「Two hours earlier.」

At the highway tollbooth.

After dealing with a pursuing Reconnaissance Squad, Qin Hu and his group waited for nearly another hour.

Of the three squads and three vehicles that left to act as decoys, only the squad that took the middle road managed to lure back three Black Spine Zergs.

Under the suppressive fire of the fifty-person group, the Zergs were quickly gunned down. However, only the squad’s captain, an Awakener, was left in the vehicle that made it back.

The other two who followed him had died gruesome deaths during the Black Spine Zergs’ pursuit. The lower half of one man’s body was still hanging out of the car window.

Another hour passed. The squad that had gone south appeared out of the darkness, but their vehicle was moving very slowly.

There were no Black Spine Zerg Scouts following them, but their truck bed was filled with still-twitching Red-Armored Beetles.

The Awakener captain, who had been in the passenger seat, walked up to Qin Hu and spread his hands with an apologetic look.

"We drove around for ages and didn’t run into a single Black Spine Zerg. I saw it was getting late, so we just came back."

Qin Hu nodded and looked north, his brow furrowed. That was the direction Lin Feng’s RV had disappeared.

Now, only their vehicle was unaccounted for, with no word from them.

’With that guy’s skills, as long as he didn’t run into two Black Spine Zerg Reconnaissance Squads at once, escaping should have been easy.’

These civilian Awakeners might not understand, but Qin Hu, who had fought on the front lines, knew exactly how formidable an Awakener with Superpower Bullets was.

In their hands, even an ordinary little pistol could become a heavy weapon comparable to a Machine Cannon.

With teammates providing cover and distraction, dealing with four or five Black Spine Zergs was no problem at all, let alone just running away.

’Besides, Lin Feng’s true strength is far greater than that. His Superpower seems more versatile; he can even modify the Back Armor of Red-Armored Beetles into light, highly defensive armor.’

’So with him around, there’s no reason they should be slower than the other two squads.’

It was now approaching midnight. Five or six hours had passed since the group left the service area.

It had also been nearly an hour since the first squad returned after luring the Zergs. If they kept waiting, they risked running into a large Swarm of Black Spine Zergs coming to investigate the situation.

A civilian team like this fifty-person group would suffer heavy casualties facing even ten Black Spine Zergs at once, let alone dozens.

The risks of continuing to wait would only get higher.

The surviving Awakener from the first squad to return, having recovered in his wrecked car, began to press the issue.

"We’ve waited this long, we can’t wait anymore!"

"If a large Swarm of Black Spine Zergs comes to check things out like Lieutenant Qin said, how are we supposed to deal with them with just us? Isn’t that a suicide mission?"

"I bet Lin Feng and his group are already dead."

"It’s not that I’m looking down on Mr. Lin, but what good is that flimsy RV of his? A Black Spine Zerg could bite right through it!"

The other members had long since wanted to retreat. They only held back because Qin Hu hadn’t said anything, and they didn’t want to offend the Commander who would determine their mission’s success. But the Awakeners were different; they received preferential treatment no matter where they went.

This was especially true for the one who spoke up first. As the first to complete the luring task, his contribution was already set in stone, so he was naturally anxious to get back.

With him taking the lead, the others chimed in.

Seeing that the group had no will left to fight, Qin Hu took a deep drag from his cigarette, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.

"Alright, let’s wait another ten minutes."

Ten minutes later, Qin Hu gave the order to retreat and got into his jeep to return to the service area.

Of course, he wasn’t being swayed by this motley crew. Rather, if what they feared actually happened, it would be a devastating blow to the fleeing civilians and to Wu City, which had not yet been touched by the flames of war.

Qin Hu couldn’t bear that responsibility.

Whether it was civilian casualties or the fall of Wu City, he would be sent to a military tribunal.

By dragging it out this long, Qin Hu felt he had done all he could for Lin Feng.

Besides, with three pairs of Black Spine Zerg Giant Mandibles as proof, their mission to provide cover and distraction could be reported as a success.

As the mission convoy drove away, the entire toll station area plunged into darkness, like a desolate suburban area.

Not long after they left, a dazzling flash of light appeared on the provincial highway, followed by a tremendous ROAR and a violent gust of wind.

Unfortunately, the mission convoy was already more than ten kilometers away from the explosion and couldn’t witness the birth of a miracle.

However, a few Awakeners in the convoy still sensed the sound of the explosion. This was especially true for Qin Hu in the jeep; ever since escaping the clutches of the Swarm in the Hai City Suburban Area, he had become extremely sensitive to any loud noise.

"Brake! Pull over and wait!"

Qin Hu ordered the driver to hit the brakes and pull over to the emergency lane on the right.

After getting out of the car, he turned and stared into the distance in the direction of the sound, lit a cigarette, and waited quietly.

Just then, his phone, which was now able to get a signal, began to ring, shattering the silence.

Qin Hu took it out and looked. A new message made his hands tremble uncontrollably, and the cigarette between his fingers fell to the ground.

"Let’s go! Back to base to report!"

...

When Lin Feng’s group returned to the tollbooth, the pitch-black highway entrance told them that the mission convoy had already gone back.

Lin Feng shrugged.

"Perfect. Let’s keep going. Now we don’t have to dawdle behind them."

On the way back to the traffic jam, Lin Feng’s Blast Gun completed its level 12 Upgrade:

[Blast Gun Lv. 12, Red Quality]

[Upgrade Points: 18/4, Damage: 70, Effective Range: 2 km, Remaining Bullets: 85/500]

[Extra Attributes: Bullet Recovery 1/s, Spatial Magazine 500 reserve ammo]

This Upgrade finally increased the Bullet Recovery speed. Although one bullet per second still couldn’t keep up with the Fire Rate, it would greatly alleviate the shortage of blast rounds.

The five hundred reserve rounds were sufficient for now, more than enough to deal with a small group of Black Spine Zergs. And with the Damage increased to seventy, he could take one out with just two shots.

Without hesitation, Lin Feng initiated the next round of upgrades for the Lv. 12 Blast Gun. At the same time, he activated his own synchronous upgrade to relieve the fatigue from a whole night of fighting.

After a simple meal, a warmth spread through Lin Feng’s body, and he fell into a deep sleep.

However, not even ten minutes later, a shout suddenly came from the back of the RV. Liu Yueqi appeared, holding her phone and walking toward the driver’s cabin, yelling with excitement:

"It’s here! It’s here!"

"The national announcement has been made!"

Lin Feng groggily woke up and looked at the phone screen Liu Yueqi was holding up. A familiar face was giving a speech with a solemn, grief-stricken expression.

"We have a signal?"

Liu Yueqi nodded.

"It just loaded. It’s not a live broadcast, though. It was posted about half an hour ago."

Lin Feng yawned, not particularly interested.

He had his channels through Ding Chenghai, so he already knew the results of the battles along the Federation’s coast. It was a complete disaster. Almost all the cities had fallen during the day...

Especially around Hai City, where the reinforcing 13th Infantry Division had been tricked and encircled by the Swarm and was struggling to survive.

’If they announced these results—a total defeat—not even the Federation President, but the King of Heaven himself would be cursed, and his position would be in jeopardy.’

However, what Lin Feng didn’t expect was that during the broadcast, a high-ranking general suddenly delivered an important document.

After seeing its contents, the President’s worried expression gradually turned to one of joy...

It turned out that the 13th Infantry Division, which had been besieged in Hai City, had been successfully rescued. They had linked up with the State Armed Guard and were currently retreating to Wu City to rest and prepare for the next battle.

This was the Federation’s only victory so far.

And it was a record of having defeated the Zerg Race head-on!

Although it was a successful retreat, it was still proof that these invaders from an Alien Star could be defeated!

"Humanity will never yield, never surrender!"

"God bless the Federation! Humanity will prevail!"

After these inspiring words, the camera cut to a press conference. A spokesperson was describing the current mass retreat, as well as the phenomenon of enhancement effects and Superpower Awakenings that were occurring during battles with the Zerg Race.

After watching this, Lin Feng didn’t feel inspired and excited like Liu Yueqi. Instead, his brow furrowed.

’Considering the video’s release time, the turning point seems to have happened right after I detonated the gasoline...’

’In that case, doesn’t it mean my ’art of explosion’ caused the Mother Empress to pull back her army of Black Spine Zergs from the front lines, which in turn saved the 13th Infantry Division from being surrounded?’

Although this was just baseless speculation on Lin Feng’s part, the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

’After all, the power of that explosion wiped out the combat capability of several hundred Black Spine Zergs. If their Spirit connection to the Mother Empress was severed...’

’From the Mother Empress’s perspective, imagine several hundred Black Spine Zergs behind your own lines being annihilated at the same instant. As long as the Mother Empress isn’t a fool, she would definitely pull back some of her forces to protect herself.’

Lin Feng continued his step-by-step deduction as the RV arrived at the traffic jam. The crowd erupted in cheers, and the line of vehicles began to move.

After being stuck for a whole day, traffic was finally flowing again.

Good news came one after another, and everyone wore joyful smiles. Only Lin Feng knew in his heart that the situation was far from getting better...

The Federation simply needed a victory.

Even if it was a victory that wasn’t really a victory.

Just then, the phone in Lin Feng’s pocket vibrated with an incoming call.

He took it out and saw it was an unknown number. Lin Feng hesitated for a few seconds before pressing the answer key.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Lin Feng? It’s Qin Hu. That huge explosion in the Suburban Area, was that your doing?!"