In the deep, dark expanse of space, an umbrella-shaped spacecraft is slowly approaching the blue planet from a distant orbit, resembling a dandelion falling from the sky from afar.
Compared to the entire blue planet, the dandelion-like spacecraft appears as insignificant as a speck of dust.
However, upon closer inspection, it's a completely different scene.
The steel-constructed ribs of the umbrella stretch outward, covering an area of several square kiloters.
Countless one-ter-diater rings are embedded in the elongated rib structure, aiming at the "handle" tip pointing to the ground, like the suction cups on an octopus's tentacle.
Several months ago, the Alliance initiated the Gravity Well to clear orbital debris floating in outer space, and this sky-based weapon was relocated outside the geosynchronous orbit.
Now, with all the debris from the lower orbit having fallen into the Southern sea area, this massive weapon has been moved back again.
The direction calibration was completed quickly, and one by one, the rings gradually emitted a dark blue glow, like lamps slowly lighting up in the long night.
And this illumination lasted an entire day...
...
On the other side, in the Dawn City Ground Command Center, officers led by Vanus stood with solemn expressions, watching the pale blue holographic screen in front of them.
A military operation codenad "Divine Punishnt" had already comnced.
Multiple corps of the Alliance, spearheaded by the Skeleton Corps and Death Legion, were advancing from Pioneer City and the Lavanka Industrial Zone, heading towards Shelter No. 13 located in the central region of the Great Desert from both north and south directions!
anwhile, as the ground forces charged vehently towards the Enlightennt Society's headquarters, the strategic weapon known as "Thunder" had already arrived on the battlefield yesterday, entering the final stage of strategic attack preparations.
Watching the aerial footage of the orbital weapon on the holographic screen, a senior officer couldn't help but remark.
"Honestly, using this kind of weapon against them always gives the feeling of using artillery to swat mosquitoes."
"Thunder" is a disposable weapon, and once fired, it essentially becos obsolete, much like a missile.
While it has extraordinary effects against organic matter, it's not as effective against bionics as an electromagnetic pulse.
A long ti ago, the Enlightennt Society, with assistance from the celestial beings, had equipped a large number of bionic soldiers and intelligent weapons, and the Enlightennt Society has now almost been completely assimilated by the celestial beings.
Even if the neutron plu could erase their peripheral personnel from the surface with one keystroke, the Alliance's ground forces would still have to engage in a real battle with those bionics.
Vanus understood what his subordinates were thinking.
From a tactical perspective, using "Thunder" against the Enlightennt Society is indeed not the most efficient ans, but from a strategic level, it is a different matter altogether.
"Right now is precisely the ti when artillery should be used against mosquitoes."
Adjusting the brim of his officer's cap with his index finger, Vanus continued with a stern expression.
"You could even say that this weapon was born for this very mont."
Even during the most intense phases of war with the Southern Legion, the Alliance never played this card they held in hand.
Because ultimately, the other side was still human, not having completely beco beasts or another kind of existence.
But the Enlightennt Society is different.
Including the celestial beings they rely on.
They have committed an unforgivable cri in fact and threatened the rights of all survivors on the Wasteland to survive.
No one deserves "Divine Punishnt" more than themselves.
That beam of light descending from the heavens brings not only destruction.
There is also deterrence!
While the two were discussing, a cold electronic voice rang out in the empty command room—
"'SOG' System deploynt complete, Phase-Neutron Killing Strategic Orbital Cannon entering the third charging phase."
"Countdown: 0 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds."
...
The suspended sword of Damocles shimred with an increasingly dazzling icy sheen, silently counting down to the final sound of the endga.
In the sand-covered ruins, mutant wanderers wearing battle-damaged exoskeletons were searching the remnants of orbital debris for valuable treasures, occasionally checking if there were any human scavengers hidden in the rubble.
A long ti ago, the Enlightennt Society had issued a high bounty to them.
If they could find a shelter that had been activated but not yet discovered, they would be rewarded with at least 100 fertile slaves.
As for those weird tal parts, they could be exchanged at resource points for usable exoskeletons and assault rifles specifically designed for their physique.
In fact, aside from the survivors hiding in turtle shells and those who had retreated to Shelter No. 13 within the Enlightennt Society, no living humans have remained on the surface near the space elevator ruins of the Great Desert.
Due to the absence of order and the indulgent tolerance by the Enlightennt Society, this area had long beco a paradise for mutants.
Today, as usual, the "Fang" with a missing ear was humming as it buried its head in search.
However, unlike usual, its keen nose suddenly detected a faint scent amidst the noisy sand.
Different from the pervasive sll of rust—
That scent was almost like death itself!
Alert, it raised its head, twisted its neck, and looked around like a prairie dog erging from its burrow.
Yet at that instant, those ferocious bloodshot eyes suddenly revealed a hint of astonishnt and panic.
Amid the rolling dust, nurous large silver aircraft flew close to the ground.
The deafening roar approached from afar, the flashing plasma plu resembling lava erupting from a volcano!
They seed to be the Alliance's "Overlord" transport planes!
Besides the transport planes, alongside them flew flapping "Cloud Dragonfly" machines, gliding in parallel!
"Roar——!"
Having never seen such an earth-shaking scene, the mutants standing in the trash heaps were completely panicked, grabbing their weapons and calling out to their companions as they loaded their guns.
Thousands of mutants erged from the ruins.
So wore exoskeletons, clutching large-caliber rifles, while others wore nothing, hanging a few pieces of tal on themselves for courage, relying on loud shouts to embolden themselves.
The silver torrent certainly noticed them as two "Overlord" transport planes lowered their altitude, their bellies nearly touching the ground, reducing their speed to the limit!
Right at that mont, the transport plane's doors opened instantly, and dozens of Chira armored cars rolled out from the tilted doors!
"Prepare for battle!!!"
A player erged halfway from the turret of an armored car, gripping the heavy machine gun mounted on the turret, and started firing wildly at the ruins ahead!
The 37mm cannon on the turret was equally relentless, spewing high-explosive rounds one after another, pounding the distant shelters like a drum!
Under the crossfire from the .50 caliber machine guns and 37mm cannons, the mutants lurking on the edge of the ruins were imdiately forced to keep their heads down!
Just as the mutant wanderers were suppressed by the firepower, a "Thunder" bomber swooped from the sky, emptying its bays in rely two seconds!
"Boom——!"
Thunderous rain of bullets followed the flashing sparks closely, instantly grinding a trench several ters long and more than half a ter deep in the ruins!
Dozens of mutants bearing anti-tank rocket launchers were killed instantly, the solid defense line being torn open with a breach within monts!
The Cloud Dragonfly Swarm swept in, mounted machine guns strafing the ground.
In just a few breaths, over 3,000 mutants suffered heavy casualties under the fierce bombardnt, those surviving were shell-shocked, fleeing desperately.
They certainly couldn't escape.
Even if they could escape the Chira armored cars and Cloud Dragonfly machine's strafing, they definitely wouldn't escape the descent of the divine punishnt an hour later!
The Alliance's small detachnts prowling outside the nuclear strike zone acted like scissors, clipping the mutant forces of the Enlightennt Society scattered near the base of the orbital elevator wreckage, while driving them toward the nuclear strike zone.
Only the permanent bunkers of the refuge could withstand the neutron plu descending from the sky.
Death was inevitable for them.
From the turret erged half the body of the Escaped Vole in the Canyon, squinting at the direction where the mutant wanderers were fleeing.
Truly too weak.
Compared with the opponents he faced before, these guys could only be described as utterly vulnerable.
Of course—
Perhaps it's not that their opponents are too weak, but that they've beco too strong, so much so that no one on this planet could be considered their opponents any longer.
Perhaps this is the last battle.
If a new expansion were to release, they might fear it could only be tackled on another planet.
His index finger tapped the earpiece of his communicator, the Escaped Vole in the Canyon yelled a charge through the communication channel.
"Brothers——"
"Our brothers who infiltrated No.13 Shelter have already risen up, it's ti to send these rats to hell!"
"Forward!!!"
The deafening voice cut through the engine roars, responding to him were excited shouts of the sa kind.
"Kill——!!!"
...
"Bang——!"
No.13 Shelter.
At the sa ti the gunfire erupted in the conference room, another shot rang out in the transit station of the refuge.
Residents of the refuge wearing exoskeletons held assault rifles in their hands, with light blue identification strips on their arms, and launched a sudden attack on the security forces stationed at the transport hub, assisted by undercover operatives.
Just as Zhuang Lan said, she was never fighting alone and has been side by side with like-minded people.
These included not only residents of Shelter No. 404 but also residents from other shelters, as well as those deceived by the Enlightennt Society but who eventually saw the truth.
They ford an organization called "Watcher."
While the Enlightennt Society was busy infiltrating the Survivor Forces scattered across the Wasteland, they were already plotting their own infiltration of the Enlightennt Society, gradually extending their reach into No.13 Shelter with the help of Marik!
Although the Enlightennt Society was adept at petty thefts, it had long since been assimilated by the Heavenly Beings Organization into sothing half-human, half-demonic, lost in the ga of power, and gradually neglected its original expertise.
Because of this, they were completely unaware of the Watchers' infiltration, caught off guard by the sudden gunfire as they awaited divine retribution.
An explosive electromagnetic pulse grenade instantly incapacitated the security drones whizzing through the air, and the unexpected gunfire left the heavily armored bionic security guards stunned!
Nearly a hundred Watchers rapidly infiltrated the transit platform near the rail transport station, unleashing a burst of gunfire at the security robots being reinforced from the staircase.
Nearly thirty robots were instantly shot down!
They exploded in a dazzling electrical spark amid the choking smoke, followed by a thunderous detonation!
The scene was chaotic, gunfire and explosions incessant, like a purgatory on earth.
Although no one fired on the civilians, stray bullets from misfires still caused casualties among more than a dozen uninvolved individuals on site.
Screams rose and fell, the alarm blared loudly amidst the smoke, and people rushed to escape to the safety exits.
Clearly—
Their choice to turn a blind eye didn't truly help them escape chaos and death, even if they had chosen to sell their souls and stand beside the devil.
Nor was silence truly without cost; it just ca a little later.
No matter that it was indeed pitiable.
The battle was still ongoing.
Over a dozen Watchers wearing exoskeletons swiftly seized control of the transport hub's machine room, implanted a virus to shut down the operating rail lines, and then broadcast an announcent declaring the occupation of the refuge, guiding the residents to evacuate to designated safe areas.
In the conference room on the other side, Apocalypse, who was confronting Zhuang Lan, still had a blank expression on his face, but those scarlet electronic eyes radiated bone-chilling coldness.
The situation was gradually turning unfavorable for the Enlightennt Society, perhaps the ti to turn his back needed more careful consideration.
However, it seed too late to regret it now.
The opposing party obviously took precise advantage of this fact, choosing this critical juncture to attack the Enlightennt Society and Heavenly Beings.
"I'll leave this to you."
Throwing this line at Tianlei beside him, Apocalypse turned swiftly, leaving the conference room with two bionic participants, heading towards the refuge's server room.
anwhile, a group of robot security forces stord into the conference room, their pitch-black assault rifles threatening to turn everyone inside into a sieve in the next second.
"Go to hell."
Staring at the exoskeleton-clad organisms before him, Tianlei's face broke into a vicious grin, raising his right hand to signal the security forces to open fire.
But at that critical mont, the ceiling overhead suddenly exploded.
"Boom—!"
The burst debris, shrouded in thick smoke, cascaded down like a waterfall, covering the entire corridor outside the conference room, catching the security robots completely off-guard.
Soone had planted dynamite in the ventilation system!
And it wasn't just that—
At the sa mont the shattered rebar ca crashing down, riotous laughter also descended on the heads of the security robots!
"Hahaha! Finally, it's my turn to show off!"
Wearing a light exoskeleton and brandishing an assault rifle, dical Miracle stepped on the ceiling and descended from above, wildly spraying the bionic entities standing at the conference room entrance!
Tianlei's eyes flashed red, his arms stretching forward like lightning, a large barrel erging from his palms ready to fire, but with a "clang," his head flew skyward.
The scimitar in his hand was like a phantom. Watching the headless bionic entity attempt to turn and defend, Zhuang Lan lifted her hand and struck again, cleaving directly into the bionic entity's chest against the erupting sparks!
"Clang—!"
The titanic sound of tal echoed in the corridor, imdiately followed by a deafening explosion.
Seeing the boss taken out in a second, dical Miracle was dumbfounded and exclaid in shock.
"Screw! My boss!"
MMP!
I've been playing dumb for months, just waiting for this mont, and it gets snatched away!!
Unable to understand what he was saying, Zhuang Lan waved the knife in his hand, and said succinctly.
"You're late."
"Got held up on the way..." the dical Miracle said with deep regret.
Seeing his pained expression, Zhuang Lan teased him with a comnt.
"Don't worry, I'm fine... but a few more minutes and I might not be, thanks."
"You're welco."
I wasn't worried about you at all.
The dical Miracle, enduring the flesh pain, walked into the eting room, glanced around, then grabbed Director Feng who was lying on the ground, pressed him onto a chair, and sprayed a hemostatic spray on his bleeding leg.
A shot pierced the artery.
The fact that this guy is still alive ans he either has prosthetics or he's really lucky.
Looking at the pale face, the dical Miracle coughed twice, adjusted his serious expression, and extended the vm on his arm.
"You have two choices, either hand over the Manager's rights to or die."
No.13 Shelter has no Manager; instead, the permissions are temporarily held by a Director elected by all survivor forces.
If the Director dies, the permissions are inherited by the Assistant Director. If the Assistant Director also dies, a new vote is initiated.
This rule was established by the First Generation Manager before his death and has stood for over a century.
So he wasn't at all afraid that this guy wouldn't hand over the rights, at most wasting a bullet.
And indeed, as he expected, Director Feng almost without hesitation threw out the control rights, transferring it to the wrist-mounted computer in front of him.
"Here you go! Take it! Damn, I shouldn't have gotten involved in this ss, these ungrateful wretches..."
He scread shrilly while trembling, cold sweat streaming from his pale forehead, yet he seed sowhat relieved.
The power that once enchanted him now was discarded like trash, as if it was sothing filthy.
The dical Miracle, half-squatting on the ground, was getting up when he heard this and couldn't help but frown again.
"It's your own fault for being incompetent... what does it have to do with the Residents of the refuge?"
Director Feng looked at him in fear and imdiately toned down so, yet he still stubbornly muttered.
"You also think it's my fault, don't you? Haha... victor gets it all, think what you will. But I have to say, I rely voiced their deepest desires and acted on them... and in the end, the responsibility fell on ."
"Shouldn't you bear the responsibility?" The dical Miracle shrugged, "After all, you enjoyed it, those 'ungrateful wretches' might not have."
Ignoring the ashen-faced fool, he placed his index finger on the VM screen, marking the areas pointed out by the Watcher Organization comrades one by one.
Those areas were the only roads for security robots heading to the orbital transit hub.
Once the gate between the areas is sealed, they will completely lose the chance to reclaim the orbital transit station, only able to watch helplessly as the Watchers occupy it.
In contrast, the Watchers' broadcast was guiding the Residents of the refuge near the gate.
After the divine punishnt descends, they will evacuate the willing Residents of the refuge one batch at a ti, then permanently bury the Enlightennt Society mbers and the already descended celestial beings who wish to stay here.
Seize the entire refuge?
The Alliance never considered such thankless work from the beginning.
The celestial beings' virus had already corrupted most of the servers in the refuge.
This refuge was already ruined, and even with Manager's rights, it was useless.
Perhaps it won't be long before even the authority to open and close doors is taken by the celestial beings...
Just as the dical Miracle was connecting the circuits of the shelter door, the holographic TV placed in the corner of the eting room suddenly lit up, and a distorted face appeared from the pale blue light.
That person was Apocalypse.
After leaving the eting room earlier, he seed to have fully uploaded his mind onto the shelter's server.
This was probably his last resort, the hysterical roar had an air of final madness.
"You won't succeed—"
"The terminal server of this refuge is already under my control, it won't be long before I pry the door open and use the security machines in this refuge to rip you apart!"
Listening to the impotent rage, the dical Miracle mocked with a laugh.
"Who's fighting you for the server."
"You just cling to that rusty server and live with it for the rest of your life."
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