Chapter 371: The Best Way to Respond to a Traitor

On the edge of the Dianka metropolitan area, on the southeastern side of the highway, several evacuation convoys carrying residents from the surrounding towns and villages gathered for a mixed convoy and headed toward Sector 21, which has a starport.

Looking out.

The entire metropolis is ablaze, smoke billowing everywhere, battles raging all around, and from time to time airdrop crates rain down from the sky.

Among these Astate‑exclusive airdrop crates, only a few belong to the Sparta Corps' 16th Battalion; after all, a battalion has at most six hundred adult, full‑time, experienced Astate, and while there are not a thousand screaming crates, there are six or seven hundred, and their numbers keep rising, so the overwhelming majority of crates come from the traitor's ships.

Fortunately, many single‑soldier airdrop crates belong to the HellParatroopers of Sparta's 13th Battalion, or to the UNSC 1113 Fleet's Airborne Division.

Although paratroopers and airborne troops are mortals who can only give the traitor Astate a scrape, they still represent the pinnacle of mortal capability.

Moreover, on the surface there are over four hundred members of Sparta's 16th Battalion and more than fifteen hundred reservists, tens of thousands of Krig, not to mention UNSC, lawmen and retired veterans.

The current situation can be described as the whole world mobilized, trying to delay the traitors' complete takeover of Dianka and buy enough escape time for men, women, children and the elderly.

And the mixed convoy on the southeast side.

Inside one Mammoth vehicle's cabin.

"Dad…," Nilu, standing by the cabin door, recalling the earlier firefight, said to his father seated in front of him with lingering fear, "Can we get out?"

"Shut your crow‑mouth." Without waiting for dad to say anything, the little sister, who had both arms wrapped around dad's left arm, glared angrily at her second brother.

"Don't worry." At this moment dad stopped shouting orders, raised his right hand to gently rub the little sister's head, then smiled at the three children, "We must trust our warriors; let them deal with the trash. And Chairman Sui will also protect us."

"Right! Exactly!" A bespectacled man sitting nearby, clutching a paper copy of Human Truth, nodded repeatedly, adding, "We must believe in Chairman Sui, believe in Human Truth!"

"Hmm." Mike also gave a slight nod, seemingly without much meaning.

After all, Chairman Sui has been in office for nearly a hundred years, and humanity's ability to coexist peacefully with the other races in this galaxy stems from a leader whose power matches—or even surpasses—the total military strength of humanity.

At that moment…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Ah?! What's happening?!"

"Help! Help!!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar and shaking, the Mammoth slammed on its brakes, causing the tense occupants to panic and scream.

When the Mammoth came to a halt, Mike's family and the others in the cabin heard the sharp "Bang‑bang!" of arrow guns outside, as well as the metallic Astate shouts like "Die! Die! Hahaha!"

Hearing the commotion, dad signaled the little sister to release her grip, lifted an antique M41A, and steadied the barrel toward the rear cabin door.

Seeing this, Mike and Nilu, the two sons, each gripped their pulse rifles firmly and, together with dad, aimed the barrels at the door, waiting.

The remaining people stood up orderly, moving toward the front of the vehicle, while a kind couple helped pull the little sister along.

At first the little sister was reluctant, but after seeing dad's unyielding gaze, she had no choice but to stay as far from the rear door as possible with the couple.

Outside the Mammoth's cabin.

The convoy that had been orderly was now chaotic; front vehicles collided and rolled, and the six Mammoths at the rear braked hard to avoid crushing and accidental casualties.

The sudden halt was caused by nine black‑painted Astate airdrop crates that fell sequentially on the lead vehicle, the sides, and the tail, virtually surrounding the convoy in an instant.

"Hahaha! Die! Die!"

"May the soul return to Chaos! For the battle!"

"Die! Die! Die!"

Immediately, forty‑five Astate wearing Chaos‑rune‑etched Tao Steel Armor and wielding arrow guns roared in battle, charging out of the opened airdrop crates.

"Bang‑bang‑bang!" the arrow guns rang together.

"Boom! Boom… Boom! Boom!" The War Boar, light armored vehicles and troop carriers were obliterated by the barrage of arrow projectiles after only a brief encounter.

Fortunately, UNSC infantry, Krig and reservists evacuated their vehicles the instant the airdrop crates hit the ground, scrambling for advantageous positions to defend.

What followed was a clash much like the war‑torn metropolis itself.

However, the traitors held firepower superiority, since only six reservists escorted the mixed convoy.

Even though a single reservist can take on two, three, or even four Astate traitors at once, in this surrounded situation they were completely pressed by the traitors.

By contrast, UNSC infantry and Krig, despite personal shields, could not stop being rapidly detonated by arrow fire, falling in successive rows.

Beep! Beep!

But at that moment, the Krig's distinctive charge whistle sounded.

Looking toward the source, it was a company commander of a Krig combat company; seeing that matching the traitor Astate in gunplay, movement and reaction was a death wish, he decided a charge was the better option.

Thus, the entire company, and all Krig present, silently surged from their cover, cranking the shield power of their TPS Power Armor to maximum and using the armor's boost to sprint forward.

"Tap‑tap‑tap!" laser fire crackled densely.

Moreover, the Krig didn't just run in a straight line mindlessly; they fired continuously.

Clack—tap—

Although these high‑energy beams can melt old‑style tank armor, when striking the traitors' Tao Steel Armor they only produce a different ding‑dong sound and cause slight scorching, yet they still hinder the traitors.

In less than three seconds, the fastest, luckiest Krig seized the opportunity created by his fallen comrades and closed in on an Astate traitor at close range.

He raised his empty‑magazine Hell rifle, intending to strike with the stock, but with a "psh" the traitor punched through his TPS chest armor, whose energy shield had already failed.

Immediately, the traitor raised the Krig with his left fist that had pierced his chest, sneering, "The trash who worship the false emperor, no matter how many, are still just trash…"

"Ri—!" Yet the traitor's taunt was drowned out by the roar of a cold‑fusion reactor overload.

"Boom!!!" With a violent explosion, a fireball expanded rapidly from the Krig whose chest had been pierced, engulfing both him and the traitor.

"Whoosh!!!" The shockwave also blew away nearby vehicle wreckage.

When the after‑effects faded, this tiny, roughly ten‑meter radius micro "nuclear blast" had turned the Krig to ash and taken the arrogant traitor with it.

That, it seems, is the best way to answer the traitor's taunts.

"Brothers! Dry the bastards to death!"

"Die! Traitor!"

Seeing the Krig sacrifice themselves, choosing mutual annihilation to kill and disrupt the traitors, the six reservists let out metallic war cries, exploiting the brief opening for a fierce barrage.

When five companies, nearly seven hundred Krig in total, fell, these silent warriors had also eliminated nine Astate traitors.

And the remaining thirty-six traitors were also killed by headshots from six reservists, but the traitors likewise, at the brink of death, rendered two reservists unable to fight, plunging them into a state of severe injury and coma.

The battle ended in a gruesome toll, but for the convoy side it was an absolute victory—consider that there were forty-five 'Astate', even if they were 'counterfeit' traitors, they were still far beyond ordinary people, experienced 'killing machines'.

Not bad.

After confirming no enemy presence nearby, four reservists prepared to move the two severely wounded, unconscious brothers onto the nearest Mammoth, then to transfer with the remaining UNSC soldiers onto the Mammoth and continue evacuating to the starport.

When the Mammoth's rear hatch opened and they saw the arriving Sparta reservists, Mike, Nero's family, and all the inhabitants inside the cabin let out a deep sigh of relief.

The bespectacled man who had been clutching 'Human Truth' kept muttering: 'May the Chairman bless, may the OriginalBody bless…'

"Boom!!"

But the relaxed atmosphere lasted only a moment before being interrupted by a sudden explosion—apparently several plasma cannon blasts shattered the Mammoth's energy shield, and after the shield was broken, another plasma cannon blast struck the Mammoth's front.

At the same time, another five Mammoths were hit by large-caliber plasma cannon fire, and four of them triggered a chain reaction, the explosions spreading to the bodies carrying the inhabitants, which quickly caught fire and burned within a few seconds.

Whether it was Mike's family having maxed-out luck or the bespectacled man's prayer taking effect, the Mammoth they were in suffered only destruction of the front, with the fuselage sustaining no damage.

However, the remaining four reservists and UNSC infantry were not so fortunate.

While the Mammoth was under fierce attack, the attacking traitors also carried out precise point-blank shooting, not only killing all UNSC infantry who hadn't yet managed to board the Mammoth, but also shattering the energy shields of the four reservists.

Moreover, the traitors seemed intent on leaving survivors, after using explosive bolts to blast the arms and legs of the four reservists, the gunfire suddenly ceased.

"Thud, thud!"

But the heavy footsteps coming from outside the cabin gradually grew clear and distinct.

"Sizzle!!"

Suddenly, the two three-blade power claws pierced the hard sides of the cabin, and then, like cutting paper, the two power claws began to slice the cabin horizontally.

"Crack—...!"

After a harsh, grating metal screech, the 'owners' of the two power claws, like opening a can, directly lifted the Mammoth's cabin, allowing the severely startled inhabitants and Mike's family to 'see the light again'.

One could see that the two 'owners' of the power claws were wearing alternative Terminator power armor, painted black and gold, adorned with numerous human skulls as ornaments—these were 'Astate'.

Furthermore, there were twelve more such 'Astate'.

At that moment, everyone heard a 'whoosh~' sound and saw a dazzling blue light cluster; then, an Astate similarly clad in alternative Terminator armor but without a helmet slowly stepped out of the light cluster and gradually walked toward the reservists struggling on the ground.

No wonder the four reservists had no time to react, after all, alternative Terminators also possess teleportation ability.

Having just completed the teleportation, the unhelmeted traitor had a massive five-blade power claw on his left gauntlet, a pallid face, a cold expression, and his eyes completely filled with red light—he appeared to be the commander of this Terminator unit, or perhaps an elite officer.

This traitor approached the Mammoth's rear, slightly bent over, and with the uncharged 'index finger' of his power claw, he pierced a reservist thrown aside while struggling, then straightened up and lifted him high.

"Patter…patter…" blood quickly streamed down the power claw, like a small stream sliding over the claw tip and shaft, then dripping to the ground.

Seeing this, the traitor commander opened his mouth and actively went to 'receive' the blood from the reservist.

"Taste" it…

"Pah!" He then spat out all the blood in one gulp, flicked his arm, and flung that reservist straight to a nearby spot, where he ultimately landed inside the burning Mammoth, his fate unknown.

Immediately afterward, the traitor commander lowered his gaze to look down at the remaining three who, despite having lost all four limbs, were still struggling to crawl, wanting to launch an attack on 'him'; he also glanced at the two still unconscious reservists, his cold expression gradually turning to appreciation, and he tried to persuade them, saying:

"You…are not entirely counterfeit trash; you could be considered our cousins. So here I give you one chance, one opportunity to choose the right path: abandon your foolish faith in the false Emperor, join our legion, join the Black Warband of Helusi's Sons, and serve the true Human Empire—how about it?"

"Hah!" One reservist struggled to turn; although it was an upward-looking motion, his tone carried a sense of looking down, and he retorted: 'Tell us to betray our father? Betray Sparta? Screw you! Damned traitor!'

This is precisely because the Spartans' temper and caliber rank among the top three of the ten legions; if those lying here were wolf cubs…

In the cursing, one must include 'mom and dad'.

Suddenly, the traitor commander's brows knit tight, as if he had heard something that made him feel uneasy and nauseous; moreover, the source of this remark was not the reservist cursing at him.

Following the sound, the traitor commander locked his gaze onto the bespectacled man who kept whispering 'Chairman bless…OriginalBody bless,' and onto the 'Human Truth' cradled in the man's arms.

"Shut up!" the traitor commander bellowed, releasing a domineering pulse of Spiritual Energy toward the bespectacled man, seemingly also intending to 'shock to death' Mike's family and all the inhabitants as well.

"At such a young age, don't have such a temper."

However, a soul-stirring female voice rang out in the air, and a visible Spiritual Energy barrier, emitting a faint red light, easily blocked the traitor commander's released Psychic Pressure.

(End of chapter)