"Then I feel like the protective squad is just protecting emptiness..." Sun Hang muttered, "If some dangerous entity suddenly approached Bao Si, wouldn't they be too late to react?"

"The protective squad isn't ensuring Bao Si's safety, but Garuda's," Ye Xuan replied, "Bao Si's charm is her best defense."

"Countdown, five seconds!" the Commander shouted, his voice already a bit hoarse.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

At the end of the countdown, Bao Si's protective suit disintegrated in an instant, scattering on the ground, a white mist gushing out from within, enveloping her figure.

Sun Hang quickly turned his head, no longer looking at the scene on the Garuda platform.

"Garuda report: detecting the slowing of Dragon Rock Fortress's movement speed... No! That's the momentum build-up before acceleration, Dragon Rock Fortress is accelerating! Estimated collision with Tianfu City in one minute and twenty-four seconds!"

"Tianfu City Observation Post Six report! Angle deviation of Dragon Rock Fortress's trajectory: 0.3 degrees! 0.9 degrees! 1.6 degrees! 4.7 degrees!"

"Dragon Rock Fortress is accelerating its turn! Deviation angle reaching 21 degrees! Mountain tilt occurring!"

"Induced guidance effective! Repeat, induced guidance effective!"

"Immediately assess the mountain's tilt condition!"

"Assessment complete! No risk of mountain collapse!"

"Turning speed is still increasing!"

The colossal mountainside did not brake as expected when about to collide with Tianfu City, but instead floored the accelerator, tightly skimming the city's edge in a grand "drift"!

Massive cracks on the ground extended directly into the city's interior, countless buildings swallowed into the abyss... Sun Hang couldn't fathom how many lives had been lost to these secondary disasters, but compared to Dragon Rock Fortress smashing directly into Tianfu City, these losses were within an acceptable range.

In the face of these calamity-like entities, human life seemed akin to ants.

"Route of Dragon Rock Fortress has been altered, Tianfu City... it's safe now!"

As these words echoed, a burst of brief cheers erupted in the communication channel.

"Don't let your guard down!" the voice of the military representative sounded, "The operation won't be successful until Dragon Rock Fortress is completely destroyed!"

"Dragon Rock Fortress has fully entered the guided route, moving away from Tianfu City," the Commander continued shouting, "Penetration team, prepare for tactical landing on the mountain; sweep team must ensure guided route clearance!"

"Let's go, time for us to get to work." Wang Xiyi patted Sun Hang's shoulder, heading towards the cabin door.

"Stay safe, keep communications up at all times," Yang Qi nodded to them both.

"Arrived at the designated location, support drones deployed," Ye Xuan gave Sun Hang a thumbs up, "Your weapon is ready, deploy when needed."

"Okay." Sun Hang nodded, then leaped out of the cabin alongside Wang Xiyi.

Neither carried a parachute, yet their landing methods were starkly different.

Wang Xiyi turned and shot a rapid-exploding fireball upwards, using the blast's impact to speed herself towards the ground, hitting it with a "boom," creating a deep pit.

The next second, Wang Xiyi emerged unscathed from the pit with ease, shaking her head, brushing off the dirt and gravel from her hair.

As for Sun Hang, he "wove" a parachute from fungal threads, descending leisurely to Wang Xiyi's front.

"A bit slow," Wang Xiyi glanced at him, remarked.

"This outfit is new; it deserves care," Sun Hang replied.

Wang Xiyi glanced at her own clothing, torn in multiple places, yanking off the sleeve, with only a few threads connected, tossing it aside.

For her, clothes were a one-time consumable—the research institute initially attempted to create a special suit that could withstand her beastly transformation and Black Dragon's breath, but after nearly a hundred failures, the exhausted researchers finally abandoned the topic.

Ultimately, Wang Xiyi didn't even bother to wear the standard combat suits issued to Hunters by the institute. Each time she deployed, she wore cheap outfits—she mentioned to Sun Hang during casual chats that she bought these clothes at night market stalls, nineteen yuan ninety for a set of T-shirts and jeans, buy five and get two free.

"Hunter confirmed landing, prepare to deploy weapons!" Ye Xuan's voice came over the headset, prompting Sun Hang to look up, seeing the giant metal crate under the helicopter already detached from its hook, falling straight from high altitude.

The crate contained the "Ji2796" retrieved from the institute—despite Sun Hang's current abilities enabling him to casually fabricate similar weapons, that would involve consumption. Even if minimal, in this entirely unknown battlefield, this slight difference could be the deciding factor of life and death, victory and defeat.

Caution is never a bad thing.

The metal crate disintegrated mid-air, enormous blades instantly liquefying, enveloping Sun Hang entirely, and soon, a Bright Armor of a similar design to "Slaughter" appeared on Sun Hang.

Compared to the dark Slaughter, Sun Hang's armor exhibited a chaotic metallic base color, with armor edges showing slight tremors—this was due to the compression of metal to its limits, creating instability. If the restraining force suddenly vanished, these metals would explode like a bomb, sweeping away everything around.

"The armor looks cool." Wang Xiyi nodded at Sun Hang.

"Thanks for the compliment." Sun Hang smiled, "When I first saw Ye Jiu, I wanted to strip him of his armor... Now I can only settle by copying a set myself."

"Support drones have entered operational status; no detection of other entity reactions within a 200-meter radius," Yang Qi's voice echoed in the headset.

Sun Hang raised his head, seeing four drones hovering approximately 100 meters above them. Besides providing firepower support and serving as communication signal relays, they were equipped with miniature meme frequency detectors—their aerial eyes, essentially, for Hunters.

"Proceed along the predetermined route, advance to the northwest defensive line," Wang Xiyi straightened her messy clothes, and strode forward.

Their assigned area extended sixteen kilometers deep but less than two kilometers wide, viewed from above, forming a narrow strip "adhering" to the edge of the guided route.

This region lacked buildings and obstructive terrain or vegetation, boasting an unobstructed openness—Sun Hang couldn't discern whether being assigned here was due to sheer luck or a privilege granted due to his identity.

Compared to Hunters assigned to abandoned villages or forests, their task seemed several degrees more effortless.

Several dozen kilometers behind, Dragon Rock Fortress was advancing toward them, the ground vibrating intensely, occasionally producing fissures—hard rock layers under terrifying forces breaking and compressing, brittle as freshly baked wafers.

The fractured, twisted land block transforming the plains into a varied terrain, reminiscent of middle school geography classes' clay plate collision experiments.

"Watch your step," Wang Xiyi warned Sun Hang, "Be careful not to fall into those crevices that could swallow a person whole."

"Not much of a problem," aided by fungal threads, Sun Hang navigated as if the terrain were flat, whereas Mr. Wang jumping between jagged rocks appeared much more awkward.

Wang Xiyi's beast transformation ability was only used when confronting entities, making human movements in such environments somewhat strenuous.

Their speed was swift, quickly reaching the midsection of the narrow area.

"New task assigned. After clearing this area, immediately head to zone D16," Yang Qi instructed over the communication channel, "It's near the guided route's endpoint, over 200 kilometers from here. We need to hurry!"

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