Kaz Khan felt as if countless blades had pierced his back, leaving him breathless for a moment. He gritted his teeth immediately and struggled to crawl towards the shallow bank nearby. Only then did he finally realize that the "thud-thud-thud" sounds of impact earlier were clearly bullets piercing the water.
The Sand People chieftain braced himself and leaped out of the lake. He felt that in that instant, almost all the bullets were aimed at him, but he either swatted them away or they were blocked by his blackened scales.
Kaz Khan endured the intense pain and finally rolled under the cliff, finding refuge in the blind spot from above, and then took a long, ragged breath. However, immediately after, sorrow and despair, like an avalanche, pressed down on him, almost completely crushing the strong chieftain.
"They... they even set up a perimeter here? They're really not giving us a way out!" Kaz Khan felt like crying, naturally from despair, but even more so from fear. He felt like an insect caught in a spiderweb; no matter how much he struggled or resisted, he only got himself more entangled.
He looked towards the lakeside, and this time, he truly almost cried. Mi Xun was floating face down on the lake, her azure scales turning a faded grayish-green, and the water around her was completely stained reddish-brown with blood. Her body still undulated with the ripples of the water, but there was no longer any sign of life.
Kaz Khan himself was a Guardian, a combat-type spiritual energy user with enhanced physique and defense, which was perhaps why he survived a volley of bullets—in fact, those bullets didn't cause him fatal injuries, barely even embedding themselves in the gaps of his scales and skin, easily shaken off with a flick.
However, Mi Xun was a "Believer," which, to put it plainly, was a novice healer.
But in all known parallel universes, how many healers have you heard of who can tank?
The MT survived, but the healer died. What a realistic, yet cruel, scene!
Kaz Khan opened his mouth in pain, but then bit his own arm. He furiously slammed the cliff face beside him, once, twice, thrice, four times, until dirt flew and fist-sized dents appeared in the rock.
"I couldn't protect them. Why couldn't I protect them? I have no strength! I need strength!"
The iron-gray star cluster in his spiritual vision grew increasingly bright, rapidly expanding to the second ring. Within the nebula, the twinkling starlight increased from a mere dozen to hundreds. Anger, despair, and pain at this moment transformed once again into resolve and fighting spirit. Stimulated by such surging emotions, Kaz Khan finally broke through the spiritual energy tier limit, completing his first evolution since awakening.
He entered the yin side of the Guardian star disk, officially embarking on the "Guardian" path. The second ring he opened was named "Heavy Infantry."
"The will of Vanu!" he muttered to himself in the ancient Sand People language that only he could understand.
"I haven't lost everything! I, don't I still have life? As long as I'm alive, I can still fight!" Kaz felt an unprecedented abundance of physical strength and surging vitality flowing within him. At the same time, his fighting spirit, which had never truly faded, returned.
This was an indomitable strong person; he already possessed all the qualities a legendary hero should have.
He pressed against the rock wall, running quickly while hidden in the blind spot from the enemies above. The Heavy Infantry's enhancement direction was still physical ability and constitution, which also allowed him to naturally perceive some spiritual energy techniques for defensive counterattacks. However, even with his steel-like bones and muscles, his agility and footwork were still far superior to ordinary people, fully comparable to tanks and Velociraptors.
He also heard the clamor of voices from the cliff above. The enemies had clearly discovered him, but for a time, they had no way to deal with him hiding in the firing blind spot.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The enemies began to attack with grenades and launchers. Explosions constantly erupted around Kaz Khan, but these impacts, flames, and high temperatures posed no great danger to him now.
It would be even better if the enemies tried to jump down from the cliff to stop him; Kaz Khan, having reached the second ring, was brimming with confidence. After all, below the highlands were only valleys and shallow banks, where not many enemy forces could deploy. In such narrow terrain, even facing dozens of enemies equipped with power armor, he was confident he could defeat them.
I can escape! Kaz Khan told himself. He tightly clutched his amulet, feeling that the souls of his ancestors, parents, the Great Elder, as well as Sha Xue and Mi Xun, were all with him! All transformed into his strength!
Back in the tribe, I can gather tens of thousands more people, which is the foundation for rallying scattered troops. Yes, I also need to find the children. My children with Sha Xue.
I will lead the Children of Vanu to continue resisting, and I will raise them to adulthood! This is my responsibility!
I won't die.
Kaz Khan gritted his teeth, enduring the harassment of shrapnel, shockwaves, and gunfire, and actually ran a large circle around the Alqi Highlands. He hid between the two mountain ridges, looking at the undulating mountains in the distance, feeling that his path to survival lay there.
The last two hundred meters! This is the last two hundred meters of open ground! Once Past here, he could enter the mountains. The enemies would no longer be able to intercept him!
Kaz Khan took a few deep breaths. The power of spiritual energy coated his entire body's scales with an even deeper metallic sheen, and his legs vibrated, twisting like springs. Immediately after, he shot out like a cannonball.
At this instant, his body had reached a speed that even Black Panther tanks couldn't match. He heard the exclamations of the enemies on the Alqi Highlands and the fierce rain of bullets assaulting him.
However, his speed was too fast at this point, and the bullets all fell behind him.
"I can do it!" Kaz Khan was ecstatic.
But just then, he suddenly felt a chill in his leg, followed by a distinct numbness, and immediately stumbled.
Losing Balance at high speed would be disastrous; even with Kaz Khan's athletic ability, he involuntarily crashed to the ground. He rolled several times on the flat ground and, seeing a large protruding rock nearby, gritted his teeth and leaped behind it. Bullets struck the giant rock behind him with thudding sounds, and sand and stone splattered. Kaz Khan himself looked at the new gun wound on his leg, lowered his eyelids, and his mood slowly sank.
He knew that with this setback, he would no longer have a chance to escape.
As expected, just as he was shrinking behind the rock, several dull thuds came from behind, likely mobile infantry in power armor catching up using their gliding function.
"Ina! Well done!" someone on the other side shouted loudly, but unfortunately, Kaz Khan, who hadn't yet studied abroad, couldn't understand.
Is this truly the end?
The young chieftain closed his eyes, gave a bitter smile, and enduring his injuries, stood up calmly, revealing himself from behind the rock. He had originally thought of making a desperate charge, even if it meant being shattered into pieces, he would take a few enemies with him, but he stopped, somewhat surprised, as he surveyed the one leading this group of human infantry.
The other party did not deliberately conceal the faint resonance of extraordinary power, so even a Heavy Infantry like Kaz Khan, who was not good at perception, could guess the other's identity as a spiritual energy user.
The other party was also observing him, even too carefully, as if confirming something. He finally spoke: "Kaz Khan... Hmm, it is indeed you. My name is Yu Lian! Warrant Officer of the Commonwealth. I have been waiting for you for a long time."
The other party used the Sand People's own language, which made Kaz Khan look at him with a bit more respect.
"I don't know you," Kaz Khan said.
"It's enough that I know you. In my opinion, you are far more important than Hessen."
The chieftain was momentarily flattered, then felt like laughing and crying at the same time. Although he was very confident in his abilities, upon careful thought, he really hadn't done anything that would attract so much attention.
"I don't quite understand!"
The other party's face was full of grief and despair, as if he wouldn't close his eyes even in death.
Yu Lian's emotions were a bit complex at the moment. Setting aside their opposing stances, in later generations, he actually quite admired this Sand People's father of independence. He then spoke in the Sand People language that only the two of them could understand: "...Well, he is the Past, but you are the Present! I have reviewed your intelligence and determined that you are the Commonwealth's greatest threat on this planet!"
The Command HQ did indeed have intelligence on Kaz Khan, but only one page. In reality, they possessed intelligence on almost all tribal chieftains and city-state princes, and Kaz Khan's level of attention wasn't even in the top ten.
"Thank you for your high regard... If you are comforting me, then I am very grateful," Kaz Khan said with a bitter smile.
He was a strong and powerful Heavy Infantry, but his temper was calm, unlike a typical Sand People, and he even had a bit of humor.
"I am severely wounded now, my strength exhausted, like a lizard trapped by a Luo beast in a rock crevice. But even so, I don't want to die by stray bullets..." The young chieftain sighed, seemingly relieved, and a faint smile appeared on his face. Then he walked calmly towards Yu Lian.
He was indeed smiling. However, besides Yu Lian, others couldn't distinguish the Sand People's expressions, and they all raised their guns.
"Stop! Sand People, put your hands behind your head! Kneel!" Lieutenant Parkin said.
"He won't do that," Yu Lian shook his head.
"Give me an honorable death! A warrior's death!" Kaz Khan shouted.
Yu Lian looked at the other party, for a full three seconds, then suddenly opened his power armor and leaped down.
He then looked up at the Sand People chieftain, who was a head taller than him, his gaze quickly sweeping over the amulet on the other's chest, then he pulled out two crystal swords from his captain's spare weapon pack.
"Very good, but we are both first-ring, so it will be one against two!"
"What does that have to do with me?" Stein, hiding in the crowd and watching the show, felt a surge of sadness.
Yu Lian ignored him and had already thrown the swords in his hand.
The standard (for human physique) hand-and-a-half swords landed in the hands of the burly Sand People chieftain, but they looked like daggers. He nodded gratefully to Yu Lian, then casually swung the swords to feel their Balance, and immediately struck a pose.
"Come on! Give me honor, or I will give it to you!" he roared loudly, even though he was covered in wounds, exhausted, and facing a desperate situation. He believed that his current state would be the most perfect since his birth!
(Don't think the protagonist is being an idiot! Wait until tomorrow to see!)