# Chapter 1046: Abandon the Territory, Defend the Cities, Race Against Time
"No! Don't!"
Zi Yuan suddenly woke up with a start from the sand table, the corners of her eyes still wet with tears!
Her eyes were filled with panic and confusion, then she quickly came to her senses!
"What time is it?"
Everyone in the command room was startled!
Zi Yuan urged: "Tell me! What time is it!"
The crowd suddenly realized something was wrong: "9:41 in the morning!"
Zi Yuan quickly jumped down from the sand table, her eyes filled with anxiety: "Only two hours and nineteen minutes left? It's too late!"
"Notify Wang Dalei immediately! The entire Western Frontier is about to experience the largest-scale Spirit Ruins outbreak in history!"
"It's going to be even more terrifying than the spirit calamity from 20 years ago! All outposts will be destroyed, none will survive!"
"This is a catastrophic disaster! We can't defend the Western Frontier!"
The moment these words were spoken, everyone's ears rang with a buzzing sound, their minds spinning!
Some newcomers might not understand what it meant, but the old-timers who survived that spirit calamity remembered it vividly!
That was definitely the darkest period of time!
"We really can't hold it? If we notify them in advance..."
Zi Yuan's eyes were bloodshot with urgency!
"We can't hold it! If we try to hold it by force, everyone will die. Most of the Western Frontier's troops are currently in the Brahma Kingdom dealing with the mother vine!"
"Even the full-strength defenses couldn't hold out for long. The problem we're facing now isn't whether we can defend the Western Frontier!"
"Outside the Dike Uninhabited Area, including Qing Province, 17 cities will have Spirit Ruins appear! Not just one, but multiple!"
"Most of the people in the cities are ordinary civilians without any fighting ability. Once Spirit Ruins appear inside the cities, how many will die? Corpses will be scattered everywhere!"
At this moment, everyone in the command room felt their hearts sink halfway!
The cities on the Western Frontier side were still okay. Since they were adjacent to the uninhabited area, they usually had a large number of Spirit Martial Forces stationed in the cities to handle emergencies!
Qing Province, located behind the Western Frontier, was relatively peaceful. Although there were troops stationed in the cities, most had been deployed to support the Western Frontier!
Now the rear was empty. Once a spirit calamity broke out in Qing Province, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Zi Yuan stared at the sand table, her mind racing to calculate remedial measures!
"Inform all Spirit Martial Forces at every outpost to abandon their posts and relocate entirely to Outpost Base 001!"
"Hold the main base at all costs, preserve the seed of hope! Once we survive the first wave, this will be our counterattack force!"
"Also, deploy all Spirit Martial Forces from the main base to support Qu City, Pa City, and Chang City on the Western Frontier... resist the spirit calamity, organize civilian evacuations!"
"Issue a Level One Red Alert in all 17 cities! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
At this moment, Zi Yuan issued one order after another, the entire operations command room operating at full speed!
It was like the brain of the entire Western Frontier!
Everyone understood that Zi Yuan had directly given up on defending the frontier because it was simply indefensible!
Instead, she concentrated all military power on fighting the beast tides within the cities!
Minimizing casualties as much as possible!
"What about the eight cities in Qing Province? Our people can't get to Qing Province in such a short time!"
Zi Yuan's eyes were bloodshot: "Deploy troops from neighboring Silver Province to support them!"
"But they can't arrive in time either, so we can only let the high-level powerhouses go block the gates first! Hold on until the support forces arrive!"
"What about Wang Dalei? The eight cities in Qing Province are counting on them!"
The communications soldier quickly replied: "We've already contacted the border camp and sent over the data!"
Zi Yuan's hands and feet were ice-cold: "Contact the capital, send the news to Yang Jian! Li Mingshan must come!"
"The Void Sea has a spirit calamity. If those space-type spirit beasts really come out, everything will be ruined! It will be a bloodbath, impossible to defend!"
Everyone's scalps went numb. The Void Sea had erupted too? Was the sky about to fall this time?
...
At the border camp, Wei the Big Beard's face turned pale as he looked at the faxed document in his hand!
"Dammit!"
Then, at full speed, he charged headlong into the Tiancong Force Field without looking back, rushing straight toward the battlefield in the Brahma Kingdom!
At this moment, Wang Dalei and Chen Daoyi were fighting fiercely with the Dao Heaven-level mother vine, locked in an intense battle!
The mother vine had incredibly tenacious vitality and was extremely troublesome. Even Wang Dalei had lost his temper!
Jiangnan was just thinking about whether to toss a few Dance-Off Grenades to mess with the mother vine!
Just then, Wei the Big Beard rushed over carrying the document!
"Stop fighting! Something's happened back home! Spirit calamity! A super spirit calamity!"
Hearing this, everyone present was stunned. What was going on?
Jiangnan teleported instantly, grabbed the document, and started reading!
His expression turned grim!
"Damn! What a Heaven Slaughter Project! Holy Star! Diabolical enough!"
Even Jiangnan couldn't help but curse!
Using the Brahma Society to cause trouble at the border was meant to tie up the Western Frontier's forces!
Then launch a large-scale spirit calamity across the entire Western Frontier?
Heaven Slaughter! What they were slaughtering was people! And the Holy Star dared to call themselves heaven?
Damn it!
They had completely fallen into the trap. Now 100,000 Spirit Martial Forces were tied up here, plus two Dao Heaven powerhouses!
Jiangnan's eyes turned red!
If Zha Zha Yuan hadn't dreamed of this in advance, how many people would have died this wave?
Not to mention the troops stationed at various outposts, just the losses in those 17 cities would be immeasurable!
"No time! Forget about the mother vine! Withdraw from the Western Frontier and support Qing Province!"
Wang Dalei and Chen Daoyi were both stunned. What was happening? Why stop fighting?
But seeing Jiangnan's extremely ugly expression, they knew something serious had really happened!
They quickly shook off the mother vine and retreated to the border!
Jiangnan directly pulled out the Void Sea core fragment. To speed things up, he didn't even want the floating island anymore!
But the mother vine still wouldn't let go, chasing after them!
Now Wang Dalei and Chen Daoyi, looking at the data, couldn't smile anymore either!
"We've been tricked! I basically transferred all the garrison troops from those cities in Qing Province here to deal with the vine! I thought it was safe there! I'm such an idiot!"
Wang Dalei slapped himself hard across the face, tears shimmering in his eyes!
A moment of luck and a wrong decision could cost thousands of lives!
And this time, it was far more than that!
Jiangnan took a deep breath: "Don't rush to blame yourself! The sky hasn't fallen yet! They're in the dark, we're in the light. Getting outmaneuvered is normal. The key is to find a remedy!"
"There's still one hour and 48 minutes! We can make it!"
Wang Dalei's eyes blazed with killing intent: "I can support three cities with 11 Spirit Ruins total!"
Jiangnan was startled: "How will you support them? Three cities?"
Wang Dalei's forehead veins bulged: "Fight through! Fight through each one, using the time difference between Spirit Ruin appearances, three cities is manageable!"
Jiangnan swallowed hard. Was he that brutal?
This was where the importance of Dao Heaven-level combat power became evident!
Both men's gazes fell on Chen Daoyi!
Chen Daoyi gave a bitter laugh: "My attack power isn't outstanding. I can hold two cities, I think. Now's not the time to show off!"
If he made a boast and couldn't deliver, countless people would die!
Guan Tai said: "I'll go to Ning City. I can handle one city, but I'm not fast enough to make it in time. Dalei, give me a lift!"
Everyone nodded. As a Star Glory Peak, he could manage!
Shan Mao, Mu Wan, Li Si, Liu Mang, and the other Diamonds, 14 in total, gathered together too!
"We'll go to Phoenix City. There aren't high-level Spirit Ruins there, but six will appear!"
Wang Dalei nodded. That was the only way!
And everyone's eyes fell on Qing City, the farthest city from here!
Jiangnan took a deep breath: "Dalei and Old Chen need to switch positions and choose cities close to each other for safety. You can't defend Qing City!"
"No one else is fast enough. You can't reach Qing City in an hour!"
"I'll take Sister Shanmao and the others to Phoenix City, otherwise they won't make it either!"
Everyone's eyes widened. Were they hearing this right?
Jiangnan was going alone to block the gates at Qing City?
Wang Dalei's expression was serious: "Can you handle it? If you can't, this will be a disaster!"
Jiangnan nodded: "One Gold, two Platinum Spirit Ruins. As long as no more appear, I can manage!"
Shan Mao was full of concern: "Why don't we split a few Diamonds to go with you? You're going to Qing City alone..."
Jiangnan shook his head: "You know my methods. If I couldn't handle it, I wouldn't say so. I'm not going to show off at a time like this!"
"Six Spirit Ruins in Phoenix City will keep you busy enough. If I take some of yours, you won't have enough. I'll just take Xuexue and the others with me!"
"If I take any more people, my teleportation can't handle the load. I'm confident I can hold out until support arrives!"
He didn't have the ability to teleport 100,000 troops to Qing Province!
The only option was to have high-end combat power go first to hold the line, then wait for reinforcements, minimizing casualties as much as possible!
Everyone preparing to defend the cities gathered together, memorizing the locations and times of the Spirit Ruin space gate appearances!
Jiangnan's expression was grave as he pulled out prepared first-aid kits and distributed them to everyone!
Inside were small ginseng, fake alcohol, nuclear milk, and so on!
"Remember the responsibility on each of your shoulders. We are Dragon Abyss Dark Night!"
"Protecting the territory of our Huaxia with our bodies, defending the safety of the people with our lives. This slogan isn't just words to say—it's a principle we must always follow!"
"Even if we die, we have to hold on, because behind us are countless people and the homes they live in!"
No one spoke. They just nodded heavily, their eyes red!
Chen Daoyi's face darkened: "Don't look at me! I know what's important! I'll give it my all!"
Jiangnan nodded, then pulled out a stack of Forgiveness Caps and handed them to everyone, his expression serious!
"I hope you won't need to use these!"