Chapter 346: My head hurts a little, it feels like it’s growing a brain

Jiangning City.

Military Operations Command Center.

The shrill sound of alarms intertwined with the frantic clacking of keyboards, and the air was filled with a pungent, scorching scent mixed with caffeine and sweat.

Hou Changfeng's expression was solemn, his eyes locked dead on the giant virtual sandbox in front of him.

Above the sandbox, the massive model representing Jiangning City was now completely surrounded by dense red light points on the outer perimeter.

Like a lone sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves.

A deputy chief of staff with general stars on his shoulders was using a slender pointer to point at the west side of the sandbox, reporting the battle situation at an extremely rapid pace.

"Governor, sir."

"Currently, on the outer perimeter of Xining City, the number of detected exotic beasts has broken two hundred thousand."

"The Level 6 defense Formations of the four outer cities have all suffered varying degrees of energy consumption."

"Among them, the situation at the West City Gate is the most severe!"

"The energy reserve of the Formation barrier has dropped below seventy percent. It is estimated that in five hours at most, the defense Formation outside the West City Gate will completely fail!"

Hou Changfeng's thick eyebrows knitted into the shape of the Chinese character for 'river'.

He spoke in a deep voice, sounding like muffled thunder.

"What is the situation at the West City Gate?"

"Why is the barrier consumed so quickly?"

The deputy chief of staff had an ugly look on his face and immediately brought up the real-time monitoring footage of the West City Gate.

In the footage, the overwhelming Insect Tide was like surging ink, frantically impacting that deep blue energy barrier.

"In the direction of the West City Gate, besides the conventional army of exotic beasts, an extremely massive Insect Tide has also appeared."

"These bugs have an extremely terrifying corrosive effect on the defense Formation."

"We have sent more troops to reinforce them, and even some students from Dongning Academy volunteered to join the battle."

"But it is still unable to effectively stop the spread of the Insect Tide."

"Their numbers are too terrifying."

"We suspect that a Hell-level Zerg BOSS is orchestrating all of this behind the scenes."

Hou Changfeng's brow furrowed even deeper.

Another Hell-level BOSS.

Coupled with that Level 50 Nether Tyrant Tiger currently wreaking havoc at the East City Gate.

That makes two.

"What is the current situation with that beast at the East City Gate?"

"Currently, General Qin Yue and General Jiang Wei are still holding it back."

The deputy chief of staff reported.

"Vice Dean Xia of Dongning Academy also brought several Advanced instructors to join the battle."

"However, the possibility of solving that Tyrant Tiger in a short time is not high."

"Are there any high-end combat powers in the city that can be transferred to support the West City Gate?"

Hou Changfeng's gaze swept across the sandbox, his voice carrying a trace of imperceptible fatigue.

The deputy chief of staff shook his head, a thick bitterness appearing on his face.

"The high-end combat powers who came to support from major military regions have long been fully committed to the battle."

"Right now, the situation in every theater of operations is not optimistic, and manpower is severely insufficient. It is simply impossible to pull out any more manpower to support the West City Gate."

Inside the command room, it fell into a depressive silence.

Hou Changfeng loosened the collar binding his thick neck and let out a long breath of foul air.

"If worst comes to worst, I will have to go up personally."

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of everyone in the command room changed abruptly.

The deputy chief of staff stepped forward quickly, his voice urgent.

"Governor, sir! Absolutely not!"

"You are the backbone of our entire Jiangning City; how can you personally take risks?"

Hou Changfeng, however, smiled dismissively and patted his beer belly, which looked like a ten-month pregnancy.

"Don't look at how fat I am now."

"Back in the day, I also slaughtered my way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood."

"Now that the situation is critical, we can't care about that much anymore."

His eyes instantly became sharp, filled with unquestionable majesty.

"Pass my order! From now on, Old General Lu Chuan will coordinate the overall situation! Everyone must unconditionally obey his command!"

"Governor, sir, don't rush, allow me to think of another way!"

The deputy chief of staff was sweating profusely with anxiety.

Just at this moment.

A soldier in charge of communications hurried in from outside.

"Reporting to the Governor!"

"Minister Li Gang is back!"

"Li Gang?"

Hou Changfeng's eyes suddenly lit up.

But that light lasted for only a split second before rapidly dimming.

Li Gang returning at this time obviously represented one thing.

Donghai City was probably completely indefensible now.

For this result, Hou Changfeng had long been mentally prepared.

After all, for a small Donghai City to persist until now facing a beast tide of that scale was already a miracle.

He had even prepared himself for the possibility that Li Gang had long died in battle at Donghai City.

Now that he could still return alive, it could be considered a blessing in disguise.

"Quick! Let him in!"

Soon, a dusty figure walked in from outside with steady steps.

Several consecutive days of bloody battle made Li Gang appear exceptionally disheveled at this moment.

His military uniform was already tattered, stained with dried blood and filth.

That face, which always wore a hint of cynicism, was also filled with exhaustion.

Yet his eyes emitted a terrifying brilliance, startlingly bright.

He came before Hou Changfeng, abruptly brought his heels together, raised his hand, and gave a standard military salute.

"Governor, sir! Li Gang, Chief of Staff of the 23rd Corps of the Dongning Military Region, reporting to you!"

Hou Changfeng squeezed out a smile on his face, stepped forward, and heavily patted Li Gang's shoulder.

"It is good enough that you came back alive."

His voice carried a bit of heartfelt relief.

"I already know the situation of Donghai City. Being unable to hold it is also an unavoidable matter; in that desperate situation, whoever went would be unable to turn the tide."

Li Gang opened his mouth, just wanting to say something.

But Hou Changfeng continued talking to himself.

"You have already done very well, holding on for so long and successfully transferring so many commoners of Donghai City to Xining City. This is already a monumental merit."

"Don't blame yourself, have a good rest. Right now, over here at Xining City…"

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly felt something was amiss.

On Li Gang's face, there was not a trace of the de… dejection and decadence of having fought a defeated battle.

Instead, it brimmed with an uncontrollable excitement and agitation.

Right at this moment, Li Gang's voice sounded once more.

"Governor, sir, Donghai City has been successfully defended."

As if he hadn't heard, Hou Changfeng continued speaking to himself.

"… Right now the situation in Jiangning City is also not optimistic. You go to the medical department to treat your wounds first, and then…"

His voice stopped abruptly.

The entire command center was so quiet a pin drop could be heard.

The expression on Hou Changfeng's face froze completely at this moment.

He slowly, inch by inch, turned his plump head.

Staring fixedly at Li Gang with a gaze as if looking at an alien.

"Wait a minute."

"You… what did you just say?"

Li Gang looked at his dull expression and grinned.

He repeated it once more, his voice not loud, but every word clanged with strength.

"Governor, sir, Donghai City has been defended."

"The exotic beast army outside the city has all retreated."

"Hiss—!"

Hou Changfeng abruptly sucked in a cold breath.

He reached out his plump hand and rubbed his throbbing temples.

"No… wait a minute…"

"My head hurts a little right now, it feels like it's growing a brain…"