The whole nation: You're put to survive on a desolate planet, you'll be running an alien b

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Li Haotian stood frozen before the enormous, newly formed heart, radiating a soft golden light. Lin Mo's final, poignant smile and resolute figure replayed repeatedly in his mind, like a poisoned knife, slowly and steadily cutting into his nerves. The space was silent, save for the steady, powerful beating of the heart, like an ancient hymn to life, sacred and solemn.

However, on the other side of this sacred silence lies a purgatory of the complete opposite.

"roar--!"

The deafening roars nearly tore at eardrums. Amidst the ruins of the abandoned city, endless monsters surged like a black tide, relentlessly assaulting the last, fragile line of defense. The air was thick with the stench of blood and acrid burning; scalding bullet casings mingled with the mangled limbs of monsters, creating a bloody, apocalyptic scene.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Su Wan's pulse rifle unleashed its final few deadly beams, blasting several of the leading alien monsters to shreds. She gasped for breath, the energy indicator on her protective suit a blinding red, covered in scratches and corrosive slime, and she swayed precariously.

"Tiger! Ammunition! We're out of ammunition!" she cried desperately, her voice hoarse from overuse.

Not far behind her, Liu Hu was supporting himself on one knee. The massive mechanical arm had been torn to shreds, leaving only a bare skeleton, revealing broken wires and hydraulic pipes. His body was covered in deep, bone-revealing wounds, and dark red blood almost soaked through his combat uniform, but he still stood like an unyielding iron tower, firmly blocking Su Wan's path.

"It's gone..." Liu Hu's voice was equally hoarse, but it carried an inappropriate sneer. "It's been gone for a long time. I'm practically grinding my teeth to dust."

He casually tossed the empty heavy artillery piece onto the ground with a dull thud. Looking at the endless, black ocean of monsters before him, he glanced at Su Wan beside him, her face pale but her eyes still defiant, and a surge of poignant sorrow welled up within him.

This battle was worthwhile.

Just then, the earth began to tremble violently.

In the center of that monstrous army, a massive, mountain-like mass of flesh was slowly writhing and expanding. Enveloped in countless viscous tentacles, its surface was covered in wrinkles, which were now splitting open to reveal a skeletal, shimmering structure within. A nauseating stench, a mixture of putridity and the scent of new life, swept over them.

"Hatching...the Hatching Nest! It's coming out!" Su Wan's voice was filled with undisguised fear. According to the database, once a creature of this level is fully born, its power is enough to instantly raze a small city.

Looking at the colossal creature about to emerge from its cocoon, and then at Su Wan behind him, trembling yet still refusing to retreat, Liu Hu's scars seemed to soften. He grinned, revealing a set of bloodstained teeth, a smile that showed an unprecedented ease and relief.

He remembered the oath he took when he enlisted, his fallen comrades, and Li Haotian's eternally stubborn face. What joy is there in living, what fear is there in dying? It's just another way to protect this land beneath our feet.

"Su Wan," he suddenly spoke, his voice unusually calm.

"Tiger Brother?"

"Remember my words." Liu Hu slowly straightened up and used his intact hand to unzip the last tactical backpack at his waist. He pulled down the zipper, and inside lay several menacing-looking high-explosive plastic bombs, each powerful enough to blow a building to the sky.

Su Wan's pupils contracted sharply, and she instantly understood what was happening. Tears welled up uncontrollably. "No! Tiger! Don't!"

"Don't cry!" Liu Hu growled, yet his movements were incredibly gentle as he strapped the bombs to his body, the pull rings linked together to form a deadly switch. "Listen to me, live! You must live no matter what! Tell the higher-ups, tell those big shots sitting in their offices, I, Liu Hu, haven't disgraced Dragon Shield!"

His eyes shone with an astonishing light at that moment, as if they were burning with all of his life force.

"Brother Tiger—!" Su Wan cried out in anguish, trying to rush over, but Liu Hu held her in place with his powerful aura.

"Awooo—!!!"

Just then, the enormous hatching nest finally burst open, and a monster the size of a small high-rise building, with countless compound eyes and ferocious mandibles, let out its first roar since its birth. A huge shadow loomed over the entire battlefield.

Liu Hu laughed, a maniacal and resolute laugh. He glanced at the world-destroying monster, then looked deeply at Su Wan, as if trying to etch her image into his soul forever.

"Xiao Wan, live on..."

He turned abruptly, and with the last of his strength, he screamed hoarsely:

"Tell the higher-ups, I didn't disgrace Dragon Shield!!"

Before he finished speaking, he pulled the fuse.

The piercing alarm blared, but he paid no heed. Like a vengeful meteor shot from hell, he grabbed a huge concrete slab as a cushion, his entire body transforming into a burning trail as he charged headlong into the newly born, arrogant behemoth and the dense horde of monsters behind it.

"No--!"

Su Wan's cries were drowned out by the earth-shattering roar that followed.

boom--!!!

A dazzling yet deadly metallic firework exploded across the hellish battlefield. The blinding white light engulfed everything, and a terrifying shockwave spread wildly in a ring from the spot where Liu Hu had perished. The newly born, arrogant behemoth, without even a complete cry of agony, was torn into primordial particles at the epicenter of the explosion. Following closely behind were hundreds and thousands of other monsters, as fragile as paper before that world-destroying power.

The symphony of destruction lasted for a full ten seconds. As the light and roar slowly dissipated, a massive crater, nearly a hundred meters in diameter and seemingly bottomless, appeared in its place. At the edge of the crater, all the buildings had been reduced to dust, and the ground was covered with a strange liquid left behind by the vaporized monster.

At this moment, the whole world fell into a deathly silence.

The monster army's offensive was thus halted.

Su Wan stood there, stunned, tears mingling with gunpowder and dust, leaving two deep, disheveled lines on her face. She stared at the huge, still-smoking crater, Liu Hu's last, heroic words echoing in her ears.

She tried to shout, but only a hoarse, broken hiss could be heard from her throat.

Tiger Brother...

That figure, as reckless as a bull yet as warm as an older brother, has vanished forever.

He used his own life as fuel to compose the most magnificent and tragic swan song of his life, buying his comrades the last and most precious time.