Chapter 236: Paris and the Whistle

…

Through Byron learning the world's situation made Robert, who was staring at the 3‑D sand table, knit his brows.

There were no railguns, no "green, pollution‑free" nuclear bombs or plasma missiles, and no DivineBody like his and his brothers', so humanity facing the Beast Tide could only suffer continual defeat.

Even though it was a different world, the thought of billions of human compatriots dying made the anger filling Robert's gaze ever more evident.

But he was no longer the "child" who, ten years ago, needed Sui Bian's patient instruction; he was now an OriginalBody commanding an army of over a hundred thousand, and his emotions would not affect his judgment.

"Everyone."

Robert relaxed his furrowed brows and said, "According to Captain Tisi Byron's account, the former France was the first country to be attacked, and the latest satellite images confirm this.

And the behind‑the‑scenes race we want to expose…" Robert continued, extending his left hand to point at the very center of Paris: "They are most likely hiding here."

"Hmm." The army major general standing nearby nodded in agreement: "Paris is indeed an excellent choice for capturing a colonist creature alive; it seems we need to mobilize heavy forces to besiege it."

"Speed is of the essence in warfare." Robert withdrew his hand, turned to a group of civilian soldiers on his left, and raised his voice to ask:

"Which reconnaissance unit is closest to Paris?"

Upon hearing this, a communications officer attached to Umbrella glanced at the screen before him and reported loudly:

"The 3rd Battalion of Krig 02 Regiment, and the 1st Assault Regiment of the UNSC th Airborne Division."

"Ask them how many plasma missiles they are carrying."

"Yes." The officer who received the order immediately contacted Krig's 3rd Battalion, and soon turned his head toward Robert and the others, saying:

"Four, sir."

"Very good." Robert issued consecutive orders to everyone:

"Notify the 3rd Battalion and the 1st Assault Regiment to head to Paris immediately, and also, I grant the 3rd Battalion permission to use plasma missiles.

Adjust the yield of three of them to the minimum, and drop them at three points away from the city center, eliminate the obstructing giant beasts, then launch a surprise attack on the city center, seeking and attempting to capture any colonist creatures that may exist."

"The objectives of the remaining reconnaissance units remain unchanged; finally, transmit the satellite‑captured locations of the giant beasts to OriginalBody Shengjilesi, who will be responsible for clearing the giant beasts from the surface."

"Yes, sir."

All communications officers and civilian soldiers immediately relayed Robert's orders to their respective divisions.

"One battalion and one regiment, together less than three thousand people… hmm…"

At that moment, a UNSC colonel, looking at the sand table's depiction of Paris, muttered softly.

Although he knew Krig's past exercise record, which completely crushed UNSC elite forces, this colonel, as the commander of an armored division, still felt that the number of troops assaulting Paris seemed somewhat low.

After all, exercises are not real combat.

Robert, who heard the colonel's muttering, paid no heed and continued speaking to the assembled officers:

"The current transport aircraft formation has already departed Rabat base and is returning; once Captain Tisi Byron arrives at the base, I think Paris should have results as well.

By then, what we need to consider will no longer be the construction and defense of forward bases, but the liberation of all fortress cities."

———————

…

At this moment, Paris was also in the early hours of dawn.

The eerie blue and blood‑red lights emanating from the city reflected back onto the night sky shrouded in thick clouds.

If one ignored those viscous, smooth, tightly clustered, hundred‑meter‑long giant "embryos" that resembled insect egg cases…

then Paris's nightscape would still be quite "eerie‑beautiful".

Observe these blood‑red glowing "embryos" closely.

Beneath their translucent, bubble‑like outer walls lie dense vascular tissue, and coiled inside the embryos are giant beasts that have not yet fully developed.

Around the giant embryos on the ground are countless small embryos used to incubate various Beast Entities.

It seems the colonist race has already set up a "monster army" production line in Paris to increase the efficiency of invading and assimilating Earth.

The city center features a tower‑like structure resembling an African ant hill.

On the spiral passage outside the tower are Beast Entities that appear to be undergoing maintenance.

Encircling the tower and the entire city's sky are countless mosquito‑sized, flying Beast Entities tasked with surveillance.

Suddenly.

The Beast Entities, each performing their duties, halted and turned their gazes toward the south.

Following the direction they were looking, they gazed toward the southern side of Paris.

Less than twenty kilometers from the city center, a black‑painted aerial gunboat bearing a conspicuous red‑white umbrella emblem on the right side of its nose was steadily approaching Paris.

The aerial gunboat resembled the UNSC‑equipped Vulture in appearance, but was far larger, with many more exposed machine guns and cannons.

This is Umbrella's derivative model, the Wuying, improved from the Vulture as a prototype.

!!

Seeing the Wuying draw nearer caused the flying Beast Entities responsible for surveillance and defense to stir restlessly, swarming toward the Wuying like a disturbed hive.

"Roar~!"

Along with several giant beasts resting in their nests, they also raised their heads and roared, but did not stand up; being of higher intelligence, they likely judged that the flying Beast Entities could handle a single "small" gunboat.

At this moment, the Wuying opened two rows of vertical launch system covers and extended three long‑range missiles equipped with special warheads.

Inside the cockpit.

Two pilots wearing helmets clearly of Krig design completely ignored the attacking flying Beast Entities and continued to steer the Wuying forward at a steady speed.

Behind the pilots.

Sitting obliquely on the left side of the cockpit, the gunner in charge of the missile system operated; the fixed screen before him displayed a map of Paris with three marked red dots. He then lifted the protective cover on the right side of the console and, without hesitation, pressed the three buttons in order.

"Boom—…" the cockpit shuddered noticeably.

Three missiles trailing white, misty tail flames appeared in the view of the pilots and gunner, racing toward Paris at extreme speed.

The three missiles loaded with plasma warheads surged straight toward their respective targets, and to increase lethality, detonated in the air less than two hundred meters above the ground…

Ri——~!

The missile's detonation first produced three tiny yet blinding blue dots, followed by a "silent" flash explosion, making the whole world seem to be only blue.

The blue light also poured through the sealed windows into the cabin, illuminating the pilots and gunners who seemed to have no emotional ripples.

The calm demeanor seemed to be just a trivial little act.

"Boom———!!!"

At this moment, a deafening explosion roared in from the direction of Paris into the cabin.

"Hoo———!"

Sweeping in at the same time was a shockwave strong enough to violently shake the airframe.

"Snap~!!"

Suddenly, a small fragment of a flying Beast Entity's limb stuck to the Vulture's sealed window, like a vehicle at high speed smearing a dead insect.

But the still‑ongoing impact quickly blew away that fragment and the ink‑blue blood clinging to the window.

Afterward, the motion and noise caused by the detonated plasma projectile finally began to subside.

As the blue light faded, the Vulture's crew could clearly see three mushroom clouds rising over Paris.

The centers of the three blast sites had fully crystallized, and within an estimated radius of no more than two kilometers, the ground had become scorched earth scattered with tiny crystals.

The nauseating embryos and tentacled plants, as well as the few giant beasts that had refused to engage the Vulture and were sprawled on the ground, all "evaporated" away.

Objects outside the zone were not spared; large remnants of buildings and the tentacled plants that assimilate the atmosphere were all destroyed by the shockwave.

Even now, many areas still burn flames that consume air with extremely low oxygen content.

And the tower structures far from the blast center and the absolute kill zone, though heavily damaged and teetering, at least survived.

After all, the Vulture's target was not them.

The crew, following Robert's orders, reduced the explosive yield of the three plasma projectiles to the minimum; at maximum, a single one could flatten Paris.

Having completed the detonation command, the two pilots steered the Vulture to accelerate toward Paris, preparing to provide conventional fire support for the troops about to land.

…

Further southward, over the sky far from the city.

A flight formation consisting of Yuyou, Cormorant, a large transport boat and assault boats, carrying the 3rd Battalion of Krig 02 Regiment (about six hundred people) and the 1st Assault Regiment of the th Airborne Division (over two thousand troops), rapidly approached that tower.

An assault boat positioned on the left side of the formation.

The corporal, still sitting with his legs hanging outside the cabin, was tuning his pulse rifle and loading a fragment round into the mounted 30 mm grenade launcher.

He adjusted the weapon's electronic components again, gripped it with both hands, and aimed the muzzle at a derelict vehicle on the ground ahead, wrapped in tentacled plants.

The helmet display locked on, and the Mechanical exoskeleton assisted him in calibration, indicating the individual soldier system was fully functional.

"Hoo~—."

"Boom~…"

Just after lowering the muzzle, the corporal felt the assault boat encounter a strong gust and heard a distinct explosion.

He gripped the cabin wall with his right hand, leaned slightly forward, stuck his head out northward, and saw Paris already crowned with three mushroom clouds.

"All of the third platoon, listen up," the lieutenant commanding their third platoon said over the comms:

"The flight formation is expected to reach the designated landing zone in six minutes; mission details have already been sent to each of your screens, so I won't repeat them.

Furthermore, the latest report from higher‑up says Umbrella's Astate completed the mission in just twenty minutes. I'm not demanding you be as efficient as Astate, but I have one requirement: you all stay alive, understood!"

"Sir! Yes! Sir!"

The entire third platoon, including the usually silent corporal, responded loudly over the comms.

The transmission ended.

The corporal pulled his upper body back into the cabin, gripped his rifle, and adjusted his breathing while gazing at the ruined scenery below.

The anticipated six minutes vanished in an instant.

All assault boats broke away from the formation, skimming low over the ruins and crystal‑glinting scorched earth surrounding Paris, heading straight for an open area on the south side of the tower.

The agile, lightweight assault boat quickly descended, and when it was less than five meters above ground, the corporal and his comrade leapt straight out of the cabin.

"Tap tap!" Both feet landed steadily.

Gripping his rifle, and using the clear view supplied by the helmet screen, the corporal surveyed the tower a kilometer away.

It seemed the plasma explosion had subsided, and dense Beast Entities surged from the tower, forming a sizable Beast Tide army.

"Tack! Tack tack!" Gunfire erupted in an instant.

The corporal and his three teammates formed a squad, alternating movement with the other squads of the third platoon.

Meanwhile, the assault boat that had off‑loaded the paratroopers quickly ascended to circle at high altitude.

The crew inside the cabin operated the pulse machine guns mounted on both sides, coordinating with the Vulture to provide fire support for the paratroopers at the landing zone.

Thanks to the cleansing effect of the plasma explosion and the fire support from above, the corporal and four hundred paratroopers had no need to worry about attacks from flying Beast Entities.

Soon after, various transport aircraft and boats arrived at the landing zone.

Opening the rear hatch, they unloaded the main forces of the 3rd Battalion and the 1st Assault Regiment; nearly three thousand troops formed a formation that easily suppressed a Beast Tide dozens of times larger than themselves.

"Tack! Tack!"

Amid the dense gunfire, crisp laser gunfire rang as well.

Shimmering red laser trajectories filled the space between humans and the Beast Tide.

Soon after.

The corporal half‑crouched beside a crumbling low wall.

He removed an empty magazine, placed it into the recovery pack hanging at his waist, then took out an Anhao Extended Magazine Extended Magazine Extended Magazine.

When he stood up, taller than the low wall, the tower seemed within arm's reach, only a hundred meters away from him and his comrades, and the number of Beast Entities blocking their entry had dwindled.

The corporal rejoined his squad, ready to launch another coordinated assault.

"Di-! Di-!" The distinctive whistle came from not far behind him.

!

Hearing this whistle, it somehow made the normally unflappable corporal and his three‑platoon comrades instantly feel a chill down their spines.

Having gone through several joint drills, they knew what this whistle signified.

The corporal turned his head to look back.

At the source of the whistle stood a Krig platoon leader wearing the exclusive TPS Power Armor, his helmet red.

The platoon leader raised his right hand, brandishing the Chain Sword, and swung it forward forcefully; dozens of Krigs shouldered their laser rifles, also drew the Chain Sword hanging at their waists, and launched a silent charge toward the tower.

At the same time, five Krigs equipped with CMC heavy Power Armor, wielding Gauss machine guns, half‑crouched on the ground.

The small missile launch tubes mounted on the CMC's back were adjusted by two mechanical arms, angling upward toward the Beast Entities gathered near the tower.

"Swish! Swish!"

Dozens of small missiles, trailing slender white tail flames, leapt over the corporal and the Krigs, scattered, and fell straight into the cluster of Beast Entities.

"Boom! Boom!" The explosions' fire and smoke quickly enveloped them.

Without waiting for the dense fog to clear, the platoon leader and the Krigs had already closed in and, without fear, rushed into it.

"Buzz~!!"

"Sss—! Crackle!"

The rapid spin of chains and the sound of flesh being torn continuously echoed from the dense fog.

"." This change left the corporal and his comrades stunned.

"What are you all just standing there for!" the Second Lieutenant shouted over the comms: "Follow the Krigs into the target building, don't embarrass the Ninth Division!"

After the shout, the Second Lieutenant and those five heavily‑armed Krigs equipped with CMC Power Armor charged toward the tower together.

"Yes! Sir!"

The corporal and his three‑platoon comrades also followed the Krigs and the Second Lieutenant in the charge.

(End of Chapter)