Chapter 723: Discussing the Issue of the Cyberk Alien

Military Base No. 74.

Batu tightened the reins; the warhorse beneath him puffed out heavy white clouds of breath, its pace slowing significantly.

The five remaining Atilla Cavalry behind him had wool tunics covered in dust and sweat stains, and many bore bloody scratches from being scraped by withered branches.

The group arrived in silence at the gate of Military Base No. 74.

Human Alliance soldiers on the armored Sentinel towers immediately turned their muzzles and detection equipment toward the direction of their approach.

As Batu's squad neared the warning line, a powerful searchlight beam slammed into them, stinging the eyes of Batu and the others so much they could barely keep them open.

"Halt! Identify yourselves!"

The Sentinel's emotionless command came through the loudspeaker.

Batu roared with a hoarse voice.

"Atilla Third Defense Zone reconnaissance squad, Sergeant Batu! Returning from executing a Task in the R7 Area!"

The searchlight swept back and forth over them several times; after a brief pause, the loudspeaker sounded again, the tone slightly relaxed but still strictly professional.

"Confirmed, opening side gate."

Accompanied by the sound of heavy machinery, a smaller alloy door beside the main gate slowly opened upward, wide enough for only two riders to pass abreast.

Batu spurred his horse in first, with the other five following closely behind.

Inside the gate was a short, wide passage; the armored walls on both sides were riddled with firing ports, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

At the end of the passage, two Human Alliance soldiers holding Laser Rifles stood there, one of them wearing a sergeant's armband, clearly the person in charge of guarding this entrance.

Batu swung off his horse, his military boots making a dull thud on the metal floor.

The soldiers behind him also dismounted one after another, leading their equally exhausted warhorses.

The air was filled with a mixed scent of machine oil, metal, and sweat, completely different from the smell of scorched earth outside the base.

The guard sergeant's gaze swept over the squad, and a flash of understanding and imperceptible heaviness crossed his eyes, especially when he saw they were missing half their men and that everyone was wounded and tense.

He stepped forward and said in a serious tone.

"Sergeant Batu? You're just in time."

Batu wiped the dust and sweat from his face, revealing the deeper exhaustion beneath and that striking scar.

He nodded, his voice still hoarse.

"On the way... we encountered iron-skins, a new model."

The guard sergeant nodded slightly, seemingly unsurprised by this.

He stepped aside to clear the path, gesturing with his chin toward the brightly lit but exceptionally grim passage inside the base, and said in a serious tone.

"Right turn at the registration office. Make it quick. Also... you've already been quite lucky."

He paused, his gaze from under his helmet sweeping over Batu and the silent, young, and terrified new recruits behind him, and added.

"Two reconnaissance squads went out today and didn't return within the designated time. Communication Silence, signal lost... they must have been attacked by the Cyberk."

This sentence landed like a cold stone in a silent pool of water.

The new recruit who had narrowly escaped behind Batu gripped his dust-covered reins tightly; he remembered the silver-white figure in the shadows of the rock cluster, the precise and lethal blue light, and the sight of the veteran falling from his horse... something seemed to block his throat, and he couldn't make a sound.

Batu said nothing, only nodded silently and forcefully.

He knew what the guard sergeant meant—being able to survive and bring the intelligence back was a stroke of luck in itself.

"Understood."

Batu's voice was so low it was almost inaudible.

He stopped looking at the guard sergeant, turned to lead his horse, and gave a low shout to the soldiers behind him.

"Move!"

Ninth Defense Zone Military Headquarters.

Yingzhou opened the door to the Meeting Room and found he was the last to arrive, though he was not late.

In the center of the room was a large conference table; Horus, Angron, and Rogal Dorn were sitting at the table waiting for Yingzhou.

Seeing Yingzhou enter, the three stood up simultaneously and said to Yingzhou.

"Father."

"Mm, sit. The communication with Vulkan and Sanguinius will be connected soon; Perturabo and Ferrus are still in the Research Institute calibrating the large Anti-Interference Device."

Yingzhou said as he pulled out a chair to the side and sat down.

Horus tapped his hand on the conference table, bringing up the overall data on the Cyberk Alien from the past two years.

A massive tactical display screen covered an entire wall, and it was currently clearly showing several images.

The newest among them were those two silver-white figures scanning in the shadows of the rocks, their limbs slender and fluid; the striking disc devices on their arms; and the most critical ones, showing the moment their folding wings popped out from behind them, blue light flames spraying from their feet as they hovered and pursued at low altitude!

Below the screen, a summary of the text intelligence that Batu's squad had traded their lives for was scrolling.

Target: New Cyberk Alien combat unit

Characteristics:

Height approximately 2.5 meters, physique more lean and capable than older models, leg structure significantly lengthened and optimized.

Arm circumference increased, equipped with blue disc devices of unknown function.

New ability: Possesses short-range low-altitude flight capability.

Patrol patterns are extremely regularized, reconnaissance capabilities improved.

Tactical intelligence improved: understands how to group for Intercept, possesses Energy Shield defense (partially effective against laser weapons), may actively abandon low-value targets after evaluating pursuit costs.

Encounter location: Southeast corner of R7 Area (near the area where the former Seventh Squad was wiped out).

Related incidents: Two other reconnaissance squads lost contact on the same day (suspected to have encountered the same model unit).

Angron sat to Yingzhou's right, his fingers tapping on the table, his gaze fixed on the frozen flight footage on the screen; after thinking for a few seconds, he spoke.

"Iron-skin Aliens that can fly? Could it be that the scouts we've sent out over the past two years just didn't discover that other Cyberk Aliens had such capabilities? I heard Perturabo say that the corpses of these Cyberk Aliens can be modified at any time; with just a simple modification, they will create new changes on the battlefield."

Dorn sat opposite Angron, arms crossed, eyes calm, carefully examining the leg structure and thruster nozzles of the Cyberk soldiers, and spoke in a low voice.

"Angron, you are right, but even if they can achieve low-altitude flight, it will not change the combat plan we have formulated."

Just then, the holographic projector in the center of the conference table lit up, and two clear figures emerged.

Vulkan and Sanguinius looked toward Yingzhou at the same time and nodded, saying.

"Father."

"Hmm, the data here has already been sent to you; have you read the documents sent to you?"

Vulkan nodded, his reddened eyes appearing particularly striking in the projection.

"Father, brothers. The Fourth Defense Zone is ready; as soon as brother Perturabo's Anti-Interference Device arrives, we can execute the combat Task at any time."

Sanguinius swept his clear gaze over the intelligence summary and spoke slowly.

"According to the intelligence provided by the current data, the Cyberk Alien has not changed much in the two years since we reduced conflicts with them, but according to the remains of a previous reconnaissance team discovered by an Attila Barbarian Cavalry scout unit, it was discovered from within that the Cyberk Alien possesses Titan Weapons even taller than a Warhound Titan."