The moment Holt's words fell into Sam's ears, he was caught off guard by shock.

Without any psychological expectations, hearing this sentence made Sam can't help but open his mouth:

"Escort troops...... Wait, wait, Chief Holt, what does that mean? ”

"Don't ask why, this is the superior-"

Kelman seemed to want to show the demeanor of the deputy chief of staff, and said to Sam seriously. But before he could finish speaking, Holt raised his hand and forced back the remaining half of his words.

Without looking back at Kelman, Holt and Sam looked at each other and said calmly:

"Arlington is under enemy attack, and the Pentagon is no longer able to defend itself. In this case, we have no choice but to retreat to more critical places.

"—Moreover, people are more critical than architecture. In response to Japan's 'blood angels' and the red soil incident caused by it, the head of defense and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have rushed to Washington to discuss relevant matters with the president, and the Pentagon is now just an empty shell.

“…… At a time when there is no information channel to communicate with, throwing one's life in the face of a senseless death means nothing to the United States. Only by rushing to Washington as soon as possible to meet with His Excellency the President and others can the future of the United States be saved. ”

Holt looked at Sam with a wide range of eyes.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sam, are you determined to die for America?"

Holt's pronunciation was fast and accurate, completely different from the usual slow tone at the all-army conference.

Maybe any big man can get rid of the bad habit of pinching his tone at a critical moment of life and death.

After all, when those mechanical beings without any emotions attack just a few kilometers away from you, no matter what, I am afraid they will not be able to maintain their usual demeanor.

Of course, at this moment, because the situation was just as critical for himself, Sam didn't notice it.

Sacrifice?

Sam opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.

Even thinking with his cerebellum was enough for him to see through the cowardice hidden under Holt's seemingly glorious words, the greed for life and fear of death, and the despicability of abandoning the lives of his comrades to survive.

This is something he has despised in the past.

However...... In front of him was the commander-in-chief of the National Guard, and the deputy chief of staff, and two big men stood in front of him, waiting for his answer.

For a moment, he couldn't even answer in the negative.

Moreover, in addition to fear, there was also a deep incomprehension in his heart.

- Why...... A big man like this would entrust himself with such a heavy responsibility?

The question rose in his mind, and Sam remembered the experience of losing ground in the face of the towers and the silver gadgets. Although he didn't have time to care so much about the smoke and hustle and bustle at the time, looking back at this time, piecing together the details one by one, for a moment, Sam somewhat understood the mentality of Holt and Kelman, and why they chose him.

As a result, his breathing became rapid at this moment.

Could it be ......

At this moment, he has become a big man who can decide the situation to some extent?

At the same time, the powerlessness and terror in the face of those mechanical enemies are also reviving in front of him, and if he refuses, he is afraid that the fear of facing those terrible enemies will make him involuntarily grit his teeth.

Therefore.

This moment.

Tempted and frightened, Sam finally reneged on the principles of his past thirty years and chose to escape.

"Chief Holt, I'm going to gather my subordinates right now - make sure to get the job done."

He gave Holt a standard military salute and said respectfully.

Holt smiled with satisfaction, looking at the greed and cowardice in Sam's eyes, knowing that the young man should have understood what he meant, and that he himself understood what he was thinking.

So, Holt smiled at Sam and said:

"Very well, Lieutenant Colonel Sam - when we leave Arlington and get to a place where there is no electronic signal and no interference, I will tell the President what happened, and I will offer to give you the honor."

……

From climbing up the stairs to climbing down the stairs, it took less than ten minutes for Sam to feel like his mind had turned.

Before going up, he felt that the world was spinning, and he was anxious, looking at the enemy who was getting closer and closer, and only felt that his death knell was constantly ringing; But after coming down and finding that he could escape the front line and not have to confront those enemies head-on, Sam only felt that he was walking lightly, breathing easily, and the world in front of him seemed to become more elegant and open.

——The change in mentality made his expression lighter.

He led Holt and Kelman down the stairs quickly, the two officers were almost over a hundred and thirty years old, and they had a hard time walking through the stairwell, but they still burst out with tenacious perseverance and followed Sam down the stairs with sweat.

Looking at them, Sam was secretly proud of his young physical strength and strong body, and secretly vigilant in his heart - sure enough, in an emergency, physical condition is the most important thing. At no time can the body, the weapon at the bottom of the box, be exercised.

With that in mind, Sam was halfway down the stairs on the first floor. But just then, an unexpected figure appeared in the hall at the exit of the stairs on the first floor.

- That's Rorschach.

He looked the same as Sam had seen before he went upstairs, still pursing his lips tightly and with a solemn gesture.

However, for some reason, at this time, he did not follow Sam's instructions before going upstairs, and stayed outside the building to conduct front-line command.

Before he had time to figure out why he was here, Sam gave Rorschach a command as he walked down the final staircase:

"Rorschach, gather the existing Special Operations Battalion members at once, we have an urgent mission-"

With that, he walked down the last few stairs and saw Rorschach nodding his head, as if following his instructions.

Then, he heard the sound of pulling the safety bolt.

“？！”

Sam stood on the last staircase in amazement, watching Rorschach point his rifle at him, the muzzle of the black hole looking so cold that his heart tightened.

At the same time, from behind Sam, there were two panting but desperate roars:

"Counselor Rorschach, what are you going to do!"

"Rorschach, do you want treason!"

Kelman and Holt stood a few steps up the stairs behind Sam, holding on to the handrails, gasping for breath and glaring at Rorschach.

However, Rorschach only swept coldly over the faces of several of them with an expression of extreme contempt:

"Treason? Next, will the United States be your country? ”

Kelman's face flushed, and Holt's face grimaced.

But Sam just looked at Rorschach dumbfounded.

- No, it should be said, it was a stunned look at the scene behind Rorschach, at the exit outside the building.

There, there were soldiers sitting one after another, but all the weapons in their hands had disappeared, and they were sitting there tiredly, as if they had completely surrendered.

And at this moment, a familiar mechanical voice came:

"Target location: Ministry of Defense office building......

"Target captured......

"All humans in the target location are requested to lay down their weapons and undergo 'standard citizen authentication', otherwise they will be treated as enemies."

Silver metal sentinels swirled through the hall, a faint rainbow light enveloping everyone.

Looking at the stunned Sam, and the senior National Guard officials behind him, Rorschach sneered, threw the rifle in his hand on the ground, and laughed loudly at them:

"I know what you're thinking - you want to escape from the front lines, to a place where there are no 'towers' and 'sentinels', to nest like a wretched worm in bunkers and shelters with electronic signals, waiting to launch wave after wave of attacks on the enemy on the ground, right?

“…… In that case, let me shatter your illusions once and for all—do you think these enemies are just attacking Arlington? No, it doesn't matter if it's Nevada, or California, or it's Mississippi...... All parts of the continent are already covered with them - and, just now, Washington has completely fallen! ”

The first two days were not very good, and I had a good rest over the weekend. Resume the update today

(End of chapter)