Chapter 1

Kaka!

Buzz!

Neat footsteps and the sound of armed helicopters cutting through the wind echoed over Bolan City.

The terrifying sounds of gunfire, artillery fire, and raging winds had awakened the entire city, and all the troops stationed there were mobilized.

When they followed the sounds to the place where the previous unit had met with disaster, they were stunned by what they saw.

"God... what happened here?" A short, stout senior general stared wide-eyed at the scene before him, his voice filled with panic. "Where did the previous patrol go?"

At this moment, on this empty street, the ground was covered in trenches as if crushed by immense force, the surrounding buildings were in ruins, and the wreckage of tanks was scattered everywhere. The nearly five-hundred-man patrol was nowhere to be seen; not a single body remained!

It was as if they had evaporated from the face of the earth!

"Enemies have infiltrated our city! Is it sea beasts?" The senior general trembled.

Around him, thousands of soldiers exchanged glances, while armed helicopters used searchlights to scan the streets and ruins below, trying to find any sign of the enemy.

Just then, an Evolver warrior squatted next to a collapsed building, reaching out to touch the broken stones in the rubble. His fingertips were stained with some blood and a soft, sand-like granular substance. He rubbed it gently with his fingers, and his expression changed. He quickly approached the senior general and said, "Sir, there's no need to look for the members of that unit anymore!"

"I know where they are now."

The senior general raised an eyebrow. "You know? Where are they?"

At that moment, the senior general desperately wanted to find the members of that unit; he wanted to learn the identity of the enemy from them!

The Evolver soldier's expression was complex. He pointed to the surrounding ruins and said, "They're here... everywhere."

The senior general was taken aback at first, then his face turned ashen.

He looked at the blood on the Evolver soldier's fingertip and the tiny particles mixed within it, barely suppressing the urge to vomit. He trembled as he said, "Quick... quickly send someone to the EU for support!"

Less than ten minutes had passed since they heard the commotion and arrived here. To annihilate an entire mixed unit in such a short time... this terrifying enemy was definitely beyond their ability to resist!

Seeking help from the nearest powerful nation was their only option.

Buzz!

Two helicopters soared into the sky, carrying the hopes of Bolan City's garrison, speeding towards the EU.

Boom!

Just as the helicopters' position lights disappeared from sight, another earth-shattering explosion and a whistling gale erupted from another direction within Bolan City!

Immediately afterward, flames roared to life.

"That's... the Presidential Palace!" The senior general was stunned, his pupils contracting, his heart racing.

"The Presidential Palace is under attack!"

"Quick! Get over there and provide support!"

"Summon all the garrison troops and rescue the President!"

The soldiers shouted as they frantically rushed towards that direction.

But it was too late.

Amidst the raging fire, they saw the Presidential Palace collapsing with a roar, and a figure with wings on its back soared into the sky, riding the wind.

...

EU.

Presidential Palace.

With the transfer of military command, President Te now had fewer matters to handle each day. He could even find time to watch a recording of a ball game from before the Era of Destruction.

Late that night, just as President Te had finished reviewing all the documents, stretched, and was waiting for his secretary to bring him a hot coffee, he opened the player on his computer and found a recording of a stand-up comedy show he had saved, ready to relax for a while.

Tap, tap, tap!

Just then, the familiar sound of his secretary's high heels on the marble floor echoed. But unlike usual, this time the footsteps were not elegant and steady, but rather hurried.

"Mr. President..." The blonde secretary walked in, not holding a hot coffee, but a photograph, her expression grave. "There's an emergency!"

"..." President Te, who had been reclining in his office chair, sat up straight at the sound of this, frowned, and asked, "Is it another continent protesting the curfew laws?"

"No, it's much more serious than that." The blonde secretary shook her head and handed the photo to President Te, saying, "The capital of Gaozhou, Bolan City, has suffered a terrible attack. They can't resist the attackers and are asking us for help!"

President Te raised an eyebrow and sneered, "They should go to Li Tianran for this kind of thing. We no longer have command of large-scale forces! There are only self-defense forces within the country. Tell the requesters to change course and go to Kuangxi Island!"

Hearing this resentful reply, the secretary was not surprised, but she did not follow President Te's instructions to respond to the requesters from Bolan City. Instead, she handed the photo to President Te and said, "Mr. President, you should look at this photo first."

President Te took the photo, and when he saw the creature in it, he suddenly stood up from his chair, his pupils contracted, and his face was filled with astonishment.

It was a photo taken by a long-range camera on an armed helicopter. Because the surrounding light was relatively dim and the distance was relatively far, the photo was not very clear.

But even so, President Te immediately recognized what the winged figure in the photo was!

This figure had left too deep an impression on him.

The images of the negotiations between the five Ancient Civilization Kings and Li Tianran were still stored on his computer's hard drive. Anyone who wasn't blind could recognize that this figure matched the Wind Apostle among the five Ancient Kings perfectly!

"Ancient King!" President Te exclaimed, his eyes wide, his voice trembling.

"Yes, an Ancient King has attacked Bolan City!" The blonde secretary said softly, "We can indeed ignore the lives and deaths of the people of Bolan City, but there is a problem we have to consider! That is, Bolan City is less than a thousand kilometers away from us. If that Ancient King destroys Bolan City and then turns his guns on us again, how should we respond?"

President Te was silent. He had originally thought that this was just an ordinary small-scale beast tide that had secretly infiltrated the defense line and attacked Gaozhou, but he didn't expect that it would actually be an Ancient Civilization King.

"What do you think we should do?" President Te asked.

"I think... we should at least send a unit to investigate the situation." The blonde secretary said, "First, we can grasp the movements of the Ancient Civilization King, and second, if a war really breaks out, we can also set the battlefield in Bolan City to avoid fighting on our own land, and we don't have to bear the huge losses brought by the war!"

President Te thought for a moment and finally nodded.

"Go and notify Kuangxi Island immediately!"

President Te's eyes flashed, and he took a deep breath, saying, "Li Tianran took the command of the army, this kind of thing should be solved by him!"

"In addition, let the Third Air Force Detachment of the Self-Defense Forces integrate a group of people and rush to Bolan City immediately. Remember, the main task is to investigate the situation. If you find the enemy, try to avoid direct confrontation!"