High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Song Chen lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Occasionally, the footsteps of patrol teams and the distant firing of automatic turrets could be heard outside, muffled and far away.

This was the first time in half a month that he had slept under the roof.

He closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became steady.

There were no nightmares, no being awakened in the middle of the night by the roars of strange beasts, and no huddling in cold rock crevices waiting for dawn.

He had the most restful sleep he'd had in half a month.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Song Chen was awakened by a piercing alarm.

Short, rapid, repeated three times, followed by a calm, almost cold, female voice on the radio:

"Attention all personnel, the vanguard of the beast tide has entered the warning area and is expected to arrive at the riverbank in one hour. All personnel should take their positions according to the plan."

"To reiterate, the vanguard of the beast tide has entered the alert zone, and all personnel are in position according to the plan."

Song Chen sprang out of bed, his hand already gripping the hilt of the Thunderclap Blade, his body already in battle mode. Only then did he realize that he was in a military camp, not in a rocky crevice in the wilderness.

He took a deep breath, loosened the hilt of his knife, quickly put on his combat suit, slung the Thunderclap Blade over his shoulder, and walked out of the cubicle.

In the corridor, other people were also walking out.

As he ran, Fatty Pang Fei stuffed compressed biscuits into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's.

Fang Xiao's sword was already slung over his back, its silver scabbard gleaming coldly under the corridor lights.

Captain Chen Fang stood at the entrance of the barracks, holding a psionic rifle in his hand, with a pistol and a short knife hanging at his waist.

His gaze swept over everyone, and he quickly counted the number of people.

"Everyone's here. Let's go."

The seven men made their way through the passageways inside the fortress toward the main defensive wall.

The passageway was filled with running soldiers and warriors, the sounds of footsteps, commands, and clashing weapons blending together.

The loudspeakers overhead continuously updated the beast tide's movements: "The vanguard is 40 kilometers from the riverbank... 35 kilometers... 30 kilometers..."

When Song Chen followed the team up to the main defensive wall, it was just dawn.

On the eastern horizon, psionic particles took on a strange pale purple hue in the morning light, as if someone had poured paint into the air.

The wilderness across the river unfolds in the morning light, the gray-brown earth stretching to the horizon, with a few withered trees occasionally poking out on the horizon like broken bones.

The wall was already full of people.

The soldiers took their positions behind the psionic heavy artillery, and the gunner was making final adjustments, the muzzle slowly turning to point across the river.

The machine gunner checked the ammunition belt, the blue light on the psionic machine gun flickering in the morning light.

The observer held up a high-powered telescope, staring at the distant wilderness, constantly reporting data.

The martial artists were scattered around the top of the wall, chatting in small groups.

Some people were wiping their weapons, some were stretching, and some were leaning against the wall, resting with their eyes closed.

The air was thick with the tension of an impending battle, like a string stretched to its limit.

Song Chen stood there, looking like a knife that had just been drawn from its sheath.

Cold, sharp, and carrying the lingering stench of blood.

He stood atop the wall, his hands braced against the ramparts, and his True Sight quietly opened, gazing at the wilderness across the river.

In the golden field of vision, a huge dark red halo was slowly moving on the distant horizon.

The halo of light covered the entire horizon, stretching from east to west as far as the eye could see.

The halo was densely covered with countless points of light, each of which was a strange beast, and each beast emitted blood and qi fluctuations of varying intensity.

First order, second order, third order...

There were so many that even his True Sight Eyes could not accurately count them.

Beast tide.

This was the first time he had ever seen a beast tide.

The overwhelming scene, as if the entire wilderness were moving, made him hold his breath for a moment.

It wasn't out of fear, but rather a deeper, almost instinctive shock.

The kind of tremor that humans feel when faced with absolute numbers.

But his heart rate did not increase, and his breathing quickly returned to normal.

Fear can be instantaneous.

After that instant, only one thing occupied his mind: kill count.

Team leader Chen Fang stood beside him, looked through his binoculars for a few seconds, then put them down and said to the team members behind him, "The advance force numbers about 50,000. Mostly Tier 1, with Tier 2 making up about 10%. No Tier 3 has been spotted yet."

He turned to look at Song Chen, noticing the young man's unusually calm expression, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Chen Fang issued the order: "Everyone, listen up! The first wave will be handled by the weapon system. We will stay put to conserve our energy and wait for the defense line to be breached before we fill in."

Song Chen nodded.

This was a correct tactical judgment.

The outermost weapon systems of the human defense line—automatic turrets, psionic grids, and psionic heavy artillery—were designed to absorb the first wave of the beast tide.

A martial artist's vital energy is the last line of defense and should not be wasted on cannon fodder.

From the top of the wall, the officer's orders were broadcast throughout the entire defensive line via loudspeaker.

"Attention all units, the first wave of beasts is about to enter firing range. Artillery teams, prepare. Electric grid, operate at full power. Machine gun teams, stand by."

The muzzle of the psionic cannon began to adjust its angle, and the blue psionic patterns on the cannon body lit up one by one, like some sleeping creature awakening.

The gunners put on protective earmuffs and placed their fingers on the fire button.

On the pillars of the psionic grid, the brightness of the electric arcs suddenly increased by a level, and blue-white light danced wildly between the pillars, emitting a piercing buzzing sound.

The ionized smell in the air became stronger, making one's throat itch.

The infrared aiming system of the automatic turret was fully activated, and the muzzle rotated slightly, locking onto every direction on the opposite bank of the river.

Everyone on the wall held their breath.

On the distant horizon, that dark red line was getting closer and closer.

The earth began to tremble.

It wasn't an earthquake; it was the vibration caused by tens of thousands of strange beasts running at the same time.

The vibrations came up from beneath our feet, through the concrete walls, through the steel skeleton, and through the bones of every person.

At first, there was a slight tremor, which then grew stronger and stronger, as if something huge was emerging from the ground.

Dust fell from the cracks in the wall, and the soldiers standing on the top of the wall gripped their weapons tightly.

Then, that line turned into a surface.

On the opposite bank of the river, a gray-brown wave is surging in from the wilderness.

It was a torrent of countless strange beasts, with a mutated giant rat the size of a calf running at the front, its grayish-brown fur gleaming oily in the morning light.

Following closely behind are mutated octopuses, whose backs are covered with bony spikes that make a cracking sound when they run.

Mixed among the beasts were mutated hyenas, mutated wild boars, and some unidentifiable monsters whose forms had been distorted by psionic energy.

Their eyes gleamed red in the morning light, a result of the frenzied state catalyzed by the beast tide effect.

Saliva dripped from their mouths, and their panting breaths condensed into white mist in the cold morning air.

The sound of tens of thousands of strange beasts running at the same time was like ten thousand drums beating simultaneously.

The rumbling sound filled the entire space, making people's ears hurt and their hearts pound wildly in rhythm.

"Fire!"