Chapter 782: Battle of the Black Market (Part 9)

Glancing down at the dozen or so wounds on his chest and arms, Sun Cheng issued orders with an expressionless face.

"Leiting, tally and report the loss data! Notify the Decepticon Workers to take control of the robots, quickly clear the battlefield, and transport the corpses of the incoming replica warriors away as soon as possible!"

Every Decepticon is a mobile repository of metal materials; even the replica warriors mass-produced by Starscream's subordinates have many rare metals applied to their frames. Although these can be found on Earth, recycling them can save them from significant losses.

Some replica warriors, killed when long-range sniper robots used special sniper rifles and Armor-Piercing Shells to shatter their Sparks or Cores, could even have their frames slightly modified after recycling and awarded to some of the Workers under his command.

If he can hold out through the coming strikes, Sun Cheng can guarantee that his subordinates will have dozens or even hundreds more usable Warriors in the near future.

Leiting responded: "Yes!"

Immediately, he pressed a hand to his head, connecting with all the Decepticon Warriors and Workers on the battlefield, and began issuing orders to clear the battlefield and tally the losses.

Sun Cheng did not rush him, connecting directly to the Central Main Control Intelligence within the Sub-base on the island. After obtaining the latest satellite monitoring data, his expression darkened again.

"There are six minutes left before the second wave of strikes arrives! Starscream is trying to take my life!"

Base No. 2 is located in the western region of the Pakistan country, more than two thousand kilometers away from Trindade Island.

Regarding the next wave of incoming 'Meteor shower', even if he had the heart to issue orders, Base No. 2 currently lacks the capability to help intercept, as only the missiles equipped on the Yasen-class nuclear submarine have a range exceeding one thousand kilometers.

It just so happens that, apart from the Ghost Fleet, the other few Yasen-class nuclear submarines are currently active in the East Pacific coast region.

Even though their propulsion systems have been upgraded several times by Hephaestus and now possess a top underwater speed of 120 knots.

But even if they rushed, it would still take them more than two days to round the Drake Passage and enter the Atlantic Ocean.

Therefore, the battle to protect the Black Market can only rely on the defensive forces here.

Taking advantage of the final few minutes of respite, Sun Cheng connected to Hailishi.

"Hailishi, what is the situation on your end?"

"Except for the eighty-plus Electromagnetic Pulse Missiles remaining, all anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles have been fired."

"Understood, wait for my orders now!"

"Yes!"

In the six minutes, under the control of hundreds of Workers and Decepticon Warriors, over a thousand robots of various types rushed over from the Sub-base. They quickly transported away the relatively intact corpses of the Decepticon replica warriors, along with the corpses of their own fallen Workers and Decepticon Warriors.

Leiting's tally was already out: in the previous battle, the island's defensive forces lost a total of 7 sets of S-300 series modified anti-aircraft missile launch systems. Although the remaining 25 sets could be used again after simple maintenance, the reserve ammunition was down to just over a hundred rounds.

As for the Workers and Decepticon Warriors, seventeen had died in the previous battle, and almost half of the rest were wounded.

However, the heaviest losses were among the various types of Combat Robots; at least a hundred of them were damaged in the previous battle.

Of course, if one were to strictly investigate, the Heavy Artillery deployed on the surrounding islands, with their immense destructive power, were the primary culprits behind the heavy losses of the Combat Robots.

"The losses are still acceptable!"

Watching the island being gradually cleared, Sun Cheng summoned a Worker, "Go, notify everyone to arrange for all humans on the island to use the secret passages from the Sub-base to the underwater pier, take submarines to evacuate to the open sea, and then let them notify their respective national naval vessels to pick them up temporarily... If any humans question this, tell them we have been attacked by the Decepticon Legion and a war is about to break out here!"

"Yes, Master!"

The Sub-base on the island has several secret passages leading to the seabed, which Sun Cheng had specifically ordered to be built.

Normally, when key personnel on the island leave Trindade Island, these secret passages are quite necessary to avoid being noticed by the increasing number of humans on the island and the various national spy satellites constantly monitoring the place from space.

Not every secret passage exit has a pier for submarines to dock, as Trindade Island is only so big.

Currently, there is only one underwater submarine pier on the island capable of docking and loading supplies for a Cargo Submarine. Usually, besides the Typhoon-class modified Cargo Submarine stationed there, there are also several small submarines manufactured by Hephaestus, used by Workers for offshore resource exploration and seabed hydrographic mapping.

Those small submarines can easily transport four or five hundred humans at a time.

Since the construction of the Black Market began, although it has prohibited naval vessels from various human nations from docking, that is all it has done.

Therefore, many nations have at least one warship stationed within a hundred kilometers of Trindade Island, nominally for the convenience of contact and to protect their own personnel on the island, but in reality, they are not without the intention of monitoring the Decepticons on the island.

Regarding this, Sun Cheng and his subordinates have tacitly chosen to turn a blind eye.

Facing the incoming second wave of Decepticon replica warriors, it was not as if he hadn't considered contacting the surrounding national naval vessels for help.

But the moment this thought emerged, it was dismissed by Sun Cheng.

Politics, even when looking at the entire universe, is the darkest and dirtiest thing.

In this engagement with Starscream, once the Black Market side shows signs of failing, not only will Sun Cheng likely face a continuous stream of strikes.

Even the human nations that he had previously squeezed for many rare metals and materials might see the weak essence beneath the shiny exterior of the aliens.

Therefore, this is a war that cannot rely on any outside help, and one that can only be won, not lost.

The few minutes passed in a flash; in the sky, the increasingly clear 'Meteor shower' could be seen even with the naked eye.

Leiting had already made arrangements; the twenty-five anti-aircraft systems still operational on the island were firing the last hundred-plus remaining anti-aircraft missiles at the incoming replica warriors at a frequency of fifty missiles per round.

This batch of incoming Decepticons was even larger than the previous one, numbering about four hundred.

Looking up at the explosions and firelight appearing in the sky once more, Sun Cheng connected to Hailishi and the Ghost Fleet.

"Link to the island's command system to acquire data, fire all Electromagnetic Pulse Missiles, and then withdraw!"

Hailishi is fine; even if all the missiles on the ship are exhausted, there are still hundreds of naval gun shells on board that can provide long-range fire support for the island.

But the Ghost Fleet is already useless!

The Yasen-class nuclear submarines were only equipped with a batch of anti-aircraft missiles for intercepting nuclear warheads, and a batch of Electromagnetic Pulse Bombs aimed at Decepticons and Autobots.

Besides that, although each submarine still has two torpedo launch systems and several special torpedoes for underwater targets, they will be of no use in the coming battle.

When they surfaced to intercept the replica warriors earlier, this Ghost Fleet was already exposed, and he believed human vessels would soon be targeting them.

Having them withdraw before that happens is the most appropriate choice.

"Next, it is a fight to the death!"

Looking up at the sky, Sun Cheng's face was neither happy nor sad.

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