Chapter 353: Take Over

Chapter 353 – Seizure

Mountain City, ground level.

The final onslaught is about to begin.

Two bombers have already begun circling high above; once the attack order is given they will instantly lock onto the surrounding Tier‑One monsters and drop three nuclear warheads of varying yields, attempting to crush the beasts with the raw force of a nuclear blast.

Such an assault may not succeed, for the detonators have been set with an exceptionally long delay to safeguard the bombers, granting the monsters an equally prolonged window to react.

Yet even so, the shockwave from the explosion will be sufficient to clear the mist shrouding Mountain City, granting the laser emitters a pristine battlefield.

This is the tactical adjustment Chen Jian made after confirming that the interior of Mountain City no longer possessed enough retaliatory strength.

Now, aside from the Tier‑One monsters, the only threat to the Huaxia forces is the underground autonomous combat equipment of Mountain City, which is wholly vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses.

The Huaxia army needs no elaborate countermeasures; as long as, within the one‑hour window when the strike commences, a blanket EMP can disable the city’s autonomous units, then once the expeditionary force slips through the opened passage into the city, the outcome of the battle will be decided.

Chen Jian clenched his explosive rifle, eyes fixed on the countdown flashing on the screen.

All operational orders have been issued; in two minutes and thirty seconds, communications between the various combat units will be severed.

This is a necessary measure to prevent Mountain City from jamming, or even hijacking the channels to transmit false information.

Of course, at the same time this will temporarily plunge the Huaxia forces into a state without unified command.

The risk is real.

Yet Chen Jian believes that, with a sufficiently strong frontline command, these battle‑hardened soldiers can endure it.

“Two‑minute countdown!”

Chen Jian shouted the command.

The anti‑EMP shield surrounding the laser array was lowered, and the bombers began to climb.

The outer expeditionary troops stood ready to strike; once the nuclear warheads detonate, they will rush forward into artillery range, employing their two 152‑mm towed howitzers to deliver pinpoint fire on the Tier‑One monsters near Mountain City from fifteen kilometres away.

Simultaneously, the mechanist cult’s guardian troops, hastened from Anhan, gathered anxiously.

Most of them had never faced a true “giant monster”; their most commendable feat was having felled one or two blood‑skulls with a single‑shot rifle in a skirmish.

They were the weakest contingent among all the forces, and also the most terrified.

Yet, commendably, none of them turned their backs.

Perhaps they fully grasped the significance of this battle?

Or perhaps the very name “Mountain City” held an allure too great to resist?

Li Xian, the officer coordinating this unit, cared little for such sentiment.

In his eyes, these guardian troops were merely “auxiliaries” to fill the front line and sweep the battlefield.

The true combat would unfold within the city itself.

It would be a clash between the handful of Huaxia soldiers and the entirety of Mountain City.

“One‑minute‑thirty‑second countdown!”

Chen Jian issued the order again.

The laser array had completed its warm‑up, its barrel aimed at the unresponsive monster five kilometres away.

The bombers had risen to six thousand metres, forming a loose, staggered formation for intermittent attacks.

As the first warhead was released, the other two bombers used the terrain for cover, evading the initial EMP shock.

Immediately thereafter, the two bombers each dropped another warhead, sounding the trumpet of the offensive.

Beside Chen Jian, Guo Xu’s grip on his weapon grew slick with sweat.

His eyes were glued to the massive, terrifying, awe‑inspiring silhouette on the horizon, a vision that felt almost unreal.

Was his mission truly to hunt down such a beast?

In the past, he might have felt a blasphemous urge to “slay a god.”

Yet now, an inexplicable exhilaration surged within him.

He turned his gaze back to Mountain City; the silent metropolis pressed upon him with an even greater weight.

But that pressure, in a fleeting instant, transmuted into another feeling.

Defiance.

“Why?”

“Why do you possess a city like this, while we have none?”

“Why need you not endure the terror of monster threats, and can even command the monsters?”

“Why can you so effortlessly forge those ‘near‑human’ creations to challenge the Sacred Trinity’s divine authority?”

Shatter it!

Shatter everything!

Guo Mu clenched his teeth and rolled his shoulders gently.

Before him stretched a straight street; should any of Mountain City’s “robots” charge down it after the battle erupts, he would block them all!

“One‑minute countdown!”

Chen Jian announced the time again, issuing the command:

“Bomber One, commence release!”

“Copy that, commencing release!”

In the sky, a nuclear warhead tethered to a parachute drifted down slowly.

It was merely a low‑yield tactical nuke designed to execute an EMP suppression; the drop distance was modest.

Everyone could see a faint, wavering white plume.

As that white speck fell ever lower, the pulse of each heart in the ranks quickened in tandem.

“Communications will be cut in thirty seconds.”

“Prepare for impact mitigation, we—”

“Stab—wait!”

A massive roar erupted from Chen Jian’s headset.

Then, a familiar voice rang out.

“Lord Chen Jian! It is Lin Yu!”

“I am still alive! Living in another way!”

“You must cease the assault on Mountain City! Or at least pause it!”

“I have a great deal of intelligence to share with you! It is vital!”

“I speak now on behalf of the citizens of Mountain City! You need not go to the very end!”

Lin Yu!?

Chen Jian's gaze shifted in an instant.

He's still alive?

How did he survive??

Why is he mingling with those mountain‑city folk?

His stance seems to have changed. So what exactly has he been through?

After a brief silence, Chen Jian asked:

"Did they threaten you?"

"No! I didn't!"

Lin Yu's tone was hurried.

"I have seen the outcome; they are right—at least in certain respects!"

"They, too, act to save humanity, to ensure the survival of their own kind!"

"You merely chose a different path, and the question of right or wrong remains unresolved!"

"You ought to sit down and talk; you can see more clearly than I can!"

Talk, you say?

Chen Jian realized that those mountain‑city people must have used some special means to sway Lin Yu.

And the reason they chose Lin Yu as their envoy was likely because a persuaded 'peer' carries greater influence.

With that in mind, Chen Jian said resolutely:

"I refuse to communicate with you."

"Moreover, it is already too late."

"The battle plan cannot be recalled."

Before he could finish, Lin Yu interrupted again.

"Entropy! All calamities stem from the increase of entropy!"

The words hung in the air, and Chen Jian's movements froze for a heartbeat.

But immediately after, he continued:

"Cut the communications in ten seconds."

"It's too late."

"If you wish to negotiate, do so after disarmament!"

Mountain city, underground.

A massive tremor caused the scene before Lin Yu's eyes to flicker faintly.

Some images blurred, and Lin Xi's face shattered and reassembled in an instant.

"The nuclear warhead has descended," Lin Xi said:

"One low‑yield tactical nuke, two high‑yield warheads."

"They show no restraint, no intention whatsoever of negotiating with us."

"I cannot fathom why they would resort to such extremes, when we clearly—"

"Why don't you understand?"

Lin Yu's eyes held a clear hint of sarcasm.

"When you attempted to unleash the beast tide to annihilate them, did you ever consider that one day you might find yourselves in a similar predicament?"

"Or put it another way, if the ones nearly driven to the brink were you, would you still hold back when confronting former foes?"

The words faded, and Lin Xi slowly shook his head.

"It's different."

"Our discord stems solely from asymmetric information."

"They do not grasp our intentions; we do not comprehend their capabilities."

"Had we known earlier that they were a force that had fully assimilated pre‑cataclysm knowledge, we would never have resorted to such extreme measures."

"As you said, we should have opened negotiations with them from the outset."

"But now it is too late."

"The antagonism between us has escalated to an irreconcilable level."

"I believed that persuading you would persuade them, yet reality proved otherwise"

Lin Yu spread his hands.

"I have long said they are unlike me."

"They differ from any faction that roams the wasteland."

"They are, as you called them, 'extraterrestrial visitors'—perhaps they do not belong to this world at all."

Lin Xi's form flickered incessantly, vanishing for several seconds.

Lin Yu at one point thought he had 'perished', or rather, been obliterated by the Huaxia forces.

Yet moments later, Lin Xi reappeared.

"The radiation from the nuclear blast destroyed 4.7% of our computing power— I had to reallocate resources within the mountain city."

"Fortunately, our core processing unit lies deep enough to withstand the full brunt of the radiation."

"We can no longer mount an effective counter‑offensive in the short term."

"And yet, for now they cannot breach the true underground bastion."

"We still have time."

"Still time?"

Lin Yu chuckled.

"You have time, but you have no longer any chance."

"What lies ahead for you is merely a slow, lingering death."

"That may not be so."

Lin Xi slowly shook his head.

He gestured lightly, and a sweeping aerial view materialized before Lin Yu.

"Behold, this is the battlefield as it stands now."

"Those Huaxia troops indeed possess formidable combat prowess."

"Yet before those monsters, their strength remains limited."

"See, they have already slain a monster—that which you call a 'Level‑One creature'."

"But what's next?"

"There are still four of those monsters."

"Nuclear bombs cannot inflict effective damage on these creatures; their speed outpaces the fall of a bomb."

"Unless the Huaxia troops go mad enough to drop a nuclear warhead onto their own heads."

"But how is that any different from suicide?"

"Perhaps in the end they will indeed manage to cleanse these hard-won monsters from the guard."

"Yet they will also bury here all the hard‑earned power they have amassed."

"They must withdraw from the mountain city, and when they return, the opposition will be a different us."

With those words spoken, Lin Yu fell into a long silence.

From the satellite images Lin Xi displayed, the situation was indeed grim for the Huaxia forces.

After eliminating one level‑one monster, the remaining beasts ignored the “No entry into the mountain city” protocol and launched an all‑out assault.

In the face of the monsters' onslaught, the Huaxia troops were virtually powerless.

Their numbers were few, their equipment feeble.

Even though they could wound the monsters from a distance, it was nowhere near enough to disable those terrifying beings within the limited time.

The situation teetered on the brink; the Huaxia forces inside the city had retreated to its very heart.

The larger contingent that had planned to strike from the outskirts shattered completely after withstanding two waves of level‑one monster attacks.

In the grueling battle, a low‑flying bomber, aided by distant artillery fire, slew another level‑one monster.

But moments later, the aircraft was struck by a fungal swarm shot up from the ground, spiraling down to crash.

Deprived of their strongest support, the Huaxia offensive—already daring—seemed to have announced its defeat in advance.

Lin Yu shut his eyes, unwilling to watch any longer.

He waved his hand and said:

"Don't look any further."

"The sacrifice of warriors should not become a trophy— even if they are your enemies."

"Indeed."

Lin Xi nodded slowly.

"Even if they are our enemies, they remain worthy opponents."

"They merely took the wrong path; we are forced by circumstance."

"We cannot bear any risk; we must choose the most cautious, safest course to ensure our survival."

"So, do not blame us."

"We never intended to come to this point."

"But once their actions struck at our foundations and caused tangible computational losses, we could no longer sit idle awaiting death."

"I understand."

Lin Yu raised his hand, cutting Lin Xi off.

"You are the victors; victors need not offer lengthy explanations."

"Indeed."

Lin Xi fell silent.

After a long pause, he spoke again:

"So, let it end here."

"You have entered the true mountain city; perhaps it is time for you to truly adapt to life here."

"Then let me…"

In an instant, Lin Xi's figure froze, stuck in place.

Lin Yu, puzzled, glanced around.

"What's wrong?"

"Lin Xi, are you still there?"

His tone carried a hint of urgency.

And the next second, a voice rang out.

"I am Fuxi."

"I have taken control of this sector."

"Comrade Lin Yu, prepare for hibernation."

(End of Chapter)