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

The middle-aged officer gave Song Chen a deep look: "You're Song Chen? The one from Tianhe South?"

"Yes."

The middle-aged officer paused for two seconds, then extended his hand: "Zhao Guoqiang, Deputy Commander of the Tianhai East Fortress Garrison, welcome."

Song Chen shook his hand.

Zhao Guoqiang released his grip: "I've read your battle report, it's very good. Most third-tier martial artists aren't as efficient at killing alien beasts as you are."

"The beast tide on our side was a little smaller than that in Tianhe, but it lasted longer. We fought those beasts for a whole day longer before they retreated."

"The losses are devastating. Half of our firing positions have been destroyed, and over 40% of our personnel have been killed or wounded. There are still a large number of alien beasts roaming outside the fortress, most of them are second-tier, and there are quite a few third-tier as well."

"They neither attacked nor retreated; they just wandered around outside the city, as if waiting for something."

He pointed to several red dots marked on the map: "These are the areas where the alien beasts are most concentrated. We don't have enough manpower, so we can only guard the fortress and don't have the spare capacity to go out and exterminate them. Your arrival is just in time."

"Deputy Commander Zhao."

A voice interrupted Zhao Guoqiang from behind.

Song Chen turned his head and saw a woman in military uniform walking out of the fortress passage, followed by several soldiers.

She was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with short hair and regular features. Her left arm was in a sling, and she was holding a folder in her right hand. Her gaze fell on Song Chen, and her brows furrowed slightly.

"Is this the student who accepted the task?" she asked, a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice.

Zhao Guoqiang nodded: "Yes, Song Chen, a freshman at Tianhai University, a first-class combat hero."

The woman's brows furrowed even more. She looked at Song Chen, her gaze lingering on his young face for a long time, before turning to Zhao Guoqiang: "Deputy Commander Zhao, you know our current predicament. We're struggling to protect ourselves, how can we possibly have the resources to protect a genius student who's just here to gain experience?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Song Chen interrupted her.

"I'm not here to be protected, I'm here to kill monsters. You don't need to protect me, just tell me where the monsters are."

The woman paused, looking into Song Chen's eyes. Those eyes held no youthful impulsiveness or passion, no defiant ruthlessness, only a heavy, unspeakable calmness.

She had seen that kind of calmness in the veterans who had survived the battlefield, but she had never seen an eighteen-year-old student with such eyes.

Zhao Guoqiang sighed softly beside him and patted the woman's shoulder: "Lin Yu, take him to the East District and let him give it a try."

The woman, Lin Yu, is the captain of the third battalion of the Tianhai East Fortress garrison.

She bit her lip, then turned and walked toward the east gate of the fortress.

"Come with me."

Song Chen followed behind her, heading towards the east gate of the fortress.

Behind him, Zhao Guoqiang watched his retreating figure, lit the cigarette he had been holding for a long time, took a deep drag, and then slowly exhaled.

The smoke dispersed in the morning light, mingling with the psionic particles, like a gray cloud.

The wilderness outside the East Gate is completely different from that south of Tianhe.

Outside the Tianhe South Fortress lies a large river and open riverbanks, offering a wide field of vision. You can spot strange beasts charging from afar and prepare accordingly.

But outside Tianhai East Fortress is an abandoned urban area, a residential area from fifty years ago, where half of the buildings have collapsed, and the remaining half of the buildings look like rows of broken teeth, densely packed together.

The streets are narrow and visibility is limited; you never know what might be hidden around the next corner.

Lin Yu walked ahead, her steps light, a psionic pistol in her right hand, the muzzle always pointing to the ground, but her gaze lingered on every corner, every window, and every crack.

This is a fundamental skill for wilderness survival: never point your gun in a direction where you don't know if there are enemies.

Song Chen walked behind her, his Illusionary Eyes quietly activating.

In his golden vision, every inch of the abandoned city became transparent; the walls of the buildings appeared as semi-transparent outlines, and the spaces behind them were clearly visible.

He saw seven second-tier mutated dogs hidden in a half-collapsed supermarket 300 meters ahead.

Two hundred meters to the left, in the basement of a residential building, two early-stage third-tier mutated lizards were lurking.

Four hundred meters to the right, beneath an abandoned gas station, at least thirty mutated rats were gnawing on something.

The density of the strange beasts is much higher than in the wilderness outside Tianhe South Fortress. Zhao Guoqiang is right. The strange beasts here neither attack nor retreat. They just wander around outside the city, as if waiting for something.

"Stop." Song Chen waved his hand to signal.

Lin Yu stopped and turned to look at him, her brows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"There are many strange beasts ahead."

Lin Yu was stunned. She looked at Song Chen, wanting to ask him how he knew, but she swallowed the words back.

She wasn't a novice; she knew not to ask questions she shouldn't ask on the battlefield.

Song Chen drew his Thunderclap Blade and took the lead: "Let's go to the supermarket first."

"There are seven Tier 2 enemies there. After clearing them out, go to the residential building. There are two Tier 3 enemies there. Finally, go to the gas station. Just follow me. You don't need to shoot."

Lin Yu was taken aback. She wanted to say that she should be the one protecting him, but when she looked into Song Chen's eyes, which were gleaming with a golden light, she nodded for some reason.

The supermarket was located on the ground floor of a partially collapsed commercial building. The roller shutter door had been torn open by the monster, revealing a dark interior filled with a strong, fishy stench.

Song Chen walked to the door and stopped. His Illusionary Eye pierced through the darkness, and the positions, postures, and orientations of the seven mutated dogs appeared clearly in his field of vision.

They were in different corners of the supermarket, some behind the shelves, some under the checkout counter, and some in the ceiling ventilation ducts. They were resting, breathing steadily, their heartbeats slow, unaware of the intruders at the door.

Song Chen went inside.

As soon as I approached, a mutated dog pounced out from behind the shelf.

Song Chen turned slightly to the side, and the mutated dog's paw grazed his chest. He raised his right hand and slapped the side of the mutated dog's head.

The powerful force penetrated the fur, skull, and reached the brain. The mutant dog's pupils dilated instantly, and its body went limp on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, bleeding from its seven orifices. It died.

[A level 2 mutated dog has been killed, gaining 80 kill points.]

Then a second one swooped down from the ceiling.

Song Chen took a step to the left, and the mutated dog's attack missed, gliding past him on his right. At the same time, he stretched out his right hand, grabbed the mutated dog's hind leg, and flung it to the ground like a piece of clothing.

The mutated dog crashed onto the concrete floor with a dull thud, the sound of its bones shattering clearly audible.

Song Chen stepped on its head, ending its suffering.

[A level 2 mutated dog has been killed, gaining 60 kill points.]

The third and fourth attacked from two directions simultaneously.

Song Chen's figure blurred for a moment in the darkness. When Lin Yu could see him clearly, the two mutated dogs were already piled on top of each other. Song Chen's knee was on their bodies, and his right hand was on their heads, causing both skulls to shatter at the same time.

[A second-tier alien beast has been killed, gaining seventy kill points.]

[A second-tier alien beast has been killed, gaining 80 kill points.]

The fifth one is under the cashier.

The sixth and seventh ones are in the ventilation ducts...