Chapter 369: Beams and Explosive Arrows

Not long after.

The sky, which had originally been blazing with the scorching sun, hot and clear, was now replaced by pink, purple, and various inexplicable lights, and a strange, hard‑to‑hide aura began to envelop the earth, even the entire planet.

"Mike! What's going on?!" Nilu shouted in panic, clearly frightened by the abnormal sight before him.

"I don't know either! Hold on tight, we're going home now!"

Mike gripped the steering wheel with both hands, slammed his right foot on the accelerator, and sped toward home with his younger brother; soon, an old‑fashioned countryside house appeared in their view.

And they also saw their dad, hair white at the temples, dressed like a farmer, wielding an antique‑grade M41A pulse rifle, running out of the house, pointing at the sky and shouting profanely, "Get down! If you have the guts, get down!"

"Dad! Dad! Calm down!" At this moment, the younger sister, with twin ponytails, wearing a deep‑red dress, a girl in her blooming years, rushed out of the house to try to keep her dad steady, but she also saw the two older brothers driving home, then ran to the already stopped Wart Hog beside them, hurriedly saying, "Bro! What's happening? Why did the sky suddenly turn black?"

"It's more like it's pinked," Nilu corrected as he got out of the car.

"Alright, stop arguing with the little sister," Mike, who got out first, tossed his sun hat onto the seat, then ran to the trunk, used biometric sensing to unlock the built‑in safe, and took out two civilian‑grade semi‑automatic pulse rifles.

He then tossed one rifle to the approaching Nilu, pulling out its magazine and loose ammunition, and instructed his brother and sister, "Quickly pull dad into the house, turn on the TV and see what's going on!"

"Got it!"

"Understood, bro!"

Nilu and the little sister followed Mike's orders, each supporting one side, and carried their dad back into the house.

Mike also packed all weapons and ammo into a black canvas bag, slung the gun over his shoulder, grabbed the bag, hurried back inside, locked the door, entered the living room, and saw his little sister had already turned on the holographic TV, watching a live report of the current situation.

On screen, a female news anchor who hadn't had time to apply makeup, her face solemn, said gravely into the camera, "Attention all residents of Dianka, we have detected a massive interdimensional storm ravaging the Border Fortress star sector; currently, the Sparta Corps and UNSC fleet are mobilizing urgently.

However, rest assured, the defensive forces of Dianka are sufficient to repel all anomalous creatures (demons), so officials advise all residents to stay home temporarily until the sheriff or UNSC, as well as Sparta auxiliary troops and Keli Ge's evacuation units...

Below the anchor, the holographic screen continuously scrolled various real‑time info, such as "Keli Ge 0612, 0613, and 0614 Regiments stationed at Dianka have been deployed to the metropolitan area, while 0615 and 0616 Regiments will guard the surrounding towns."

It also read, "Sparta reserves' 211 and 212 Companies will be dispersed across Dianka in squad formations to counter the incoming anomalous creatures."

Or, "Sparta Corps' 16th Battalion fleet and UNSC's 1113 fleet will soon engage the anomalous creature fleet in battle."

In the top‑right corner, the screen displayed "Dianka Metropolitan Time: 2182/07/02 13:36".

From this Dianka timestamp, one can tell that under the rule and protection of Sui Bian and ten OriginalBodies, humanity is about to enter the 23rd century, meaning humans have been undertaking interstellar travel and colonization for nearly two hundred years, and have even openly occupied a galaxy in another universe.

Currently, the primary universe's total population is about 901.2 billion, the Zero‑One universe (The Matrix) has a total of 8.9 billion, and Earth in Zero‑One has long returned to normal with the aid of the Red and White Empresses; as for Zero‑Two universe…

It remains at 45 trillion.

Meanwhile, after being overseen by the first interim governor Robert, the Zero‑Two universe, after forty years of development, has fully embraced the rule of UEG, UNSC and Umbrella, especially through the propaganda of the "Human Truth" and vaccine distribution, as well as cultural export from the primary universe, turning Zero‑Two into humanity's solid "great rear base," the biggest source of manpower and tax revenue.

Technologically, all three universes are progressing steadily; although most of the time the primary universe supplies Zero‑One and Zero‑Two, the populous Zero‑Two also sends back many valuable researchers, making it mutually beneficial.

As for the Elite clan, the Mar and the Otiño (Evelyn's people), legally they are also human, not the so‑called "alien mush", and their numbers are negligible compared to humanity, so they will never become the dominant guests.

Most importantly, the Mar and Otiño, whose male populations are scarce, greatly admire human warriors; at least now, mentioning these two "elf" tribes no longer ties directly to "profit above all".

And lifespan?

With nanotech—and it's the nanotech of a governing civilization—dying a natural death has become a "hard thing" for humans.

As the chief officials of nanotech, William BoKen and Zigler Kaichi calculate and estimate human lifespan at 420 to 440 years, which is only the average; two centuries ago, people wouldn't have dared imagine living over four hundred years, but now it's commonplace.

For example, the family watching the broadcast: dad is already a full 170 years old, one of the earliest Sparta Corps auxiliary troops; he retired thirty years ago due to marriage and settled in the capital of the Border Fortress star sector.

But after fathering two sons and a daughter, he never expected his wife to abandon the family in search of so‑called true love…

Even though human technology has reached another pinnacle, and humanity is protected by Sui Bian, OriginalBody and Astate, it still cannot solve marital emotional issues.

Thus, the heart‑broken dad took his children away from the bustling Harvest Star and moved to a peripheral planet of the Border Fortress star sector, the newly cultivated farming world Dianka.

In the following years, the family peacefully farmed on Dianka, enjoying rare pastoral life, until today the "interdimensional storm" shattered their tranquility.

"Dad..." After the TV switched to a live metropolitan feed, Nilu's voice trembled with fear, "Interdimensional storm... could there be the demons from movies and games?"

"Hmph!" Dad scoffed, glancing at his timid son, and retorted, "Someone like you wants to enlist? UNSC doesn't need a guy like you, let alone the Corps! And those junk things aren't demons, they're damn anomalous creatures; I've slain hundreds, maybe dozens, so what are you scared of?!"

That dad is a century‑old veteran of the Sparta Corps; when the interdimensional storm first raged and dark gods and demons feigned attacks on the Border Fortress, he indeed killed many beasts.

"Dad?" At this moment, eldest son Mike's eyes were filled with confusion as he asked, "What should we do?"

"Right," the little sister added.

"What can we do? Just kill everything that's not human!" Dad walked to the living‑room window, watching outside, and said, "Mike, take the communicator upstairs and, like I taught you, keep watch; report any anomalies to me."

"Got it!" Mike had no objection and hurried upstairs.

"Nilu, go to the kitchen and watch our backyard!" Dad instructed again.

Hearing that, Nilu stopped being timid, grabbed his pulse rifle, shouted "Yes!" to dad, and trotted out of the living room.

"Dad!" The little sister, seeing both brothers assigned, raised her hand and said, "What about me?"

"You?" Dad turned, glanced at her, then opened the equipment crate he had set up in the center of the living room, selected a 6 mm caliber pulse pistol and a few matching 23‑round magazines.

He then handed the pistol and magazines to the little sister, instructing, "Stay right behind me, keep your eyes open; remember, I said you can fire only when I tell you, understand? Also, I haven't forgotten how to disengage the safety and the three‑point‑one‑line steps, have I?"

"Mm‑mm! Don't worry, Dad, I haven't forgotten!" she said, expertly engaging the pistol's safety and striking an aiming pose.

Barely.

Forget it.

Dad said nothing more, crouched again behind the living‑room window, his expression solemn as he watched outside, while the little sister also crouched nearby, mimicking him.

As the family waited patiently, the outside rang with warplanes approaching, a rolling "Boom… Boom!" and faint explosions and gunfire.

Clearly, demons had already begun ravaging Dianka's surface, and the family's temporary safety was simple: the demons focused their attention on the densely populated metropolitan areas and towns, overlooking those living in open, remote regions.

After another ten‑plus minutes, a ground evacuation convoy escorted by a Keli Ge combat company and a reserve tactical squad, following database coordinates, arrived and parked in the family's front yard.

"Dad?" Mike asked over the communicator, "Do we go out?"

"Definitely! Let's go!" Dad quickly gathered his things, led the little sister out first, then his two sons.

Since the troops came to pick them up, the veteran dad was eager to rejoin his unit; after arranging his children, he would confront the reckless demons.

The family, lightly equipped, ran toward the convoy guarded by Keli Ge and reserves, preparing to board a Mammoth Transport vehicle.

However…

?!

Six Sparta reservists, standing apart, suddenly became alert and immediately raised their explosive-bolt rifles in hand, as well as the sole heavy explosive-bolt, aiming them in the same direction, then all together pulled the trigger.

Papapap!! Explosive-bolts fired in unison.

Bang! Bang!! Four armored personnel carriers also began to turn their turrets, spraying 25mm flechette rounds in the direction the reservists were aiming.

Next, all the convoy's armaments and the Krieg soldiers who had dismounted poured shells and high-energy beams into the sky.

Seeing this scene, Dad hurriedly had the children cover their heads and lie on the ground, while he picked up the M41A pulse rifle slung behind him, turned, half-squatted, and aligned the sights with the direction everyone was concentrating fire on.

Only to see a well-organized transport formation, with clear division of labor, advancing toward their location.

What shocked Dad was that two of the transport aircraft in that formation bore a striking resemblance to the Thunder II transport aircraft manufactured and produced by Umbrella, and furthermore, the appearance style of the two escorting attack craft and the other six transport craft resembled Umbrella's older models, but…

On the bulkheads of all aircraft types, flashing red lights were etched, symbols and characters representing chaos and decadence.

Could it be that someone in the legion has defected?!

This was the first possibility Dad thought of; otherwise, there would be no way to explain that transport formation.

However, before giving this old soldier more time to consider, the two attack craft began to retaliate, using large-caliber machine guns and ground-to-ground missiles to assault the convoy.

Tap-tap-tap!

Boom! Boom!

In an instant, gunfire, artillery fire, and explosion sounds suddenly echoed across what had originally been a tranquil, pleasant wheat field and residential area.

And the brief firefight ultimately cost the ground convoy three armored personnel carriers and nearly a Krieg combat platoon, barely achieving victory by destroying the two suspected rebel attack craft and two transport craft.

However, the rebels' other two transport aircraft and two transport craft, after being hit, chose to make an emergency landing in a nearby wheat field, so it would not be long before rebel ground forces launched an attack on the convoy.

"Mike! Nero! Run!" Dad shouted loudly, then grabbed his somewhat dazed daughter and sprinted toward the Mammoth.

!! Two sons closely followed behind.

Having survived, Dad no longer wanted to act with the unit or fight demons; after the sudden battle just now, he knew he was old, and more importantly, he had a group of children to look after.

After this family boarded the Mammoth's cabin, as the convoy's commander, the reserve officer captain immediately signaled over the comms for the convoy to withdraw first; he, his squad, and the remnant Krieg company prepared to first annihilate the rebel ground forces, then later consider withdrawal.

Having received the order, the convoy had no choice but to turn and retreat; in the end, only six Sparta reservists wearing Ceramic Steel Armor Type II remained, along with over a hundred Krieg soldiers possessing exclusive TPS Power Armor and Hellfire laser rifles.

Soon!

Tap-tap-tap!

Papap! Papap!

Both sides then engaged in fierce mutual fire, yet among the projectiles fired by the rebel side, there were actually mixed in green and dark-red high-energy beams, and…

One of the most destructive, and also one that best represents the Astate, is the standard explosive-bolt?!

(End of chapter)