Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 555: Rapid Rescue

Compared to other tribal territories in the northern desert, the Silver Moon Oasis is actually more like a small river valley settlement. Thanks to its proximity to the Divine Ridge Mountains, the oasis has a constant flow of sweet snow water from the towering snow-capped mountains, abundant water and grass, and abundant fish... Compared to the Emerald Oasis, which has gradually dried up due to severe droughts every year, most of the tribesmen even make a living by fishing, and their lives are relatively better.

The Silver Moon Tribe has lived on this small oasis for generations. Successive tribe leaders have always been tolerant and generous, never easily launching wars or looting against neighboring tribes. Instead, they warmly welcome scattered tribesmen from all sides to join, gradually forming a fairly large settlement in the Silver Moon Valley.

There are no city walls or fortifications in the entire river valley. Apart from a few watchtowers and blockhouses built of wood and stone on the periphery, most of the rest are tents supported by various animal skins, dotted along the oasis river, creating a wild, simple, quiet and peaceful scene.

This human settlement, which is only a hundred miles away from the Great Rift of the Divine Ridge Mountain, has a flat terrain and no strategic locations to defend. In the eyes of the Demon Lizardmen, it is like a fragile lamb directly exposed to the sight of a wolf pack. A Demon Lizardmen outpost team of less than 500 people took advantage of the night to follow the shepherds who went out to graze the sheep and easily sneaked into the oasis.

What followed was a sudden and unprepared unilateral massacre.

Although the Silver Moon Tribe had many brave and elite warriors, they could not be summoned in a short time in the sudden chaos. They were quickly defeated one by one as they fought on their own. The old tribe leader and his three sons were killed on the spot... The few remaining warriors in the tribe protected the remaining elderly, weak, women and children, and bought them an evacuation opportunity with their lives, and hurriedly retreated to a pottery mine in the oasis.

Even the team that tried to break out and seek help suffered more than half of their casualties. In the end, only three people managed to escape and barely made it to the nearest Emerald Oasis to inform the Zhuo tribe of this shocking news.

By the time the reinforcements from the Zhuo tribe arrived, leading the Northern Army soldiers who had also volunteered, it was almost dawn... Looking down from the high slope, the entire oasis was in ruins, with herds of dead cattle and sheep scattered around the periphery. A large number of tents and animal pens seemed to have been deliberately set on fire and burned, and after a night, only charred debris remained.

"We are too late..." The Silver Moon warrior who was responsible for reporting the news and asking for help knelt down on the sand in pain, banged his forehead against the ground and cried out at the top of his lungs, causing Zhuo Ao's warriors to have red eyes.

Wayne and Dave looked reluctant and turned to look for help at the astrologer who came with the team. The high-level astrologer took out a fist-sized crystal ball from her arms without hesitation, closed her eyes slightly and began to chant a spell softly.

An invisible cyclone quickly condensed inside the crystal ball, and then gradually gathered into several clusters of stars. The arrangement and combination formed a sharp arrow phantom, which trembled slightly like a compass a few times and immediately pointed to a low hill in the distance.

"Is that the clay mine where you finally retreated?"

A tearful Silver Moon warrior raised his head and sobbed, "Yes, Chief Saik... the tribe leader's youngest son, the best hunter and warrior in Silver Moon Oasis, took the hundreds of surviving tribe members and hid in the mines."

They were attacked yesterday evening, and now a whole night has passed. Even if the reinforcements were lucky enough to ride on the high-speed vehicles provided by the expeditionary force, it seems that they are still a step too late.

The astrologer shook his head, raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the mine, and said slowly, "Astrological prophecy indicates that there are still survivors in the mine. Your people don't have spellcasters with magical fluctuations, so the demon lizardmen can't accurately locate their location... If they use the complex network of tunnels in the mine, they should still have a chance of survival!"

Wayne stamped his foot and instructed the signalman, "Have the airship squadron in the rear descend and enter the center of the oasis to attract the attention of the demon lizardmen. We'll bypass them from the side... and find a way to surprise them!" He turned to look at Chief Cho Ao and said in a deep voice, "The demon lizardmen have a strange fighting style and powerful weapons. You don't have to participate directly. Wait until my soldiers engage them in a firefight, then quietly enter the mine to search and rescue survivors."

After witnessing the terrifying power of the expeditionary force's magic guns and personally experiencing riding on alchemical vehicles, the warriors of the Emerald Oasis also had a certain understanding of the combat capabilities of these expeditionary soldiers. What's more, they were led by several God-chosen warriors with extraordinary powers... There were even noble and mysterious wizards among them, so it was not their turn to take the field at all.

The tragic situation that the Silver Moon Tribe is facing now has also made them feel a great fear of the rumored alien monsters. Unless they are in dire straits, even the bravest tribal warriors do not want to die in vain.

Chief Zhuo Ao touched the wolf tooth pendant on his chest, nodded silently, and split up with Wayne and others. Each of them led their team down the hill and quietly sneaked into the oasis.

……

"Look! These monsters are spraying black water at the tent and the animal pen!" Dave muttered softly as he lay in a bush. "What are they trying to do?"

"Use the black water to ignite the flames and burn the entire Silver Moon Tribe settlement to ashes..." Wayne said solemnly, "Their mission should be to completely raze this place, not only to kill everyone, but also to leave no living creatures, including livestock and poultry, behind."

The soldier in charge of observation suddenly whispered, "They're spraying black water into the clay mine. It seems they're trying to suffocate the survivors hiding there. These are such heartless monsters!"

But this action also indirectly proves that there are indeed many tribesmen hiding in the mine. It is just unclear how they escaped the disaster. Perhaps it is because the tall bodies and slender limbs of the lizardmen make it impossible for them to move in the low mine tunnels.

Several airships in the sky had clearly exposed their tracks, and many demon lizardmen immediately discovered them and were attracted to the center of the settlement. The airships, which had lowered their altitude to less than 100 meters from the ground, were soon attacked by black water spears thrown by the demon lizardmen below.

The spellcasters and soldiers in the airship also fired from the pod shooting holes, firing back at the enemy like target shooting.

Simply leaving the floating island fortress, these alien monsters lost their greatest reliance on air defense - the long-range black crystal thorns that came with the floating island. As a result, when their spear attacks were ineffective, they could only passively withstand the attacks of magic guns from the sky. After losing more than ten combat units in an instant, the remaining magic lizardmen scattered and sought cover to hide.

It is naturally impossible to wipe out all the enemies with just a few spellcasters and soldiers on the airship. The red lizardmen hiding in the enemy team have not yet appeared, and the enemy's red lightning has a very long range, posing a considerable threat to the airship's pods and airbags. The air team dare not stay in the air for the entire time, and can only control the airship to circle around the settlement while shooting sporadically to attract the enemy's attention.

"The ordinary soldiers will disperse in small groups and freely fire at the enemies in the settlement. Dave will lead the Bloodline Warriors of the special operations team to find the location of the Red Lizard leader among them... Once the target is found, immediately alert the air team."

The two high-level spellcasters, Eye of Illusion and Astrologer, are responsible for receiving instructions from the ground forces, using sniper magic guns to defeat the enemy with one shot, and accurately kill those red lizard targets that pose the greatest threat!
(End of this chapter)