Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 115 Rescue
Four o'clock in the morning, in the industrial zone.

A completely black van, with all its lights off, glided slowly in the shadows of the factory and finally came to a stop next to a broken wall.

Mao Shanwang sat alone in the driver's seat, glancing back at the back of the vehicle.

There, the battery pack occupied nearly half of the carriage, emitting a low hum, and cables connected to a metal cabinet device, which was the "silent field".

Next to it lay a set of power armor, its entire surface coated in matte black.

Mao Shanwang picked up the communicator, his deep voice clearly reaching everyone's tactical channel.

"Let me remind you again, the silence field can only be maintained for twenty minutes, which is very energy-consuming. We must finish this quickly."

"Received." Cole and Jetta's voices came through the channel, brief and crisp.

Once the silent field is activated, it will form an invisible force field that shields all electromagnetic signals.

Furthermore, any sound or energy attempting to penetrate the force field will be drastically attenuated and absorbed, isolating the area of ​​action into an island.

Meanwhile, in another hidden warehouse in the industrial zone, twenty-four power armored vehicles were assembled.

Cole led nine members of the Fire Spirit team as one group, Jetta's Five Rats team was the second group, and Mao Shanwang led six cat people as the third group.

Xiong Er, all alone, had already set up his sniper rifle at a high vantage point.

Zhuang Fan stood at the front of the group. He wasn't wearing power armor, just a lightweight stealth suit.

He glanced at the time on his wrist panel and said, "Everyone, execute the plan as scheduled and follow the instructions of your team leaders."

"Understood!" the crowd responded in unison, their voices forming a powerful torrent.

Mao Shanwang rubbed his paws together and grinned, "We're going to have another tough battle. I'm excited just thinking about it."

On the roof of the factory at the stronghold of the Vanguard, a sniper stood in each of the four corners.

One of them took off his helmet, pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.

"Damn it, this weather is so hot and humid."

He muttered a complaint, blowing smoke into the night sky: "Keeping watch is so fucking boring, we can't even see a ghost."

"Stop talking nonsense and concentrate." His companion's voice came through the communicator, tinged with impatience.

Before the sniper could finish speaking, his gaze inadvertently caught sight of a black car slowly approaching from the shadows of the street in the distance.

Mao Shanwang drove the car to the outer wall of the Fengmang stronghold and decisively pressed a red button.

"Om-"

Inside the carriage, the light strip in the silent field suddenly lit up, emitting a high-frequency buzzing sound.

The sniper couldn't see what was happening inside the carriage.

"Something's suspicious."

He picked up the communicator, ready to report to his superiors.

"Attention, a suspicious vehicle has been spotted on the northeast side of Building 3..."

His voice abruptly stopped.

There was no familiar response from the communicator, only a deathly silence of static, without even the most basic signal noise.

"What's going on? Is the signal busy again?"

He frowned, sensing something was wrong, and turned to tell his companion in the distance.

"puff."

An extremely slight muffled sound.

He saw his companion's head explode without warning, and warm liquid splattered all over the wall.

"It's an enemy attack!"

He immediately raised his sniper rifle, only to see his comrades in the other two corners also have their heads explode without warning.

The enemy numbers are too large!

The sniper was terrified and instinctively tried to lie down, but a bullet had already pierced his forehead.

Six hundred meters away, Xiong Er lay on the roof of an abandoned building, watching the last corpse slowly fall, and muttered, "Done."

He pulled the bolt, and the scalding hot cartridge case popped out; the movement was so practiced it was like breathing.

Almost simultaneously, four rockets, trailing plumes of flame, hurtled in from different directions and accurately struck the four machine gun turrets.

"Boom—Boom!"

Explosions rang out one after another, and flames and thick smoke shot into the sky, briefly illuminating the night sky.

"The action begins!"

Cole's voice rang out in the tactics channel, "One frontal assault!"

Ten powered armored vehicles started up simultaneously, taking heavy steps as they charged toward the gates of the Sharp Edge headquarters.

"boom!"

Six high-explosive shells struck in succession, severely deforming the thick alloy door and causing it to cave inward.

Without pausing, Cole slammed into him with the shoulder of his power armor.

"Bang!"

With a piercing metallic sound, the door was forcefully kicked open.

Ten armored soldiers filed in, their machine guns firing furiously into the factory without a moment's pause.

“Da da da da—!”

The first wave of bullets riddled the hovercars inside with holes, sending up bursts of fire.

Before the roar of the explosion had even subsided, several mercenaries who rushed out from the buildings on both sides were torn to pieces by a second wave of bullets; they were not even able to raise their guns.

Amidst the piercing alarm, the automatic machine gun turret, which had just risen from the ground, was instantly silenced by the intersecting firepower.

Just as a drone attempted to take off, Cole precisely raised his hand and fired a shot, blowing it up in mid-air, causing it to explode into a fireball and fall to the ground.

They didn't spare the dozen or so mechanical dogs either; their metal shells were smashed into pieces one after another amidst the cracking sounds.

They need no rules, no skills, only the purest and most brutal firepower suppression.

Inside the silent field, all sound was distorted.

The gunshots were no longer crisp, but sounded unusually muffled, and the explosions lost their original booming sound; the air seemed to become viscous.

Inside the stronghold, the enemy was stunned for a moment, but quickly organized an effective counterattack.

A large number of mercenaries leaned out of the windows on the second floor of the building, creating a crossfire network with automatic rifles and grenade launchers.

"Boom! Boom!"

Several high-powered jamming flashbangs exploded in the courtyard, bursting out with blinding white light and high-frequency noise.

But all of this is meaningless to the members of the Fireline, who are wearing power armor.

The tactical HUD interface inside the helmet only flashed a few times before quickly filtering out the bright light and noise.

Without even a moment's pause, they strode boldly into the enemy's barrage of fire.

The bullets struck the thick armor, producing only a series of sparks, without leaving even a scratch.

Cole took the lead and crashed straight through a concrete wall.

"Boom!"

The steel bars were snapped, and the wall collapsed with a crash.

He emerged from the smoke and dust, grabbed the panicked machine gunner behind the wall, lifted him up like a chick, and slammed him heavily to the ground.

The other armored soldiers followed suit; they abandoned firing and used brute force to break through the walls, pulling out the mercenaries hiding inside one by one.

"Ah—!" Screams of agony rose and fell.

The first line of defense at the stronghold was torn apart by this group of armored brutes in just one minute.

Just then, heavy footsteps came from the depths.

Eight enemy powered armored vehicles appeared in orderly formation, wielding heavy machine guns and launching a fierce counterattack.

"Puff-puff-!"

Cole and his team encountered fierce resistance and had to retreat temporarily to find cover.

"avoid!"

Cole's voice came through the communication channel, with a hint of metallic distortion.

One member of the "Spark" group couldn't help but joke, "The other side has finally put on their armor, and they're still grumpy from waking up."

"Don't look up, all of you, remember that."

After giving some instructions, Cole pulled out an "Armor Buster" from his waist and threw it at the enemy.

The disc landed in the center of the four armored soldiers.

"Om-"

The four armored soldiers froze abruptly, and the power armor shuddered violently.

Before they could even scream, they were shattered into a pile of flesh, and the four steel behemoths collapsed to their knees with a thud.

There were no signs of life in the cockpit.

Two more "armor killers" were thrown out, and all the armored soldiers on the other side were paralyzed on the ground.

"Fire!"

Cole gave the order.

The dozen or so mercenaries hiding behind the armored soldiers were completely exposed. Before they could recover from their shock, they were instantly torn to shreds.

Meanwhile, on both flanks of the base, the teams led by Mao Shanwang and Jetta were also making rapid progress.

Mao Shanwang's round body, encased in power armor, appeared even more robust.

"boom--!"

The shotgun in his hand emitted a dull roar, blasting the three mercenaries in the room to pieces.

Six cat-man armored soldiers followed closely behind, moving with great agility.

Jetta's ratmen team was even more ferocious. They used brute force to smash open the tightly closed doors, drag out the mercenaries inside, and tear them in half.

The armored forces were overwhelming, and the outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt.

Suddenly, an enemy armored vehicle charged out from the side and slammed the Jetta into the wall.

"Boom!"

With a dull thud, the Jetta was firmly suppressed.

The armored soldier swung his mechanical arm, trying to smash open the Jetta's helmet.

But Jetta had no interest in a one-on-one fight with him.

The other three ratman armored soldiers instantly surrounded the enemy, one locking the enemy's arm and the other hugging the enemy's waist from behind.

The third one grabbed his helmet with both arms.

Jetta roared and ordered, "Pry open this metal shell for me!"

"Crunch—sizzle!"

With a metallic tearing sound, the enemy armored soldier's limbs were ripped off, and the driver let out a short scream before falling silent.

Zhuang Fan was like a ghost, wandering on the edge of the battlefield.

Through his keen perception of the eerie fog, he could foresee ambushes in every corner and then issue precise instructions to each squad.

"Group Two, at the three o'clock position, there is a machine gunner at the second-floor window."

"Group Three, watch out for the left flank, there are five people sneaking in through the underground pipes."

He became the "brain" of the entire battlefield.

Cole's team went on a killing spree, becoming increasingly fierce under Zhuang Fan's precise commands.

They no longer looked for doors and passages; all obstacles in their path became mere decorations to be smashed.

"Boom!"

When he encountered a closed door, he would ram it open with his shoulder; when he encountered a thick wall, he would smash it with his fist.

When they ran into another firing position consisting of three armored soldiers, Cole took cover behind a bunker, pulled out his "Armor Buster," and threw it at their feet.

"Om-"

The eerie low-frequency sound rang out again.

The three armored soldiers crashed to the ground and fell silent.

Without the armored soldiers, the remaining mercenaries were simply no match for these steel monsters.

Cole threw out his last "Armor Buster," and more than fifteen armored soldiers had died at his hands.

The enemy's resistance grew weaker and weaker, and some of the remaining mercenaries were terrified.

They threw down their weapons and scattered, trying to escape through the breach created by the explosion.

But what awaited them was precise, targeted elimination.

"call out--!"

A mercenary had just rushed out the gate when a bloody hole appeared between his eyebrows, and his body went limp and collapsed.

Another person, hiding behind the truck, hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath before half his head was blown off.

Xiong Er lay in wait in the shadows 300 meters away, calmly pulling the trigger to ensure that no one escaped.

The stronghold of the Vanguard, three underground levels, prison cells.

Pipi was awakened by a series of extremely muffled "plop plop" sounds.

At first, she thought it was equipment being repaired upstairs, but the sound became more and more frequent, and was also accompanied by slight vibrations.

She walked to the iron gate, pressed her ear against the crack, and tried to make out what was happening outside.

It's gunfire!
Someone has come to rescue us!
An overwhelming surge of excitement welled up inside her, and she instantly thought of the Torch Base and that man.

In another, deeper cell.

Chu Ningyan had already woken up.

When the first muffled explosion was heard, she held her breath and hid behind the door, listening intently to analyze every distorted sound.

Explosions, gunshots, footsteps, and the dull thud of heavy objects falling to the ground.

She knew that the enemy would not sit idly by and wait to die; she was probably their last hostage.

Sure enough, the iron gate was kicked open with a loud bang.

Two fully armed mercenaries rushed in, only to find the place empty. "Click!"

A cracking sound rang out, and the mercenary's head tilted to one side at an odd angle before collapsing limply.

The other man was shocked when he saw this and was about to raise his gun when his wrist was grabbed.

She thrust her elbow upwards, striking the mercenary's Adam's apple, shattering his throat bone. He clutched his neck and collapsed.

At that moment, an even more imposing figure blocked the doorway.

It was an armored soldier whose armor was covered in scratches and craters, and a tear in the left shoulder plate exposed the tubing inside.

He looked at the two corpses on the ground, then at Chu Ningyan in the corner, and a mechanical laugh came from behind him.

"Ugly freak, you're actually pretty good at fighting."

He took heavy steps, and the ground trembled slightly.

Chu Ningyan's eyes were icy cold as she rushed forward like a ghost, unleashing a fierce flying kick that whistled through the air, attempting to strike the seam of the opponent's helmet.

"when!"

The armored soldier shook his head slightly; he didn't even bother to parry. "Overestimating yourself."

He raised his iron arm and casually swung it outwards.

"boom!"

Chu Ningyan was swept away by a tremendous force, flying horizontally and crashing heavily into the wall before falling to the ground.

She felt as if her internal organs had been misplaced, and a sweet taste rose in her throat before a mouthful of blood gushed out.

She struggled to her feet, but the heavy combat boot kicked her hard in the stomach.

"Boom!"

She slammed her head against the wall again, letting out a painful groan, and collapsed completely.

An armored soldier stepped forward, grabbed her hair, and lifted her head up, his tone full of mockery.

"Your face is a perfect match for your fate."

Suddenly, his body stiffened.

"Ugh—!"

He clutched his helmet and let out a roar that sounded inhuman, his massive body convulsing on the spot.

Zhuang Fan arrived just in time.

He took out a grenade, stuffed it into the hole in his back armor, and then quickly retreated.

"puff--"

Flames and thick smoke billowed from the gaps in the armor, the steel behemoth swayed, and then crashed to the ground.

Zhuang Fan quickly walked to Chu Ningyan's side and helped her up, but her legs went weak and she almost collapsed again.

Without hesitation, Zhuang Fan reached under her knees and back and gently lifted her up from the ground.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"……Um."

Chu Ningyan rested her head on his shoulder and responded softly, "I'm fine."

But her body felt like it was falling apart; every breath brought excruciating pain to her internal organs, and even speaking was too much for her. She was too weak to lean against him.

"Stop moving."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ningyan gave up all support, closed her eyes, and gently rested her head against his chest.

Outside, the battle in the prison area has ended.

Jetta led five rat-man armored soldiers to wipe out all resistance along the way.

Zhuang Fan, carrying Chu Ningyan, quickly walked to a tightly locked iron gate and kicked it open.

"I'll get down..."

Chu Ningyan struggled to get out of his arms. She leaned against the wall, enduring the pain, her eyes fixed on the doorway.

Pipi curled up in the corner of the room, hugging her knees.

When she recognized the familiar figure at the door, her nose suddenly stung with tears.

"Team leader..."

"Pipi, I'm here."

Her tears instantly overflowed, and she staggered over, throwing herself into Chu Ningyan's arms and bursting into tears.

"Team leader... Waaah... I thought I'd never see you again..."

Pipi burst into tears and buried his face in her shoulder.

"never mind."

Chu Ningyan's eyes also reddened. She hugged Pipi and gently patted her back, saying, "I've always been here."

Her voice was very soft, as if she were soothing a frightened little animal, "You did a great job, really."

Standing outside, Zhuang Fan noticed that the sounds around him had become clearer.

The distant gunfire was no longer muffled, and the explosions regained their original power.

The silent field has failed.

"Boom——!"

With a loud crash, the wall was smashed open completely.

Mao Shanwang drove in a modified truck, stuck his head out of the cab, and yelled at the top of his lungs:

"Hurry up, everyone! Bring those tin cans up! Don't worry about the bodies inside yet, we'll deal with them back at the safe house. Be quick!"

Chu Ningyan leaned against the wall, her face pale and with some internal injuries.

Zhuang Fan couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he picked her up again.

"It's okay, I can..."

"Stop being so dramatic, let's go back and talk about it first."

"Ah."

Pipi followed behind, her tears still wet on her face. Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on her face.

……

A dozen kilometers outside the outpost, there was a luxury apartment building.

Qiu Shan was suddenly awakened from his sleep, pushed away the woman who was still fast asleep next to him, and grabbed the wrist panel on the headboard.

On the panel, the green indicator light representing the outpost turned a glaring red, accompanied by the highest level of alarm.

An encrypted message popped up.

"Captain, the outpost has fallen! No one is responding! Grey Goose and Pipi seem to have escaped!"

"Trash! A bunch of trash!"

Qiu Shan's face turned ashen. He kicked over the liquor cabinet by the bedside, grabbed the communicator, and roared:

"Dispatch all nearby guards! Capture them at all costs! Alive or dead!"

However, when Qiu Shan rushed to the stronghold with a team of reinforcements, all he saw was towering flames and utter devastation.

The factory buildings and complex were burning fiercely, and the black smoke, carrying the smell of burning, dyed the night sky crimson.

His face grew even paler.

"Where are they? Where are the people inside!" Qiu Shan grabbed his subordinate by the collar.

"Captain, everyone... is dead."

The subordinate's voice trembled, "The power armor was all stolen too."

Qiu Shan's heart sank suddenly, and the hand gripping his collar loosened weakly.

Those were the elite troops he had personally trained, the cornerstone of his power, and now most of them are gone!
He suppressed his anger and forced out a few words through gritted teeth: "Have you caught those people yet?"

"The pursuing troops...were also completely wiped out."

The subordinate dared not look him in the eye, his voice barely audible, "The enemy has too many armored soldiers; we simply cannot defeat them."

Qiu Shan's body swayed suddenly, and the hand that was clutching his collar fell limply to his side.

His anger subsided in an instant, replaced by deep worry: how could he explain this to Director Soren?
"what--!"

Qiu Shan punched the armored vehicle next to him, leaving a shallow dent in the metal shell.

……

Safe house, underground garage.

Mao Shanwang, Cole, and others were working together to drag down the captured power armor and throw it into a huge cleaning pool.

High-pressure water guns sprayed powerful jets of water, washing away the residue inside the cockpit.

The scene was unsettling, but everyone was used to it; some even hummed tunes while showering.

Zhuang Fan stood aside, counting the spoils of war.

"Of the twelve complete machines, six were reduced to their torsos, along with a bunch of broken arms and legs."

He looked at the nearly destroyed, half-damaged armor, then at the mountain of armored arms and mechanical legs, and a sense of lingering fear flashed through his mind.

There were actually twenty powered armored vehicles in the enemy stronghold, far exceeding his estimate.

If it weren't for the entire force being armored, if it weren't for catching the enemy off guard with the "armor killer," if it weren't for my own superhuman vision...

Tonight will likely be a fierce and tough battle.

Meanwhile, the Fire team suffered minimal losses.

Apart from a few members suffering minor injuries and the armored arm being torn off during hand-to-hand combat, the core structure remained intact.

As he watched the members remove their armor and check each other's injuries, a certain idea in his mind became more and more certain.

He walked over to Cole and Maoshanwang and said, “From now on, all combat missions of the Torch Team will be conducted by non-armored troops.”

Cole nodded emphatically, completely agreeing with the decision.

Mao Shanwang also stopped laughing and became somewhat sentimental.

"That's right. No matter how tough the power armor is, you still need a living person to drive it. What's the use of leaving a bunch of metal lumps if the person is gone?"

He watched as this hastily assembled ragtag army began to transform into an elite force.

"I believe in you guys, really."

"Old Cat, when are you going to join us?"

"Then it's impossible to offer a 20% discount."

"..."

The atmosphere was quiet in a bedroom inside the safe house.

Pipi carefully used a cotton swab dipped in disinfectant to wipe a wound on Chu Ningyan's shoulder.

"Team leader, no bones are broken, don't worry."

"That's good."

After treating her injuries, Pipi gazed at Chu Ningyan, her eyes slightly red.

"Team leader, I'm sorry, did the things I made up in the interrogation room really hurt you?"

Her voice was soft, tinged with unease and self-reproach.

A hint of warmth appeared in Chu Ningyan's eyes. "Pipi, how long have we known each other?"

She reached out and gently wiped away the tears on Pipi's face. "From the very first lie you told, I've been trying my best to cooperate with you."

"Team leader, I know, but... your reaction was so real, it scared me."

“Qiu Shan is an old fox, very suspicious. If I don’t act devastated enough, how will he believe me, and how will he let you out smoothly?”

Pipi looked at her intently.

“Team leader…you said before that you had nothing left to hold you back and could leave this world at any time…”

Her voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something: "Are these words... also false?"

"Of course it's fake."

Chu Ningyan cupped Pipi's cheeks in her hands, making her look at her, "With you all here, how could I possibly abandon this world?"

"Yeah, and your fellow villager brother too," Pipi added subconsciously.

Chu Ningyan paused for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh, without responding to that sentence.

She let go, stood up, and put the mask back on, covering half of her face.

"I'm fine now, I'm going outside to check on things."

"Okay, I'm going to treat the other wounded." Pipi regained the competence of a military doctor.

Chu Ningyan walked out of the room and into the safe house lobby. The scene before her made her feel a little dazed.

Twenty-four powered armored vehicles were being repaired, replenished with ammunition, and had their systems calibrated.

They stand or sit, quietly standing in various corners of the garage.

Even without being activated, the oppressive feeling emanating from the steel structure still sends shivers down one's spine.

She recalled the scene when she first met Zhuang Fan at the Strange Rock Hill more than half a year ago.

At that time, he was just a prisoner struggling to survive amidst hordes of zombies and bandits, constantly hiding and in a sorry state.

Now, he has gathered a force around him that is not to be underestimated by the forces outside the city.

The mere presence of these twenty-four armored soldiers constitutes an extremely formidable combat team.

This qualitative leap was surprisingly rapid.

Zhuang Fan noticed Chu Ningyan coming out of the room, so he put down the parts he was holding and went over to her.

He glanced at her face and said, "You're injured; you should rest."

"I still can't sleep."

Chu Ningyan shook her head, her gaze calm, and met his eyes.

Can we talk?

She paused, then added, "Let's talk about what happens next, about me and about you."

(End of this chapter)