I, the undead, save the world with the dolls

In such an environment, the more agile and accurate the units were, the more advantageous they were. The assault troops were driven around by the Iron Blood puppets. Although they unleashed a dense barrage of fire, the Iron Blood puppets didn't concentrate their fire, instead maintaining a distance of seventy to eighty meters, ensuring ample space for each person to evade.

As the humanoids were fighting fiercely, the humans in the resistance camp finally set up their laser cannons. They aimed at the still-charging alien forces and pulled the trigger.

Zizz! A crimson laser flashed from the muzzle. The two Andromedans in the lead were caught in the crossfire. They had hoped to continue fighting, relying on their thick hulls, but the laser cannon pointed at the unstable plasma weapon in their hands—and in less than a second, it exploded from overheating.

A scorching plasma exploded from the Andromedan's hand, blanketing the user in the face. Even a heavy power suit couldn't withstand the explosion at such close range. With a piercing, corrosive sound, the Andromedan collapsed to the ground, its green, transparent shell melted by the intense heat at close range. The tiny operator within was apparently dead.

Just as the battle situation was gradually improving, a Sky Ranger came flying from a distance. The Sky Ranger quickly flew across the sky, and the machine gun under the belly aimed at the stunned alien troops and fired a burst of fire.

This round of strafing didn't kill many people, but it effectively curbed the aliens' momentum. And with this pause, they could no longer charge forward.

XCOM fighters equipped with electromagnetic weapons and smart grenade launchers jumped out of the plane. Their physical skills and marksmanship were better than those of the alien fighters. Coupled with the high-tech weapons they carried, they were enough to destroy the enemies in front of them.

Some aliens recognized the grenades fired by XCOM. With a crisp bang, the self-locking and guided 40mm grenades flew towards the alien troops not far away, smashing into the heavy infantry.

However, these were not ordinary fragmentation bombs, but state-of-the-art plasma grenades. These grenades were originally intended for covert combat troops, but now that the situation was critical, this equipment was released early.

After all, this plasma grenade didn't use any special resources, so it was quickly developed by the research dolls and XCOM researchers.

Military officer Bradford also complained that today's equipment has finally barely caught up to the level of 20 years ago. It's nothing like the whirring sound of plasma weapons today.

When the plasma grenade exploded, killing dozens of mutants and Andromedans, the alien forces realized that something was wrong. The weapons used by the enemy could easily destroy the armor of the heavy infantry, and they were no different no matter what they were wearing.

The aliens' fearless demeanor instantly changed. They'd assumed the only dangers were the women wielding plasma weapons and the two laser cannons within the building. But the sudden appearance of the XCOM fighters and their grenades completely shattered the aliens' fighting spirit.

When the armor, strong enough to protect them, became nothing more than a burden, even the aliens began to think of escaping. The remaining troops of the unit exchanged opinions and immediately took off running. Some simply gave up and hid in the bushes, hoping not to be discovered.

But these efforts were in vain. Their slow retreat meant they were destined to remain here. The three different factions joined forces to counterattack, completely annihilating the alien force.

At this point, the mission of eliminating the aliens and revenge was finally successfully completed.

Deep in the bushes, an Iron-Blooded Puppet lowered the Sun Black Thunder it was holding. She had already prepared to throw the newly spawned Sun Black Thunder as a large fusion grenade to provide firepower, but now that she had won, there was no need for that.

Far away aboard the XCOM flagship, the Avenger, Commander Lunna breathed a sigh of relief. Watching the successive announcements of victory unfold before her, she finally had time to focus on other matters.

The XCOM team that went to reinforce was basically unscathed, with only a few careless ones being hit by enemy stray bullets. Fortunately, the medical supplies they carried with them were reliable enough to help them survive until their return.

***

Half a day had passed since the raid on the Chosen Fortress. The messes everywhere had been dealt with, and the aliens had immediately withered after the first round of counterattacks.

After sending their troops to attack the settlement, they suddenly realized that the settlement was no longer as weak as before, and they could no longer mobilize large numbers of troops and firepower to attack. The aliens had begun to decline.

After this realization, the alien forces' activities suddenly became very low-key. Even many mutant bases and alien bases stationed in the wild began to shrink, giving up a large amount of the land they occupied in order to ensure that each base had enough manpower to resist attacks from XCOM or other resistance organizations.

But that will only have an impact in the future. We should not only look to the long term, but also manage the things in front of us.

After commanding more than a dozen XCOM teams at the same time, Commander Renna took a rare break for a few hours before getting up. However, when she returned to the command desk, the military officer had already started sending her messages.

"Commander, we have received reports from informants in various locations. Alien forces are stepping up the promotion of genetic clinics everywhere, and a large number of people have gone missing in some cities where XCOM is weak in manpower. All intelligence indicates that the alien elders are speeding up their 'Avatar Plan'." Military Officer Bradford handed the compiled information to Commander Lena.

While the soldiers toasted each other, XCOM's top brass couldn't rest. This battle and the subsequent revenge operation were barely over, but according to military officers' calculations, XCOM and its allies would not be able to carry out large-scale combat operations for the next three months.

The loss of supplies and personnel was severe, and even brilliant results could not replace the lost elite warriors. Training available personnel and accumulating supplies took time.

However, XCOM did have a trick up its sleeve: they kept a group of their best fighters, giving them the most advanced plasma weapons and armor made of alien alloys. While the main force was attacking the Chosen Fortress, these fighters would perform more covert missions.

It can even be said that the attack on the Chosen One's Fortress was prepared to cover up a secret mission.

"How far have we come with Project Incarnation?" Commander Lunna scratched her head and opened the battle planner next to her. It detailed the combat records and direction of the battle.

"Right now, there are three directions. First, we have analyzed the Black Earth vial obtained from the mutant Black Earth through the Shadow Chamber."

Here's Richard Teigen's account: My initial curiosity and excitement about what we might discover from the alien data has been dampened by the disturbing results of recent experiments.

After analyzing the composition of the green material recovered from the mutant black site, I can only conclude that this facility was designed solely to extract and manufacture concentrated genetic material, human genetic material. With the help of my analysis of our entire ship's systems, I discovered that a single vial we recovered contained over a million unique human genomes. A million people, persuaded out of desperation to enter the mutant city, then subjected to horrific experiments and ultimately their lives. For what purpose, I can only imagine.

"However, we successfully extracted a coordinate that has been mentioned many times from this vial. I think this will help us solve the mystery of the Avatar Project, Commander." The military officer put this information into Commander Lena's memo.

"Secondly, we have successfully analyzed a type of mechanical psionic unit named the Original. This unit's body consists of a transparent yellow female body. To attack it, you need to hit the main structure of the brain."

Naturally, these original brains were repaired by Sun Yang and sent over for analysis. But XCOM's higher-ups were baffled. If you can restore a damaged unit to pristine condition, then why would you need us to read the data yourself? But even so, the research still needed to be done.

During the research process, XCOM's senior management caused the Codex Brain to frequently trigger its self-destruct function. After expending over a dozen materials, they finally managed to recover a portion of the data before the Codex self-destructed. Initially, it appeared to be a series of coordinates. Recovering the remaining data will take some time, but at least it's a good start.

"Third, we need to contact a living original, then connect to the psychic network while it's still active, and spy on the deep data that even Miss Antonina can't find. Which one do you think we should deal with first?"

"Well... we can do it together. Divide the people I have prepared into two teams. I feel that the coordinates of the Original Brain are more dangerous, so let Master Rukatiye lead the team. The others will go to the Black Land coordinates... Let everyone bring the best weapons and equipment, and Master Antonina also ask to be prepared. I have a feeling that we will gain a lot of useful information." Commander Lena began to arrange the new personnel after she finished speaking.

470 Blackland Coordinates

Commander Lunna did not overestimate the combat effectiveness of her soldiers. She selected two teams of the best soldiers for each mission instead of the regular six-man team.

According to Antonina's intelligence network, although the Black Earth coordinates are the most heavily guarded location by aliens, there are no records of heavy weapon transports. It seems that the elders do not want anyone to extract anything from the surveillance or shipping records. This is probably due to confidentiality considerations.

Even though Antonina repeatedly consulted the internal information of the mutant network, she was unable to find any valuable intelligence. After confirming that no further intelligence could be obtained, Commander Lunna could only provide as much firepower as possible based on the existing intelligence.

***

Inside the cabin of the first Sky Ranger, four XCOM soldiers wearing the most advanced Overwatch armor and two WAR armor were on full alert. They were holding a variety of plasma weapons and had smart plasma grenades hanging on their bodies.

Those warriors wearing Overwatch armor have undergone cyber transformation. They have accumulated a lot of experience in long battles and have also suffered fatal injuries.

Many former veterans were forced to do logistical work because of missing limbs and physical damage.

There are even some older ones who are super elites who have been fighting since the alien invasion of the earth, but they have to take up other positions because of physical damage.

Before Operation Chosen One began, when they were given the opportunity to repair their limbs, these veterans asked the scientific and medical humanoids important questions.

"I would like to ask, can you perform cyber transformation?" asked the soldiers whose arms and legs had disappeared and could only be maintained by braces.

Twenty years ago, when governments around the world were still struggling to resist alien infiltration and invasion, XCOM already possessed the world's most advanced technology, including cyber transformation that was still in the secret testing stage.

In 2015, XCOM was able to put incurable soldiers into a mecha as a fighting force. This required the soldier's limbs to be amputated and replaced with metal prostheses that could be connected to a special combat mecha.

That wasn't a good option. According to some veterans, those metal prosthetics couldn't simulate a fine sense of touch; it felt more like a person operating a machine to control their arms and legs. But once they were in specialized mechas, they could wield powerful weapons like heavy particle cannons.

Its firepower is no less than the heavy MECs and SPARK robots used by mutants today. At that time, there was not enough AI technology to produce robots, so humans still needed to be transformed to improve their combat effectiveness.

This is not without risk, but considering that they can return to the battlefield to kill aliens as long as they are modified, many physically disabled soldiers will still choose to transform themselves into literal killing machines.

However, after Commander Lena was captured and XCOM's old headquarters was destroyed, these technologies were lost. The military officer had a hard time leading the remaining troops to fight guerrilla warfare, and they stole an alien transport ship, modified it here and there, and finally made it into the Avenger. Only then did things slowly get better.

Both XCOM and Alien are much weaker now than they were 20 years ago. But XCOM is truly gone, while Alien is simply trying to save costs. After all, governing the Earth and waging guerrilla warfare don't require heavy firepower. If you overdo it and destroy a city, you'll have to repair it yourself—and neither the Resistance nor XCOM will do that anyway.

Upon learning this history, Sun Yang, who was still aboard the spacecraft, readily shared his company's prosthetic technology. Griffin's technology wasn't quite mature enough in this area; maturing humanoid technology required research in bionics. Meanwhile, the Great Mountain Range had a plethora of bizarre technical materials; a casual glance would reveal a wealth of information related to human experiments.

By combining these two, prosthetics that met these people's needs were quickly created. After all, humanoids are very similar to human prosthetics, except that they lack biological neural requirements and are not very demanding on weight.

Soon, the humanoids created prosthetic bodies that could be used by the human body based on the existing materials and equipment on the spacecraft, and also installed the necessary implants on the most elite XCOM soldiers.

And now these XCOM fighters, who are truly armed to the teeth (some people have adrenaline triggers in their teeth that can be activated by biting in a special way), have landed near the Blacklands coordinates.

Six SPARK robots jumped out from another Sky Ranger. They were holding plasma cannons and had rocket launchers on their backs that were the same as those on the Iron Jaguar.

These SPARKs were six units XCOM technicians had hurriedly built. Since researchers hadn't yet developed a reliable heavy-duty firepower platform, Shen Lili had no choice but to ask Sun Yang for ammunition and a projectile platform. Even the combat drones beside the robots were a gift from Sun Yang.

Before them lay a seemingly unassuming alien base. Plain metal walls and unadorned fencing. XCOM had chosen to attack at night, and a light drizzle was falling, enough to mask the sounds of XCOM approaching the base.

"Let's go." The XCOM team leader activated his high-tech goggles, and the dark wilderness immediately became clear. He glanced around, confirming there were no alien patrols ahead, and then quietly made his way through the brush, his team members following closely behind.

Their prosthetic bodies made no noise, and each team member crawled through the grass like a poisonous snake.

[Captain, my motion sensor is responding.] A SPARK transmits the information to the captain's wrist GPS window.

"Activate the stealth module. SPARKs are dispersed around to provide detection and fire strikes at any time. Let the drone take off and scan the surrounding area." The captain touched the button on his clothes and immediately activated the optical stealth.

Six human warriors walked through the grass, and the SPARKs were too big and heavy to cover up the sound of their footsteps, so the captain told them to disperse and wait.

Six drones took off, and the surrounding environment and enemy distribution immediately appeared on the maps of all team members. There were indeed dozens of alien guards patrolling the alien defense zone ahead. After analyzing the situation, the XCOM captain led his teammates to bypass them and continue forward.

In the hazy rain and fog, the captain first saw two steel bridges, behind which stood a massive factory. The factory was dozens of meters high, and raindrops dripped onto the steel walls, sliding down and soaking into the soil.

The steel plant was under extremely tight lockdown. Six drones circled the factory several times but were unable to find an entrance.

After a high-precision drone approach and detection, the XCOM captain discovered that the building's walls were constructed from a precious alien alloy. In the veteran's opinion, only a tactical nuclear bomb could possibly breach the wall. Using only the weapons at hand was simply impossible.

Trying to sneak in by secretly opening a hole was simply a pipe dream. He scratched his helmet, finally confirming that the only way in was through the main gate. However, the guards at the main gate...

Dozens of yellow-glowing Originals, Andromeda aliens, and Mutants stood at the factory gate. Although this was their first encounter with such a strange enemy, they had already read the relevant information obtained by Sun Yang many times.

"SPARK, I'll mark the bombardment coordinates. You need to attack from a distance and try to eliminate these troops while attracting the enemy's attention."

After the XCOM captain finished speaking, he transmitted the drone's marked data to the SPARKs who had dispersed in the distance.

[Copy that, Captain. Rockets loaded.] Spark unfolded the rocket pod on his back, its so-called rockets, but actually missile warheads, fully loaded.

"Fire," the XCOM captain ordered. He looked toward where the SPARKs were hiding. Several flames rose in the mist. Then, they roared toward him.

Rockets carrying high-explosive warheads smashed into the aliens' outer base, blowing up all the densely packed aliens.

The entire base immediately sounded the alarm, and a large number of alien defenders were mobilized, rushing to the outer base to provide support. The SPRAKs in the woods, each group of three, relied on the local lush trees to suppress the defenders. The plasma cannons in the SPRAKs' hands were much larger than the plasma machine guns in the Iron-Blooded Golems' hands, and their power was also greatly increased.

Magnetically confined plasma jets evaporated the rain, melting the outer shell of the Andromeda alien hundreds of meters away.

The acid stored in their shells spilled all over the ground, and the aliens sitting inside strangled their necks and died because they could not breathe the Earth's air. These literal weapons of war surged in less than a minute and defeated all the defenders in the outer base.

After observing the surrounding defenders fleeing to the outlying bases and engaging in a firefight with SPARK, XCOM's soldiers took the initiative. They first launched a dozen plasma grenades and flashbangs at the alien defenders guarding the factory gates. Some were killed by the plasma from the exploding grenades, while others were hit by the flashbangs. They could only cover their ears and close their eyes, tears streaming down their cheeks.

Several plasma jets burst out of the air, and the XCOM team quickly cleared out the remaining enemies at the door. The captain raised his weapon and slowly pushed the door open.

There were neat rows of ecological storage tanks, with real-time ecological monitoring reports printed on the surrounding metal walls. Some of the tanks had just been opened, revealing the sleeping mutant warriors within.

"Headquarters, headquarters. I've entered the factory..." The XCOM captain pointed the camera on his helmet at the canisters. This place gave him a chill.

"Are these not civilians, but mutants? Is this a cloning factory? No wonder those aliens value this place so much. This is a mutant troop base." Shen Lili said, looking at the jars.

An XCOM soldier went deep into the factory and pointed his camera at the ecological monitoring instrument. The recorded data might be useful, so they gave it to the scientific researchers on the Avengers for analysis in real time.

"Judging from the condition of the objects, I presume they were created recently," Taigen said after examining the data on the panel.

"But is just one arsenal enough for the aliens to defend so fiercely?" the military officer muttered.

But the frontline combat teams didn't have time to respond. While the SPARK teams were impressive, they were no match for the entire base in a real fight. Sooner or later, the aliens would eliminate the SPARKs and turn around to deal with these unfamiliar guests.

There were also a large number of enemy guards inside the factory. The XCOM team remained quiet and followed them during their patrols, using the daggers they carried with them or by simply twisting the enemy's necks with their hands.

The team advanced rapidly, soon reaching the depths of the factory. The surrounding walls transformed from metal walls covered with culture tanks to a pure white laboratory-style. After the captain broke a mutant soldier's neck with his bare hands for the third time, a strange-looking laboratory appeared before the XCOM soldiers. The captain maintained his invisibility and peered inside. It was empty, save for the stasis chamber.

[This is the Avenger. You are very close to the coordinates.] The Avenger's military officer sent the precise coordinates to the captain, who calculated and confirmed that the stationary tank was the coordinate location.

The team quickly approached, and the aliens outside seemed to notice something was wrong. In the drone's view, most of the remaining aliens continued to fight back against SPARK, while others rushed towards the factory.

The XCOM team leader did not dare to delay. He ran to the static warehouse and turned on the switch.

With a slight sound, the door of the quiescent chamber opened, and a humanoid creature wearing an orange-red fully enclosed protective suit fell out.

[How is this possible? This is simply another...] The military officer's eyes widened as he looked at the protective suit that was exactly the same as the one he used to rescue Commander Lunna.

"Be careful! We must protect this specimen at all costs! It will be the key to our future!" Scientist Tegan shouted excitedly.

"Okay, leave it to me." The captain immediately carried the creature on his shoulders. The Sky Ranger, which had been waiting nearby, was rushing over. However, the SPARKs were likely to be sacrificed here. The Sky Ranger could not survive the firepower and successfully leave.

They can only back up the data and then transfer it into the new body later.

"Damn it, if we want to return, we need a door to exit. This place can only be passed through the main gate, and the other directions are all surrounded by thick walls like this!" shouted the captain.

"Get your men away from the wall." A sudden voice came from the voice channel. Although the captain didn't know who it was, he still took several steps back with the humanoid cargo.

471 Original Coordinates

A dark blue tip pierced the metal wall made of an alien alloy, carving a semicircular arch. Under the captain's gaze, the alien alloy was easily cut open.

"Strider, we have to cut the bottom too, or I won't be able to move it. Oh, if I had known this alien alloy had no magic resistance, I would have attacked the alien forge."

"You called me here just to test this? Master Sun Yang, how did you become so boring?" another voice said unhappily.

[Because my intelligence isn't 99, I'm not sure if I can actually break through these structures. If I can't cut through them after a long time, wouldn't that be embarrassing? Oh, and everyone, please keep quiet. Just treat me as dead. That way, the aliens won't panic. Understand?] Sun Yang's voice reappeared in the voice chat.

"This... this wall is easy to break?" The captain ordered the team members nearby to fire two shots at the wall. The plasma jet left a slightly deformed mark on it. The material of this wall was undoubtedly an alien alloy, and the material was very solid.

"Can you guys wait a moment? I'll quickly open the hole for you. Seriously, I guess this kind of awkward situation is going to happen. The walls here aren't something you can just break down. Just stop fighting! I need to salvage these walls and materials for equipment. Don't you know how hard it is to find these alien alloys and transuranic crystals? This is great! This whole building is made of alloys. It would be a shame not to take them away." Sun Yang kept on talking to the XCOM soldiers.

Commander Lunna's ally might be a bit mentally ill, but he was certainly reliable. The XCOM captain watched as the blue blade lit up again, slicing through the base.

"By the way, Master Sun Yang, aren't you interested in the psychic powers here? I even found some information on genetic engineering while traveling." Strade asked.

[Not interested. If you give it to me, I'll exchange it for alloy. If you want to research it, I'll assign someone to do it yourself.] Sun Yang really wasn't interested. He wasn't some guy named William.

Sun Yang wasn't interested in tinkering with the human body or conducting deep-dive modifications. The synths were fine as they were. The humanoids were fine, and Andil was probably satisfied too. Honestly, there was no need to mess around with all that. Instead of researching psychic powers, he could focus on finding new materials and weapons for the humanoids.

"I see... But that's true, sometimes you can't take too big a step." Strider sighed sadly. He cut through the wall completely. Then, Sun Yang touched it and teleported the large piece of metal back to the base.