Chapter 1 A Difficult Decision

The battle on the Gurun Noah Desert was gradually becoming clear. The Hurricane Apostle followers who had invaded the Kunlun giant ships had almost been completely wiped out. If Li Tianran had another two hours, he would be confident in severely damaging the Hurricane Apostle and Dark Night Apostle tribes!

But at this moment, Li Tianran was facing an extremely difficult choice.

If he continued to stay here and bombard the Hurricane and Dark Night Apostles, the T-119 defense line would be breached, and the Star Apostle and Ocean Apostle would drive straight in, turning the entire human world into a living hell!

"Governor, what... what should we do?" A staff member standing beside him asked in a trembling voice, "Should we withdraw our troops to support the invaded defense line?"

Li Tianran forced himself to calm down.

Obviously, the Ocean and Hurricane Apostles' invasion of the T-119 defense line was aimed at forcing Li Tianran to withdraw from this battlefield.

This also confirmed a fact from another angle.

That was, the Hurricane and Dark Night Apostles on this battlefield didn't have the confidence to deal with Li Tianran. In terms of strength, they were extremely afraid of Li Tianran!

Even if all four Apostles were added together, they wouldn't dare say they could defeat Li Tianran with one hundred percent certainty.

Otherwise, the ancient civilization wouldn't use this "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao" tactic to force him to return to defend. The ancient civilization was actually using this tactic to avoid confronting him head-on!

"They fear me, which means their current power is indeed unable to withstand my firepower..." Li Tianran looked at the two miracle buildings below. At this moment, they looked like two undefended enemy headquarters in Li Tianran's eyes.

In the relationship between the ancient civilization and humans, Li Tianran had never been in such an absolute advantage as he was now.

But at this moment, Li Tianran had to face the choice of giving up this advantage!

"Li Zhi has fled, and the entire Northern Territory Legion is without a leader. It will soon be annihilated under the impact of the beast tide... Relying solely on the combat personnel remaining in the defense line giant city, I'm afraid they won't even last an hour," Qin Yiming analyzed carefully.

Before the start of this war, Qin Yiming had used a program to analyze the final war outcome of the T-119 defense line giant city under the invasion of Apostle-level forces. If Li Zhi hadn't made the foolish decision to send troops out of the city, then the firepower and troop strength of the T-119 defense line could have stalemated with the Ocean Apostle for at least eighteen hours.

But at this moment, the Northern Territory Legion had lost its greatest protection advantage, and an Apostle from the ancient civilization had appeared. In this situation, being able to hold out for an hour would be considered the best outcome.

"And behind the T-119 defense line is the Helan Mountains, where many countries have deployed nuclear weapon operation points. If they are occupied by the ancient civilization, the human world within the entire defense line... may be destroyed," Qin Yiming said solemnly, word by word.

Li Tianran took a deep breath, his mind undergoing a fierce ideological struggle.

He didn't know how long had passed, perhaps it was an instant, or perhaps it was ten thousand years. Li Tianran slowly opened his eyes and said very seriously:

"I... will not withdraw!"

Hearing Li Tianran's words, Qin Yiming and the staff in the command room fell silent.

"Yes, if the Ocean Apostle and Star Apostle break through the T-119 defense line, the entire human world will fall into terrifying chaos. But if our expedition today doesn't achieve any results, then there won't be another chance like this," Li Tianran looked around and said in a deep voice, "Perhaps the ancient civilization will move the triangular towers away from here, or perhaps they will completely abandon them next time!"

"We may never be able to force them out again before the ancient civilization's technological weapons are revived!"

"And if I withdraw now, I can certainly save the T-119 defense line, and I can also save the entire human world. But in ten days or so, when the technological weapons of the four Apostle tribes are fully revived, the advantages we currently have will be gone!"

"At that time, the entire human civilization will still be destroyed! And it will be a completely meaningless and suspense-free destruction..."

Li Tianran looked at Qin Yiming and said in a deep voice, "You've seen the weapons inside Sky Castle. If they are fully revived, can we stop them with the power we have now?"

Qin Yiming recalled the first time he stepped into Sky Castle and saw those unheard-of technologies, those weapons that only existed in legends. The shock in his heart was almost indescribable.

Each of those weapons possessed the power to easily destroy a country with a single attack!

If they were truly fully revived, the current human defense line would be almost equivalent to a piece of cardboard, and would be torn apart almost effortlessly.

At that time, not to mention the human world, even Crazy Breath Island would find it difficult to contend with the ancient civilization!

"But... if we just watch the T-119 defense line collapse and the human world be destroyed..." Qin Yiming took a deep breath and said with extreme difficulty, "As the Sword Holder (zhijianren) of humanity, isn't your position too inappropriate?"

"Since I have mastered this power, I will bear the corresponding responsibilities. I will not be inactive." Li Tianran was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Isn't the T-119 defense line without a leader? I will send a leader over there now."

"I don't need this person to be able to turn the tide, as long as he can hold back the Ocean Apostle and Star Apostle for two hours, two hours will be enough!"

Li Tianran gritted his teeth and said, "Within two hours, I will end the war in the Gurun Noah Desert!"

No one in the command room spoke. It seemed that this was the best choice.

"Then, who should we let replace Li Zhi?" Qin Yiming spoke again.

Li Tianran's brain spun rapidly. Soon, two old but burly figures slowly appeared in his mind.

...

Federation.

Retirement Cadre Compound.

Chen Qiong and Zhang Shoucheng were closely watching the progress of the war, but because they had now retreated to the third line, the power and priority they possessed had been greatly reduced, so they could not obtain first-hand battlefield information.

At this time, they still didn't know what had happened on the T-119 defense line. They only knew that the war was in full swing. The latest intelligence they had obtained was only that Li Zhi was using artillery fire segmentation and Evolutionary troops to fight against the beast tide!

"Judging from the current battle situation, Li Zhi's tactics are still very stable. As long as no major accidents happen, it should be no problem to defend the T-119 defense line," Zhang Shoucheng said with a smile.

Chen Qiong touched his eyebrows, feeling that his previous worries might have been a bit redundant.

Although Li Zhi was commanding a war for the first time, after all, the Northern Territory Military Region had the experienced team that he had left behind, as well as veteran generals like Chu Xiong. With their assistance and advice, Li Zhi might be able to perfectly complete this combat mission!

"After this battle, Li Zhi will completely gain a foothold in the Northern Territory Legion, and the group of old brothers who followed me in the past should also retire..." Chen Qiong sighed, and then said with some emotion: "But that's fine too. Those old brothers have fought with me in the north and south for so many years, working hard all their lives, and it's time for them to retire and rest and enjoy themselves."

"Old Chu's daughter-in-law just gave him a grandson a month ago! After this war, Old Chu will retire and have time to enjoy family happiness!"

"Our group of old guys can also get together more often and talk about the glorious years of the past..."

Chen Qiong and Zhang Shoucheng laughed loudly, as if looking forward to a bright future.

Just at this moment, a team of guards with hurried expressions, led by a middle-aged general, quickly ran into the cadre compound and headed straight for Chen Qiong and Zhang Shoucheng's room!