Unseen by him, at the last second, his comrades stepped out from behind their shields, channeling the little energy they had left into his shield. A blinding white light erupted, and death came swiftly, sparing them any pain.

Every muscle and sinew in Shao Qi's body was devastated. Not a trace of energy remained within him. His vital heart stone was shattered, and he was severely injured. It didn't take long for him to faint.

Just as he passed out, a bolt of lightning struck, redirecting Zhou You, who had been heading towards him, to search in another direction along the deep crater.

Lying motionless in the pit, Shao Qi's faint breathing was the only sign of life. His body blended seamlessly with the surroundings, making him nearly invisible in the dark.

Dawn approached, and as the sun emerged, the rain ceased. The clouds dispersed, revealing the harrowing aftermath of the previous night's turmoil.

Zhou You sat on a scorched patch of earth, lost in thought, his gaze unfocused. Everything he saw for hours on end was a uniform shade, a lifeless landscape.

Clutching his head, he murmured, "This can't be real. I can't believe it..."

After an indeterminate amount of time, the roar of warplanes broke the silence. Yet Zhou You remained motionless, seemingly lifeless.

The explosion from the previous night had echoed far. The last group of evacuating warplanes lost their navigation systems in an instant, with all onboard electronics rendered useless.

Zhuo Hao immediately thought of a newly-developed miniature electromagnetic pulse bomb from the military. While small and portable, to his knowledge, it had not yet been deployed.

The explosion had originated from the direction of the life base. He figured that only Shao Qi might have such a device. If even Shao Qi resorted to using it, it implied an insurmountable threat that left them no option for retreat.

He quickly ordered a return to base, but communications were down, and his command couldn't be relayed. Regardless, he piloted his fighter jet back in the direction of the life base.

Seeing this, the other jets followed suit without hesitation.

The explosion's magnitude meant they couldn't fly too fast. With electronics down and reliant solely on fuel, they couldn't use their weapons. If they encountered mutated birds, they'd be at the mercy of luck.

Fortunately, they didn't come across any such birds. It seemed the previous night's explosion had scared away all nearby creatures.

Flying over the life base, they saw a vast expanse of scorched earth. The base remained, with traces of mutated creatures in the city, but most appeared to have fled.

To the west lay the area affected by the explosion. From the air, it resembled a massive black disc.

Within this charred circle, nothing lived or grew. The sheer force of the explosion could only be imagined.

Everyone aboard the fighter jets was silent. Had anyone been at the scene, no matter how formidable, could they possibly have survived?

What about Shao Qi and his group?

No one could accept such an outcome. They had successfully rescued everyone from the besieged Life Base, so how could their lead commander perish after the retreat?

Yet many had heard of the sheer power of this kind of bomb. What on earth could have forced them to resort to using it?

After circling once, Zhuo Hao was the first to spot a fighter jet parked outside the scorched land, with what seemed to be a person waving at them.

It was Situ Han's jet. Zhuo Hao immediately initiated a landing. Once they landed, their own jet might not be able to take off again, but they couldn't worry about that now.

Hundreds of jets descended in unison. Zhuo Hao and the others sprinted over, grabbing Situ Han, demanding, "What happened? Where's the boss? Where's Brother Zhou? Why are you alone?"

Situ Han seemed dazed. After Zhou You left, he wanted to scout from the air, but the plane wouldn't start. He took a walk nearby and saw nothing. Fearing he'd lose Zhou You, he just waited on the spot.

"I don't know..." Situ Han said with a bewildered look.

"Where's Brother Zhou? Weren't you two together?"

"After the explosion last night, Brother Zhou rushed over there. He... he told me not to follow," Situ Han admitted sheepishly.

Zhuo Hao landed a punch on his face. The others quickly intervened, "Why hit him? Without him here, we might not have received any news at all."

Zhuo Hao knew, but he was too anxious, his mind in disarray. He held onto Situ Han, repeatedly apologizing.

"Enough talk, let's search together!"

"Spread out and search!"

After sitting for a while, Zhou You stood up and headed west. He didn't have a specific destination, but he was fueled by anger, seeking an outlet for his rage.

He was certain that the beast tide was connected to foreign forces. Those people always fled northwest, indicating the passage to the outside world was in that direction.

Zhou You heard noises behind him and their calls in search of him, but he kept walking without turning back.

No one noticed a living person still lying within the scorched land. After the search party passed, that person remained motionless at the bottom of a pit.

Three days later, the individual in the pit finally awoke, his eyes blank and unseeing. It took a while before he managed to sit up.

Slowly, he crawled out of the pit and walked in a direction. After a considerable distance, he found water, and after cleaning himself, he finally felt alive again.

Now, he was devoid of any inner strength, his martial skills lost, even weaker than an ordinary person. If he encountered a mutated beast, there would be no escaping.

He had no idea how much time had passed, but he suspected that even if someone had searched for him, they must have moved on by now. He wondered about Zhou You's condition.

He needed to find a communication device quickly to contact Zhou You, so he wouldn't worry.

Relying on the Life Base was futile; its communication systems were likely offline, and there might still be some mutated beasts lingering.