I transformed into a cute girl and lived a carefree life in the apocalypse.

He was also a seventh-level ability user, one of the most dazzling among the many ability users. However, when the marshal and the others faced death, they could only watch helplessly, and in the end, he only let out a defiant roar.

There was no joy of victory, only pain.

In war, neither side wins.

"I want to see him alive or dead, even if it's just a bone or a severed arm, bring him back intact!" Li Hao said this with tears in his eyes, almost shouting it out.

With the deaths of two of his most respected seniors, Li Hao felt as if half of his faith had collapsed, and he relied entirely on his injuries to keep going.

They dedicated their lives to building a beautiful motherland, sacrificing their lives for it. Such great national heroes should not be buried here so carelessly. He wanted to find the remains of these two elders and give them a solemn and dignified burial amidst the praise of the motherland and the people.

This scene was naturally recorded by the three war correspondents and broadcast on television. The bustling city suddenly became so quiet that even the sound of dripping water could be clearly heard. People all over the country spontaneously prayed for Yan Shan and Huang Tao, their eyes filled with tears, cold and sorrowful.

Knowing the truth, the Chinese leader put away his confident smile and began to doubt the true outcome of the battle. He looked at the shadowy figure in the room with questioning eyes, only to receive a few shakes of the head in return.

Even people in other countries, infected by this sentiment, felt a pang of heartache. These two explorers made indelible contributions to humanity's battle against mutated species. The fact that even the seemingly invincible Sequence-level beings could die was enough to make them famous for generations to come.

"Hey, hey?! Report, report—signs of life have been found here!" Several soldiers found an arm while digging through rocks. This should have been a sad thing, but when they discovered that the arm had actually moved, they were overjoyed and speechless.

"..."

Deathly silence.

"Dig it right now—!!!"

With a hoarse voice, Li Hao grasped at the last glimmer of hope and jumped directly from the helicopter, which was hundreds of meters high. When he landed, the impact made his legs numb, and he almost collapsed to the ground after taking a few steps.

At this point, the excavation was halfway complete, revealing half of Yan Shan's body, motionless and covered in blood.

Li Haoyi was finally disheartened.

"So it was just wishful thinking after all... Damn it—!" He kicked a boulder beside him with all his might, oblivious to the fact that his military boots were worn out and his feet were bleeding, lost in grief.

"Cough cough—what's all this anticipation?" Yan Shan's voice emerged from the ground, then he smashed the boulder burying him with a punch, coughing loudly as he struggled to his feet.

"Commander, are you alright?!" Li Hao's legs went weak with excitement, and he knelt down, only to be pushed back by Yan Shan's strong arm halfway down.

"Go away, go away! Kneel to heaven, kneel to earth, kneel to your parents, why would you kneel to me? I'm perfectly healthy, nothing serious will happen to me!"

Yan Shan stood up, grabbed a tattered cloth from the work platform, and covered himself with it. His clothes had been completely destroyed when he transformed into the mountain qilin.

"Commander, where is the deputy commander-in-chief?!" Li Hao asked anxiously. He saw that Yan Shan had no wounds at all, as if the hideous bloodstains left by the Grim Reaper were fake. Since Yan Shan was completely unharmed, wouldn't that mean...?

Just thinking about it made him ecstatic.

After Yan Shan carefully sensed the surroundings with his special ability, he was interrupted by another voice before he could answer:

"Report! There's something unusual here!"

Then came a deafening roar, and a colossal creature, eighty meters tall, flipped over, creating immense psychological pressure on those present. Several soldiers nearly pulled the trigger.

In an instant, the people of the whole country were like frightened birds, and they were on high alert. The mutated species had brought them too much injury and pain, and even the slightest disturbance could break their taut strings.

"Don't fire—!" Yan Shan roared. He realized that King Kong could not be regarded as an ordinary mutated species. Unlike those mutated species that only knew how to kill, it was a race that truly possessed reason and intelligence.

When King Kong got up, he saw hundreds of ants of all sizes surrounding him, looking at him warily.

It paid no attention, merely gazing at the city wall, the image of a little girl appearing in its dark eyes. After deeply imprinting her in its memory, it turned and left, causing no casualties.

As everyone watched King Kong's departing figure, their expressions were quite complicated. It was unbelievable that a mutated species that should have been humanity's mortal enemy had not caused any bloodshed.

"Perhaps... a few mutated species are not only evolving in terms of physical attributes, but also in terms of intelligence and cognition. This is an unprecedented discovery since the apocalypse... I think we must re-examine the mutated species."

It was Huang Tao's voice.

Yan Shan arrived at a pile of boulders with a bad temper, reached out and picked up the largest one. A yellowish-brown halo enveloped the entire pile of boulders, and the surrounding small stones seemed to be glued together with superglue. As Yan Shan lifted the boulder, Huang Tao, who was equally disheveled, was revealed.

He looked much worse off than Yan Shan. His clothes were tattered and he looked like a beggar. With one arm missing, he would be the most pitiful one even if he went begging on the street.

The two greatest heroes were still alive, and cheers erupted all over the country, with firecrackers, fireworks, and cries of joy all mixed together.

Heaven has eyes, allowing these two respectable elders to live, and the country and its future remain as stable as Mount Tai!

The people on the city wall erupted in joyous celebrations, offering their congratulations. Ye Qianxue was also very happy, but her face still held an unconcealable sorrow.

"Where is my elder sister?" She was extremely anxious and finally couldn't resist. She slipped into the spatial rift and decided to go and check on her herself.

"Really... this silly disciple is such a worry." Mu Mu said helplessly, and couldn't help but tear open a crack to follow Ye Qianxue.

"You have worked hard!"

Seeing the deputy commander-in-chief lose an arm, Li Hao felt a pang of sorrow and spoke with deep reverence.

"It's nothing, it's nothing. We can find a good therapist and it will grow back." Huang Tao laughed happily. It was just a broken hand. Compared to the significance and value of their victory over the Sequence Level, he thought the price was too light.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

A sudden coughing sound came from the blue-purple pillar of light, startling the soldiers standing beside it. They retreated and awaited instructions from the marshal and his men.

This cough might be unfamiliar to others, but Yan Shan knew it all too well!

Isn't that the voice of his wretched niece?

"Shield all electronic equipment. Everything here is now a top military secret. All irrelevant personnel are to be evacuated and the disaster relief operation is underway!" Yan Shan quickly gave the order. Soon, all irrelevant personnel were evacuated, leaving only a few truly important members behind.

"Come out and tell me what happened."

The beam of light dissipated, revealing a figure shrouded in mist, ethereal and otherworldly, its graceful form inspiring contemplation.

Chapter 188 The Curtain Falls

"Uncle...is anyone taking pictures or peeping at me?"

Yan Ziming's timid voice came through, completely at odds with her ethereal and otherworldly aura.

"You can rest assured, it's just me, Huang Tao, and Li Haoyi here. How could we possibly leak your identity?"

Yan Shan chuckled and scolded, but his smile couldn't hide his joy. His niece was safe and sound, and the last huge weight on his heart had finally been lifted. He could finally relax.

"Hey...are you cosplaying?"

Huang Tao couldn't help but tease Yan Ziming when he saw her extremely retro attire.

After this battle, he truly regarded Yan Ziming as an extraordinary person. Almost all the variables in this battle were related to her. Huang Tao would believe it even if others said that she had the protagonist's halo.

"It was a gift from my teacher." Yan Ziming smiled shyly. Her slightly flushed cheeks, combined with her simple robe, gave her a delicate and refined air that made Huang Tao pause in surprise, while Li Haoyi was completely stunned.

But Yan Shan paid more attention to the word "teacher" that Yan Zimo uttered.

Yan Shan asked cautiously and tentatively:

"The 'teacher' you're talking about, could it be...that person?"

Huang Tao's expression also turned serious, hoping to hear the answer he was expecting.

"Yes, she just gave a few brief instructions and then left."

Yan Shan and Huang Tao both gasped in shock. Li Haoyi was still in shock that Yan Ziming was Yan Shan's niece and was completely bewildered by their conversation.

A simple "hmm" has brought up far too many things. How could someone who is an invincible Soul Heaven Realm expert be the teacher of such a young girl? Would anyone believe it if they heard this?

Huang Tao immediately and solemnly gave the instructions:

"From now on, no one should mention this matter again. Besides me, your uncle, and Li Haoyi, who else knows about it?"

“My sister Ye Qianxue...and Mu Mu.”

After Yan Ziming finished talking about Ye Qianxue, he almost forgot about Mu Mu and hurriedly added her.

"Alright, don't tell anyone else besides these few people. You might attract the attention of foreign forces," Yan Shan instructed.

"Little Li...did you understand?"

"Huh? Yes, I understand."

"I understand. Go back and write a 10,000-word report and hand it in to me. Let me see if you really understand."

"Yes..." Li Hao accepted with a wry smile; he was truly caught in the crossfire even while standing still...

As the saying goes, a higher rank can crush a person, let alone the two men in front of him who were both super big shots in the military. Li Haoyi didn't dare to say a single "no".

Suddenly, Yan Shan's expression changed. An uninvited guest had arrived. But he quickly felt relieved because the visitor was none other than Ye Qianxue.

"My dear elder sister——"

The first thing Ye Qianxue did after emerging from the crack was to look for Yan Zimo. Upon seeing the beautiful figure in the center, she excitedly rushed into her arms and nestled against her.

"Okay, stop whining. I've only been gone a short time, and there are other people around!"

Yan Ziming affectionately patted her head, his gentle smile like a spring, soothing and comforting.

Seeing Yan Shan, Huang Tao, and Li Hao all smiling at her, Ye Qianxue blushed and greeted them one by one.

"You two sisters have a really good relationship."

"Hehe~ It really is pretty good." Ye Qianxue chuckled.

Following closely behind Ye Qianxue, Mu Mu also arrived. She breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that Yan Ziming was safe and sound. Then she saw Yan Shan smiling at her and couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Hello, Commander... Hello, Deputy Commander-in-Chief..."

"Don't be so formal, just call me Uncle Yanshan. I was too harsh on you last time, but it was just a routine matter, don't take it to heart."

"Um... Uncle Yan Shan..." Mu Mu's voice was barely audible. Yan Zimo stared at Mu Mu as if he had seen some rare animal.

This perverted sadist is actually so shy?