Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

This time, the number of beasts was overwhelming, and the human defense line wasn’t entirely solid. One section of the line couldn’t hold and was breached by the beasts, just as the elite group arrived to intercept the ones that had broken through.

However, the elite group watched in horror as, just 200 meters away, five or six mercenaries unable to escape, caught and bitten by the beasts. The helplessness of being unable to rescue them, seeing them torn apart and devoured, weighed heavily on their minds. This caused their attacks to become even fiercer.

From above, the beast tide seemed to blanket the land in a terrifying onslaught. But when the elite group engaged directly, they realized the number of beasts was even greater than they had estimated, and most of these beasts were high-level, ranging from level four to five.

The two instructors and four assistant teachers took on the higher-level beasts first, leaving the elite group to deal with the lower-level ones. But the sheer number of beasts was overwhelming. Less than ten minutes after arriving on the battlefield, the elite group found themselves surrounded and in danger.

“Quick, everyone use your guns!” Instructor Dudley decisively ordered.

But even without his order, the elite group had already drawn their laser guns. Though they hadn’t formally learned how to use thermal weapons in their first-year training, all of them had practiced with handguns before, so their aim was precise.

Even Ruo Manni, who hadn’t fired a gun since her rebirth, hit her targets effortlessly. With her telekinesis enhancing her accuracy, she was able to shoot exactly where she wanted without missing a shot.

In a fierce round of attacks, the number of beasts surrounding them drastically decreased, giving the group a brief moment to catch their breath. Gradually, they pushed the battle line forward, joining the other mercenary groups to form a united defensive front.

Before this intense battle, Ruo Manni and her group had bodyguards nearby, but they didn’t stick close at all times; instead, they were off-killing beasts independently. However, this time, Ruo Manni could sense that her and Hebrew Adam’s bodyguards were always discreetly staying close by, noticeably holding back in their beast-slaying efforts, clearly conserving their strength.

Ruo Manni wasn’t bothered by this. After all, their primary mission was to ensure the safety of those they were protecting, not just to kill beasts.

This was the true battlefield—no soldier had the luxury to coordinate strategies. Everyone shared the same thought: kill, kill, kill. Their goal was to slaughter as many of the beasts pouring out of the forest as possible, preventing them from trampling human cities.

With the beast tide erupting along the entire front line, every defensive point was under immense pressure, and there were no reserves available to relieve them. The elite group fought for a full day and night, completely exhausted by the end.

Finally, after Instructor Han Zhengbang, the “mercenary group leader,” sent his fifth request for a rest, they were granted approval. A squad of twenty equally exhausted soldiers arrived to replace them.

The Xuan Gu group immediately boarded their spaceship and ascended to rest at high altitude. However, after only two hours of rest, with their stamina not even 70% recovered, they were forced to return to the battlefield for more intense fighting.

During this time, they encountered several moments of life-threatening danger, where they were surrounded by beasts. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of their instructors and bodyguards, they were repeatedly rescued and led out of the encirclements.

The brutal battle lasted for a full five days. Over those five days, the elite class only managed to get eight hours of rest in total.

After these five days of relentless fighting, everyone’s demeanor underwent a significant transformation. The youthful innocence they once carried was gone, replaced by the unique sharpness and resilience of seasoned soldiers.

Throughout this time, they experienced many life-or-death struggles, often relying on thermal weapons. Despite the heavy use of weapons, these battles were an intense form of training. While their cultivation levels didn’t immediately increase, their combat skills evolved from simple techniques to lethal attacks. Overall, their combined combat strength doubled.

Most importantly, the elite class gained a sense of battle intent that they had never understood before. Over the next year, as they continue their training, they will gradually realize just how much they had gained from this grueling battle.

Ruo Manni’s Flowing Cloud Sword Technique had quickly reached the third stage of perfection, allowing her to easily kill a Tier 4 early-stage beast. As for her throwing knife technique, it was even more impressive. The five flying knives, like meteors, accurately pierced the vital points of the beasts, making it impossible for even late-stage Tier 5 beasts to evade.

Over the past few days, in a rapid cycle of battle and recovery, Ruo Manni’s mental energy had visibly replenished her mind sea. By today, she began to feel a subtle sense of impending breakthrough, with a faint sense of swelling within her.

After five consecutive days of fighting, the soldiers on the battlefield were in worse condition than the mercenaries, as they had even less time to rest.

The energy blocks everyone carried were nearly depleted after five days of continuous consumption. If reinforcements and supplies didn’t arrive soon, the soldiers and mercenaries, already exhausted, would be unable to rely on pure physical strength to fight off the still-relentless beasts. Without energy blocks, their firearms would be useless, and the battlefield would likely descend into chaos, leading to significant casualties.

Fortunately, around 3 p.m. that day, a massive explosion occurred in the central area of the Desolate Forest. The explosion was so powerful that it destroyed one-fifth of the forest’s central region. Even the Xuan Gu group, over two thousand miles away, felt the tremors from the ground.

At that time, they didn’t know it was a massive explosion; they just assumed it was an earthquake in the Desolate Forest.

However, they had no time to investigate what had happened in the forest because, right after the earthquake, the beast horde seemed to be massively agitated and swarmed out in a frenzy, charging wildly and even trampling and biting each other.

Faced with such a ferocious assault, the humans nearly lost their defensive lines and had no choice but to stop conserving energy.

Fortunately, this chaotic state only lasted for about half an hour. The seemingly endless beast horde, which had been surging forward, was suddenly cut off, as if something had abruptly stopped them. No more beasts emerged from the forest—none at all.

The fighters, who had grown numb from the relentless killing, couldn’t believe it and remained on high alert, still vigilant…

Instructor Dudley gazed toward the forest for a moment before suddenly leaping off the towering pile of beast corpses and jumping toward the forest. He wasn’t the only one to do so; several high-ranking mercenaries followed suit.

Ruo Manni used her psychic powers to “scan” the forest. Within the range of her perception, there wasn’t a single beast.

“It’s finally over,” Ruo Manni sighed deeply. “Dean, I’m so tired.”

Dean Atchison, hearing this, walked over to Ruo Manni’s side, looking much more refreshed than she did.

Exhausted to the point of collapse, Ruo Manni felt the disadvantage of having poor physical endurance. However, now that her cousin was around, she shamelessly leaned on him to rest. As for her older brother, though he had intended to come over and support her, Ruo Manni couldn’t accept that, especially since he had his fiancée with him.

Only Sheila was left without anyone to rely on. But the problem was, her physical endurance wasn’t bad at all. Unlike Ruo Manni and Mina-Olli, who were both psychics and more fragile, she didn’t need anyone to support her.

With the beast tide retreating, Ruo Manni was in a great mood and teased Sheila, “Having a cousin is nice, too bad yours is a girl.”

Sheila was irritated. How could Ruo Manni still have the energy to tease her at a time like this? She didn’t believe Ruo Manni was that tired—it was just an act, relying on her brother and cousin to play up her exhaustion.