When Fang Zheng was rescued from the damaged battle armor, he was in a state of severe injury, close to unconsciousness.
In a daze, he seemed to feel someone trying to help him.
But his grave injuries prevented him from even opening his eyes.
After a warm current surged into his chest, Fang Zheng completely lost consciousness.
...
When Fang Zheng woke up again, he was covered in a dense array of medical equipment.
But the doctors and nurses rushing around were too busy to notice his awakening.
This was because countless wails were echoing within and outside the small space.
"Ahhh! My leg!!"
"Monster! Monster!!!"
"They're all dead!! Everyone is dead!!"
The screams of the wounded gradually brought Fang Zheng back to his senses. He looked at the hurried medical staff, his gaze slowly focusing.
"Sedative!! Increase the dosage for bed ninety-four by two units!!"
"Bed sixty-three!! Don't move!! Your wound has only been simply sutured!!"
"Doctor Li!! The patient in bed thirty-four is not doing well!!!"
Fang Zheng tried to sit up, and what met his eyes was a scene akin to purgatory.
Broken limbs, flowing blood, and despairing wounded were everywhere. Fang Zheng himself saw no less than a hundred.
And at the edge of his vision, more wounded were continuously being brought into this space cast from gray and white cement.
Looking at the clothes of the new casualties, Fang Zheng suddenly realized that, like him, they were all part of the Donghua Nation's combat departments.
"How... long have I slept..."
"Has the war... already begun?"
...
Fang Zheng, still bandaged, looked at his superior, who was missing an eye and even had a mechanical arm in place of his right hand.
A multitude of emotions surged within Fang Zheng, but he didn't know where to begin.
However, Xu Zhen, who had assigned Fang Zheng his undercover mission and had been overseeing his activities, stepped forward first and gave him a firm hug:
"Welcome home!!"
Fang Zheng's complex emotions found an outlet in that single word, "home."
After years of undercover work, changing his identity, and even abandoning his own name, the young man had finally returned.
...
Xu Zhen walked ahead with his hands behind his back, Fang Zheng following closely. They walked through the vast cement space filled with the wails of the wounded, the scene almost indistinguishable from hell.
"Are you wondering why you woke up in such a crowded place?" Without waiting for Fang Zheng's reply, Xu Zhen continued, "xxs一"
"You've been unconscious for ten days, and the war started on the first day."
"But as you said, we were no match for Kowloon. In just seven days, Kowloon conquered the world."
As they passed through various doors, Xu Zhen recounted everything that had happened since Fang Zheng fell unconscious.
Lost in Xu Zhen's narrative, Fang Zheng didn't notice the distant screams of the wounded fading away, and the cement rooms around them gradually being filled with people dressed as civilians.
It was then that Fang Zheng realized this was the underground air-raid shelter of the Donghua Nation's capital, and he had been temporarily transferred from the highest-level hospital for some reason.
But Fang Zheng couldn't understand why, if Donghua had already surrendered, so many new casualties were still being sent to this air-raid shelter.
Xu Zhen didn't offer an immediate explanation, merely leading Fang Zheng deeper into the shelter.
...
As a silver-white door in the depths was quietly pushed open, a highly technological metal room appeared before Fang Zheng.
Fang Zheng noticed his battle armor in a corner of this room. Besides that, there were some war machines he had seen before in Kowloon.
A group of elderly men, wearing white coats but with bloodshot eyes, were arguing about something.
"The performance of these weapons is at least fifty years ahead of us!"
"There's no way to counter them! Especially these weapons called battle armor, they completely overturn the past modes of warfare!"
"Time! If we had enough time, we could certainly try to analyze them, but we're out of time!!"
These individuals were so engrossed in their dispute that they didn't even notice Xu Zhen and Fang Zheng entering.
After leading Fang Zheng to a peculiar device resembling a seat, Xu Zhen paused for a long moment before turning.
Just as he had done years ago, the white-haired elder asked Fang Zheng:
"You have two choices now."
...
"Kowloon has conquered the world, but it has no intention of sparing the governments that resisted it."
"Currently, the capitals of the major nations are surrounded by weapons called battle armor. Anyone attempting to negotiate or escape has been killed indiscriminately."
"We attempted a breakout, but you've seen the result. If the battle armor surrounding us didn't intend to finish us off quickly, we wouldn't even have been able to rescue the wounded!"
"Next, the capital of the Donghua Nation will be erased from this world as a target for Kowloon's wrath."
"I don't know when this will happen, but we no longer have a future."
Fang Zheng was now seated in the massive metal chair, while Xu Zhen spoke with a grave expression about the situation outside their last refuge.
"When you woke up, half of the capital had fallen, and all Donghua citizens within it were beheaded."
"This place is three thousand meters underground, with extensive camouflage shelters above. Even the outer air-raid shelter and the wounded within are part of the deception."
"Based on the situation in the fallen areas, the think tank has deduced that this level of camouflage is sufficient to protect deeper secrets from being discovered."
Hearing this, Fang Zheng's eyes showed no flicker of emotion. He already knew his next mission and the sacrifice it represented.
As he spoke, Xu Zhen was also adjusting his mechanical arm.
"Next, you will fall asleep. When you wake up, you will have a new face and new memories."
"On the sixth day of your coma, Kowloon cleared out all remaining undercover agents from various countries. We have reason to believe they have developed new methods to identify hidden agents."
"We believe that method might be closely related to what is called 'Soul Power,' making conventional undercover methods completely ineffective."
"This is a temporary technology we've improved. It cannot guarantee a one hundred percent success rate. You have a very, very high chance of dying here. You still have the chance to back out!"
Inside the machine, Fang Zheng's eyes flickered slightly.
"I will not go back on my word! I will abandon everything from my past to find that sliver of faint hope for Donghua and humanity!"