The last leader of the world starts with an elite infantry squad!

The echoes of the bombing still reverberated amidst the steel and flames, while outside the city, the "purification zone," forged from death and intense heat, emitted waves of distorted heat.

However, the deathly silence on the city wall lasted for less than a few seconds before the furious roars of the officers in charge of each position rang out:

"What are you all standing there for?! Are you waiting to die?!"

"The bombing is only paused! Clear the city walls! Repair the fortifications! Check weapons and ammunition! Treat the wounded! Now—!!!"

...

In an instant, the soldiers, who were on the verge of collapse but were forcibly injected with hope and fear, burst forth with astonishing efficiency, like rusty gears being forcibly turned.

With red eyes and heavy breathing, they used their last bit of strength to drag and clean up the remains of the fungal beasts that were still twitching slightly or oozing glowing slime.

Some used skull-cracking hammers to smash the limbs that clung desperately to the battlements, some worked together to push the scalding, smoking fragments of the "ramming" skulls off the city wall, and some knelt beside their wounded comrades, using trembling hands to replace bandages or filter canisters corroded by the blasting shells.

The sweet, rotten, and acrid smells in the air were overwhelmed by the even stronger smell of gunpowder.

Gu Chengyun straightened his slightly crooked gas mask, forcing himself to come back to his senses from the shock that felt like his soul had left his body.

He scanned his surroundings, his gaze landing on Liu Yong, the young soldier who had just tackled him and whose gas mask had a noticeable crack above the left lens.

Liu Yongzheng struggled to pull out a fragment of the fungal beast's shell embedded in the sandbag. His movements were somewhat sluggish, and his breathing, coming through the mask, was abnormally heavy and hoarse.

"Liu Yong!"

Upon seeing this, Gu Chengyun immediately walked over, his voice coming through the mask:

"Your mask is cracked! Go to the back and find logistics right now, get a new one! Hurry!"

Liu Yong turned his head, and behind the gas mask and goggles, his eyes were somewhat unfocused, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat that slid down his temples.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but suddenly let out a heart-wrenching, violent cough!

"Cough! Cough cough cough—!!!"

The cough came suddenly and violently, causing him to hunch over, and the tools in his hands clattered to the ground.

He pressed one hand tightly against his chest, while frantically trying to straighten his mask with the other, his body trembling violently with each cough.

Gu Chengyun frowned and stepped forward to support him: "What's wrong? Were you shaken by the explosion?!"

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Yong's cough suddenly became muffled, as if something heavy was covering it. His body stiffened abruptly, a strange "gurgling" sound came from his throat, and the muscles in his neck tensed instantly.

The next second, a layer of splattered, viscous, dark red shadow suddenly appeared inside Liu Yong's gas mask—it was a mouthful of thick phlegm with blood streaks!

Thick phlegm clung to the inside of the gas mask, slowly sliding down and leaving a disgusting trail.

Liu Yong froze.

He maintained a slightly bowed posture, like a statue that had suddenly turned to stone.

Inside the cramped space of the mask, his breathing became unusually heavy and wet, with a gurgling sound as if blocked by phlegm.

Upon seeing this, Gu Chengyun's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition instantly gripped him. He lowered his voice, his voice trembling with a tension he himself was unaware of: "Liu Yong? You... how are you? Can you speak?"

"Medics!! Where are the medics! Hurry!!" Gu Chengyun shouted as he turned around.

Liu Yong did not answer his instructor's question.

Or rather, he couldn't answer.

A rusty, sweet-smelling taste surged from deep within his mouth, rising up through his nasal cavity and firmly occupying all his sense of taste.

is blood!

He coughed up blood!

In the battlefield environment where his hazmat mask was damaged, he coughed violently, and then... coughed up thick phlegm mixed with blood.

A chilling thought, so cold it froze his blood, instantly gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

Is it...

Am I infected??

Do not!

It can't be that fast!!

But before he could translate this terrifying thought into words or actions, or even feel the full onslaught of fear—

itch.

A subtle yet incredibly distinct tingling sensation first came from the roof of his mouth and deep within his nasal cavity.

It wasn't an itch on the surface of his skin, but rather a sensation deep within his mucous membranes, as if countless extremely fine, cold hairs or hyphae were emerging at an astonishing speed from the mucous membranes of his respiratory tract, where he had just coughed up blood, gently scratching the most sensitive inner walls.

"Ho...ho..."

Liu Yong's throat emitted another dull, hissing sound, as if blocked by phlegm. He instinctively tried to swallow, but felt as if his throat was filled with wet, slippery cotton.

Immediately afterwards, the itching intensified dramatically! It turned into a tangible, wriggling sensation!

He stared in horror, his gaze involuntarily focusing on the inner lens of the gas mask.

In his field of vision, countless white filaments were growing and writhing wildly, right from the thick phlegm he had just coughed up!

Not an illusion!

They are countless white mycelia, as fine as hair, yet visible to the naked eye!

Using that mouthful of bloody sputum as a culture medium, they grew like a seaweed forest that had been fast-forwarded a thousand times. In less than two seconds, they went from nothing to something, from short to long, from sparse to dense, and proliferated, spread, and intertwined wildly!

They danced and twisted, their tips constantly forking and becoming fluffy, exploring the narrow space inside the mask, and appeared directly in front of Liu Yong's field of vision!

It was cold, slippery, and had a nauseatingly faint wriggling sensation, as if it were directly scratching his eyeballs and facial skin!

"Well……!!!"

Liu Yong wanted to scream, to shout, to warn the instructors and everyone around him.

But the instant he gasped for breath, trying to make a sound—

It's blocked.

It's not just the suffocating feeling of phlegm and some kind of overgrowth blocking the throat.

It's an even more terrifying sensation of being forcibly invaded, stuffed, and even starting to take root deeper into the esophagus and trachea by a foreign object!

It felt as if countless wet, slippery nematodes were drilling down his respiratory tract and spreading upwards, trying to take over all his internal space!

"Heh... Heh heh!!!"

He could only let out extremely faint hissing sounds, like a broken bellows leaking air. His eyes were wide open in terror, and blood vessels quickly filled his eyeballs as he tried to see outside through the increasingly blurry lenses covered with fungal hyphae.

At the same time, an even more intense, indescribable pain erupted from inside his body like a tsunami!

Inside his stomach, it felt as if a rusty, brutal tunnel boring machine had been started, frantically drilling and churning his internal organs. His intestines seemed to be tightly gripped and twisted by an invisible hand, and then repeatedly rubbed by rough sandpaper!

Deep within the bones and muscles of my limbs, waves of intense, throbbing pain and numbness surged, as if countless fine needles were simultaneously piercing and stirring, then being filled with cement. My arms and legs began to spasm slightly and uncontrollably.

Deep inside the brain, it felt as if a red-hot iron rod had been inserted, accompanied by a sharp, stabbing pain and a strange hallucination that seemed to be filled with countless tiny voices whispering and gnawing at the brain tissue!

This pain is so comprehensive, so profound, so... full of the malice of "growth" and "replacement"!

His body is being violently and rapidly transformed and devoured from the inside out by another cold, greedy, and aggressive life form!