Chapter 22: Savage Beast City Siege (Part II)
Even from a hundred miles away, the tremors within the city were so strong that one could imagine the massive scale of this savage beast invasion.
He arrived at the school's assembly area. The entire Area 5 was packed with people, including both lower and upper grade students. Each class was organized as a unit, with homeroom teachers counting their students to ensure an accurate tally in case of a retreat.
Soon, he found the gathering spot for Grade Six, class five.
"Hey, guys, look who's here!"
"Yang Tong!"
"It's Yang Tong!"
"Yang Tong—"
Classmates, both familiar and unfamiliar, greeted him warmly. After all, his victory in the overall tournament had brought great honor to class five. Although his championship was a bit questionable since Zheng Meimei and Di Xuanluo were both absent due to mutual injuries, no one could deny the legitimacy of his title; the entire competition had followed the rules.
"Yang Tong, hurry up and get in line. The principal will be speaking shortly, so listen carefully," the homeroom teacher called out warmly. Since he became the champion, she, as the teacher of class five, had also received a reward from the school, so she felt immense affection and concern for a student like him.
"Oh, okay, teacher." He stepped into the line.
Feng Xiaobo cut into the line, a look of distress on his face. "Yang Tong, we're really unlucky this time. To think we'd run into a savage beast city siege, something that only happens once in decades. Do you think we'll make it through safely?"
"We should be able to. Although there are only three hundred thousand city guards, there are no fewer than two million expert mercenaries among the millions of citizens," he replied thoughtfully. Mercenaries included both men and women; except for the elderly and children, almost every adult had some level of martial power. At the very least, operating thermal weapons was no problem, and even some elderly and children could fire guns. This was why thermal weapons had spread so quickly and were so popular—they were lethal weapons that were exceptionally easy to operate. As long as there was enough energy, their lethality against savage beasts during a city defense was guaranteed.
The elderly in the county, except for those too old to walk or bedridden, had also arrived early. After being issued spirit energy rapid-fire guns and enough beast crystals, they all went up to the city walls to prepare for the defense.
The Southeast Campus was closest to the city walls, so they had already gathered within an hour.
"Students, please quiet down," Principal Long's voice rang out.
Sure enough, Area 5 quickly fell silent.
"This is a moment of life and death for Luoyu County, so I won't waste words. Shortly, the school will assign you tasks through your homeroom teachers to assist in the battle on the city walls. Anyone who slacks off will be expelled without leniency," Principal Long said solemnly. "Please rest assured, we will assign tasks based on your abilities. Most will be logistical transport work, but even logistics are incredibly important and cannot be handled carelessly. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" tens of thousands of people shouted in unison.
"Very well. Tasks will be assigned shortly. Your contributions will be recorded and will be of great use in the future. All homeroom teachers, gather for a meeting," Principal Long added.
The homeroom teachers from every grade and class went to the meeting.
Half an hour later, the homeroom teachers returned to their respective classes and began assigning tasks to each student based on their abilities.
Xue Ying was a very competent homeroom teacher. She had a good understanding of each student's abilities and personality, and was even well-aware of the relationships between them. When assigning tasks, she often grouped students who were close to each other to handle a single mission.
For instance, Yang Tong, Feng Xiaobo, and Ai Dong were placed in one group. Their task was actually to go up to the city walls, take spirit energy rapid-fire guns, and fight against flying fur beasts! Several other Rank Three Apprentice Martial Masters from class five were assigned the same. Of course, such tasks could be refused, and they could choose to do logistics or other duties instead.
He understood the intent behind this task. It was meant to train them. Most of these youths probably hadn't ever killed before, let alone faced such a massive scene that only occurred once in decades. Taking them to the city walls to fire a few shots and witness the grand spectacle would help their future growth. Of course, it might also leave some psychological shadows that could hinder their development. However, the survival of the fittest was just that cruel.
After a while, the school distributed a batch of A-type spirit energy rapid-fire guns by class—one gun per person, two low-grade mid-tier beast crystals as ammunition, a backpack of food, and some healing potions.
"Thankfully, we don't have to use our own weapons," Feng Xiaobo said with a long sigh of relief.
Ai Dong also nodded and replied, "Low-grade mid-tier beast crystals... this is enough to keep firing for ten days."
"Alright, let's go. To the city walls." Seeing that the school was even issuing guns, he was secretly pleased and stowed his gun into his storage ring.
Led by the martial arts instructors of each class, the elite groups left the main body and headed for the city walls.
"Teacher Zhang, do you think we can win?" asked some students who were emotionally unstable and extremely nervous.
Zhang Tianming replied quite calmly, "Well, I can't answer that for you. However, once you reach the bunkers on the city wall, do not leave them without orders. As long as you stay inside the bunkers, you won't be in danger."
Under Zhang Tianming's lead, he and the others quickly arrived at the city walls.
From a distance, they hadn't noticed anything, but once they ascended the city walls, they discovered that the top was incredibly vast, like a giant plaza; one could only imagine the thickness of these walls. Moreover, it wasn't entirely exposed. Rows of bunkers stood side-by-side on the wall, one every five paces, each capable of holding thirty to forty people.
The most spectacular sight wasn't the cluster of bunkers, but the massive swarms of terrifying flying fur beasts in the sky, frantically diving toward the walls. They were then blasted into fragments by beams of laser light, with chunks of flesh flying everywhere. Some slammed directly onto the walls, blood splattering in a horrifying display.
On the spot, some students couldn't handle the scene and began to retch, while others nearly fainted.
He couldn't help but swallow hard. The scene was far too bloody, more terrifying than any horror movie. After all, no matter how scary a horror movie was, it was fake. Everything here was real—this was a war between humans and beasts, an absolutely brutal racial war!
"Hurry into Bunkers 19841 and 19842!" All the students and teachers from the sixth grade of the elementary division entered their designated bunkers.
Once inside, they realized the bunkers were actually built quite well. They weren't completely enclosed; they had plenty of observation windows and firing ports that provided views in all directions without compromising the bunker's defensive capabilities.