Chapter 554: The Annihilated Self-Defense Force

"The Self-Defense Force has been completely wiped out, so quickly?" Chen Jing asked with some surprise. "They possessed sophisticated equipment and were prepared for the Gastrea's coordinated attacks; how could they be defeated so fast, and even be completely wiped out?"

"Aldebaran is indeed a very clever leader. It dispatched the Pleiades, capable of firing spears of light, and tore through the Self-Defense Force's frontline positions with the most brutal methods. At the same time, it likely sent out Gastrea with digging abilities to launch an assault on the Self-Defense Force from underground." Lingyun pushed the chess piece in front of him. "Under the siege from multiple fronts, it was already their limit to hold out until dawn."

"The Self-Defense Force has been wiped out, so the next to suffer the impact should be the Civil Security Officer positions. Will Enju be alright?" Xiaona leaned over and asked with some worry.

"Rest assured, I have set a safeguard on her; I can save her from danger when needed." Lingyun patted Xiaona's head.

"Fire, fire!"

On the frontline battlefield of Monolith No. 32, the vanguard of the Gastrea had already approached to within five hundred meters of the Civil Security Officers' defensive line.

In this situation, all the Civil Security Officers subconsciously pulled their triggers, and countless flames spewed from the muzzles. Bullets made of Varanium shot toward the distant Gastrea like the breath of death.

"Damn it, I had heard before that this time the Gastrea might launch a coordinated attack, but when facing this situation, I still feel powerless!" Watching the battle situation ahead, Rentaro Satomi could not help but grit his teeth.

Consolidating the defense at the front of the ranks were crustacean and beetle-type Gastrea. Their hardened, keratinized forewings and chitin, under the influence of the Gastrea Virus, turned into sturdy armor, reflecting the flares that were fired one after another, shining brightly. These Gastrea used their own bodies to block the lethal bullets for the ranks behind them, and even after suffering wounds that would have long since made ordinary individuals unable to fight, they did not stop their pace.

"These damn guys, they're practically a suicide squad!" Katagiri Yuzuki said through gritted teeth.

"That's right, a suicide squad!" Rentaro Satomi suddenly realized in his heart. He finally discovered the characteristics of these Gastrea: fearless of death, advancing crazily—they were indeed no different from a suicide squad.

"Rentaro, look over there!" Enju Aihara, who had been patrolling the battlefield, suddenly pointed into the distance.

Rentaro Satomi looked up, and his breathing stalled. A group of flying-type Gastrea appeared in the air, tightly clutching objects curled into spheres between their forelimbs and hindlimbs.

"Is that the enemy's air force? Looking at their appearance, could it be that they want to transport Gastrea to our rear to attack us?" Thinking of this, Rentaro Satomi felt a few more points of fear in his heart for Aldebaran, the commander of this battle. "If we are attacked from the front and back, then we're done for!"

"I'm going to talk to the commander!" Rentaro Satomi quickly approached the commander of their current position.

This person was Gado Hidehiko, the son of Gado Nagamasa, the supreme commander of this Civil Security Officer auxiliary force. But compared to his father, who was strong, shrewd, and possessed great leadership, he was far too inferior, and his reactions appeared very clumsy. Not only was the speed at which he issued orders too slow, but he also lacked decisiveness, and his tone when giving orders lacked confidence and dignity. Rentaro Satomi felt that he did not seem like a Civil Security Officer, but rather felt more like a scholar who stayed in a research lab all day without seeing the sun, or even a librarian.

"We must focus on dealing with the Gastrea in front of us now. Return to your team, Captain Satomi!" Upon receiving this reply, Rentaro Satomi could not help but sigh. As expected, one could not have even a shred of confidence in this kind of commander!

"Rentaro, what do we do now?" Others approached Rentaro Satomi.

"There is only one way: we'll just have to intercept the enemy ourselves!" Rentaro Satomi said, gritting his teeth.

"But, if we do that..." Enju Aihara hesitated.

What Enju wanted to say was that it meant everyone would be disobeying the orders of their superior officer, Gado Hidehiko. During the Civil Security Officer training over these past few days, Rentaro and the others had also been told that the punishment for violating orders was very severe.

"This is a critical moment; we can't worry about that much!" The warning signs in Rentaro Satomi's heart were constantly rising.

Rentaro Satomi looked at the people around him and decisively chose to go and mop up the Gastrea that were flanking from behind the Civil Security Officers.

When Rentaro Satomi finished clearing out the Gastrea that had flanked from the forest behind and returned to the frontline battlefield once more, he was stunned.

The formation originally organized by the Civil Security Officers had already collapsed. Behind the front line, even the tents set up by Rentaro and his group had been broken into by Gastrea, and flames were ignited everywhere in their position. The roars, screams, gunfire, and sounds of clashing from both sides mixed together, playing a battlefield symphony like a living Hell, evolving into a chaotic melee where friend and foe were indistinguishable.

"Damn it, what on earth is going on?" Rentaro Satomi said, gritting his teeth.

Rentaro Satomi shuttled quickly through the crowd and soon found the person he was looking for, the commander of this position—Gado Hidehiko.

"Have you seen the 'Spear of Light'?" Gado Hidehiko, who had previously been so nervous his teeth were chattering, was now showing a state of extremely eerie calmness.

"Spear of Light?"

"If that kind of thing exists, humanity never had a chance of winning from the very beginning. Everything is over." Gado Hidehiko's tone carried a trace of deep despair.

"Rentaro, look out!" Enju Aihara suddenly let out a cry of alarm and instantly tackled Rentaro Satomi to the ground.

In Rentaro Satomi's remaining field of vision, a light flashed in the distance in an instant, and an object that looked like a beam of light swept across, passing over the head of the prone Rentaro at super-high speed. The next instant, objects located on the silver trajectory—whether Gastrea, Civil Security Officers, Initiators, or even tents and bunkers—were all severed.

"This, how is this possible?" Rentaro Satomi's face instantly turned pale.

The anti-Gastrea tactics developed over the past ten years were basically built on the premise that Gastrea would not use projectile weapons. But now this premise had completely disintegrated. That silver beam of light was likely the true culprit that had shot down the Tomahawk cruise missiles, helicopters, and fighter jets launched by the Aegis ship a few days ago.

"How can we possibly win against this kind of thing!" Rentaro Satomi could not help but grit his teeth.

Just as the battlefield fell into chaos, another series of roars rang out. Rentaro Satomi looked up, and his face almost lost all color. In the distance, the figures of Gastrea appeared once again, rushing toward this direction in a mighty force.

"Damn it, are there still reinforcements?"

"Rentaro, pull the pin on the grenade and throw it to me, quick!" Seeing the Gastrea approaching from afar, Enju Aihara shouted loudly.

"Oh, oh, I understand!"

Rentaro Satomi only then remembered that he still had four of Lingyun Town's secret weapons on him. He hurriedly took out a grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it in the direction of Enju Aihara.

Enju Aihara let out a low shout, and the red in her pupils instantly transformed into a deep scarlet. She suddenly leaped upward, her feet kicking out rapidly with a shrill, powerful wind. The grenade's casing and her Varanium-soled shoes collided, emitting a violent roar. Then, under the massive thrust, the grenade pierced toward the Gastrea reinforcements like lightning.

Performing a four-hit combo in mid-air that would be impossible for an ordinary person, Enju Aihara's body flew backward from the powerful recoil, and after tumbling a few times in mid-air, she crashed directly onto the ground.

"Enju, are you alright?" Seeing Enju Aihara fall to the ground, Rentaro Satomi's expression changed drastically, and he quickly lunged to her side.

"I'm fine, Rentaro, it was just a powerful kick; this kind of thing can't stump me." Enju Aihara struggled to climb up from the ground, drank the medicine from a small vial she pulled from her pocket in one gulp, and only then did a bit of color return to her face.

"Boom—" A violent flash appeared among the distant Gastrea reinforcements, and subsequently, the rushing Gastrea all let out shrill roars in unison. On their bodies, the situation of the Scorpio from back then was reenacted.

Cracks appeared one after another on the Gastrea's bodies; their bodies were crumbling, and the Gastrea Virus had completely lost its activity.

Not long after, the wailing of the Gastrea had completely disappeared, and no more sounds came from the distance. The aggressive Gastrea reinforcements had already become a pile of wreckage on the ground.

"Gulp—" Rentaro Satomi could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

"Is this, Lingyun Town's secret weapon?"

Just as these Gastrea reinforcements on the battlefield were wiped out, a roar suddenly came from the distant battlefield. The sound even reached the corners of Sector 40; the roar, like distant thunder, contained not a demonstration or a shout, but a painful cry of sorrow.

Hearing this cry of sorrow, the Gastrea present seemed to be startled in unison. Rentaro Satomi looked toward the direction the sound came from; it was a massive figure like a small mountain, and at this moment, it was painfully twisting its body.

"Aldebaran!" Rentaro Satomi's pupils constricted.

Subsequently, the caterpillar-type Gastrea crawling on the ground moved, and the flying insect-type and bird-type ones also huddled around the giant Gastrea, using their own bodies as shields to gradually retreat.

Only after all the Gastrea had disappeared did Rentaro Satomi let out a deep breath. Dawn has broken!