Chapter 176: Chapter 131: Departing for the Rescue, the Power of the New Tier Two Zerg Race
As the Land Patrol Battleship fired the first shot, the forty shotguns and over a hundred heavy machine guns on the eight tanks behind it unleashed a massive barrage of firepower.
The trails of shells and bullets created a bright yellow torrent of metal between the ruins, and explosions echoed endlessly wherever it passed.
The resulting shockwaves and clouds of rubble and dust enveloped most of the urban area.
At the epicenter of the explosions, large Swarms hidden within were annihilated by the flames and shockwaves. A single volley, lasting only seconds, killed thousands of Red-Armored Beetles and six to seven hundred Tier One Black Spine Zergs.
And this was with buildings obstructing the line of fire. On the barren plains of the outskirts, the kill count would have been several times higher.
The volley was remarkably effective, but Lin Feng didn’t press the attack. He picked up the convoy’s intercom and gave his next order:
"Keep moving. Head to the fortress in the north of the city that was overrun by the Zerg Race."
"That’s the biggest gap in the entire defense line right now. The Zerg Race has likely already gathered a large Swarm nearby."
Chen Yanyan nodded and continued to drive forward.
Five minutes later, the fleet had traveled from south to north, covering a distance of ten kilometers and nearly crossing the entire Wu City Center.
They had taken a cross-city expressway for part of the journey, which allowed them to pick up speed.
Meanwhile, on the second defense line in the north, two of the five main fortresses within the northernmost kilometer—a connected pair—had been utterly destroyed...
The outer walls had completely collapsed. The central wall connecting the two main fortresses was burned and corroded to the point of melting, leaving a gaping hole ten meters in diameter.
A temperature high enough to melt reinforced concrete must be at least 1800 degrees Celsius.
This meant that the attack of a Tank Flame Armor was equivalent to a dozen flamethrower soldiers attacking simultaneously.
Judging from the collapsed Wormhole not far from the wall and the tracks left by the Tier Two Swarm that had emerged from it, the range of the Tank Flame Beetles’ fire-breathing attack was within one hundred meters.
Considering the terrifying destructive power of the flaming magma, a safe distance from a Tier Two Tank Flame Beetle was at least two hundred meters.
As its Level increased, this safe distance would have to be extended even further.
At this thought, Lin Feng’s expression darkened.
’A temperature that high can’t be withstood by any steel. It’s a huge threat to the Land Patrol Battleship and the Tanks. Just getting close to the flaming magma would cause the temperature inside the vehicles to spike due to heat conduction, possibly to seventy or eighty degrees Celsius, or even over a hundred. It would boil the crew inside alive.’
’And for any Awakener, there is absolutely no chance of survival if they are touched by the flaming magma.’
’Losing a hand or foot would be getting off easy. If even a drop splattered onto their head or torso, it would mean an instant, fatal wound.’
’But the trickiest part of dealing with the Tank Flame Armor is its thick, impenetrable shell. Even shotguns can’t break through its outer Armor.’
’One can only aim for its weak belly or shoot into the mouthpart it uses to spew flaming magma.’
’As for the blasted-open firing ports on the main fortress, they are surely the work of the Zerg Race’s ground-based, long-range strike unit: the new Tier Two Zerg Race, the Pulse War Scorpion.’
It was a scorpion-like Zerg that could fire something similar to a Magnetic Storm Bomb.
Its tail possessed a long-range strike capability, firing Magnetic Storm Bombs with a range of over five hundred meters, which increased with its Level.
Once its range exceeded one kilometer, it would become the absolute greatest threat to the human defense lines.
After all, that distance was beyond the maximum visual range of a Tier One Awakener. The Pulse War Scorpion could hide half its body inside a Wormhole, concealing its form while firing Magnetic Storm Bombs to destroy the main fortress’s firing ports and kill the defending soldiers inside.
The Pulse War Scorpion also had a pair of giant pincers, just like the scorpions and crawfish on Blue Star. In close combat, it could snap an enemy in half with a single clamp, like two sharp scissors shredding everything in their path, making it exceptionally dangerous.
Fortunately, the Pulse War Scorpion’s Defense Power wasn’t high—not even as high as a Tiger Spine Zerg of the same tier. After all, the Tiger Spine Zerg’s Orange Quality Giant Mandibles were even harder than the armor of a Tank Flame Beetle.
Lin Feng had tested a Lv25 Armor-Piercing Magnetic Cannon on them before. Even with its terrifying 500 points of Damage, it had failed to shatter the Giant Mandibles, only leaving behind a deep, basin-sized crater.
Therefore, to him and his fleet, the Pulse War Scorpion was far less of a threat than the Tank Flame Armor.
After Lin Feng relayed the intelligence gathered from the battlefield evidence to Chen Yanyan and the ten squad captains, he received a report from Li Ran:
"Reporting! We’ve received a message from the Thirteenth Division. Colonel Qin Hu’s squad has infiltrated the ruins of the first defense line directly ahead and is currently tracking the new Zerg Race’s movements..."
"The Research Institute sent a notice. They want the 13th Infantry Division to acquire a sample of the new Tier Two Zerg Race, dead or alive."
"If successful, they will share the relevant technological breakthroughs with the Thirteenth Division and also assign some of their researchers to retreat to Huizhou with the division’s command."
Lin Feng nodded. ’No wonder Qin Hu took such a risk. It was an order from the Research Institute, and the reward they offered was so generous that even I’m a little tempted.’
But after seeing the destructive power the new Tier Two Zerg Race had wrought upon the main fortresses, an even more urgent idea took root in his mind.
’I’ll take the tail of a Pulse War Scorpion and fuse it with the Land Patrol Battleship for an Upgrade. That would add a new weapon system, something comparable to a weaker version of the Level 29 Electromagnetic Cannon.’
’And the shell of the Tank Flame Beetles, plus the structure of its flame-spewing organ... those are also extremely appealing. They could be a major boost for both the Land Patrol Battleship and my own Lv24 Flying Tiger Armor.’
’I’m in desperate need of Upgrade materials myself. Why would I just hand them over to someone else?’
