Chapter 367: Chapter 142: The Belated Air Force
“Lock on target, fire all missiles?”
“Yes.” A finger pressed the button.
“Please confirm, do you choose to activate the self-destruct countdown of the Nova Bomb?”
“Confirmed.”
With another click of a red button, Zheng Rui was already quietly looking down.
Moments later, all of the cadets and military personnel on the two starships witnessed the scene unfolding beneath them.
The Mecha floating in the air had first scattered missiles all over the sky towards the ground below.
Five Plasma Worms, which hadn’t even had time to assume their firing stance, were instantaneously engulfed in a sea of fire.
The swarm of creatures below let out a tide of sharp cries towards the sky but to no avail.
Turning his head for a glance at the two starships that had ascended into the high skies, Zheng Rui revealed his last trace of a smile.
Then, his eyes filled with determination, he pushed the control stick forward with both hands.
The Mecha in the sky suddenly plunged downwards, thus unreservedly placing itself in front of all the Zeg.
Behind those five Plasma Worms, there must be their tunnels, right?
The cold electronic voice counted down unemotionally,
Countdown 3 seconds,
2 seconds,
1 second…
Boom~~~~
The energy burst back to the center for an instant, then surged out forcefully again.
In that moment, the focal point of heaven and earth was none other than that dazzling explosion at the core.
A horrific shockwave, expanding faster than the eye could see, covered that expanse of the heavens and earth.
A mushroom cloud rose, and in that area, no living creature would exist any longer.
“A true warrior…”
“Salute to Major Zheng Rui once more!”
At this moment, every person on the ship once again forcefully brought their palm to their foreheads in salute.
Salute!
The soldiers of the Expeditionary Army, staring blankly out of the portholes, bit down on their teeth, yet they couldn’t suppress the involuntary tears.
Major, goodbye.
…
“Breaking through the atmosphere in 140 seconds.”
“Please, everyone, take your seats.”
Nearly all the equipment had been moved out of the starship, leaving its interior empty, with everyone strapped into their seats, awaiting ascent.
Mu Fan, in the command room, received special treatment, seated in an officer’s position, still able to quietly watch the continuously transmitted images of the planetary surface.
As the starship ascended higher and higher, the Zeg swarms on the ground became smaller and smaller on the night-vision screens.
Lin Hao, looking at everyone’s solemn faces, softened his own expression first, “Ladies and gentlemen, although the Federation’s military has suffered heavy losses this time, we should be grateful that the seeds of hope have been preserved.”
“Furthermore, after this event, I believe that the conviction and spirit of these cadets will be greatly elevated.”
“As for these Zeg, the Military Department will avenge our fallen comrades.”
“Victory will undoubtedly belong to the Federation!”
In just a few words, the atmosphere in the command room finally became less oppressive.
Once on the battlefield, death is inevitable, and to die in battle is an honorable end.
As they mused on this, the officers’ furrowed brows finally relaxed.
“The size of the Zeg Clan we encountered this time is much larger than we expected; a rough count has the number of Zeg we’ve discovered exceeding 5,000.”
“Yes, Captain Zhong is right. Fortunately, we haven’t discovered any flying species among the Zeg. If there were, our situation would truly have been dire.”
“Indeed, the data we’ve obtained from this operation is invaluable; the Federation must start paying more attention to these species.”
“Compared to those species from the Outer Domain Galaxy, these creatures seem to be born purely for slaughter and plunder. Terrifying.”
Hearing a group of officers begin to discuss the structure and ideological nature of the Zeg Clan,
Mu Fan’s face did not show any sign of relief.
Black had already entered the network, saying it had begun to establish a foothold on the starship while taking advantage of the ship’s movement to lay a backdoor in the military’s communication lines.
But Mu Fan still vividly remembered what Black had said.
It was about the Zeg Clan’s flying forces!
Black had made it clear to him that once the Zeg Clan’s flying forces arrived, they would not be able to leave.
Why haven’t they appeared yet?
“Wait! What’s that?”
“Over there, there! Look, quick!”
“Oh my God…”
“Is this also a Zeg?”
A lieutenant who had been staring at the screen suddenly cried out, quickly drawing the attention of those around him.
From the moment he spoke to the sound of his voice dying out, the edge of the screen had gone from showing a speck of black mist to a terrifyingly large expanse.
Even the Zeg creatures that kept appearing on the ground were beginning to be obscured by this black mist.
The image was magnified, and when it locked on to a small part of that black mist.
Involuntarily, everyone felt a current run down their spine, and their scalps tingle.
Reflected in Mu Fan’s eyes were countless flying monsters, not one kind, but many kinds.
Their size was dozens of times smaller than the Winged Beasts he had seen on the Purple Jade Star, about four to five meters long, with bodies like a soaring sea snake, and a pair of flesh wings flapping rapidly.
There was also another kind of flying creature that was twice as large, their entire shape like that of a giant bat, flying higher, and although there were fewer of them, they covered the area above those serpent-like creatures.
Among these giant bat-like creatures, there was also a kind of gigantic flying creature that was like an airborne fortress!
Their size had even surpassed the Migola Winged Beasts by more than a dozen times!
Their length and width had already exceeded a hundred meters!
The numerous robust spines that protruded from their bodies from a high altitude like small hills and their terrifyingly huge chelae and limbs proved that these creatures were not to be trificked with.
“Is this, this, this the flying species of the Zeg?”
“Hiss~”
Now they understood how lucky they were to have ascended into the sky when they did. If these ocean-like flying Zeg had come two minutes earlier, whether the starship would have been able to take off would have been an unknown.
After this group of creatures appeared, they seemed to be searching for a target.
“Do these Zeg want to chase after us? That’s impossible.”
“What’s our altitude now?”
“170,000 meters.”
“Then it should be okay.”
At that altitude, the idea of flapping up with a pair of flesh wings was practically a joke.
Mu Fan frowned, pondering. If this was the case, how did the Zeg Clan travel through interstellar space?
“What’s that big pot lid up to?”
The lieutenant was referring to the largest of the flying Zeg.
In their line of sight, this Zeg began to rise in shape.
It was going for a high-altitude sprint?
What a joke.
The starship was still ascending rapidly.
Even if it chased, it would not catch up.
But it soon became clear that the Zeg had no intention of chasing after them.
Instead, after its body flipped to surge toward the sky.
A green light began to flicker in its mouthpiece.
Then that spot of green rapidly expanded.
After just five seconds, the green had already swollen into an immensely colossal sphere!
The adjutant operated the Light Computer at high speed and quickly reported, “The diameter has reached 51.3 meters, stopped expanding, and is now stable!”
The green energy ball stabilized…
Then what?
A bad premonition rose in their hearts.
“So it’s the leader of the Swallowers! This time it’s a big mess. The Federation shouldn’t even think about landing anymore,” Black’s voice suddenly rang out, carrying a shock in his tone, which was obviously due to seeing the surveillance footage.
It was the first time Mu Fan ever heard a tone of shock from Black.
But there wasn’t a good moment for him to ask questions right now.
Even without the chance to ask, that massive green energy ball was already striking towards them at high speed.
“Emergency situation!”
“Full ship, evasive maneuvers!!”
Lin Hao’s roar echoed throughout the starship.
The green energy ball was obviously aimed at their ship number one.
It seemed as if only less than 2 seconds had passed.
Boom!
The entire ship violently shook, and Mu Fan suddenly grabbed onto the alloy handrail.
*****
PS: (Happy birthday to book friend “Forget the Memory, Time” on the 11th. I didn’t see the message before, my negligence, here’s a belated blessing.)