Chapter 807: Chapter 807: Soulless
“Leader Bee form switching.” Ola suddenly said in a low voice, and the continuous explosion sounds around made not hear what she said clearly, but when I turned to ask, the other party had already begun to change.
Her ankle-length hair, almost comparable to a silver mane of Bingdisi, carried a faint halo, dancing in the air without wind. Ola herself gradually floated into the air amid electromagnetic disturbance-like noise, while the three pairs of crystal-tal blade cannons at her back slowly adjusted their angle and started rotating around her body in opposite directions. In the surrounding air, subtle energy fluctuations hovered, growing in intensity as Ola’s six bladed wing started glowing with a reddish hue. Within a minute, Ola almost beca like a dazzling beacon, emitting powerful pulse waves outward.
My gaze rested on Ola’s smooth facemask, but of course, I couldn’t see her expression; I could only see the rapidly scrolling data, seemingly spatial coordinates, across the surface of the mask. In our ears, the electronic noise, reminiscent of radio interference, beca even more piercing, indicating that the other side was at full energy.
“Beacon Leader Bee!”
This ti, I heard Ola’s words clearly.
In that mont, I was slightly dazed, ignoring even the increasingly frequent explosions around , feeling a mix of emotions. Sandora was right, the Leader Bee really is a versatile multitasker; capable of attack output, defensive shielding, resurrecting an ally on the battlefield, summoning reinforcents when manpower is lacking, and even turning into an antenna when signals are poor. I could hardly imagine the limits of the Leader Bee’s crystal abilities—except turning into a chanical dog seed beyond her capabilities…
Later, this guess of mine proved entirely mistaken. After interacting with a few visitors from Cybertron, Ola quickly mastered how to transform into a chanical dog, and incidentally learned how to turn into a Chery QQ— but that is a story for later.
What nonsense am I blabbering on about, damn it!
“Transporter has been established, please ensure this unit’s safety within the next ten minutes.”
Ola turned her gaze this way, and said with a slight nod. Her bees had begun action, unfolding layers of Ghost Energy Shields and seemingly very solid crystal walls around the position. Artillery fire from afar exploded upon these walls with resounding bangs, yet Raven’s magic and the laser gun on the tail of the Armored Scorpion could penetrate these physical barriers to launch attacks from afar, which was astonishing.
“Ten minutes, easy as pie!”
Bingdisi laughed heartily, unleashing a barrage of Holy Light Arrows trailing long tails of light. Then she pulled from her body two massive and hollow-brick-looking Divine Canons wrapped in tal shells, linking them together with an iron chain decked with blades and barbs, flipping them like a pair of maces to pulverize an enemy Armored Scorpion that had suddenly charged forward. Yelsen was once again pushed forward by his sister, but this ti, before taking the field, he neither cried nor protested; instead, he stood resolutely before the Armored Scorpion, activating his giant shield’s Holy Light Barrier, his expression steadfast as if intending to blow up a fortress—if not for the twenty-two layers of Ghost Energy Shields and as many crystal walls in front of him, this expression might have been more convincing.
The enemy’s rapid forces have already engaged the landing units, with the vanguard being the Revenge Army’s Armored Scorpions. They are a group of crazy Samurai clad in armor and carapace very similar to Vega’s, but every inch of their armor is blood-red. They steadily withstood the deadly Arcane Barrage and Leader Bee’s laser guns as they charged forward, with one sole target: Ola, who was transmitting the navigation signal.
But blocking these crazy soldiers was the even more powerful Vega and her elite soldiers.
The Ship-Slicing Blades clashed fiercely in the air, creating enough force to ripple the air visibly—because the place was filled with dust. The Armored Scorpions fought brutally and straightforwardly, with their only creed being to slash down with their great blades, and if that failed, they would strike with their tails. What unfolded before us was a savage lee encounter of cold weapons amid the environnt of ultra-advanced firearms, the deafening tal clashes and tears creating resonances in our brains. Nearly a hundred chanical Scorpions charged, collided, and fought viciously across half a kiloter’s distance. Vega seed to have finally found opponents that could satisfy her in lee combat; she alone wielded twin blades, challenging two enemies who were evidently junior officers among the Revenge Army Scorpions, ravaging our eardrums and simultaneously the ground beneath her feet, growing bolder with every fight—her opponents, despite having swung their swords into blurs of silver mist, still found themselves suppressed by Vega.
Raven 001, serving as aerial fire support, was agitatedly scratching his head, leaping up and down, and close to cursing; he shouted with no tact at all: “Idiots! Vega! Get your at-headed soldiers to stop jumping around! Careful, or I’ll bomb your heads later!”
“Then unleash everything!” Vega swatted away an approaching Armored Scorpion attempting a sneak attack with a flick of her tail, shouting loudly, “I’m tougher than they are! The creed of the Armored Scorpion: Don’t fear damage, as long as the enemy ends up more damaged than you, it’s a win!”
I was embarrassed by the formidable worldview held by the Armored Scorpions, deeply understanding why Pandora and Visca often privately praised the strict discipline and high morale of the Armored Scorpion Unit. They were truly war machines that regarded life as insignificant. Their first feature was not fearing risk, and their second feature was not fearing risking others’ lives…
Raven 001 glanced irritably at the Scorpion Sisters, who were now blazing with Helium-3, and hastily cast a vast chain of lightning towards the distant horizon, where a swarm of black dots was quickly approaching. These were Xyrin Soldiers specialized in aerial combat, not particularly strong individually, but often appearing in large groups and regenerating quickly, making them a nuisance when they engage. Raven understood well the role she and her Magic Army should play in such scenarios, so she stopped paying attention to the Scorpion Soldiers busy with their blade fights and focused wholly on intercepting the enemy’s air support—the sound of single soldier fighter jets’ engines was already rumbling in the distance, signifying the next wave of enemy support had arrived.
On the ground battlefield, Vega’s Scorpion Soldiers had gained the upper hand. Although these were also Armored Scorpions, the Revenge Army’s units were clearly mass-produced standard soldiers, while those Vega brought were carefully selected captains, each serving in the Royal Guard. The difference in strength between the two sides was significant even with equal numbers. Soon, the Revenge Army’s Scorpion Soldiers, in their frenzy of distinguishing neither friend nor foe, suffered heavy losses as they sparked and faltered. Although Vega’s soldiers also sustained casualties, their situation was much better. Furthermore, we brought a large number of Leader Bees, which allowed even the unfortunate fallen Armored Scorpions to be resurrected and returned to the fight swiftly, while the severely injured received care from Uncle Kenser. Even though he’s not skilled in chanical repairs, the domineering power of the Holy Light, which can restore ‘wounds’ to their original state, had turned him into a professional battlefield repair technician, with his scepter waving, keeping the soldiers continuously in full health and state.
Of course, when talking about the most professional nanny, it has to be…
“Yay~!~! Dingdang is the best!!”
This little one dancing an infinity dance in the sky.
After two weeks of adjusting from jet lag back and forth, Dingdang was finally in a clear-headed state, strictly speaking, awakened by the deafening artillery outside. When she realized a battle was happening around her, she chattered for quite so ti, appearing confused about the situation. Then she took on the responsibility of healing the wounded.
Regardless of physical form, whether chanical limbs or energy bodies, as long as there’s life, in the power of the Life Goddess, there is no difference. Dingdang’s Light of Life defies reason even more than Uncle Kenser’s Holy Light. Thanks to this bundle of energetic spirit hopping everywhere, our small unit could stand firm under such a large-scale saturation bombardnt, maintaining our ground. After all, even though several leader-level figures were among us, the enemy had the entire planet’s reinforcents, and the protection from Leader Bee and 123 couldn’t cover everything. Casualties were inevitable—luckily, Dingdang was there, always tily healing both the unluckily stray-shot Raven (for flying too high) and the scarred Armored Scorpions (due to nerve frenzy).
“Sand of Ti passes with the wind…”
Qianqian’s voice echoed in my ear as two single soldier fighter jets, gliding from high above, preparing to release space internal explosion bombs, spiraled down and crashed, disintegrating into ashes before hitting the ground. The chaotic ti sliced every base particle of theirs into pieces, this near-law-like attack wasn’t sothing any shield could withstand.
The fierce battle continued, and right from the onset, I noted one thing: whether it was Big Sister, Vega’s soldiers, or even the Divine Clan’s Tiaozi Five, they were all holding back.
Despite the intense combat and constant cries of battle, everyone tried to disable the enemy rather than destroy them outright whenever possible. Most of the Revenge Army’s Armored Scorpions were rely dismbered by Vega’s Scorpion Soldiers—losing limbs or even just a torso was only light damage to an Armored Scorpion. Their true body was the torso; other parts were combat accessories easily replaced back at the base.
Everyone understood why there was a conscious restraint in their actions, though it didn’t quite align with the usual iron-blooded deanor of Xyrin Soldiers. In this frustrating battle, holding back beca a subconscious choice for everyone: because these enemies rushing at us looked almost identical to the soldiers we usually went into battle with side by side.
However, as the battle persisted, we noticed sothing peculiar, which made us feel maybe holding back wasn’t necessary.
All the enemies seed to… lack souls?
Initially, I couldn’t sense this, but the Leader Bees could. One of their crystal powers was using souls to resurrect comrades, making them extrely sensitive to soul reactions, regardless of whether it was friend or foe, alive or dead. After the combat continued for a while, a Leader Bee suddenly reported this strange phenonon through the spiritual connection: she discovered that all the enemies in front of us had soul reactions so weak that they were abnormal, so even having no soul reaction at all!
I don’t know how to describe the feelings in my heart at that mont, it was a mix of surprise, confusion, and even a bit of relief.
No soul, what does that an?
In front of us, could these rely be shells?
What has always been frustrating for Sandora and us is the need to fight against our forr compatriots from the Old Empire. These are normal Apostles not polluted by the Abyss, who even shout long live the Queen as they die in battle, yet we have no choice but to unleash fatal firepower upon them. This kind of unwinnable war has beco unbearable, and Sandora has been feeling extrely depressed these days. But now, we’ve finally discovered the difference between the Revenge Army and normal Xyrin Apostles: they’re nothing but bodies.
“Soldier, are you sure?”
While blocking the increasingly dense artillery fire coming from all directions, I loudly asked the Leader Bee standing guard beside . It was this Leader Bee with a long ponytail who suddenly reported no soul reaction detected from the enemy. She seed to be a soldier specially enhanced for reconnaissance.
The other party wore a silver-white mask like Ola, with a red triangular alert symbol floating on it, indicating she was now in the “Fla Leader Bee” state—honestly, I can’t really figure out the ssy states of these bees. While maintaining the Energy Shield around Ola, she replied in a ticulous voice: “Absolutely certain, sir. The soul reaction on the Revenge Army’s soldiers is extrely abnormal. Most of the enemies have major defects in their souls, a small portion of soldiers have only fragnts remaining, and in extre cases, so soldiers even have no soul. They are fighting according to instinct, along with a thought process currently impossible to determine.”
A bomber desperately dropping Space Internal Bombs spiraled and crashed hundreds of ters away. The aircraft was entwined with vine-like plants as thick as arms, even penetrating the armor directly into the cockpit. The pilot inside was clearly dead before the crash. The shockwave from such a giant crashing hundreds of ters away filled the air around us with dust, and I vigorously patted Lilina’s head to make her reduce the commotion while shouting: “An indeterminable thought process? What do you an?”
“These soldiers have thoughts,” the Leader Bee answered loudly while firing Blade Cannons at Revenge Army infantry appearing in sight, “They fight using thought, but this thinking process is unrelated to the soul. Sir, the inherent knowledge system of the Leader Bees cannot explain this phenonon, but I speculate the Revenge Army may use an ancient chanical code to replace their missing souls, maintaining their operation.”
“Like War Puppets?”
“As you say, but likely more flexible than War Puppets.”
The Leader Bee nodded in response.
Nearly in unison, my sister and I shouted out: “Think of a way to capture them alive!”
Who would have thought our landing operation would uncover such facts? Just this one piece of intelligence made today worthwhile!
It’s uncertain about the advanced mbers of the Revenge Army, but their mid-to-low-level combat units turned out to be re shells, sothing even Sandora hadn’t realized. Before this landing operation, the Imperial Army already had a face-off with the enemy when the Engineering Corps was attacked. Several Mad Armored Scorpions infiltrated the Engineering Ship and were subsequently surrounded and killed by the Host Guard. However, that encounter ended in extrely intense and heated combat, making it impossible for the Host Guard to observe the enemy’s soul status as we do (they don’t have such functionality either), so this is basically our first real understanding of the state of the Revenge Army Apostles.
Right after my sister and I finished speaking, Lilina imdiately cooperated. She wanted to capture so “specins.” If we could capture so Revenge Army soldiers alive, we might unravel the mystery on them, like what happened to their souls and why they beca like this. But this black-hearted bishop’s attempt was not very successful—we once again witnessed the self-destructing artistry of the Revenge Army.
“Boom—boom!”
Several heavily damaged enemy soldiers erupted with astonishing power, breaking free of Lilina’s vine restraints and charging straight towards us. Halfway through, their bodies started splitting, revealing the Ghost Energy Core glowing with blue light inside. Fortunately, two Blade Cannons suddenly leaped to their side in ti for interception, turning them into shards before self-destruct.
And such suicidal attacks have now occurred more than once.
The Revenge Army soldiers are impossible to capture, or in other words, no Xyrin Empire soldier can capture them alive by normal ans. After losing combat capability, they without exception choose self-destruction, including those we purposely spared, turning into human bombs. Soon, I found one enemy with severed limbs even more dangerous than when fully ard: their self-destruct power exceeded their weaponry.
Quickly around us were littered with broken fragnts after suicides; the land, after Lin’s landing, was tornted again, almost forming a basin landscape. The enemy’s lee units were wiped out, and the spies attempting close attacks also obliterated by Armored Scorpions, yet the bombardnt from afar grew denser: the enemy’s third wave of support had arrived.
However, Ola’s morph finished by now, with countless translucent ripples appearing in the air. The ground troops from the Mother Ship had begun their teleport.
“Expand the force field! Provide landing points for reinforcents, and prepare to transfer, everyone else!”
While ordering, I moved closer to Qianqian, who was gleefully turning those ever-attacking Single Soldier Fighter Jets into dust. I patted her shoulder, which made her coldly reply: “Spit it out!”
“Can you capture an enemy using Ti Freeze?”
Knowing Qianqian doesn’t like nonsense now, I straightforwardly asked.
Revenge Army soldiers explode upon capture, and draining their energy only gives us a corpse. To know their “soulless” secret, we need live samples. It seems only Qianqian can achieve this task now.
“Can’t,” Qianqian replied without turning back, “Items in Ti Freeze can’t be researched by those technicians, and releasing the Ti Freeze, they’ll self-destruct again.”
Realizing she’s right, I regretfully watched another batch of enemy troops assaulting from afar. Those deathless soldiers surely knew they’re facing a group of Leader-level Apostles unbeaten by re numbers, yet they still charged relentlessly to buy ti. However, we no longer needed to concern ourselves here.
The air was filled with transparent spatial ripples, with the completion of Ola’s “transportation,” masses of soldiers and atmospheric war vehicles stread from these Teleportation Gates. The Leader Bees expanded the Protective Barrier’s range, giving these newly arrived soldiers space to set up their positions, while the Ravens increased long-range fire suppression, thwarting the enemy’s bombardnt and reinforcents from executing effectively.
Amidst the chaos of flying artillery, the just-arrived reinforcents swiftly established frontline bunkers, needing no orders), they had pre-coordinated all actions via the command link, swiftly setting up dense heavy bunkers and Single Soldier Gun Towers across quite a vast terrain before the protective Shield exhausted from the Leader Bee’s forced expansion.
The position has been consolidated. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian) to vote with recomndation or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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