ccnovels #289 - Invitation from Fu Jian
#289 - Invitation from Fu Jian
Peony watched the departing small fighter with worry.
The commander was just taking a stroll to Commander-in-Chief Fu Jian's location, and with the current high density of human firepower and the Blade Beasts gathering strength underground, it was unlikely that the commander would encounter any trouble.
However, the commander didn't take her along, which made Peony feel a little lost.
Five yawned beside her: "Could this guy be deserting at the last minute?"
"How is that possible!"
Old Zheng and Ji Xiao said in unison.
Peony smiled and said, "Based on my understanding of the commander, he probably went to a place further ahead, wanting to see the Pillar Blade Beast sooner."
Everyone smiled knowingly.
Wu Man asked, "Can't the Pillar Blade Beast advance underground? Just like those King-level Blade Beasts?"
"It's too huge, advancing underground would subject it to too much pressure."
Peony said simply:
"In the human database, there are no records of Pillar Blade Beasts moving underground. Each time they move, they rise from underground and activate some halos on the surface. These halos can effectively counteract gravity.
"Without these halos, they wouldn't be able to move an inch on the surface either. The planet's gravity would pin them down."
"That's a gravity circuit."
Five explained simply:
"It's also a key technology developed by the Council of the God of War, which can offset gravity within a certain area by consuming spiritual energy.
"They rise from underground mainly by ordinary Blade Beasts pulling and pushing.
"The Pillar Blade Beast is more like a command system and an energy reserve system. It can activate the true combat power of the Blade Beast swarm… You'll all have your eyes opened today."
Everyone nodded.
The several older sisters and uncles in the Buddha Hall squad looked at each other.
They didn't expect that the legendary spiritual practitioners would be so easy to talk to.
Teacher Wang's charm is indeed incomparably great.
"Eh?" Zheng Shiduo asked in a low voice, "Do Pillar Blade Beasts have primary sexual characteristics? With such a huge size…"
"Get lost!"
Everyone in the cabin spoke in unison.
…
Wang Jixuan didn't bring his battle puppet out for a stroll, and he actually felt a little insecure.
In fact, his main body now has decent combat power. Although it's a major realm away from the battle puppet, he can still escape from King-level Blade Beasts by using his escape techniques.
The area where Fu Jian was located was about a hundred kilometers away from the transfer point. Wang Jixuan quickly arrived at this military fortress and directly used his escape technique to enter the interior of the fortress.
With superb escape techniques and a little access granted by Fu Jian, the Daoist Priest easily found Fu Jian in the command hall on the third floor of the fortress.
"Black Storm has arrived at Command Center One."
As the electronic female voice announced, Wang Jixuan strode forward.
"Salute!"
Two rows of Commander-in-Chief's guards raised their hands simultaneously, their movements neat and uniform.
The signalmen and technicians in the hall only glanced at Daoist Wang before lowering their heads to busy themselves.
Everyone was in good spirits.
Wang Jixuan nodded with a smile, as if greeting them.
Fu Jian turned around from in front of the large screen, gave Wang Jixuan an ugly smile, and signaled the guards to bring two folding chairs and a small table.
"Teacher Wang really doesn't care about the Commander-in-Chief's orders."
Fu Jian opened his chest armor, took out a can of ice-cold beer from the small refrigerator in his chest, popped it open with a 'pa' sound, and placed it in front of Wang Jixuan.
"Didn't I tell you to stay in the rear as a reserve team?"
"Isn't it the same if I don't participate in the battle here?"
Wang Jixuan looked at the large screen.
Sure enough, the information here was the most comprehensive, and there were even some perspectives taken by drones that hadn't been destroyed by Blade Beasts underground.
Wang Jixuan finally saw a corner of the Pillar Blade Beast. It should be a part of the spine, with a sharp thorn about dozens of meters long.
At the same time, he also saw that the surrounding rock formations had melted into magma, as if this body was extremely hot.
This thing is no longer the same kind of thing as King-level and Super King-level Blade Beasts;
Wang Jixuan felt that it seemed closer to…
A giant spiritual energy machine.
Wang Jixuan scanned the distribution map of his own forces on various screens.
Long-range fire camps, aerial strike groups, underground minefields… a wide variety, dazzling to the eye.
"What's our tactic?" Wang Jixuan asked.
"There's no offensive tactic," Fu Jian said simply, "There are now three lines of defense, and each line of defense is prepared for a quick retreat. Let's clear this wave of ammunition first."
"What about the rear? Has it been evacuated?"
"It's been evacuated as much as possible."
"'As much as possible' means…"
"Children under the age of eight, women with reproductive capabilities, and scientific research and technical personnel have been evacuated first, and the remaining personnel have been armed."
Fu Jian introduced calmly:
"The internal space of the fortress is limited, and the area that needs to be transferred is very large.
"When the Pillar Blade Beast is fully activated, any line of defense will be torn apart. Adopting this hit-and-run approach can better protect our living forces."
Daoist Wang nodded.
He was also thinking about how to place the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.
Fu Jian asked directly: "What's your tactic?"
"Still thinking. I need to find the core of the Pillar Blade Beast, which is where its soul is located."
Wang Jixuan took a couple of sips of beer:
"That thing I made is specially for sealing souls.
"If I can find the soul location of the Pillar-level Blade Beast, I can try to suppress it for a few days and wait for the hibernation circuit to take effect."
Fu Jian slowly nodded, constantly thinking with his arms crossed.
"Find a chance to try it later, don't force it."
Fu Jian explained:
"Our real decisive battle area is not here. There is a more suitable area for us to fight in the rear, where a trap has been carefully prepared for the Sixth Pillar.
"The only uncertainty now is what the target of this Pillar Blade Beast is.
"If it is activated and rushes directly to other war zones, that would be the biggest trouble."
"It doesn't matter, I brought a temptation they can't refuse."
The Daoist Priest winked mysteriously, and a ball of orange-yellow flames bloomed on the back of his left hand.
Fu Jian smiled dumbly.
Fu Jian asked: "Then I'll have to rely on you to lure it over."
"No problem, I can still handle this kind of work," Wang Jixuan asked, holding the beer, "Where's the trap?"
"At the airport where you landed before."
"Cough!"
Wang Jixuan choked on the beer, and his expression suddenly became a little resentful.
Fu Jian said with a chuckle: "That's why I told you not to get off the plane. You can transfer directly if necessary."
Wang Jixuan: …
Good fellow, his movements were almost all calculated by Fu Jian!
"Alright, I'll scam you out of some crystal cores later, and I'll feel a little less guilty…"
Roar—
Rumble!
A sound like an elephant's roar magnified hundreds of times swept across, and then the earth began to shake continuously.
Even though this place was nearly two hundred kilometers away from the Pillar-level Blade Beast, and the military fortress had enough stable state devices, it still made those standing sway from side to side, and even the operation of Wang Jixuan's mana became stagnant.
Fu Jian and Wang Jixuan looked at the large screen.
The huge spinal thorn structure had begun to rise, the surrounding rock walls began to melt faster, and the drone at the camera position quickly stopped working.
The picture began to switch constantly.
The shouts of the signalmen rose and fell:
"Target accelerating its ascent!"
"Small groups of Blade Beasts are starting to pour out onto the surface! Large groups of Blade Beasts are starting to advance underground!"
"The predicted movement trajectory of the Blade Beast swarm is towards our First Line of Defense!"
Fu Jian said in a deep voice: "It's coming."
Wang Jixuan didn't reply, taking small sips of beer.
Just as he was wondering why Fu Jian wasn't going to command the battle formation and was about to ask, two middle-aged generals beside him began to issue orders.
Underground minefields were triggered;
Dense red dots appeared on the map. These red dots were like a torrent, countless and endless, filling the radar screen, rushing madly towards the human line of defense.
The earth continued to tremble.
Nuclear landmines became standard equipment for each line of defense.
However, most people in the command center still focused their attention on the completely unrecognizable rift valley.
A huge emerald green halo was rising from the ground.
The ground collapsed, countless magma spewed upwards, the air was boiling, and thick smoke gathered in the high sky.
Humans didn't waste firepower to directly attack the Pillar Blade Beast.
Now the human line of defense was firing at full power, only clearing the tide of Blade Beasts emerging underground.
They watched;
Waited;
Waiting for one sharp peak after another to break through the magma and 'slowly' rise from the earth;
Waiting for one layer after another of halos to be lit up on the surface of the planet;
The Pillar Blade Beast has risen!
Those sharp peaks were connected by a wide, perfect arc, and that arc was the magnificent black-gray body!
Wang Jixuan finally saw this large Blade Beast with his own eyes.
King-level Blade Beasts are divided into more than a dozen types according to their shapes, and Pillar-level Blade Beasts are the same. Among the Twelve Pillars, there are snake-like existences, and there are also Pillar Blade Beasts that resemble pterosaurs but cannot fly.
The huge Blade Beast in front of him, which generally resembles a Stegosaurus, is the type with the strongest defense among the Twelve Pillars.
It is seven or eight kilometers long, and its entire body from head to tail is covered with extremely thick Blade Beast exoskeleton. Its short, thick six limbs and extremely wide feet make its movements slightly clumsy.
Its head is only a few tens of meters in diameter, and the width of its neck is only about fifty meters. The width of its body begins to increase rapidly behind its neck. This structure of a large body, small head, and long tail makes it look extremely strange.
This structure is also very practical;
If it encounters a fatal threat, its head can retract into its body in one second.
Wang Jixuan raised his hand and rubbed his brow, frowning as he asked, "Will its soul be inside its head?"
"Not necessarily," Fu Jian said. "Don't be misled by your own experience. Don't act rashly without enough certainty. It is an enemy of humanity, and humanity can deal with it themselves."
"Okay."
Wang Jixuan nodded.
Fu Jian leaned back in his chair, observing the battles in various locations. He would only intervene to correct obvious mistakes made by their own commanders.
The Pillar-class Blade Beast began to advance!
Wang Jixuan subconsciously held his breath, watching this bloated Blade Beast advance 'slowly'.
Large patches of lava lakes began to appear on the ground, and rolling black clouds in the sky followed its movement.
Rings of light arched around it.
It seemed to be 'floating and gliding' through the air, yet its speed approached two hundred kilometers per hour.
Such a great demon was unheard of even in their cultivation world.
— Mainly because most demons, upon reaching a higher cultivation level, would choose to transform into human form. Making the original body bigger wouldn't really enhance combat ability. Being too big also makes one an easy target, vulnerable to being surrounded and attacked.
And the current situation was also very strange.
The Blade Beast tide was charging forward underground, with a total number equivalent to eight King-class Blade Beast groups, while the Pillar-class Blade Beast was walking on the surface, rampaging without restraint, even with a hint of leisure.
Wang Jixuan asked, "Aren't we going to actively attack this damn thing?"
"Attacking it is just a waste of firepower," Fu Jian explained. "We need to find a way to trap it."
Wang Jixuan nodded in agreement.
A technician next to them shouted, straining his voice, "A breach has appeared in the underground minefield!"
"Emergency firepower coverage!"
"Coverage initiated!"
"The Sixth Pillar is approaching the warning line of the No. 1 defense line!"
"No. 1 defense line is starting to retreat… All units set weapons to automatic mode!"
"Units switched to automatic mode are fully retreating!"
"The Sixth Pillar has crossed the defense line warning line!"
"Trap No. 1 has been activated, automatically sensing the target's location! Manual intervention is ready!"
A simple trap icon appeared on the screen, like a hunter's iron clamp, and this iron clamp was slowly adjusting its position underground.
Those were thermonuclear bombs carried by advanced mechanical bodies!
Human firepower suddenly became fierce, and the underground Blade Beast tide was firmly held outside the No. 1 defense line. The Sixth Pillar Blade Beast's forward speed did not slow down in the slightest, and the emotion revealed in its 'small' eyes was only coldness.
The coldness of a killing machine.
On the radar map, the icon of the Sixth Pillar jumped into the trap!
Sixteen thermonuclear bombs, arranged in phase, detonated simultaneously underground!
Sixteen suns appeared on the horizon!
The scorching light completely submerged the figure of the Sixth Pillar!
Obvious gas tides appeared in the air, and powerful shock waves interfered with each other. The Sixth Pillar's huge body stepped into empty space and fell straight down with its rings of light!
The signals of the fastest-charging high-level Blade Beasts underground, except for a few King-class and Sub-King-class Blade Beasts, instantly evaporated!
Many people in the command center clenched their fists.
They were cheering silently, as if they had won this battle, but before the smiles on their faces could bloom, the scene before them made it almost impossible to breathe.
In that distorted light and shadow, the Sixth Pillar only sank a few hundred meters, its six legs seemingly sinking into the earth.
The light rings around it began to flicker continuously.
The huge body moved forward and upward slowly and steadily, escaping the pit.
The nuclear explosion had caused a large area of melting on its exoskeleton, but as those light rings flickered, the damage to the outer layer of the exoskeleton was growing and solidifying at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Rumble.
It stepped on the earth again, watching the most resilient part of the human defense line, and walked forward as if taking a stroll.
"The effect is not bad."
Fu Jian slowly stood up and said slowly:
"Its strength is about twenty percent weaker than it was eighty years ago. The area where the exoskeleton can be melted has become larger, indicating that its power has also been corroded during its years of slumber underground."
"Next is the more critical second line of defense, and the middle area of the defense line is where we are."
Fu Jian turned to look at Wang Jixuan.
He should have acted rationally in everything, but for some reason, Fu Jian suddenly regained a bit of the passion he had in his youth and took the initiative to invite Wang Jixuan.
"Want to go to the battlefield with this old bone of mine? Comrade Wang Zheng."