Translator: AnubisTL
The embers of war had barely cooled when, across the void and the earth, the wizard's creations began their efficient "cleanup" of the battlefield.
These new cannon fodder units, specifically designed for the giant spirit realm's battlefields, swarmed across the wreckage of warships, mechanical debris, and the corpses of the giant spirit realm's indigenous population like a hungry locust swarm.
Their purpose was not destruction, but consumption. They devoured the battlefield's remains as nourishment, their metallic jaws and biological mouths tearing into the wreckage.
Metal was melted down and reformed, organic tissue was decomposed and absorbed, and all residual energy was drained dry.
Even more astonishing was that when the accumulated matter and energy within these cannon fodder units reached a critical threshold, they would split in two on the spot!
The newly formed individuals would immediately join the ravenous swarm.
Thus, these cannon fodder units spread like a self-replicating gray tide, radiating outward from the battlefield to expand their defensive perimeter.
The machines were consuming the giant spirit realm's territory and resources at a visible rate.
The giant spirit realm's retreat was a chaotic rout, bordering on complete disintegration.
Under the wizard's highly targeted, overwhelming strikes, their formations had long since collapsed.
In their desperate, directionless flight, many units were accidentally struck down by friendly fire, uncontrolled energy bursts, or panicked collisions, falling silently along their escape routes.
Endi felt he was lucky.
He was the captain of a level 3 warship, commanding a nimble medium assault ship.
During the final, devastating orbital bombardment, he had navigated the warship through the gaps in the energy storm, relying on his sharp intuition and a touch of luck.
In the end, he had successfully retreated to the rear defense lines, bringing back a warship riddled with scars and a crew shaken but alive.
Disconnecting from the warship's neural link, Endi felt a wave of exhaustion wash over his semi-fluid body.
As he descended the gangway with his crew, they looked at the somber scene in the base—a sea of wounded soldiers and the medical department overwhelmed. A shudder of fear ran through them, mixed with disbelief at their good fortune: their small ship had miraculously suffered no casualties, though the warship itself was severely damaged.
Endi felt his core warming slightly, an unusual sense of exhilaration lingering.
He dismissed it as the lingering excitement of surviving a near-death experience, not thinking much of it.
With so many wounded, the medical department was already overwhelmed.
After a perfunctory medical check, a medic handed him a tube of biogel—a substance that rapidly replenished energy and repaired minor tissue damage—and waved him back to his quarters to rest, reserving the limited resources for more severely injured personnel.
As soon as Endi returned to his cramped barracks, he eagerly submerged himself in the nutrient-rich recuperation pool.
A wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.
Over the next few days, Endi clearly sensed a shift in the camp's atmosphere.
Though they had suffered a defeat, morale had previously remained intact.
Now, an oppressive gloom permeated the air, as if some heavy weight pressed down on every soldier's heart.
Even high-ranking officers on their rounds carried an unspoken unease, while the soldiers dared not voice their anger.
After another two days, Endi began to feel something was wrong.
The post-battle euphoria had long faded, replaced by a bone-deep, persistent fatigue.
At first, he dismissed it as a normal reaction to mental strain after the battle. But the fatigue grew day by day, even interfering with his recovery training and mental power meditation.
With no other option, he returned to the medical department.
"Doctor, I'm feeling extremely fatigued—not mentally, but physically..." Endi described his symptoms to the military doctor on duty.
The military doctor looked utterly impatient and interrupted Endi without even looking up. "Fatigue again? I've heard this excuse a hundred times in the last few days! Are you all trying to use this to avoid training and patrol missions?"
Endi grew annoyed. "I'm not trying to slack off! I really feel something is wrong!"
"Alright, alright!" The doctor waved his hand dismissively, clearly unwilling to listen further. "Everyone who comes in says the same thing. I'll run a basic scan. If everything checks out, get back to your post. Don't waste resources!"
After a quick scan, the doctor frowned at the results. "Cell vitality is abnormally high... and energy metabolism rate is also higher than normal."
"It seems the battlefield stimulation has had a significant impact on you, leading to a sustained stress state. These are somatic symptoms triggered by psychological pressure. I'm prescribing you three days of leave. Get out, clear your head, and stop dwelling on things in the camp!"
Although being diagnosed with "psychological issues" left Endi feeling somewhat resentful, the chance to get away from the oppressive camp was still welcome.
He accepted the electronic leave pass and left without another word.
On his way out of the camp, Endi noticed many soldiers looking listless and stumbling along.
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind, but he quickly found an explanation: "After such a devastating defeat, it's natural for morale to be low and spirits to be crushed."
As a level 3 captain, he was entitled to a private vehicle, but Endi had his own ideas.
Like many times before on leave, he went to the public airship station near the military camp and quietly boarded a civilian airship bound for a nearby city.
Inside the airship, the surrounding ordinary people sensed the energy fluctuations and faint baleful qi that Endi carried, remnants of his battlefield experience that hadn't fully dissipated. They cast looks of awe and envy his way.
As he absorbed these gazes, Endi's heart, heavy with defeat and inexplicable fatigue, felt a silent comfort.
In the military, where strong individuals abounded, he was just a small figure. But to these ordinary people, he was a formidable warrior to look up to.
The feeling of being admired by the masses was intoxicating.
This unique "method of relaxation" had always served him well.
When the airship reached its destination, Endi disembarked reluctantly. Without hesitation, he boarded another airship, destination unknown, and continued his aimless "relaxation" journey.
He didn't notice that after he left, the passengers on the airship began to inexplicably feel drained of energy and drowsy one by one.
The three-day holiday passed in the blink of an eye.
When Endi returned to the military camp, he was stunned by the scene before him—multiple checkpoints had been set up at the entrance, the energy shields were fully activated, the number of patrols had increased severalfold, and the atmosphere was deathly tense!
"Could it be... the wizards have attacked?!"
Endi's heart tightened. He quickly showed his identification and hurried back to his quarters.
His adjutant, who had been anxiously waiting in the quarters, visibly relaxed upon seeing him return.
"Captain! You're finally back!"
"What's going on? Martial law? Did the enemy attack?" Endi asked urgently.
The adjutant's face was pale with fear. He shook his head. "It's not an enemy attack... it's, it's a plague! A strange disease has broken out in the camp!"
Hearing this, Endi felt a wave of relief. At least it's not those terrifying wizards.
The adjutant's voice trembled. "The symptoms are too terrifying! Captain, you haven't seen it—their bodies... they twist! They start to symbiotically merge with whatever they touch, becoming... becoming indescribable monsters!"
"Some removed their mechanical symbiotes, but before long, their own bodies began to form bizarre symbiotic reactions with their clothes, their beds, even the dust in the air, until their bodies twisted into a grotesque mass... they didn't even die with a whole corpse!"
Endi's scalp prickled, and a chill rose from the depths of his core. He instinctively touched his still somewhat weak body.
Back at the barracks, an inexplicable unease settled in his heart, but he forced himself to fall into a deep sleep.
Yet in the following days, the situation in the camp not only failed to improve but grew steadily worse.
At first, only a few people showed severe fatigue, and the military doctor paid it little attention.
But soon, more and more people fell ill, their symptoms becoming increasingly bizarre, and drug treatments proved almost entirely ineffective.
The camp's high command initially tried to order the isolation of all patients, but as the number of infected grew, they soon couldn't even muster enough healthy soldiers to maintain order.
The weakened Endi was awakened by a knock on his door. He weakly opened it to find his adjutant, his face contorted in terror.
"What is it?"
"Sir, we should run too!" the adjutant pleaded, his voice desperate. "The quarantine zone has lost all control, the management has completely collapsed, and people are desperately trying to escape..."
"What?!" Endi's eyes widened in disbelief.
He forced himself to leap from the nutrient pool and rushed outside the dormitory building, only to be confronted by a scene of utter devastation and horror.
Soldiers lay dead by the roadside, their bodies twisted into grotesque shapes. Officers had locked themselves in their rooms, yet still underwent horrific mutations. And some had completely lost their minds, transforming into twisted monsters that attacked anything that moved without discrimination...
Only the occasional survivor, clinging to the shadows, could be seen cautiously slithering away from the camp.
Endi stared blankly at the hellish scene before him.
Suddenly, a severed limb was swept by the wind to his feet, making him shiver and snap back to his senses.
"Quick! Get the rest of the fleet!"
"They're all gone. I checked. We're the only ones left in the barracks now," the adjutant replied, his voice choked with tears.
"What?!" Endi's body trembled violently.
But as a seasoned veteran, he quickly regained his composure. "Then we need to get out of here immediately!"
With barely any luggage, the two men crept cautiously toward the camp gate.
"...captain?"
Just as they were about to reach the gate, a voice called out to them.
They turned toward the sound and saw a creature by the gate, its body twisted and fused with the ground.
Endi forced down his nausea and peered closely, only to realize it was one of his crew members.
"You..."
He instinctively reached out to help, but the adjutant stopped him. "Sir, this disease is highly contagious..."
Endi's hand froze in mid-air.
(End of the Chapter)
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