"Temporarily lending you a new tool for this battle; the Rongju Rifle you have is somewhat inadequate."

John was about to open the box, but was stopped by Oulos, who said it would be safer to take it out back in the vehicle.

The intermediary and the Wanderer didn't quite trust each other.

John implanted Oulos's new product, and in return, providing combat test data was agreed upon in advance.

"This new smart weapon has sensors; once connected with authorization, it can capture real-time combat information through the backend."

John acknowledged this.

As he leaned in, he noticed a massive shadow behind Oulos.

His artificial eye activated night vision mode to refocus, and he saw the hard and oppressive face of the Armored Behemoth.

He was bare-chested.

Several thick black cracks covered his skin, and there were heat dissipation lines on both cheeks; his left arm was connected to several infusion tubes.

Behemoth showed no reaction, and his artificial eye kept flickering, seeming to be in some kind of slumber.

"Is he participating in this battle?"

"No, just escorting."

Oulos said she wouldn't personally enter the field, but would provide remote support via drones through voice commands.

The camp had its own hacker.

Some had been following since Damascus was established, and there were also roles more capable than Oulos.

John took away the weapon box without objection.

The hacker was just her means of defense, not her biggest advantage.

The camp gathered all available combat forces.

All external missions were suspended, personnel returned to assemble, and by now, the organization and distribution were complete; both in scale and firepower ratio, it was much more spectacular than the last sudden raid on the dismantling yard.

[Mission Update]

[Proceed to Silver Port. (Not Achieved)]

Over fifty fully equipped armored vehicles set off from the camp area, charging towards the seaside with a momentum comparable to a migrating herd of cattle.

The engine roared, blood boiling.

John held the steering wheel, occasionally observing the vehicles on either side—all modified to different extents, with solid reliable armor and powerful engines beneath their rugged exterior shells.

"You really made a killing in the dismantling yard, huh?"

"Mm."

Alonna replied.

That ended their first conversation after traveling five or six kilometers.

There was no particularly bright moon outside the window, and the night sky and sand were filled with a dim glow; opening the car window let in a mix of coolness and dust.

The convoy drove like it was on a gray-blue ocean.

A sharply defined shadow gradually rose on the horizon, marking the site of the bombed-out ruin of Silver Port.

Nando's command came through the in-team communication.

Everyone then took out and injected medication into their bodies.

Radiation medication wasn't like combat enhancers or adrenaline-laden emergency drugs, with no apparent mental stimulation, it felt as plain as injecting saline solution.

Beep beep beep.

The tiny detector hanging on the rear-view mirror gave an alarm.

They had officially entered the pollution zone.

Alonna injected several substances, including a neuro-stabilizer used specifically to reduce the side effects of Sianweistan.

[Proceed according to the route. (Not Achieved)]

The in-team channel was set up by Oulos.

She switched communication modes, retaining information sharing while splitting the voice into dozens of large and small channels, acting as a temporary switchboard operator.

John had worked with Harbor before.

It had a familiar professional feel.

The convoy, under command, split into two groups.

[Oulos: Channel debugging; remind me if you're not connected, while also paying attention to listening and relaying, content will not be repeated, starting mission broadcast in ten seconds.]

Most armored vehicles stopped by the roadside.

All kinds of position equipment were brought out, including turrets and corporate weapons seen at the dismantling yard last time.

Camp members each fulfilled their roles like combat engineers.

John and Nando, who were originally trailing behind, now directly passed through the middle of the road.

And as soon as the vehicles moved, anti-collision spikes and mines were immediately brought up to follow.

[Broadcast starts.]

[Most of Silver Port consists of impassable ruin sites, roughly divided from outside to inside into checkpoint area, transport area, container area, and underground server area.]

[It's a secret lair with high radiation levels, so the number of Exile members stationed there is relatively small. According to infrared scans and life detection radar feedback, most of them are concentrated in the sentry area.]

[The transportation area is primarily automated turrets and is the main passage for vehicle entry and exit.]

[The container area stores a large amount of supplies without any information; it's likely the most dangerous and requires improvisation.]

Oulos made a brief report of the situation.

Nando took over the channel to begin battle command.

The Exiles received the signal as soon as the convoy split. At this moment, countless small teams were retreating to defend the main base on the wasteland, and the positions set up earlier were meant to block reinforcements.

The assault team must capture Ironfoot Kelp as swiftly as possible.

Everyone was connected to the voice channel.

As Nando introduced the attack details, Oulos switched over to brief the defending convoy, providing real-time reports on the numbers, direction of the attack, and approximate armament.

During their conversation...

Everyone could see the map information through a built-in program, clearly accompanied by a full explanation.

Oulos showcased another form of intelligence merchant.

"Practical politicians are genuinely terrifying."

John remarked.

Before he finished speaking, his peripheral vision caught a dozen red squares skimming over the vehicle roofs, rushing towards the massive ruins ahead.

[Equipment: Clique Drones [Subset 012]]

[Manufacturer: Isaac Military Industry]

They will become the electronic eyes of the battlefield, providing real-time intelligence and enhancing the advantages of nighttime operations.

Discussion began on the channel.

These new gadgets were all brought by Oulos, who played the role of arms dealer through intelligence and benefit exchanges.

And that's not all.

The battle at Silver Port would certainly alert the ECPD and the companies, and it would be troublesome if someone took advantage or caused disruptions, so every aspect was arranged and prepared.

John listened clearly.

"High risk, high reward, what a game to play."

"No chit-chat on voice channel."

"Prepare to illuminate."

A brief exchange of words came from the channel.

Two transport trucks with trailers raised their containers, firing dense flares into the sky.

Pale meteors streaked through the gloomy night, illuminating the differently shaped armored vehicle roofs, then quickly split into dozens of burning and slowly falling bright lights in the air.

Shadows on the ground became mottled and twisted.

John floored the accelerator and set the cruise control, then grabbed the weapon beside him and made eye contact with Alonna.

"Go."

They each pushed open the car door, rolled, and jumped out.

The roaring armored vehicles rushed into the city ruins, and the mottled yellow platforms and red-white lines covered with wild grasses and yellow sand seemed to continue displaying peace before the war.

The armored vehicles swiftly crashed through obstacles, erupting in explosions.

Flames soared into the sky, illuminating countless partially sunken empty car frames beside them, along with graffiti-covered, dilapidated, collapsing walls exposing rebar cores and twisted scrap iron.

John's eardrums slightly swelled.

Alonna had already skimmed through the billowing smoke, holding her rifle on a high steel frame.

Bullets and shouts interwove with crackling, burning sounds.

Sparks scattered, brushing continuously.

Alonna ran with her gun among the building debris, and the Exile corpses were just being illuminated, falling one after another along her path. Only targets far enough and less threatening could shrink back to temporarily catch their breath.

John picked up a new rifle and vaulted over the obstacles.

He felt the dim battlefield before him was like a pond thoroughly disturbed by a boulder, with enemies writhing within the red data stream frame, constantly shooting towards his location.

John was hit by several bullets immediately but didn't mind.

Military-grade bulletproof vests combined with subcutaneous armor could ignore most street bullets as long as the danger wasn't compounded too much before he took them down completely.

Bang bang bang.

He raised his gun, walked slowly forward, conducting battlefield clearance with standard infantry coordinated shooting posture.

Alone, yet he secured his landing zone.

This pitch-black heavy rifle was more robust and stable than any he'd used before; if it were the alloy skeleton from half a month ago, it would probably have strained his muscles.

The recoil from kinetic firearms could dislocate bones.

John's new implants, however, caught it steadily, even locking the trigger as too many targets appeared at once.

A drifting orange-red flame appeared at the muzzle's front.

It hovered slightly ahead of the muzzle, like the straight light trail from a rocket launch.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.