Book 6 Chapter 32.5 - Overture

Two bullets exploded in the sky, releasing blinding light, large amounts of berserk electromagnetic waves released. These were electromagnetic bullets made specially to deal with mechanical targets, but because of their size, the power was limited, more often used for a bit of interference. The mechanical bugs turned in the air, adjusted their stance, and then locked onto the team leader who was running on the ground and changing directions irregularly, their activity not interfered with in the slightest. However, after the four bullets suddenly exploded in the sky, there was actually large amounts of smoke that was stirred up, within the smoke all types of fine crystal granules that could reflect light. The thin yet wide expanse of smoke that was produced in the sky not only interfered with the mechanical bugs’ perception and targeting abilities, it also weakened the high energy light beams’ power significantly. The mechanical bugs immediately entered a state of disorder, momentarily unsure as to what they should do. However, the disorder only persisted for an extremely short amount of time. The mechanical bugs scattered in all directions, left the area the smoke covered, and then lowered their altitude, once again locking onto the team leader who had already ran quite far away.

The team leader wasn’t the only one in the wilderness. Underneath an abandoned house’s roof, several refugees were currently sitting around a fire, roasting something. There were males and females in this group, but all of them were completely focused on the food that was about to finish cooking, focused to the point where they weren’t interested in anything else, let alone paying any attention to the team leader who was running past from the distance. Meanwhile, the team leader only wished to find cover in the small town, so when he saw these refugees, he naturally didn’t pay them much attention either.

However, the energy beams that fired down from above suddenly divided into two parts, most of them still chasing after the team leader, while a few streaks of light were aimed at the refugees. The light beams landed with incomparable precision down on the refugees’ heads. Their faces were full of shock, before they even understood what happened, their bodies already fell weak onto the ground. Meanwhile, the fleeing team leader felt the pressure behind him lessen a bit, his speed immediately increasing a bit, evading a wave of energy light beams, and then he rushed into the small town. Relying on his experience, he directly threw himself into the rear storehouse of a convenience store, found the entrance to the basement, and then hid inside. Only now did he feel slightly more at ease. He leaned against the wall, body weak, breathing in and out heavily. From time to time, he would cough a few times, a blast of bloody foam released from his mouth. Even though the sudden encounter was short, it was more dangerous than any battle he had experienced in his entire life, this less than ten minute long experience completely exhausting his strength. Meanwhile, the machines that were floating in the sky seemed to possess an endless source of energy.

When he recalled those high energy light beams that represented death, the team leader’s heart would twitch. The scene of Obie being penetrated by the light beam replayed itself repeatedly before his eyes, making him feel as if there was a rock crushing down on his chest.

“These damned machines!” The team leader cursed viciously, but discovered that he didn’t have many words to use for machines, thus struck the ground in fury. After calming down a bit, he couldn’t help but feel fortunate that even though the energy light beams these mechanical bugs released were powerful, their attack method was a bit linear. For example, with the smooth steel plate covering the floor above him, it should be able to avoid their attacks. He refused to believe that after all those attacks, these mechanical bugs still had enough energy to flatten this small town. After all, those mechanical bugs weren’t large, so no matter how much energy they carried, it was still limited. The team leader’s limited knowledge told him that the high energy light beams’ attacks exhausted a considerable amount of power.

Waves of faint shrill noises sounded from the sky, the team leader’s ears immediately captured this bit of noise from the background noise. His face changed, immediately jumping from the floor, rushing out from the basement with the fastest speed possible. When his head stuck out from the cellar, he emerged just in time to see a pencil thick, entirely silvery-gray metal cylinder fly nimbly through the convenience store’s window, penetrating the floor in a perfectly straight manner. Then, a blinding blue radiance began to flicker at its end.

“Not good, miniature guided missile! They have guided missile attack mode after all!” This was the first thought the team leader developed.

At the edge of the small town, powerful blue light lit up, and then it immediately produced a ball of flames, gradually rising into the sky, changing into thick black smoke. When the smoke and flames scattered, the original convenience store had long vanished, only a several meter deep crater left behind in its original location. High up in the air, the mechanical bugs spun about a few times, and only after making sure that the life auras had completely disappeared in the town, did they rush back in the direction they came from.

Less than a hundred kilometers from the small town was a military base that belonged to the Arthur Family. This large-scale military base occupying  several hundred thousand square meters was built in the past half month, serving as the fulcrum of the northern front’s defensive line. The so-called northern defensive line was already close to no longer existing, because the Scorpions of Disaster’s forces had long been completely wiped out, and investigations had reported that Scorpion Nest’s general headquarters was now also in ruins. Even though the reason for Scorpion Nest’s destruction was unknown to this day, at the very least, it meant that the current threats have been removed. That was why even though a northwest military base was constructed for the sake of completing the defensive line, there were only a hundred soldiers situated here, and there weren’t any special large scale destructive weapons. The base’s general commander was Shiwa Arthur with only seven levels of ability. His status in the Arthur Family was upper middle, so both in terms of abilities and status, someone like him normally wouldn’t be in charge of a battle line. For him to preside over this military base’s affairs proved how limited the Arthur Family’s manpower was, as well as the degree of importance they attached to this direction.

Even though the Blood Parliament’s civil war instantly ended with the Spider Empress’ absolute power, the undercurrents didn’t disappear. There was no way those families who established blood grudges in war could let go of their hatred, only temporarily setting it aside in the bottom of their hearts. Even though the Spider Empress’ order was to erase all actions that took place during the war, for everything to start anew, how could the blood grudges of dozens to over a hundred relatives be forgotten with a single sentence? Most of the Arthur Family’s defenses were aimed internally, O’Brien, Eileen, and the family’s elite forces were all facing the William Family. In the incomparably bitter war that persisted over a larger half of a year, O’Brien inflicted serious damage to the William Family’s main forces again and again, but it didn’t reach the point of truly shaking their foundation yet. Douglas was still alive, and his strength wasn’t affected, living another few decades wasn’t an issue. It was almost guaranteed that he would become the William Family’s tower of strength in the future. He didn’t have O’Brien’s talent, but was more steady and unwavering. No matter what angle one looked at it from, this was an enemy they had to face seriously.

As the commanding officer of the northwest’s military affairs, Shiwa still had the qualifications to hear about the family’s strategic direction and other important secrets like these, even though if one were to talk in terms of the number of soldiers under him, he was only equivalent to an olden era company commander. If the quality of his soldiers’ abilities were added together, with the Arthur Family’s standard, he would even more so be nothing more than a platoon leader, but Shiwa still cherished his current position greatly. However, right now, he looked extremely unhappy, the gloominess on his face completely undisguised. 

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