# 788
Chapter 789: Side by Side
"This is actually my first time seeing the 【Phoenix】 squad..." Baili Pangpang manipulated his weapon, eliminating the few remaining "Mysticals" within the pass, while gazing at the eight figures standing before Sunken Dragon Pass. A puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"That's weird, why are they mostly women?"
"Well, aside from Vice-Captain Kong Shang, the entire 【Phoenix】 squad is female." An Qingyu explained while pushing up his glasses. "It's said that to join the 【Phoenix】 squad, one must obtain the recognition of the Phoenix bloodline. Women have a much higher probability of receiving the Phoenix bloodline's recognition than men, so the 【Phoenix】 squad has always been female-dominated. At most, there were only three men."
"Heroic women?" Baili Pangpang couldn't help but clap his hands. "With what you said, I suddenly feel a bit envious of that vice-captain..."
"Envious? Back when we were in Cangnan, 【Phoenix】 squad's Captain Xia Simeng tried extremely hard to recruit Lin Qiye into the 【Phoenix】 squad." An Qingyu pushed up his glasses. "If it weren't for Qiye's mental confusion at the time, there would probably only be 【Phoenix】 squad Vice-Captain Lin Qiye now, rather than 【Nightfall】 squad Captain Lin Qiye."
"Tsk, such is fate..." Baili Pangpang gazed at the figure standing within the magic array in the distance, suddenly feeling grateful for Lin Qiye's mental confusion. If Lin Qiye had chosen to join the 【Phoenix】 squad back then, the 【Nightfall】 squad wouldn't exist now...
And he would probably only be a cold corpse buried among the Baili family in Guangzhou-Shenzhen. Somehow, everything seemed so coincidental yet so reasonable, as if an invisible hand had connected all their fates around Lin Qiye.
With the intervention of the 【Phoenix】 squad, they directly shouldered most of the pressure for 【Nightfall】, causing the number of beasts at the breach to rapidly decrease. Under the joint assault of six people, they were quickly eliminated.
"What's next?"
The six gathered together, looking at the desolate battlefield around them. Shen Qingzhu asked.
After a moment of silence, everyone simultaneously looked at An Qingyu.
With Lin Qiye absent, An Qingyu was the core of the squad. With his monstrous intelligence and decisiveness, he was absolutely qualified to lead the entire 【Nightfall】 squad.
An Qingyu's gaze swept across the members of the 【Nightfall】 squad. Although their battle hadn't been long, when facing the impact of the entire beast tide, except for Jialan, everyone had sustained injuries. Covered in mud and blood, but their eyes remained bright.
An Qingyu contemplated for a moment and asked, "Can everyone still fight?"
"Of course." Jialan reached out and patted her chest. "I can fight for another whole day!"
"Roar——!!" Berserk Cao Yuan expressed his full agreement.
"Just some minor injuries, nothing significant." Shen Qingzhu said calmly. "Just give the order directly."
Seeing that everyone's condition was acceptable, An Qingyu nodded and turned his gaze toward the iron wall outside, toward those eight golden figures battling through the beast tide.
"Let's go outside the wall too. We can't let the 【Phoenix】 squad fight alone. After all... we're the same as them, both special squads.
There's no reason for special squads to hide behind."
"Alright!"
As the words fell, the six members of 【Nightfall】 crossed the battlefield strewn with bloodstains and corpses, sprinting toward the broken wall simultaneously.
...
Outside the wall.
Boom——!!
Xia Simeng threw a punch, directly obliterating the dozen or so "Mysticals" in front of her into scattered fragments dancing in the air.
Amidst the endless roars and howls, Xia Simeng turned around. Seeing the few stragglers rushing toward the breach behind her, she frowned and shouted to several nearby team members draped in golden cloaks:
"Extend the battle line further! The breach in the wall is too large. We haven't sealed them all yet!"
"Yes!"
Hearing Xia Simeng's voice, Kong Shang immediately sprinted further into the distance. He carved a bloody path through the beast tide, but more "Mysticals" surged forward almost immediately, separating him from the other team members until they couldn't see each other.
A solemn glint flickered in Kong Shang's eyes.
Just then, several agonized screams of "Mysticals" rang out from behind. He froze, turned his head, and saw six figures covered in wounds sprinting out from the broken wall!
"Sisters of the 【Phoenix】 squad! Little爷 I'm here to help you!" Baili Pangpang laughed heartily. The Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams beneath his feet rippled, and the next moment his figure appeared at the gap in the 【Phoenix】 squad's defense line.
Radiant forbidden artifact light erupted from his body as he forced himself to withstand the beast tide's impact.
Invisible threads flew through the air, frantically reaping the lives of "Mysticals." Among the six, An Qingyu carried a black coffin on his back and calmly walked to the side of the 【Phoenix】 squad:
"Hello, 【Phoenix】." He smiled as he spoke. "We... are 【Nightfall】."
Xia Simeng naturally recognized these people as Lin Qiye's team members, but the name 【Nightfall】 was something she heard for the first time.
"Nightfall?" Xia Simeng seemed to recall something, looked up at the pitch-black night sky above, and smiled faintly. "A nice name..."
...
Before Sunken Dragon Pass, the battlefield was in chaos.
The two special squads stood side by side in front of the broken wall, firmly holding back the front wave of the beast tide. Another special squad had flown to the end of their vision and begun implementing a decapitation plan.
The combined efforts of three squads finally stabilized the situation.
In the night sky, streams of green code suddenly materialized, floating and rotating in the void, quickly condensing into a man wearing a plaid shirt and a baseball cap.
"Finally made it..." Guan Zai glanced at the situation below and sighed deeply.
Several hours ago, after leaving Sunken Dragon Pass, Guan Zai had gone directly to Shangjing to find Lu Wuwei to pursue the invader who had escaped into the mirror world. But he hadn't expected that the moment he handed over the mirror, a phone call came, summoning him back at top speed.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late.
Guan Zai briefly assessed the situation and was about to tap the code to join the battlefield when a streak of cyan light shot down from the clouds above at astonishing speed.
The cyan light was hidden within Chaos mist, resembling a gigantic bird. It also noticed Guan Zai's presence, adjusted its trajectory in mid-air, and flew to face him.
The cyan light receded like a tide. The Chaos mist churned and gradually solidified into a young man draped in a dark red cloak.
"Zuo Qing, you're finally here." Guan Zai's eyebrows rose when he saw the person.