17 Making It Back Safely

Nicole was keeping her finger on the trigger, shooting left and right while keeping Lucia behind her. The electromagnetic rifle bullets could not hurt the giant commander beetles but were more than enough to force the ordinary ones back.

Under Qin Hao's aggressive attack, the three of them moved forward rapidly. By the looks of things, they would be on the other end of the 1,000-meter path in under three minutes. It was achievable because both Nicole and Lucia were wearing powered exoskeletons.

"Stay close to me!" Qin Hao wielded his sword, immobilizing the giant beetles by cutting off their legs.

Nicole shouted her acknowledgment as she kept Lucia close to her.

Soon, they were already 500 meters out, and things were going to get tougher ahead. The previous 500 meters were relatively easy because most insectoids had not noticed them.

However, they were not going to enjoy that advantage for long. As they fought their way through, they would be bound to attract attention.

A giant commander beetle shrieked, beckoning the other insectoids.

"Watch out!" Qin Hao felt numbness on the back of his neck as a sense of danger hit him. He looked to his left instinctively and saw a plasma worm pointing its butt skyward, ejecting a shot of plasma.

"Run!" Qin Hao brought Nicole and Lucia along with him as he suddenly jumped seven or eight meters away. Nicole had protective body armor, but not Lucia. Qin Hao crashed into Lucia, and she cried out in pain because she had hurt her arm.

At that very moment, the plasma hit the spot where the three of them were standing a split second ago. It left behind a two-meter-deep hole in the ground with plasma still dancing around. The subsequent shock wave would have blown Lucia away if Qin Han and Nicole had not been holding on to her.

"Keep moving!" After the shock wave passed them, Qin Hao bounced back to his feet, grabbed the two young women, and kept charging forward.

Right then, the plasma worm that attacked them just a while ago was radar-locked and blown into pieces by a Gauss Cannon from High Ground Z3.

"Phew!" Qin Hao breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that. If the plasma worm kept firing at them, they would not have the chance to approach High Ground Z3.

Soon, when they were about 200 or 300 meters from High Ground Z3, the soldiers on the high ground spotted them.

"Look! There are three humans out there!"

"How could it be possible?"

"There are survivors!"

"Holy moly, I can't believe that they are actually humans! They cut down those bugs as if they were slaughtering chicks!"

"Even the most badass special forces aren't this badass!"

...

The soldiers guarding High Ground Z3 were dumbstruck upon seeing Qin Hao's guts. The way he cut down those insectoids with just a sword was mindblowing.

"Record that down!" The 106th Division Commander, James had also spotted Qin Hao. It was not his first time seeing Qin Hao, but he could not remember Qin Hao because Qin Hao was only a private.

Using a high-resolution camera, his adjutant quickly captured the footage of Qin Hao slaughtering the insectoids with only a sword. What transpired a few months later would be totally out of James' expectation because the footage was about to go viral in all of the Federation's planets. It would be featured in standard recruitment videos, and Qin Hao would be made into a hero to draw more hot-blooded young men to join the mechanized infantry.

Of course, Qin Hao never expected to be hailed as a hero in a few months. All he wanted now was to get to High Ground Z3 as more insectoids had started to gather. His strength was also draining rapidly. Having the bloodline of the insectoids did not mean that he possessed inexhaustible stamina. Such an intense battle was really taking a toll on him physically.

"Keep up with me!" Qin Hao looked back at the two young women.

"We're coming!" Nicole nodded. Lucia had been injured, and she could not walk on her own. So, Nicole had to hold her with one arm, and that made it impossible for her to use her electromagnetic rifle to cover Qin Hao.

"Kill!" His strength was draining quickly, and he was in a frenzied state. He knew that it was either kill or be killed. Gritting his teeth, he thrashed the sword left and right, hoping to kill their way through.

"Go, help them!" James issued his order when the three of them were about 100 meters from Z3's perimeter. He allowed his men to get out on the battlefield only when he was confident about saving the three individuals. He did not want to send his men out there only to have everyone killed.

"Yes, Sir!" Those soldiers were inspired by Qin Hao. They knew they could not fight those giant beetles with cold weapons. However, the combination of electromagnetic rifles and infantry energy cannons should be able to kill the insectoids.

Two companies sprang out of the base under the cover of infantry energy cannons. Half a minute later, Qin Hao and the young women finally met up with their comrades.

"Fall back! Fall back!" the two company commanders shouted. There was no need to keep fighting once they had the three of them back. It was extremely unwise to fight those insectoids outside the base.

A few minutes later, the two companies of soldiers brought Qin Hao and the two young women back to base.

Qin Hao sat on the ground. He could not care less about how it would look anymore; he was exhausted. His arms shivered uncontrollably as his muscles convulsed after the intense battle.

"Which forces are you all from?" James came up to them.

"I am Nicole from the T9 Sky Fortress Special Forces Squadron. She is Lucia from the 4th Medical Squadron." Nicole held Lucia in her arms.

"Medic! Get her treated," James ordered a medic from the 106th Company. Lucia's arm was wounded, and she obviously could not treat herself now.

James looked at Nicole. When he checked the battlefield recorder that contained her information, he was shocked.

"You're his daughter, you're Lieutenant-General Cohen—" He was then interrupted quickly.

"I am now just a soldier!" Nicole said.

"All right…" Since Nicole did not want to reveal her identity, James would not say a thing. So, he turned to look at Qin Hao. "This is?"

In James' eyes, a super-soldier like Qin Hao had to be Nicole's bodyguard because ordinary forces would not have such a badass figure.

"Private Qin Hao from the 2nd Company, 7th Infantry Battalion of the 106th Mechanized Infantry Division, Sir!" Despite being completely exhausted, Qin Hao still forced himself to stand up; he could not afford to slight his immediate superior, James.