Chapter 431

Andrew loosened his embrace but kept his hands firmly on Luna's shoulders. His piercing gaze locked onto her pale face as his voice trembled slightly, "Are you really okay?"

Fear gripped him.

Fear that she might collapse again the moment he let go.

Luna forced a weak smile and nodded. "Mm."

Andrew turned to join Hank's rescue team. The two men worked in seamless coordination, moving swiftly. But the rubble was too much—each sharp stone they cleared felt like agony.

"Someone's coming!" Hank suddenly hissed.

Tension shot through the group—until familiar shouts reached them.

Reinforcements!

Twenty soldiers swarmed in to help. Half an hour later, the last boulder was hauled away.

Fourteen lives saved. But two comrades would never leave this place.

The air grew suffocatingly heavy.

Lily threw her arms around Luna, tears streaming. "Thank you..." Her voice broke. No one understood better what Luna had done.

Those hands—those miraculous hands—had been everyone's beacon in the darkness.

"Move out!" Andrew commanded.

Time was critical. The enemy could discover them any second.

An hour later, they finally reached the safety of camp.

The moment Luna and Lily stepped into the medical tent, they were surrounded.

"My God! You actually pulled it off!"

"We heard you saved over a dozen critically wounded!"

But at the sight of the women's battered, bloodied state, the crowd fell silent and respectfully dispersed.

Luna collapsed onto a cot without even changing clothes. Lily was unconscious the instant her head hit the pillow.

Exhaustion.

Days and nights of relentless shelling.

Freezing rain.

The metallic stench of blood.

And that desperate, life-or-death rescue.

Finally—finally—they could sleep.