Another World: When a Necromancer Possesses the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls

During one of these brief moments of retreat, Li Xingyao's mental power keenly detected that, beside the remains of a skeleton warrior that had just been torn apart by a demonic wolf, faint energy fluctuations were emanating from the heads of two fallen demonic wolf corpses.

He remained calm and composed, his thoughts subtly shifting. A retreating skeleton warrior stumbled seemingly unintentionally, its bony hand effortlessly probing and retracting through the broken skull of the wolf corpse. Two star cores, each the size of a pigeon egg and shimmering with a silvery-gray luster, silently fell into the storage bag that Li Xingyao had already prepared.

Advanced Star Core Harvest +2.

But at this moment, he felt no joy, only a heavy sense of pressure. The twenty-kilometer journey he had taken only a dozen minutes.

But now, in order to retreat a mere dozen kilometers, they have been fighting a bloody battle for more than half an hour! Every step backward is soaked with sweat, star energy, and blood!

In the team chat, heavy breathing, like a broken bellows, rose and fell. The intelligent system had already identified and filtered out most of this noise that could interfere with combat commands, but through the occasional necessary, brief tactical exchanges—"Left flank! Help!", "Su Muyao, suppress that lame one!", "Zhang Xin, ground spikes!"

The rapid breathing, squeezed from deep in their throats and unable to be completely masked, still clearly reached the ears of every survivor, telling of everyone's exhaustion to the limit.

During a break from directing the undead to fill in, Li Xingyao slightly raised his head and looked out.

Their retreat route was already lit up with fire!

In early autumn, the grasslands were barren and dry, withered grasses that were easily ignited. The [Fireball] and [Blazing Explosion] spells that Lin Wei had previously cast, as well as the high-temperature energy splashed from the explosion of the demon wolf's [Moonlight Wave], had already ignited the dry grass along the way.

At first, it was just a few scattered flames, but with the help of the wind, it quickly spread and formed intermittent lines of fire, greedily devouring everything flammable in its path.

Thick, acrid black smoke billowed and rose, gradually merging into a vast expanse, like an ominous curtain pressing low over the wasteland. The sky was tinged with an eerie dark red hue.

Li Xingyao's heart sank.

If... if they are trapped here by the wolves and cannot escape quickly... then the flames and smoke they themselves have created will be enough to devour them, even without the wolves. If they are surrounded by a large area of ​​flames... that would be a true dead end.

The smoke is already enough to drive them crazy. We have to be faster! We have to get out of there!

"Hold on! We're almost within the effective range of the vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun!" Lin Wei's voice rang out in the channel. She was still trying her best to remain calm, but a slight hoarseness betrayed her condition.

"I will order the vehicle-mounted machine gun to provide covering fire. Listen to my instructions: once the vehicle approaches, the gunners will board first and immediately establish firing positions through the firing ports! Next will be the mages and assassins! Lei Lie, Mu Chenbin, Wang Yisong, and Lin Jin, you four will cover the rear, making sure everyone boards the vehicle safely!"

"Understood!" The group perked up slightly, their survival instincts overcoming their physical exhaustion, and they mustered their last bit of strength.

Li Xingyao took a deep breath, his consciousness sinking into his sea of ​​consciousness, which was faintly stinging from overexertion. He began to focus all his efforts on gathering the remaining undead army.

At the rear of the column, the skeleton warriors, still using their bodies to block the wolf pack's attack, received a silent command. They stopped fighting and retreating, and instead suddenly huddled together, forming a dense but fragile temporary bone wall with their broken bones, briefly halting the wolf pack's most ferocious vanguard.

At the same time, the Tyrant Zombies and Skeleton Swordsmen on both sides began to squeeze towards the center, further narrowing the defensive area, making room for the team to retreat, and also preparing to serve as the final barrier.

At this moment, the once mighty army of five hundred low-level undead has dwindled to less than fifty, and each one is battered and broken.

"Boom... Boom... Boom... Boom... Boom..."

A dull, deafening roar erupted from behind! The vehicle-mounted rotating heavy machine gun turret finally spat out scorching flames! Depleted uranium armor-piercing bullets, capable of tearing through light armor, lashed out like the Grim Reaper's whip, slicing across the mound and covering hundreds of meters, striking the Shadowmoon Wolves that were pursuing the most fiercely and the ground in front of them!

"Puff puff puff puff!"

"Awooo—!"

Even with the formidable physique of the Shadowmoon Wolves, they would be injured by this heavy firepower from human technology. The barrage of bullets landed on their shadowy fur, the bullets piercing through both the shallow and deep layers of fur before finally striking their flesh! A piercing howl of pain instantly drowned out the wolves' roars.

The first two or three wolves charging forward didn't even have time to react before being knocked down by the immense kinetic energy and the high temperature of the depleted uranium. They lost their balance and rolled violently, their fur scorched by the intense heat, causing them immense pain! Seeing this, the wolves following behind were terrified and instinctively scattered to avoid them, halting the pursuit!

"Now! Run!" Lin Wei shouted the order!

Without hesitation, Su Muyao, Lin Feng, and Huo Yuan turned and accelerated to their maximum speed, rushing towards the armored vehicle whose side and rear hatches had already opened like arrows. They nimbly leaped into the vehicle, and before they could even sit down, they quickly rushed to the firing ports on both sides, grabbed the electromagnetic rifles on the vehicle, and took over from the heavy machine guns that were about to run out of ammunition, beginning to accurately fire at the demon wolves that were trying to bypass the barrage of bullets.

Behind them, Li Xingyao, Lin Wei, Zhang Xin, and Ying Shuo immediately charged forward. Li Xingyao maintained control over the undead while running, and the low-level undead quickly disintegrated under the frenzied tearing of the wolf pack and the bombardment of the ranged moonlight waves.

Wu Feng was already seated in the driver's seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. He had the brake and accelerator pedals pressed to the floor, and the engine was roaring under the strain, waiting for his teammates to board the car.

"Soldiers! Retreat!" Lin Wei's voice was urgent.

Lei Lie roared and swung his battle axe in a wide arc, forcing back a wounded wolf that tried to pounce on him; at the same time, Lin Jin launched a shield strike, causing two demonic wolves on the other side to stagger backward; Wang Yisong Tower Shield slammed heavily on the ground, and the brilliance of the [Shield Wall] skill shone brightly, briefly forming an energy barrier.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, the four turned without hesitation, unleashing their last bit of stellar energy, and charged toward the vehicle like heavy tanks. Their heavy powered armor creaked as they stomped on the vehicle's pedals.

"Quick! Close the door!" Wang Yisong shouted as he was the last to jump in.

The heavy side armor doors slid shut rapidly under the action of a hydraulic system, cutting off the last ray of outside light. Almost the instant the doors closed, the ear-piercing sound of claws frantically scratching at metal rang out from outside, followed by the muffled explosions of moonlight waves bombarding the vehicle!

"Wu Feng! Let's go!" Lin Wei slumped into her chair and shouted sharply.

"Hold on tight!" Wu Feng shouted, and the armored vehicle, which was already ready, shot forward like a wild horse! The powerful inertia threw everyone inside the vehicle violently against their seats.

Li Xingyao seized the opportunity to recycle high-level undead, as low-level undead were no longer worth recycling.

The vehicle accelerated wildly, jolting and lurching towards the grassland it had come from. Outside, the sounds of explosions, wolf howls, laser weapon fire, and heavy objects slamming into the vehicle created a cacophony of noise, making it shake and tremble violently like a small boat in a storm.

Li Xingyao was tightly strapped into his seatbelt. Through the observation window, he could see streaks of milky-white moonlight sometimes grazing the vehicle, blasting craters into the ground; other times, they struck the rear or side of the vehicle directly, producing a sickening metallic creak and a deafening roar that made his eardrums ring. Inside the armored vehicle, the warning lights flashed wildly, and the piercing alarm blared incessantly.

[WARNING: Rear armor integrity is less than 20%!]

[Warning: The third wheel on the left is damaged; the balance system is being adjusted!]

[WARNING: Drone module damaged!]

[WARNING: Rotary turret malfunctioned, ammunition box destroyed!]

[WARNING: Partial failure of the external sensor array!]

Li Xingyao endured the jolts and brought up the vehicle's status screen on his personal terminal. A shocking red warning appeared:

Structural armor: 82% of the rear was damaged, 55% of the left side was damaged, 40% of the right side was damaged, and 35% of the top was damaged (the drone module was completely destroyed).

Weapon system: The rotary cannon module is 50% damaged and unusable; the ammunition box was shot down.

Powertrain: The core power unit is in good condition, but one of the eight large off-road tires is completely punctured. The balancing system is struggling to compensate, and vehicle speed and stability are severely affected.

Other modules: Some environmental sensors are malfunctioning, and the autonomous driving module is offline.

This valuable heavy off-road armored vehicle, apart from its core power system which is still intact, is almost completely beyond repair.

Li Xingyao quickly switched to the bio-radar interface, where the dots on the screen had become much sparser. Most of the red dots representing the Shadowmoon Demon Wolves were now far behind, with the closest one being five or six kilometers away, and the distance was slowly increasing.

"Hoo—" Li Xingyao let out a long, thorough breath, finally allowing his highly tense nerves to relax slightly. He slumped into the seat as if his bones had been removed, feeling every muscle in his body aching and protesting, trembling slightly uncontrollably. This was not just physical exhaustion, but also the feeling of despondency brought on by the withdrawal of excessive adrenaline.

His head throbbed with a sharp, needle-like pain, a sign of his mental energy being excessively depleted. Had his soul not been strengthened several times by the Myriad Soul Banner, he would likely have already fallen into a coma.

Looking at the spoils, Li Xingyao's soul power had increased by nearly 15000, with the demonic wolves contributing over 7000 and the 800 dead skeleton warriors contributing 8000. The high-level undead Li Xingyao had chosen to resurrect in the death space, so he suffered no loss, only consuming some soul power.

A deathly silence fell over the carriage, broken only by the roar of the engine, the rattling of the suspension, and the occasional wailing of alarms. No one spoke; everyone was lost in the daze of surviving the ordeal and utter exhaustion. The air was thick with the smells of sweat, blood, gunpowder, and a faint, almost imperceptible whiff of… fear.