Chapter 59: The End of the Smoke

On the battlefield that had already fallen silent, the smoke of gunpowder dissipated.

Only Night Wind, clinging to the last faint breath of life, struggled to support his broken body.

He looked down and around, his gaze falling upon a ravaged and solemn sight.
On the blood-soaked earth, the members of the Shanling Squad lay silently, devoid of life.

With trembling hands, Night Wind fumbled in his pocket for a cloth pouch containing the squad members’ name tags.

His strength was nearly exhausted.
His legs gave way, and he half-knelt on the ground.

Even so, he clenched his teeth and, with his last ounce of strength, took out the name tags from the pouch, trying to make out the names on them through his blurred vision.
He could not die yet.
With his last remaining breath, he had to complete his final task.

From the pouch, Night Wind distinguished the names on the tags through his blurred vision.

“Alice…”

Night Wind clenched his jaw tightly, his eyes overflowing with tears.
He walked with painstaking steps to Alice’s side and fastened the name tag to her right breast.

[Belonging to the First Army of the Human Exterminator Army, Elite Member of the Shanling Squad, Alice.]

“Sweet Cone… I’m sorry…”

Sweet Cone was the first squad member to be struck down by the Bloodkin.
At that time, Night Wind had been surrounded and was unable to save her.
He could only watch helplessly as her body was pierced by a Bloodkin’s blade and blood splattered everywhere…

His heart was torn by remorse and unwillingness, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Then came Alice, Sunflower… they fell one after another.
Sharp fangs pierced their fair necks, their blood drawn mercilessly.
The painful sight was carved into Night Wind’s heart like a knife.

He was powerless to stop any of it.

The despair of watching the tragedy unfold, unable to do anything, almost tore his heart to shreds.

[Belonging to the First Army of the Human Exterminator Army, Trainee Member of the Shanling Squad, Sweet Cone.]

“Imouto… Sunflower… Xiao Mu… Silly Sweetie… Little Bird… Bubble.”

Night Wind carefully placed each name tag on every squad member.
His movements were slow and solemn, as if completing a sacred ritual.
He wanted the Human Exterminator Army to forever remember the name of every member of the Shanling Squad.

However, no matter how hard he searched, he could not find the bodies of Little Butterfly and Sheffield.

He gripped the remaining name tags tightly in his hand.

Then, he found the last name tag, his own—Night Wind.

He looked at his own name tag and, with a trembling hand, hung it on his chest.
Having done all this, he could no longer hold himself up and fell powerlessly backward onto the ground.

Night Wind reached out a trembling arm, trying to touch Bubble, who was closest to him.

She still had a faint breath, but she could no longer speak, her bleeding unstoppable.
His fingers finally touched her small hand, and he gripped it tightly, his heart feeling as if it were being cut by a knife.

Gazing up at the hazy sky, Night Wind realized he was crying.
Tears slid down silently, and he wept until he could make no sound.

The war between the Human Exterminators and the Bloodkin was not meaningless.
Everyone’s cry of wanting to defend their homes and protect others was not just some high-sounding rhetoric.

The mission of the Exterminators was to prevent the tragedy that was now happening to him and his comrades from being repeated in human cities.
That was why they fought the Bloodkin tooth and nail; that was why they possessed that unyielding will.

“Humanity will definitely win.”
“Someone will definitely avenge us…”

“Captain, we will forever be humanity’s strongest squad, the Shanling Squad.”

“Belonging to the First Army of the Human Exterminator Army, Elite Member of the Shanling Squad, Nigh…”

Before he could finish speaking his code name, everything before him went black.
He gradually lost consciousness, sinking silently into sleep upon this gray land…

And so, the figures of the Shanling Squad vanished from the world forever.

Shanling Squad:

Shanling, Night Wind, Imouto.

Butterfly, Sweet Cone, Alice, Sunflower.

Xiao Mu, Sweetie, Little Bird, Bubble.

—The code names of all members above.

Were all engraved in the history of the Human Exterminator Army.