Chapter 406: Speed Bump? (10k Monthly Votes Requested)

"Back! Everyone's back!"

Federal Senator Xu Yan, witnessing this scene, couldn't help but burst into tears and shouted: "Our reinforcements have arrived!"

"With the dark energy conversion data, the Tongshi Tower can be activated!"

Su Jin exclaimed excitedly.

In the Twin Star Tower command center, all Phoenix Society senior officers were in a frenzy, but Ye Lan took a deep breath and calmly issued orders:

"Immediately deploy Lu Tianye and Hu Jiang to bring the mech units to the western city wall to block the breach—before reinforcements enter and the Tongshi Tower activates, not a single S-class or Corpse Driver may enter the city!"

"Also notify Xu Zhenyue to provide artillery cover for the convoy's approach."

"Su Jin, deploy the central drones to accelerate information transmission."

"Understood!"

In the western sector of Dawn City, including Defense Sectors 8, 9, and 10, the No. 1 city wall had been breached in two massive gaps; flames raged along the ramparts as countless anomalies poured through in terrifying numbers.

The Iron Guard and Garrison troops on the wall were still fighting desperately, covering the breaches with firepower.

At that moment, they realized the frenzied monsters seemed driven by some unseen force, surging violently toward the weakest section of the wall.

At this instant, the No. 5 Star Abyss Corpse Driver—【Wanderer】, 【Earth Surge】, and 【Sky Touch】—all appeared; even several Special-Class anomalies emerged. Lu Tianye suddenly felt a palpable darkness, as if the air itself had been shadowed.

On the command ship, countless soldiers and officers turned pale, their eyes bloodshot, as a powerful mutation force surged toward the city's interior!

"Notify Mayor Liu: deploy the Fourth and Eleventh Divisions from the north, plus one special mechanized battalion, immediately to reinforce the southern line. Mobilize the Second, Third, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Sixth Mech Divisions and all air combat units—concentrate them in the west, form a blocking line along the streets, and absolutely prevent any S-class from entering!"

Vvvvvv!

In the streets, the Garrison and Iron Guard mech units merged their lines; the last five Interstellar Predators fired orbital star-shatter cannons in five directions, searing blazing beams that burned clean through five main avenues, annihilating tens of thousands of anomalies in an instant.

Hu Jiang, leading his fleet against the tide of anomalies, heard the news of reinforcements and immediately slammed his comm:

"Mech Corps! Concentrate all firepower toward the western wall!"

He charged forward in a Guardian-X mech: "Bai Ye and Su Rui, draw the battlefield away from the wall!"

Instantly, every survivor in the city felt the tide of battle shift—the streets trembled, as mech units and Garrison forces surged from all directions toward the west; low-altitude skies swarmed with troop transports, firing continuously as they flew, turning the battlefield into a furnace.

The roar of heavy transport vehicles shattered the last silence; steel tracks gouged deep grooves into the shattered asphalt, while skyward, the black silhouettes of transport fleets blotted out the sun as they screamed past.

"All units, hold your assigned defensive positions—defend the western breach at all costs!"

A commander's voice boomed over the comms, hoarse but absolute, from aboard a transport ship.

Soldiers clad in powered armor stood silent, loading weapons, feeding ammo belts, calibrating cannons—no one spoke, only the clank of metal and the distant roar of artillery filled the air. Then, the cargo bay doors below opened; all eyes looked down to see rooftops of buildings below, where countless soldiers fired upon the flood of anomalies below.

In an instant, hundreds of anomalies scaled the rooftops, mercilessly devouring the soldiers; only one remaining platoon huddled together in resistance.

"Prepare!" the commander barked; everyone on the transport tensed.

"Deploy!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Traction cables shot out, launching over a hundred Garrison soldiers downward toward the rooftops—but halfway down, the entire transport was slammed head-on by a flying colossal beast; a fireball erupted in mid-air above the street!

"Reload! Reload, goddamn it!"

Artillery Regiment Commander Chen Hai kicked open a jammed breech, his hands blistered and raw, yet he slammed the shell into the barrel with all his strength. His ears had long gone deaf, blood oozing from his ear canals—but he still felt it: the earth trembled, the monsters were drawing near.

"Commander! The ammo depot's been hit!"

He turned—flames consumed the warehouse holding the last batch of armor-piercing rounds.

No hesitation.

"Re-deploy! Switch to high-explosive shells! Aim for the torso of that Special-Class anomaly!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The final salvo: forty-eight Changcheng-50 self-propelled guns fired simultaneously; a curtain of fire rained down, precisely engulfing a towering, multi-legged anomaly resembling a giant arachnid. After repeated bombardment, its red-hued defense field flickered and collapsed—finally, the behemoth staggered to its knees, then was overwhelmed by indiscriminate fire from the front-line squads and mech units.

But the next second, the arachnid, as it fell, blasted a torrent of blue-hot flame across the entire artillery position, leveling it to rubble.

Chen Hai was thrown by the blast, crashing hard into the ruins; he spat blood, his vision blurred—only the burning gun mounts and the charred remains of his comrades remained.

"Damn it!"

He crawled to the nearest Changcheng-50 base, manipulated the mechanical unit to aim the 210mm destruction howitzer directly at the spider's mouth—and fired the moment the flame swept toward him.

Boom!

A direct shot—the high-explosive shell screamed through the air, carving a straight line of smoke before slamming into the spider's maw, detonating and blowing its entire head apart.

Behind the cannon, after the flame had scoured the area, only a withered, charred human-shaped ash remained—standing upright, unyielding.

Above Defense Sector 8, western city wall.

Lu Tianye stood on the deck of a command ship, gazing beyond the wall into the wasteland—earth and sky shook as 【Wanderer】 spewed acidic mist, drawing near the rampart; behind this S-class anomaly, a humanoid silhouette emerged slowly from the sea of countless anomalies.

Corpse Driver.

At this moment, nearly all Garrison forces had converged, forming a curved defensive arc, attempting to hold the tide beyond the wall.

"Boom—!"

A deafening explosion tore through the sky.

Outside the defensive line, a third breach opened—a hundred-meter steel wall shattered under a colossal beast's impact, raining debris and rebar that crushed shelters below; from the dust, several giant stone-skull creatures rose, their grayish, corpse-like skin cracking the ground with every step, spiderweb fissures spreading beneath their feet.

"Reinforce the line!"

Just as the Garrison struggled to reinforce, a white Interstellar Predator suddenly appeared, firing two Predation Cannons in rapid succession.

Boom! Then, to the astonishment of countless soldiers, a heavy armed train materialized on the road, its iron wheels shattering and cracking the pavement; the lead engine—a Whale-03e heavy gas turbine—roared, joined by two Long Dragon-class traction units, plus full-terrain drives from Longshan No. 1 and Queen Mo, crushing anomalies under its unstoppable, brutal advance until it slammed down like a steel wall behind the broken rampart!

The next instant, the train unleashed a storm of heavy firepower; cargo doors opened, and thousands of fighters from the Infinite Alliance, Fenger Group, and United Train surged out; Sha Sha's Interstellar Predator held the breach's front, its overwhelming firepower halting the anomalies trying to pour through the third gap.

"Lin Xian is landing—hold the wall!"

Chen Sixuan stood atop the train, commanding its charge and defense; Shi Di, Jian Xuw ei, Mo Nika, Qian Dele—all arrived to support; Da Lou, Shu Qin, Luo Yang, and others led assault and mobile units, using the train's firepower to desperately resist.

Meanwhile, Wang Hongyuan of the Hongyuan Trading Alliance, Song Feng of the New Era Engineering Corps, Liang Hao of the Iron Shield convoy, and He Linqiu of the Burning Phoenix all drove their convoys to reinforce!

"Aaaah!"

Under the artillery barrage, several giant stone-skull creatures roared deafeningly, smashing into walls and buildings, seeking only destruction—not hunting.

Thud! Thud!

Seeing this, Sha Sha immediately fired an orbital star-shatter cannon from her Interstellar Predator, then charged forward and swung the predator's electric hammer straight into the skull of one stone-skull creature.

The hammer unleashed a violent shockwave—the creature's skull exploded instantly!

"I'll let you destroy!"

Sha Sha roared—but the next instant, a colossal winged dragon of undeniable Special-Class stature dove from the sky, its six claws gripping the Interstellar Predator's cockpit and power core.

Chen Sixuan saw this and screamed:

"Sha Sha!"

At that moment, a violent tremor erupted behind them—a colossal mech, its body streaked with crimson energy lines, leapt forward with blinding speed, clearing the United Train's line, wielding a Vermilion Plasma Diffusion Sword as it slashed through the air in a wide arc!

"Die!"

Inside the cockpit, Bai Ye and Su Rui shouted in unison.

One slash—the dragon's twisted neck was instantly cleaved apart by searing heat; Sha Sha, reacting instantly, saw this and shoved hard, raising the orbital star-shatter cannon and jamming its muzzle straight into the dragon's severed neck.

Ooooh! Boom!

Violent energy pierced through—the colossal winged dragon was blown clean through, and the giant stone-skull creature behind it was also impaled.

Zhuque No. 1 freed Sha Sha, crushed a swath of anomalies underfoot, and charged beyond the wall toward 【Wanderer】 once more.

"Thermite missiles—ready!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Amidst the smoke, six self-guided thermite missiles on Zhuque No. 1's back unfolded like the wings of a vermilion bird, arcing precisely through the air and striking 【Wanderer】 again. 【Wanderer】 recognized the threat—the one that had severed its leg—and activated its defense field, but even as it blocked the thermite, it was again seared; just as Bai Ye and Su Rui prepared to replicate the Storm tactic, the ground roared—a mountain-sized anomaly erupted from beneath, rubble and debris cascading off its body like a waterfall.

【Earth Surge】!

Zhuque No. 1, originally poised to flank 【Wanderer】, suddenly found another S-class looming behind it—the cockpit alarms screamed in unison.

"Damn!"

"Fall back!"

But as 【Earth Surge】 prepared to flank 【Wanderer】 and trap Zhuque No. 1, a violent surge of water exploded—the Pujiang River boiled as a deep-blue, single-armed colossal mech burst forth, swinging a punch that slammed directly into 【Earth Surge】's body!

Xuanwu No. 1!

"Spray Sword!"

"Spray Sword!"

Xuanwu No. 1's right-arm shock engine detonated again; its chain-sword shot out, piercing through 【Earth Surge】's thick carapace, gushing black tissue fluid like a ruptured dam.

"Bai Ye, Su Rui—let's take one down together!" Inside Xuanwu's cockpit, water drained rapidly; Qin Yue, covered in wounds, radioed Zhuque No. 1.

"Agreed!"

…

"Report: Central drones can't break through the anomaly tide—they can't ascend!" Su Jin cried, watching the slow data sync, knowing every second meant more compatriots dying—she was desperate.

"No need!"

Ye Lan turned: "Silent City has ascended. Wang Yue Zhenji has established contact with Lin Xian. Everyone, prepare—when the Tongshi Tower activates, respond citywide."

"Understood!"

Above Dawn City, Silent City hovered at 5, 00 meters, surrounded by storm clouds and relentless rain; Wang Yue Zhenji had already launched countless data-relay drones through the artillery barrage.

Countless aerial anomalies swarmed Silent City; its automated artillery batteries thundered continuously across the sky.

"Zhenji, we're too high—the atmospheric creature is getting close!"

On the Cloud District command bridge, Wang Yue Zhenji calmly replied to Qian Suxun: "No choice. That friend asked me to act as a buffer."

"A buffer?"

Qian Suxun frowned: "Hey, Zhenji, our deck can't withstand impacts of this level!"

"I know, but I never planned to use our deck as his cushion," said Mochizuki Shinji, smiling calmly with his sleeves draped over his arms. "Jun, retract your mech."

"What?!"

Before Senjuku could react, he saw that Silent City, under Mochizuki Shinji's control, suddenly raised all its cannons toward every direction and fired infrared decoys simultaneously!

BOOM!

In an instant, the entire storm cloud was illuminated, blazing crimson like a burning sky!

At the same time, a colossal shadow of an atmospheric entity loomed above the clouds, visible as if a cosmic beast hidden within them.

【Sky Touch】 seemed drawn by the intense light and energy surge from Silent City's decoys; countless colossal tentacles buried deep in the clouds began writhing and shifting, tearing vast swaths of cloud apart—then, in the next moment, the atmospheric entity finally revealed its true form in the lightning!

It had no fixed shape—or rather, human vision could not comprehend its full silhouette.

Seeing this, Senjuku could only stare blankly and mutter: "Damn it… I'm never eating takoyaki again…"

At this moment, in the Twin Star Tower command center, the synchronization data receiver—via Silent City's relay—suddenly accelerated.

From 15% to 30%, then the numbers visibly skyrocketed—50%, 80%, 90%!

100%

Su Jin's eyes widened in shock. Such rapid speed meant the data transmission had finally stabilized—and that the Gray Mist Emissary was already dangerously close to the ground!

"General Ye, synchronization data received!"

Ye Lan stared at the battlefield screen, watching the brutal fighting in the west and the spreading infection caused by the Corpse Drivers within the city, then gave an unhesitating order:

"Ignite the City Ring, burn the illumination barrage, respond citywide, launch a counterattack!"

Click. Su Jin pressed the switch. Instantly, Twin Star Tower erupted in a violent ionization surge—the City Ring, bathed in intense energy, began to flash, then a colossal, blinding white ring ignited above the center of Dawn City, like the mechanical soul of humanity's industrial civilization, or more accurately, a floating 【Ring of God】 suspended over Dawn City. A mighty transformational energy surged outward, radiating in a spherical curtain nearly invisible to the naked eye!

In an instant, this energy curtain swallowed Twin Star Tower, engulfed the inner district, the Second Wall, and the Old Quarter—expanding from kilometers to tens of kilometers in diameter.

The survivors and soldiers below, locked in fierce combat, all felt a warm energy envelop them—the chilling force that devoured their spiritual energy vanished; fear dissipated, chaos cleared away!

Meanwhile, in the underground shelters, hundreds of thousands of the elderly, weak, sick, and infirm also felt a violent shift—as if the underground was no longer cold, and a sense of safety surged through them.

…

In the eastern and northern outskirts of Dawn City, between fields and mountains, hundreds of thousands of apocalypse war vehicles surged forward like a Star Wars charge, engines roaring, forming a vast steel tide that made even the earth and mountains tremble!

"Damn, this is truly the end of the world!" Lei Zhen, leader of the Common Alliance convoy, stared at the burning firecloud engulfing the steel metropolis ahead and cursed: "These monsters really plan to wipe out all of humanity in one night!"

"This isn't night…"

Luo Heng of the Wind Whisperers convoy shouted grimly: "Night has turned into daylight!"

"No weapons? Come to me—I'm giving them out for free!"

Han Tiege, captain of Full Metal Chaos, sat in the co-pilot seat and blasted a full-frequency transmission: "You've been running for half a year—anyone who came back tonight isn't a coward. Kill them all!"

Lin Qingyu of the Dawn Watchers Alliance, watching the massive army converging from Changan Pass across the mountains, spoke over the comm:

"Captain Yu, I thought you'd already fled to Baisha."

Yu Huai'an, leader of the Wanderers Alliance, a middle-aged man with a sharp, cold face, picked up his comm as the convoys merged:

"Captain Lin, I hope your actions are as sharp as your mouth."

"Don't worry," Lin Qingyu said with arrogant confidence. "Our alliance came back—we never planned to live until dawn!"

"Well said!" Yu Huai'an replied.

"The vanguard spotted Corpse Drivers in the west—massive dark surges. We're breaking in from the east!"

Lin Qingyu ordered: "Artillery convoy, prepare to coordinate with Dawn City's barrage and cover the flanks!"

His Dawn Watchers Alliance possessed the strongest artillery force outside the military—so now, he had to step forward.

"Is that Xu Yufei's convoy?"

At that moment, his aide lowered his binoculars and pointed toward a massive steel convoy emerging from the forest far ahead—it had already engaged the strange entities from the west.

"That guy ran off two days ago—and now he's the first back?" the aide exclaimed in surprise. "We really underestimated him."

"No chatter," Lin Qingyu said, his gaze shifting to the distant convoy. "Cover him with barrage!"

"Got it!"

"Prepare to fire!" Lin Qingyu raised his comm. Ahead, in the dark wilderness, strange entities were already appearing—the vanguard convoys had opened fire.

At that moment, on the inner district's air defense positions, a deafening roar erupted—thousands of thunderous illumination rounds shot skyward like fire trees and silver flowers, instantly lighting up Dawn City and its skies as bright as day.

"Dawn City launched illumination rounds!"

Luo Heng shouted immediately: "Wind Whisperers, split formation—full speed into the city!"

Lei Zhen of the Common Alliance scrambled onto his vehicle's roof, mounting a Gatling cannon: "Brothers, charge! Don't let that Xu guy get ahead of us!"

"CHARGE!"

ROAR! The steel tide smashed through darkness—instantly, all weapons unleashed!

Darkness burned. A frenzy of steel, gunpowder, lightning, and plasma beams erupted across the wilderness!

Bullet storms converged into Full Metal Chaos; electromagnetic cannons pierced monstrous bodies with azure pulses; hypervelocity rounds released kinetic energy on impact, exploding targets into bloody fireworks.

Dense salvos of incendiary rounds rained down—white phosphorus and gel fuel clung to the charging strange entities, turning them into blazing torches; their screams were swallowed by explosions. Multiple rocket launchers fired in symphonic volleys—122mm rockets screamed in layered waves, forming chords of destruction; each impact erupted into miniature mushroom clouds.

Tracer rounds red, electromagnetic pulses blue, incendiaries yellow—interwoven and colliding in the night sky like a mad aurora, or rainbow spears cast by gods.

A war of a million humans against strange entities had fully erupted—this was no mere reinforcement; it was the final requiem of human industrial civilization!

"What is that?"

Amid the battle, Luo Heng of the Wind Whisperers looked up at Dawn City's sky—there, towering above the clouds, a colossal monstrous silhouette loomed before all eyes. The sight stole their breath.

"S-class! Look—it's Silent City!"

"Shit, Silent City won't hold…"

"Holy shit, what the hell is that?!"

"Hurry! Accelerate! Launch missiles upward for support!"

Meanwhile, within the city district,

Kiki hovered high above, watching the sky glowing crimson: "What's Silent City doing? Drawing that thing?"

Lu Xingchen, seeing this, prepared to surge skyward—until Jiang Yun pulled him back with wind.

"Wait—look up!"

Jiang Yun pointed toward the deep blue sky—a meteor-like streak of fire was plummeting at terrifying speed, burning through the atmosphere!

Kiki looked up in shock—then her face lit with joy. She let out a sharp cry:

"Lin Xian's here!"

On Silent City, watching the monstrous entity within the clouds, Senjuku and Shizuki and the others stood grim, as if facing a god of death.

"Jun," came Mochizuki Shinji's voice.

"What?"

"You'd better move back."

"Huh?"

BOOM——————————!!!

High above the clouds, a white light brighter than a nuclear blast exploded, tearing the night into shreds. The entire storm cloud and Silent City were fully illuminated. Just as the atmospheric entity prepared to coil its countless tentacles around Silent City, a burning crimson eight-winged mech-rig plummeted like a meteor—at near-Earth-asteroid speed!

THUD!!

In an instant, the atmospheric entity didn't even have time to raise its force shield—it was pierced straight through by this mechanical meteor, triggering a massive cavity explosion. Plasma fire and shockwaves erupted across the sky like a nuclear detonation, scattering the thunderclouds for kilometers.

The entity's main body split cleanly into three pieces. Tissue and blood erupted like a volcanic geyser, instantly staining Silent City's deck black as ink.

"Aaaah!!"

Shizuki, hiding inside a mechanical structure, screamed in terror—only Long Zhijie's psychic barrier lessened the brutal shockwave for everyone.

Senjuku looked outside the deck—monster tissue and organs splattered everywhere. A thick, foul stench hung heavy in the air.

"Hah…" Senjuku grinned, eyes wide. "This guy's using strange entities as speed bumps?!"

ROAR!

High above, the Gray Mist Emissary's precise impact, shattering the S-class 【Sky Touch】, was witnessed by the entire city—and the million-strong reinforcements arriving from beyond.

For a single breath, the entire earth fell silent between the artillery blasts—the sheer devastation left everyone's scalp prickling.

Didi-didi-didi!

Inside the Gray Mist Emissary's main control cabin, Viola's alarms blared nonstop.

【WARNING: GN&C SYSTEM FAILURE. RE-ENTRY ATTITUDE ANOMALY. ANGLE DEVIATION EXCEEDS THRESHOLD!】

【WARNING: PROPULSION SUBSYSTEM FAILURE: THIRD DECELERATION ENGINE IGNITION FAILED!】

【WARNING: SPEED OVERLOAD. STRUCTURAL STRESS > 200MPA…】

Inside the survival pod, Lin Xian slept, his consciousness fully merged with Chu Yan. The two were now one half each—becoming the very body of the Gray Warden, feeling their sudden hundred-meter form. A wholly new sensation—but also a nightmare.

Though protected by Chu Yan's spiritual energy, Lin Xian still felt the crushing pressure of the Gray Mist's will. Worse—he sensed fragments of Yurius's consciousness still alive within the brain, mocking him after his rage: "Humans will lose."

"We made it!"

After perfect coordination with Mochizuki Shinji, Lin Xian and Chu Yan had successfully used the S-class entity as a buffer, drastically reducing their descent speed.

"Still too fast!" Chu Yan said grimly. "At this speed, even the Gray Mist's body might not survive the impact!"

All eight propulsion units had shut down. Feeling the violent freefall, Lin Xian's face hardened.

"I've got one more idea. It's… extreme."

"Which of your ideas isn't extreme?!" Chu Yan shot back.

Lin Xian smiled sharply, staring at the rapidly approaching ground. He gripped Chu Yan's hand tightly.

"Then hold on tight!"

WHIRRR! WHIRRR! WHIRRR!

Instantly, three superstring reactor phase rings ignited behind Lin Xian—manifesting directly behind the Gray Mist Emissary like three colossal magical rings!

Then, Lin Xian unleashed a large number of 【Destroyer】 drones from the Black Star Forge, positioning them ahead.

Seeing this, Chu Yan furrowed her dark brows.

"What are you doing?!"

"Have you heard of the Orion Project? By periodically throwing small nuclear bombs behind the ship and using the blast waves to strike the propulsion plate, you generate instantaneous thrust!"

Lin Xian smiled coldly, his right hand held horizontally before him, and instantly a massive AT force field shield rose before the Gray Mist Messenger.

"We can't afford nuclear bombs, but we've got plenty of Destroyers!"

The next moment, a colossal explosion erupted before the Gray Mist Messenger, followed by nine consecutive detonations within seconds; then, this 160, 00-ton behemoth crashed into the ruins of Sector 6 of Chengnan, amid the shriek of torn air and a series of instantaneous, massive blasts.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, the ground over several kilometers erupted in shock fractures; the earth trembled like a drumskin, cracks spread like spiderwebs, and underground water boiled and spewed upward, forming geysers a hundred meters high.

Soldiers and survivors inside Shuguang City and on the walls saw only a colossal meteor crash down, hurling a rain of fire across the sky; the blast wave and dust swept outward for dozens of kilometers, shaking the entire city—glass on buildings and streets shattered instantly into dust, and everyone at that moment raised their hands to shield themselves from the debris.

Finally, as the light dimmed and the noise faded, everyone came to their senses. The aerial surveillance drones above the walls swiftly flew toward the impact crater; in the footage, at the crater's center, the massive Gray Mist Messenger knelt on one fist, its mechanical bio-armor cooling to crimson, molten metal streams flowing across the surrounding ground.

"Ugh… ugh…"

Beneath the deafening roar, Lin Xian and Chu Yan felt a surge of psychic disturbance; beneath the flesh-mechanical armor, the Gray Mist's throat seemed to emit a low, biological moan.

In an instant, through their psychic link, both Lin Xian and Chu Yan sensed a direction—they turned their gaze northwest.

That was the direction of the Corpse Driver.

"The Corpse Driver really can connect to S-class commands!" Chu Yan realized: "But we can't know what the command is."

"We don't need to know, Viola."

【I am here.】

"Enhance the neural inhibitor; increase the restraint lock efficiency to 80%!"

【Injecting LCL neural inhibitor fluid.】

Scritch! Scritch! Scritch!

At this moment, a massive neural suppression device loaded onto the back of the Gray Mist Messenger's skull, while its 24 EVA restraint locks behind it automatically rotated to lock in place.

【LCL neural inhibitor fluid injected successfully. Gray Mist neural activity reduced to 69. %. Bio-armor synchronization efficiency increased to 98. %.】

"Enough." Chu Yan suppressed the dark roar with her psychic ability and said to Lin Xian: "Initiate."

Whoosh!

In the impact crater, the roar of a nuclear-powered turbine engine erupted; the niobium-titanium superconducting ring on the Gray Mist Messenger's chest began glowing orange-yellow, then, with a hum of energy, the pulse shifted into a deep blue plasma stream. As immense energy flowed through it, the colossal bio-armor slowly rose to its feet.

【Bio-restraint layer activated. Power core and armor self-check complete. Armor integrity: 81%. Power core online: 74%.】

"Lin Xian."

At this moment, from the Twin Stars Tower, Ye Lan's voice came through: "The Synergy Tower has activated. The S-class entities have noticed—it's increased its attack frequency."

"Of course they're escalating," Chu Yan said now. "Our Synergy Tower is blocking their dark energy conversion. That's a threat to dark creatures."

Lin Xian said grimly: "When will these monsters realize they're the threat?"

He turned to Chu Yan; their eyes met.

"Let's go—face off against the S-class and the Corpse Driver!"

"Alright."

Chu Yan gazed ahead, a faint smile on her lips: "Your mechanical ability can be used like this?"

"Your psychic ability isn't far behind."

Lin Xian's sensation now was entirely different from when he piloted Eva-01—he and Chu Yan felt as if they had become a giant, and with the bio-armor's auxiliary power, their functionality and coordination had been greatly enhanced.

"Everyone, I'm back."

Lin Xian opened a channel to the Alliance's public frequency: "Hold the walls. We're forging a dawn!"

"Lin Xian!" At Kiki and Chen Sixuan's end, hearing his voice, everyone's expressions eased.

"Captain Lin!"

"Commander Lin!"

"Big Brother Lin."

Countless familiar voices came through, and Lin Xian exhaled in relief. At that moment, every Synergy Tower in the city lit up, blocking the dark invasion and isolating the anomalies within; after the shocking image of a million reinforcements arriving and Lin Xian's meteor strike shattering an S-class appeared, every soldier and survivor in the city was electrified with morale!

"We took down an S-class!!!"

"Oh my god!"

High above, like a falling island, the colossal atmospheric creature began to disintegrate after the Gray Mist Messenger's impact, tumbling into the horde to the west—its massive body triggered a massive earthquake!

"Our reinforcements have arrived!!"

"The big convoys are back!"

"Even the Nomad Alliance is here—great!"

"Don't lose hope—charge!"

"So many convoys charging back through the night," Kiki said above, her expression touched: "It's beautiful. I'm almost moved."

"Humans squabble for power and scheme against each other daily," Jiang Yunwei's voice came through: "But when annihilation looms, the ones who charge into darkness with torches in hand are always those who fought the hardest among us. We're good at infighting—but in desperation, humanity always unites!"

"We'll win," Chen Sixuan said.

"I never doubted," Mo Nika's voice came.

"Now we must begin our counterattack—first, we forge tomorrow's dawn," Jiang Yun said.

"We have no choice but to fight to the death…" Qian Dele said calmly.

"Charge! Charge! Charge!" came Sha Sha's voice.

More and more voices responded; a spark ignited into a wildfire.

"Aaaah!!"

Inside Shuguang City, a streak of fire blazed across the sky—Lu Xingchen was utterly ignited by Lin Xian's arrival and the return of all humanity's reinforcements; he laughed wildly as he unleashed his ability downward.

"Fire Fist!"

"Divine·Flame Sword!"

"Divine·Phoenix Return!"

"Divine·Great Burning Heaven!"

"Hahaha! Though we are mere mortals, we dare swing our swords at the abyss!"

"Look—ten thousand sparks have ignited the wasteland!"

"Today, we, ants in form, gather into a torrent! Even if evil swallows sun and moon, this blood—will burn a dawn into its throat!"

As Fire Brother roared with passion, a colossal flying winged creature suddenly attacked from above, diving straight for his head.

"That thing!" Kiki shot upward at once, her telekinetic surge erupting; she grabbed the screaming Fire Brother and yanked him back—the massive, razor-sharp tentacle barely missed him.

Fire Brother stared, seeing the tentacle's sudden strike; he roared, crossed his arms, and unleashed his ultimate technique.

"Divine·Infinite Flame Sword!"

Boom!

The infinite ring spun wildly, concentrating the searing flame into blue-white light, slicing the tentacle-winged creature cleanly in half; then Fire Brother raised his hand and slashed—the blazing sword surged upward, severing it completely.

"Dare to ambush me? This is your fate!"

West City—white-hot battlefield.

Zhuque and Xuanwu were locked in battle with 【Wanderers】 and 【Earthborn】; high above, a thousand-meter-long colossal tentacle crashed down, smashing into the ground, killing countless aberrations in a spectacle.

Beep-beep-beep.

【Massive lifeform approaching!】

"Another S-class?" Qin Yue and Qin Chuan, both holding up an 【Earthborn】 with one arm, heard a young voice in their earpieces at the critical moment.

"No—it's an ally!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

From deep within the smoke of the dark horde, a colossal mech, 365 meters tall, clad in mechanical bio-armor, its chest burning with a nuclear-powered engine and three divine-phase reactor rings on its back, thundered forward.

At this moment, the 【Wanderer】 sensed a powerful threat, swung its long limbs to shove Zhuque away; its entire defensive field turned black as glass, its mouth opening toward the Gray Mist Messenger, spewing a stream of black-green acidic mist.

"Watch out—this acid is extremely corrosive!"

Inside Zhuque's cockpit, Bai Ye and his wife issued a warning over the team channel about the mechanical bio-armor resembling a human starship armor now appearing.

But the charging Gray Mist Messenger simply raised its left arm—before it appeared a vast, azure AT force field shield, completely blocking the acidic spray; simultaneously, Lin Xian and Chu Yan focused their psychic energy, swung their right fists, and shouted together.

"Apostle·Gravitational Lens!"

Suddenly, before the Gray Mist Messenger's mechanical right fist, a colossal vortex of energy, like a black hole, roared wildly, devouring light, smoke, and debris with a force of annihilation, sweeping toward the 【Wanderer】!

(End of Chapter)