Night’s Nomenclature

Return Countdown 96:9:01.

Midnight.

City 10 North, the Li Clan Federation Army Corps headquarters was shrouded in darkness. All tents were covered with dark green hay for camouflage.

In modern warfare, sometimes long-range artillery units can calculate the coordinates of the command center through satellite images and then conduct precision bombardment.

Therefore, to win the victory, extra caution must be taken.

Further north, the roar of artillery fire could be heard from time to time.

The Federation-wide civil war has begun, and this is the front line.

This Li Clan unit is stationed in a small valley. In a cave somewhere, Li Clan frontline commander Li Yunmu is holding a war council with Li Changqing.

"The frontline situation is critical. Our remaining two field armies are still on the march. The enemy's choice of strategic position is tricky. The forward base must be pushed 10 kilometers further north to ensure logistics supply,"

Now, the Li Clan and Qing Family troops are both massing north of City 10, with a small contingent in the south guarding against a sudden attack by the Chen Family.

Shendai is launching a full-scale attack further north.

If someone controls millions or tens of millions of rat tides at this time, starting from City 10, then the combined forces of the Qing Family and the Li Clan might be caught between the rat tide and Shendai's troops.

At that time, the Li Clan and Qing Family troops will be in desperate straits.

The colonel said to Li Changqing, "Commander, this is no time to hesitate. I know what I'm saying is cruel, but the safest way is to destroy the entire city with cruise missiles. Even if it turns into a forbidden zone, we cannot risk letting the rat tide surround us."

Li Yunmu mused, "According to the message Qing Chen passed to the head of the family and the Secretariat, the person manipulating this event is very likely Shendai Qianchi after a successful body snatching. No matter what his identity is, he is definitely in City 10. Destroying City 10 will not only destroy the rat tide but also kill him. This is simple. Six cruise missiles are enough to destroy it, and there will be no air defense firepower interception, eliminating our hidden danger."

Li Changqing remained silent.

At this time, the Army Corps Chief of Staff, Li Yunwei, said, "But, after the missiles are dropped, all the civilians there will also die. Can we wait until the District 3 defense line collapses before launching them?"

Li Yunmu shook his head, "They are no longer likely to survive. Demi-god-level biological contamination, and Shendai's covert control, no one will leave alive. Now, do you think Shendai Qianchi will attack District 3 after controlling the rat tide? But what if he doesn't attack District 3 and instead lets the rat tide leave the city immediately? Will there be time then? Changqing, do you believe he will create a miracle? Do you want to gamble the lives of ten thousand soldiers at the front line on his ability to create a miracle? Now the rat tide is still in the city, which is easy to kill. If we let them spread to the wilderness, we won't be able to kill them."

From a military strategic perspective, Li Yunmu is not wrong.

Without a miracle, the rat tide will inevitably become a grave threat to the entire Federation. At this time, even if a field brigade is sent for street fighting, it may not be able to do anything to the rat tide.

A bombardment is their optimal solution.

As the frontline commander, his most important task is to eliminate rear concerns. He cannot gamble with the lives of ten thousand soldiers.

Even if Qing Chen is there, even if he is an independent director of the Li Clan.

This is similar to Qing Chen's order to Kunlun and the Guardians' Union to execute the plan. Qing Chen can be ruthless, and Li Yunmu can also be ruthless. No one is wrong. Li Yunmu will feel guilty every time he thinks about his order to bomb City 10. This guilt will accompany them for life.

But as a commander, he should have this kind of awareness.

Li Changqing pursed his lips and remained silent for five minutes, his palms bleeding from his fingernails. Finally, "I concur."

This is the cruelty of the times.

However, at this moment, a combat staff officer rushed in, "The Qing Family requests communication."

Li Yunmu and others all looked over. Li Changqing said, "Connect to the encrypted channel."

The next moment, a holographic projection lit up in the dark command center. The light blue figure was none other than the newly appointed Qing Family Federation Army Commander, Qing Yu. He asked directly, "Are you preparing to launch missiles at City 10?"

Li Yunmu was stunned, "We saw through satellite that only District 3 of City 10 has not yet fallen."

Qing Yu continued impassively, "Boss said you might do this, so I'm here to notify you. Wait four more days. That will be the day the Time Traveler returns. Qing Chen will definitely send a new message through the Time Traveler. Then we will know if he has the ability to solve this problem. Don't worry, Shendai Qianchi will not be able to complete the control of the rat tide in such a short time. So, if Qing Chen still hasn't found a way to solve the rat tide after the next return and crossing, our Qing Family will raze City 10 to the ground and let Shendai Qianchi be buried with all the dead."

Silence fell in the Li Clan command center. The "Boss" Qing Yu mentioned should be the Head of the Qingshi Clan.

After Qing Yu's internal transfer within the Conglomerate, his appointment as the frontline commander of the Federation Army Corps should also be the Head of the Family's doing.

They were so sure to guess that they would use missiles to bomb City 10, and they even made Qing Yu agree with them to wait for the last four days.

But the key point of this issue is that everyone knows that the only reason the Qing Family doesn't want to bomb City 10 is that they don't want Qing Chen to die in the bombing.

After all, besides this reason, everyone can't think of any other reasons.

However, the Head of the Qingshi Clan has not left Ginkgo Mountain for ten years, and did not intervene in the Chen Family and Koshima's siege of Shadow, or his intervention was extremely covert.

This time, Qing Yu clearly represented the Head of the Family's will, clearly protecting Qing Chen.

This is incredible. Is this still the Head of the Qingshi Clan they remember?

Li Yunmu frowned, "Since you care about his life or death, why don't you send troops to rescue him? Although the frontline situation is tense, a Conglomerate can certainly spare a field brigade to save one person."

They couldn't eliminate the rat tide, but rescuing one person was not difficult.

Qing Yu coldly said, "It's just that we don't want him to die in a senseless disaster. If the rat tide really breaks through City 10, the Qing Family troops will cover your retreat."

Li Yunmu: "Now we have seen the situation in the city through satellites. With only the people in District 3, they can't stop the rat tide. So what are you waiting for?"

Qing Yu said, "I don't know what I'm waiting for, maybe for someone to create a miracle."

Having said that, Qing Yu hung up the encrypted communication.

Actually, he didn't say that he had also asked the Head of the Family why he didn't directly send troops to rescue him, or directly let the Qing Family troops relieve the siege of City 10.

The Li Clan's main force is being held back, but the Qing Family has just entered the battlefield and has room to maneuver.

The Head of the Family replied, "If he dies in this disaster, it means he doesn't have the destiny to become the master of the world. If he doesn't die, the hearts of those who remain in the disaster should be given to him, not the Qing Family."

The Head of the Family is too ruthless and seems to have not placed the lives of tens of millions of people in City 10 at heart.

Even in the eyes of the Head of the Qingshi Clan, this disaster is just a whetstone for Qing Chen.

To be honest, Qing Yu felt that if his father were like this, he would be afraid.

Wait four more days.

After four days of returning and crossing again, Qing Chen will send a message about whether he can solve the rat tide. If he cannot solve it, then razing City 10 to the ground is responsible for the entire Federation.

Return Countdown 48:0:01.

In District 4 of City 10, a one-man elite combat squad was quickly advancing. They were sprinkled with Feng Jun Flower pollen, which is only used in the Forbidden Zone. Even the rats were not interested in them.

At first, Feng Jun Flower pollen was Fire Pit's patent. At first, people in the Federation didn't even know why Fire Pit people could enter the Forbidden Zone without being attacked by beasts and plants.

Later, various conglomerates also learned the secret of Feng Jun Flower pollen and widely used this plant for exploration in the Forbidden Zone.

However, Feng Jun Flower has an extremely long growth cycle, and this thing is not easy to obtain.

At this time, this team was protecting a young man as they quickly advanced. When they entered District 5, the young man stopped. He casually summoned the Shikigami ATS006 Prajna and used the Shikigami to continue exploring ahead.

This Yin-Yang Master is Shendai Yun Cang, who disappeared from the Shendai Consortium a month ago. After Shendai Qianchi's death, ATS006 Prajna returned to the Spiritual Bridge and is now summoned by Shendai Yun Cang again.

Shendai Yun Cang fanned away the smell of blood before his nostrils, "Catch a rat."

A soldier quickly approached and grabbed a rat in his hand before it could react and handed it to him.

Judging by the speed, it seems to be a B-Class Gene Soldier.

This is a special forces squad consisting of one B-Class Gene Soldier.

Shendai Yun Cang carefully examined the black rat in his hand and whispered, "All the Imperial Guard rats in District 5 have turned black, even the fur on their stomachs has evolved into pure black. The rat tide army is now complete. It ate my corpse."

In his words, he even knew when the rat tide was considered completely evolved.

Beyond the Three Realms has been kept in his hands for so many years. No one knows how many Metahuman live experiments he conducted using Beyond the Three Realms, nor how many Metahumans were unknowingly fed to rats.

At this moment, it sounds terrifying for a living person to say that rats ate his corpse.

Shendai Yun Cang smiled, "It really takes half a city to make a sacrifice."

A soldier said, "Yesterday, we used Feng Jun Flower pollen to check District 3. It hasn't been conquered by the rat tide yet, Ancestor. Should we help the rat tide break through?"

"No need," Shendai Yun Cang shook his head. "It's enough."

Shendai Yun Cang reached out and stuffed a white and plump queen ant into the black rat's mouth.

The black rat couldn't bite the queen ant at all and could only let the queen ant be forcefully stuffed into its belly.

The next second, the rat's originally scarlet eyes turned into circles of gray and white stripes, and something seemed to be constantly wriggling in its eyes.

Shendai Yun Cang whispered, "Go back to the rat swarm. When the Rat King calls you, take the queen ant to its side. Don't let it notice anything unusual."

Having said that, he placed the black rat on the ground and let it run away.

"Ancestor," the Gene Soldier whispered, "Yesterday, we also observed that Qing Chen was also in District 3, but we saw that he often left the defense line, as if to rescue some refugees in the city. We didn't get too close; we observed it with binoculars."

At the time of the city-wide rat plague, Shendai Yun Cang's secret squad could still come and go freely with Feng Jun Flower. They were like the dark side of this city, and no one knew that such a squad existed.

The Gene Soldier continued, "If you are willing, we can ambush him on the way when he leaves the District 3 defense line next time and kill him."

Shendai Yun Cang pondered for a moment, "We'll discuss it later. The rat tide matter is about to succeed, and I don't want any extraneous branches. I'm not sure if he knows I'm in this city, but even if he does, it's hard to find me. Once the Rat King is controlled, it will be too late for him to do anything. After the rat tide finishes eating District 3, we can head north. The Li Clan and Qing Family will become turtles in a jar."

The Gene Soldier bowed slightly, "Ancestor is wise."

Shendai Yun Cang smiled with his hands behind his back, looking at the city piled with corpses, "The Head of the Family guessed my identity earlier, and I'm afraid he can't wait to make a move. But I also want him to know that my methods are more than just Shikigami. Let's go. The effect of the Feng Jun Flower pollen is about to wear off. Go back to base. In at most 7 hours, the outcome will be decided."

Having said that, the special forces squad escorted Shendai Yun Cang back to District 4.

They entered a building and then tore open the elevator door with their bare hands. One by one, they descended along the elevator cable, going to an unknown depth underground. It seems that there is another secret base there, and Shendai Yun Cang has been hiding there.

The Caramel Bar in District 5 was designed like this.

Return Countdown 6:59:1.

District 3 experienced a brief calm.

In the past few days, District 3 has encountered a total of waves of rat tides, and an unknown number of people have died here.

Sometimes, the counting work hasn't even been completed, and the next wave of rat tides has already arrived.

The Guardians' Union members are all injured. Xiao San is even bandaged on both arms, covered in blood, and in a sorry state.

At first, everyone would use white cloth to cover the corpses of the dead, but now they can't even find white cloth, and even the sheets are not enough.

It was tragic.

Qing Chen led the 89th and 90th Time Traveler squads back behind the defense line.

"Sir!" A clear voice called.

Qing Chen looked up and whispered, "You're here."

Qing Yi looked at Qing Chen's haggard appearance and her eyes immediately turned red, "Sir, go to the rear of the defense line and rest."

"I'm fine," Qing Chen crossed the defense line and touched Qing Yi's head, "Why did you cut your hair so short? It was so cute before."

Qing Yi was a little embarrassed, "Li Ke said the watermelon head looks silly, so he let me cut it like his. By the way, I've gathered all the intelligence personnel from City 10's Secret Spy Agency. They are now at the forefront of the defense line, so they can make it easier for Xiao San and the others. I also went down the elevator shaft to see Old Shen, but he said he didn't need to leave, and that you couldn't find him, so he can relax for a few days. He's drinking and lighting candles every day. I also went to Qing He University and brought the teachers and students from that school out. I also went to Hope Media, but it was already deserted. I don't know who took them away."

Qing Yi kept talking and talking and felt a little wronged. He hadn't had a moment's rest these past few days and had been following Qing Chen's plan. He talked about the things he had done, which took a long time to finish.

Qing Chen sat down on the sandbags behind the defense line, "You've worked hard."

With just these four words, Qing Yi felt that all his efforts were enough.

At this moment, the District 3 defense line was already in ruins. Outside the defense line were piles of rat corpses, like small hills. Qin Shuli was directing the family members to pull the rat corpses into the defense line, skinning them, eviscerating them, and cooking them.

At first, the Home Families didn't want to eat them, only feeling that they were disgusting, but later they couldn't hold on any longer.

In this District 3, almost every household eats cheap protein bars and cheap vitamins, and can only cook a few times a month.

Originally, Xiao San also wanted to collect cooking oil from District 3 and sprinkle it on the muddy ground outside the defense line. Then he would use fire attacks to burn the rat tide.

As a result, everyone searched for a long time and couldn't find much cooking oil. The amount piled together would only be able to defend three or four sections of the defense line.

In the entire District 3, there are very few families that can have seven days' worth of food at home.

Later, the Home Families started to eat rats and were surprised to find that although the rat meat was tough, it replenished energy exceptionally quickly.

Zhang Mengqian and Chen Zhuoqu were placing a huge oil barrel over a fire, filled with water, simmering rat soup.

At this time, Qing Yi said, "After you left the PCA Intelligence Agency, the Shadow Master transferred me there. I first suppressed Shendai, then suppressed Koshima. Who would have thought that after I finally settled them, those bastards from Shendai actually destroyed City 10? Didn't that make my efforts wasted?"

Qing Chen sat behind the defense line, quietly listening to Qing Yi talk about his recent experiences and youthful troubles.

Qing Yi talked and talked, and when he looked up, he found that the sir had already fallen asleep.

You should know that Qing Chen is already a Metahuman whose strength is among the top tier. In the entire Federation, there are only two Demi-Gods left: Chen Yu and Li Shutong.

Below these two, it's probably difficult for anyone to defeat Qing Chen. Even if he can't win, Qing Chen can run.

This kind of expert has absolute abundant energy, but such an expert can fall asleep without knowing it.

"Sir is too tired," Qing Yi sighed, "Yang Xuyang, Qing Hua, carry Sir to the tent."

Having said that, Qing Yi looked at Zhang Mengqian, "Are you the new disciple Sir has taken? Call me Senior Brother."

Zhang Mengqian was stunned and stammered, "I...I'm not yet."

Qing Yi raised his eyebrows, "Work hard."

Having said that, Qing Yi ran to the refugee pile, helping the injured to bandage their wounds. He looked at the shocking sight in front of him and only felt that he had been living in a greenhouse before.

The rat tide was getting fiercer and fiercer.

Qing Yi didn't know whether District 3 could still hold if Shendai Qianchi controlled the rat tide.

Those in the know understood that the real battle had not yet come.

Two hours later, Qing Chen woke up.

It was as if there was a precise biological clock in his mind, allowing him to only sleep for this long.

Qing Yi asked, "Sir, are you going to rescue those Time Travelers?"

"No more," Qing Chen said sadly, "I've searched all the shelters. Only 90 out of 99 teams are left."

"Sir, you've done your best," Qing Yi said.

But Qing Chen shook his head. Maybe a little earlier, if he hadn't gone to rescue the six hundred refugees in District 5, all the Time Travelers could have been saved.

But the question is, can life really be chosen like this?

He stood up and said, "Qing Yi, choose a team of trustworthy and skilled secret agents and prepare to go with me."

Qing Yi was stunned, "Sir, where are you going?"

"Kunlun hasn't returned, which means they have been trapped," Qing Chen said solemnly. Today was the time they had agreed to return to the District 3 defense line.

But the Kunlun Members did not return.

These people went to die for Qing Chen's order, and Qing Chen must go to District 5 to take a look.

"Sir, what mission did Kunlun receive?"

Qing Chen remained silent for a moment, "The most important mission, to find the Rat King, or Shendai Qianchi."