Chapter 85: Two Suns

Chapter 85: Two Suns

Dawn.

At 5:31 a.m., the ‘Express’ was dropped into the river.

The IFF module’s green light flickered, the positioning system activated, the electro‑launch device was unlocked, and the deployment team began to withdraw.

They had to be at least five kilometers from the blast epicenter within twenty minutes, so nobody—not even Lei Jie—dared to pause for a step.

At 5:32 a.m., all combatants in Huangshi City had mustered and taken shelter in the anti‑artillery bunkers.

The sky remained pitch‑black; the sun had not yet risen.

At 5:35 a.m., the full‑scale offensive from Yuqingzhou officially commenced.

Large numbers of the Protectorate forces began to gather, while the vanguard—Holy Blooded warriors and Protectorate troops—started to converge on Huangshi City.

After an hour’s lull, the bombardment resumed; in the directions of Xianning and Yuqingzhou, masses of laborers were driven forward to clear the roads, attempting to forge a swift corridor for the main force behind them.

Chen Jian set up the PBP201 mortar, aiming it at the Machine God Sect’s forward encampment in the direction of Xianning.

When the Protectorate troops there began to assemble, he drew a deep breath and gave the order:

“Fire!”

In an instant, a steady stream of mortar shells slammed into the forward camp.

The whine of the mortar shells tore through the gloomy sky, and moments later they fell like hail, striking the ground in bursts of violent sparks.

Hundreds of Protectorate soldiers were blown apart and fled in panic, unable to comprehend how, after being untouchable moments before, the shells had suddenly found their heads.

Casualties exceeded a hundred in an instant; when the first barrage ended, the Machine God Sect’s deployment toward Xianning was thrown into disarray.

——

But their advance did not cease.

Large‑bore smoothbore guns kept lobbing shells, an unprecedented dense rain of fire falling toward Huangshi City.

Smoke began to thicken once more; the final battle before the great war had begun.

“Hold the line!”

Chen Jian bellowed the command.

He knew this was the most crucial fight.

The enemy would surely launch a pre‑war assault, aiming to buy time for the main force’s movement.

All the attackers now rushing forward were cannon fodder, yet if our side were held up too long by them, the enemy could easily carve a passage, allowing the rear main force to enter the combat zone unimpeded!

The final gambit would be decided here and now!

There was no more ammunition conservation, no need to worry about casualties.

Stop them and we win; fail to stop them and we lose!

“All‑out fire! Ample ammo!”

“We only need to hold for twenty‑five minutes!”

Chen Jian operated the QLZ‑24 automatic grenade launcher, its shells continually pounding the Holy Blooded vanguard along the lakeshore.

The fragmentation grenades detonated in the soft mud, throwing up spray and shrapnel.

The clever Protectorate troops seemed to have figured out Huangshi City’s firepower and tactics; they no longer swarmed in a mass but spread out, stretching the line as far as possible, using their bodies to expend the city’s ammunition even if their weapons could inflict little effective harm.

Along a lakeshore stretching several kilometers, scattered dozens—perhaps hundreds—of vanguard troops stood; Chen Jian knew that many of them were surely residents who had fled Huangshi City.

But he had no choice; he could only fire.

Not only him, but everyone else was the same.

Machine God Sect miners kept surfacing from the lake water, and under their cover, Holy Blooded fighters often erupted from some corner.

Chen Jian had already deployed his exoskeleton frame; his sole aim was to intercept as many Holy Blooded combatants as possible who drew near.

The enemy had exhausted all its tricks; even the blood‑skull water ghosts that had been repulsed before surfaced again.

Faced with the thick‑set horde, Chen Jian felt for the first time that their firepower was beginning to strain.

Nevertheless, he still had to divert long‑range heavy fire to greet the Machine God Sect laborers clearing the road for the main force!

This was a hard‑fought battle.

Chen Jian’s tactical sight displayed the device’s position and estimated arrival time.

Five minutes counted down.

He swapped the magazine on his 201 trigger, then issued the order again:

“Hesuo Shenye! Final barrage!”

“Delay the enemy laborers’ advance as much as possible! They’re pushing too fast!”

“Understood!”

The two replied in unison, and immediately the two mortars fired their final twelve shells.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

The explosion sounded in the distance; through the drone’s view, Chen Jian clearly saw the chaotic labor crew.

But moments later, those laborers were driven back by the Protectorate troops onto the unfinished road, pressing forward through the lingering smoke.

The artillery roared; Chen Jian swung the drone toward Yuqingzhou, and then he suddenly noticed two plumes of white smoke bursting from the flagship.

“Take cover! Take cover!”

Chen Jian shouted loudly; the next second, a shell screamed in.

“Boom!”

After the massive blast came a deafening ringing.

Shrapnel swept a sixty‑meter radius, and two city defense troops standing near the impact point were instantly slammed to the ground by the shockwave. Thanks to the pre‑built anti‑artillery shelters, they were not torn apart outright.

But they could not rise again.

Their internal organs had already ruptured; even in their dying moments they could not utter a groan.

Everyone was stunned to the core by this earth‑shattering blow; at that moment, in the eyes of Huangshi City’s defenders, the Machine God Sect’s elite guard had become truly

an invincible target!

Chen Jian rushed the bunker, tackling a city defense soldier who stood dazed outside.

The next second, a 152 mm high‑explosive shell detonated less than a hundred meters behind him.

“Boom!”

Dust billowed; Chen Jian rose to his feet and gazed toward the distant Yuqingzhou.

Damn it.

Direct aim, and they hit that precisely?!

Four kilometers away, you point and you strike?!

That thought flashed through his mind, and immediately a shell plunged into the lake.

After the muffled blast, several miners hidden in the water surfaced, finally giving Chen Jian a modicum of comfort.

I thought you had really opened fire.

He kept running between cover after cover, pressing each stunned city‑defense soldier, temporarily bereft of thought, to the ground one by one.

"Elbows on the ground! Don't let your body touch the earth!"

"Never get up! And don't look up!"

"Hold on, it'll be over soon!"

It'll be over soon?

No one knew what he meant by that.

They only felt that they were about to die.

Shells kept falling, and under the overwhelming suppressive fire, Huangshi City's defenses began to crumble.

Numerous shield‑teaching army vanguards climbed onto the lakeshore, and only a handful of a dozen or so could still muster a counter‑attack.

This wave we could still hold.

But what about the next wave? Waiting for their main force to arrive?

Chen Jian swept his gaze once more toward the tactical sight.

Countdown: two minutes.

The courier is about to enter the delivery range.

Through the drone's streaming aerial view, Chen Jian saw the tiny device drifting on the river.

The IFF signal was caught by the smart goggles, and the PDA automatically calculated it as a comrade charging toward the enemy horde.

This was the final moment.

He sprinted quickly into the Machine God Church, stripping off all his electronic gear and stuffing it wholesale into the shielding box.

He Shuo and Shen Yue followed close behind.

Countdown: one minute.

Chen Jian drew a deep breath and, voice hoarse, issued the order.

"Everyone, get down!"

"Do not counter‑attack! Do not look up!"

"Victory is right before our eyes!"

"Drone, withdraw and land!"

"Lei Jing! Detonate in forty‑five seconds!"

Shells roared, the drone surged into the church.

Chen Jian slammed the shielding box shut, then snatched a thick‑foil cover and laid it over.

The next second.

After a soft, delicate pop, silence fell over heaven and earth.

Not far off, on the river of Yuqing Prefecture, a searing fireball rapidly expanded.

Intense light radiation tore through the darkness, bathing all of Huangshi City in daylight.

Farther away, a crimson sunrise rose from the horizon.

At that moment, two newborn suns simultaneously emitted a blinding flash.

And after the flash.

The apocalyptic power swept everything away with unstoppable force.

The sun of the old age has risen in the new era.

And its million‑degree heat will incinerate all chaos and evil.

Upon the scorched earth, many things shall be reborn!

(End of Chapter)