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

Chapter 310 Awakening
On the viaduct.

The two bombers, having landed successfully, had their hardpoints open. Reggie strode towards the three Mechanicus Guards who were waiting nearby and said:
"Load everything onto the plane!"

"Hurry up, get it moved in one go."

"We have two seats left on both planes—we can squeeze in if we want."

"Come with us."

"Jiang Yu, your plane is carrying three people, so there will definitely be problems with weight balance."

"Open it carefully, especially when landing."

"understand!"

Jiang Yu nodded upon hearing this, then turned to the Imperial Guards as well, carefully examined them, and said:

"You two smaller ones, come with me."

"We'll have to squeeze in, and it will be very crowded."

"But it's okay, we'll be able to land in 30 minutes at most, just bear with it."

"Where is the thing?"

"Here!"

The Imperial Guard leader immediately turned to the roadside, then lifted the camouflage he had previously created with grass and branches, and pointed to the not-so-large square device, saying:
"When we found it, it was just like this, basically unchanged."

"This is the corpse of the monster that carried it; we moved it here too."

"very good!"

Lei Jie nodded to the leader of the Imperial Guard.

"Humanity will remember your contributions."

As he spoke, he crouched down to touch the monster's skin.

The moment his fingers touched it, he immediately felt a coolness that was definitely not found on the skin of a carbon-based life form.

"It's like some kind of flexible metallic material."

"It has an electrochromic coating and the cross-section has the characteristics of a carbon fiber structure, but it doesn't look like carbon fiber."

"This is high-tech; it can't be made in 20 years."

"Fuxi, have you ever seen this kind of material before?"

"It is not possible to determine at this time."

The voice of Fuxi came through Lei Jie's headphones.

"But based on the images that have been transmitted so far, this material bears a strong resemblance to cutting-edge flexible composite armor research in 2045."

"It could be an upgraded version of the M77 flexible composite armor."

"clear."

Lei Jie let out a soft breath, then pulled out a dagger from his waist, aimed it at the monster's severed head, and slashed it directly down the neck.

It was only then that he realized that the "armor" covering the monster's head was made of a different material than the armor on its body, and there were breakpoints connecting the two materials.

This is likely why its head could be so easily severed.

The dagger encountered great resistance, but Reggie still managed to cut through the monster's mask.

Beneath the mask was a face that had long been distorted; its eyes were even blind or degenerated, leaving only a pair of shriveled eyeballs in their sockets.

Reggie felt a chill run down his spine. While the others were loading cargo, he flipped the monster's head over.

At the back of the monster's head was a metal module embedded in the occipital bone.

Brain-computer interface.

Invasive brain-computer interface.

Without a doubt, this monster is of the same origin as the controlled monsters in the beast tide.

Is it also controlled by brain-computer interfaces?

Or is its brain-computer interface system "functional"?

Lei Jie was unable to make a judgment immediately.

Anyway, the body will be transported back, and there will be plenty of time for an autopsy then.

At this point, the "control device" had been fully installed.

Reggie walked toward his plane, waved to the Imperial Guard leader, and said:
"You come with me!"

There was no response after he finished speaking.

He had already climbed into the cockpit of the bomber, and seeing that the burly Imperial Guard leader was still standing there, he asked:
"What are you all standing there for? Get up here!"

The commander of the Imperial Guards subconsciously took a step forward, but then stopped in his tracks.

His eyes revealed a clear longing, even a devout obsession.

Anyone standing in front of him could see that he wanted to board the plane and see how the "Angels of the Holy Trinity" actually worked.

However, it seemed that some force was stopping him.

"I'm not going with you."

The commander of the Imperial Guards said resolutely:
"Thank you for your kindness."

"May the Holy Trinity protect you, and your bravery in fighting the monster will be remembered in our hearts."

"But please forgive me for not being able to accept your invitation."

"Take my companions with you; they need to survive."

After he said that, Zhang Chao and Liu Hao, who were originally eager to try, suddenly stopped in their tracks.

The two exchanged a glance, then turned towards Lei Jie almost simultaneously.

After bowing slightly, Liu Hao began to speak:
"Thank you for your kindness."

"But our brothers are still fighting on the shores of Qili Lake, and we must go and join them."

"Are you crazy?!"

Lei Jie was dumbfounded.

"This is a pointless sacrifice!"

"The Qilihu defense line has already fallen, and even if you rush there now, you can't help them!"

"The Holy Army will definitely withdraw from the so-called Xuyi defense line within 6 hours, and they will retreat all the way back to Jinling City!"

"What are you planning to do? Are you going to walk there?!"

"Come back to Jinling New City with us. Even if you want to go back then, we'll take you back, okay?"

"No, we must stand with our brothers."

The commander of the Imperial Guards answered resolutely.

"The Holy Trinity will never allow us to abandon our brothers."

"Even if we die here, we must stay."

"Crazy."

Lei Jie shook his head in exasperation.

In fact, he could absolutely understand the act of choosing to sacrifice for one's beliefs, because his own team had come this far in the same way.

But he couldn't understand the choice of these three guards at all.

If they really stay behind, they're not sacrificing themselves, they're just sending themselves to their deaths!

Before doing something you know is impossible, you should at least be sure that what you're doing is meaningful, okay?
Lei Jie took a deep breath and said:
"I'll ask you one last time, are you coming or not?"

"If you don't leave, you will all die!"

"uncertain."

The leader of the Imperial Guard slowly shook his head.

"The Holy Trinity has given us revelation, providing us with such crucial equipment."

"Its glory will continue to accompany us."

"We will survive."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lei Jie felt as if he had suddenly understood everything.

It's that kind of foolish mystical belief again!
Without time to say more, he decisively gave the order:

"Jiang Yu, leave your weapons and ammunition to them."

"We'll leave immediately!"

"clear."

Jiang Yu obeyed the order and took the short 191 rifle from the bomber cockpit, tossing it from the air to the Imperial Guard leader.

Lei Jie did the same, and after receiving the gun, the three thanked him once again.

But Reggie was too lazy to care about them anymore.

The engines started, and the bomber roared into the sky.

When the two planes were once again side by side at an altitude of 1,000 meters, Lei Jie couldn't help but complain:

"The brainwashing skills of the Machine God Cult are truly exceptional. Don't they think they're being martyred?"

"no."

Jiang Yu's voice came through the earpiece. "They are atoning for their sins."

"They believed they had to die."

"Because they chose humanity, they must atone to the Church."

Meanwhile, on the east bank of Qili Lake.

With the last line of defense on the verge of collapse, Zhang Tao felt immense sorrow as he watched the approaching beast tide in the distance.

He never even understood what had happened.

It seemed that I had made thorough preparations.

A large amount of artillery fire, and an elite, reorganized, and loyal force.

Sufficient auxiliary troops and ample supplies.

Judging solely from the troop strength and equipment on paper, this force, while not comparable to the main force of the Chinese army, is far superior in combat power to the expeditionary force they deployed at Banghu.

But why is it that the Huaxia Army can do things that their own Supreme Army cannot?

Don't say you can't do it.

From the start of the battle until now, the Holy Army has never even gained the upper hand.

When the roar of the level-two Qinyuan beast rang out, the entire team immediately collapsed.

After that, no matter how much effort he put in or how he tried to salvage the situation, he could not change the fact that things had plummeted into an abyss.

It was only a few hours.

Just hours before, this team was impeccably disciplined and full of ambition.

Several hours later, only one path remained to take.

retreat.

"Is the steam locomotive ready?"

Zhang Tao asked the archbishop standing beside him.

"Everything is ready, and we can begin our retreat immediately."

"It's only 65 kilometers from here to Nanjing, and we can get there in three hours."

“Those monsters can’t catch us—or maybe they won’t even chase us.”

"My lord, you should have noticed as well that the beast tide's attack methods have changed."

“They have lost their ‘discipline’ and are fighting only on instinct.”

"I believe that our attack must have been effective, destroying some key element in the beast tide."

"Our retreat was justified."

"Even if we leave now, the beast tide won't last much longer."

"They will disintegrate on their own and return to a normal state."

"Even worse, these monsters that gather together will kill each other because of territorial disputes."

"We have won, sir."

"Won?"

A sarcastic smile appeared on Zhang Tao's face.

"You call this a victory?"

“We have lost more than 800 loyal warriors of the Holy Army, and the remaining force is less than a quarter of what it started.”

"If this counts as a victory, then we've never really lost."

As soon as he finished speaking, the archbishop stood there awkwardly, stunned.

What else could he say?

In front of Zhang Tao, in front of this current saint of the Mechanical God Cult, should I say that we have completely lost and that the reason for our defeat is because of your wrong command?
He could only remain silent.

After a moment, Zhang Tao took a deep breath and said:
"Perhaps I am not suited to be a saint of the Cult of Machines."

“I don’t have such talent. I was just forced into this position because I happened to meet the ‘requirements’ of the Chinese army.”

“Since becoming a saint, I have not done a single thing right.”

"I am only bringing suffering to the Cult of Mechanism, to Jinling City, and to the common people."

"Huaxia Army is right."

"The blood debt of Liangxi City should be attributed to me."

“I should pay off this debt, and now is the time.”

After saying this, the archbishop's gaze toward Zhang Tao underwent a subtle change.

He could certainly hear the negativity in Zhang Tao's voice.

But behind this negativity, he also saw something more hidden.

This new sage has truly grown.

Perhaps everyone should give him another chance and some more time.

Thinking of this, the archbishop spoke:
"You don't need to be too hard on yourself, you've already done a great job."

"Most of your actions are obviously correct, they just need more time."

"The monsters won't give us time."

Zhang Tao raised his hand to interrupt the archbishop, and then said:
"I've already made my decision."

"Next, I will give you the seal of the saint."

"You must take my place and lead these brothers back to Jinling City to rebuild our defenses."

"And I will lead my Imperial Guard to hold off the pursuing monsters and create time for you to evacuate."

"Absolutely not!"

The archbishop stood up in surprise and then said:

"The succession of saints is a sacred matter that must be approved by the Holy Trinity!"

“We still have a chance! We can leave the Imperial Guards to cover our retreat, but you don’t need to.”

"This is the last command from the saint."

You must obey.

After saying that, Zhang Tao stood up and got off the steam locomotive.

The guards outside had overheard his conversation with the archbishop, and with expressions of utmost piety, more than thirty guards gathered around him.

"I think you have all heard my decision."

Zhang Tao reached out and took the armor handed to him by an Imperial Guard, while simultaneously pulling back the bolt of his brand-new Type 75 rifle.

"The Holy Army must retreat to Jinling City, where they can rebuild their defenses and withstand the final attack from those heretical monsters."

"They need time, and they need someone to cover their retreat."

"And this is our inescapable responsibility."

"Now, most loyal warriors of the Holy Trinity, are you ready to journey to the Kingdom of God?!"

"For the Holy Trinity!"

The Imperial Guards shouted in unison.

Zhang Tao donned his armor and gave the order again:

"Leave enough weapons and ammunition."

"We need a sufficient amount of explosives; leave all the grenades and rocket launchers to us."

"We don't have enough manpower, so we must make up for it with equipment."

"Time is running out, quickly distribute the equipment."

"Then, follow me to the gorge entrance of Jianxi Town."

"We will establish a defensive line there, and we will march towards the Kingdom of God from there!"

"For the Holy Trinity!"

With another unified shout, Zhang Tao took a rocket launcher and carried it on his back.

He then took out the seal of the Holy Trinity from his bag and handed it to the archbishop.

"That's it."

"Take the rest of you and go back to Jinling."

"But this..."

The archbishop wanted to argue further, but Zhang Tao raised his hand to interrupt him.

"This is my realization."

"Don't worry, we might survive."

"after all."

"I was once the strongest brigade commander in the strongest Guards Brigade."

(End of this chapter)