From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

A few hours later.

The sky darkened completely.

The lights in the human town of "One Three", which is closest to the front-line base, have been turned on, and the church located in the center of the town is also radiating a sacred light to the surroundings.

However, the factory continues to operate endlessly, and only the workers who serve as "parts" have begun to work in shifts and take turns.

The workers who had finished their work began to leave the factory and head towards their respective homes along the lighted streets.

One of the workers was a middle-aged worker with disheveled hair and a dirty face. He was wandering outside a butcher shop, wearing a work uniform whose cuffs and collar looked "greasy" due to the secretion of body oil, years of wear and tear, and lack of washing.

His eyes were fixed on the cooked meats, ham and other foods behind the window.

"Hey!"

But after hesitating for a moment, the middle-aged worker finally sighed helplessly and walked into another "food store".

It didn't take long.

The middle-aged worker, carrying two boxes of "food", came to the residential area on the east side of the town and walked to a dilapidated and extremely crowded residential building.

As he stepped onto the stairs, it seemed as if his feet were filled with lead, and every step he took was heavy and slow.

After the middle-aged worker arrived at the door on the east side of the middle floor, he took a few deep breaths, adjusted his mood, then gave a rather forced smile, took out the key and opened the door.

Squeak.Ah!

The door opened with a sharp sound on its hinges.

"Dad is back!!"

"We have meat to eat today!!"

As the door opened and the middle-aged worker walked into the house, the excited cheers of the two children could be heard.

The middle-aged worker closed and locked the door, turned around and looked towards the living room, and saw two boys and girls around six or seven years old, quickly walking towards him.

"I am back!"

The middle-aged worker opened his arms and embraced the two children.

It seems that the middle-aged worker is a single father with a son and a daughter to support.

In fact, this middle-aged worker, whose full name is Christopher Loren, has heard his parents say since he could remember, "Son, you must believe in God devoutly."

"When you grow up, you must inherit your father's position, work hard, live well, and then you can go to heaven."

"Don't question the church! Everything the church says is God's truth!" and other remarks.

So when he grew up, it was natural for him to inherit his father's job and go to the factory to work day and night.

As for his father?

He retired quickly due to illness caused by overwork, and was then taken away by the church on the grounds of "cultivating his body and mind and serving God."

From then on, Roland never saw his father again, and his mother also passed away early.

After he completed the "big things" like blind dating and having children as assigned by the church, he thought he would be able to live a different life.

Who would have known that the long hours of work and the worries of food, heating and raising children would make Roland, like his parents, increasingly numb.

When his wife died a few years ago due to air pollution and overwork, Roland completely lost hope for the future.

The reason why I am still alive.

First, he has an older son and a younger daughter who are waiting for him to raise and grow them with his meager salary.

Second, according to the church, if someone commits suicide, his or her soul will never go to heaven, but will fall into the depths of hell and suffer endless destruction and torture.

Therefore, Luo Lan forced himself to work and make money despite his exhausted body and spirit until

His son inherited his position, and his daughter got married?

At that time, he might be taken away by the church like his father, to "cultivate his body and mind and serve God", right?

Anyway, Roland would rather believe that the church was eliminating elderly people who had no use and reducing the burden on the entire country, rather than admit that his father was really going there to "retire".

However, even if he is more open-minded than others, what can he do?

The forces of Hell continued to expand their territory, and his town became a frontier area.

Maybe before he "dies of exhaustion", the town will have been invaded by the forces of hell.

So Loran is working hard to save money so that he can send his son and daughter to the rear.

"father!"

After the family hugged each other for a short while, the daughter looked up at Luo Lan and asked:

"Is there any meat to eat today?"

! !

Hearing this, his son also raised his head and looked at him with expectant eyes.

"We're sold out of meat. Sorry."

Luo Lan shook his head with a wry smile, stood up and walked to the dining table, placing two boxes of food on the table.

Then, he unpacked the simple package and said:

"Let's wait until the day after tomorrow. I'll see if I can buy some ham the day after tomorrow. Today I can only eat some protein cubes."

"Ah, protein bars again. Okay, okay."

After hearing her father's explanation, the daughter's face was full of disappointment, but she did not make any noise.

The son also looked disappointed and walked to the dining table dejectedly. Then he took out a piece of protein that looked like a black and gray "brick" from the box and began to chew and swallow it.

"."

Seeing that his son and daughter were very sensible, Luo Lan felt even more bitter, but he still forced a smile and said:

"Eat these first."

There is no other way. If we want to send the children out of the frontier towns, the only way is to save money.

If you eat one more meal of meat, you will have to wait one more day, and the danger will increase.

So, Loran had to buy protein blocks made from mice, cockroaches, and a variety of other "substances" to fill the children's stomachs.

After all, it doesn’t matter what you eat, as long as you can hold on until you grow up.

The family of three ended their dinner in silence.

After tidying up and cleaning, the three of them went to the statue of Jesus in the living room and prayed seemingly devoutly.

Luo Lan closed his eyes slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.

However, the son and daughter were a little hyperactive and would play tricks on each other from time to time. It was obvious that they did not take the after-meal prayer seriously.

Besides, unlike other parents, Loran did not strictly require her children to pray "from the heart" and fear God.

If God really has mercy on mankind, then why doesn't He perform more miracles?

Anyway, Roland had already let it go.

However, if a man like Roland really revealed his true thoughts to outsiders, he might be greeted by a group of judges from the church the next day, who would treat him and his children as "heretics" and burn them with fire as a warning to others.

Because the church needs "ignorant" people to farm, work and fight.

Boom. Boom——! !

Suddenly! A deafening noise came from outside the window.

Along with the loud noise, the lights in the house began to flicker until they were completely extinguished.

The whole room was plunged into darkness in an instant.

"Dad, what happened?!"

This sudden change made the daughter stand up and hug Luo Lan, looking out the window with tears in her eyes.

"dad"

The son, who knew more than his daughter, raised his hand and tightly grasped the corner of Luo Lan's clothes. He also looked out the window and asked worriedly:

"Is it a demon attack?"

"I don't know."

Luo Lan tried to remain calm. He first raised his hand to gently stroke his daughter's head, then patted his son's shoulder, and then walked to the window to look outside.

I saw that the towering city wall standing on the east side had several collapsed areas, and there were also several places in the city where raging fires were burning.

Among them is a power plant that supplies electricity to the entire town.

The imperial soldiers stationed in the town, the knights of the Knights of Rebirth, and the nuns of the church hurriedly moved through the streets, heading quickly towards the collapsed areas of the city walls and the city gates.

Witnessing the scene, Roland immediately realized that the town where they lived was most likely attacked by the forces of hell.

It will not be long before the endless demonic creatures and human heretics will sweep across this place like a tide.

Buzz~——Woo————!

At this time, the shrill alarm also confirmed Roland's guess.

"Pack your things quickly!"

Without too much time to think, Roland hurried to the bedroom, ready to stuff his savings accumulated over the years, as well as some necessary items and tools, into his backpack.

The son and daughter did not ask any more questions and also ran back to their bedrooms and packed their things as quickly as possible.

From this point of view alone, the fact that Roland has such a child is one of the few main reasons in this dark world that would make him prefer to work himself to death rather than choose "self-understanding".

Less than two minutes.

The family gathered again in the living room.

"Dad, where can we escape to?"

"."

Hearing his son asking him this, Loran fell into a brief silence.

Indeed, as his son inquired, where could they escape to?

The west side of the town leads to the inland area of ​​the Holy Roman Empire, but the city gate is guarded by knights and soldiers.

Without an official pass, ordinary residents have no right to enter and exit freely.

Not to mention the current chaotic stage, anyone approaching the checkpoint may be directly killed or shot by the knights and soldiers guarding the checkpoint.

A little silence.

Luo Lan said, “Let’s wait and see, maybe the army can hold the line, and we can continue to live as usual.

If you can't hold it, both of you should run away with me. No matter what, you can't stay here and wait to die."

"Um"

The son nodded slightly.

"."

As for her daughter, she was sitting obediently on the shabby sofa, holding the teddy bear that Roland had made for her.

Anyway, she doesn't know as much as her brother and can't say much, so she just listens to the arrangements of her father or brother.

Da da da!

Intensive gunfire began to rang out from the east side of the city wall.

Roar. Roar.!!

At the same time, extremely creepy howls were mixed in between the gunshots.

Boom—boom—! !

The large-caliber artillery installed on the city walls also continuously poured shells outside the city.

! !

The intense sound of gunfire instantly made my daughter look terrified.

She instinctively wanted to scream, but she immediately raised her hands and covered her mouth, fearing that she would disturb her father and brother.

Noticing the fierce battle outside, Roland walked out the door while admonishing his son behind him:

"Krontor, stay with Carrie. I'll go upstairs and take a look."

"it is good!"

The son nodded in agreement and walked to the sofa to calm his sister.

As for Roland, he opened the door, went up the stairs to the top floor, and then climbed up the ladder to the roof.

Although he couldn't see everything at this point, it was enough for Roland to observe more clearly.

Moreover, many neighbors who had the same idea also gathered here and looked towards the east side of the city wall.

Through the collapsed area of ​​the city wall, Loran and his neighbors could vaguely see that thousands of imperial soldiers were relying on trenches and defensive bunkers equipped with machine guns and artillery to fight against countless demonic creatures and human heretics.

More than a hundred knights of the Knights of the Rebirth, as well as many nuns in white robes and heavy armor, were holding giant swords or spears and engaging in close hand-to-hand combat with demons and heretics.

Knights and nuns with superior physical fitness can suppress and beat up demons and heretics in the early stages of a battle.

However, as the forces of Hell continued to charge forward like sharks smelling blood, without fear of casualties, the defense line began to become shaky.

The figures of the knight and the nun were gradually swallowed up.

After the armored forces of the Hell forces appeared, the advantages of the Empire's soldiers in firearms and artillery began to disappear.

After all, the initial series of explosions destroyed part of the town's defense system.

soon.

The flying demonic creatures took advantage of the chaos and successfully poured into the city from the collapsed area of ​​the city wall.

! !

"We can't hold on here?!"

"Nonsense, run!"

"Where can we go? Church? Yes! Church! God will bless us!"

Seeing this situation, the already terrified neighbors became completely panicked.

However, half of the people are optimistic and think that they can get the protection of God and the forces of heaven by going to church.

But Loran didn't have that idea.

And when the demonic creatures poured into the town, Roland ran back home and fled towards the west of the city with his son and daughter.

Even though Roland had little formal education and his cognitive level was far behind that of the residents of the human empire, he was over 40 years old and knew very well that staying in this town would lead to death.

The imperial soldiers, knights, and nuns were simply unable to withstand the onslaught of demons and heretics; the disparity in numbers was simply too great.

It won't be long before the defense line collapses completely.

As for going to the church to seek refuge?

If the church can really resist the erosion of hell, then how do we explain the occupied areas?

Even though Roland was uneducated, he understood this logic, so he had no other choice but to escape.

howl--!

Suddenly, several demonic creatures that looked like hairless vultures with dense tentacles on their eyes and abdomens howled as they flew over the street.

And one of them seemed to have set its sights on the little girl following behind her father and brother.

It circled a few times, then folded its blood-stained wings and dived quickly towards the little girl.

but

Ri~Swoosh————! ! !

A beam of light emitting golden light directly pierced through the demon vulture.