Chapter 710
Chapter 710 - 696: Big Trouble
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8 min read
Accompanying the rumbling of the earth was the continuous falling of trees.
It was not a monster truck trying to clear the wilderness, but merely the aftershocks of the advancing real reinforcements.
The earth kept shaking, and the birds and beasts in the sky were escaping at high speed... The might of that reinforcement force was astonishingly savage at all levels.
When the reinforcements from the Aus people truly appeared in front of them, even the most optimistic warriors fell into hesitation and unease.
They, or rather it, was only one.
"...A mythical-class monster?! How is that possible!"
What had crushed through the forest and mountains with seemingly slow but quick steps was a giant turtle-like creature.
Its deep green head was covered with shiny black phosphor, and pale purple energy kept overflowing from it, which just by existing was causing distortion in the air.
Its movement was continuously causing micro-earthquakes, and on its back was a clearly visible fortress-like structure.
Alert sentries saw many humanoid figures upon it as well.
This familiar sight stirred fear from their memory.
"How could it be?!"
"It’s impossible, how did they manage to tame a mythical-class giant beast..."
"Why didn’t the Aus people say? These captives dare to deceive us?"
Many people had seen this giant beast in documents. Its thunderous stride and furious storms, crashing into volcanoes and charging into magma seas were recorded under the category "too dangerous, do not touch".
But how could the Aus people possibly tame such a level of giant beast that might have even fostered the world’s primary rules or even divine rights?
"It’s not that! It’s not that, look, it’s much smaller! It’s not of the same order of magnitude at all!"
Indeed, upon closer observation, many distinct differences were quite clear, and some people even flipped out photos...
This dragon-turtle was a lot smaller. It didn’t seem that way from afar, but if you compare the size, perhaps the difference is about the same as between an aircraft carrier and a model aircraft carrier.
"It’s not even close, that one carries a city on its back, while this one carries just a turret..."
The person speaking seemed to let out a sigh of relief, but the very next moment, he became tense again.
The huge cannon on it had fired.
A plume of black smoke rose, and the arc of the projectile seemed like the black death god attacking.
Another mountaintop directly exploded into black clouds.
The entire cliff collapsed, and the fallen rocks were parading its deterrence.
Is this deterrence? Intimidation? Or...
"The usual problem with Vortex Stone weapons. With this range and firepower, it can’t possibly hit its target. This is just pointless intimidation..."
Another loud cannon-fire, another mountain collapses.
Even if the words that this person shouted were correct, an attack of this level cannot be ignored. Who could ensure that it won’t hit the target by fluke next time?
"Chris? What’s that thing?"
"It should be what you call the ’Wind Thunder Turtle’s’ bloodline descendant. It could be a hybrid created by extracting a bloodline, or maybe a stolen cub... No matter which one, it’s not good news."
"If it’s a fake hybrid, its strength will be much weaker, right? Is it still that hard to replicate a powerful magical beast?"
"If it’s a hybrid fake, it means they have mass-production capabilities, even though the price is probably sky-high.... Imagine, what would you do if you saw twelve of these things lined up in front of you?"
At this point, the Aus person who was originally in charge of this mining area was sought after again. However, just a glance at the creature left him stunned.
"The ’Land Battleship’ project succeeded?! That’s not possible!"
Apparently, he was in the know.
Turns out, this was originally a task for his former company: to create a synthetic giant beast by stealing the ’Wind Thunder Turtle’s’ blood.
As for how exactly was it operated? Even though he was a high-ranking official at the time, he only glanced at the files and shortly heard that the project was shut down, seemingly scared off by the terrifying budget.
Obviously, the project had been restarted by the wealthier Hod Company, and it had already made progress.
"How did you guys get the blood and body tissues? That stuff is overwhelmingly powerful."
Think about the monster that harnesses wild wind and thunder, fiercely fends off volcanic disasters--no one expects the "blood collection" to be easy.
Even if you could step on the giant beast’s turtleback.....with a monster of this level, breaking through its defences is a challenge, let alone invoking its counterattack where even the rule-level could perish in a second.
"Quite simple, there are some lower-level creatures living on it, we just traded with them, they had a way...heh, those things get easily satisfied. A bit of grain and fruits made them sell us the divine blood they extracted."
What’s more, the manager scratched his head while speaking, seeming a bit embarrassed.
"Later on, the whole plan was cancelled. Apparently, we cheated them and didn’t give them their final payment, even deceived them for a lot of local specialties..."
With this, the Eastern Countrymen finally understood why those beast-eared, wise creatures on the turtleback slaughtered them mercilessly the moment they saw the Eastern Country sentinels.
So it was you guys who tarnished the reputation of the whole humanity....
But right now, the monster in front of them has become a big problem for the Eastern Countrymen.
As for the Aus caravan that emerged from the forest after a while, it’s less important for the moment.
However, the Aus folks obviously have matured tactics.
The beast has become the core of their fleet, monster trucks and tanks became its guards, with even more mercenaries wandering freely among them.
Is this some sort of aircraft carrier tactics? Or the new era’s infantry-tank synergy?
In any case, when a super unit advances collectively with a lot of guards and functional units, those pushed against will surely resent it.
At this moment, many people regretted ... they should have eliminated the Aus people in front of them first to seize more battlefield initiative.
As expected, the beast started to unofficially approach the frontline.
Another loud explosion, this time even the explosion point is unknowable. At least when looking back, no one could detect any trace of the explosion.
But everyone knew, if it continues this random shelling, there would be a moment they won’t be able to hold up anymore.
Even if the Eastern Countrymen have continued their lucky streak.....the beast’s size can easily crush any defense.
At this moment, everyone already knew they had once again underestimated the Aus people’s array and resolve here.
With this kind of war weapon coming out, there’s no more way out for the Eastern Countrymen.
Reality isn’t like a game, where you can gradually level up from fighting slimes to the Four Heavenly Kings - that’s purely narrative requirement.
In a real war, the normal winning logic is to play your trump cards at the beginning and use any available resources in hand.
".....Chris?"
".....How about, we consider Plan Zero."
Lu Ping’an’s Plan Zero, i.e., go for broke and leave.
Though Big Cat might be kidding, the suggestion was an indication that she had no solution either.
This creature with a massive size and overflowing energy exerts a strong oppressive force, it sure possesses a "power" at the rule-level.
Being a bit closer, the Eastern Countrymen could see the "fortress" on it, and the huge guns on it reminded them of hand-made naval artillery.
But its robust defensive layer and the beast’s terrible aura made one doubt whether the rifles they held could even scratch its scales.
At that moment, Lu Ping’an was seriously contemplating Big Cat’s option.
Such strength of this creature has already exceeded the limit his team could handle...
But looking back at the Radio Tower Monster...or perhaps they could transport it using the courtyard, to minimize the losses.
As long as the Radio Tower is still there, they can try again somewhere else, the loss wouldn’t be huge then.
But Lu Ping’an also saw fear and uncertainty in the eyes of others, if they ran away, it would demoralize completely... along with it would be the reality that medium to large gathering areas would no longer be safe, and people would be too afraid to stick together anymore.
It might not be a complete setback, but it wouldn’t be much better either.
It was indeed a constant trouble to run away, but it’s still better than dying here.
Just when Lu Ping’an was about to give orders, a sudden voice came up through the radio network.
Hope was here.
"I am Qian Guozhong, Colonel ... Sha...., Captain of the First Independent Regiment stationed by Eastern Country in Teridya’an ... hold on!"
— End of Chapter 710 —