Thunder Warrior Saves the World

Page 24

As the scouts had previously reported, this was a different kind of tower structure. The outermost layer was wrapped in sparse, elongated metal sheets resembling heat sink fins. These sheets had a texture similar to PCB circuit traces, and the metal had a matte finish, giving it a silvery-blue hue. Encased within these sheets was an amber-colored yellow crystal. Every so often, a stream of light would emerge from the bottom of the crystal, rise to the top, and then disappear into the mechanical structure at the top. At the very top of this metal tower were metal strips resembling signal antennas; it was the presence of these thin metal strips that led the scouts to conclude that "this is a signal tower."

"I didn't see anything that looked like a control panel, nor did I see any external cables or anything. Could it be that the Belken people are using a remote control?" Valerio wondered.

"Perhaps, I mean, is it possible that this thing is uncontrollable by the Belken people, and will operate automatically once assembled?" the deputy company commander boldly speculated.

"They designed and manufactured it themselves, and they can't control it? That's a bit far-fetched." Valerio didn't quite agree with this guess.

“Look at the material of these metals, and this crystal,” the deputy platoon leader tapped the metal fins of the signal jamming tower. He took out his bayonet and, before Valerio could stop him, used the tip of the blade to make a cut on the fin. The sharp bayonet couldn’t even leave a scratch on the metal. “This doesn’t seem like something the current Belken people could do.”

"You're fucking incredibly audacious." Valerio glared at the reckless deputy company commander and shoved his hand down from his bayonet. But what he had just witnessed had already made him somewhat believe the deputy company commander's guess. "Alright, once the first platoon's search results are out, we'll immediately report our findings to command."

Five minutes later, Lu Wu, who was drinking coffee in the Svorbella command post, received a communication from the front lines. When he heard Valerio's report, he almost couldn't hold back and nearly spat out his coffee.

"What did you just say? You took down three Gilahani warriors???" Lu Wu's voice even showed a hint of distortion. Fortunately, Rosetta wasn't in the command post at the moment, so no outsiders witnessed this outburst. "What were your losses? How did those damned monkeys get here..."

Lu Wu's heart clenched. In his understanding, the Gilahani, also known as the Ghost-Faced Beasts, were a fictional alien race that only existed in the game *Halo*. They resembled gorillas, but were far more powerful and physically stronger. The Gilahani were bloodthirsty and brutal, natural-born berserkers. In 2560 AD, human infantry still lost more often than they won against these Gilahani warriors. The overall military level of the Amelia Volunteer Army was at best comparable to that of 1980. If a large-scale Gilahani invasion were to occur, the entire continent of Ens would likely be doomed.

"Uh, no casualties..." Valerio was startled by the Fourth Commander's reaction. He subconsciously glanced at the corpses of the Gilahani warriors on the ground, then noticed that the jaws of these three Gilahani warriors did indeed seem to protrude a bit. How did the commander know that...?

In his memory, the armor worn by the Gilahani warriors could even withstand 7.62*51mm armor-piercing rounds fired from the MA5C assault rifle. How did that kid Valerio manage to do that? Hearing this, Lu Wu was even more surprised.

……

I was out shooting all day today, so tired.

Tickets at the top of the hour?

Volume 1: Chapter 134 (Chapter 120) It was a blunder, but not a complete one.

"How did you manage that? In my memory, the armor worn by the Gilahani warriors could withstand 7.62x51mm armor-piercing rounds," Lu Wu asked. If they were indeed facing a large-scale Gilahani invasion, they would have to consider how to fight these gorillas with their current equipment. Knowing the Gilahani's nature, they held humans in utter contempt, considering them a weak and worthless race with no redeeming qualities. If they lost this war, the entire human race on the Ens continent might face a bloody end.

Therefore, Lu Wu must prepare early, learn from the experience of each battle with the Jilahani people, and continuously optimize his tactics. Only through such slow accumulation of experience can he possibly have a chance to turn defeat into victory.

“So, our snipers sent them to meet Kennedy with T-5000 sniper rifles?” Valerio was a little confused as to why the commander was reacting so strongly. He kicked a corpse on the ground. “I don’t think their armor could stop our 5.45 bullets…”

What's going on? Lu Wu was even more confused. Then he suddenly realized that he seemed to have fallen into a cognitive trap—Valerio said they had killed several Gilahani warriors, but these might not be the kind of Gilahani warriors he imagined. Perhaps it was a name for some kind of brave and skilled warrior in the Belken Empire, just like the Cossack cavalry in Russia.

So he asked, "Was the Gilahani warrior you killed a human or some kind of humanoid ape-like intelligent being?"

"...Although these Gilahani warriors all have somewhat protruding jaws, judging from their appearance alone, yes, Commander, they are also human." Valerio's voice came back after about half a minute, presumably after he went to check the corpses.

This answer relieved Lu Wu. It seemed it was just a coincidence of names, like how the Ens Continent wasn't SR Star, yet it had both Belken and Elgia on it—probably just a coincidence. After all, the idea of ​​a T-72 and the Ghost going head-to-head was something even BWD wouldn't dare imagine. "Let's put the Gilahani warriors aside for now and get back to the main point. You should have found the source of the interference by now, right?"

“Yes, Commander. The source of the interference is a tower-like object about five meters tall, which doesn't seem like something the Belken could have created.” These words weighed heavily on Lu Wu's mind once more. Valerio's description of the object's characteristics only heightened his vigilance: indestructible metallic properties, a texture resembling electrical wiring, a silver-blue appearance, a mysterious power source… Damn it, the more this sounded, the more it seemed like something the Forerunners had created. This was a civilization far more advanced than the Gilahani civilization. If there was a sliver of hope against a Gilahani invasion, then facing the Forerunner civilization was certain death. After all, they were a super interstellar civilization capable of creating planets with their bare hands and inventing superweapons like the “Halo,” capable of destroying all organic life within a 2.5-light-year radius.

Ai Yu #№5 Sad〕◆镏liu¨〈san≡】偲月ｑuN: The gap between the Melia Volunteers and the Pioneers was even greater than the gap between them and the Belken people. Lu Wu even doubted whether their resistance would even earn them a second glance from these Pioneers.

No, perhaps the situation isn't that bad. If the Forerunners truly wanted to target the humans on Enth, they would be facing their armed forces, not these Belken. Could it be that this planet contains Forerunner ruins, and these signal jamming towers are part of the Belken's research into those ruins? If that's the case, then the Belken's motives for starting this war are probably not just as simple as diverting domestic conflicts.

"Protect the scene at all costs. I'm going there." Without seeing the scene firsthand, it's impossible to understand the current situation. Lu Wu simply had Yelena prepare a helicopter, intending to go to the scene himself. There are some things he needs to confirm personally.

With a single command from above, the troops below were running themselves ragged. The guard immediately requisitioned several Hind attack helicopters from the air assault company, and the entire base was placed on high alert. All pilots assembled in the briefing room, and rows of BMP infantry fighting vehicles, filled with fully armed little green men, began to assemble on the outskirts of Svobrella, following the torrent of T-72s. Behind them was a long-range artillery force composed of SU-122Ms and BM-13s. This contingent of nearly a hundred vehicles formed a long line on the road leading to Fabandi, ready to be deployed immediately should the situation escalate to the point where a strong ground force was needed.

Such a large-scale operation naturally didn't escape the notice of the Elgins within the base, and even King Rosetta was alerted. The 44th Division in Svorbella was completely bewildered—"What big news are you trying to create by suddenly assembling such a large force on our territory? If you want to rush to Fabandi's aid, at least let us brothers know! We can't expect all you outsiders to go to the king's aid while we locals stand by and watch." The 44th Division commander muttered to himself as he tried to contact Lu Wu and the King, but by then Lu Wu was already on a helicopter.

9 After more than forty minutes of flight, the doe finally delivered Lu Wu to his destination.

Before even disembarking from the plane, Lu Wu had already spotted the signal jamming tower, its style utterly incongruous with the Belken people. Just as Valerio had described on the radio, at first glance, he was almost suffocated by the metallic shell, so reminiscent of Forerunner creations. But then he noticed something amiss. In his memory, Forerunner creations were almost exclusively silver and blue; he'd never seen anything like it before, using a golden, transparent crystal as an energy core. As for why Lu Wu was so certain this crystal was the energy core, it could only be said that it was a conclusion drawn from his past exposure to artistic works…

Upon closer inspection, he discovered more discrepancies between these and the Forerunner's creations. Near the inner side of the crystal, these signal jamming towers contained hieroglyphic characters, not the Forerunner's hieroglyphics or two-dimensional characters, but a more primitive and less efficient language. Unfortunately, Lu Wu wasn't some blue little man; he couldn't glean much useful information from these fragmented expressions.

……

Another day of shooting outdoors, so damn tiring.

Volume 1: Chapter 135 (Telecommunications Fraud)

Although it was decided to bring this thing back to the base, Lu Wu actually doubted that he would have sufficient resources to conduct relevant research even if he brought it back.

No way, this isn't something a technician like "Scarp King" could figure out. He might be good at military equipment, but when it comes to serious research, he'd be completely lost. To crack the technology in a short time, he'd need at least a genius scientist like Dr. Halsey. Furthermore, he'd need a lot of advanced research equipment to support the research. But as everyone knows, they're an armed military force; what combat unit would casually set up a research institute for itself? It's possible they'll have to do joint research with the Elgins.

He felt it would be a huge loss to give away the things he had painstakingly borrowed from the Belken to the Elgins for free, since no one could guarantee that the research results wouldn't fall into enemy hands like they had before with the arms sales. But if he didn't share them with the Elgins, the materials would just rot in his hands, completely useless. After all, he couldn't very well just steal the Elgin researchers from him, could he?

"Wait a minute, I can't steal from the Ergia researchers, but can't I borrow from Belken?" Lu Wu's eyes lit up. Those prisoners had just said that this thing was assembled by several experts. Although they'd left, Lu Wu could try to call them back! He'd stop the device first, then report to the Belken that the crystal in the center of the interference tower had suddenly lost its light. He didn't believe the Belken would be indifferent. Then, they could disguise themselves as his own people and wait here until all the expert team's guards were wiped out, at which point they could persuade the Belken experts to abandon their evil ways and join the fight.

Those who are academically accomplished are certainly reasonable people. When the time comes, the Amelia Volunteer Army will reason with them and appeal to their emotions, and they will surely be able to make these experts realize that what they are doing now is aiding and abetting evil, and thus persuade them to devote themselves to the cause of justice.

So he summoned Valerio and gave him new instructions.

"But, sir, how are we supposed to dismantle this thing?" Valerio asked after expressing his determination to carry out the mission.

"Just try whatever ideas you have. Be bold and don't feel guilty. It doesn't matter if you break them. The Belkens have set up a lot of signal jamming towers in this area. We have plenty of opportunities to try and fail." Lu Wu seemed very generous and not worried at all that these roughnecks might damage these things.

"Understood, sir." Now that he understood what the second-in-command meant, Valerio had no more questions and ran off to assign tasks. Meanwhile, Lu Wu went to the corpses of the Gilahani warriors who had caused the misunderstanding and carefully examined these Belken elites who shared the same name as the Ghost Beast.

The helmets of these Gilahani warriors had been removed, allowing Lu Wu to clearly see their sickly pale faces, excessively sunken eye sockets, and slightly protruding jaws. If only one person exhibited these features, Lu Wu might have suspected it was due to lifestyle habits or some kind of illness. But since three people were like this, he began to shift his suspicions from the individual to the group. Sure enough, after attempting to peel some of the soft armor off the corpses, he discovered numerous regular, dense scars on this Gilahani warrior's body.

“Send these three bodies back to the base as well.” The scars reminded him of the technology of “human modification,” and as a precaution, he planned to keep the three bodies safe for future research.

Besides these noteworthy features, the weapons carried by these Gilahani warriors also caught Lu Wu's attention. The caliber of the long gun appeared to be over .50, and it used a revolver-like rotating cylinder for feeding, so it was likely a semi-automatic rifle.

So he picked up the strange spear.

The gun's weight far exceeded his expectations; its heavy weight told him it must weigh at least fifteen pounds. Good heavens, are these Gilahani warriors all born with superhuman strength? Didn't the designer consider issuing this gun to ordinary troops?

Opening the magazine, he found it still full with seven rounds. The rimmed cartridge design allowed him to pull one out for closer inspection. This new rifle cartridge was longer than a standard .50 caliber machine gun cartridge. After notifying Valerio to avoid any misunderstandings, Lu Wu picked up the powerful new rifle, confirmed there were no friendly forces within his field of fire, and fired a shot into the open. Although he was prepared for considerable recoil, the actual recoil was greater than he had anticipated, causing his upper body to lurch backward. Lu Wu adjusted his posture and quickly pulled the trigger, emptying the magazine completely.

"Bad news, this thing is much more powerful than a .50 caliber rifle. It shouldn't have much trouble penetrating our BMP and 6B45 armor plates. Whether it can penetrate our water-cooled armor needs further testing." Lu Wu handed the rifle to Yelena, who was watching the show from the side, and shook his right hand, arriving at a not-so-happy conclusion.

"What about the good news?"

“The good news is that even if the Type 9 can be mass-produced, it will be difficult for it to be widely deployed to front-line troops.” Lu Wu shook his head, clearly not optimistic about the future of this rifle. “Whether it’s too heavy or too much recoil, either one makes it impossible for it to replace the current Belken standard rifle. I think they probably only produced a small batch to provide for these Gilahani warriors.”

"In any case, we'll probably need to be more cautious in our future operations," Yelena concluded. "The BMP should also be given some additional protection."

“Indeed. The BMP’s sides are only 15mm thick, which is really worrying. Let Mead put some additional armor on them. We can’t afford to lose either personnel or equipment,” Lu Wu agreed.

Just as the two finalized the BMP's upgrade requirements, a slight explosion was heard behind them. They instinctively turned their heads and saw, accompanied by a crackling sound like electric sparks, the signal jamming tower that had been standing there collapsed and crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

Damn it, did these bastards just plant explosives on the base and blow up the jamming station? Seeing the crater on the ground, clearly left by the explosion, Lu Wu's lips twitched.

Volume 1: Chapter 136 (Chapter 122) You've been tricked.

With this major action, the flowing light emanating from the yellow crystal inside the signal jamming tower seemed to be disturbed, exhibiting disordered phenomena. Finally, the crystal flickered a few times before going out completely.

Lu Wu watched the scene with bated breath, only relaxing after confirming that the flickering end wasn't art. He glared at Valerio beside him. Although he had just said they could experiment boldly, that didn't mean they could act recklessly. After all, the crystal acting as the energy core must contain a considerable amount of energy to maintain such a range of signal interference. If that energy were released uncontrollably, the people here would definitely be in deep trouble. Valerio would certainly be facing a severe reprimand upon returning.

"The interference here has indeed disappeared." The radio operator tuned the equipment back to the frequency that had been jammed, and the interference had vanished, leaving only a silent background noise.

"Excellent. Enter the Belken's channel and send them a phishing text message." As the unit guarding the jamming tower, they naturally carried radio codebooks and other such equipment to communicate with command. The reconnaissance company acted too quickly, giving the radio operators no chance to destroy crucial secrets, allowing the radios and codebooks to fall intact into the hands of the Amelia Volunteer Army. So far, this unexpected windfall might be the most useful aspect of the salient operation.

Although the phishing text message had been compiled according to the Belken people's encryption method before the brute-force attack was carried out, and could have been sent out immediately using the Belken people's radio, the telegram "Equipment malfunction, interference interrupted, please give instructions" was delayed for a few minutes after Lu Wu's reminder.

"Now we'll see if the Belkens will take the bait." Everyone crowded around the radio operator's hand, intently watching the status lights on the radio.

They waited for less than ten minutes when the radio operator, wearing headphones, suddenly stopped twirling his pen and left an array of dots and strokes on the pristine white paper.

"They're here!" Everyone's spirits lifted. As soon as the radio operator put down his pen, Valerio snatched the paper, transcribed the dots and lines into text, and then decoded it using the codebook. After finding the meaning of the last word, he breathed a sigh of relief and announced, "Belken has taken the bait."

"What did they say?"

"He told us to protect the equipment and stay vigilant until the expert team arrived. He also required us to report the equipment malfunction beforehand." Valerio converted the dot-matrix diagram into plain text and handed it to Lu Wu. The content was identical to what he had said, so he only glanced at it before passing it on to the others.

“Very good, prepare for battle. Their expert team will definitely have a lot of guards, and there will certainly be these Gilahani warriors among them.” Lu Wu paused for a moment. “As for their demands, ignore them. If they rush you, just say you're preparing.”

“Understood, Commander.” The radio operator nodded.

"Also, send the air assault company over here; they might be deployed. The air force should also prepare for ground attacks, carrying heavier bombs. We can't rule out the possibility that the Belken have figured us out," Lu Wu added.

“Sir, but their reaction doesn’t seem like they’ve figured it out,” Valerio asked.

“We don’t know the correct procedure for reporting anomalies to command here. Our actions just now may have exposed our identities. The Belken people on the other side might be mobilizing troops to encircle and annihilate us right now,” Yelena explained.

"So they'll still send a team of experts?" This made Valerio even more confused.

"Because the equipment here is indeed malfunctioning, if Belken wants to restore communications in this area, they must send a team of experts to fix it. Whether they've discovered our identities or not, the only variable is how many guards the expert team will have. Is it a platoon of Gilahani warriors? Or an infantry battalion? In any case, it's always good to be prepared." Belken has even produced something that resembles Forerunner technology. If the reinforcements also include a few Ghostface Firewheels or even the Ghostships, he probably wouldn't be too surprised. That's why he had the air force use heavy-duty bombs instead of rockets to bombard the area.

"Understood, sir. I'll take my men to set up the defenses right away," Valerio replied, indicating he understood. (Seven)

"Okay, remember, have some disguise themselves as Belken people, and the rest hide so the Belken people don't discover them directly." Lu Wu only pointed out one thing to pay attention to, without interfering with the reconnaissance company's specific deployment work. This was considered overstepping his authority, which, to put it bluntly, meant a lack of trust between superiors and subordinates. Each position should have its own responsibilities. If a brigade commander didn't focus on the big picture and instead spent all his time studying machine gun positions, he might as well be discharged and go into logistics.

As for why they insisted on camouflage even when there was a possibility of being exposed, the reason is simple—there's still a chance the enemy wouldn't notice. If the Belken people hadn't noticed initially, but upon arriving and finding the area completely inhabited by Amelia, they would be easily defeated, making it much harder for them to capture the experts. Even if the Belken people had realized the area had been switched before arriving, they would most likely try to feign ignorance, infiltrate the area, and eliminate the invading force with minimal losses to regain control of the equipment.

Therefore, to better gain the trust of the Belken people, they had to put on a convincing act. The Belken corpses were gathered together, their outermost coats stripped off, and thrown into a pit hastily dug by several prisoners. Valerio selected several tall, muscular men to wear the Gilahani warrior armor, but these armors were quite damaged, especially two barrel helmets, which had been directly pierced by high-speed armor-piercing bullets. They couldn't repair them now, and Valerio was still hesitating whether to make the two Gilahani warriors disappear or bite the bullet and proceed.

But the Belken people didn't have much time to make a decision. Forty-eight minutes after the phishing text message was sent, they received the first telegram from the expert team, informing them that they would arrive at the foot of the mountain in ten minutes.

Since the convoy only had one route to get up the mountain, Valerio decided to simply position the two tin cans that had been pried open from the side; that way, they could probably fool the convoy from a distance.

Volume 1: Chapter 137 (Chapter 123) - Mutual Schemes (Part 7)

The observation post quickly relayed news that a convoy of five trucks was approaching from the foot of the mountain. The five trucks were all Belken's distinctive tan paint job.

"Five trucks, guess how many people are in there?" With the signal jamming tower has been temporarily erected, Lu Wu couldn't continue studying this mysterious contraption. The armor and weapons of the Gilahani warriors didn't seem particularly impressive, so Lu Wu quickly stopped investigating their properties and focused his attention on observing Valerio's command.

"That depends on whether Arthur has cast the Unseen Stretching Spell on the car." Yelena's answer was clearly playing on a somewhat old joke.

"Keep your eyes peeled, stay alert. The enemy might be prepared." Back at command post, Valerio watched the convoy ascending the mountain and reminded them again. Unseen by the Belken, a sniper team's T-5000 sniper rifles had already locked onto the driver of the lead truck. The seemingly deserted mountainside was actually concealed by dozens of elite scouts. These soldiers positioned on the flank would deliver a surprise to the Belken.

As the convoy drew ever closer, the disguised scout standing casually at the door couldn't help but feel a growing nervousness. He couldn't help but think that if the Belken people on the other side were also prepared, then they were probably feeling the same way he was! It was truly a case of being caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Are there any other Belken people nearby?" Valerio asked, making a final check of the intelligence.

"That's it. This is the only Belken caravan operating nearby."

"Remember, wait until the convoy is completely inside the outpost before making any moves."

"clear."

Like prey about to step into a hunter's trap, the commander of this expert convoy, a senior Gilahani warrior, sensed something unsettling.

"Everyone, prepare for battle. Load your weapons." Although everything seemed fine at the outpost, and the sentries were on duty as usual, despite reports that the jamming station had failed, the three Gilahani soldiers previously stationed there were still adhering to Agreement Two. As a precaution, he issued a warning. After all, the expert team they were escorting had a special status, and absolutely no accidents could be tolerated. So, the driver subtly flashed the truck's taillights, sending a signal to the vehicle behind.

"Stop the car and tell them we are from Expert Group 8." The sentry's face was now clearly visible. The enemy waved their arms to signal them to continue advancing, but the unease in the senior Gilahani warrior's heart had not diminished.

"Sir, this sentry looks unfamiliar." A deep, muffled voice came from under the helmet of the Gilahani warrior driving the car, and his words immediately sent chills down the commander's spine.

"Stop the caravan!" He quickly halted the convoy's advance and turned to carefully observe the outpost. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that while the outpost largely matched his memory, subtle differences existed in some details—such as the placement of sandbags and the positions of the three Gilahani warriors.

"Sir, what do we do?" The driver asked again as he saw the sentry at the door waving his arms frantically, beckoning them over.

“It’s a trap.” Despite the few signs that could only be described as suspicious, the senior Gilahani warrior said with certainty.

"It's too close. It will be difficult to retreat if we want to..." The driver glanced at the rearview mirror. On this narrow mountain road, it wouldn't be easy for the convoy to retreat.

"No, we will not retreat. We cannot tarnish the honor of the Gilahani warriors." In an instant, a plan formed in the mind of this Gilahani warrior: "They will not guess that we have seen through their plot. We will turn the tables on them and launch a surprise attack from the center. Our armor is enough to withstand the attack of ordinary bullets. Close combat is in our favor."

"But what if they really are on our side..."

“Listen up, kid. Apart from us, there are no other Belken troops here, understand?” The senior Gilahani warrior stared at the driver and said, “If you understand, get out of the car and check the tires and chassis, pretend that the vehicle was in a bad condition just now, and then continue driving.”

"Yes, sir." As expected, the driver hesitated and stepped on the gas again.

The unusual behavior of the Belken team naturally caught the attention of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army scouts, and the news was reported to Valerio, who took it very seriously.

"Why did the vehicle break down at this particular time of year? Is this a coincidence, or has the enemy already figured us out?"

“A vehicle malfunction could be a coincidence, but something that happens at such a precise time is no coincidence.”

Even though Lu Wu didn't express his opinion, Valerio had already made up his mind. After all, the Belken's weapons had been upgraded, and the probability of casualties among the scouts in close combat would greatly increase. "The sentries should retreat immediately, and the rest of you should start the attack as soon as the sentries retreat."

"Attention all units, prioritize eliminating the Gilahani warriors."

The order had just been relayed when Belken finally took action. The driver, who had been inspecting the chassis, returned to the truck, which slowly started moving and continued towards the outpost.

However, Valerio did not change his mind again because of this, and said, "Fire."

The T-5000 sniper rifle fired, and the high-velocity armor-piercing round effortlessly pierced the transparent window of the tan truck, then penetrated the helmet of the Gilahani warrior, turning his soft brain inside his hard skull into a pile of mush.

The lead and tail cars, now without their drivers, became uncontrollable. The passenger in the front seat grabbed the steering wheel from the corpse, thus preventing a horrific traffic accident.

The prepared Jila Jiuhani warriors jumped out of the truck bed, crouching or lying down behind the cover formed by the vehicles and the rocks, and returned fire with their weapons in the direction of the incoming fire.

"Guys, keep your eyes peeled. Don't move the two middle vehicles. Avoid firing on that area. Don't accidentally hit our experts." Valerio noticed that even under these circumstances, none of the Gilahani warriors had disembarked from the two middle vehicles in the convoy, while the enemy vehicles that had disembarked were subtly trying to surround the two middle vehicles. This was undoubtedly sending a signal that the two vehicles were carrying something extremely valuable.

The reconnaissance soldiers, armed with heavy firepower, were waiting for these words. Rocket launchers were immediately shouldered, safety disengaged, and unleashed a furious barrage on the Gilahani warriors.

Volume 1: Chapter 138 (Chapter 124) Give me a straight answer: Surrender or not?

The Gilahani warriors seemed to be born with superhuman strength, firing their large-caliber semi-automatic rifles as if they were fully automatic. This firepower was extremely fierce in the Ens world, which made the Amelia Volunteer Army feel a bit of pressure for the first time on the Ens light infantry battlefield.

Even so, the firepower of these Gilahani warriors was still far inferior to that of the scouts—while they could turn semi-automatic rifles into fully automatic ones, they lacked area-of-effect weapons like rocket launchers. Therefore, they quickly found themselves at a disadvantage in close-quarters firefights: although their weapons had longer propellant charges and ranges, whenever their marksmen fired or two or more soldiers gathered together, a shell with a trail of fire would fly in from the opposite direction. Their Gilahani warrior escort squad hadn't even been able to clearly identify who the enemy was in disguise before suffering significant losses. The new armor, which had performed exceptionally well in the testing range, seemed less effective here; Gilahani warriors who inadvertently exposed themselves were frequently killed by bullets.

"Damn it, sir, their firepower is too intense!" Seeing the increasing losses suffered by the troops, the adjutant's anger visibly intensified. Every Gilahani warrior was a product of the Empire's immense investment in training—from their armor and weapons to the enhancement surgeries that granted them superhuman abilities and reflexes, it was all bought with real money. "Staying here will only allow us to passively take hits!"

"Move towards the center of the convoy." In contrast, the commander of this Gilahani unit was much calmer, and made the decision to shrink the force after observing the battlefield situation.

"Wouldn't that give the enemy a chance to wipe us out in one fell swoop?" the adjutant exclaimed in alarm, and advised, "Just a few shells would not only blow us to bits, but the experts in the vehicle would also die with us."