing whistle suddenly blared from outside, and the tank abruptly stopped.

"Bad news, we're under monster attack!" Ge Tian exclaimed, though a trace of amusement flickered in his eyes. The more soldiers died on this mission, the lower Ye Chen's mission completion rate would be!

If zero soldiers died, the completion rate would be one hundred percent! If soldier casualties exceeded 60%, the mission would be considered a failure!

Ye Chen peered out through the armored viewport and saw a vast, dark swarm rushing toward them in the distance—all sorts of bugs: Iron-Armored Beetles, Blood-Spike Worms, Bloodthirsty Crawlers, Black Poison Beetles, Acid-Blood Worms, and more—a massive horde of zombie-mutated dark creatures! Judging by their numbers, there were at least seventy to eighty thousand.

Since the insectoid race also had many classifications, some of these bugs were enormous, nearly a meter tall, moving quite slowly; these were few and stood out in the sea of bugs. The rest were only the size of footballs or even smaller, yet their strength might not necessarily be inferior to the larger ones.

"So many!" Ge Tian was greatly shocked. He hadn't expected the attacking monsters to be insectoids, and in such vast numbers.

Let alone their current force of 600, even 1,000 men would be utterly devoured down to the last speck! "Order all vehicles toward areas with more tall buildings!" Ye Chen commanded calmly.

Ge Tian was momentarily startled, but seeing the cold resolve in Ye Chen's eyes, he snapped back to attention and quickly pressed a button, shouting, "Attention, everyone! Head for the area with the most structures!" All the heavy trucks and tanks started moving, driving toward the cluster of high-rises.

Ge Tian questioned, "Why do it this way?" Before Ye Chen could answer, Xu Tianguo spoke up, "There are too many bugs; our manpower is absolutely insufficient to fight them head-on. If we reach these buildings, we can crush many of the bugs by bringing the structures down." Ye Chen gave him an appreciative glance, then turned to look behind the tank, where countless insects were surging forward like a flood.

Many vehicles along the route had already been overturned. "Use the rocket launchers!" Ye Chen commanded coldly.

"Fire at the bases of the buildings!" "The bases?" Ge Tian was momentarily confused. "Shouldn't we target the tops so the debris falls and crushes them?" Ye Chen frowned sharply.

"Stop the nonsense!" Ge Tian flinched, immediately daring not to argue further. He relayed the order, and soon, the rocket launchers carried by many tanks, along with the tank cannons, were aimed at the buildings lining the streets, firing directly at the foundations.

These structures were twenty-odd stories high; although their foundations were solidly built, they were made of concrete after all. Boom boom boom~~~~ The bases of one building after another were blasted open.

Shards of glass flew everywhere, and large holes appeared in the walls, leaving the structures swaying precariously. As the swarm of bugs surged forward, the ground trembled slightly, like a minor earthquake, and these tottering buildings began to collapse.

Bang! Bang!

Two towers of over twenty stories crashed down, colliding overhead, breaking in half, and falling. The countless bugs surging behind were caught beneath them, screaming as they were crushed.

"Report: Ten rocket shells remaining!" a regimental commander, driving a heavy truck, pulled up to the edge of the tank, sweat streaming down his face. Ye Chen glanced back.

There were still about fifty to sixty thousand bugs behind them. The collapse of those few buildings had crushed approximately one-third of the swarm, but it had also consumed a significant amount of ammunition.

Even these smaller bugs were too numerous for a team of 600 to eradicate by bombardment alone. "Report: A powerful monster has been spotted not far ahead!" Not long after, another regimental commander drove his heavy truck over, his voice laced with anxiety.

Everyone inside the tank froze, nearly overcome with despair. They hadn't expected such fierce pursuers behind them, only to discover a monster ahead as well—this was truly a situation where escape was impossible!

"It's over; we can't fight these bugs," Ge Tian said, a flicker of despair in his eyes, all excitement gone. Huang Tianci, standing beside him, was drenched in sweat, clutching his sister's small hand, praying inwardly.

Xu Tianguo, next to him, frowned deeply, frantically calculating a method of escape. At that moment, Ye Chen spoke with sudden calmness, "Everyone, exit the tanks and take the heavy trucks to wait for me to the west.

I will join you shortly." "What?" Ge Tian was greatly shocked. "You intend to stop these monsters alone?" Ye Chen did not reply, only frowning.

"Hurry up!" Ge Tian gave him a profound look, then quickly opened the tank hatch and leaped out, landing on a waiting heavy truck. Following him, Li Feng and the other two regiment commanders also quickly left the tank and jumped onto the trucks, driving off into the distance.

The other tanks also stopped, their occupants jumping out and crowding into the heavy trucks, speeding away. In terms of speed...

Tanks were significantly slower than the heavy trucks. Xu Tianguo and the other two also pushed open the hatches, intending to board the trucks and leave, but Ye Chen stopped them, saying sternly, "You two stay here.

I don't trust you with the others!" For talents like Xu Tianguo and Huang Tianci, Ye Chen was unwilling to let them wander off freely before they became truly powerful; if they were killed by monsters, he would lose a major asset later on. Xu Tianguo shot him a strange look.

"You don't seem to trust your own subordinates." Ye Chen nodded without reservation. "The monsters are catching up!" Huang Tianci exclaimed, seeing the dark swarm in the distance through the viewport.