Chapter 113 Operation Slaughter the Sheep
, sixty kilometers north of .
An expanse of open winter farmland, snow covering the dried wheat stubble, the view stretching all the way to the horizon.
The position had chosen sat behind a gentle slope—the terrain wasn’t high, but it was enough to give the rocket launchers’ mounts an elevation advantage.
Thirty-six PHL-191 modular rocket launchers stood in a single line, their tubes angled toward the gray-white sky.
At five-hundred-meter intervals, three observation posts had already been set up, receiving target coordinates relayed from the drones in real time.
“All units in position. Ammunition at full basic load.” Reports came through the comm channel from each vehicle crew.
stood atop the command vehicle, binoculars raised, looking north.
There was nothing to see—only snow and sky.
But he knew that more than a hundred kilometers away, that thing was moving in this direction.
[Target confirmed. One , with an escort formation of fourteen Pilgrims, moving north-northeast at approximately forty kilometers per hour. Expected to enter optimal firing range in twenty minutes.]
***
, command center—the site of an impromptu combat meeting that had concluded not long ago.
On the holographic projection, footage played of ’s squad encountering the “ .” The image was slowed down again and again, frozen on that semi-translucent that conventional artillery could barely penetrate.
[A ’s has an upper limit, but it recovers quickly, so sustained damage is more effective than burst damage.] pulled up all the data from ’s battle and projected it above the conference table. [After roughly eleven seconds of laser irradiation, the starts to dim; after seventeen seconds, it shatters. Continuous rocket coverage works just as well, but you can’t give it a window to catch its breath.]
stared at the data for a few seconds, then nodded. “So the core approach is—long-range sustained firepower. Don’t close in, don’t give it a chance to get to melee range.”
[Exactly.] ’s synthesized voice sounded. [It’s too fast. In close-quarters combat, we’d be at a serious disadvantage! So we have to change our hunting strategy.]
“Hunting?” —the veteran soldier from the forces who now served as deputy head of the —keenly seized on the phrasing.
[Yes, hunting.] didn’t deny it. [Over the past twenty-four hours, the drone formations have discovered three more clusters of Pilgrims like this one in the northern part of . All of them are migrating north.]
[According to analysis, this known as the “ ” appears to be an important nodal evolution form in the cluster. The “special radiation” they emit has the most complete frequency bands.]
paused, then presented the reasoning he had prepared long ago.
[I need more samples to decode this radiation and develop more advanced shielding solutions. Otherwise, by my estimate, once that thing in fully erupts, our existing monitors may not be enough to provide complete protection. So for targets outside the province, I can deploy the formations and attempt kills. For targets inside the province, I’d like a ground unit to operate in coordination.]
The reasoning was a bit of a stretch, but ’s track record so far was enough to convince everyone present.
If Mr. was doing this, he must have his own reasons.
“I agree with ’s assessment,” was the first to voice his position. “The threat in is imminent—no amount of preparation is too much.”
nodded as well. “ ’s people have already completed the recovery of . We can have them take this mission. Conveniently, there’s a cluster fairly close to them.”
“ , any problems?”
A moment later, ’s booming voice came through ’s from all the way over in : “Reporting! No problems! We can set out right now. Mission guaranteed.”
[Received!] immediately sent several map data files to ’s . [The nearest target is expected to arrive here in six hours.]
“Received. We’re moving out now!”
***
“Keep firing!” ’s expression didn’t change as he called out from the position. “Don’t stop!”
Another volley came down—nearly a hundred rockets poured onto that silver-white orb of light within forty seconds.
But that silver-white remained intact, its glow merely dimmed considerably, its surface covered in cobweb-like cracks.
Then came a fourth round.
A fifth.
Finally, after the fifth barrage, the silver-white shattered like glass and collapsed completely.
But that “ ” had already stormed out of optimal firing range. Its speed exploded to its limit, its gray-white form skimming across the ground like a meteor, snow churned up by the shockwave into a white trail behind it.
In an instant, it was less than thirty kilometers from the position.
But still didn’t panic. He just fixed his eyes on that black dot hurtling closer at the edge of his vision, the corner of his mouth curling into a slight smile.
“Since you’ve charged out, let’s have you try this instead!”
He calmly gave the order. “Close-defense formation, immediate support. Artillery positions, pull back.”
The moment the words left his mouth, a thunderous crash rang out across the plain.
BOOM——!
A projectile crackling with blue-white arcs of electricity, moving at a speed almost impossible to track, struck the high-speed square in the flank.
The terrifying kinetic impact knocked the , which had been sprinting at full speed, sideways, its speed plummeting.
In the snowfield ahead of the firing position, five colossal shapes that had been crouching like small hills finally began to stir.
They were ground-combat weapons the likes of which had never been seen before.
Over eight meters tall and nearly twenty meters long, they were less tanks than mobile steel fortresses.
Their hulls were covered in a matte starfield-black finish, the sharp polyhedral design brimming with a cold, futuristic feel.
They had no conventional tracks. Instead, six sets of enormous electromagnetic drive wheels that could steer independently allowed them to advance through the snow almost without a sound.
The front of the hull was nearly vertical heavy composite armor, with pale-blue energy patterns flowing across its surface—the external heat-dissipating fins of the generators.
The turret was flat and broad, not the rounded silhouette of a traditional tank but sharply angular geometric facets, like an axe blade lying on its side.
The main gun extended from the front of the turret, over eight meters long, built from three electromagnetic acceleration rails. The ring-shaped radiators at the joints radiated a faint blue glow after firing.
A secondary weapon module flanked each side of the turret—a six-tube micro-missile pod on the left, and a rapid-fire electromagnetic secondary cannon on the right.
Two cooling towers stood at the rear of the hull, where a high-output electric drive system breathed pale-blue wisps of ionized exhaust.
These five steel behemoths were like war machines descending from another age. Their very existence was a perfect embodiment of the aesthetic of violence that crushes everything in its path.
[ Five: , completed!]
[Mission Description: The has taken its initial shape, yet peace must be protected by force. is requested to establish a stable, operational medium-scale comprehensive , so that the power of civilization may once again dispel the darkness.]
[Mission Rating: Average.]
[Calculating rewards...]
[ gained: 80,000.]
[Unlocked: “ ” electromagnetic main battle tank x5, blueprint x1]
[Current : 231,329]
With the Anlan officially going into operation, Five was finally complete, and the reward had long awaited had finally been credited.
And these five Arbiters were the pinnacle of the ’s ground-based combat platforms—and the biggest trump card that allowed ’s to dare to try soloing a high-intensity !
Watching the terrifying power of the electromagnetic railguns, took a deep breath and forced down the cheer that had risen to his lips—the battle wasn’t over yet. You don’t pop the champagne at halftime.
On the plain ahead, the five Arbiters continued forward, firing a second volley without pause.
Five blue-white electromagnetic projectiles struck the at once, blasting it back dozens of meters, the over its body flickering endlessly.
“ROOOAR——!” Pain tore an enraged roar from the . In its enormous mouth, split open all the way to its ears, an ominous scarlet light blazed up again.
A thick torrent of dark-red energy blasted out, aimed straight at the lead .
But just as the torrent was about to connect, a pale-blue hexagonal mesh bloomed around all five Arbiters at the same instant.
BOOM!
The energy torrent slammed squarely into the lead tank’s , kicking up violent ripples of energy.
Inside the cabin, a piercing alarm blared frantically.
“Warning! energy overload! Armor integrity damaged thirty-seven percent!”
The driver stared hard at the instrument panel, cold sweat beading on his forehead, cursing inwardly. What the hell kind of thing was that? Even armor with this much defense couldn’t hold?
But the other Arbiters had already locked their main and secondary guns once more.
Fresh electromagnetic projectiles shot out, dozens of micro-missiles trailing white smoke slammed into the ’s back, and rounds from the rapid-fire electromagnetic secondary cannons poured down like a .
The monster’s attack was cut off outright—tremendous kinetic impacts tore several wounds open across its body.
Pale muscles writhed slowly but simply wouldn’t close.
Seeing that its strike had failed, the seemed to sense the danger. Its wings beat violently, and it actually tried to launch itself into the air and flee.
[Nice try.]
A cold sneer flashed through ’s core—he’d never had the habit of leaving enemies alive after a fight!
Above the cloud layer, the Lightning-Chasing Shadows that had been lying in wait dove down, their violet high-energy lasers pinning the ’s back like swords of divine punishment, forcibly suppressing its attempt to gain altitude.
After a brief struggle, the high-energy lasers sheared off one of its wings, and the colossal monster crashed heavily to the ground.
By then, the rocket artillery position, reloaded and ready, had finished correcting its firing solution.
“Fire!”
A new rain of fire fell once more.
This time, there was no left to stop it.
Relentless explosions completely devoured the area. A terrifying energy storm tore and melted the ’s colossal body inch by inch, until it was utterly reduced to nothing.
[Ding! Detected: has killed third-stage special ' ' x1.]
[ Nine: , progress (2/5).]
The battle was over.
lowered the communicator, watching the distant firelight gradually die down, and let out a long breath.
“Mr. , this tank is really... really... holy shit!” The shock of real combat hit him far harder than hearing an AI introduction, to the point that this former battalion commander’s vocabulary simply gave out.
[Technology is the primary productive force, after all!] ’s voice carried a smile too. Even he hadn’t expected the new tanks to be this ferocious—able to plant themselves at point-blank range and pour damage into a high-intensity like the “ .”
“Mm, true,” spoke again, a note of feeling he couldn’t hide in his voice. “So, can this thing be mass-produced?”
[Professor Xu and the others are still working on it, but the current level of industry isn’t quite enough yet. It’ll probably take a while longer.]
“Oh,” calmed down a little, then shook his head. “What a shame. If we could issue it across the board, I think we could roll straight out of the province and reclaim the whole country.”
[There will be such a day!] offered a word of reassurance. Just imagining that spectacle was enough to make his molten-salt reactor feel like it was boiling over—who wouldn’t love a tide of steel?
But just then, a transmission from the outpost rang through ’s consciousness.
“Reporting. The checkpoint has observed an unknown fog mass driving zombies toward the defense line,” said in a composed voice. “Suspected ! Requesting air support!”
[Received!]