As the captain of the Knight, it was the first time that Aaron Ball had received such an important task.

At just 30 years old, he is still very young as a captain, thanks in large part to his excellent command and judgment, but in terms of experience, he is still too young for veterans.

Aaron's most admired senior is Seth Tien, who died in Operation Mariana, and he always treats his senior with great respect, both at school and in daily interactions

"Senior, why did you, as a witcher, choose to become a navy like us that ordinary people can do?" he had asked Seth the most.

Seth just smiled heartily: "The so-called man is to be free to do what he wants to do! The passion to listen to his heart is the proof of our human life." ”

Listen to your own heart and chase freedom, this is the romance of men! Aaron has even more respect for Seth, this senior has given him priceless experience and advice, and even subtly influenced his thoughts, just like his teacher.

But Seth died at the bottom of the Marianas, and the night Aaron got the exact news drunk himself, and then cried all night. When the day dawned, he seemed to feel that he had never suffered so much in his life, and now that pain could only sleep in his heart.

If only I could take another look at the Nautilus, I wonder what happened to Chief of Staff Jon?, he thought to himself.

"Captain, the navigation radar is not working, and all communication with the outside world seems to have been cut off. Newt Wallace, who was Aaron's deputy, reported to him as soon as he detected an anomaly.

"Are all communications unusable?" Aaron asked, frowning.

"All the electromagnetic communication equipment has failed, and the navigation radar has been paralyzed, but the sonar can still be used. Newt told all the information he knew about it.

"Don't come to the shore!" Aaron was silent for a moment, then suddenly shouted. "Keeping a distance from the shore and going up, I'm afraid something worse has happened in that city than we expected. ”

In the original plan, Aaron proposed the idea that the Nautilus would be attacked suddenly, causing communications to be disconnected and thus disconnected from headquarters. In this case, Team X and the original sailors of the Nautilus are just trapped in the city, and he is only responsible for answering the mission.

But the current situation is not at all what he originally thought, and if there is no communication in this sea area even now, then the real situation can only be one: the enemy has known the whereabouts of the "Nautilus" in advance and set up a siege network, then it is very likely that they have fallen into the enemy's trap.

"Float, float!" the signal man shouted to the helmsman, and the massive hull of the Knight slowly surfaced with the helmsman's movements.

"Finished afloating, Captain. Newt said to him, "What are we going to do now?"

Aaron took a deep breath: "Open the hatch, I'm going to the water to see what's going on in Akureyri City?"

Following the gangway, Aaron finally reached the water, but when he looked in the direction where he was supposed to land, all he saw was a ruin emitting black smoke.

"Akureyri City?" Newt, who was following Aaron out of the cabin at the same time, covered his mouth in disbelief.

"Ruined!" Aaron then said something Newt did not dare to say. "At least it seems to us that it has been completely destroyed, and in this way, the strength of the enemy is far beyond our imagination. ”

In fact, Aaron still has one sentence that he has not yet said: judging from the current tragic situation in the city, the chance of survival is probably infinitely close to zero. But he didn't want to think that way, and if that were the case, humanity would inevitably lose hope of victory.

"It's raining. Newt said as he suddenly looked up at the sky.

It's really raining. The rain fell on Aaron's face, but it couldn't dispel the irritability and depression in his heart, but he couldn't do anything now but pray silently in his heart.

If you live for a day, you must survive no matter what, because mankind has entrusted all its last hope to you, please you must survive!

In the town of Colendor, Jon and the crew of the Nautilus are running out of ammunition.

With such a high-intensity battle, no one could rest, and the few wands of food that were left were almost exhausted. Not to mention weapons and ammunition, which the sailors carried were very scarce, and after such a long time there was not much ammunition left.

Even more serious than these is the sharp decline in the number of personnel. The sailors, who had numbered nearly 100 sailors, had been reduced to just over 30, and there were many wounded, and although morale was still high, Jon knew that such a high morale alone would not get them out of their current predicament.

"Chief of Staff, it's raining. The young communications soldier said to him in a hoarse voice. "Our water source has been depleted, and now a lot of people are drinking the rainwater from outside in all kinds of utensils. ”

"Has it come to this?" Jon licked his chapped lips, "If it weren't for this rain, I'm afraid we'd only have had to last a little shorter." ”

"There is no ammunition left, the enemy is sweeping us house by house, and some of us are already having to engage in hand-to-hand combat with demons. The communications soldier continued.

"I've got only one last magazine left. Jon reached into his pocket and pulled the only one that was left in his pocket, then removed the empty magazine from the gun and loaded the last one.

"But we can't give up. Jon looked at the young communications soldier and said, word for word, "Reinforcement from headquarters will be there soon, at least to ensure that X.-Team can break out safely." In this way, our death is worth it. ”

Looking at the drizzling rain outside, Jon tightened his grip on his gun. Looks like I'm going to do the same thing as you do, Seth, and don't forget to give me back the drink you owe me if you go to heaven.

In the ruined house, the members of Team X are making the final preparations before leaving.

Shore was loading bullets of silver mercury into the magazine of his Colt revolver, turning the magazine vigorously before inserting it back into his waist. "Are you all equipped?" he asked.

"Everything is ready, now all we have to wait for is your order. Ye Xiang put the freshly wiped Tang knife "Dawn" back into the scabbard behind his back.

"How's that with what Gabriel handed us, Ye Xiang?" asked Shore.

"Don't you feel at ease with me? Ye Xiang said as he took out the positioning device that Gabriel had given them from the inner sandwich of his jacket. "This is a very important thing, and I dare not be careless or careless. ”

"I'm naturally relieved to leave it to you. Shore smiled, "But the danger of this mission is too high, if it is really a last resort, I think you know what to do, right?"

"I know. Ye Xiang knew very well what Xiao Er wanted to express, "If that time really comes, I will definitely give priority to ensuring the safety of this positioning device, and I will desperately hand it over safely." ”

"Maybe we'll all die here, but as long as there's a chance of victory, we'll pass on that possibility!" Shore looked like a torch was burning in his eyes, ready to fight to the death.

"The top priority of this mission lies with Nicholas. Ye Xiang quietly glanced at Nicholas, who was sitting silently on the sofa in another room, and said. "I've always trusted him as much as I want to trust you, but now I don't seem to know him anymore. ”

"He's hiding something from us. Contrary to Ye Xiang's expectations, Shore pointed out the problem at once.

"Did you see it a long time ago?" Ye Xiang asked in surprise, he thought that Shore hadn't noticed anything unusual about Nicholas's behavior.

Shore shrugged: "We've been together for at least so long, do you think I really can't see anything?"

"Since you can see it all, why not-" Ye Xiang interrupted him before he could finish speaking.

"The reason why he wants to hide it is probably because there is something unspeakable. "He's always been more emotional than anyone else, like before you met Beelzebub, would you think he's the kind of person who would hide his pain in the bottom of his heart?"

"He is one of us, no matter what, both in soul and in faith. ”

"I know, but. Ye Xiang swallowed the words he just wanted to say again, "Yes, there shouldn't be, but Nicholas is one of us, a warrior who will fight to the end for the sake of mankind." ”

"That's right, let's get on the way, we'll be on the move in an hour!" Shore ordered.

When he walked out of the room, Ye Xiang was thinking about the words he hadn't been able to say just now. I shouldn't have let that guy know that possibility too soon, Nicholas, do you really want to do that as a warrior?

"Vice-captain. When Ye wanted to walk past the sofa, Nicholas suddenly stopped him.

"What's the matter?" Ye Xiang looked into Nicholas's eyes, and something suddenly touched his heart. Have you made your final decision on that look?

"It's nothing, just thank you for taking care of me all the time. Nicholas said with a smile.

"When will you be thankful, is the sun coming out of the west today?"

"Then thank you by the way, it's rare to have such a good partner as me. Nicholas slapped Raven on the back, nearly choking on his breath. "Thank you so much for making me feel so good to be alive as a human being. ”

"What medicine did you take wrong today?" Raven looked at him and said, "Why did you suddenly become so emotional?" But if that's the case, I also want to say that it's rare to have a partner like you who has a tacit understanding, and I feel very happy!"

"There are some things to say, if you can. Nicholas stood up, but the voice was much louder than usual. "It's raining out there, so let's make a big fuss. ”

The city began to be shrouded in a hazy mist, and it seemed unusually quiet. Soon, this temporary tranquility will be shattered by the clarion call of war.