Spread Your Wings and Fly! Bring Victory and Hope!

"Alright, let's go over the battle plan!"

There was no time for fancy welcoming ceremonies. The soldiers of the third frontline descended upon the truck like a pack of hungry wolves, swiftly emptying it and methodically organizing the supplies where they needed to go.

Meanwhile, Kallen led Theresa, Durandal, and Rita directly to the third frontline's command room to begin their discussion.

A large map hung on a massive whiteboard. A hand-drawn circle enclosed an area with a playground, clearly marking the shelter they needed to rescue—their objective.

Blue magnetic chess pieces represented them, while a cluster of red pieces was wedged between them and the shelter.

Theresa took charge of the demonstration board. Standing on her little stool, her expression was solemn as she looked at the group. In that moment, she truly had a bit of Otto's commanding presence, the kind that could command the winds and clouds with a wave of his hand.

"There aren't too many clever tactics in this operation. It's simply king against king, general against general. I will assign each of you a suitable opponent."

"First, the most critical targets are the Catapult-class Honkai Beasts. They present two major threats: one is launching the bombs they carry, and the other is detonating those bombs along with themselves upon death."

"We have to deal with them without letting the bombs explode, which means we need to take them out with extreme speed. To do that, we first have to get past their Deadwalker Guards..."

"Let us handle this task." Before anyone could volunteer for the most difficult mission, Theresa spoke up, assigning the problem to herself.

"As things stand, only my squad and I can accomplish this. Perhaps Kallen and I could manage it as a duo, but there are too many other roles that need to be filled, and Kallen can't be spared."

After speaking, Theresa glanced at the person in question. Kallen nodded in agreement, showing she had no objections.

With that settled, Theresa reached out and took the darkest-colored magnetic piece, along with several smaller ones surrounding it, from the Honkai Beast formation. She then placed three blue dots in front of the red pieces to show the matchup.

"Next, we need to deal with the Seraph-class Honkai Beasts. Handling them requires someone with extremely fast reflexes to take the lead. Kallen is the most suitable, so she will take on the Seraph-class beasts. How does that sound?"

Kallen nodded in agreement once more.

"Don't aim for kills. The Seraph-class beasts are too difficult to kill. Kallen, you just need to tie them down. Prioritize your own safety. If you're in real trouble, you can request help from Himeko's squad."

After all, there were seven Seraph-class beasts, and Kallen would be facing them alone. The reaction speed of her teammates was simply too slow to keep up with her; they would only be a liability in a fight against so many of these beasts.

If Theresa's team succeeded perfectly and eliminated the three Catapult-class beasts right away, they could then turn back to relieve the pressure on Kallen.

But until Theresa and her squad completed their mission, Kallen would be alone, handling the dirtiest and most exhausting job.

"Finally, Himeko..." Theresa paused. Himeko understood and smiled. "Leave the big ones to us. After all, the Titans are big guys too. If we're going with 'king against king, general against general,' we're the most suitable, aren't we?"

Theresa nodded, then picked up the pieces representing Himeko's squad and placed them in the space between the shelter and the Honkai Beasts.

"No, you won't be required to fight... Rather than eliminating those beasts, your priority is to break through their defensive line and establish a new one in front of the shelter before the main battle begins."

"This is the first step of the plan. All of us will provide cover for you to complete this step first."

Himeko's expression turned slightly more serious. "I understand. You can count on us."

"When we begin our operation, the entire third frontline will start to retreat, creating a deeper battlefield for us. Himeko, the defensive line you form will be the main target of the Honkai Beast charge. You have to hold it."

The retreat of the third frontline meant no reinforcements would be coming. And if Durandal's somewhat comical theory was correct, then without being pinned down from both sides, the Honkai Beasts would charge Himeko's position with everything they had.

If Himeko or even one of the Titan mechs failed to hold, the Honkai Beasts would break through and rampage through the shelter.

But if Himeko's squad could withstand the assault, it would be equivalent to nailing the battlefield down in one spot, creating the stage for all subsequent plans to unfold.

Afterward, the group began discussing the finer details. At the same time, the third frontline began to bustle with activity.

Important items were loaded onto vehicles; unimportant ones were simply left behind. The few sets of Honkai energy suits they had transported were distributed. All personnel quickly assembled, preparing to withdraw to the fourth frontline's defense zone according to the established evacuation route.

The fourth frontline had already mobilized most of its personnel to receive everyone from the third. The entire Northeast War Zone would gather to intercept any enemies that didn't belong on Theresa's battlefield.

Meanwhile, the Eastern War Zone was also making a major move.

As the first frontline retreated, the second began to advance. The ultimate goal of both frontlines, and indeed both war zones, was the stubborn tumor festering near the center of Sapphire City—that massive zombie horde.

The plan Otto had spent two full months laying out was finally taking shape. For two months, the continuous transport of weapons and supplies from the base to the frontlines had nearly emptied half its reserves.

Now, those supplies had transformed into a pair of full-fledged wings, spread out on either side of the horde.

From all four frontlines, drone after drone was launched. These small machines, usually so precious, could no longer provide any new information, as every detail of this area was already printed on the map.

Today, they had a more important mission: just as they had three months ago, they would broadcast to the world, announcing that the clarion call for the counter-attack against the Honkai had been sounded!

This was an all-or-nothing gamble. This time, the protagonists were the soldiers of the MOTH, and every single person in the shelter.

And also, everyone watching this live broadcast.

In the command room, all discussions had concluded. Everyone looked up at the map that served as their diagram.

The two war zones were the wings, the train station a single, long leg, the bloated and swollen horde the body, and their battlefield was the proudly raised head.

In that moment—

A crane, standing on one leg, spread its wings on the map, poised for flight!