Scorching, pain, chaotic signal noise, malfunction signals roaring in the logic chip, and the gunfire and explosion sounds in the lee, the blast of flas...
The heavy walker was harshly slamd to the ground by an unreasonable force, and Old Qiao only felt that all his sensory units experienced a malfunction judgnt at this mont—he arduously reconnected to this body, only to see thick smoke billowing in the cockpit. Everything outside the observation window appeared absurd and chaotic, as if in a wildly bizarre dream realm.
The soldiers were fighting against enemies resembling poker cards. Those strange enemies looked like giant standing paper cards, their faces sared with paint akin to classical theatrical makeup, draped in brightly colored robes. Bullets could easily pierce them, creating patches of holes, yet these "poker cards" still crossed the firepower net and, in ludicrously bizarre postures, wielded their thin, paper-like swords and knives to strike the walker's shield.
A giant snake was rampaging in the sea of fire, its massive body crushing all living things within its range as it rolled, while the surrounding Black Spot Soldiers desperately shot at her, only to find themselves casually rolled up by her tail, transforming the fully ard clone soldiers, armor and all, into squashed cans.
Another strange wailing sound ca from the sky, echoing like the cries of specters amidst the thick dark dust. The external monitors of the walker captured the shadows diving from below the clouds—warplanes of ancient design erged from the darkness, their machine gun flas licking the earth before they began bombarding the district rcilessly.
Two tactical walkers quickly reacted, raising twin cannons to fire at the sky while launching several "Stinger" type light anti-aircraft missiles. They easily hit those seemingly ancient old-style aircraft, which burst into nurous sizes of fireballs in the darkness, yet no debris fell—the fireballs flashed briefly in the dark, lting away like illusions into the mist.
But the bombs that fell were real. The entire abandoned district was shaken by deafening explosions, with the sea of fire bolstered by hot winds. Shockwaves swept through everything wrapped in flas, and the blaze illuminated the ancient, abandoned city as bright as daylight.
Amidst the soaring flas, the figure with wildly dancing hair erged once more, her entire body distorted and burning like fire, holding a blazing fireball as hot as solar flares. "Fire Stick" threw fiery balls at every living creature in her sight while laughing aloud at the Black Spot Soldiers scattering away; her cries echoed in the ruins: "Sir! Want so fire sticks? Want fire sticks? Want-fire-sticks?!"
Then, amid this frenzied dream realm, the clone soldiers in fierce combat heard a song—
Dark, plaintive, and lodious, nearly reminiscent of the beguiling voice of sirens in stories, pleasant yet deeply unsettling. The song, accompanied by a restrained and solemn organ lody, echoed through the dark district, resonating at the base of the giant wall.
"Singing! Singing!" The Giant Snake Demon raised her body in the sea of fire, her eyes shining with excitent. Her form grew further in the darkness, with several additional heads sprouting from behind as her body split. They swayed unsettlingly in the firelight, "This girl's singing is truly nice, clap your hands, clap-clap your hands!"
The Snake Princess clapped happily, and the nurous heads behind her plunged into the flas, each grabbing a burning clone soldier and wildly waving them in the night sky like glow sticks.
The severely damaged tactical walker slowly trudged forward with chanical legs, using its remaining power to crawl towards the edge of the fire zone. The surviving clone soldiers and other walkers, under orders, continued charging towards the battle's center, using their lives to shield their master.
More tactical backup squads were on their way from the rally point, as well as over a dozen heavy drones taking off from the midsection of the giant wall, soon to arrive.
But the urgent task was to ensure he could retreat to safety.
Old Qiao was racking his brains; it had taken great effort to extinguish the flas on the control panel, and now he began to review everything that happened today, reconsidering all his judgnts and decisions from the past period.
Sothing's off, sothing's off, these things...not human...can't be human...
That lunatic Luo, that freak who escaped from the laboratory, must be hiding sothing, hiding it from him, hiding it from the entire corporation... Where did she get these "reinforcents"? Where did she find these monsters?!
Should have been wary when the first tactical squad suddenly lost contact in the dark district... but everyone thought it was just Luo leading her soldiers on a sneak attack... believed it was rely a lucky trap...
Who would have thought such "ambushers" would erge from the abyss of forgetting?! It makes no logical sense! How did they appear out of nowhere?!
"Luo...you traitor...you must have sold yourself to Subspace...no, to sothing more dangerous than Subspace, to evil spirits...damn you, you little bastard..."
Old Qiao cursed under his breath, but suddenly a slight smile appeared on his steel-covered face.
But no matter what, that "little bastard" must be dead... Such a degree of direct firepower, she and her cover were blown sky-high on the spot; he saw it with his own eyes, there's no mistake.
The roar of artillery and those chaotic laughs finally began to fade into the distance, the scorching heat gradually receding from the armor. Nano repair devices were striving to nd the walking chanism and the damaged pipelines of control circuits. The tactical walker's power was restored to thirty percent, and those monsters—especially the self-proclaid "little animal" snake demon—did not seem to notice his escape.
This was a victorious retreat.
Old Qiao accelerated the walker's pace while continuing to order other reserve squads to establish a defensive line around the dark district, even actively "stirring things up" if necessary—as long as it could hold those strange enemies at bay.
Luo was dead. Although the critical data couldn't be secured, at least she wouldn't have any chance to speak nonsense elsewhere; the fundantal goal was achieved, making this operation not in vain.
Regarding those soldiers left in the district... So of them heard things they shouldn't have, so they can't stay.
Although clone warriors have always been loyal, even the most loyal living person can't compare to a corpse.
Sparks spewed from the joints of the walking machine, running faster and faster in the depths of the dark district.
But the haunting and sorrowful female voice continued to echo through the surrounding darkness, its source indistinguishable, as if the entire space resonated with the sound—a background noise of the entire region.
The song was beautiful, yet Old Qiao found it particularly agitating, as if sothing was still tracking him, impossible to shake off.
He stopped before a building that had been abandoned for years.
The building was now nothing but a hollow shell, with several reinforced pillars extending from the base of the "giant wall," penetrating the structure as if pinning an ancient corpse to the ground. The remnants still faintly testified to its forr glory—it might have been part of this planet's surface civilization, or perhaps a symbolic structure that an early colonial fleet constructed while coaxing trust from the locals, but all its glory and stories had faded with ti. Now, it lay beneath this Iron Nest, rely a pile of decaying remains surrounded by an empty wind.
The walking machine's power core was overheated; the forced acceleration while damaged had overburdened it, necessitating a halt to rest.
Old Qiao cautiously observed the street through a set of still-functional external monitors.
It was quiet around him; the bizarre "pursuers" were temporarily unseen, aside from the eerie song constantly ringing in his ears. This place seed safe.
He exhaled a small sigh of relief.
Yet, just as he was halfway through that sigh, the corner of his eye caught a sudden shadow.
The logic chips briefly ward but quickly returned to normal.
It was a four-legged walking animal.
Was it a wolf? Or so unusually large dog?
Old Qiao was unsure; the creature seed furry, like a flickering shadow in the darkness, comparing to the giant snake, card soldiers, and the arsonist in flas, this furry being seed almost "friendly" and quite "normal"—it carefully erged from between the gaps in the buildings, approaching the walking machine as if observing curiously.
Then it raised its head, as if smiling at the walking machine's monitor, grinning widely.
The Shadow Wolf held a Blood Grenade in its mouth.
The wolf instantly turned into a shadow, dissipating into the air; the grenade fell to the ground with a crisp tallic clink, rapidly spewing a thick crimson mist from one end.
At the mont the Shadow Wolf vanished, Old Qiao realized sothing was wrong. However, the overheated walking machine failed to start imdiately; he soon saw the spreading blood-red mist. All of his logic chips felt like they had been struck by an electric current, instantly recalling a certain scene—
Luo's table "incense"!
"Damn!"
He exclaid, instinctively pushing the control lever to the limit; the machine buzzed internally, and its chanical legs finally lifted, but he soon found he wasn't moving forward; instead, the entire machine was "ascending."
External monitors delivered a scene causing his chips to overheat.
A gigantic being, standing over ten ters tall, draped in Fine Gold Armor glittering with lightning, with a majestic and stern appearance, strong as a Titan God from religious tales—who knows when he appeared on the street. He effortlessly grasped the struggling tactical walker, slapped it a few tis, knocking off its three pairs of chanical legs.
Then the giant sat cross-legged on the ground, rummaging around, pulling out a can opener fitting his huge size from sowhere.
From the tactical walker ca a desperate roar...
Reviews
All reviews (0)