Chapter 553: The Collapse of the Monolith

The impact of the Monolith's collapse was immense; after the super-massive structure, 1.618 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide, came crashing down, the astonishing dust and fragments of the whitened Monolith transformed into a sky-filling mist, forming thick cloud layers. The clouds covered the sky over the Tokyo Area, obscuring even the sunlight. In the eyes of Satomi Rentaro, the entire sky had turned gray-white.

Although the Seikyo had anticipated the shockwaves, fallout, and poor weather caused by the collapse and had warned the citizens, hearing about it and seeing it with one's own eyes were two very different things. Even for Rentaro, this abnormal sight involuntarily evoked omens of the end of the world.

The collapse of the Monolith threw the Civil Security Officers at the front-line base into chaos. It took Satomi Rentaro and the other Civil Security Officers a full three hours to reorganize their ranks. In contrast, the Self-Defense Force, being closer to the Monolith, had their positions directly covered by the smoke and dust caused by the collapse due to the strong winds that day. Yet, under such circumstances, they still adjusted their formation within an extremely short time, setting up a defensive line facing the direction of the Monolith's collapse. From this point alone, one could see the vast difference between a strictly trained national defense organization and the Civil Security units fighting their own separate battles.

As time pushed forward, the roars of the Gastrea grew closer. It was not until seven o'clock in the evening that the sky showed a hint of blue. It was also at this time that Aldebaran, leading its massive army, aggressively crossed the collapsed Monolith and lunged fiercely toward the Self-Defense Force.

The moment the Gastrea appeared, the battle-ready Self-Defense Force opened fire. The Self-Defense Force's long-range weapons—self-propelled guns, Rook cannons, and machine cannons—simultaneously spat out scorching flames, and the specially made Varanium shells traced perfect trajectories as they struck the Gastrea. In just a few breaths, the Gastrea serving as the vanguard were plunged into a sea of fire.

The front-line base where the Civil Security Officers were located was a considerable distance from the Self-Defense Force, and he had no way of knowing what the situation of the battle at the front was like. The shockwave arrived half a beat late, and the hot wind of the battlefield struck his entire body; Rentaro reached out to shield his face and narrowed his eyes.

The exchange of fire between the Self-Defense Force and the Gastrea lasted for a full five hours, reaching twelve o'clock at night. The sound of distant shelling continued to arrive, accompanied by intense shockwaves; the battle situation seemed to have fallen into a stalemate.

Because the sky was obscured by the dust of the Monolith fragments, there was no moonlight, and with no streetlights in the outer districts, the environment was terrifyingly dark. The battlefield was covered in darkness, taking on the appearance of a night battle.

Satomi Rentaro's heart could not help but grow restless. Just as they had anticipated, even with the battle continuing to this point, the Self-Defense Force at the front still showed no intention of requesting support from them.

Suddenly, Satomi Rentaro caught a glimpse of silver light flashing from time to time in the sky toward the Self-Defense Force's position in the distance, and the unease in his heart expanded a little more.

Although he had always known that the relationship between the Civil Security Officers and the Self-Defense Force was not very harmonious, he had not expected them to do such a thing when the Tokyo Area was facing an existential disaster. Whether they cared about their own credit, territory, or their own pride, fighting while clinging to such meaningless things—did those guys really think they could win?

Satomi Rentaro gritted his teeth, the light in his eyes flickering.

Inside Lingyun Town, Lingyun stood at the top of the town's high tower, looking toward the direction where the firelight flickered.

"Lingyun, what are you looking at here?" Chen Jing appeared by his side.

"Watching a war of destruction!" Lingyun said.

"A war of destruction?" Chen Jing looked toward the direction of the flickering firelight with some confusion. "That's where the Gastrea and the Self-Defense Force are fighting, right?"

"They should already be starting to lose the upper hand by now, right?" Chen Jing asked.

"That's right, but I see they seem to have absolutely no intention of asking the Civil Security auxiliary forces for help," Lingyun said with a shrug.

"For the sake of the ridiculous pride they speak of? The Tokyo Area is currently facing a crisis of extinction. Under these circumstances, instead of thinking about working together to overcome this catastrophe, they still have the heart to engage in internal strife. They are forcing their own Tokyo Area onto a dead end!" Su Wanyue also appeared beside Lingyun.

"I see the fish in the creek around Lingyun Town seem to have gotten much fatter!" Lingyun withdrew his gaze.

"Indeed. After you announced that Lingyun Town was withdrawing from the defense of the Tokyo Area, quite a few people with dark intentions did come here; some even came strapped with bombs, wanting to carry out a suicide attack. You know what their final end was!"

Lingyun shrugged and stopped talking about this topic.

"How much longer do you think the Self-Defense Force side can hold out?"

"If it were a normal situation, they would have no problem holding out until dawn. But the point now is that the Gastrea we labeled as Pleiades, which can use the 'Light Spear,' has already made its move. The high-pressure mercury it ejects can even slice through missiles in flight; tearing through the Self-Defense Force's line of defense is not much of a problem," Lingyun said.

"There is another point: the high-powered fighter jets and missiles have also had their effectiveness on the battlefield greatly reduced because of the existence of Pleiades. Under these circumstances, being able to hold out until dawn is already a very difficult thing," Chen Jing analyzed.

Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, it was the darkest period before dawn.

The sound of gunfire gradually subsided, and the cries of the Gastrea also grew quieter. Immediately after, the distant battlefield suddenly fell silent. For a moment, the eerie stillness made everyone present feel a sense of suffocation.

Satomi Rentaro clenched his fists, staring intently at the direction where the fighting had previously taken place.

"The Self-Defense Force must have won!"

"What do you think, Satomi?" Nagisawa Shoma patted Satomi Rentaro on the shoulder.

"Not sure, but according to common sense, the Self-Defense Force should have won!" Satomi Rentaro's gaze was fixed on the distance. "Now that the sounds of both the Gastrea and the artillery fire are gone, it must be because they repelled the Gastrea that they stopped firing."

"Rentaro, someone is coming!" Enju Aihara suddenly looked into the distance.

"Who is it? Is it the Self-Defense Force?" Satomi Rentaro stared hard into the darkness in the distance, but he saw nothing.

"No, Rentaro, I think we're in big trouble!" Enju Aihara's expression suddenly turned serious, and her pupils turned red in an instant. "I can feel the scent of Gastrea on them."

"The scent of Gastrea?" Satomi Rentaro's pupils constricted.

"This is the most useful thing I've learned from Brother!" Enju Aihara suddenly pulled out a small pistol and fired a shot into the sky.

A specially made flare from Lingyun Town exploded in the sky, instantly illuminating a patch of the heavens. Using this flare as a signal, the howitzers at the Civil Security camp fired simultaneously. The shells that flew out opened parachutes at a high altitude in the distance, and the oxidizers, combustibles, colorants, and flash agents bound underneath scattered in the air, creating a small sun that tore through the final darkness before dawn.

Satomi Rentaro looked forward and could not help but gasp.

Several hundred meters away from them, there was a row of about fifty people. All of them were Self-Defense officials wearing 2031-style digital camouflage uniforms. But the group was bloodless, their lips blue. The blood flowing from their ruptured abdomens stained their camouflage uniforms a bright red. Their half-open lips emitted sounds without clear meaning. Without a doubt, their blood loss had already exceeded a lethal level.

Further away, at a distance of about three or four kilometers, countless silhouettes were revealed after the darkness was torn apart; they were all Gastrea of varying sizes. To avoid being seen by their red eyes, they all closed their eyes and muffled their footsteps, sneaking toward the Civil Security position.

What terrified Satomi Rentaro the most was that the number of these Gastrea was frighteningly high. Looking at the number of Gastrea that far exceeded expectations, Satomi Rentaro thought of the vanished Self-Defense Force, and a sudden weight pressed down on his heart.

However, now was not the time for hesitation. The Gastrea army, realizing there was no need to hide themselves after being illuminated by the flare, all looked up and roared, launching a deadly charge at the Civil Security units.

Rentaro's gaze turned toward the commander of his unit, but that guy was currently trembling, seemingly terrified by the scene before him.

"It's the Gastrea! Everyone, be on alert, prepare to attack!"

Subconsciously, Satomi Rentaro suppressed the trembling in his voice and roared loudly.

Under Satomi Rentaro's shout, some of the dazed Civil Security Officers present also reacted, raising their guns in unison and aiming at the Gastrea in the distance.

"The Self-Defense Force has been wiped out!" Inside Lingyun Town, Lingyun set down the teacup in his hand.