Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 1670: Defensive Counterattack

Chapter 1670: Chapter 1670: Defensive Counterattack

"Thank you all so much. Even though we are enemies, even though we are not on the same path, at the critical moment, you actually showed such loyalty, stepping in to shield me from blades and bullets." Gu Fan’s deeply grateful expression only made Ning Qi more furious.

"Don’t get cocky. We’ll see what happens." Ning Qi snorted coldly, suppressing the anger in her heart, and quickly ran off.

Gu Fan didn’t chase her but turned to glance at the startled and panic-stricken resistance fighters. He knew clearly that the current situation was far from optimistic.

Fight, or break out? If they fight, how likely is it that they can win? Would the enemy reinforcements arrive in endless waves?

But if they break out, which direction would be best? Ning Qi was in the east; he believed that would be the hardest direction to break through.

Someone suggested to Gu Fan whether he should take care of the big boss now, otherwise, once the big boss wakes up, it might cause even more trouble.

Gu Fan was troubled by this point as well. The big boss was immortal; there was simply no way to deal with him.

"Alright, follow me, and just do whatever I say." Gu Fan’s words implied he intended to take everyone along, instantly igniting hopeful gazes from the resistance fighters. Their biggest fear was Gu Fan abandoning them.

The battle hadn’t started yet, but the sounds of combat were incessant. Helicopters from the X Legion roared overhead, giving off the impression that enemy forces were closing in.

Without a clear plan, Gu Fan led the group to another location, hoping to rescue fellow comrades.

As they moved, a shell hit a building, triggering a violent explosion that sent debris cascading downward.

This was only the beginning. The enemy’s bombardment was ferocious, shell after shell pounding the area relentlessly. The buildings and streets were bombarded continuously, and even the relatively intact walls were destroyed.

Gu Fan led the group in a desperate dash to escape the shelling range. The constant explosions around instilled overwhelming fear in everyone’s hearts.

One person was blown away by the blast impact, while another was pinned under a massive falling stone, screaming in agony. Every ten steps forward, someone ended up injured.

Gu Fan speculated that perhaps Ning Qi returned angry and launched this massive firepower attack. Truly, one should never provoke a woman.

But there was another matter: Ning Qi had fled east, where Gu Fan had just destroyed the enemy’s artillery encampment in that direction. Yet, the intense bombardment resumed, indicating reinforcements had arrived.

Under Gu Fan’s leadership, they narrowly escaped the shelling, but more than half of their people were dead or injured.

Having no other choice, Gu Fan decided to leave these people behind to care for the wounded, saying he would handle the remaining matters.

At this point, the resistance fighters realized they couldn’t keep pace with Gu Fan. They braced for the worst and hoped Gu Fan could at least take down more enemies for them.

Seeing the resistance fighters mentally prepared for sacrifice, Gu Fan’s own fighting spirit was ignited. He vowed to do everything he could to get more people out alive.

After making up his mind, Gu Fan leaped into the air, surveying the battlefield from above. He found that the firepower in all directions—north, south, east, and west—had become even fiercer, like a dense storm of meteors striking the abandoned city.

"This is too much!" Gu Fan realized the resistance forces’ crude weaponry made it impossible for them to mount an effective counterattack; they could only withstand the bombardment.

Wait a second—Gu Fan was puzzled. Previously, the X Legion bombed the area once before sending troops in to search for resistance fighters. Now they were bombing again—weren’t they afraid of hitting their own people?

There was only one possibility: the X Legion troops sent in had been completely annihilated, prompting the second round of firepower bombardment.

Non-stop shelling subjected the entire abandoned city to a fiery baptism. Every building, every street was struck by artillery. The dark city was somehow illuminated by the incandescent explosions.

Simply enduring the bombardment wasn’t a solution. Gu Fan thought of capturing Ning Qi instead. Perhaps that could force the X Legion to cease fire.

But... Gu Fan hesitated. It was likely that Ning Qi was heavily guarded by elite fighters, including several remould persons. A direct assault might not succeed.

He decided to give it a try. Gu Fan descended from mid-air back into the abandoned city, searching all around until he found an X Legion soldier, whose uniform he put on.

Blending in had always worked for him before. Just as Gu Fan was feeling smug, sword qi suddenly lashed out, slicing a worn-out streetlamp beside him into two.

"Wait, I’m one of you!" Gu Fan quickly yelled. He then saw Lin Yue, Gu Xiaojin, Lu Yi, Zhuo Hang, and over ten others, supporting Lord Xiong, emerging from a nearby building.

Gu Xiaojin ran over and eagerly flattered, "Dad, that’s great! I knew your fortune and destiny would pull you through!"

Gu Fan chuckled lightly at this. Seeing Gu Xiaojin and the others completely unharmed, he guessed they’d stuck close to Gu Xiaojin, whose ability to foresee danger had helped them avoid the bombardment.

Not seeing Jie or Leng Feng among the group, Gu Fan asked about them. He was told that they had gone to rally other resistance fighters and were preparing to consolidate forces for a group breakout with Gu Xiaojin.

Gu Fan shook his head and rejected this plan, pointing out that while Gu Xiaojin could sense danger, she lacked the ability to execute a breakout.

The abandoned city was entirely surrounded by enemies, leaving no opening for escape. Consolidating forces for a group breakout would only lead to everyone being annihilated; dispersing the group offered the only chance.

So how should they proceed? Gu Fan shared his idea—to move eastward and capture Ning Qi. Initially, he had planned to go alone, with little confidence of success, but now that Lin Yue and Zhuo Hang were there, things seemed more manageable.

Everyone listened attentively as Gu Fan explained his plan. The artillery bombardment was so intense that he had to repeat himself multiple times before everyone fully understood and agreed the plan was feasible.

Just as they were about to execute Gu Fan’s plan, the surroundings suddenly grew silent; the X Legion’s shelling had stopped, a sign that their second wave of attack was imminent.

Gu Fan anticipated the second assault would be even stronger than the last. If they didn’t leave some fighters with substantial skills to hold the line, it was likely things would fall apart before he returned.

A balance between offense and defense needed to be struck, and a decision had to be made before the X Legion launched their second wave.

"Damn it, if only we had more manpower!" Confronted with the issue of insufficient personnel, Gu Fan chose a bold approach—forget defense, go all-out offense.