Chapter 89 The Fall

Command and communication channel.

“What?”

The half-human mech Deep Sea thought he had misheard.

“Is there a high possibility that Blade Beasts are building a new nest beneath Fortress 76? That’s impossible! Unless a new burrowing variant of the Blade Beasts has emerged, allowing them to operate at depths of two thousand meters and withstand immense crustal pressure! Is it even possible for such underground passages to exist? And if such a new variant exists, why doesn’t it come to support the young Queens? It could simply go deep underground and destroy the passages, making it impossible for us to pursue it!”

Dongfang Zhenghong quickly said, “I don’t want to believe this conclusion either, but the people who pointed out this possibility are Wang Zheng and Wu Man.”

Outside the command vehicle.

More than a dozen medium and large multi-rotor aircraft have taken off, carrying mechs and armored vehicles of the emergency mobile force, and are moving rapidly toward the fortress.

Fortunately, the process of eliminating the young Queen Bug went smoothly. The emergency mobile forces in the three positions were not needed, and two tactical nuclear missiles were enough to take down a King-class Blade Beast that had not yet grown up.

Now, these emergency response teams can return to the fortress at lightning speed, requiring only two hours and twenty-five minutes of travel…

Dongfang Zhenghong said in a deep voice, “Report on the damage to your three robotic arms.”

“Ling Tong’s mechanical arm suffered an electromagnetic shock. We two are encased in outer armor, so our main bodies are in good condition. She needs maintenance.”

Deep Sea Express:

“Please move our supply convoy toward the fortress, and we’ll catch up from behind.”

“The maintenance will take at least half an hour. Ling Tong will activate her backup robotic arm, and the two of us will head over first.”

“Now we can only hope that if… there really is a new nest built by young queen bugs below Fortress 76, the fortress’s own defensive barriers can hold out for two hours.”

Dongfang Zhenghong said, “I have already contacted the governor. Once the Blade Beast is discovered, the independent protective devices on each layer of the fortress will be activated immediately. Fortress No. 76 plays a vital foundational role in both the Medieval Basin War Zone and the D5 Comprehensive War Zone. I will immediately request support from the two command centers!”

The deep sea did not reply.

Dongfang Zhenghong took a deep breath to keep himself calm, even though his fingers were trembling slightly.

He looked to the side.

Zhou Zhengde sat in a technician’s seat with a projection screen in front of him.

The projection screen showed the interior of an aircraft.

Wang Jixuan was applying a nano-mask to his face, with a black tactical helmet placed beside him.

Wu Man and the two technicians accompanying him were debugging a simple signal amplifier. This type of amplifier had limited power and coverage, but its advantage was that it could be carried around.

These instruments are all very complex.

Dongfang Zhenghong continued to ponder.

There are also two B-level psionicists, more than a dozen C-level psionicists, and more than twenty D/E-level psionicists in the fortress.

If a Blade Beast Disaster were to occur, they should be able to play a role as well.

The question now is when the Blade Beast Disaster will occur. There will be a large number of larvae with soft exoskeletons in the young Queen’s nest. If we can delay them until the mobile force arrives…

“Sir! Blade Beast reaction! Blade Beast reaction detected 300 meters from the bottom of Fortress 76!”

Dongfang Zhenghong sat up abruptly, almost shouting, “Map! 3D map!”

call out!

A three-dimensional image of the fortress appeared in the center of the holographic sand table in front of him, with a cross-section of the fortress next to it.

The fortress resembles a standard cylindrical structure embedded in the shallow crust, containing forty-nine layers of varying heights, labeled with blue, green, and yellow respectively for upper, middle, and lower sections.

There are seven or eight marked ‘thin layers’ outside the fortress, namely the outer wall of the fortress itself, the outer composite wall, the multi-layer armor wall, the self-defense infinitely thickening wall, etc.

Outside these walls, there is a dark area, about 300 meters thick, which is a trigger-activated minefield filled with a large number of mechanical detonators. It will be detonated as soon as the burrowing beast touches it.

This kind of defensive layer, in theory…

A flashing red dot appeared below the 3D map of the fortress.

Dongfang Zhenghong held his breath and stared wide-eyed.

A red dot pauses slightly in the minefield near the bottom, rises a small space forward, and then quickly falls back down.

The second red dot then appears, rises one small square, quickly falls, and then moves forward again, rising two small squares before falling diagonally.

The minefield has been cleared.

Both ‘burrowing worm’ blade beasts were killed or wounded.

The third red dot entered the detection range, rose rapidly, passed through the gap in the minefield, and reached the outer wall of the composite defense layer.

‘It can block it, this layer can definitely block it, this layer must be blocked!’

Dongfang Zhenghong clenched his palms so hard they almost bled.

The red dot suddenly jumped upwards by a large margin!

The fortress’s 3D projection instantly turned red!

A dense swarm of red dots appeared below, rushing towards that path!

“The defenses have been breached!”

“The fortress has been attacked by a horde of Blade Beasts!”

“Blade Beasts have appeared at the lowest level of the lower city! A large number of Blade Beasts! The confirmed number is… four thousand! And it’s still rising!”

Dongfang Zhenghong cursed loudly. All he wanted to know was why the bottom-level defense zone hadn’t done anything!

“Activate layered independent defensive equipment! Send the psionicists down! Where are the fortress cleanup forces?!”

“Fire is underway!”

“Let them die, hold this position! Fuck them! Why is the bottom defensive zone failing?!”

“Professor Zhuang and Kong Nu’s secret laboratory was dug too deep to avoid routine inspections, and a camouflage layer was laid. There has never been a case where the bottom was breached before…” Zhou Zhengde’s Adam’s apple trembled, “probably.”

On the screen in front of Zhou Zhengde.

Having learned about the fortress’s situation through communication, Wang Jixuan leaned back in his seat.

“Is there a faster way back?” Wang Jixuan asked softly.

Zhou Zhengde frowned in thought.

Wu Man whispered, “There’s a way. I saw it in the Combat Girl’s violation manual. Some Combat Girls have used this method to get to the battlefield. However, it requires consuming a missile and a body capable of withstanding super-acceleration.”

Wang Jixuan paused for a moment, then immediately nodded.

This is better than doing nothing at all.

…

Five minutes ago.

The 49th floor of Fortress No. 76 was formerly the territory of the Blackfire Gang and is now the site of the Purge troops.

Commander Wang Lei of the mopping-up operation leaned against an armored vehicle, his wrist screen constantly displaying battle reports from the front lines.

This was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a burly build and a square face. He had worked in the fortress cleanup force for twenty years and was considered a prominent figure in the garrison of Fortress 76, the kind of person who could directly apply to see the governor.

“Captain, how did it go? Did you kill the baby queen beetle?”

A teammate asked curiously.

“It’s solved,” Wang Lei laughed. “The three combat maidens attacked at the same time, along with the psionicists from the front lines of the war zone, and we even used two tactical nuclear missiles.”

Taking advantage of the situation, the armored vehicle crew member said, “Captain, how about we celebrate for them? Let’s go have a couple of drinks!”

Drinking alcohol is not allowed during work hours.

Wang Lei clicked his tongue:

“Once this deployment mission is over, I’ll apply for leave for you all, and then I’ll treat you to a desert barbecue feast!”

The group laughed and teased each other.

Wang Lei’s wristwatch suddenly vibrated at a high frequency, and a red frame popped up on it.

The order came from Dongfang Zhenghong at the front-line command.

【The fortress may be attacked by a horde of Blade Beasts, most likely from directly below. Please prepare for battle immediately.】

Wang Lei was stunned for a second, then thought of something, strode back to the armored vehicle, and pressed the red button in front of him.

“All personnel! Enter combat readiness immediately! Issue the Blade Beast Disaster Warning! All heavy weapons, set up at high points! Quickly! Full coverage illumination! Issue the Blade Beast Disaster Warning! Have everyone take shelter in small spaces like refrigerators or sewers!”

The mopping-up troops’ base, which was initially in a semi-relaxed state, suddenly became somewhat chaotic.

However, they are all well-trained and regularly conduct emergency maneuver drills. Dozens of armored vehicles in the area have been activated and are rapidly assembled under Wang Lei’s command.

Rumble—

A muffled explosion suddenly came from deep within the earth.

The ground was trembling slightly.

The simple houses shook off a little dust.

The explosions stopped temporarily, but just over twenty seconds later, another explosion was heard, getting closer and closer, and the ground tremors became more and more obvious.

Sudden!

Woohoo—

Several large red lights lit up on the ceiling of the 49th floor, and piercing alarms sounded on each floor of the fortress.

Thump!

The earthquake trembled violently, and several low-rise buildings in the northwest corner of the Black Fire Gang suddenly collapsed!

“Over there! Turn on the lights!”

Wang Lei circled a red dot on the map, and several searchlights immediately shone on it.

The sunken pit sloped downwards, forming an irregular oval shape. Nothing seemed to be rushing out of it; the buildings blocked the entrance.

A suffocating wave filled the air!

The biodetector suddenly turned red!

Wang Lei stared at the dense red dots on the instrument, his face pale and his breathing rapid, but his gaze remained unwavering.

“A large number of Blade Beasts are attacking! Warning! A large number of Blade Beasts are attacking! The first to rush out should be the Burrowing Worms. Do not unleash fire immediately. The Burrowing Worm Blade Beasts have hard skulls and exoskeletons; our firepower cannot penetrate their armor…”

A dark shadow darted out of the sloping tunnel!

A giant bladed beast, over thirty meters long, with completely atrophied limbs and mouthparts evolved to the point of being able to break diamonds, crashed straight out of the cave!

It swallowed most of the building debris blocking the hole, and its massive body, propelled by inertia, detached itself completely from the hole, crashing into the low-lying buildings nearby.

Immediately following, a low-level basic blade beast crawled out of the cave, its mouth open, emitting a sharp roar.

“Team One, fire!”

Wang Lei shouted.

The soldiers unleashed a barrage of fire from their guns and cannons, which were meant to be used against people.

The terrifying-looking bladed beast’s mouth gushed bright green blood, its limbs shattered by the armor-piercing shells of the rapid-fire cannon, leaving severed limbs and blood scattered all over the ground.

Everyone held their breath, and the soldiers gripped their weapons tightly.

A series of scraping sounds came from inside the cave.

That was the sound of feet scraping against the rock face.

Wang Lei watched the number of red dots on the bio-radar… getting closer and closer, more and more…

That slanted hole was like a water pipe filled with water, suddenly gushing out!

The horde of bladed beasts is surging outwards!

In just two seconds, hundreds of Blade Beasts leaped out of the sloping hole!

They charged toward the armored vehicles and the crowds. The firepower of the mopping-up troops, which was enough to suppress all human gangs, seemed so insignificant and weak in front of them!

The armored vehicles were repeatedly overturned.

The soldier, holding a gun, retreated and fired, but the Blade Beast that rushed in front of him easily pierced his chest with its forelegs, rendering his bulletproof vest ineffective.

The swiftly advancing assassin-type bladed beasts swept into the crowd, and several warriors screamed as their chests were severed.

“Fire! Provide full fire support!”

“ah!”

“We don’t have enough firepower! We don’t have enough firepower!”

“Grenade! Throw a grenade!”

“Fire with the pulse cannon! Fuck! I’ll fight you to the death!”

The sound in the headphones quickly decreased, while the roars increased. On the screen in front of them, the army of several hundred men was rapidly reduced to only one hundred.

Wang Lei pressed the button in front of him:

“Calling command, the 49th floor has fallen, our entire force has been wiped out. We recommend sealing off the lower city.”

After saying that, he dropped his rifle and rushed out of the now-empty armored vehicle.

Several team members set up guns on both sides of the armored vehicle and fired wildly. Wang Lei crouched down and rushed towards the armored vehicle that had been pushed over not far away, picking up a multi-barreled machine gun that had fallen to the ground.

His command vehicle was overturned by several bladed beasts, and the team members were left with only two final screams.

Wang Lei grabbed the multi-barreled machine gun and aimed it at the mouth of a bladed beast. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his ferocious face was illuminated by the gunfire.

“Fuck your grandpas!”

The mandibles of one of the bladed beasts were quickly smashed.

A dark shadow darted past Wang Lei, and his upper body, which was holding a gun, slid backward.

The gunfire ceased.