Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 76 Sudden Event, 17900
Meanwhile, in the western suburbs, the No. 1 small nest...

Its reaction is far more intense than that of a miniature nest.

Its purplish-black vortex suddenly increased its rotation speed by a large margin, and the red blood-like patterns on the edge of the vortex shone brightly.

With a furious tiger's roar, a huge black shadow materialized in the vortex and pounced out of the lair.

It was a giant tiger covered in jet-black carapace, with a dark red, lava-like sheen flowing between the gaps in the carapace. In its eyes, which were like the depths of an abyss, and between its slightly open jaws and sharp teeth, there were also faint, eerie black flames burning quietly.
-
The old department store building, data monitoring and analysis room.

"Monitoring center reporting, monitoring center reporting."

Zhang Weidong's gaze was glued to the detection screen. Through the military walkie-talkie, he rapidly reported the monitoring information to the front lines: "The Abyss Beast Tide has converged on your unit! Repeat, a large-scale Abyss Tide has formed and is moving at high speed towards your unit. The first wave of concentrated attacks is expected to arrive in 8 minutes! Expected..."

Before he could finish speaking, the screen changed dramatically.

"Captain Zhang!" Analyst Zhao Tan's voice rang out from the side, completely devoid of his usual carefree demeanor. "Multiple new high-energy reactions detected!"

Zhang Weidong's brows furrowed instantly, his body leaned forward slightly, and his sharp gaze swept across the monitoring information on the secondary screen.

Zhao Tan spoke rapidly, "Miniature nest sites 1, 2, and 4 have each emitted a high-intensity energy signal, with stable readings of 1900, classifying them as leader-level units!"

His voice paused, and the next sentence of his report carried an unprecedented solemnity.

“A very high-intensity energy signal has been detected at small nest site number 1, with a reading of 17900! It has been identified as a high-threat leader unit. They have left the nest and are moving towards the front line with the beast tide.”

The air in the data analysis room seemed to freeze for a few seconds, and everyone present felt immense pressure.

Zhang Weidong's expression turned extremely serious. He took a deep breath and grabbed the main communication microphone.

"Command center, this is the monitoring center. We've detected four leader-level unit signals suddenly appearing. The energy intensity of the leader-level units in miniature nests 1, 2, and 4 is all 1900. Pay special attention to the leader-level unit in small nest 1, whose energy intensity is 17900. They are approaching your unit!"

Inside the frontline command vehicle, Nie Chang held the communicator, listening to Zhang Weidong's urgent report from the monitoring center. Every word felt like a heavy hammer blow to his heart.

Leader-level Abyssal Beasts of Small Nests
17900
Nie Chang's expression was extremely solemn.

As a commander who had participated in the annihilation of small nest leaders, he knew very well what a beast of this caliber meant.

That was not a target that could be easily dealt with by conventional heavy weapons. The last successful kill was achieved by a precision strike from a strategic-level ballistic missile!
Currently, his strongest single-target weapons, namely anti-tank missiles and tank main guns, require concentrated fire to deal with ordinary Stardust-level elites. Against a leader-level being far superior in both intelligence and strength, they are not entirely ineffective, but at least excessive use is required to have any chance of killing them.

The reconnaissance missions during the planning process, including the final reconnaissance before the battle, only included ordinary Stardust-level elites, so the final firepower configuration was based on this.

The leader of the miniature nest is relatively easy to deal with; its threat level can be compared to that of a Stardust-level elite Abyss Beast, as there is already a 30% margin of error in its firepower.

However, there is also a small nest leader, which completely unbalances the original firepower configuration.
If the leader of a small nest had appeared earlier, there would have been time to postpone the plan and continue to deploy and replenish firepower, but unfortunately, it happened at this critical moment.
Nie Chang's mind raced as he quickly analyzed the pros and cons.

The reserved anti-tank missiles are intended for the efficient elimination of elite units. If they are forced to be concentrated on dealing with leader-level units, not only is their effectiveness questionable, but it will also leave other elite units unattended, drastically increasing the pressure on infantry lines and inevitably leading to heavy casualties.
However, if we persist in taking action, it will become a risky gamble with an uncertain outcome. The troops could suffer heavy losses, and the consequences could be unpredictable.

Nie Chang frowned, and after a moment's thought, he made up his mind.

We must evacuate!
While the high-threat units are still far away, immediately organize a breakout.

The troops are now fully equipped and have ample ammunition. Moreover, if Lin Yi stops neutralizing now, most of their source energy can be preserved. With this trump card in place, if an alternating retreat is organized immediately, and armored forces and air units provide cover, although losses will be incurred along the way, the main force will most likely be preserved and the retreat will be successful. In this way, the core forces will not be damaged, and the ability to reorganize operations will still be maintained.

As the highest-ranking commander on the front lines, he was responsible for the lives of these brothers and could not gamble them on a plan that had suddenly become extremely dangerous.

Thinking of this, Nie Chang did not hesitate at all. He immediately said in a deep voice into the communicator: "Monitoring center, message received, continue monitoring."

He immediately gave his communications officer a quick order: "Connect me to the highest command center immediately."

The communication was quickly connected.

"This is the highest command center."

"I am Nie Chang from the front lines in Helu City. There is an emergency that I need to report directly to the commander!"

Normally, battles of this scale would not need to be reported directly to the highest leader, but Project Dawn was extremely special, so Li Zhenguo designated it as a project to be directly in charge of.

Soon, a calm voice came through: "I am Li Zhenguo."

Nie Chang took a deep breath and, in the most concise and clear language, quickly reported the strategy of 'organizing an orderly retreat before the beast tide encircles the area, with Lin Yi holding the line to preserve the main force' based on his own judgment of military common sense, which was that the existing firepower configuration could not effectively deal with the sudden appearance of small nest leader-level units.

Li Zhenguo listened attentively.

A moment later, his voice came again, but with a different thought.

“Nie Chang, your strategy makes a lot of sense. If judged based on conventional military rules, preserving strength is indeed the best option.”

He then changed the subject: "However, this war against the Abyss Nest and the Abyss Beasts has gone beyond the purely military scope of the past."

"I think you may have overlooked the most crucial factor, Lin Yi. We don't know enough about source energy, abyssal beasts, or even what kind of strength he can currently exert."

"I believe that professional matters should be left to professionals to make judgments."

Li Zhenguo's voice was calm and powerful: "My suggestion is to immediately inform Major Lin Yi of the current situation. Don't forget, he is a professional technical staff officer of the General Staff. You can ask him for his opinion, and ask him, with his ability and experience in fighting the Abyss Beasts, whether we should retreat or fight?"

He emphasized at the end, "Of course, whatever his opinion is, you have command authority at the front. You will make the final decision directly based on his professional opinion and the actual situation on the battlefield! There's no need to ask for further instructions!"

Nie Chang tightened his grip on the communicator.

Li Zhenguo's words were like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds, making him instantly realize that he had fallen into habitual thinking and forgotten his strongest card and the unknown variables it represented.

"Understood, I'll ask Lin Yi for his opinion right away!" Nie Chang replied immediately.

"Wish ya'll good luck."

After Li Zhenguo finished speaking, he ended the communication.

(End of this chapter)