The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

"Hermes! Transfer all the energy from the 'Heart of God' to the energy shield system, abandon power supply to all non-essential areas, and prioritize ensuring the structural stability of the main city!"

Hephaestus's voice echoed in the command center. His face no longer held its usual ease, but instead bore the seriousness of a senior manager.

Alai knew very well that he couldn't single-handedly lead the soldiers of all units to resist the strange tide like Shen Ge could.

Based on the advantages she had gained from the Ministry of Civil Affairs she had created over the past few months, she gathered together commanders skilled in warfare to form an operations department.

Combatants are commanded by the Operations Department, and Hephaestus, as one of the two "Acting Governors," is naturally a member of the Operations Department.

His commands were executed by the biological computer in fractions of a second.

The lights in the outer area of ​​"Iron Heart" went out instantly, leaving only the core living area and defensive weapon matrix still glowing.

This is a high-stakes gamble, using the city's most abundant resources to withstand this siege that could last for an unknown period of time.

Deep beneath the sea, the battle has reached its climax.

Kyle and Roca's "Raiders" legion was locked in a fierce battle against the endless tide of strange creatures.

The performance of the "Raider-II" was brought to its limit, and the short-range space jump thrusters on the backs of the soldiers gave them near-teleportation mobility in the deep sea.

They sometimes appear on the flanks of the "Armored Shark," piercing its energy core with charged beam guns; at other times, they collectively jump to the top of the "Turritopsis dohrnii," leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds on its massive canopy with chain-like cutting spears.

The battle footage was transmitted back to the command center in real time through countless monitoring cameras. Allai, Ellie, Ragnar, and all the core members who remained on duty held their breath, staring intently at the horrific scene on the screen.

This is the first time that "Iron Heart" has faced such a large-scale crisis independently without Shen Ge.

After an initial stalemate, the battle began to slowly tilt in their favor.

"Report! Squad Three is running out of energy, requesting resupply!" Kyle's urgent voice came through the communication channel.

"Report! The hydraulic system of the left arm of Unit 11 has been hit by corrosive viscous liquid and has failed! Requesting retreat for repair!"

One after another, reports of battle damage began to come from the front lines.

Hephaestus stared at the steadily declining overall energy value on the main screen, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"no!"

He shook his head, his voice hoarse: "'Heart of God' is currently powering the shield at 150% of its theoretical capacity, and there is simply no extra energy available to recharge 'Raiders' during wartime!"

Unless they are willing to reduce the power of the energy shield, but that would be tantamount to suicide.

If those fearless and bizarre tides were to break through the defenses and approach the "Iron Heart," whose hull was already severely corroded by "rust disease," the consequences would be unimaginable.

They were caught in a dilemma.

The soldiers on the front lines are exhausted, and the energy supply at the rear is running low.

The entire city is like a giant slowly bleeding out, which will eventually be devoured by this endless swarm of ants.

"Alle! Hephaestus!"

Just as the command center fell into dead silence and everyone felt a sense of despair, Ellie's clear and decisive voice suddenly rang out.

She had left the main control panel at some point and was now standing in front of another sub-control screen.

The screen did not display a brutal battlefield, but rather the "electric arc furnace" of the "Ministry of Industry," which operated 24 hours a day.

"Since we don't have 'energy,' then we'll... 'create' it ourselves!"

"What?" Hephaestus was stunned.

"The reason why the 'Raider' armor is so powerful is because of its 'bio-battery,' and what is the core material for making the battery? It's a low-level, bizarre tumor heart!"

She suddenly pointed out the window to the dark, deep sea, which was now stained red with endless, bizarre corpses and blood.

"Energy is critically low, and the front lines are under immense pressure! But... Hephaestus! What we have in abundance right now is... 'raw materials'!"

This "wartime production" plan was like a bolt of lightning, instantly waking everyone up!

Yes!

Fighting can lead to bizarre deaths!

If something mysterious dies, then there will be materials;
With the materials, we can make batteries;
With batteries, more "predators" can return to the battlefield!
"Roca!"

Allai immediately understood Ellie's intention: "You immediately detach a 'Iron Heart Guard' to abandon the frontal battle. Their only mission is to retrieve those strange corpses below the third rank on the battlefield!"

"Engineering Department!"

Hephaestus shouted into the communicator, "Stop all unnecessary maintenance work! All engineering robots, immediately convert to 'cutting' and 'transporting' modes! I want you to fill the 'smelting group's' warehouse with those corpses within half an hour!"

"Ministry of Industry! Ellie! You'll take charge personally!"

"Yes!"

"Switch all production lines to produce 'Predator' standard bio-batteries. I don't care what methods you use, I want to see the first batch of finished products in two hours!"

The battle on the front lines remained fierce, and Kyle's main force of the "Raiders," lacking supplies, began to implement a defensive retreat tactic.

Using the city's defensive artillery fire as cover, they conserved every bit of energy and struggled to withstand wave after wave of attacks.

Meanwhile, within the city, an equally fierce "logistics battle" unfolded.

Roca's guards, like vultures on the battlefield, braved the artillery fire to pilot small recovery boats, using their massive mechanical claws to scoop up the bizarre corpses shattered by the bombardment and continuously transport them to the recovery entrance at the bottom of the city.

Hundreds of engineering robots were already waiting there, wielding high-frequency cutting saws, dissecting the bizarre corpses in an assembly line fashion.

The carapace and bones were sent to the smelting plant to become the raw material for "flesh and blood alloy";

The most precious, still slightly pulsating, tumorous hearts were immediately sent to the core of the industrial zone.

Ellie personally oversaw operations in the industrial zone.

"The No. 1 purification centrifuge is not rotating fast enough. Overload it to 120%!"

"Energy transmission on production line number three is weakening. Have the 'Logic' team check it immediately!"

"The first batch of 'energy paste' is ready and will be sent to the 'battery' modules for filling immediately!"

Under her command, one after another, the monstrous hearts filled with mixed energy were thrown into a giant crusher and turned into a viscous energy paste;

Then, it undergoes purification in a high-intensity centrifuge to remove harmful impurities;

Finally, it was injected into the pre-prepared "energy storage" shell.

This production line process, which would normally take several days to complete, was successfully completed in just one hour and fifty minutes thanks to the real-time calculations and optimizations of "Hermes" and the joint efforts of all workers and technicians!
"Transport convoy!" Ellie, seeing the steaming "war rations," immediately ordered the waiting transport robots to load them and send them directly to the "Raider" mech maintenance area at the front lines via a dedicated high-speed corridor within the city. Deep-sea battlefield.

The alarms on Kyle's command aircraft were already blaring.

[Warning! Energy remaining at 7%!]

[WARNING! Left arm drive system overload! Immediate discontinue use recommended!]

He had just used the last bit of energy to activate the chain-cutting spear, slicing a "Turritopsis dohrnii" that was trying to entangle its teammates with its tentacles in two.

He himself became extremely sluggish due to exhaustion and was surrounded by three "armored sharks".

At this critical moment.

"Captain! The supplies have arrived!" A team member's excited voice came through the communication channel.

Kyle turned around abruptly.

Inside the shield of the "Iron Heart," a "supply channel" for rapid ammunition reloading had been opened.

Several maintenance robots were pushing a supply vehicle loaded with brand-new "bio-batteries" out of the way.

"Units 3, 5, and 11! Retreat immediately! Replace the batteries!"

"Units two, four, and ten! Take over! Cover them!"

A "Raider" squad that had long since withdrawn from the battle due to energy depletion quickly replaced their newly produced bio-batteries and rejoined the fight.

“Oh oh oh oh oh!!”

One of the team members, who had just been on the verge of death, let out an excited roar after feeling the power returning to his body.

Then, piloting his reborn mech, he plunged once again into that eerie tide.

One falls, and another immediately takes its place.

When the energy was exhausted, new ammunition was immediately sent from the rear.

Under Ellie's "fight to sustain the war" plan, this war of attrition was surprisingly turned into a protracted and evenly matched stalemate.

As time went on, the slain monster corpses were continuously sent back to the factory, which in turn produced a steady stream of new batteries. These new batteries allowed the "Raider" legion to kill even more monsters with greater impunity...

The raw material warehouse of "Iron Heart" is almost filled with bizarre corpses.

The tug-of-war lasted for a full twenty hours. When the Industrial Department, under Ellie's command, delivered the fifth batch of bio-batteries, numbered "E-5," to the front lines, the tide of battle finally turned.

"Reporting to command center!"

Kyle's voice regained a hint of ease and confidence: "The enemy's offensive has weakened!"

The once endless red dots on the screen visibly became sparse, and the number of those low-level monsters decreased sharply after paying the price of countless corpses.

"Report from the Engineering Department!"

"Based on the recovered 'Turritopsis dohrnii' wreckage samples... 'Hermes' has successfully determined the resonant frequency of its energy shield!"

"Minister Ellie!" Hephaestus's voice followed closely, filled with barely suppressed excitement: "I have sent the frequency parameters to your Ministry of Industry. Please produce a batch of targeted 'shield-piercing plasma shells'!"

When the first batch of eerie purple arcs of electricity, the "shield-breaking projectiles," were fired from the "electromagnetic steam cannon," it officially sounded the clarion call for the "Iron Heart's" counterattack.

The shell accurately struck the energy shield of a Tier 5 "Violent Predator". The originally indestructible energy shield burst like a soap bubble the moment it came into contact with the purple arc of electricity, disappearing with a "sizzle" after a violent flash.

Then came the second shot, the third shot...

Dozens of "shield-breaking shells" came one after another, stripping away all the large, strange shields!
"The Raider Legion!"

Kyle's long-awaited opportunity has finally arrived!
"The whole army attacks!"

The remaining thirty-odd "Raiders" formed a large net, attacking the scattered monsters from two directions.

"Chain cutting spear... Overload mode!"

The blade of Kyle's weapon emitted a blinding red light. He gripped it tightly with both hands, channeling all his energy and conviction into this strike, plunging it deep into the giant, eerie, semi-transparent nerve center below!
"puff--"

The blade instantly tore through its internal biological tissue completely!

Meanwhile, Roca and his team's "cleanup" operation saw over thirty "Raiders" working seamlessly together with the real-time battlefield information provided by "Hermes".

Some mechs are responsible for launching "electromagnetic pulse bombs" to temporarily paralyze the movements of the "armored sharks".

Some mechs took the opportunity to rush forward and use their high-frequency vibrating blades to cut through their metal-covered dorsal fins.

Other mechs would use beam guns to deliver the final blow, detonating its monstrous heart.

When the last "Armored Shark" was pinned to the seabed rock wall by Roca's own cutting spear, the battle to defend "Iron Heart," which lasted for more than thirty hours, finally came to an end.

Apart from "Iron Heart," there were no other living monsters in the entire sea area, only countless bizarre corpses piled up like mountains.

"we won?"

Inside the command center, Ellie stared at the radar screen, which had returned to calm, her voice trembling slightly.

Alai finally breathed a sigh of relief. In Shen Ge's absence, she had protected this "home" for them, and she was so exhausted that she was about to collapse.

"All combat units, return to 'Iron Heart' immediately. Engineering and Industrial Departments, begin cleaning up the battlefield."

Although they ultimately won this great battle, the cost was equally high.

Nearly 20% of the outer armor of the "Iron Heart" needs to be completely replaced, and more than half of the "Bone Spear Giant Crossbow" array has been rendered unusable due to prolonged overload firing.

The "Raiders" legion suffered the heaviest casualties.

Although there were no fatalities, 39 out of the 50 Predator-II tanks were so badly damaged that they had to be sent back to the factory for major repairs.
Almost all of the organisms suffered damage to varying degrees.

It's fair to say that if that strange tide had held out for a few more hours, the "Iron Heart" defenses might have developed fatal weaknesses due to equipment wear and tear.

Compared to the staggering losses, the gains were equally astonishing.

Tens of thousands of bizarre corpses, ranging from second-order to fourth-order and fifth-order, provided the Ministry of Industry with an immeasurable amount of "raw materials".

Ellie and her team were so busy dealing with these "spoils" that they didn't have a moment to spare.

Large quantities of "bio-batteries" were produced, filling every warehouse.

A more robust "Type III Flesh Alloy," after being incorporated into the "Armored Shark's" unique metallic skeleton, was also successfully developed. (End of Chapter)