Yu Lian was stunned. Ash was stunned. Everyone else was stunned too. Of course, even the bear-man Baka was utterly dumbfounded, even though his face was splattered with the reddish-brown blood and gushing organs of the Sand People.

Until Elder Hessen's smooth two halves of flesh fell to the ground, everyone was still in a daze.

"Whose is this, then?" After a long while, Ash couldn't help but ask.

"The big share is naturally his," Yu Lian said, pointing at the bear-man Baka as if it were obvious.

"This, this, this..."

"This isn't fair, is it? You took the most damage and exerted the most effort, but I can prove that he caused the most damage!" Yu Lian said seriously, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Officer, I, I don't need it..." Baka looked ashamed and timid, hastily shaking his head. Ignoring his size, blood-covered face, and half a gut hanging from his shoulder, he truly looked like an honest old farmer, naturally not daring to snatch spoils of war from an "Officer" like Yu Lian or an "Awakened Lord" like Ash.

"Shut up, if I say it's yours, it's yours!" Yu Lian said. He was in a very good mood now; the Elder being killed meant history had truly changed, and his Senior should not have to lie in a petri dish for half a year. As for who killed him, or whether more people should share the spoils, those were truly minor details.

The bear-man Sergeant sullenly closed his mouth, shrinking his head and saying nothing. He still felt undeserving, filled with trepidation, feeling like a civet cat that had eaten the landlord's watermelon.

Yu Lian looked at him with a disappointed glance, then at the several crystals of various colors that had condensed on the corpse, confirming they were a few Seven Star Stones, and of no low quality. However, that was all. Although Seven Star Crystals were also Zero Element, they were the most discovered, had the largest (known) reserves, and were the most widely applied among Zero Elements.

The quality and purity are not low, but they are definitely not as valuable as my bag of Mithril. Yu Lian made this judgment and then said to Ash: "The reason you didn't dodge earlier and took the hit was because you were afraid of hurting other ordinary soldiers, right?"

Ash was startled, then smiled noncommittally. He didn't speak, but everyone else's eyes on him immediately changed completely.

Yu Lian pointed at the Seven Star Crystals and said: "You can take those things first, estimate their value, or imagine if they can be made into treasures suitable for you, and discuss it with us once you've considered it. Baka, is that alright with you?"

The bear-man naturally dared not object, nodding repeatedly. Ash, with a constipated expression of "I've lost a lot," picked up the crystals from the corpse, but once the items were in his hand, he was all smiles again.

Even the "common" Zero Element is still Zero Element, not to mention its good quality.

Lieutenant Parkin glared at the bear-man with envious eyes, though it was more like a natural reaction to a colleague who had won a hundred million in the lottery, without any particular malice. He gritted his teeth, then said: "Officer... uh, Warrant Officer, should we deal with, uh, the enemy chieftain's body?"

If by custom, Hessen should have been beheaded and displayed for several days—this was the Governor's Office's normal procedure for treating resistors; human rights were naturally not to be given to colonial natives. However, he was a spiritual energy user after all, and everyone had taken the Seven Star Crystals produced from his body, so it was naturally to be handled according to the "Awakened Watch Covenant."

Although Yu Lian scoffed at the Covenant's proposal of artificially turning spiritual energy users into a class, he felt there was nothing wrong with giving due respect to the opponent's corpse. He looked at the Elder's half-corpse's dead fish eyes, which were still open in death, sighed, and while apologizing in his heart, he used the camera built into the captain's machine to take photos of the Elder's body from various angles, and recorded the location. Only then did he use a spiritual energy impact to carve a pit in the ground.

"Baka, you are the warrior who ended his life, so you should preside over the funeral. Hmm, the Sand People have a tradition of cremation. Take a few warriors and find some totem poles, yes, their flags! Build a platform for Mr. Hessen and cremate him. Keep the ashes and scatter them in the inner lake," Yu Lian instructed the bear-man.

The bear-man naturally would not object. He felt it was a great honor to be able to preside over the funeral of a powerful spiritual energy user, even an enemy's, and his eyes were filled with gratitude and longing.

"Oh, right, if Senior... Officer Bonaparte's army arrives, inform them of everything here in detail."

The bear-man Baka once again showed a bewildered and helpless expression under immense pressure. Officer Bonaparte, such a big leader? How, how am I supposed to talk to her?

"Then we..." Ash, supporting his waist and looking like he was struggling to stand, asked expectantly.

"Keep going! Didn't I say, it's not a success until we see Kaz Khan's body!" Yu Lian said: "Also, don't put on an act of being heavily injured and needing rest. Didn't you have the cool nickname 'Nine-Lives Ash' in the Guerrilla training camp? It means you have nine heads and nine lungs, infinite stamina, and infinite health!"

Ash felt a wave of fatigue, covered his face, and stood upright, losing even the interest to argue.

He naturally found it even harder to understand why Yu Lian was so serious, so he pointed to the east: "There are faint spiritual energy fluctuations over there, but I'm not sure if it's your target."

Yu Lian also felt it, but he thought carefully, recalling Kaz Khan's actions recorded in "later generations," and shook his head, saying in a deep voice: "No, we're going back! Back to the Alqi Highlands!"

Uh, looking at your troubled expression, that Kaz Khan guy must be very difficult to deal with, right? But I've never even heard of him, so he's probably just an unknown tribal chieftain, right? Such deep resentment, could it be that he stole your girl... Wait, for this guy, who is suspected to be the contemporary Sword-Bearer of the Pilgrimage Alliance or even the Emperor's illegitimate son, to be so concerned, could he be some peerless arch-demon, merely disguised as a small chieftain?

Hmm, this situation isn't impossible. For some high-ranking specific spiritual energy users, let alone disguising themselves as a Sand Person, even transforming into an amoeba and swimming in the Asteroid Belt isn't impossible.

So, this matter just looks like native resistance to the colonial government, but behind it, could there be a bigger conspiracy? A grand conspiracy big enough to involve the Temple, the Alliance, and the Empire?

Ash felt he might be overthinking, but he really couldn't stop himself from thinking this way. Regardless, that guy named "Kaz Khan" must be extraordinary and must be dealt with carefully.

Kaz Khan, who had lost almost everything overnight, naturally didn't know that Ash had already imagined him as a cosmic arch-demon. This future "Father of Sand People Independence" displayed extraordinary psychological resilience at this time. He stood still for less than a minute, licked his lips, and swallowed the remains of his wife, which he had been holding in his arms, into his stomach.

He tightened the unharmed amulet around his neck, found an iron spear, and used it to support himself as he stood up.

He surveyed his surroundings, watching the Sand People scatter and flee as if he were an outsider. He listened to the direction of the gunfire and looked up at the sky, then limped along with the retreating crowd, heading northeast.

As he walked, his movements seemed to become lighter and lighter, and his pace quickened. His injuries seemed to be diminishing, and his physical strength was recovering.

A few minutes later, when he could completely abandon the iron spear and walk upright, Mi Xun's voice came from behind him.

"Kaz? Kaz! Thank goodness, I finally found you."

Kaz Khan turned around and watched Mi Xun, riding one speed-dragon and leading another, run towards him. His face first showed joy, then sadness. He didn't see his mentor's figure, and with his intelligence, he naturally guessed what had happened. However, he still held a glimmer of hope that even he himself couldn't believe, and asked with difficulty: "Where is Teacher Hessen?"

...He stayed behind to cover our retreat. He said I absolutely had to get you out. Kaz, he has placed his hope in you."

"Is, is that so?" Kaz sighed, but it was only a single sigh.

He was certainly sad, but at this moment, he didn't even have time to mourn. On the contrary, destined to become a hero, he felt more of a heavy sense of mission and responsibility.

"Ditch the speed-dragons! They're just targets," Kaz Khan told Mi Xun.

Mi Xun hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately chose to trust him.

"There are enemies everywhere. In the sky, on the ground, everywhere. We can't reorganize our troops to cover the retreat, and blindly following the main body of the routed soldiers will most likely lead to being caught by the Earthlings' airships... Now we can only go north," Kaz Khan added.

"North? Ah, the inner sea?" Mi Xun suddenly understood.

"Yes, we can sneak through the inner sea and escape the battlefield!" Kaz Khan said.

New Yumen is a water-scarce, arid planet. The inner sea adjacent to the north of Tulon is the second-largest body of water on this planet, roughly the size of the Caspian Sea. However, although the Sand People live and dwell in this world of wind and sand and rocks day and night, they are, after all, like evolved reptiles, with an air sac hidden in their lower jaw, allowing them to swim underwater for long periods in shallow water.

These two brothers in distress were decisive people; once they decided, they immediately acted. They instantly abandoned their mounts, blended into the main force, and gradually walked north.

Kaz Khan's judgment was correct; during the more than an hour of escape that followed, they truly did not encounter any pursuers. The greatest danger was merely a bomb dropped by a drone exploding about 50 meters away. During this time, Mi Xun also conveniently treated the injuries of her companion and future leader, and something else.

Standing by the inner sea, looking at the ripples that extended beyond her sight, Mi Xun said to Kaz again: "Your path will give you the strongest recovery and stamina, but this is limited after all, and you must be careful. Also, if the situation is urgent, please be sure to protect yourself, even completely abandoning me and fleeing!"

"Don't be silly! I've already lost too much today; I can't lose any more! I will definitely fulfill the Elder's dream for him, but I can't do it alone! You know, we must be together."

Mi Xun wanted to say something else, but was directly interrupted by the other party.

"Let's go! For the future of the Sand People, we must protect ourselves!"

Mi Xun's face might have been thinking too much, a little shy, but she quickly reacted, stomped her foot, and gritted her teeth to follow.

The two Sand People Awakened elites silently submerged into the water, hiding in the shallow water near the beach, letting the shadows of the mountains and highlands cover their blurry figures in the water, carefully advancing.

Then, another hour passed, and they gradually left the noise and blood of the battlefield behind. Through the water, Kaz Khan could still see the continuously rising ion light screen entering and exiting the highlands, coloring the surrounding lake water with a dazzling deep blue. How magnificent, and how splendid!

"This should have been a magnificent scene inscribed in our epics! It should have been the sound of our war drums breaking Tulon!" Kaz Khan thought of this, and felt even more heartbroken.

He tried to dispel these emotions, quickening his swimming to leave this place as soon as possible.

But at this moment, a red ray suddenly swept across the water's surface, like an osprey spotting its prey, fixing directly on their location.

The dense "thump-thump-thump" sound, carrying water pressure and a strong sense of danger, enveloped them from above.

Another long chapter, please continue to support. Keep casting your votes.