Gao Wu: A centenarian old man, many children and good fortune! Chapter 113

When Xiao Yan emerged from his room again, his face was indeed somewhat pale, and his breathing was a little “unstable” and “erratic” due to the immense power within him not yet being fully controlled. This was not a pretense, but a true state where both his body and spirit needed time to adapt after seven consecutive days and nights of high-intensity “guidance” and another surge in power.

He left the manor with a “weak” expression, rendezvoused with Lin Wei who had come to meet him, and headed to the camp for assembly.

Meanwhile, his ten wives, who remained at home, felt a strange transformation in their bodies and the subtle nurturing of new life within their wombs. While deeply worried about their husband who was about to depart for the front lines, they felt an indescribable sense of happiness, contentment, and… proud honor! They knew they had once again successfully contributed their strength to the man they deeply loved.

Bidding farewell to his worried and expectant wives and children at home, Xiao Yan met with Lin Wei, who had come to pick him up, and the elite auxiliary force. They boarded several heavy armored command vehicles and fire support vehicles, speeding towards the fiercely contested Northeast defense line.

Along the way, Xiao Yan did not push his speed to the limit as he had before. He deliberately maintained a speed that was “fitting for an Extraordinary Ninth-Grade General, but slightly reserved as if due to ‘unhealed injuries’.” This was both to continue misleading potential observers and to allow himself more time for observation and reaction.

His mind was not entirely focused on the journey. Instead, he pushed his powerful Extraordinary Ninth-Grade peak perception to its limit! It was as if he had cast an boundless, incredibly fine giant net, covering a vast area of tens of kilometers around him!

He not only constantly monitored the massive beast tide’s energy reactions, approaching like dark clouds from the northeast, and the most prominent, most violent aura of the mutated Red-Armored Dragon King within it.

More importantly, he focused more attention on detecting any suspicious energy fluctuations, any potentially hidden or lurking aura, and any unusual signs in the surrounding environment!

A question constantly lingered in his mind: Was this unprecedented, clearly targeted dual-line beast tide truly accidental? Or was it… man-made?

If it was the latter, then who was the manipulator? Remnants of the Blood Ghost Cult? That mysterious and eerie Brain-Devouring Worm that might not have been completely eradicated? Or were they… enemies hidden within the city, or from other factions, wanting to take advantage of the beast tide to strike at him, their “thorn in the side”?

He believed that if someone truly intended to harm him, or to use this beast tide for some ulterior motive, then the best time to act would undoubtedly be on his way to the front line, or in the initial stages when he had just arrived on the battlefield and was not yet firmly established!

Therefore, as he traveled, he appeared calm, but was in fact on extreme alert! Like a lurking leopard, ready to respond to a surprise attack from any direction!

…

However, to Xiao Yan’s surprise, the journey was exceptionally calm. Besides the increasingly intense energy fluctuations and ground tremors caused by the distant beast tide, no suspicious ambushes or abnormal signs were detected in the surrounding environment.

This caused Xiao Yan to frown slightly, his suspicions deepening. Could it be… he was overthinking things? Was this beast tide truly just a coincidence?

Just as he was pondering, the thunderous roars and deafening sounds of battle from ahead interrupted his thoughts.

The Northeast defense line had been reached!

When Xiao Yan’s command vehicle arrived at the front line, the scene before him could only be described as “tragic”!

The several-kilometer-long alloy defense wall was already covered with dense impact marks and charred black from energy burns! The automatic defense turrets and energy weapons behind the battlements were frantically unleashing firepower, but against the endless red tide of Red-Armored Earth Dragons surging below, it seemed like a drop in the bucket!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hundreds of thousands of Red-Armored Earth Dragons, like the most fanatical battering rams, fearlessly slammed their thick-armored heads and bodies into the alloy defense wall! Each impact caused the sturdy wall to groan under the strain and tremble violently! Some relatively weak sections of the defense even showed clear cracks!

On top of the wall, countless city defense soldiers were bravely resisting, braving the rain of huge rocks and dirt clods hurled by the Earth Dragons, and their occasionally spat corrosive yellowish energy balls! The flashes of energy rifles, rocket launchers, and grenade launchers were constant, and explosions resounded one after another!

Warriors were constantly being hit by huge rocks or energy balls, screaming as they fell from the battlements, instantly engulfed by the surging beast tide below, leaving no trace of their bodies!

At the very front of the defense line, near the base of the city wall, the battle was even more intense!

The mutated Red-Armored Dragon King, a creature the size of a moving hill, was rampaging like an invincible war machine! Its dark red, metallic-glowing terrifying carapace seemed to have extremely high resistance to energy attacks! Ordinary energy cannons merely sparked and left shallow white marks when they hit it, unable to cause any substantial damage!

Each heavy step it took caused localized ground tremors! Each violent charge created a huge dent in the sturdy alloy wall, or even tore open a shocking gap! Each furious tail whip sent several warriors attempting to approach flying, along with their shields!

To contain this terrifying war beast, the military command had already deployed three Extraordinary Generals (two Second-Grade, one Third-Grade)! They each unleashed their strongest combat techniques, like three leopards circling a giant elephant, constantly attacking the Dragon King’s flanks and relatively weak joints, attempting to draw it away or at least slow its pace!

However, the effect was minimal!

The mutated Red-Armored Dragon King’s defense was simply too astonishing! Although the three generals’ attacks could leave some scars on it, they were far from enough to pose a fatal threat! On the contrary, they often got grazed by the Dragon King’s violent charges or tail whips due to being unable to dodge in time!

Even a mere graze! That terrifying force was enough to send a Second-Grade General spitting blood and flying backward, severely wounded! Even the strongest Third-Grade General dared not confront it head-on, relying only on agile footwork to skirmish and contain it!

Other ordinary and high-ranking soldiers couldn’t even get within a hundred meters of the Dragon King! Any attempt to approach was tantamount to suicide!

The entire Northeast defense line was teetering on the brink of collapse under the mutated Red-Armored Dragon King’s frantic assault! Multiple critical defense nodes had been breached, and casualty figures were rising at an alarming rate! If a way wasn’t found to curb this terrifying beast king, the complete collapse of the defense line was only a matter of time!

Seeing this tragic and critical scene, Lin Wei and the other auxiliary force officers in the command vehicle all turned pale, their hearts filled with anxiety!

And Xiao Yan, looking at the mutated Red-Armored Dragon King, like a moving natural disaster, and feeling the violent, heavy aura on its body, infinitely close to Seventh-Grade, a hint of… cold fighting intent quietly ignited in his eyes!

Perfect! I’ll use you, this thick-skinned behemoth, to test my current ultimate power, and… the true might of the Fifth Wave of “Nine Thunderous Waves”!

As soon as the heavy command vehicle Xiao Yan was in arrived at the front line, his unique aura, belonging to an Extraordinary Ninth-Grade peak powerhouse, instantly acted like a stabilizing force, perceived by all the warriors fighting fiercely on the defense line!

“It’s General Xiao! General Xiao is here!”

“Great! Our reinforcements are here!”

“Hold on! We’re safe now that General Xiao is here!”

The morale, which had been somewhat low due to the beast tide’s frantic assault and rising casualties, instantly soared! Countless pairs of hopeful and expectant eyes simultaneously turned towards the newly stopped command vehicle bearing the Special Operations Brigade’s insignia!

However, what happened next caused many expectant warriors to feel a touch of… confusion and disappointment.

Xiao Yan did not, as he had in the previous city defense battle, directly charge into the enemy ranks like a god descending, slaughtering all in his path and turning the tide with overwhelming force.

He merely dismounted the command vehicle unhurriedly, even “concernedly” asking a few questions about the specific situation on the front line to a Fourth-Grade General (who was also a member of the auxiliary force) who had come to greet him and was in charge of that section of the defense.

Then, he did not immediately take action himself, but began to methodically command the elite auxiliary force he had brought, coordinating with the existing defensive forces.

“Third Firepower Squad, target the area 300 meters ahead to the left, coordinates XXX, YYY. There’s a large concentration of Earth Dragons, conduct three rounds of saturation bombardment!”

“First Assault Team, reinforce the gap in the western defense line, stabilize the position! Be mindful of energy conservation, prioritize repelling them!”

“Heavy Shield Guard team, move up! Cover the evacuation of the wounded!”

His command was clear, calm, and well-organized, and it did, to a certain extent, stabilize the tottering defense line and slow down the rate of casualties. The auxiliary force he brought was indeed elite, and the addition of heavy fire support units effectively killed and suppressed a large number of ordinary Red-Armored Earth Dragons, alleviating the pressure on the defense line.

But… this was too far removed from his previous image as a god of war, crushing everything with his sole power!

What about him personally?

After a round of command and deployment, Xiao Yan finally “personally” joined the battle.

But his subsequent performance made many warriors familiar with his “legend” gape in astonishment.

Facing the surging tide of ordinary Red-Armored Earth Dragons with astonishing defense, he rarely completely crushed them with a single punch or strike as he had before.

He mostly used relatively basic fist and foot techniques, or the first two waves of “Nine Thunderous Waves” with noticeably reduced power, to repel, injure, or disrupt the charging momentum of the Earth Dragons that rushed close. Although his movements were still steady and powerful, compared to his previous destructive dominance, there was a clear hint of “sluggishness” and “reservation,” appearing… somewhat “lacking in strength”?

Occasionally, a few stronger elite Earth Dragons, comparable to First-Grade or Second-Grade Generals, would break through the firepower net and roar as they lunged at him. He no longer instantly killed them with overwhelming force as he had before.

He would “engage” in a struggle with these elite Earth Dragons, fists meeting claws, blade light clashing with carapaces, fighting “back and forth,” and occasionally even being “forced back” a few steps by their immense strength, seemingly needing some effort to finally kill them. Throughout the process, although he ultimately gained the upper hand, he completely displayed a “poor state, slightly unskillful control of power, and fighting quite strenuously” appearance.

And towards the mutated Red-Armored Dragon King, rampaging like a moving natural disaster at the front of the defense line, Xiao Yan behaved… extremely “cautiously.”

He consistently maintained a relatively safe distance from the Dragon King, never approaching rashly. Only occasionally, during the Dragon King’s assaults on the defense line, would he unleash a few seemingly powerful, but actually ineffective against the Dragon King’s terrifying defense, blade slashes or fist strikes from afar, for “harassment” and “containment.”

Once the irritable Dragon King was enraged by his harassment, turning its huge,怒火燃烧 (burning with anger) eyes towards him and letting out a threatening roar, Xiao Yan would not hesitate to immediately and “cautiously” retreat, “ceding” the “main tank” position back to the three lower-grade generals who were struggling to hold on and responsible for containing the Dragon King.

His “slacking” performance naturally drew the attention of everyone around him.

The ordinary soldiers who had originally been full of anticipation for him gradually showed disappointment and confusion in their eyes.

And the three lower-grade generals, who were fighting for their lives against the Dragon King under immense pressure, were filled with bitterness and… a hint of indescribable resentment. They had thought Xiao Yan’s arrival would completely change the situation, perhaps even directly kill the Dragon King, but they never expected him to be so “sparing of his strength” and “cautious”?

Even Lin Wei, who had been by Xiao Yan’s side, in charge of commanding the auxiliary force, frowned, her heart filled with incomprehension and… a subtle worry. She knew the Captain had claimed “unhealed injuries” before, but this performance was perhaps… too “steady”? Was this truly the Xiao Yan who could punch a Second-Grade cult cadre to death and slice an Eighth-Grade peak priest in half with a single strike? Or was it that his previous “injuries” were truly more severe than imagined?

For a time, the entire Northeast defense line, though temporarily stabilized and not immediately collapsing due to Xiao Yan’s arrival and the auxiliary force’s participation, remained in an extremely dangerous and passive state. Casualties continued to mount, and the defense line was constantly being worn down.

And Xiao Yan, the nominal supreme commander and the strongest presence, had yet to display the determination and power to turn the tide, merely “steadily” commanding and “cautiously” “slacking off.”

This cast an even heavier shadow over everyone’s hearts.