Chapter 86: The Attack Begins!

Wei Lin was getting a little irritated.

His message to Zhou Zhengde seemed to have vanished without a trace; more than thirty minutes had passed and he still hadn’t received a reply.

It clearly shows as read!

The old man was very impatient, but he quickly suppressed this emotion and began to think calmly.

Unlike ordinary B-level psychics, he is a member of the 【Psychic Management Committee】 of the psychic capital, and his underlying identity is that of a manager of psychics.

Although I’m just a regular member.

The Spirit Management Council has always been unknown to outsiders. It is the actual controlling body of the Thirteen Institutes and the City of Spirits. The entry threshold is a B-level psychic, and one must be a B-level psychic who has made continuous contributions to the City of Spirits for more than thirty years.

Of course, the stronger you are, the lower the restrictions on joining.

At the very top of the Spirit Management Committee are six of the most powerful SS-rank psionicists, who are usually referred to internally as the Chairman, and sometimes as elders, seniors, controllers, and so on.

Aside from these six presidents, there are other SS-level psionicists in the City of Psionics, but these other SS-level psionicists have no direct connection with the Psionic Management Committee and do not participate in the political activities of the City of Psionics.

Wei Linzheng’s rank is not high enough to report directly to the top level.

His immediate superior in the Psychic Council was an S-class psychic, who was also the Executive Director of the Psychic Council.

‘As a member of the Spiritual Management Committee, what should I do now? Clearly, restore the influence of the Thirteenth Institute and prevent this from becoming a bombshell.’

Wei Lin was slowly getting up and pacing back and forth in front of the table.

He has confirmed several facts.

For example, Black Storm is a psionicist created by the military, possessing combat power comparable to D-level, but his actual energy reaction is only E-level.

Alternatively, the military in the D5 Comprehensive Theater Command might turn against the 13th Institute in order to protect him.

Furthermore, Zheng Shiduo is very strong. With the assistance of the cleanup forces, he was able to take down four psychics of the same level head-on, which clearly indicates that he had been hiding his true strength.

Given his status as a member of the Spirit Management Committee, Wei Lin felt he had to consider the ‘big picture,’ namely the complex relationship between the Thirteenth Institute and the D5 Comprehensive War Zone.

Commander-in-Chief of the D5 Comprehensive Theater Command, the devilish Commander-in-Chief Fu Jian, this old codger’s identity is too special.

Fu Jian is a true warrior, a hero who saved the front lines of humanity. Similarly, Fu Jian now represents the shackles that bind psionicists.

If the conflict continues to escalate, Fu Jian will really press that button, and a giant mushroom will rise in the City of Spirits.

Before we can completely deal with Fu Jian, we must not offend him to the point of death.

‘His eagerness to push forward with military psionic experiments—does this prove he’s nearing the end of his life?’

Wei Lin was thinking carefully.

He recalled his secret mental attack on Black Storm, which was effortlessly neutralized by the opponent.

Has the military’s counter-psychological interference technology advanced to this level?

Wei Linzheng did not believe that an E or D-level psionicist could neutralize the attack on his own, just as he did not believe the absurd theory that psionicists could be upgraded.

All psionicists have their abilities fixed from the day they are infused.

In fact, the initial classification of psionicists only had five basic levels: A, B, C, D, and E.

The original A-level rating criterion was 【possessing the powerful ability to change the local battlefield】.

Later, as the first batch of A-level psionicists continued to develop their abilities and their actual combat power continued to improve, a new level, S, emerged.

One characteristic of S-class psionicists is that… they all have titles.

SS represents the pinnacle of psionicists, possessing unparalleled and unimaginable abilities among ordinary humans.

In theory, every A-level psychic has the opportunity to be awarded a title and be rated as an S-level psychic if they continue to explore their own abilities.

‘But not every Class A psychic can become a member of the Psychic Management Committee.’

Wei Lin let out a soft sigh of relief.

Although Zhou Zhengde did not give him any reply, he had already made up his mind.

Wei Lin walked quickly back to his desk, turned on the Spirit Management Committee’s private communicator, and a small projection screen appeared on his wrist.

This skinny old man put on his reading glasses and started typing with two fingers.

【Black Storm, aliases Mu Liang and Zhou Tiantian, threat level C, a product of military experiments. We will attempt to recruit him into our camp by offering him substantial rewards to conduct appropriate research and determine the military’s level of infusion technology development. Current estimates suggest his level is not high; key technologies have not been mastered.】

Click send.

Wei Lin felt much more relaxed.

He glanced at the ordinary communicator, which was still silent, and let out a soft snort.

“What an impolite guy.”

Ding ding!

A dialog box popped up on the communicator. Wei Lin raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking that Zhou Zhengde must have been busy just now…

Oh, it’s a wartime order from Dongfang Zhenghong.

【Our forces will launch a decisive battle to eliminate target ‘YW392’. This is to inform you that during this battle, the main internal defense of Fortress 76 will be the responsibility of your unit—Commander of the Fortress 76 Defense Command Center, Dongfang Zhenghong.】

Wei Lin was squinting slightly.

Excellent, this is a great opportunity to rebuild the psionic influence over Fort 76 in the Medieval Basin.

Wei Lin pressed the button on the table and said in a deep voice:

“Everyone, gather in the main conference room for a meeting to prepare for the defense mission.”

…

【18 hours remaining until the Young Queen Extermination Operation.】

At dusk, the camp in the outer C area was bustling with activity, as a large number of troops gathered outside the C area and armored formations continued to move into the desert.

Wang Jixuan looked at the sand-driving motorcycle assigned to him and smiled with satisfaction.

He volunteered to participate in this annihilation operation.

One reason is to learn more about Blade Beasts.

He could only feel at ease after seeing the young queen beetle killed with his own eyes.

Secondly, it’s for their own safety.

To ensure victory in this encirclement and suppression operation, the three half-human mechs, Ling Tong, Shen Hai, and Chi She, will pilot their respective exclusive mechs to launch an attack on the Young Queen Bugs.

The fortress is now devoid of its humanoid mechs, leaving only two B-rank veteran psionicists…

Master Wang felt like he had thorns in his side.

I might as well go to the battlefield with Wu Man!

As for his reasons for going to the battlefield, those are easy to find.

“I need to fight the Blade Beasts to continuously improve the Demon-Slaying Dagger and this greatsword. A good mechanic must never leave the front line.”

Zhou Zhengde had no way to refute this, so he could only instruct Commander Dongfang Zhenghong not to send Black Storm into battle, no matter what the situation was, even if the encirclement battle failed.

Just over ten minutes ago, Zhou Zhengde, after much deliberation, used his privileges to obtain a nominal position as a staff officer in the command headquarters and join the expedition.

He was in charge of pulling Wang Zheng along!

At the entrance of the supply station.

Zheng Shiduo greeted him, “Boss! Is there anything else we need to prepare?”

“It shouldn’t be necessary.”

Wang Jixuan had just said something when he seemed to remember something, turned around and walked back to the supply station, picking up a backpack.

Inside were his stockpile of hundreds of green paper talismans, two bags of vacuum-sealed roasted blade beast meat with its spiritual energy locked in, and Black Storm’s signature black helmet.

Uncle Tai directed two large mechanical dogs to go ahead, while Zheng Shiduo carried Wu Man to an armored vehicle.

Wang Jixuan jumped onto his personal four-wheeled motorcycle, turned the ignition, and merged into the armored vehicle formation, heading straight for the desert.

A scorching sandstorm swept over us.

His Daoist heart was gently swaying.

The following night will be a crucial window for the main force of Fort 76 to coordinate firepower and advance.

This kind of encirclement and suppression campaign cannot be resolved simply by sending troops rushing in en masse.

Blade beast herds typically travel through underground passages.

The advantages of underground armies are obvious. If humans want to eliminate them, they would need a large number of earth-penetrating weapons. However, most earth-penetrating weapons have a very limited killing range underground, and soil and rock layers are the best barriers.

The downside is also obvious – it’s easy to get trapped.

Over the past two days, thanks to the repeated attacks by Ling Tong and Chi She, the underground passages of the Blade Beast horde have been completely paralyzed.

All the 【burrowing worms】 that were discovered have been targeted and eliminated.

In order to achieve this goal, the human side also paid a price, with the vanguard of the combat girls suffering heavy casualties.

9 PM.

Wang Jixuan was called to the command vehicle by Zhou Zhengde.

Dongfang Zhenghong’s command vehicle was enormous.

Its chassis features a spider-leg structure, with eight massive wheels capable of turning 360 degrees at any time. Above it is a standard hexagonal command center that can accommodate more than thirty people.

Data from the entire battlefield, including satellites in space, high-altitude reconnaissance drones, and various sensors of ground troops, converges on the command vehicle after a two-millisecond delay. After being processed by the command and support system, it is presented to Dongfang Zhenghong.

In Fort 76, the consul and several ministers, along with two retired generals who were recuperating in the fort, formed a second command center.

Wang Jixuan stared at the holographic sand table in the center for more than an hour before finally understanding most of the markings on it.

This ground operation mobilized a total of 26,000 army personnel, more than 600 armored vehicles of various types, a number of troop transport equipment, 200 self-propelled artillery pieces, and 30 medium and light mechs.

Several nearby missile and long-range artillery bases will provide fire support later.

Armored vehicles often carry unmanned equipment, such as multi-rotor drones, burrowing spider bombing drones, and so on.

Based on the defense force’s past operational practices, the subsequent procedures would likely be as follows:

First, use a large number of drones to bombard downwards and open up a path. Then, humanoid mechs lead psionicists to form assault teams to place high explosives or tactical nuclear bombs in the main gathering areas of the Blade Beasts and gradually advance towards the core area.

But for this battle, Dongfang Zhenghong decided to conduct a bold experiment.

The youth version of the S-class psionicist ‘Beast Whisperer’ Wu Man is his ultimate weapon!

As for Wang Jixuan… Dongfang Zhenghong really didn’t dare to send him out.

Master Wang was also happy to be a layabout.

A skilled warrior achieves victory without making a great feat.

11 p.m.

Wang Jixuan closed his eyes and meditated in an upright posture, while Zhou Zhengde slept soundly next to him, and Wu Man was reading a romance novel carefully.

This is a romance novel that Wu Man borrowed from Ling Tong.

Master Wang thought to himself:

‘This child is showing signs of going astray; primordial yang is especially important for cultivators.’

‘Oh right, he can’t cultivate.’

Three o’clock in the morning.

All units have arrived at their designated areas. The underground horde of Blade Beasts is under close surveillance, and three humanoid mechs are resting in their respective frontline supply vehicles.

Master Wang wanted to go find Ling Tong, but Zhou Zhengde stopped him.

The outer defenses were still fiercely engaged in combat, with the human forces relentlessly reaping the lives of the bladed beasts that charged towards the lines.

From the perspective of the broad area covered by the D5 theater of operations, the intensity and results of the current war have reached their peak in the past two years.

The war resource reserves of the D5 integrated theater command have also impressed other theater commands.

Two of the three space fortresses have already appeared over the D5 integrated theater of operations, reinforcing various defense lines through air-dropped resources.

Dawn was breaking.

Dongfang Zhenghong began pre-battle mobilization.

Wang Jixuan listened to Dongfang Zhenghong’s impassioned speech with a solemn expression.

He sensed faint but unwavering spiritual power.

The soldiers are all ready to dedicate everything they have to the future of humanity and the homeland behind them.

Zhou Zhengde was using a communicator to gather information from various places, and he whispered:

“The battle lines are very solid and there is no sign of weakening. The entire terrain has been surveyed again in the medieval basin. No new groups of blade beasts have been found, only small groups of wandering blade beasts. Troops have been dispatched to hunt them down in other fortresses.”

Wang Jixuan muttered to himself, “There’s another question. We still haven’t received accurate information about the origin of that small group of bladed beasts that appeared in the mine before.”

“It’s basically impossible to trace the origins of the small blade beasts.”

Zhou Zhengde said:

“Our methods for tracking small-sized blade beasts are limited; they burrow in and out of the shallow underground.”

Wang Jixuan said, “I remember Ling Tong said that none of the small group of blade beasts were marked with the marker.”

Ling Tong’s voice came through the earpiece: “There should be an unfinished nest in the Sari Desert. It is the nest that this young queen beetle is building. After eliminating this young queen beetle, finding this nest is the main task. Otherwise, the blade beasts inside will become small groups of blade beasts and roam in the shallow layers.”

“That’s right, she’s a professional,” Zhou Yanei shrugged.

Wang Jixuan asked with a smile, “Sir, how are your preparations going?”

“Everything is going well. You need to be careful later. When Wu Man starts giving orders to the Blade Beast swarm, it is very likely to provoke a desperate counterattack from the young King Insects. His location will be quite dangerous.”

Ling Tong instructed:

“I will provide support as needed.”

Master Wang smiled and said, “No problem, the commander has also considered this issue.”

Ling Tong said, “As is customary, my support team members send me their blessings at this time.”

Zhou Zhengde, always eager for excitement, lip-synced to deliver a brilliant answer:

“When I come back… I’ll… Jiefen…”

Wang Jixuan glared at Zhou Zhengde and said calmly, “We are fortunate to have a prosperous military career, but we are also unfortunate to have an unfavorable climate.”

Ling Tong was taken aback: “What do you mean?”

“I learned it from a book,” Master Wang said with a smile, “Focus on the battle.”

“oh.”

Nine o’clock in the morning.

The scorching sun has already begun to bake this desert.

Dongfang Zhenghong took a few deep breaths, stood up, and pressed the button in front of him.

“All units, commence the operation! Annihilate the Blade Beasts!”