The last leader of the world starts with an elite infantry squad!

Chapter 1349 Will Shakes

"Third Company! Move the heavy machine gun position half a meter to the left! Check your field of view! Be careful of your firing arc! Don't let the crenellations in front block your view!"

"The Second Company's ammunition depot is too far forward! Move it! Move it to the bunker behind!"

"Check the filter canisters! Everyone! Final pre-battle check! Seal the connections!"

.....

Takagi's voice came through the built-in communicator on his hazmat mask, hoarse and undeniably stern.

Like a restless, trapped beast, he kept stopping, patting the sandbags with his hands, which were covered in heavy chemical protective gloves, and crouching down to check the angle of the firing ports.

Gu Chengyun followed slightly behind him, also observing and coordinating nervously, but he remained somewhat distracted.

Beneath the mask, his face was pale, and his eyes held a mixture of tension, exhaustion, and a deep-seated unease.

Just hours earlier, their reconnaissance battalion was celebrating their successful escape from the edge of the first wave of spore cloud and their move toward the "Eagle's Nest."

Although nearly 20% of the population suffered casualties, at least most people are still alive and there is still hope.

However, the brigade headquarters' emergency order, like an iron hook, forcefully pulled them back from the evacuation sequence and threw them into this city wall that was destined to become a bloodbath.

Because they were the last to arrive, the salients on the defensive line that faced the front of the attack had already been occupied by the infantry battalions that arrived earlier.

Their reconnaissance battalion was positioned in a relatively rearward "second-line" position, taking advantage of the terrain.

From a tactical standpoint, this place is indeed "safer," with less direct pressure and more room for buffering and reaction.

But neither Gao Cheng nor Gu Chengyun showed any sign of relief.

They knew better than anyone that, in the face of the absolute orders conveyed by the brigade commander from the military sub-district and even higher levels, "relative safety" was just a pale and powerless term.

Four hours!

They were faced with a "fungus swarm" they had never seen before, and the descriptions of which were enough to give them nightmares, as well as deadly spore clouds that could drift in at any moment.

These four hours were not four hours of holding out and waiting for rescue, but four hours filled with blood and flesh and exchanged with lives!

The frontline troops might be overwhelmed and submerged in the first hour or two, and then the pressure will be like a flood bursting its banks, rolling down on these "second-line" positions.

At that time, the so-called "relative safety" will instantly turn into a desperate situation where we are surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Can they hold out for four hours? Even if a miracle happens and they really do make it, how many people will be left alive on that wall?

"Instructor, over here!" Gao Cheng's voice interrupted Gu Chengyun's chaotic thoughts.

They arrived at a corner piled high with dark green wooden ammunition boxes. Several soldiers were chanting as they dragged another batch of heavy boxes up from the elevator below the city wall, sweat dripping down their necks from their protective suits.

"How are the ammunition reserves?" Gu Chengyun squatted down to check the markings on the box.

"We have enough rifle and machine gun ammunition for several tough battles. We're a bit short on anti-armor and assault ammunition, mainly because some of it was lost during the previous evacuation."

The platoon leader in charge of logistics quickly reported, his voice muffled behind his mask: "We have enough grenades, and we've also replenished some flamethrower fuel, but not much."

Gu Chengyun nodded, but felt no relief whatsoever.

He stood up and looked out the wall.

The beam of the searchlight pierced the darkness, barely illuminating a messy open area in front of the city wall—a buffer zone cleared for the construction of settlements, now littered with discarded building materials, excavated earth, and rudimentary obstacles.

Further away, there was an endless, deep night sky that seemed to absorb all light.

Whether it was an illusion or not, in the deepest part of the night, there seemed to be an extremely faint, wriggling, unnatural, dark glow flowing in the shadows.

The sweet, pungent smell of decay could be faintly detected even through the highly efficient filtration system.

Gu Chengyun's heart began to pound uncontrollably, crashing against his chest with a sound so loud that he suspected the soldiers next to him could hear it.

It's easy to say "I will die for my country" or "I will die a worthy death," and the oaths of military academies and the mobilization before battles have also stirred people's blood.

But standing atop these walls, soon to be soaked in blood and fire, I clearly sensed the approaching scythe of death. I thought of my parents, whom I would never see again; my brothers, whom I would never see again; and the smiling faces of Wanying and the others, whom I would never see again… I thought of myself becoming a cold, broken corpse, perhaps even devoured and mutated by mycelium…

Fear, like a cold, venomous snake, slowly climbs up the spine and coils around the heart.

He's only in his twenties; his life, his family, his future...

Is this the end for us, on this cold wall that exudes an apocalyptic despair?

He bit his tongue hard, and the sharp pain and taste of blood instantly brought him back to his senses.

We can't panic! We can't panic now!

'Responsibility!' 'Mission!'

Gu Chengyun silently repeated the mantra to himself, constantly giving himself positive self-talk, but he couldn't suppress the incessant jumble of thoughts:

'As the Chairman's younger brother, I absolutely cannot let my brother down; I must be brave!'

"I'm the most useless person in the whole family right now, so I have to prove myself. I'll seize this opportunity to be a hero and see who dares to look down on me afterward!"

'In our Gu family, there isn't a single coward!'

'But as the chairman's younger brother, isn't it a pity for me to die here?'

'Such a supreme life, and you haven't even had a chance to enjoy it, and now you're just going to drift away and die here?'

'Wouldn't it be a shame for someone destined for a high position to die here?'

...

As these complex thoughts flashed through his mind, Gu Chengyun's heart inevitably began to waver.

'How about... I tell Brother Jie to arrange for me to leave first?'

'As for the lives of these brothers, once I reach a high position in the future, I will definitely take care of their families...'

...

Just as Gu Chengyun was being torn apart by his churning selfish thoughts and fears, and was almost about to turn around and find the communications soldier—

"Attention all——!!"

"Southwest direction—!!"

“Here it comes—!!!”

A shrill, almost piercing scream suddenly erupted from the observation post at the very front of the city wall, and instantly spread throughout the entire section of the wall via wired broadcast and shouts!

Waaaaaahh ...

Then came more, more frequent, and sharper alarms and warnings!

Like a taut string snapping, the last thread of deathly silence was broken!

boom--

Gu Chengyun, Gao Cheng, and all the soldiers in the defense zone almost instinctively and in unison turned their heads to look southwest!