Chapter 884 - Retreat (1/2)
While the military in China was preparing their next actions, the martial artists in Japan were packing up to return to China. They had gotten their hopes up at the thought of returning to China and gained a little bit of morale.
”Has everyone made preparations to return as well?” Jiang Fei directed his words at Hong Yu. If everyone wanted to go back, he would do the same. He did not want to involve the other girls in a fight that no longer held any meaning.
In no time at all, everyone was all packed and ready to go, and they reported to Z8-001.
”Your ship will arrive in three hours. Please gather at M105 and wait there. The ship will leave punctually, with or without you, so please do not miss the allocated time,” said Z8-001.
”Where is M105?” Jiang Fei asked.
Z8-001 projected an image to the ground. The holographic image showed their current position in Japan and where they would be going. M105 was a beach that was close to where their current location. If everyone ran with everything they had, it would only take them less than an hour to reach.
Jiang Fei felt bad. He knew that the road to salvation would not be easy. Even though they had clearly abandoned the alien artifact, the Mutants would still be able to catch up to them. Based on their obvious tracks and movements, the Mutants would know what was up and would not mind chasing after them to deliver a last parting ”gift” to the martial artists.
The martial artists were definitely slower than the Mutants. It was without a doubt that the Mutants would attack them with every chance they get. Without the hope of returning home in mind, the martial artists would immediately give up if they were attacked.
”Hmph. Peaceful times make weak men. Such weak men can't handle the stress of war. What's the use of practising martial arts if one can't even handle such a menial task?” Jiang Fei mumbled to himself. His voice was soft but loud enough for Bai Wanli and the other elders to hear.
His statement was power. Jiang Fei was a young boy who grew up in peaceful times. Yet, he was able to handle the stress of war whilst these prideful martial artists who had been training all their lives could not even stand their ground and fight to the end.
While the hard truth of Soaring Cloud Sect betraying China came as a shock to everyone, it was not the main reason why they had lost their will to fight. They had merely used it as an excuse to leave Japan to get away from the war. To tell the truth, they were terrified of getting injured!
Even though the martial artists had gone through tough times, they were only small missions that involved only a few men. As tough as the missions were, they had only suffered through the loss of one or two men who died in a fight. Even in the previous fight in Japan, the alliance had only lost very few men and most of them were Level 3 disciples.
This time, the scale of the fight they had to participate in was a whole other level. The enemies were strong. More than ten sects had faced extinction-level events and even Soaring Cloud Sect, the strongest sect in China, had betrayed their nation. To be fair, with all the goings-on laid out like that, they were confident Jiang Fei would see reason.
When everyone started to move out, Jiang Fei turned to Z8-001 and asked, ”Are you coming with us?”
”Affirmative, we will escort you safely to the ship!”
”Aren't you retreating?”
”We are soldiers! We will never retreat before accomplishing our mission!” said Z8-001. Appearing to be capable of projecting emotion, Jiang Fei could feel a sense of honor from his words.
”I understand. Thank you for your hard work,” said Jiang Fei. Even though he had always treated these robots as cannon fodder, he had suddenly developed a feeling of sympathy toward these Androids.
”Thank you,” said Z8-001 as its eye glowed red.