ccnovels #313 - Dawn Tide
#313 - Dawn Tide
A few days later.
My eyelids started twitching again.
Daoist Wang broke free from his dual cultivation and looked at the lovely woman sleeping soundly in his arms.
Although he still had the energy, he really couldn't bring himself to wake Ling Tong and continue tormenting her.
Wang Jixuan tiptoed out of bed, put on his pajamas, went to the balcony to meditate, and picked up the communicator to take a look. There were several messages from Mudan, mostly 'Everything is fine'.
A storm is brewing, but the wind hasn't stirred.
'The Blade Beasts want to attack me, where will they start?'
'I've already built the Seventy-Sixth Fortress like an iron bucket. The Mountain Protection Formation alone can withstand the impact of a King-level Blade Beast, not to mention the three-dimensional defense line built by the war zone.'
Wang Jixuan looked at the seventh floor of the fortress in the late night.
He pondered something, used a layer of magic power to create a barrier around the dormitory, and jumped off the balcony himself.
Before long, in the downward elevator of the fortress, Wang Jixuan, who had changed into the uniform of an ordinary security team, was taking Mudan, who was wearing the same uniform, to the lower city.
Mudan had completely taken control of every networked device in the Seventy-Sixth Fortress.
When they walked out of the elevator on the forty-fifth floor, a shuttle car was already waiting, carrying them through the checkpoint and heading towards the still prosperous forty-sixth floor.
"It feels like there are a lot fewer people."
Wang Jixuan looked at the empty street.
The first time he came to this street, the 'starving ghosts' crowding both sides had made his Dao heart feel stifled.
Mudan said with a smile: "Director Zhou really has been working hard."
"Yes, his fortress renovation plan used the idle Fortress 82."
The Daoist's mood improved a lot.
He took Mudan for a stroll around the forty-sixth floor.
The neon signs here were still so chaotic, and you could still see all kinds of places for revelry.
Wang Jixuan didn't have the extra thought to care about these things.
Even if he could control the depravity for a while, what could he do?
"Officer, would you like to have a drink with me?"
"No, thank you," Wang Jixuan joked, "Drinking in this kind of place could easily lead to misunderstandings with Ling Tong."
"Then why not call Officer Ling Tong over for a drink together?"
"Let her rest well, let's go take a look at the forty-ninth floor."
The shuttle car slowly descended along the central spiral road.
Wang Jixuan's spiritual sense swept over, the forty-seventh and forty-eighth floors were already empty. A small number of 'miners' who had not moved to Fortress 82 had now become miners with fortress identity certificates.
However, the forty-ninth floor was pretty much the same as before.
This was still a gathering place for some 'small workshops'. Black market production had been reduced by more than half, which was the result of Zhou Zhengde's half-year of effort.
The burned-down wooden house in the corner had been covered by several dilapidated containers and had become the new residence of several families.
Wang Jixuan sat in the shuttle car and stared at this place for a while.
Mudan asked: "Officer, are you still unable to let go of letting that criminal go back then?"
"Well, a little," Wang Jixuan shook his head, "That time, I realized that there were still very naive parts in my bones. I had been cultivating in the mountains all along, and everything had been too smooth, so that I couldn't stand a little bit of setbacks, and I didn't want to face my previous failures."
Mudan said softly: "No one can always succeed. Slight regrets are the norm, and complete success is an accident. This is the state of life for most humans."
Wang Jixuan couldn't help but laugh: "Oh, even Big Sister Mudan can lecture people now?"
"This isn't lecturing, this is data analysis."
Mudan complained a little resentfully:
"Since you lowered my toxic tongue index, Officer, I'm very careful when I speak now."
"Then turn it back to fifty percent and see."
A bright light flashed in Mudan's eyes, and then she raised her hand with a gentle face and gently stroked Wang Jixuan's forehead, and said softly: "Good boy, Mommy loves you."
Bang!
Mudan was kicked away.
"Letting you be toxic isn't letting you curse people! Reflect on yourself!"
Wang Jixuan drove the shuttle car away gracefully.
Mudan sniffed, feeling wronged and running behind.
She just wanted to liven up the atmosphere.
The officer is committing domestic violence, hee hee.
… …
The plateau before dawn was quiet everywhere.
For autonomous machines, night and day do not affect their operational efficiency.
After all, they rely on various radars to operate.
Visual automation schemes have too many unreliable flaws. Even highway areas with good road conditions can make mistakes, let alone this kind of wilderness environment.
On a newly built watchtower, a dozen soldiers, with some physiological drowsiness, carefully stared at the screens in front of them.
The information on the screen covered the surface information of this area.
A soldier turned to look out of the glass window and complained:
"This is behind the defense line. Not to mention Blade Beasts, you can't even see a few mosquitoes."
"Don't be careless, Blade Beasts are everywhere. They've dug the earth's crust into anthills."
"Black Storm is so cool."
"If this big brother hadn't stood up, we wouldn't even know that spirit energy users are just slaves of aliens, and are even called spirit slaves."
"Usually these spirit energy users... I mean, those low-level spirit energy users stationed in the fortress, each and every one of them is pretentious, and they even think they are new humans. I didn't expect that they are dogs of spirit cultivators."
"Dogs? Just dog hair."
"You guys should say less. Targeting Spirit Energy City is fine, but the spirit energy users on the front lines are all from warrior backgrounds. The two sides must be distinguished."
"Don't worry, how can real warriors turn against scouts?"
"Moral kidnapping is played smoothly."
A group of people laughed constantly.
A soldier suddenly shouted: "Area 442 alarm!"
The watchtower instantly became quiet, and everyone immediately showed their professional side. One instruction after another was quickly transmitted on the human military command network, and maps that were constantly changing appeared on the screen.
Soon, one by one 'scavengers' walking in the wilderness appeared before their eyes.
The soldiers did not have any discussion;
They were only responsible for summarizing the information to the command system.
Discussion was the generals' business.
"There are so many," a soldier couldn't help but frown and say.
"Area 441 alarm!"
"Area 443 too!"
"A large number of scavengers are appearing in dozens of areas on the periphery at the same time!"
"Spirit energy reaction!"
"It's a crystal core energy reaction similar to that of a Blade Beast!"
"What is that…"
A soldier looked at the blue light arc appearing outside the window, and his voice couldn't help but tremble a little.
Buzz!
A blue light arc swept across the top of the watchtower, and the instrument panel below simultaneously showed electric arcs. The screen emitted wisps of black smoke, and the projection screen went out instantly.
The brightly lit military camp instantly lost its light.
… …
"Electromagnetic pulse?"
Wang Jixuan frowned as he listened to Mudan's report.
He had just returned to the dormitory to meditate and cultivate, and had even gained some new insights, but Mudan directly knocked on the door and called him up.
The shuttle car sped towards the upper city's material lifting platform. Wang Jixuan had already received the tablet that Mudan handed over.
There were pictures on it.
More than a dozen huge light arcs from the Sixth Pillar's Sleeping Land bloomed simultaneously from all directions, intersecting and sweeping across the sky above all the military camps.
The military camps changed from brightly lit to pitch black;
In the pictures transmitted before the radar was destroyed, you could see figures walking on the ground. The photos taken by the drones showed that they were all ragged men and women.
Mudan simply said: "The Blade Beasts have begun to attack."
"Beast God Sect spirit energy users? So many?"
Wang Jixuan looked at these photos.
Based on just these transmitted photos, there were thousands of 'scavengers' on them.
"There is no more effective information transmitted for the time being. The electromagnetic pulse released by the Blade Beasts is still continuing."
Mudan quickly sorted out the fragmented intelligence:
"Crystal core reactions have been detected in those suspected human bodies!"
"Officer! The latest satellite high-definition image!"
Mudan swiped casually, and a blurry animated image appeared on the tablet.
On the dark wilderness, figures were running at high speed. Many figures were flying directly in the air, with obvious rings behind them, as if they were the gravity circuits of the Pillar Blade Beasts?
These figures rushed towards the direction where dense fire lines appeared.
The human side's weapons began to sweep continuously.
Green light curtains that were constantly blooming appeared in the picture. Those figures actually activated powerful shields…
"What's the situation?"
Wang Jixuan frowned and asked:
"Didn't the Beast God Sect spirit energy users only have a few hundred, and most of them are dead now? Where did so many come from?"
"There is no reliable source of information for the time being."
Mudan said quickly:
"According to satellite image recognition, there are now approximately more than 20,000 organisms suspected of being Beast God Sect spirit energy users charging."
"Our previous defense focus was underground, but the underground traps were not triggered. They chose to travel secretly on the ground, avoiding our conventional detection methods."
"Just received news that the outer Blade Beast groups suddenly rioted… it's the entire front line, the entire front line of the human camp."
Wang Jixuan leaned back in his chair;
The heart that had been hanging in his chest had finally died.
The Blade Beasts have taken out so many new things in one breath this time, and there is a high probability that they will fight him to the death.
"Mudan, come up with a backup plan."
"Backup plan?"
"Yes," Wang Jixuan said with a smile in his eyes, "The Blade Beasts want to fight me to the death, so I definitely can't beat them now, let's arrange some backhands in advance."
"But officer, their current focus of attack is the Sixth Pillar, they should want to take back the Sixth Pillar."
"No, their goal is to eliminate me."
Wang Jixuan leaned back in his chair, looking at the constantly updated information on the tablet, and continued to say:
“Attacking the Pillar Blade Beasts is also their objective, but in terms of priority, eliminating me should be above rescuing the Sixth Pillar.”
“Because the other Pillar Blade Beasts have sensed danger.”
“The dead emperor is not important; it's the living emperor who feels threatened.”
Peony nodded slowly, “Then what's the backup plan?”
“Like this…”
Wang Jixuan quickly shared some of his thoughts.
Peony listened carefully and quickly began formulating a specific plan.
By the time they arrived at the command center on the third floor, they were no longer discussing backup plans and began focusing on the current battle.
As soon as Wang Jixuan appeared in the command center, Number Five jumped out from a corner.
Still in her appearance as a blonde loli.
“They've started to move, faster than I expected.”
Number Five asked quickly:
“Are we going to provide support?”
“How are we going to support?” Wang Jixuan retorted, “Even if you go, the Pillar Blade Beasts are still dormant. They can't move them.”
“That's true,” Number Five visibly sighed in relief on her small face.
She had thought that if the Blade Beasts started attacking, they would have to rush over to fight and then be plunged into the vast ocean woven by the Blade Beasts.
Dongfang Zhenghong, who was guarding the large screen, turned around and explained seriously:
“Please don't worry, both of you. Just watch the battle here.”
“Although the new tricks suddenly produced by the Blade Beasts caught us off guard, the overall battle situation is still under our control.”
“When the Commander-in-Chief chose this D2 no-man's land as the Pillar Blade Beasts' resting place, he had already made all preparations for this place to become an important battlefield. It is a large trap.”
“Our strategic goal is to make the most of the terrain and defensive advantages to effectively kill Blade Beasts!”
Wang Jixuan asked, “What's the origin of that super-strong electromagnetic burst?”
“A new type of General-level and Sub-King-level Blade Beast.”
Dongfang Zhenghong patted the technician next to him, who quickly pulled up several satellite images.
A strange-looking Blade Beast, more than ten meters tall, came into view.
The biggest feature of this Blade Beast was the appearance of a crown-like structure on its back. Its skeletal frame was slender, and there was a faint membrane structure resembling wings on its back.
Dongfang Zhenghong introduced:
“This time, we detected more than a dozen new types of Blade Beasts, all of which had not appeared on the front lines before.”
“Without exception, these Blade Beasts all have one characteristic:”
“They are targeting our weapon systems.”
Number Five shrugged, “Their evolution speed is incredibly fast.”
Wang Jixuan asked, “What about those humans?”
“Still analyzing,” Dongfang Zhenghong pondered for a moment, “The experts have already held a meeting, and the speculation given… is very bad.”
“How bad?”
“Those are ordinary humans transformed into Beast God Sect psionicists.”
Dongfang Zhenghong sighed:
“Their strength is mostly equivalent to D-level and C-level psionicists, and their strength distribution is all on the same level.”
“According to the data sent back from the battlefield, these guys all have crystal cores and psionic circuits in their bodies.”
“If that's really the case…”
“Spiritual cultivators need a lot of people to die in the infusion ritual. If the Blade Beasts use the method of filling crystal cores to improve them, the Blade Beasts may be able to mass-produce psionicists.”
The atmosphere in the command room became somewhat heavy.
Number Five said, “Can we capture a few?”
“There's no way to capture them for the time being. Their fighting methods, apart from physical combat and releasing mental shocks, are self-detonation.”
“Let's wait for the results.”
Wang Jixuan said softly, sat down in his exclusive chair in the corner, and sat cross-legged in meditation.
Number Five didn't ask any more questions, followed and sat down to the side, staring at the battlefield images projected on the big screen.
Before long, the Buddha Hall squad arrived.
Ling Tong, Shenhai, and Chi She appeared here wearing tight-fitting protective suits.
They were all ready to strike at any time.
Black Shell Instructor was the last to arrive, and kept muttering after arriving… He was quite resentful that the Commander-in-Chief had rejected his application to attack.
Due to time zone differences, the D2 no-man's land battlefield was already dawning.
The strong electromagnetic bursts continued.
Special drones sent by the human side had already photographed high-definition images.
Under the impact of those 'pseudo-spirit slaves,' the surface defense line had collapsed in many places.
Large numbers of Blade Beasts charged towards the mountain-like Pillar Blade Beasts from all directions, and powerful explosions were constantly heard from underground.
“We,” Zheng Shiduo asked, “aren't we going to join the battle?”
“Don't be impatient. Let's wait and see.”
Wang Jixuan responded with his eyes closed:
“If the situation is not right later, transfer the residents of Fortress 76 and strengthen the Mountain Guardian Formation.”
“Yes!”