The chaotic magnetic zone was an extremely special area with disordered magnetic fields where flying vessels couldn’t pass overhead. To get through, one could only walk across on foot.
The place was dark and damp, with towering stone forests everywhere. Only one type of large creature existed—the wall-spine ant, the only remaining mutated species from the insect invasion hundreds of years ago. They were powerful, far surpassing normal human physical abilities, with mature specimens generally two to three meters long.
Though very dangerous, they only existed in this one area of the chaotic magnetic zone. Both the Federation and Northwest Sector people had sent forces to exterminate them, but unfortunately the wall-spine ants never went extinct.
To avoid heavy casualties among their own people, the leaders of Xinghui, Gray River, and other powers sent only elite portions, keeping the rest in the Northwest Sector to guard their bases and prevent their headquarters from being wiped out.
The chaotic magnetic zone was a longitudinally deep canyon with few hiding places, but the cliffs on both sides were excellent concealment locations.
“Boss, the First Army people have already entered the canyon entrance,” a scout leaped into the cave opening from the cliffs. “Estimated to reach the middle of the valley mouth in one to two hours.”
Inside the cave was a wall-spine ant killed by dismemberment, its deep green blood pooling beneath the corpse.
Beside it stood a person completely shrouded in gray robes, with a protruding spine and strange physique, their voice soft and ambiguous in gender.
“Tell the people in the other two caves to all get ready. Grab as much as you can.”
The scout hesitated: “Boss, hasn’t Gray River always stayed out of these scrambles? Why this time…?”
The gray-robed person—age unknown, appearance unknown—Lian Yao, boss of Gray River, the intelligence head who covered the sky with one hand in the Northwest Sector. A single piece of intelligence could sell for a thousand gold. Legend had it every sector of the Federation had Gray River’s shadow.
Lian Yao said softly: “Give Xinghui a bit of a lesson.”
Scout: “But Xinghui…”
“I know,” Lian Yao smiled. “If they want to steal things from Gray River’s territory, they’d better carefully consider their future sources of intelligence. Xinghui’s leader is a sensible person.”
…
Inside another cliff cave in the distance.
“Second Commander, Gray River also came this time. Don’t know what they’re planning.”
“Since they came, naturally they’re after the munitions,” the Second Commander said. “So many people came to the Northwest Sector—one more Gray River won’t hurt. The Northwest Sector is a whole. This batch of munitions, the Chief Commander instructed Xinghui to only go after the biggest share.”
“Understood!”
Lingering gray mist perennially filled the canyon. Grayish-white stone forests, wet gravel, cave dwellings of wall-spine ants on both cliff sides—densely packed, countless.
The wall-spine ant nests occupied by humans were eerily quiet, while those normally inhabited by these large lethal mutant ant species transmitted uneasy, restless wall-scraping sounds.
Occasionally one or two would peek out from their caves, their huge red eyes like rubies congealed on the cliff walls.
Algiers didn’t bring many people either. Though Shou Bing hadn’t awakened, he was after all an S-level evolver reserve. After slightly altering his appearance, he came along to practice his courage.
Lan Xia led the team, selecting a hundred people—all confirmed reliable after assessment. Except for Lan Xia, everyone wore small vests made of alloy over their clothes.
The chaotic magnetic zone interfered with signals, preventing long-distance communication. Their entire group gathered in a cliff cave. Luckily, this cave had no wall-spine ants.
Algiers: “Teacher, can you sense how many people came here?”
“I can sense a general number. Quite a few people. My sensing range is between one thousand to one thousand five hundred meters. Beyond that I can’t sense,” Lan Xia said.
S-level mental power evolvers could sense their surrounding environment—a huge advantage for Dawn.
Lan Xia: “Not easy to make a move.”
“We definitely can’t grab from the front, but the major powers in the Northwest Sector are probably also waiting for someone to make the first move and grab, then they can fish in troubled waters,” Algiers pondered for a moment. “There’s a rumor that for this munitions transport, Elansno came personally.”
Lan Xia glanced at the silent Shou Bing beside him, saying quietly: “Whether he came or not, this batch of munitions won’t be so easy to obtain. If the First Army dares let it pass through this chaotic magnetic zone, it means they’ve definitely made full preparations.”
He walked to the cave entrance, mental power flashing slightly in his eyes. Leaning sideways against the wall, he gazed toward the canyon exit obscured by gray mist.
The chaotic magnetic zone had only one entrance, but two exits. The entire deep canyon, viewed from above, looked like a deep eye.
“We’ll wait for our opportunity. They’ll definitely make their move before the transport team approaches the exit. We absolutely can’t clash head-on.”
And their position happened to be right beside the exit. No matter which exit the transport team chose, they would react immediately.
——
Canyon entrance.
Over a dozen columns of long black armored convoys lined up in a row.
Besides the faint gunpowder smell barely perceptible on the vehicle bodies, there was also an indescribable fishy, foul stench.
Gong Du was in the vehicle in the very middle. This vehicle wasn’t escorting munitions, but a batch of even more precious large experimental equipment.
The matter of personally escorting was more or less a last-minute decision, so not many people knew. Gong Du sat calmly in the spacious back seat—
Originally, armored vehicles didn’t have such enjoyable living conditions. This was a space Kang Quan had worked through the night to renovate for him.
Beside him was warm water kept at 40°C for soothing his stomach. It had a natural plant juice sweetness when drinking—who knows what had been added to it.
Of course, it was only warm water—no other treats. Other snacks were strictly monitored by Kang Quan. Unless Dr. Kane personally said his stomach condition was good recently and he could eat some, he generally had no chance to eat them.
While Gong Du complained to the small light orb that Kang Quan was like a male mom, he held his cup and said: “No oversights, right?”
Kang Quan turned back from the front passenger seat. “Rest assured, Admiral. Every vehicle body has been coated with beast-repellent analog.”
Beast-repellent was a medication developed by an extremely gifted researcher hundreds of years ago during the insect invasion of the Federation. It could emit a scent that terrified insects, playing a major role on the battlefield. Unfortunately, after the insects disappeared, the formula for this beast-repellent was gradually lost.
Currently only the beast-repellent analog, inferior by more than one grade, was available for use.
“Tell the other convoys to all be careful. This transport probably won’t go too smoothly.”
Kang Quan nodded: “I understand.”
Close to the Northwest Sector—it would be strange if things went smoothly.
“Especially the stone caves on both cliff sides. Adjutant, don’t you think it’s far too quiet here?” The corners of Gong Du’s mouth curved slightly upward. “Unless they sensed the death aura of their own kind, otherwise wall-spine ants… aren’t that obedient.”
Kang Quan: “You mean?”
Gong Du: “Prepare for battle.”
The chaotic magnetic zone blocked most signals, but the armored vehicles all used the same system, so information transmission between vehicles wasn’t affected.
Gong Du lifted his eyelids, smiling but not quite: “No fun. If I show myself, they’ll be even more cautious. There’ll be more people trying to assassinate me than rob us, so I’m temporarily transferring command to you.”
“Adjutant, you’re the one I trust most in the entire First Army. Don’t disappoint me, understand?”
Kang Quan’s heartbeat stopped for an instant. He quickly lowered his head: “…Yes.”
Those dark purple eyes were too profound. In that instant, he almost thought the Admiral had discovered the extremely hidden thoughts in his heart.
Others only knew the munitions were important, but he felt the large experimental equipment this vehicle escorted was more important. Because when combined, it was equipment used to extract ground energy from C9 sector… the thing clearly written in that chilling purge plan.
C9 sector was Kang Quan’s home. His few remaining friends and family were all there. Whether out of selfish desire or that subtle empathy as a human being, he didn’t want C9 sector to become a second lifeless Ice-Cast City.
Now two choices lay before him: one was to pretend he’d never seen that purge plan and be his dutiful adjutant; the other was to secretly dispose of the experimental equipment in this chaotic magnetic zone.
But the latter was equivalent to betraying the Admiral.
Whichever choice, both would torture him.
…
The convoy slowly drove forward. The closer to the middle position, the denser the gray mist settled. Beyond five meters, one couldn’t distinguish person from object.
The detectors mounted on the armored vehicles had long since activated. The convoy advanced slowly but steadily, growing quieter and quieter.
Gradually, on the steep cliffs on both sides, crimson eyes emerged one after another.
Steam from the teacup dispersed into the air.
Gong Du’s eyes, closed until now, slowly opened.
“They’re here.”
*Bang! Bang! Bang—!*
Crazy explosion sounds were deafening. Wall-spine ants, startled by the noise, leaped down from caves in the cliffs on both sides—densely packed. Their several-hundred-kilogram weight hadn’t even landed on the armored vehicles before being blasted to pieces by rapidly deployed artillery barrels on both sides of the vehicles!
Viscous green blood mixed with pungent stench rained down like a storm.
Kang Quan’s eyes darkened as he shouted: “Engage the enemy—”
*Whoosh—*
The armored vehicle defense shields opened on all sides. While accelerating forward, artillery barrels on both sides powerfully cleared the surrounding shrieking, chaotic wall-spine ants.
Gong Du unhurriedly took a sip of warm sweet water.
“Attack!”
Not knowing which side started first, the canyon that had been utterly quiet moments ago instantly erupted with killing cries. Countless homemade grenades, small star-bullet guns, and explosive bottles that could dissolve energy shields all transformed into dense firelight, rushing toward the armored vehicles’ protective shields!
Over a thousand human figures, together with massive wall-spine ants, glided down from caves in the cliffs on both sides. The alloy vests they wore on their bodies unfurled a pair of pale black iron wings behind them—thin as cicada wings, humming as they flew.
Featherfall armor!
Kang Quan thought to himself—the Northwest Sector was determined to seize this batch of munitions.
Featherfall armor was common in top-tier armies, but in a savage, exiled place like the Northwest Sector, it was absolutely rare. For so much featherfall armor to suddenly appear now, these attacking forces had truly spent a fortune.
Each person’s wrists were wrapped with countless hooks.
All waiting for the moment the protective shields shattered and the munitions inside were exposed, to hook them away.
Even more troublesome was that their soldiers were cautious about collateral damage, concerned about the munitions they had to protect behind them. Plus, advancing at full speed while clearing the way meant more defense than offense.
Kang Quan glanced at the damage values of the energy shields and found that two armored vehicles’ shields were already on the verge of disappearing.
Why were there so many people from the Northwest Sector this time?!
Moreover, by the looks of it, this was only the first wave of enemies too impatient to wait. The stronger forces were probably still behind.
He looked back at the Admiral, who still showed not a trace of tension.
…
A man standing with hands behind his back on high ground calmly surveyed the battle situation below. The people behind him also wore featherfall armor, with Xinghui’s totem embroidered on their clothes.
“Second Commander, we’ve found no trace of Elansno. The information we received may not be accurate either. He probably really didn’t come this time.” A subordinate behind him said.
The Second Commander was a man with a formidable appearance. Hearing this, he said: “Elansno is an arrogant madman. If he were here, those birds jumping out below probably wouldn’t have had a chance to make a fuss.”
“Then we…?”
Second Commander: “Rob!”
With those words, he swiftly swooped down, wings instantly spreading!
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
“Boss Lian Yao, Xinghui’s people have moved!”
Gray River’s scout came rushing to report. Everyone in the stone cave instantly looked toward that eerie, thin, tall figure hidden in robes.
“Remember, our primary objective this time is to cause trouble for Xinghui. Seizing munitions is secondary. Everyone be careful.”
“Yes!”
Lian Yao smiled: “Let’s go!”
Fifteen minutes later, the convoy, more than half destroyed, was approaching the exit.
At the same time, attacks grew more intense. But what made people unbearably frustrated was that those few armored vehicles whose shields were about to break had stubbornly held on until now, always just short by that little bit.
Until approaching the exit—
*Boom!*
Two or three armored vehicles’ shields shattered with a roar.
Human corpses and wall-spine ant remains were everywhere. Those still alive all acted as if injected with adrenaline, throwing down the hooks in their hands!
Densely packed hooks like a giant bell jar of sky netting, leaving no escape.
At the fork in the exit, on the highest stone pillar, a leisurely, playfully smiling voice slowly came through.
“Oh my, such enthusiasm. Even a few old acquaintances. This really makes one overwhelmed by the honor.”
This voice was gentle and pleasant, yet it fell like an extremely cold block of ice into boiling water, instantly freezing people into ice sculptures.
Xinghui’s Second Commander froze mid-air, abruptly turning around.
On the steep, sharp stone pillar stood a person—Martin boots wrapped around slender calves, black military cloak, silver-white hair, mask, purple eyes, corners of mouth curved in an ambiguous smile.
Yet the aura around him was as cold as a frost-covered blood sword drawn from its sheath.
Elansno bowed slightly: “Everyone, my greetings.”
“I’ve come to kill you all.”
**
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152
Cold, lol.
Badass.