Accompanied by the deafening sound of cannon fire, the last glimmer of hope held by many inside Anshan City was completely extinguished.
When the streets and alleys were plastered with notices of the impending beast tide, they could still deceive themselves, thinking it was like the weather forecasts on TV ten years ago, which could be wrong sometimes. Perhaps the beast tide could be the same.
But now, they had no choice but to believe it.
Because even a fool knows that the guards wouldn’t be bored enough to play with cannons; there was only one explanation for this — the beast tide had truly arrived, and soon, it would be at the city walls.
"What, what do we do?" someone asked in trembling voice.
He had only recently arrived here and hadn’t yet adapted to city life before encountering this sudden event.
"With the Awakeners here, we should be able to defend, right?"
"Yeah, in the past few years, Anshan City has also faced beast tides, and they were able to defend it. This time, we should be able to as well, right?"
At this moment, the sharp sound of the air raid siren blared.
A large number of armed guards came running.
"What are you all standing around for? Get to the shelters!"
"The beast tide has already erupted. Do you want to die, standing outside?"
"Move! Move!"
Upon hearing this, ordinary people in the shops and on the streets all rushed to the nearest underground facilities.
In an instant, the city became desolate.
Outside the city, shells fell like raindrops, with many of the leading Fierce Beasts blown to pieces, blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
Many more Fierce Beasts, though not directly hit by the shells, were thrown off by the shockwaves. Before they could get up, they were trampled into meat paste by the oncoming Fierce Beasts.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The first round of shelling had just ended when the second round began, even more intense than the first. Dense smoke filled the air.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds more Fierce Beasts fell, the dust raised by the explosions blotting out the sky.
However, even more Fierce Beasts emerged from the smoke, moving at double the speed from before!
"Fire!"
Hua Jun roared.
But in reality, not many people heard his voice.
The guards, like automated machines, continued the actions of loading, closing the breech, and pulling the firing cord.
There was no need to aim, as there were so many Fierce Beasts in sight that even with closed eyes, they would hit.
Forty kilometers.
Thirty kilometers.
Twenty kilometers.
In just ten minutes, the beast tide was less than ten kilometers from the city walls.
Standing on the city walls, even without telescopes, people could see the rolling dust clouds and countless dark figures in the distance.
Relentless shells continued to fall, yet they could not stop their advance.
Some of the Fierce Beasts, even after being caught in the shockwaves of the shells, got up nonchalantly and continued their charge.
"Prepare the machine guns!"
Seeing this, Hua Jun shouted, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
After so many rounds of simultaneous artillery fire, at least tens of thousands of Fierce Beasts had been killed or injured, but this was nothing detrimental to a beast tide of two to three hundred thousand.
Moreover, they lacked intelligence; unlike human armies, they didn’t collapse even after suffering a thirty percent loss. As long as the Commander-level Fierce Beasts behind them continued to command, they would remain fearless in their charge even near total annihilation.
"Hold them! We must hold them back!"
From below the city, dozens of six to seven-meter-tall figures burst forth from the midst of the mid- to high-level Fierce Beasts, like arrows leaving the string, smashing through the walls of two camps outside the city and heading straight for the city walls.
The buildings along the way were like paper, unable to block them in the slightest.
"It’s the Elite-level Fierce Beasts!"
Someone exclaimed in surprise.
"Fire!"
Hua Jun roared angrily.
They were wolf-type Elite-level Fierce Beasts, extremely fast, typically serving as the vanguard in a beast tide assault. If they climbed the city walls, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Taka-taka-taka, taka-taka-taka..."
Countless machine guns spat fire, and the dense hail of bullets shredded everything in their path.
Under such a dense bullet net, even hundreds of Elite-level Fierce Beasts were torn to pieces.
However, in that time, numerous mid- to high-level Fierce Beasts had already reached the front of the camps, less than ten miles from Anshan City’s walls.
"Rumble!"
Under their assault, the already shaky walls collapsed into rubble.
Behind them, an endless sea of Fierce Beasts loomed, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"All artillery, aim at the base of the walls!"
Hua Jun urgently ordered.
There was no time to worry about the distant Fierce Beasts now.
If these Fierce Beasts reached the city walls, even a thirty-meter-high wall wouldn’t hold against their onslaught.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
This time, even mortars and rocket launchers were used.
Many faces now wore expressions of despair.
Were there too many Fierce Beasts? Were there far too many?
They had assumed that the sheer number of cannons on the walls would at least halve the number of Fierce Beasts, but it seemed to have no effect.
"The barrels are too hot, I can’t fire anymore!"
"I’m out of shells here, where are the shells?!"
"Bullets! I need bullets!"
"Where’s the supply? Why isn’t it here yet?!"
Anxious voices echoed in a cacophony.
Some people were paralyzed with fear, standing motionless, with blank minds. No matter how hard those beside them shook their shoulders, it was of no use.