Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 281 Self-destruction
"Hold the line!"

Chen Jian stood beside a fortress of defense, holding a bomb gun and aiming at the small monster in front of him before quickly pulling the trigger.

"Bang bang bang bang -"

The continuous barrage of small grenades precisely sniped each of the rapidly advancing small monsters, and almost no monster could break through his defenses.

The monster's corpses were piled up on the open ground less than a hundred meters from the defensive line. In a daze, Chen Jian even felt like he was playing a tower defense game.

Monsters, cannons, machine guns, soldiers.
Isn't this a standard tower defense setup?
The only difference is that our ammunition isn't unlimited!
"Maintain firepower!"

"Aim before you fire! Allocate firepower resources wisely!"

Chen Jian shouted orders over the radio, and the veteran Chinese soldiers stationed in each fortress, who had basically adapted to the new combat methods, immediately took on the responsibility of commanding their squads.

The chaotic gunfire became orderly. The warriors, who had overcome their fear of the agile mantis, calmly fired their guns, bullet after bullet piercing the monster's body, drawing out gushes of blood.

Modern weapons have already pushed the killing efficiency against monsters to almost their limit. If we continue to fight in this way, no matter how many monsters come, they will just be food for the Chinese army.
-
However, the defense line, stretching for tens of kilometers, was still far too loose.

Moreover, the attack was launched by far more than one type of monster.

Besides the mantises, many other small monsters that Chen Jian couldn't name, even the terror demons and water ghosts, were charging towards Jinling New City without regard for anything else.

Taking advantage of their numbers, they broke through the dense firepower of the first line of defense, crossed the buffer zone, and headed straight for Base 011.

"Unmanned combat cluster activated!"

"All militia reserves, prepare for battle and be ready to meet the assault!"

Chen Jian gave the order again, and a moment later, gunshots rang out behind them.

Unmanned combat units, mainly composed of drones and highly mobile Iron Wolves, quickly joined the battlefield and, with their superior mobility comparable to monsters, rapidly infiltrated the buffer zone behind the first line of defense.

Under the joint command of Fuxi and Zhanlu, the unmanned combat cluster relentlessly annihilated every monster that dared to enter the restricted area. Not a single monster was able to penetrate the third layer of defense, which was 5 kilometers outside the 011 base.

The situation seems to have stabilized, and all that remains to be done is a long and tedious struggle.

However, Chen Jian's tightly furrowed brows remained unchanged.

His gaze was fixed on the large crater left by the bombing of the level one monster.

It is still not killed.

Even though it was forced out of the ground by a bomb, and even though it was hit by the impact of two bombs exploding at close range, it was still not dead!
In the very last moment before it disappeared, Chen Jian clearly noticed that its body was completely shattered.

It was almost split into two sections.

But it is still active.

Is this the vitality of a level one monster?
At this time, most of the underground vibration monitors had failed due to the bombardment, and Chen Jian had completely lost control of the monster.

This made him feel extremely uneasy. He didn't know if the monster had disappeared after completing its "support mission" or was planning its next attack.

"Everyone, prepare for the impact!"

Chen Jian changed the magazine of his explosive pistol and then shouted:

"Lei Jie! Find a way to locate the whalefish!"

"It's still moving! If it crawls out from under our feet, we're doomed!"

"I have no idea!"

Reggie's hoarse voice came through the radio.

"Keep moving; it can't sense your location from underground!"

"As long as you don't just stand there like an idiot, you shouldn't be able to get in their way!"

"understand!"

Chen Jian gritted his teeth and adjusted the Nezha exoskeleton to full power mode.

Then, Chen Jian sped along the G25 expressway that ran through a defensive line.

He wasn't just "running away"; more importantly, he wanted to use his firepower to help the entire defense line find and fill gaps.

Like a mobile fortress, wherever Chen Jian went, all the monsters that had escaped were called out one by one.

He gradually forgot about the threat of the whale, or rather, he had long since fallen into the tunnel effect.

Apart from the hostile targets within his narrow field of vision, everything else was irrelevant to him.

His attack efficiency has increased like never before, but unknowingly, the danger has also risen to its peak.

Just as he was changing his explosive magazine again and pausing in front of the new fortress, the edge of the smart goggles inside his helmet suddenly turned bright red.

Immediately afterwards, the alarm sounded in my ear.

"Danger! Forward!"

The War Skull System issued an extremely brief command, and almost instinctively, Chen Jian suddenly darted forward.

Relying on the powerful propulsion of the Nezha mecha, he instantly created a distance of more than ten meters. Just then, a loud bang came from the ground behind him.

"boom!"

Earth and rocks flew everywhere, and dust rose in all directions.

The whale, now only half its body remaining, emerged from the ground and then crashed down again.

"boom!"

The massive body crashed directly onto the sturdy fortress, and the meticulously designed fortress ultimately could not withstand this immense force, collapsing into ruins.

The 152mm howitzer barrel pierced the whale's body like a spear, and the loaded shell was fired by an incredibly low probability of coincidence.

"boom!"

A bloody hole burst open on the whale's back, but even with such a severe injury, it did not stop moving.

Like a fish about to die of thirst on the shore, the whale struggled to crawl forward.

Chen Jian intended to use his recoilless rifle and rocket launcher to deliver the final blow, but at that very moment, a strong sense of crisis swept over him.

run!
Without hesitation, Chen Jian turned and ran. The next second, a huge, blinding, and dazzling bolt of lightning burst forth from the countless cysts on the back of the whale.

The plasma flowed, the air was punctured, and the flashing arcs of light made everything under the setting sun pale in comparison.

Under intense heat, the vegetation ignited, and its body was instantly reduced to charcoal.

The soil and rocks on the ground were melted by the high temperature, and a dark red light flickered. Within a hundred meters of the monster's body, it almost became a flowing pool of lava.

Lightning storm.

Chen Jian's hair stood on end.

At the same time, a powerful electric current had already pierced the ground. He instinctively leaped high into the air, but the electric light still pierced through the air and extended upwards, then flowed fiercely across the mecha.

Chen Jian's vision went black.

The smart eyepiece has malfunctioned.

The system crashed.

The circuit burned out.

He fell heavily to the ground, and white smoke was already emanating from the batteries mounted on his exoskeleton.

It's going to burst!
At the critical moment, all the locking structures of the exoskeleton automatically unlocked, and Chen Jian struggled to climb out. He then grabbed the explosive gun that had fallen to the ground and quickly moved away.

"boom!"

The explosion, though not particularly loud, brought with it intense flames, and the precious exoskeleton turned to ashes before Chen Jian's eyes.

Depend on.

Is this the truth behind the so-called "interference with electronic devices"?
Directly breaking down the circuit with electric current?
It actually works like a madman!

Nonsense, with such a strong current, being hit by it is a death sentence!
If it weren't for the meticulously designed Faraday cage structure of the exoskeleton, I would have perished here too!
High temperatures causing ammunition to explode is no joke; the ammunition you're carrying could blow you to pieces.

Chen Jian's heart pounded. He turned to look at the collapsed fortress, where three soldiers were struggling to climb out of the rubble.

Still alive!

Without a second thought, Chen Jian swiftly bypassed the charred corpse of the whale and headed straight for the ruins. Having grown accustomed to the weight and constraints of the exoskeleton, he was surprised to find that he was actually more agile without the armor.

Although his speed was reduced considerably, the rugged terrain did not hinder his progress.

With all his might, Chen Jian lifted the slab of stone that was pressing down on the wounded man's leg, exhaled heavily, and then asked:
"Are you still capable of moving?"

The soldier who had originally belonged to the Guards Brigade, slumped on the ground, shook his head and then replied:
"I can't move. I'll stay here and cover the retreat!"

"No one needs your cover."

"Huang Xing, help him walk!"

"understand!"

Huang Xing, from the second group of the fifth squad of the Huaxia Army, gritted his teeth and nodded. He pulled out a bandage from his waist and quickly bandaged his obviously fractured left arm. Then, he used a tether to tie up the soldiers of the Guards Brigade and retreated towards the base.

Their movements were already quite slow. Chen Jian called for the pufferfish drone to descend and escort them, and then immediately planned to turn around and return to the battlefield.

Huang Xing turned around in surprise and asked:

"Commander! Aren't you going to retreat?"

"Why should I retreat? The battle isn't over yet!"

Chen Jian didn't turn his head, but Huang Xing called him back again.

"Commander! Your mech is damaged!"

"You must come back with us! Otherwise it's too dangerous!"

"I'm not a fool!"

Chen Jian kept walking.

"You can't fight a war without mechs? Get out of here, don't worry about me!"

After saying that, he continued running towards the next fortress with his explosive pistol in hand. At this moment, Fuxi had already reacted quickly and assigned an unmanned combat squad to provide support.

"The exoskeleton is being deployed and is expected to arrive in five minutes."

Chen Jian re-established contact with the base through the drone's loudspeaker.

He gave the order:

"Notify Shen Yue to prepare for the second round of artillery fire. A large monster is approaching from the perimeter!"

"clear."

Fuxi's voice came faintly, and Chen Jian breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued running forward.

In fact, he had already noticed the "giant monster horde" in the distance before the mech was destroyed by the electric current.

The monsters, like moving hills, disappeared into the forest, seemingly waiting for an opportunity to attack.

So what are they waiting for?
What if these small monsters run out of ammunition on one layer of defense?

Will the whale's self-destruction create an opening for attack?
If that's the case, why aren't they moving?

Chen Jian had a vague feeling that this sudden attack launched by the beast tide was not so simple.

This was not a surprise attack, but a feint.

These monsters seem to be trying to figure out the defenses of Base 011 through purposeful attacks.

What the hell?

Firepower reconnaissance?!
Before Chen Jian could think any further, a transport unit consisting of three multi-purpose octocopter drones had already flown overhead.

The drone then lowered its altitude and deployed the spare exoskeleton to Chen Jian.

The exoskeleton was deployed, and Chen Jian stepped in and quickly locked it in place to complete the preparations.

Two minutes later, Chen Jian once again entered full-armor combat mode.

Even their weapons and ammunition were resupplyed.

Meanwhile, the fortresses on the first line of defense began shelling once again.

With a deafening roar, the artillery pieces flew more than ten kilometers away and fell into the distance.

Through the drone's view via the tactical eyepiece, Chen Jian could clearly see the shells landing in empty space.

"boom!"

The explosions sent bursts of light and smoke into the air, but they did not cause any real damage to the giant monster in the distance.

Because, the moment the shells arrived, the group of giant monsters suddenly retreated hundreds of meters in perfect unison.

They seized the time difference between firing and hitting the target!

With their speed, as long as they receive the "fire from the gun position" message, dodging the bombardment would be a piece of cake!
Chen Jian took a deep breath.

He finally let go of his last shred of illusions about the beast tide.

They can no longer be regarded as ordinary monsters.

This is an organized and tactically sophisticated army composed of monsters!
"Shen Yue, cease shelling."

"Lei Jie, establish electromagnetic shielding!"

"Bombers, return to base! Load the nuclear bombs onto them and prepare for high-altitude bombing!"

".clear."

Lei Jie's reply came through the earpiece. Chen Jian raised the bomb gun in his hand and shattered the head of a monster that was lunging at him with a single shot.

The number of small monsters is decreasing, and the first round of feint attacks seems to be coming to an end.

Gunfire on the defensive line grew increasingly sparse, and the unmanned combat swarm's harvesting of the rear buffer zone was nearing its end.

"All combat units, end the battle immediately!"

Chen Jian issued another order, and a reply came immediately.

"understand!"

"Roger that!"

Suddenly, the gunfire intensified once again.

After Chen Jian emptied the last magazine of his explosive gun, there was no trace of any monsters left on the entire defensive line.

Instead, there were layers upon layers of corpses.

Everywhere you look, there is blood, mucus, and severed limbs.

The entire battlefield had become a giant meat grinder, and all the monsters that dared to enter had been shredded to pieces.

Cheers erupted from every corner as everyone at Base 011, whether or not they had participated in the battle, celebrated this great victory.

But Chen Jian knew that this was just the beginning.

When Shen Yue, who was also commanding the battle at the front, walked up to him, he immediately said:
"This is a reconnaissance mission."

"I see it."

Shen Yue frowned deeply.

"If our judgment is correct, then it is very likely that those monsters will launch another surprise attack late tonight."

"That's the real beast tide. The first line of defense might not hold. Should we detonate the outer nuclear missiles prematurely?"

"Let's play it by ear."

Chen Jian's tone was low, but he then let out a sigh of relief and said:

"However, we haven't reached that point yet."

"These monsters are indeed intelligent, but not intelligent enough."

"They don't think our artillery only has one use, do they?"

(End of this chapter)