Chapter 721: The Situation (Part 2)

Chapter 721: Chapter 691: The Situation (Part 2)

“It’s so good to see you’re all okay,” Jian Hua said, his face flushed with excitement as he rushed over.

After all, all the elites from his class were in the Xinghai Squad!

He had rushed over the moment he heard something had gone wrong.

He could hardly imagine the consequences if Lin Xinghai and the others had met with disaster. Their “strongest class” would have become a title in name only.

“Instructor, what are you doing here?” Lin Xinghai asked, a bit surprised to see Jian Hua hurrying toward them.

“How could I not? After we got the news, the three major academies practically mobilized everyone. The principal even led the instructors at the Peak of the Body Shaping Realm in to provide support. My strength is a bit lacking, so I stayed behind.”

“The Military Department, too… an operation this important, and they didn’t even give us a heads-up,” Jian Hua added, his tone turning resentful.

Lin Xinghai just smiled and said nothing. ‘The Military Department must have discussed it with the academy’s upper echelons,’ he thought. ‘It’s just that the plan was classified at a very high level, so an instructor like Jian Hua wouldn’t have had the clearance to know right away.’

After all, if too many people knew, an instructor might have secretly told their students. And if the students failed to gather in the four Trap Districts, who knew what the Abyssal Plane’s next move would be?

The military was unwilling to accept such uncertainty because it would make it impossible to formulate a targeted plan.

“Instructor, we’re back safe now, so let’s not dwell on that. I’d like to ask about the current situation. How many students from our academy have made it back safely?” Lin Xinghai inquired.

“Over 700 students from the academy have returned so far, but according to our count, more than a hundred of them are severely injured. I don’t know what the final tally will be, but it certainly doesn’t look good.”

“The later they escape, the greater the danger they faced. The casualty count for those who get out later will probably be even higher,” Jian Hua said with a grave expression.

Lin Xinghai didn’t know what to say. It might not sound like a lot, but one had to remember that almost everyone who got into East Sea Academy had the talent to break through to the Body Shaping Realm. A loss like this was by no means small.

Moreover, this was only the beginning; the number of people who would ultimately die was still unknown. The thought of it weighed heavily on Lin Xinghai’s heart.

Soon, under Jian Hua’s guidance, the Xinghai Squad arrived at a block of barracks. “You all rest here for now. Once there are enough people, the academy will send a dedicated escort to take you back to the Military Department’s main base. For the time being, don’t leave without permission.”

Lin Xinghai nodded in understanding and told the others to go rest.

After all, he had led the members of the Xinghai Squad out at nightfall to hunt Abyssal Creatures for their Blood Bags. Then they had gone through a brutal, large-scale battle. At this point, it wasn’t just the others—even Lin Xinghai himself was reaching his limit.

Right now, not only was his Blood Qi Power depleted, but more than half of his Superpower and Perception Power were also gone.

Of course, the most significant factor was the mental exhaustion. A battle of that scale was incredibly draining. All Lin Xinghai wanted now was to get a good night’s sleep.

Of course, before resting, Lin Xinghai still had a few things to arrange, such as having Little Fatty see if he could contact someone from the Hongyu Group to come help with equipment repairs.

He wanted to get his Gauss Rifle fixed as soon as possible. If possible, he also hoped to get a weapon to replace Mjolnir. Even his Battle Armor was severely damaged from withstanding the Cloud Burst Bomb and needed repairs.

Although Little Fatty didn’t quite understand why Lin Xinghai wanted to repair his gear right away, he immediately started looking for a way to make contact.

As for Lin Xinghai, after entering the private room assigned to him, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

Of course, he didn’t sleep for very long. He woke up half an hour later.

For an ordinary person, half an hour is barely enough for a short nap and doesn’t do much. But for a Martial Artist at the Marrow Tempering Realm like Lin Xinghai, it was a different story. Although he wasn’t fully refreshed after his sleep, he could already be described as full of energy.

He checked his condition, tossed two Blood Burst Pills into his mouth, and took out an Elemental Crystal from a Mutated Zombie, holding it in his hand to rapidly recover his Superpower.

He needed to get himself back into optimal condition as quickly as possible.

When Lin Xinghai pushed open the door and walked out, the forward base was already quite lively—or perhaps, chaotic.

Countless people were coming and going. There were shouts, curses, and even quiet sobs.

Among the crowds moving back and forth, almost a third were injured. Many even had to be carried on stretchers, and a fair number had severed limbs.

Of course, just making it back was a stroke of luck. Even with severed limbs, they could be quickly repaired with current technology.

What he wanted to know now was how many students had died in this war.

Lin Xinghai walked outside alone. He soon used his Perception Power to locate Jian Hua, who was waiting by the entrance.

There were many other instructors like Jian Hua waiting at the entrance. When they saw students returning, they would look on expectantly, only to slump back into a state of disappointment when they realized the students weren’t from their class.

“Instructor, how many from our class are back?” Lin Xinghai asked, appearing at Jian Hua’s side.

“Ah!” Jian Hua jumped, startled by Lin Xinghai’s sudden appearance, but he still answered, “Our class has 85 people back, which is a relatively high number. Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”

“I already slept for half an hour, and I’ve mostly recovered,” Lin Xinghai explained, before his expression turned solemn. “It’s been over half an hour now. I assume most of those who could make it back have returned. Has the academy compiled the casualty statistics yet?”

“Our academy’s upper management has already entered the battlefield for the third time. They brought out quite a few people the first two times. This time, they’ve been in there the longest. We’ll just have to see how many they can bring out. Any students who don’t make it out this time… their chances are slim,” Jian Hua said, his expression heavy.

Every student who could get into East Sea Academy could be called a genius. At the very least, they all had the potential to break through to the Body Shaping Realm.

Furthermore, as the world changed and Cultivation became easier—especially now that the Cultivation System was complete with the addition of the Marrow Tempering Realm—the probability of these geniuses producing a Divine Demon Realm expert was likely as high as 10%.

In other words, out of these 900-plus geniuses, perhaps more than 90 could have eventually broken through to the Divine Demon Realm.

Of course, for these people to break through to the Divine Demon Realm, they would need several years, or even more than a decade, to grow.

But no matter how you looked at it, the human faction’s future war potential had undoubtedly been significantly weakened by this battle.