Chapter 66: The Battle Begins
, dam crest road.
stepped off the roof of a vehicle onto the carcass of a " ," cursing as he landed.
"Pah! It f**king stinks!"
The convoy's six armored vehicles had already swept the dam crest road completely clean.
The mangled remains of more than fifty "water ghosts" littered the road. The dark fluid that had leaked from their translucent sacs after bullets tore them open glistened sickeningly under the bright sunlight.
"Report: the third wave of attacks is cleared," a team member's voice came over the comms. "The dam crest is secure. No new targets."
crouched down and watched a fleshy cocoon on the lower half of a " " beside his foot as it continued to pulse weakly. He casually fired a finishing shot and blew it apart.
" ," he said to his , "these things aren't hard to kill, but they're disgusting — and they stink like hell."
[Mm. After all, their main battlefield should be underwater.] 's voice came through the .
[But keep an eye out for their thread attacks. No one knows what happens if you get pricked.]
"Don't worry, got it." nodded, then gave the order. "All units, establish defensive lines on the spot along the river valleys on both sides. Stay sharp."
As the order went out, the armored vehicles spread out one after another, gun barrels trained on the lakeshore.
Several Robots also emerged and took formation near the water's edge, while two Sky Blades circled and scanned the skies above the lake.
Through the Sky Blades' eyes, could clearly see that the had completely changed.
No insects chirped along the shore. No birds were in sight.
The once-dense reeds had all withered and died, their roots wrapped in dark red fibers.
A film-like tissue had grown over the concrete slope protection. It contracted inward when stepped on, and a fishy mucus seeped out of the cracks.
The lake, once rippling with clear blue waves, had now turned into a thick, dark red expanse — so dense it looked almost congealed.
Large sheets of filamentous structures floated on the surface, intertwining with one another to form an enormous network that covered a shocking amount of area.
And about fifty meters from shore, dozens of enormous, grotesque flowers made of what looked like flesh and blood were in bloom.
Thick, dark red stalk-like structures thrust up from beneath the water, a good three or four meters tall, each spreading a bowl-sized fleshy flower at its tip.
A spherical structure at each flower's center pulsed at a fixed rhythm. With every pulse, it spat out a cloud of red mist.
Looking at this grim sight, 's mood grew heavy. Even the control rods sank considerably.
This was going to be a real problem.
"Brother ," asked through his as he watched the battlefield, "how are the scans? What the hell is going on in this reservoir?"
[The concentration of microorganisms in the water exceeds the safety threshold by several orders of magnitude. The main component is the red aggregate we sampled before. Also...]
's voice paused for a moment, and a set of 3D images scanned by the " " UAVs was synced to and the others.
Within three meters beneath the surface, crisscrossing filamentous structures filled the water.
They clung to rock walls, sluice gates, and water conduits, tangling together to form a red microbial mat with an average thickness of over a meter.
And deeper down, the scanning signal suffered severe interference.
"Holy sh*t, did the algae mutate?" 's scalp prickled at the sight. "This thing's already covered the entire bottom of the reservoir?"
[That's how it looks. At the bottom of the reservoir, there's a high-density organic aggregate at least eighty meters in diameter, and it's still expanding.]
[These flowers are probably just its 'tentacles' stretching out of the water. Their main function is still unknown.]
"Can we blow it up?" asked curiously.
[Let me try.]
Before the words had even died away, a fired a high-energy laser, striking the outermost flesh flower with pinpoint accuracy.
The petals carbonized in an instant, and the spherical structure inside swelled violently.
The next second, the entire plant burst apart from within, scattering red chunks across the water.
But the instant that flower was destroyed, the entire surface of the reservoir gave a violent, shuddering heave!
It was as if some colossal beast slumbering at the bottom of the water had been jolted awake by the strike.
"What are you panicking for!" hoisted a Type 98A launcher onto his shoulder and squeezed the trigger at the nearest , roaring into the comm channel at the same time. "Keep firing! Blast them to death!"
BOOM!
The rocket went off in the 's face, sending flesh and blood flying.
In moments, the reservoir was drowned in deafening gunfire once again.
New crocodiles kept crawling out of the lake, but not a single one managed to make it to the defensive line.
By this point, , , and the rest had gotten properly pissed off.
The Sky Blades, Robots, and autocannons went all out, determined to see just how many crocodiles this lake could cough up.
Meanwhile, had already notified the power station and told and the others to bring ammunition supplies for support — they were ready to fight to the bitter end.
The battle went completely white-hot. The roar of gunfire never let up for an instant, and the stench of gunpowder mixed with blood hung over the entire reservoir.
......
Meanwhile, in the riverside industrial belt of .
After finishing the cleanup of all areas in except the vicinity of Technology, 's Second Group, guided by swarm drones, arrived at an Anlan Environmental Protection Equipment Company.
It was a fairly sizable company. The factory complex sprawled across a wide area, with several grayish-white workshops and an office building standing quietly.
"This is the place, right?" asked, looking at the office building ahead.
[That's right! According to pre-disaster public procurement records, this company took on an algae-bloom treatment project on a tributary of the . There should be more than two complete sets of equipment in the warehouse.]
But the moment the vehicles neared the factory gate, sensed something wrong.
At the gate and along the perimeter walls, dozens of twisted " " monsters were wandering — the same kind had described appearing at the reservoir.
"How do these things even show up here?" muttered with a frown as he studied the monsters.
[Which only proves you've come to the right place — and that there really is another hand behind this water crisis.]
"You mean those ' '?" said with a grave look.
[So far, they're the only monsters we've encountered that seem to possess high-level intelligence. Of course, we can't rule out other highly intelligent monsters.]
"Whatever the case, we'll find out once we fight our way in." Wearing his exoskeleton armor, he leaped down from the vehicle and gave orders as he advanced.
"Start the assault. Don't use heavy firepower — protect the equipment inside."
"Roger!"
Bang! Bang!
Gunfire rang out. Several team members used the vehicles for cover and picked off targets with precise shots, quickly clearing a safe zone.
bent his knees slightly, and the vector thrust nozzles on his back glowed pale blue.
The next second, his figure shot out like an arrow released from a bow, covering dozens of meters in an instant and slamming straight into the middle of the monster pack.
The hydraulic assist system amplified his strength to the limit. One punch — a " 's" sac burst open like a watermelon. One kick — another monster went flying backward, bowling over the ones behind it.
Behind him, the team members followed up swiftly, mopping up the ones that slipped through.
In less than five minutes, the "water ghosts" around the outer perimeter of the factory had been wiped clean.
"Group One, stand guard. Group Two, with me into the factory!" 's voice came through the comms unit built into his armor, cool and steady.
He pushed open the dust-covered workshop door, and a smell of machine oil mixed with metal rushed out.
Inside were settling tanks, pump sets, membrane modules, and several underwater robots.
But most of the equipment was already smashed. Cables had been ripped apart, and the control cabinets were wrecked.
Metal fragments and tools lay scattered across the floor — the whole place had been thoroughly trashed.
"Boss , what exactly are we supposed to be looking for again?" asked as he warily scanned the area.
[A high-power high-frequency cavitation wastewater treatment system, plus a modular dissolved-air flotation algae collection platform.] 's voice sounded.
[It's a system that pairs a UV disinfection module with industrial-grade ultrasonic algae removal. The UV directly destroys the DNA structure of microorganisms, robbing them of their ability to multiply, while the ultrasound tears algal cell walls apart physically through the cavitation effect.]
[After that, the collection platform recovers everything in bulk. In theory, it should be very effective against what's in the water.]
"But as it stands, we're still a step too late." looked at the massive machine before him, its control panel smashed by brute force. His voice was tinged with frustration, as if he were completely lost in it.
And right then, a black shadow shot out of the darkness behind the equipment without the slightest warning, making straight for a team member inspecting another machine nearby!
Several razor-sharp black spikes tore through the air, aimed directly at the team member's back!
"Watch out!"
The team members cried out in alarm, but everything happened too fast!
Yet faster than the black shadow was !
The moment the " " armor's alarm system projected a red warning onto his retina, his body had already reacted.
With an extreme sidestep, 's figure materialized in front of the team member. His right leg lashed out like a steel whip, driven by the vector nozzles' tremendous thrust — moving second but striking first — and slammed viciously into the monster's chest!
THUD——!!!
With a thunderous impact, the monster flew backward as if hit head-on by a giant hammer, crashing through two thick walls in a row before landing with a heavy smash on the open ground outside the warehouse.
In the drifting dust, the monster slowly rose to its feet.
It revealed a torso of twisted muscle and dark red veins.
From its arms, shoulder blades, and back... black bone spikes of every shape burst through its flesh, making it look like a humanoid porcupine.
"So it really is you bunch of 'undying old bastards.'" 's tone was entirely unsurprised.
The monster didn't answer. It only let out an inhuman shriek, pushed off with its legs, and charged again like a cannonball.
didn't retreat — he advanced to meet it.
Man and monster collided in an instant!
The monster's bone spikes were razor sharp. Every swing came with a shrieking whistle as it split the air, but blocked them all with his armor-plated arms, sending out a continuous cascade of grating metallic screeches.
In pure strength, the two were roughly a match for each other.
But the mobility the " " armor provided was something the monster simply couldn't compare with.
A sliding step dodged a sweeping strike. closed in, driving a knee hard into the monster's abdomen, then spun and slammed an elbow into the back of its neck.
The monster was knocked off balance. Before it could even steady itself, 's combo came down like a violent storm.
Fists, elbows, knees, kicks... every blow was precise and deadly, the heavy impacts running together into one relentless rhythm.
For all its strength and claws, the monster was completely suppressed, unable to mount even a proper counterattack.
Finally, seized an opening and kicked it clean out of the factory grounds.
"Open fire!"
The infantry fighting vehicles, already waiting on standby outside the factory, seized the opportunity.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat——!
A stream of 30mm autocannon rounds engulfed the monster in midair in an instant.
But even under such terrifying firepower, the monster still wasn't torn apart on the spot.
Relying on its inhuman regeneration and physical toughness, it somehow endured the damage, dragged its wrecked body forward, and dove headfirst into the nearby , disappearing in an instant beneath the dark red water.
"Damn! That thing just refuses to die!" cursed, unwilling to let it go.
[Clearly, you kicked it the wrong way.] pointed out the flaw in his combat decision without hesitation.
"Aw, come on! It was my first time fighting one of these — I was nervous!" suddenly looked embarrassed. "Next time, I'll definitely kill it."
[Then I'll take that as your written pledge. If you don't take one down next time, there's a VIP seat in the incinerator waiting for you.]
"Whoa, no way! That's going a bit too far, Boss !" immediately panicked.
[Enough. Hurry up and haul the equipment back. Its pointless effort to destroy the equipment just proves our reasoning is right — this thing really can deal a huge blow to their plans.]
's voice carried a hint of amusement he couldn't quite suppress. [As for the broken equipment... it clearly doesn't know that repair tools are the one thing we're not short of right now.]