Very quickly, Zane broke free from that state where it felt like his body was being torn apart.
At this moment, with Rover by his side, he was greedily gulping down the fresh air around him.
"What's wrong? Did another Tacet Discord Field appear nearby?"
Zane raised his head and met Rover's worried gaze. Looking at the concern on her delicate, flawless face, a bit of color finally returned to his deathly pale face.
"N-no, it's not a Tacet Discord Field… it's something more serious…"
At this moment, Zane recalled what Xiangli Yao had told him the previous night...
"The Threnodian is about to revive."
"What!?"
As Zane's words fell, Rover's expression instantly turned serious.
"Let's go, we need to find Aalto."
Zane patted his cheeks to pull himself together, gritting his teeth as he supported himself against the wall and forced himself to stand up.
If the pain from a Tacet Discord Field appearing felt like his heart was being tightly gripped by a giant hand, then this time, Zane could clearly feel as if the cells in his body were being torn apart by something.
Feeling the person beside her trembling nonstop, a trace of panic flashed through Rover's eyes before she quickly calmed down.
She knew very well what choice he would make.
From the bottom of her heart, she wished Zane would take better care of his body, but she also understood his firm determination to protect his daily life.
For the people he cherished, even if it meant being shattered to pieces.
So she said nothing more. She simply walked to his side, took his arm, and headed out together.
Zane felt the faint fragrance coming from beside him, and a smile appeared on his pale face.
The two walked out of the Jiting ruins and saw Aalto had taken off his glasses, looking up at the pouring rain with a serious expression.
"Rover, Zane, this is without a doubt the real Retroact Rain."
Hearing Aalto's words, the two nodded as if they had already expected it.
Encore, who was usually fearless, shrank beside Aalto when faced with the strange scene of rain falling from the sky only to reverse and rise back up just before hitting the ground. Her big eyes were filled with fear and worry.
Aalto gently patted Encore's head, then turned to the two and said in a deep voice, "You two, Encore and I will return to the Black Shores to request reinforcements and warn the other regions of Huanglong to be on alert for the revival of the Threnodian."
"What about you? Do you need the Black Shores to provide shelter?"
"No." Rover shook her head without hesitation. In her sun-like golden eyes shone a steel-like determination.
"I will stay in Jinzhou with him and protect the people here."
As she spoke, Rover turned her head to glance at Zane, who was equally resolute.
"Alright." With the situation urgent, Aalto didn't waste time on pleasantries. He cupped his hands slightly toward them.
"May you both have great fortune in battle."
Then he disappeared before them through teleportation.
After seeing Aalto off, Zane's Pangu terminal rang at that moment.
[Senior, Rover should be with you, right?]
"That's right." Zane replied in a hoarse voice.
[Jinzhou has been attacked by a TD outbreak.]
Although Yangyang spoke quickly, there was no sense of panic.
Clearly, the situation in Jinzhou City had not spiraled out of control.
———
[Outside Jinzhou City]
"How is he? He's okay, right?"
Even without saying the name, Yangyang knew who the doctor was referring to.
"With Rover over there, Senior is fine for now."
"That's good."
Only then did the doctor let out a slight sigh of relief. Just then, a shrill whistle suddenly sounded from behind the formation.
Teams of well-trained patrol guards rushed out of the city and quickly took positions in the defensive line outside.
Perhaps their duty was only to maintain order within the city. Perhaps none of them had ever been on a battlefield before.
Even though they had simulated Tacet Discord tide attacks countless times, they couldn't hide the slight trembling in their movements or their rapid breathing.
But even so, not a single one of them retreated.
With volleys of rifle fire and the barrage formed by the automatic cannons at the city gates, they finally managed to halt the advance of the Tacet Discord tide.
It also gave the soldiers who had faced the first wave a brief moment to rest.
"Doctor, over there!"
The doctor turned her head and followed the direction Yangyang pointed. A massive Tacet Discord over two meters tall appeared at the center of the tide, steadily advancing toward the patrol guards' position.
Unlike the earlier Light Wave-class fodder, as time passed, stronger Tacet Discords would gradually join the battlefield.
Watching the big Tacet Discords approach step by step, while bullets from the patrol guards couldn't even slow it down, the doctor knew very well that against this level of enemy, Resonators had to be deployed.
"How are the Resonators assembling?"
The doctor turned to look at Chixia beside her.
At the same time, a sense of pressure spread along the city's defensive line as each Resonator finished preparing, like landing craft before a beach assault.
Everything continued until two sharp whistle blasts rang out one after another. Even amid the chaotic battlefield, the piercing sound was clearly audible.
The next second, the Resonators rushed out of the city gates without hesitation. Then, they saw the small figure standing in the trench outside the city.
It was said that this doctor had been personally appointed by Lady Changli as the commander of Jinzhou's defense.
"Report, Alpha Squad assembled!"
Under the doctor's plan, all the Resonators in Jinzhou were divided into six squads, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta.
Among them, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta would act as spearheads, responsible for eliminating high-threat targets within the Tacet Discord tide.
Epsilon and Zeta, one would serve as a reserve force to maintain order in the city and assist in evacuating civilians, while the other, composed entirely of healing-type Resonators, would handle logistics and treat the wounded.
The doctor nodded and lightly waved her hand. Her tone, usually cute with a hint of indifference, turned ice-cold at this moment.
"Heavy explosive shells, cover!"
As her words fell, shells tore through the air with sharp, piercing screams above everyone's heads before landing near the Giant Elite-class Tacet Discord, wiping out the surrounding Light Wave-class fodder in one sweep.
Clearly, these explosive shells could suppress or even severely injure the Tacet Discords, but to completely eliminate them would require much more ammunition.
Unfortunately, due to prioritizing supplies for the Norfall Barrens Field front, Jinzhou City didn't have that much ammunition available. The doctor had no choice but to adopt this approach.
"Move!"
As the cold, emotionless command left the doctor's mouth, Yangyang, standing beside her, charged out of the trench first.
Her black hair fluttered in the wind, and the white feather-like ends resembled birds, or eagles diving toward prey.
"Ride the wind and rise!"
Emerald-green wind surrounded her body, strands of fierce gusts turning into blades that tore open the Tacet Discords' recently formed defensive line once again.
"Now!"
At Yangyang's command, multicolored Resonance abilities surged toward the already wounded Tacet Discords.
The poor creatures didn't even have time to react before turning into ash and disappearing from the battlefield.
A long whistle sounded. The Alpha Squad Resonators knew it was time to retreat.
At the same time, under the doctor's command, the regular patrol guards in the trench rushed forward, using the trench to suppress the Tacet Discords trying to surround the spearhead unit.
Very quickly, under the cover of the patrol guards' ranged firepower, the entire Alpha Squad returned safely to the trench.
With the death of the Giant Elite-class enemy, this wave of the Tacet Discord tide gradually receded.
Although this was only the first wave, the patrol guards, under the doctor's command, had faced it in an orderly manner without a single casualty.
This undoubtedly injected a strong dose of confidence into the previously despairing guards.
A mere Tacet Discord tide was nothing more than this.
But the doctor knew very well that as long as the true threat was not eliminated, even if she could defend the first wave and the second, what about the tenth? The hundredth? The fall of Jinzhou City would only be a matter of time.
"Right now… we're still missing the key to break the situation."
Looking at Zane and Rover hurrying over from the distance, a faint smile appeared on the doctor's round face.