【Summer Five】Iron City Wall

On the off-road, Wutiao let the AI ​​drive automatically, and first dialed a call to the outpost.This group of officers who are in charge of guarding the front line has an encrypted channel with the Night Owl troops, which has the most stable communication band in the entire iron city wall, and it is guaranteed to be unblocked 24 hours a day.

"Colonel Levi's, this is Gojo Satoru." He said directly after the receiving tone sounded on the opposite side, straight to the point but still clear, "It's my fault for delaying the report time, please report the latest news again."

When the other party heard that it was him, his tired voice suddenly cheered up, and he shouted "Yes" before continuing: "The situation is stabilizing, and the phantom species is gathering at a distance of [-] kilometers from the outpost. Compared with the 'last time', the growth rate is almost completely convergent, and has entered a stable state, with slow growth."

Driving off-road on the elevated road, Xiayou calibrated the road conditions for the AI, and glanced at Wutiao from time to time.The latter continued the colonel's analysis and said: "It means something similar to the second interspecies war... To be clear, what are we seeing?"

Levi's didn't dare to take it too seriously, and said it was correct, "It's a war, Your Excellency Major General. It's the third interspecies war."

"Very good." Wutiao exhaled slowly, and tapped the steering wheel with his right index finger, leaking a little irritability.After all, he perfectly concealed the urgency, and only said in a serious manner in front of his subordinates: "Thank you for your hard work. The outpost remains as usual and continues to monitor the gathering situation. Any movement will be reported to me immediately."

The communication was hung up, and the off-road was switched to manual driving.Wu Tiao immediately stepped on the accelerator, deep and ruthless, driving the car body forward, and the feeling of pushing back slammed the two of them on the back of the seat. The AI ​​immediately issued a warning, and popped up a virtual screen in a humane manner, with the number "Do not drive impulsively" written on it, and Xia You quickly touched the brake button to turn it off.

They drove back to the first district at a fast speed.Wutiao went straight to the military compound and asked Xia You to drive back to Haibin Street first.

As early as the return trip, he had already issued a summons order to all high-level military officials. As soon as he entered the door, the long table was already full of people.In normal times, this is almost unimaginable-most conservatives have a little inexplicable self-esteem, and feel that it is a shame to arrive on time or even early, so they keep others waiting for a long time every time.

Now that the sky has changed, everyone is trying to do practical things, so they will come at the first move.

Wutiao walked up to Admiral Mordrian, and the old man immediately gave up his seat. Looking at his rarely solemn expression, he realized that something was wrong.

"I'll just say it straight." With five hands on the table, he copied the documents he had prepared to the officers, "The outpost has detected a stable S-class gathering signal, and we are about to face the third interspecies war .”

These words were like a stone thrown into boiling water, and the long table exploded immediately.No one expected to hear such a thing so suddenly, and immediately opened the file in a hurry. The more they looked down, the colder their hearts became.

The report of the outpost is extremely detailed. Not only does it list all the dynamic images observed this week, but it also compares the last war a hundred years ago in detail, confirming that this precursor is undoubtedly true.In front of the ups and downs of the curve charts, the faces of the officers had faded, and they were as white as a group of ghosts.

Even the oldest Mordrian didn't hold back, and cursed "fuck" in a low voice.They were still immersed in the joy of system reform, but their back feet were poured into hell with five barrels and a bucket of cold water—it was still a hell of boiling oil, which made people feel uneasy.The front-line report is like a red-hot iron, dazzling in front of the golden military medal, always reminding them of their duties as soldiers: the purpose of this bowl of rice is to protect the iron city wall, no matter what the situation is.

Out of Wujo's expectation, the officers only boiled for a while, and then calmed down at an alarming speed.These rather resolute faces turned towards him and asked: "Then, Major General, as the highest officer of Ye Xiao, what advice do you have?"

Calmness is a good thing, at least at this time, Wujo never wants to face a group of useless people who only know how to protect themselves.Therefore, he stretched his eyebrows and said loudly: "It is announced that the whole city has entered a wartime state, and all troops are fully prepared, waiting for more news from the outpost."

Some people whispered, and Mordrian frowned, hesitantly said: "Is it too hasty to do this? In case of spreading panic..." "Then let the citizens panic." Wutiao cut off his words mercilessly, "Look clearly, gentlemen, what we are facing is an inevitable war. All intelligence points to this conclusion, and there is no room for self-deception. It will happen sooner or later, why not let the people adapt to the situation first? Now, isn’t everyone sitting here just to make a change, instead of concealing, coaxing and watching from the sidelines like before?”

Every word is reasonable, and no one can object.The long table full of officers was silent, only the clock on the wall was swinging mechanically.The crimson nanmu bears a pair of firm and powerful hands. These hands have been cast into the strongest protective layer of the iron city wall - not from the barriers bestowed by heaven and earth, but from the flesh and blood and determination of human beings themselves.

Therefore, these iron-blooded soldiers were silent for a moment, and their fluttering thoughts, which were still a little at a loss, were completely settled in the five words.They no longer hesitated, looking at each other with firm eyes, and Mordrian said: "That's right, Major General Wutiao. We shouldn't hesitate—the 2 minutes of silence just now will be nailed in the army forever. On the pillar of shame, because of this hesitation and greed for life and fear of death, the weight of the word 'army' has been stained: if there is no foreign enemy, how can there be an army!"

He spoke impassionedly, and everyone in the audience straightened their backs with deep sympathy, and echoed: "At this moment, the army is the last barrier of human society, and we are obliged to do so. Night owl has always been an expert in dealing with phantom species. Your Excellency, Major General, from now on From now on, all the resources of the military department will be open to Ye Xiao, and we will fully cooperate with you in any deployment!"

It was the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Bureau who spoke.The admiral in his early fifties stood up amidst the support from the banquet, and solemnly saluted Wutiao.

"No problem." Wujo waved his hand, "I really need your cooperation, the sooner the better." He made a gesture to issue instructions, and a group of elders with no lower military rank than him took out their terminals one after another, eagerly waiting for the teacher to teach Like taking notes.

The major general showed a golden smile, and said simply and clearly: "First of all, the Broadcasting Bureau has found a way to sort out a standard manuscript in a short period of time, regularly broadcast the current crisis to the entire Iron City Wall, and announce that it has entered a wartime state; Other departments are responsible for mobilizing supplies, sorting out those cumbersome big guys in the storage room, planning possible battle deployment plans, and then combining with the real-time communication of the outposts to strengthen the partial city walls."

"Yes!" The answer below was neat, and the words "guaranteed to complete the homework" were almost written on his face.Wujo patted Mordrian on the shoulder, and said to the commander-in-chief of the military department who was a few rounds older than himself: "I should not have said these things, Your Excellency, General. You are experienced and fearless in times of danger. We must be able to coordinate the overall situation and win more chances for victory."

Modrian was also moved by Wutiao's rare sincerity, and saw him take off his windbreaker and walk out, as if he was leaving the scene.The old general hurriedly asked: "Then what are you going to do?"

"I, our night owl is a knife." Wutiao opened the door and smiled at the officers waiting in the room, but his eyes were as cold as ice, "It is the sharpest knife in the iron city wall. As long as the knife holder has the right skills , there would be no prey, enemies, and thorns that we could not cut down."

He left the military compound and took a special car back to Haibin Street.

The sky was getting late, and the twilight was burning like a curly edge, and a hole was broken in the sky, and the crimson glow poured from the inside out.The flow of people on the street was still there, and those who came and went hurriedly did not know that this bustling and bright city would be swept away by a flood of icy news in a few hours.

Wutiao was overwhelmed by the excitement of just receiving the news, and her steps dragged a bit when she went upstairs.He didn't have any "fear" or "uneasy" emotions. After all, people are mortal, and it doesn't make much difference where they die. At most, it's a matter of reputation.It’s just that the word war is always accompanied by the breathless gunpowder smoke and blood color, and the sulfur-smelling exhaust gas is stuck in the lungs, which makes the heart feel uncomfortable.

But the light from the crack of the door quickly dispelled the feeling of suffocation.Before Wu Tiao put his thumb on the access control, both doors opened, and the warm yellow light poured down on the ground, illuminating Xia You's clear and smooth eyebrows.

"Welcome back." He said softly, pulled Wutiao across the hallway, and leaned forward to bring the door behind him.As soon as I stretched out my hand, the smell belonging to the apartment came to my face with the aroma of food, and surrounded the returnees like a turbulent current, blowing away the exhaustion from my body.Five of them jumped on Xia You's body, and one of them was like a Maine Coon cat, rubbing against the distant sandalwood on his neck and whispering: "It's a good thing you're here."

Xia You didn't hear clearly, hooked the back of his neck and pulled him away, and asked with a smile, "What?"

Wu Tiao lowered his head to reach his lips, and the warm breath lingered back and forth between the skin, "It's nothing, just complaining." He didn't want to say it, and Xia You never forced it, and responded to his lover with a slight smile on his lips.

They exchanged a long kiss at the entrance, as if all the troubles and worries that were too late to express were quietly melted, and flowed into each other's heart along the tight lips.Perhaps most of the five points of composure come from self-confidence and a free and easy detachment from ordinary people, and then the other half probably comes from Xia You - when you know that there is always someone who will stand side by side with you without a bottom line, the storm will also be cleared.

And even if the flames of war are approaching, the meal that should be eaten cannot be missed-so Wutiao changed his clothes and sat down to eat dinner obediently.

When they talked about what they saw and heard today, most of them were talking about Wutiao, Xia You rationally echoed, and occasionally made a few comments.Regarding this unwarranted war, Xia You once deliberately mentioned "reasons similar to those of a hundred years ago", which was rejected by five articles.The second inter-species war stemmed from the crazy behavior of the mixed-race double-faced Nuo—it knew that its genes were extremely attractive to phantom species, and it used this temptation to convene an S-level gathering, and successfully guided phantasm attack on humans.

Now that the extract is reappearing in the world, it is hard not to make people think about it.

"I know you want to protect Corporal Knotweed." Xia You quietly looked at Wutiao who was holding up a soup bowl and drinking a special drink, "To be precise, I don't blame him—if it is the Su Nuo extract The impact was already irreparable when the old guys in the House of Lords secretly unsealed the banned drugs, and they were the culprits. However, if the source of the large gathering is really the extract, we have a way to prevent the interspecies war from triggering Methods."

Wujo put down the empty bowl, wiped his mouth with a paper towel, and said, "I know. Anyway, I never reported the matter of Youruto's ingestion of the extract to the higher-ups. I only said that he was involved in a violation of regulations. There are many ways to smooth things over. As for Origin investigation..." He looked at Xia You, and Lan Yingying's eyes were full of ridicule, as if she was waiting for him to answer.

There was no other way, Xia You sighed, "...I asked Dr. Reka as soon as I came back. I really can't hide anything from you."

Wu Tiao smiled triumphantly after successfully debunking the subject's small thoughts, and the silver hair gilded by the light was warm and warm, causing Xia You to stretch out his hands to pluck the hair.They argued briefly again, as if both the war and the Phantasmal species were far, far away from this apartment, unable to take even an inch of their time alone.

It's clear that he can only live in a floating life for half a day, but he really sneaks away with confidence.