Chapter 712
Chapter 712 - 698: Flames of War
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8 min read
"I always feel like this thing is unreliable."
"...There’s no need for you to feel that way, the materials it’s made of are too precious. A total of three were made, and one was tested before."
"No, I’m not talking about its stability, it obviously can’t be mass-produced, and it’s unlikely to have any quality assurance. I mean...how do you aim it? Does it have a safety system?"
In front of him is a white, round cylinder with a hole on one side and an indicator light and filling pit on the other.
Even the handle seems to have been temporarily attached. Considering the recoil of the previous sniper cannon, Lu Ping’an even suspects that the recoil of this thing could send a person rocketing into the sky.
Uh, on second thought, there’s no need to doubt that; it’s highly likely that the rocket launcher would take off upon firing.
Death is acceptable, but dying in a comedic fashion is simply too much.
"Range? Accuracy? Can I get a rough usage guide...never mind, forget I asked."
Lu Ping’an knows that the range and accuracy of this thing are probably a mystery, so he can only...
"...get as close as possible, preferably point-blank."
"Mmm, the closer the better. In the first test firing, the warhead disintegrated on its own, so...get as close as you can."
"Wait, what does ’self-disintegration’ mean? Oh, another term for ’it blew up on its own’? Can you tell me the blast radius at the time...uh, why aren’t you speaking?"
Lu Ping’an hugs the cylindrical device, feeling somewhat sad.
He is reminded of a classic joke, the story of a nuclear rocket launcher with a range of two kilometers and a lethal radius of four kilometers.
What’s even more amusing is that it seems he is the unlucky one who has to use the thing.
He had fought for this job himself, feeling that others simply wouldn’t be able to handle it.
"...Lu Ping’an, try to hold back your laughter."
"Uh, did I laugh out loud?"
Lu Ping’an shrugs, picks up the "rocket launcher" and looks down at the enormous object below.
As he gets closer, he becomes even more certain of its absurd size.
It’s an immense beast that seems to have no end in sight, like the gigantic elephants from The Lord of the Rings or the moving cities from children’s stories.
"Tsk, this is a bit ridiculous...I kind of want to see its original form, that Wind and Thunder Giant Turtle, just how outrageous it is."
Lu Ping’an jumps directly down the cliff, knowing that if this thing were to get close to their position, the battle would probably have ended already.
Along with him, many others abandon defense and choose to counter charge instead.
"...Everyone...at the time of the charge..."
Over the radio comes the hoarse voice of a man rallying his troops.
But everyone knows that at this point, they have no choice...losing this war against the Aus people means no one will survive.
At this distance, it’s already decided that only one side will live.
In the sky, winged beasts battle each other, their feathers falling as they fight.
The few remaining vehicles collide on the ground, with only the victors having a chance to escape the battlefield.
"...They die so fast."
Another winged beast falls in front of Lu Ping’an, its rider looking very young.
In the current circumstances, the greatest threat to each other’s soldiers remains the Sky Knights...the few independent Sky Knights of the Eastern Country are forcefully clearing a path for the countercharging soldiers.
Though there aren’t many people in the independent group, their artillery fire clears a path for their own group, while the Sky Knights handle the troublesome Aus Sky Knights.
Lu Ping’an pauses for a moment, then continues forward.
[...You have gained a large amount of practical combat experience from War Memories, professional skill lvup...]
On Lu Ping’an’s side, the panel is as responsive as always, providing him with a wealth of soldier profession experience.
And this increased professional ability makes it clearer for Lu Ping’an to sense the chaotic battlefield around him.
They’ve gone mad, all of them completely consumed by bloodlust.
As the two sides plunge into brutal, direct fight, the sound of explosions, slashing, and the smoke and sparks fills the air - all sides of the battle are engulfed in bloodshed and chaos.
In such a situation, stopping would be tantamount to suicide, while madly charging forward would lead to a quicker demise.
Unlike the surrounding rookies who were driven to a frenzied charge by the atmosphere, perhaps due to the advantages of being a 2-tier Warlord or simply his nature, Lu Ping’an became increasingly calm.
The giant beast was right in front of them, but it was not easy to get close to it.
The Aus people they were facing had also fallen into madness, using firearms, taming beasts, and some even fighting with bayonets directly.
The tanks became fortresses, professionals turned into the vanguard’s "tanks." In the chaotic battlefield, blondes shot at black-haired people, and the ones with black pupils targeted others with different eye colors.
There was no mercy, no communication, no surrender... When the giant turtle’s fortress reached the Eastern Country’s positions, neither side had any room to retreat.
War was like that... Even though Lu Ping’an had experienced many campaigns, it was the first time that he fully sank into a blood-soaked frenzy of fighting against his own kind.
With a snap of his fingers, Lu Ping’an turned the Aus people in front of him into a blazing torch.
"Perhaps you don’t believe it, but I am really a pacifist, an anti-war activist..." Lu Ping’an smiled and said a truthful sentence that probably no one would believe, to the corpse.
However, this no longer mattered.
When trapped in the quagmire of war, words and personal beliefs become irrelevant.
From the moment a soldier steps onto the battlefield, the only choices are to kill or be killed.
Efficient professional skills turned into more efficient killing methods. Lu Ping’an mingled among his own people while at least two Decree-level strongmen provided escort for him.
The War Eagle in the sky had entered its innate spirit body transformation state, providing Lu Ping’an with a three-dimensional view of the "bullying the weak but fearing the strong" forced breakout.
He was doing the most dangerous and frenzied thing, trying to forcefully cross the battlefield and choose the best time to attack.
At every moment, people were dying, losing contact on the communication network, but Lu Ping’an had no chance to stop.
Another monster truck slammed into the wall in front of Lu Ping’an... It clearly underestimated the hardness of the suddenly appearing metal knight.
The moment it was stopped, its driver was shot through the head with an arrow.
The controller of the weapons on the truck was killed cleanly within ten seconds, but as Lu Ping’an looked at the blood-smeared driver’s cab, he suddenly had a good idea...
"Beep beep beep!"
The monster truck made a U-turn, horizontally knocking down two unfortunate Aus people, then charged toward its "own" positions.
With one hand on the steering wheel and the other shifting gears, the roaring sound of the machinery made Lu Ping’an feel better.
Seeing the retreating vehicle, the Aus people hesitated for a moment, just long enough for it to force its way through.
Lu Ping’an happily stepped on the gas pedal, smashed through the temporary "roadblock," and left a bloodstain behind.
"Man, that’s really huge."
Finally, he saw the colossal creature above him, just like when the American military saw the UFO in their skies in some movies... Those limbs made Lu Ping’an think of mountain-like skyscrapers that could never be climbed.
Without normal means of reaching the Sky City-level height, it could be said to be unreachable.
But shooting from below? There were too many unknown possibilities...
"...Brother Guan."
At that moment, Lu Ping’an of the Mobile Warfare Brigade used the Great Summon technique.
When Guan Xinxian came out of the courtyard, he immediately summoned his second War Memory.
"...Guan Xinxian’s Magic Bean."
The story from the fairy tale became a reality as the enormous beanstalk shot up from the ground. The "small" truck got on the elevator and charged directly toward the Giant Kingdom above the clouds.
This was Guan Xinxian’s "life-saving ladder," but at this moment, it became the cloud ladder leading to the city’s interior.
Like Lu Ping’an’s Divine Grace of Gigantification, Guan Xinxian also had an abnormal professional ability. The expanding Magic Bean shot straight to the sky.
However, the beanstalk only existed for a dozen seconds before it seemed to be blown up, yet this was already an extremely long survival time for a stationary target on the battlefield.
With the "bean pod" tilted over, the similarly slanted truck crashed into the "mountain range," sending Lu Ping’an to his target.
And here, many people were already waiting for them.
— End of Chapter 712 —