George Miller immediately stepped forward and saluted, saying, "I guarantee to complete the mission!"

Brian Carter nodded, still speaking in a serious tone: "They're all great guys. You must take them out and bring them back—don't lose a single one!"

George Miller saluted again at once and said, "I guarantee to complete the mission!"

"Then... dismissed!"

Everyone was a soldier, and not just any soldier, but the elite of the elite, so there were no words of encouragement, no scenes of farewell. Each person silently and carefully left the small shop by the street, gripping their weapons tightly, moving cautiously through the various districts, heading off in their respective directions.

It was five days later when Brian Carter left the small shop by the street for the first time. He moved stealthily at the front of the team, acting as the point man, scouting ahead. Although he remained highly alert, the sight of the city still made his heart clench uncontrollably...

It was too tragic...

On the streets, blood had already stained the ground black. Now, in the summer, a stench constantly assaulted the senses. Countless flies swarmed everywhere, and there were even newborn maggots crawling over the corpses scattered across the streets. What kind of city was this? This was hell!

During the five days of riots, all hope had been lost, and it had been confirmed that almost all the leaked information was true. The high-ranking elites had already fled Earth, leaving behind the utterly helpless masses. Fragments of a neutron star from outside the solar system were approaching, and Earth's doomsday countdown had begun. In such circumstances, ninety percent of people had gone mad, unleashing the violence and evil that had been suppressed deep in their consciousness.

Relying on his professional knowledge, Brian Carter estimated the time of death for the corpses on the ground. He could easily tell that most of those who died first were women, though many faces were so damaged it was impossible to tell if they had been beautiful. Next were the children, and then the men. Just from the distribution of corpses in the district and the charred appearance of the surrounding buildings, it was clear that at least eighty percent of the city's residents who hadn't managed to escape had died—among them, many were even in military uniforms.

But no matter how much anger and rage boiled in Brian Carter's heart, his reason still suppressed him. He remained as cautious, careful, analytical, and decisive as he had been when he was a captain in the Black Star Special Forces. He would not make any mistakes, because now it wasn't just about him—he had more than a dozen brothers, and might save thousands or even tens of thousands of people in the future. This was a unit tasked with preserving the spark of humanity; he couldn't afford to be careless.

On their way forward, the team encountered several groups of marauding soldiers. Most of these were either dead drunk or in a frenzy of violence, with each group ranging from a few people to twenty or thirty. They herded hundreds of men and women—more women than men, of course. Along the way, Brian Carter personally witnessed one group slaughtering people in a frenzy, another holding an unrestrained orgy, and even came across a few groups fighting each other. One of them seemed to be a gang, though who knew how they had gotten their hands on firearms.

Brian Carter suppressed all his impulses, carefully avoiding these marauders and any crowds, choosing to move through various districts and buildings in the city, climbing over obstacles, and even traveling a stretch through the sewers. Finally, around two in the afternoon, they reached the civil aviation airport on the southern outskirts of the city. There wasn't a single passerby here, and there were far fewer corpses on the ground, but the situation still didn't look good...

The external entrance to the airport was completely sealed off, the area charred black with clear signs of intense burning. Looking inside through the scorched glass, it was obvious that the interior had suffered a severe fire, and there were many corpses burned to cinders...

Brian Carter's heart trembled. He carefully surveyed the surroundings, then made a quail call to signal his team. Only after all seven members had gathered did he give a series of hand signals, dividing the group into point, support, and sniper squads, and they cautiously advanced into the airport.

The entire airport was truly deserted, with nothing but countless corpses... corpses burned to charcoal...

This was a massacre. No one knew who the perpetrators were, but it seemed that thousands of people had been forcibly confined to the first and second floors of the airport, and then the entire terminal was set ablaze with fuel. All that remained were charred bodies—nothing else.

"Animals!" Beside Brian Carter, Henry Clark, the youngest member, finally couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Brian Carter's gaze was deep and somber. He said nothing, but was the first to run toward the airport's hangar. After rounding several corners and breaking through a few doors, the group finally found the hangar at the edge of the airport. As they opened the hangar, no one noticed that Brian Carter's hand was trembling slightly.

At last, the hangar doors swung open, and inside... there wasn't a single plane!

That's right—not a single plane. All that remained were the shattered wrecks of aircraft, either blown apart or smashed to pieces...