Chapter 138: Chapter 138: War Transformation, Leaving with Dignity, Conferment of Rank
Lin Feng wasn't surprised by the Thirteenth Division's visit. After all, today's impressive display by his invincible fleet in Wu City's eastern district was enough for anyone to see that Lin Feng had grown into a formidable force capable of taking on thousands.
His hundred-man company was more formidable than the ten thousand soldiers entrenched on the defensive line. Their proactive approach was unmatched.
What Lin Feng didn't expect was the high-ranking officials from the Thirteenth Division to come personally. For them to lower their status and seek out a mere sergeant like him indicated something significant.
Perhaps Qin Hu had spoken to them, changing their perceptions and intentions.
With this thought, Lin Feng smirked slightly and turned to enter the rest building, leaving the issue for Li Ran to handle.
As the highest commander of this invincible fleet, he saw no need to initiate conversation, especially when the others needed him.
Those from the Thirteenth Division, most of whom were late-stage Tier 1 awakeners, noticed Lin Feng's distinct attire and deliberate disregard for them as he walked inside.
Some young colonels and lieutenant colonels felt a surge of anger.
Fortunately, the leading officials quelled their agitation with a glance, then turned to Li Ran with a smile, saying, "We urgently need to speak with Sergeant Lin."
Li Ran furrowed his brow, glancing at the soldiers behind him who had raised their shotguns, feeling caught in a dilemma. He tried to mediate, saying, "I've sent someone to inform him. It's late at night, and if Sergeant Lin wishes to meet, he will call off the guards."
He then signaled his soldiers to lower their guns.
Li Ran understood their resentment towards the Thirteenth Division. As new recruits, they had no strong ties to the command, having been sent to the front lines shortly after hearing a few speeches.
Upon arriving at the outpost base, few had any enhancements, essentially being sent to their deaths.
Their progress was entirely due to Sergeant Lin Feng's leadership.
During the outpost base battle, if not for the Thirteenth Division's order to use bunker-busting missiles on the fortress, they wouldn't have had to escape death, risking everything to flee the base and evade the insect pursuit.
They were nearly devoured by insects.
After being wronged by the Thirteenth Division multiple times, hatred naturally arose.
If not for Li Ran calming the situation, preventing further escalation...
A single misfire could have led to the Thirteenth Division's leaders being wiped out unexpectedly.
Under Li Ran's repeated orders, the new recruits finally relented, stepping back while glaring at the "cowardly officials" in their eyes.
Only a few veterans remained at the camp entrance.
Seeing this, the Thirteenth Division's leaders also instructed their late-stage Tier 1 awakeners serving as guards to return to their vehicles, then approached Li Ran to converse.
The senior commander pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his belt.
Seeing his former superior officer offer him a cigarette, Li Ran, who had only held the rank of captain, felt both honored and incredulous as he accepted it.
Of course, he knew his current situation was entirely due to the team Lin Feng had built.
The senior commander took a puff, letting out a bitter laugh.
Since the beginning of the anti-invasion war, they had been wary of the enhanced humans, whose significantly improved physiques granted them combat abilities far beyond ordinary people. Each enhanced human above level seven was akin to a once-rare military king, even stronger in physical prowess.
An enhanced human squad could easily defeat forces several times their size.
With the emergence of awakeners and the advent of superpowers, the criteria for assessing status within the organization fundamentally changed.
Awakeners were incredibly powerful, perhaps still weak against insects of the same level, yet effortlessly lethal against ordinary humans.
With tons of force, speeds like racing cars, and superpowers, these awakeners were like superhumans from films.
Most were lower-ranking officers or soldiers on the front lines.
This posed a severe threat to the command structure and the leaders' precarious positions.
Thus, they concentrated awakeners in camps, using coercion and inducement to promote loyal officers like Major Qin Hu, causing internal division among the awakeners.
This ensured the command's orders were executed with unwavering resolve.
All these measures were based on the assumption that these nascent awakeners lacked the ability to control the situation or achieve victory in war.
Their command skills were limited to local battles, perhaps killing a few Black Spinal Bugs or commanding a squad or platoon.
If they took control of the command, the already strained defensive battle would falter even more rapidly due to chaotic leadership...
Failing to hold until Jin City's evacuation completed, ultimately thwarting strategic objectives.
This was the scenario the Thirteenth Division's leaders sought to avoid, convincing perceptive awakeners to side with the command.
But with Lin Feng's sudden rise, demonstrating an awakener's true power, capable of single-handedly repelling insect armies and even launching counterattacks, reclaiming territory...
It meant the need for central command over the entire front lost its legitimacy.
The battlefield's main force was no longer measured by numbers, like the queens' newly hatched Tier 2 insects, a small elite squad easily breached human defenses, tearing through lines.
Today's victory over the insects, without a single shot fired by the defense, was achieved by Lin Feng's convoy of a hundred members.
According to Qin Hu, Lin Feng's true ability was synthesis, allowing limitless synthesis of desired objects, incorporating insect materials...
The rear factories' Red Armor, derived from Red Beetle shells, originated from Lin Feng.
Now, the fleet, vehicles, soldiers' advanced armor, and the fist-sized caliber shotguns all stemmed from Lin Feng's synthesis ability.
This massive consumption required seizing insect life energy. Though Lin Feng never explained the infinite ammunition, Li Ran shared this hypothesis with Qin Hu.
Energy doesn't appear from nowhere; even the strangest abilities abide by this principle.
The Thirteenth Division's leaders, learning the truth from Qin Hu, knew they had no leverage for cooperation with Lin Feng.
An awakener who could self-supply weapons, logistics, and combat a queen's army alone...
In the insect-human war Lin Feng waged, high command's leadership was redundant, replaced by logistics support collecting materials.
Awakeners' power and growth outpaced all expectations.
After experiencing Lin Feng's might in the nest expedition, Qin Hu completely revised his outdated views...
The war against the insects required only a powerful awakener force for easy victory.
Traditional armies of tens of thousands had faltered against insect swarms, but with 500 Tier 2 gene warriors...
No, just 200 fully armed Tier 2 gene warriors, Qin Hu could storm the insect heartland, sweeping through nests, reversing past defeats.
Thus, Qin Hu aimed to reach the Federation, advancing the institute's biotech plan, before insects mass-produced Hunter Warriors, transforming the battlefield's future, giving humanity a fighting chance.
This was a technological revolution in warfare.
Like the flintlock's emergence centuries ago, swiftly replacing the feudal knights and armored soldiers...
Gene warriors, representing advanced awakeners, though not as extreme as Lin Feng, maximized humanity's war potential.
They offered replicable scalability.
Lin Feng was mighty, but he could only change one region, not save all humanity. Yet widespread biotech could save thousands of kilometers of faltering fronts.
Now, the Thirteenth Division's leaders, representing the old era, were preparing to step down.
Persuaded by Qin Hu, they planned to leave the stage with dignity.
In the silent night, Li Ran's unlit cigarette burned quietly as he listened.
Staring at the senior commander, as he smoked and spoke, Li Ran saw the once-majestic figure, shaped by war, visibly shrink.
Without the uniform, he was just a sixty-year-old man, and no physical enhancement from awakening could stave off the ravages of time.
"I'm old, and the times have changed..."
Finishing, the senior commander took a deep breath, patted Li Ran's shoulder, and looked at the young men watching, saying:
"From now on, it's up to you."
A young soldier hurried over, informing Li Ran that Sergeant Lin agreed to meet the Thirteenth Division's leaders.
The senior commander smiled, dusted his clothes, adjusted his tie and epaulets, and led the high command officers with Li Ran into the camp.
In a conference room of the rest building, they finally met the long-anticipated sergeant.
It was their first meeting.
As the highest commanders of their respective forces.
Once vastly different in power and status, their meeting now seemed both unexpected and entirely reasonable.
In the senior commander's eyes...
Honestly, the young man sitting at the long table seemed too young.
In his early twenties, he had used his abilities to grow so much in just a month and a half, without external aid or official cooperation, solely through effort and awakening...
Lin Feng's growth was not just due to his abilities' immense potential, but his sheer perseverance.
Had he chosen, he could have fled Haicheng's frontlines, returned to safety, partnered with the government, living a life of ease and prominence...
But he chose the hardest, yet most independent and free path.
Facing the insect hordes alone, awakening his abilities and leveling swiftly.
Becoming the strongest awakener in the Federation.
The senior commander took a deep breath, saying:
"The Wu City battle's blocking mission is nearing its end."
Lin Feng frowned, sensing the Thirteenth Division's highest commander's unorthodox approach.
But their retreat didn't matter; after today, Lin Feng was confident his fleet alone could halt the Haicheng queen.
The Thirteenth Division withdrawing early spared concern over actions like those at the first line, feeding the enemy.
If the Haicheng queen advanced further...
Even Lin Feng couldn't guarantee holding the line.
Seeing the young man unmoved, the senior commander continued:
"We're exhausted, resources depleted, unable to support everyone reaching safety a thousand kilometers away, much less evacuate all soldiers."
Hearing this, Lin Feng's expression shifted:
"Then you should disperse, each going their way. Qin Hu mentioned this, so what is it?"
The senior commander folded his hands, replying gravely:
"This was the plan, as logistics ceased after Jin City's industry withdrew. Originally 15,000 strong, now expanded to 40,000, with over 10,000 lost at the first line, leaving 30,000 now..."
Lin Feng took a deep breath; they once thought more was better, never foreseeing the burden.
30,000 enhanced humans, awakeners...
Setting aside weapons, feeding 30,000 mouths required three tons of food daily.
Awakeners' appetites were several times larger, needing a kilogram of rations at rest, more in battle.
But letting them swarm into rear cities was disastrous for un-evacuated survivors.
And post-battle, these newly empowered recruits might lack courage and resolve to re-engage in the insect war.
A normal person gaining power in a resource-scarce apocalypse was likely to become a ruthless villain.
Letting them into safe zones or refugee camps risked chaos akin to a massive explosion, severely weakening productivity.
The command planned to evacuate over 10,000 late-stage awakeners, leaving early-stage and enhanced humans to fend for themselves.
This preserved core strength.
But Lin Feng's emergence showed the senior commander another possibility.
This young man's rise, leading a powerful fleet, easily defeating insects.
Within the Thirteenth Division, especially the second line, many recruits privately discussed joining Lin Feng's forces.
As Wu City's battle legend, Lin Feng's consistent victories since Haicheng's diversion battle were renowned.
One side endured passive defense, the other launched proactive assaults; anyone knew which to choose.
Once these thoughts took root and spread, a mass defection and rebellion in the Thirteenth Division was inevitable.
Strangely, when the oversight team reported this to command, there was no response.
Only the senior commander privately suggested not stopping the spread.
...
In the quiet night, under dim conference room lights, the senior commander explained the stakes to the young man across the table.
Lin Feng understood his meaning.
It was an unforeseen development.
He fell silent.
Watching the general turn into an old man:
"So, after evacuating 10,000 awakeners, there's 15,000 left... hoping you'll take over."
"When we reach the safety zone, the unit will likely be disbanded, integrated into other forces, and the Thirteenth Division will become history."
"I led this unit, watching it grow into the Federation's elite..."
"Its fate shouldn't end in defeat; I hope you'll lead it to new heights."
"If you're willing..."
"From now on, it's yours."
With Lin Feng watching, the senior commander slowly removed his rank insignia, placing it on the table...
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