SCOM - Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Luo Shaoyuan's warning to the armies was not early enough. By the time her message was sent, some armies were already under attack. Robot dogs, half the height of a person, had appeared from nowhere and were attacking at an absurdly fast speed. Even the well-trained armies suffered considerable casualties under such a surprise attack.
They were small and fast. Even with light guns, the soldiers couldn't guarantee a hit. Moreover, this series of machines had always required their brain chips to be destroyed.
Not long after Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi took off in their flyer, they received news that the mines, the administrative center, and the port were under attack. These three locations had a large concentration of Federation troops, especially from the Western United Army.
The Northern District had just fought a battle with the Gashiro on the border not long ago. Zuo Dihong couldn't come himself and could only dispatch a brigade of the Winter Army. He also informed the Western District about the Silver-Blue and requested that they send troops to help.
Of course, the Western District also demanded a share of the benefits.
The Northern District was guarding the border, so one brigade was their limit. But the Western District was currently stable, so they sent an entire division of the Western United Army, packing Xijiang Exile Star to the brim.
"Most of the Western United Army is at the administrative center and the port," Ji Yuezhi said. "The Western District sent too many people. If a large portion of them are lost here, it will pose a great hidden danger to the stability of the Western border."
The Western District was able to dispatch so many troops because they naturally had forces defending the border against the Gashiro Empire. However, an army isn't built overnight. If so many of the Western United Army's troops were lost on Xijiang Exile Star, the West's combat strength would inevitably be greatly reduced. If Gashiro wanted to launch a strong offensive on the western border afterward, it would definitely be much easier.
Ren Pingbo's scheme was truly vicious.
"We're going to the port," Zuo Luohuan said.
With no other options, they could only face the new generation of robot dogs developed by the Gashiro people head-on.
Just then, Ji Yuezhi received a communication from Ji Xixiu. He paused for a moment before answering it in front of Zuo Luohuan.
"This is the latest information our people obtained from Gashiro." Ji Xixiu was clearly aware of the current situation on Xijiang Exile Star. "Those robot dogs are the third generation developed by the Gashiro. They don't need light guns or sabers to attack; their entire bodies can be used as weapons. I'm sending you a short video."
The video showed what looked like a corner of a laboratory. A silver-white robot dog stood on its four human-like paws, facing a second-generation robot dog.
The second-generation dog's light gun fired wildly at the third-generation one, but the latter was small and moved too quickly. It eventually lunged at the second-generation dog amidst the rain of gunfire. Hooked thorns suddenly emerged from the palms of its four limbs, forcefully piercing into the second-generation dog's body. At the same time, its neck could extend, and it opened its mouth wide, revealing saw-like teeth that bit down on the second-generation dog's head. After biting it off, it chewed continuously, only spitting it out after it was completely crushed.
Hooked thorns in its palms, an extendable neck, and exceptionally sharp teeth, combined with its extremely fast movements, made this thing incredibly lethal.
"The most crucial point is that our people brought back a verbal message." Ji Xixiu looked deeply at his son. "The third-generation model explodes when its chip is destroyed, with a blast radius of at least a hundred meters."
Hearing this, Zuo Luohuan, who was beside him, couldn't help but frown. If the many third-generation dogs on Xijiang Exile Star were truly this formidable, it would be a miracle for them to get out alive, let alone preserve the army's strength.
"Yuezhi, we will send people to rescue you. It will take two days at most. You... hold on." After speaking, Ji Xixiu looked at Zuo Luohuan, his gaze complex. "The people you brought with you, it's best if nothing happens to them."
Zuo Luohuan glanced at Ji Yuezhi, then looked away and said to Ji Xixiu, "He will be fine."
Ji Yuezhi disliked hearing such words, as if Zuo Luohuan intended to trade her life for his. He couldn't help but frown slightly.
Before ending the communication, Ji Xixiu said one last thing: "In two days, I will arrive at Xijiang Exile Star with my men. You are to protect the port."
The information from Ji Xixiu was accurate. When Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi arrived at the port, a soldier from the Western United Army had accidentally hit and destroyed a third-generation robot dog, causing an immediate explosion nearby.
This explosion was designed, firstly, to prevent the Federation from obtaining the materials, and secondly, to serve as a final attack on the Federation army at the moment it lost its mobility.
"Since the explosion can harm us, it can also harm them," Ji Yuezhi said as he followed Zuo Luohuan down. "I wonder where their chips are hidden."
Since they had arrived, there had only been one explosion. It was clear that the Western United Army soldier had only destroyed the third-generation robot dog's chip by a stroke of luck.
Zuo Luohuan glanced back at him. "I'll go find the chip."
"...Be careful," Ji Yuezhi said subconsciously.
"I promised your father," Zuo Luohuan said, a hint of a smile in her eyes. "Wait for me."
The entire port hall was covered in spray-like bloodstains. The suddenness of the incident had led to many people having their necks bitten off. The third-generation robot dogs were too fast, and the Western United Army was already exhausted from dealing with them, all while trying to protect the ordinary civilians entering and exiting the port.
Zuo Luohuan looked up at the second and third floors of the hall, her gaze growing cold. Someone up there was screaming in agony.
Ji Yuezhi watched as she shot forward like an arrow, stepped on an escalator handrail, and leaped upwards. She reached out, grabbed the second-floor glass railing, and instantly vaulted into the second-floor waiting hall.
Zuo Luohuan's eyes swept the area. It seemed only one family of travelers remained on the second floor, but over a hundred soldiers of the Western United Army were surrounding them. Even so, under the siege of more than twenty third-generation robot dogs, they were constantly losing ground.
The scream just now had come from the young traveler in the middle. He had seen a soldier from the Western United Army being torn to shreds by a third-generation robot dog and couldn't help but cry out in terror.
Zuo Luohuan snapped her fingers. "Time to switch players."
Half of the robot dogs surrounding the people turned their heads, fixing their red eyes on her.
"You'd better find a chance to retreat far away, and don't shoot randomly," Zuo Luohuan said, ignoring the eerie scene. "If you hit the third-generation's chip, they'll self-destruct. Everything within a hundred meters will be affected."
The Western United Army soldiers certainly recognized Zuo Luohuan. Hearing her words, they felt a momentary sense of relief that they hadn't managed to hit any of the robot dogs.
However, the immediate priority was to take these travelers to the assembly point.
"Everyone else has gone to the underground escape room on the first floor," said one man, who seemed to be the leader of these soldiers, to Zuo Luohuan. "But we can't get there now. There are even more of these damn things over there."
"Do you know where these robot dogs came from?" Zuo Luohuan asked.
The man who spoke nodded. "The army was taking over Xijiang Exile Star, so the port was a key inspection point. Today, several squads opened the medical rooms on the first, second, and third floors and found many silver-white boxes inside, very similar to the black boxes seized from the Hong family. They were about to report it. Before they could, those boxes transformed into these things."
The men from those squads were almost completely wiped out.
Zuo Luohuan dodged a pouncing robot dog, removed the weighted bands from her wrists, and threw them to the ground, creating two craters.
The robot dogs were fast, but Zuo Luohuan was faster. The Western United Army soldiers couldn't even see how she moved before one of the robot dogs was sent flying by a kick.
It wasn't just their limbs. These third-generation robot dogs, though they appeared smooth on the surface, would erect steel spikes upon contact.
If Zuo Luohuan hadn't retracted her foot quickly just now, she would have been pierced.
Zuo Luohuan didn't go all out. She just led the robot dogs on a chase until the soldiers had taken the family of travelers far away. Only then did she roll her wrists, draw her soft blade, and engage the robot dogs in close combat.
Close-quarters combat was not a good choice, because Zuo Luohuan didn't know where the detonation point was. But without getting close, she couldn't observe where the robot dog's chip was located.
Zuo Luohuan first guessed it was in the robot dog's head and tried to slice it with her soft blade, but that wasn't the spot.
One, two...
After a robot dog was shattered, its limbs could still attack, but their effectiveness was greatly diminished. Zuo Luohuan had already inspected the head, limbs, and body of the robot dogs, but found no chip.
Where else could it be hidden... When she got off the flyer, where had those Western United Army soldiers shot the robot dog?
Zuo Luohuan replayed the scene she had witnessed in her mind. The robot dog had been about to pounce on them, its mouth open to bite the soldiers.
Bite?
Zuo Luohuan's gaze fell on the snarling robot dogs, their gleaming, saw-like teeth exposed. Their lethality was self-evident.
She suddenly stood still, baiting the group of robot dogs to rush at her, aiming to bite her neck.
Zuo Luohuan's eyes quickly swept over the open mouths of these robot dogs. She instantly dropped into a slide, dodging their saw-toothed attack.
She knew where it was. Now she needed to test it.
Zuo Luohuan started running towards the second-floor glass railing. All the robot dogs chased after her. Sometimes she would slow down, letting the robot dogs get close enough to almost bite her, but in the next second, she would suddenly pull away.
The glass railing was getting closer. Zuo Luohuan did a flip over it and jumped down to the first floor. The robot dogs all followed her, leaping down as well.
"The chip is inside their throats." The moment Zuo Luohuan jumped, she saw Ji Yuezhi waiting for her on the first floor and spoke with a smirk.
Ji Yuezhi looked up at the open-mouthed robot dogs behind her, his heart nearly stopping. But upon hearing Zuo Luohuan's words, he instantly drew his light gun and fired at the robot dogs' throats.
Not just one. Ji Yuezhi's hand moved quickly, hitting all the dogs that were far from Zuo Luohuan but close to the pack.
These actions were completed in just a few seconds.
Before Zuo Luohuan had even landed, the robot dogs that had leaped after her began to explode one after another.
The hundred-meter blast radius didn't refer to the power of the explosives, but rather that the shattered fragments of the robot dogs would burst outward, piercing everything within that range.
Ji Yuezhi saw Zuo Luohuan's back, and his pupils widened. He raised his light gun to shoot down the fragments hurtling towards her, but there were too many...
Zuo Luohuan was already prepared, but she hadn't expected Ji Yuezhi to stand there motionless, shooting at the fragments. She tilted her head to dodge a few pieces, landed instantly, and lunged forward to grab Ji Yuezhi. They rolled on the ground, taking cover behind the first-floor service desk.
Zuo Luohuan pressed down on Ji Yuezhi, their bodies clinging tightly together. She suddenly let out a laugh. "I was just about to praise you for our chemistry. Why didn't you know to dodge an explosion?"
"There was shrapnel behind you," Ji Yuezhi said, turning his face away from her.
"Thank you for the protection, my dear Yuezhi." Zuo Luohuan propped herself up on her hands beside him, a faint smile still in her eyes. "But next time, protect yourself first. Those fragments wouldn't have hurt me."
The flying fragments would create a whistling sound; she could dodge them.
The commotion here was too great and would likely attract more robot dogs. Zuo Luohuan got up and pulled Ji Yuezhi to his feet, glancing at the light gun in his hand. "Your marksmanship is indeed better than mine."
Ji Yuezhi was in no mood for jokes. He pressed his lips together and frowned. "That was very dangerous."
So many robot dogs had been detonated in a chain reaction. When they stood up, they could see that the service desk was now completely riddled with holes.
"I'll be more careful next time," Zuo Luohuan said casually.
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