Chapter 358: Chapter 133: A Sudden Spear
Six miniature exploration vehicles sped out, a group of engineers stared intently at the screen displaying real-time video along with sonar and infrared detection data.
Five minutes later, there were no abnormalities in the data.
Luo Jianjin looked at the mixed troops of trainees and Special Combat Team members under his command and issued an order, “Heavy Hammer retract siege mode, cover the flanks and advance! Form the double-arrow attack formation and advance!”
Mu Fan drew his Alloy Broadsword, clinging to the inner side of the Siege Tank as he moved forward with the troops. He hadn’t experienced the upcoming terrain before, so heightened awareness was essential.
The troops moved forward in silence, aside from the rumbling engines of the tanks.
Half an hour later, the scenery before the group suddenly changed; the jungle disappeared, replaced by a stone forest.
The engineers deployed the detectors once again.
Soft conversations began among the team members. Mu Fan leaned against the trunk of a tree resembling a palm tree, discreetly conversing with Black.
“We haven’t seen any traces of the Insect Clan’s movement at all.”
“Yes, and those detectors haven’t sent back any valuable images either. The cunning nature of the Zeg is only now becoming apparent. Do you get the feeling, Mu Fan, that the movements of the Zeg Clan have suddenly become difficult to predict?”
Mu Fan hummed in agreement, now completely unable to predict the Zeg’s movements.
“This means an intelligent command-type Zeg has officially taken over the operations of this area. These creatures’ cunning far exceeds human imagination, honestly speaking, I am no longer optimistic about your humans’ strength on this planet. The Federation’s negligence, the limited throughput of the only available jump point, results in your supply struggles to keep up. The Federation’s true mechanized forces are almost invisible on this planet; such a legion battling against the desperately multiplying Zeg Clan…”
“The situation is very pessimistic,” Mu Fan continued Black’s words.
“Yes, now the Zeg Clan, according to the data shared between the Fighter and me, seems to be under unified command by an intelligent entity. This shows that the scale of the Zeg Clan on this planet is far beyond what’s called small-scale.”
Mu Fan’s fingers absently tapped on his Alloy Broadsword, “This academy’s practical eradication training on the planet will last for 12 days; it seems that after passing this period, we can only go back and report to the military.”
“I wouldn’t recommend reporting, the military divisions are definitely aware, but currently, border forces in various directions are under severe strain. Considering the input-output ratio, unless there’s precise Zeg data, the military might not necessarily send substantial reinforcements here. As an intelligent being, I agree with your plan of waiting to return.”
“That’s the only option then.”
When Mu Fan rejoined the troops, he happened to pass by Zhang Shaotang.
This noble son from Capital Star, after several days of fighting, had started to show a hint of a soldier’s resolve. As Mu Fan passed by, he suddenly spoke, “Starting today, let’s compete on who can kill more Zeg.”
Mu Fan paused, tilted his head to look at Zhang Shaotang and thought for a moment before saying, “I hope we get the chance to compete.”
Zhang Shaotang frowned, pondering the meaningful remark as he watched Mu Fan walk away, unusually neither sneering nor showing anger, but instead, he was deep in thought.
“Vertical double-trapezoid formation, Mechas guard the flanks, head towards the stone forest, advance.”
After receiving the data from the detectors, Luo Jianjin issued another order.
Due to towering rock walls on both sides of the stone forest area, they opted for Mecha to provide flanking defense.
Mu Fan, clad in Exoskeleton Armor, drew out his laser long spear; under these circumstances, the spear which could perform mid-range attacks was undoubtedly more advantageous than the Broadsword.
Proceed with the advancement.
The atmosphere among the troops shifted from initial tension to gradually relaxing as they pressed half an hour into the stone forest, a natural maze. Without the drone reconnaissance, navigating in a straight line would likely be impossible.
They were about to pass through a relatively narrow and brief canyon area ahead.
With drones paving the way and Mechas for escort, the team’s advance did not slow down.
“These Zeg’s anti-reconnaissance abilities are strong, but if they saw our large-scale troops, they should have attacked by now. Since it hasn’t happened yet, it’s likely that the Zeg in this area have already relocated.”
A staff officer analyzed to Luo Jianjin.
Mu Fan at the front of the team heard this and quietly nodded; however, despite everything seeming normal, he had an uneasy feeling about the canyon ahead.
But looking ahead, there were no visible abnormalities.
Mu Fan had a habit of never letting his guard down when he was in the wilderness, so activating the “Absolute Calm” state of Dark Breath in this complex terrain greatly enhanced his route recording and perception of the surrounding environment.
The fourth layer of Dark Breath operated quietly, a faint black aura appearing in his eyes, making them clearer.
At the moment when Dark Breath circulated within Mu Fan, a slight tremor occurred on a rock wall about thirty to forty meters diagonally above the team.
To the naked eye, it appeared as just a rock, undetected by biological sensors or the other team members.
However, under the state of Dark Breath, Mu Fan’s dynamic vision had been enhanced to an alarmingly precise degree.
Every naturally swaying branch, every floating cloud in the sky, and every stone kicked on the ground all belonged to what was a perfectly normal part of this scene.
Yet, that suddenly trembling part of the rock wall, even though minutely subtle, was infinitely magnified in Mu Fan’s sight.
His arm, without any warning, suddenly raised, and the light blue Light Spears at both ends instantly ignited.
As Luo Jianjin at the forefront suddenly turned back, the laser long spear that Mu Fan was holding normally just a second ago had already left his hands.
When that streak of blue light appeared in everyone’s field of vision, rising halfway into the air, the team members finally noticed!
The laser long spear thrown at full speed by Mu Fan was too fast, leaving only an afterimage in the retinas of the bystanders before directly, fiercely embedding into the previously trembling part of the rock.
A shrill insect cry resounded through the area!
Luo Jianjin’s reaction was exceedingly fast.
“Spread out! Fire!”
Some were still in a daze, but that didn’t stop them from faithfully following Luo Jianjin’s command to scatter and find cover.
Then, a hair-raising scene unfolded as countless rocks bulged on both sides of the canyon walls, and after a wave of insect cries, a massive shadow that blocked the sky above descended amid numerous explosive sounds.
“Get down!”
The students and soldiers in Exoskeleton Armor dropped to the ground instantly, and so did Mu Fan.
Almost the moment they hit the ground, a series of dense thuds echoed on their backs!
The immense impact vibrated through their bodies like steel.
“Counterattack! Fire!”
Siege Tank’s “Heavy Hammer” mechanically plunged its arms into the ground, and the 130mm compression cannon rose erect.
Boom, Boom!
The cannon in siege mode instantly blasted a giant firestorm on both sides of the rock walls.
“It’s the Cliff Worm Army! Spread out by a hundred meters, suppressive fire, and kill these damn bugs.”
Cliff Worms, through their specialized digestive organs, compressed rocks and spat them out at speeds close to that of bullets, possessing deadly lethality within sixty meters.
They were the snipers of the Zeg Clan!
**********
PS: (For those saying that Shadow Base started producing inflatable dolls, enough already! Are you planning to make Mu Fan rely on this for interstellar gold digging? Dang expresses his utmost disdain.)
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