The Spell's Range Covers the Entire Territory of China? Hand It Over to the Nation

48: Chapter 48 The Moment the Golden Great Wall OpenedSouthwest border, Boundary Marker No. 77.

The sky here was exceptionally low and heavy, not because it was about to rain, but because the clouds presented a sickly grayish-yellow; it was the grotesque refraction caused by two dungeon spaces slowly squeezing the real world in the distance.

A strange smell drifted in the air, like rotten eggs mixed with burnt rubber; this scent was called the ”scent of the apocalypse,” and smelling it for too long could make mold grow in one’s lungs.

But along the winding border line, a faint golden light split the world in two.

On one side was purgatory.

On the other was the human world.

Zhao Tiezhu spat out the grass root in his mouth and pulled down the brim of his camouflage cap to cover his bloodshot eyes.

He was the company commander of the 3rd Company of the Border Defense Regiment, and at this moment, he was lying behind a bunker, staring through binoculars at a spot one hundred meters ahead.

It was packed with people, a dark mass of them.

”Company Commander, three more have fallen.” The observer beside him had a hoarse voice, and the notebook he was clutching was almost soaked through with sweat.

”If this continues, half of these people will starve to death before the monsters even arrive.”

Zhao Tiezhu didn’t make a sound, only clenched his jaw tightly, the line of his jawbone as hard as a piece of granite.

That was a group of refugees from the neighboring southeastern country.

After the disaster, the small neighboring country had completely collapsed.

The dungeon descended right into the center of the capital, without even a buffer, and the entire country’s leadership had gone silent shortly after.

The common people were like ants whose nest had been destroyed, running toward the border like headless flies.

After all, everyone could see that the golden, dragon-shaped light curtain to the east was the only bright spot within thousands of kilometers.

But they couldn’t get in.

[Great Wall · Absolute Denial]

This thing was merciless; without Su Yun’s permission, let alone a human, even a mosquito that had lost its mind for the sake of reproduction this season would die if it bumped into it, provided it didn’t have a permit.

”Company Commander, are we just going to watch?” The rookie Li Two Ox couldn’t help but ask, ”I still have half a bag of compressed biscuits in my pack...”

”Shut up.” Zhao Tiezhu growled, his voice sounding like it was ground from sandpaper.

”Military orders are like mountains. Without orders from superiors, whoever dares to cross the boundary marker by even a step, I’ll shoot them myself!”

Li Two Ox shrank his neck, not daring to make a sound, but his eyes still drifted outward from time to time.

In truth, Zhao Tiezhu felt worse than anyone.

He was a soldier, and being a soldier was about protecting the country and its people, as well as saving lives.

Now, watching a group of unarmed common people waiting to die right under his nose, that sense of helplessness was more suffocating than having an enemy point a gun at his forehead.

But he knew even better that this light curtain was the final line of defense.

Once a gap was opened, what might flood in wouldn’t just be refugees, but also the plague, panic, and even... monsters wearing human skin.

...

Outside the wall, the refugee camp.

Calling it a camp was generous; it was actually just a muddy swamp.

A Mu took off the only suit jacket he had left and draped it over the top of the makeshift tent—if a few branches supporting a piece of torn plastic tarp could even be called a tent.

”Brother, I’m cold.”

A weak voice came from beneath him.

It was his seven-year-old sister, her small face sallow, her lips dry and cracked, curled into a tiny ball.

”Not cold, not cold.” A Mu hugged his sister tighter, using his own body heat to warm her slightly trembling small body, humming a nursery rhyme that was completely out of tune, while tears welled up in his eyes.

A Mu was no ordinary person.

A day ago, he was still a top-tier civil engineer in the neighboring country, earning a high salary, living in a villa with a swimming pool, drinking coffee in the morning and listening to symphonies in the evening.

He was proficient in three languages, including fluent Dragon Summer, and he had even participated in the construction of a cross-border bridge in Harbor City.

Back then, he felt he was a citizen of the world, and no boundary could stop the footsteps of the elite class.

Now he knew how laughable that thought was.

When civilization collapses, whether one is an elite or a beggar, in front of the Grim Reaper, they are just a piece of meat; the only difference might be whether the meat is tough or tender.

”Brother, can we go in?” His sister pointed at the golden light curtain reaching to the sky in the distance, her eyes filled with longing.

”It’s so bright over there; it must be very warm.”

A Mu looked up.

That light curtain was so beautiful.

Even from a hundred meters away, he could feel its solemn and vast aura.

Occasionally, when the wind direction changed, the breeze blowing from that side even carried a faint scent of rice blossoms.

That was the scent of heaven.

”We can, we definitely can.” A Mu lied to his sister, and also to himself.

”Dragon Summer is a great nation, a land of etiquette; they won’t stand by and watch us die. We’ll just wait here, wait for them to open the gates.”

However, the crowd around him was not as ”optimistic” as he was.

Despair was spreading like a plague.

Some people knelt in the mud, kowtowing to the light curtain, not stopping even when their foreheads were battered and bloody; others crazily smashed rocks against the illusory wall, only to have their hand bones broken by the recoil, lying on the ground wailing; still others, to snatch half a piece of moldy bread, would fight even their own brothers, digging their fingernails into each other’s flesh.

Once people lose hope, their animal instincts take over.

”ROAR—!!!”

Suddenly, a shrill roar sounded in the distance.

The sound didn’t resemble a wild beast; it was more like rusted iron scraping against glass, making one’s teeth ache and scalp crawl.

The previously restless crowd instantly fell silent, followed by an explosion of screams ten times more intense than before.

”They’re here! They’re here!”

”Run! Run!”

The mist in the distance churned, and dozens of black shadows scrambled out of the woods on all fours.

It was the Bristle-backed Corpse Beasts.

Originally ordinary wild boars, after being contaminated by the dungeon’s Qi, their size had ballooned to that of a truck, their bodies covered in black hair like steel needles, their skin festering and oozing pus, revealing the dark red muscle fibers underneath.

Most terrifying was the mouth, with two fangs protruding, still dripping with green saliva.

They were hungry.

These monsters had keen senses of smell; the tens of thousands of refugees gathered here were, to their noses, a grand feast.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The ground began to tremble.

The charge of dozens of monsters was comparable to a tank battalion; the dozens of refugees blocking the front didn’t even have time to scream before they were trampled into unrecognizable piles of meat paste.

”Help! Dragon Summer people! Help!”

”Open the gate! Please, open the gate!”

The crowd went mad.

The instinct to survive made them stop caring about any rules; tens of thousands of people, like a black tide, rushed toward the golden light curtain in a frenzy.

A Mu picked up his sister and was carried forward by the human tide, unable to help himself.

He didn’t want to die.

But he wanted even less to be chewed up alive by those monsters.

”AH!!!” A middle-aged woman beside him was pushed down, and before she could even crawl up, she was trampled by countless feet, her voice cutting off abruptly.

A Mu protected his sister’s head with all his might, feeling as if his ribs were about to be crushed.

It was close.

The golden light curtain was right before his eyes.

It was so sacred, so warm, yet so cold and merciless.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The crowd at the very front hit the light curtain.

No miracle occurred.

The [Absolute Denial] property activated; the people who rushed to the front were like hitting a high-voltage electric wall, convulsing as they were bounced back, crashing into the people behind them.

”We can’t get through... we can’t get through...”

A Mu despaired.

Behind him were the chewing sounds and screams of the monsters; in front of him was the impassable Wall of God.

This was a dead end.

He looked at his sister in his arms, who was scared out of her wits, gave a bitter smile, and reached out to cover her eyes.

”Don’t look,” A Mu said softly. ”Count sheep; when we count to one hundred, we’ll be asleep.”

...

Inside the guard post.

”Company Commander! They’ve broken in! Less than fifty meters from the light curtain!” Li Two Ox’s hand holding the gun was shaking, not from fear, but from urgency.

”These beasts are eating people! Children! Those are children!”

Zhao Tiezhu’s fingernails were already dug deep into his palms, blood dripping down through his fingers.

He couldn’t fire his gun.

Firing without orders would result in disciplinary action, especially during such a sensitive time.

But... screw the disciplinary action!

Zhao Tiezhu turned abruptly, grabbed the walkie-talkie on the table, and roared: ”Regimental Headquarters! This is Zhao Tiezhu! The situation ahead is out of control! I request...”

Ring, ring, ring—!

Before he could finish, a red phone on the table—a top-authority dedicated line that had been silent since the disaster began—suddenly rang loudly.

Zhao Tiezhu’s hand shook, and he almost dropped the walkie-talkie.

He took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

The voice coming from the receiver was not the regimental commander’s.

It was a calm, dignified voice that exuded a sense of composure.

The voice seemed to carry a certain magic, crawling along the telephone line and instantly soothing all the agitation in Zhao Tiezhu’s heart.

”Order.”

”One, immediately activate node permissions and accept all non-hostile refugees.”

”Two, by company unit, annihilate the invading enemy.”

”Three, push our boundary marker... thirty kilometers outward. Tell those monsters that this territory is now under Dragon Summer’s control.”

Beep, beep, beep.

The call ended.

Only three sentences, less than fifty characters.

But to Zhao Tiezhu’s ears, this was an imperial edict, a life-saving golden medal, a bugle call for the charge!

He threw the phone down, the suffocating frustration on his face completely swept away.

He ripped off his hat, revealing his stubbly scalp, turned to the entire company of soldiers, and shouted:

”Attention, entire company!”

”Take the safety off for me!”

”Everyone, prepare!”

”Open the gate!!!”