Volume 13 Ancient Bronze City Ruins Chapter 628: Zhongsi Guard
"The laser launch location has been locked, sir, should we fight back?" a soldier shouted.
The commander of the mobile force subconsciously looked at Ke Lan - there were more than just the 10th Armored Division that received the message. Under the instruction of the Undead Crew, Ke Lan had become the person with the highest command authority in this battle except for the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Terenz Lind. Any front-line combat unit that encountered Ke Lan had to obey his orders.
The Undead Crew has given him great autonomy, and he even has the right to choose whether to execute the orders issued by Vice Admiral Lind based on real-time changes on the battlefield.
"That's not necessary. The two lasers were fired from different places. Given the rooftop area of these buildings, even if there is a miniaturized cluster laser cannon, only one can be placed on each site. This weapon is disposable and will no longer be threatening after use." Ke Lan said. With the ability to stop time, he captured the launch location of the laser earlier than these soldiers. Compared with the silent warhead, the path of the dazzling cluster laser is too obvious, and it is easier to expose the shooter's position than tracer bullets and muzzle flashes.
These two laser cannons were most likely fired by remote control, just like the previous sniper rifles. Even if heavy firepower was used to plow the roofs of the two buildings, it would not be possible to hurt the controller - because the other party was not there at all.
"I'll let Ze Luo be in charge of early warning. Everyone should be ready to activate the shield at any time." Ke Lan said, "We will continue to advance in this defensive formation. If the opponent's means are limited to this, they will not be able to pose much threat to us."
Although this small cluster laser cannon can penetrate the cockpit of the "Thruster", it is because of a loophole in the design of the "Thruster" - as a light, high-speed mecha that charges head-on, the Thruster's own armor is basically piled on the front of the body, and the armor on the sides and rear is relatively weak. The Thruster that was just killed was sniped when it turned around to go behind the shield formation. This angle just exposed the weakest side waist position to the enemy's gun, which led to the opponent's fatal shot.
There is certainly a certain element of luck involved, but the enemy hiding in the dark also has an extremely terrifying ability to control timing - you know, this thing has to accumulate power for a long time before it can shoot.
"At least for us, this is good news." Ke Lan suddenly said something that made no sense, which stunned the commander of the mobile force for nearly half a second.
"Good news?"
"From the attacks we have encountered so far, these weapons are all made by humans... Well, although the core component of the laser cannon is a creation of the Alpha civilization, at least the weapon itself uses human technology." Ke Lan said, "Except for those strange interferences, the ruins' own defense facilities did not attack us."
"Uh... that seems to be the case." The commander glanced at the battle situation in the sky. Although he could not see the fleet outside from this angle, he could still see various missiles, rockets and artillery shells being destroyed in mid-air. If the anti-aircraft firepower fell on the airborne team, even if they opened all their shields, they would not be able to escape the fate of being wiped out.
"These things have limitations." Thirty-three, who was following behind, said, "They can't be used to attack ground units that enter the core control area. Otherwise, the heretics wouldn't use those weapons to attack us."
"That is to say, the six missing airborne troops...if, I mean if they have been killed, then they were most likely killed by the heretic sect, not the traps inside the ruins." Ke Lan analyzed, "These troops airborne to the core control area are the elite of the elite, well-trained, well-equipped, and have plenty of supplies such as active ammunition and advanced potions... If the heretic sect wants to eat up several such troops by its own strength, then you can imagine how strong their combat effectiveness is."
"Ordinary erosion species can only become cannon fodder in such a battle, and mutant species can be regarded as the main combat force." Ke Lan said, "As for the decisive combat force, there are only SP mutant species and black cardinals."
"Black Cardinal... Damn it , to be honest, I really don't want to fight that kind of monster again." Layton couldn't help but complain in the team channel.
"Don't worry, keep going forward, we will definitely meet the cardinals in black... If the prophet's true body is in that tall tower, there must be a lot of cardinals in black around him. Maybe they will show up in dozens at that time." Ke Lan said.
"...A dozen black cardinals? Then with so few of us, aren't we just delivering food?" Although Layton did not participate in the hijacking incident, he still watched the video of the battle between the Ark Fleet and the black mummy... For something that can't be killed by nuclear bombs or burned by plasma cannons, the only adjectives he can think of are "pervert" and "monster".
"Don't be so pessimistic. The strength of the black cardinals also varies. Like the black cardinal I met in East District 9 before, after the sacrifice, he only summoned a black skeleton, which was directly dismantled by Ms. Victoria with her bare hands. I believe you can do it too." Ke Lan tried his best to show a relaxed expression and gave a thumbs up to Augustus's monitor.
"But, I hope..."
Under the protection of a tight shield formation, Ke Lan and his team advanced about two hundred meters forward. During this process, they were hit by four sniper attacks and three laser cannon attacks, but they were all blocked by energy shields or physical shields and did not cause any damage.
It seemed that they realized that long-range sniping could no longer pose a threat to them. After the last sniping attack was blocked by Shield Mountain's heavy shield, the members of the heretic sect finally appeared in the sight of Ke Lan and the others.
This was also their first direct encounter with the enemy since entering the core control area.
"Are these guys... the cyborgs among the exiles?" Looking at those weird-looking guys with twisted limbs who could barely be called human, Layton couldn't help but gasp.
Although the cyborgs in the Exiles and the cyborgs in the Ark look exactly the same, they are actually two completely different concepts. In the wilderness, the Exiles do not have the medical and surgical conditions like the Ark. The so-called body modification is to sew the limbs of humans and indigenous creatures together in an extremely crude way, or directly replace human organs with the internal organs of indigenous creatures...
Those with better conditions may be able to get some antibiotics and hormones, but the vast majority of people who undergo transformation can only rely on their own bodies to fight rejection and infection...
Undoubtedly, the mortality rate of this kind of "transformation surgery" is extremely high. Even if there are a few lucky people who successfully survive the high-risk period after the surgery, their remaining life span will be greatly shortened. It is true that the limbs and organs of indigenous creatures can indeed bring powerful strength to humans, but the part of the body that originally belonged to humans can hardly withstand this power.
Unless the person undergoing the transformation surgery is an enhanced human himself... but even if he is an enhanced human, the probability of him walking off the operating table alive is more than 30%.
"No, they are not ordinary cyborgs." The commander of the mobile force shook his head heavily, "I'm afraid we have encountered the 'Loyal Guards' of the heretical sect."
"The Zhongsi Guard? What is that? Why have I never heard of it?" Leighton was very confused.
"I have heard of the name of this unit, but that's just anecdotes." Thirty-three looked at the "cyborgs" slowly approaching two hundred meters away, "Ke Lan, with your authority, you should know more than me."
Ke Lan nodded silently and said, "I have seen intelligence about this unit in the confidential files of the Security Bureau... You all know that the failure rate of the Exiles' 'transformation surgery', which is no different from torture, is extremely high. Not even one out of ten people who undergo the surgery can survive - but there is one exception."
"Which one? What if the cyborg himself is an enhanced human? But if he is already an enhanced human, why does he need to undergo that kind of abnormal surgery?" asked Layton.
"No, it's not to strengthen people, but the containers of the Seed of Corrosion." Ke Lan said, "Before the Seed of Corrosion enters the acute phase, it will give the host extremely strong strength and recovery ability. Using these 'containers' as transformation materials, the success rate is almost 100%. Moreover, after the limbs of the native creatures are connected to the human body, the cells of the Seed of Corrosion will also invade these limbs and further strengthen them."
"..." After listening to Ke Lan's words, Ivan couldn't help but look at his robotic arm and shook his head slightly, as if to throw some unrealistic thoughts out of his mind.
"Although the strength of this type of modified human depends largely on another material - the strength of the limbs of the native creatures, it can be mass-produced stably. According to the Security Bureau's estimates, the number of this type of modified containers is about one thousand to one thousand five hundred, and this number is still growing."
The heretic sect's modified people stopped when they were still a hundred meters away from the airborne troops, and did not move closer, as if they were waiting for some order. The soldiers who were on high alert did not open fire rashly, and the two groups of people just stood there, the tense atmosphere in the air continued to escalate, and a fierce battle could break out at any time.
Those modified humans were dancing with their weird and twisted limbs, and seemed to be shouting something loudly - but because of the special "soundproof effect" of this area, Ke Lan and the others couldn't hear what these people were shouting at all, and could only make some rough judgments from their lip shapes.
The syllables that appear most frequently among these transformed populations are "great god", "prophet" and some words related to sectarian beliefs.
"The Loyal Guards are the most loyal group of people in the heretic sect to the prophet. They are superstitious about the doctrine and firmly believe that undergoing this transformation surgery is the correct way for human evolution... According to the autopsy report of the institute, the brains of these people have been damaged by the seeds of erosion and have lost the most basic logical thinking ability, completely becoming a killing weapon in the hands of the prophet." Ke Lan took this opportunity to explain to everyone, "Of course, none of this is important. The most important thing is that the status of the Loyal Guards in the heretic sect is equivalent to the prophet's personal guards. Although a small number of Loyal Guards members will appear in other settlements, the vast majority of them have always been following the prophet."
"This group of guys in front of me... I just counted them, there are a total of 275 people..." Layton said silently, "In other words, the news is very likely true."
The true body of the prophet is here!
Finally, the transformed people of the Zhongsi Guard ended their pre-war "prayer" and began to rush towards the airborne troops - and the moment they launched the charge, Ke Lan decisively gave the order to attack.
"Fire!"
The multi-barreled machine gun mounted on the armored vehicle instantly spewed out a tongue of fire more than two meters long, and the dense rain of bullets immediately poured down on the modified humans of the Zhongji Guard in the front row. The bodies of more than a dozen modified humans were torn to pieces in the blink of an eye, and the seeds of erosion that had broken free from the shackles in their bodies twisted their bloody tentacles and rushed forward at an even faster speed.
Before these monsters could get close, sufficient active ammunition had already penetrated their bodies, ending their lives.
But the battle situation was not optimistic for Ke Lan and his team. There were at least fifty modified containers at the front, but this round of shooting killed less than one-third of them. The rest either withstood the 25mm machine gun shells or passed through the gaps in the rain of bullets with their high mobility. The most exaggerated one was a modified person who was more than two meters tall, had four arms attached to his body, and his abdomen was swollen like a large water tank. His abdomen was flashing with a dark green light, and a solid energy shield appeared directly in front of him, intercepting all the shells fired at him. And those modified people whose physical strength was not enough to withstand the shells and who did not have high mobility all hid behind him.
"This guy... does he have a shield generator installed in his stomach?" Layton exclaimed.
"On Alpha, there are not many indigenous creatures that have the ability to release energy shields, but there are some... Some species transformed into biochemical weapons by the Alpha civilization also have this ability. He should have transplanted the organs that can generate energy shields into his body..." Ivan said, his tone calm with a hint of excitement. In order to suppress this emotion, he had to take out the wine jug and take another big gulp.
Apart from this cyborg who could release energy shields, the one who rushed the fastest was a cyborg with mantis-like arms, dark green scales all over his body, and two pairs of insect wings on his back... There were very few human parts left on this guy, and no one knew how many transformation surgeries he had undergone.
"Armored vehicle crew, cease fire and retreat! Mecha squad one and squad two take over and prepare for close combat! Squad three will be responsible for support, and the rest of the firepower will focus on attacking the enemy's energy shield!" the commander of the mobile force shouted.
His idea was not wrong. The energy shield had its limits. As long as the firepower was strong enough, the shield could be penetrated or even blown up directly. As long as the big belly could be dealt with, most of the transformed humans could be eliminated during the charge.
