Chapter 327: Continuous Bombardment

Chapter 327: Relentless Bombardment

On the other side, the mountain city.

Lin Yu lay prone on the ground, watching the distant flicker of lights with painstaking caution.

He dared not move a muscle, even his breathing was reduced to a near‑still whisper.

After a silent wait of several minutes, he inched backward, slipping once more into the shelter.

Meanwhile, the scout who had been watching from the opposite direction also shuffled back.

“We can’t get through.”

The scout murmured:

“Drones patrol everywhere, and the ground is littered with countless small machines.”

“Their design resembles the unmanned gear the Huaxia forces once deployed.”

“Each one possesses vision; each can see.”

“Should we rashly charge forward, we would be spotted almost without fail.”

“Those things are no joke.”

“With our current strength, we stand no chance of defeating them.”

“The path is completely blocked.”

“We can only wait here.”

“Wait here?”

Lin Yu’s brows knit together.

“We can’t keep waiting—aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m starving to death.”

The scout let out a sigh.

“If we don’t eat soon, I truly won’t be able to hold on.”

“Had we known, we should have left that corpse—or at least a part of it.”

“That way we could have bought ourselves another day or two.”

“Are you mad?”

Lin Yu glared at the scout, who had expected a rebuke for his cannibalistic suggestion, yet heard instead a different justification.

“The reason we’re not being relentlessly hunted by the mountain folk now is that they deem us little threat.”

“Had we truly left a portion of the corpse behind, they would have pursued us to the bitter end, cost be damned.”

“We’d have died faster—without even a sliver of resistance!”

As the words hung in the air, the scout couldn’t help but retort:

“It may not be that they think we’re harmless; perhaps they simply lack the ability.”

“Haven’t you noticed? The living souls in this city are pitifully few.”

“To date we’ve only encountered three.”

“The entire city is sustained by those unmanned machines, which in turn depend on electricity.”

“They cannot venture where there is no power; the glow of light delineates the limits of their domain!”

“And so what?”

Lin Yu shook his head and said:

“Seeing only three people does not mean there are only three.”

“The lives of those mountain dwellers are precious; they’re merely unwilling to risk now, not incapable of doing so.”

“Stop lingering on matters that are already past.”

“We must focus on the present, on solving the most urgent problem.”

“I’m working on a solution.”

The scout’s fingers, swollen from hunger, moved in a gentle massage, leaving a series of pale imprints on his skin.

His condition was already dire; a hyper‑metabolic rate granted him great strength and rapid recovery, yet without fuel he would perish far quicker than an ordinary man.

Having gone two days without rations, his body teetered on the brink of collapse.

What if another day passes without food?

He cast a furtive glance at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu returned the look.

“Don’t even think about it.”

Lin Yu sneered:

“Our bodies can no longer process the toxins inside us; otherwise I could actually slice off an arm and eat it.”

“But I do have another notion.”

“What notion?”

The scout’s gaze shifted slightly as Lin Yu pointed into the distance and said:

“Do you see that?”

“That is clearly a park.”

“We’ve encountered many such parks in the ruins we explored; they sit in the city’s heart, their purpose unknown.”

“Regardless of its function, one thing is certain.”

“It is vast, its vegetation lush.”

“Perhaps there are living creatures moving within.”

“Be they insects, birds, beasts, or something else, they’re all potential food.”

“We should change our thinking, stop hunting for the mountain folk’s provisions.”

“What they refuse to eat, we have no such taboos about!”

“Makes sense.”

The scout nodded in sudden comprehension.

But immediately another problem surfaced.

“How do we get across?”

“From here to the park lies a long stretch of illuminated zone; crossing it is essentially a death sentence.”

The dilemma returned to its origin.

Lin Yu furrowed his brow, straightened slightly, scanned the horizon, and after a moment spoke:

“We can make use of a portion of the aerial tracks.”

“In that case, a great many of the routes would lie only along the edge of the light zone.”

“The danger should be reduced; it’s worth the gamble to try!”

“Then let’s give it a shot.”

The scout nodded decisively.

“We have no other choice anyway.”

“I’ll go first.”

Lin Yu pressed his hand on the scout’s shoulder, who was about to rise, and said gravely:

“I’ll scout ahead; if I can make it through, I’ll guide you along my path onward.”

“If I’m discovered, you must stay hidden and keep looking for a way out.”

“We cannot simply die here; every extra minute we survive in this city is a huge gain for those outside.”

“If I die, and you manage to contact the Huaxia forces”

“You must tell them what lies here.”

“They will surely march on Mountain City; every word you speak will spare many of their lives!”

“Understood.”

The scout lowered himself again.

He did not vie with Lin Yu for the “adventure” opportunity.

For he knew that whether past or present, the condition of those left behind was hardly any better.

It was merely a matter of dying sooner or later.

After receiving his reply, Lin Yu rose slowly and began moving toward the nearby aerial track.

He guided his body with utmost care, occasionally glancing back, reading the scout’s gestures from behind cover to time his swift crossing.

Their coordination was uncanny; within mere seconds, Lin Yu had already traversed the open ground and reached the underside of the track.

Yet from that moment, true peril began.

He vaulted, deftly seizing the overhead rail while flipping his blade‑hand upward.

No sound escaped; the unmanned machines in the distant light zone did not notice his presence.

Next, he would ride the rail northeast, soaring over a swath of the light zone to the edge of that “park.”

Should he be spotted midway, there would be no chance for retreat.

Suspended in the air, he would have no room to dodge; even a simple rifle could end him instantly.

Lin Yu’s heart hammered wildly as he inched forward.

Yet just as he was about to reach the fringe of the light zone,

a sudden anomaly erupted!

“Wooo—”

A shrill wail rang out, echoing across the whole city!

In that instant, Lin Yu’s hair stood on end!

He had been discovered!

Damn!

I haven’t even reached the light zone yet!

How could this be?!

Lin Yu desperately tried to retrace his steps, for he knew lingering on the rail meant certain death.

Adrenaline surged, draining the last of his strength.

His movements quickened; even within the cramped space above the rail he managed a smooth turn.

Yet as he turned, his eyes swept the light zone below.

Wait! The unmanned machines there…

…are not aiming at him.

They are fleeing!

No, “fleeing” does not capture it.

After all, their motions are methodical, patterned.

One should say they are withdrawing!

Retreating in the same direction!

What’s happening?

Power failure?

That absurd thought flashed through Lin Yu’s mind, but he had no time to dwell on it.

This was a golden opportunity.

To cross the light zone, he must seize it!

He flashed a signal to the distant scout; seeing his expression and the machines’ movement, the scout reacted instantly.

Without hesitation, the scout raced along the path Lin Yu had already taken.

By then, he no longer cast another glance toward the light zone.

A gamble!

Bet they won’t see us!

The scout moved even faster than Lin Yu, ignoring the clatter of his impact on the rail.

Hearing the sound, Lin Yu also sprang into action.

Why the hesitation?

The alarm’s roar is the best cover we have!

Hurry!

Unbound, the two surged forward along the rail.

They swiftly cleared the rail and reached a building on the edge of the light zone.

“Downward!”

Lin Yu ordered again; the two kept moving, leaping down stairways between floors, plunging at breakneck speed.

Yet just as they neared the lowest level, Lin Yu suddenly halted.

The scout behind him, unable to react in time, slammed into his back, and at that very moment Lin Yu staggered.

“Bang!”

A gunshot cracked the air!

The scorching bullet whistled past the two of them, and when the scout lifted his head, a figure stood before him—

A mountain‑city warrior clad head‑to‑toe in armor!

“Knife!”

Instinctively the scout drew the long blade at his waist, but before he could steady himself and charge, the armored man spun abruptly.

With a single bound the mountain‑city figure vanished from sight.

Fled?!

Lin Yu’s heart hammered wildly.

Had it not been for the scout’s collision just now, that bullet might have pierced his skull!

Even so, the opponent still held the upper hand.

Why didn’t he keep firing? Why did he turn and run??

Lin Yu sprinted toward the direction where the mountain‑city man disappeared, and when his gaze slipped over the railing downwards, he was stunned to see that the lamp‑lit street below was teeming with more than one fleeing mountain‑city dweller.

They truly were scattering.

What on earth was happening?

Lin Yu was momentarily bewildered, but the scout behind him suddenly shouted:

“Air‑raid alarm!”

“This damn air‑raid alarm!”

“I’ve heard this sound before!”

“Hand‑cranked! The thing I found in the Tongcheng ruins!”

“Something’s up in the sky!”

“It’s the Huaxia army! The Huaxia army is coming!”

When the words fell, Lin Yu’s eyes widened in sudden comprehension.

Then a massive wave of terror surged through his chest.

The Huaxia army had arrived— but for what purpose?

There was only one answer.

Deploy a nuclear bomb.

They had learned from us that a nuke could cripple the mountain city; for any commander, the optimal strategy was obvious.

Without doubt.

Of course, it was to repeat the very thing they’d already done!

“Run!”

“Run!”

Lin Yu shouted almost madly.

“Down! Find a subterranean shelter and hide!”

“The nuke is coming! We must dodge it before worrying about anything else!”

“Understood!”

The scout, grasping the gravity of the situation, seized Lin Yu as he tried to leap down to the street, then said:

“Stay inside the building!”

“We’ll keep going down; the lower floor of this structure has space!”

“At least it’s safer than the street!”

“Got it!”

Now Lin Yu steadied himself; the two descended, and after pushing open a door emblazoned with the inscrutable four characters “People’s Defense Project,” they entered the building’s underground level.

It was still empty as a tomb.

Yet in that instant he felt a rare sense of security.

“When will the nuke arrive?” the scout asked.

“I don’t know.”

Lin Yu shook his head.

“Maybe it won’t come, maybe it will.”

“After all, they’ve used a nuclear strike once already; the locals should have some defenses now.”

“The same tactic can’t be used twice on the mountain‑city folk—that’s what the Huaxia army said.”

“We’ll wait a while; those mountain‑city people have already retreated.”

“Even without a nuke, we could—”

“Boom—”

His sentence was cut off by a huge, though oddly muffled, explosion that roared out.

A faint tremor followed.

Lin Yu stared, mouth agape.

Such an explosion could only be a nuclear blast.

But it seemed the detonation was far away??

Outside the city??

Would that even matter?

Useful or not, they had to go out and see!

“Move!”

Lin Yu hauled the scout, and the two raced up the stairs.

A searing wind slammed into them, yet Lin Yu could not see the signature mushroom cloud that a nuclear blast should produce.

It truly was distant.

Had the attack failed?

Lin Yu’s brows knit in concern, and at that moment—

A flash of light blossomed on the horizon.

Bow your head!

Lin Yu suddenly came to his senses.

Return underground! The assault is not over!

What on earth is happening??

The scout, close behind Lin Yu, asked anxiously:

What are the Huaxia troops doing??

Breathing hard, Lin Yu finally managed to slip back underground before he spoke:

Advance—they are advancing!

They're carving a path with nuclear bombs, from afar inward!

I have no idea why they would do this!

But the second blast we heard could never be the last nuclear bomb!

And yet!

As the words faded, the third explosion roared.

Boom—

This time, the tremor was profoundly intense.

The blast point drew ever nearer!

It's upon us!

Prepare yourselves!

Lin Yu shouted into the scout's ear.

In the next instant.

Boom—

The cataclysmic explosion seemed to echo right beside their ears.

(End of Chapter)