SCOM - Chapter 72
Chapter 72
In just one day, the stench of blood permeated Xijiang Exile Star. Body parts littered the port, blood flowed freely, creating a sickeningly sticky mess underfoot.
The stationed troops had no time to dwell on the carnage. They were busy leading countless Gen 3 robot dogs toward designated areas, where snipers could target their chips and trigger chain explosions.
The vanguard was nearly depleted, with casualties mounting. Their only hope was to hold out for one more day, until reinforcements arrived.
Zuo Luohuan, armed with a single light gun, was drawing a group of robot dogs away from the main force.
The chips inside these robot dogs could automatically distinguish between Federation and Gashro citizens. Unfortunately, the Federation had yet to decipher the underlying logic.
While Gashro people revealed vertical pupils when agitated and were inherently bloodthirsty, their outward appearance was otherwise identical to Federation citizens, making them difficult to identify.
Zuo Luohuan glanced back at the robot dogs struggling to keep pace, then slowed her steps, allowing them to catch up as she headed towards the third floor of the port building.
Once there, she vaulted over the railing, dropping to the floor below. The robot dogs, unable to brake in time, followed suit.
Mid-air, Zuo Luohuan twisted, raised her light gun, and fired at the gaping maw of a robot dog.
Bang!
The shot hit the chip, causing the robot dog to self-destruct, taking several others with it.
Zuo Luohuan landed, her knees bent, hands bracing her fall. As the explosions echoed, she quickly sprang to her feet and retreated.
From a safe distance, she watched the robot dogs explode… a little regretfully. If their bodies could be salvaged, the Federation could reuse the materials.
Zuo Luohuan glanced at the soft blade hidden in her sleeve. Perhaps she could try severing a robot dog's head before detonating it. She wondered if the body would still explode.
While she experimented with different methods of dealing with the robot dogs, Ji Yuezhi received a message from Jiang Hong in the underground escape room.
"The Seventeenth Army is coming to rescue us?" Jiang Hong looked disheveled but relatively unharmed, his face etched with anxiety. "The most influential person in the Capital who can command the army is your father. What if the Capital is attacked? The Gashro might be using us as bait."
The North and West districts were immobilized, and the South and East districts were too far from Xijiang to offer assistance. Only the Capital could dispatch troops. However, the Jiang family had sent word that the Gashro seemed intent on attacking the Capital.
The previous attack on the Capital had shaken confidence in its defenses, and no one knew how many Gashro agents were embedded within.
"My father should be on his way. He'll probably reach Xijiang tomorrow afternoon," Ji Yuezhi said.
Jiang Hong's head throbbed. "He's already dispatched troops?"
"Yes." Ji Yuezhi lowered his gaze. "We can't control other matters, so let's not worry about them."
"Right." Jiang Hong couldn't do anything either. He just hoped the Capital would remain safe. His entire family line resided there. "By the way, where's Luohuan?"
"She…" Ji Yuezhi hesitated, his eyes flickering upwards.
Jiang Hong had never seen Captain Ji with such an expression. His heart plummeted. "Did something happen to her?"
Ji Yuezhi shook his head. "She injured her arm, but it's bandaged."
So she was alright. Jiang Hong breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what's wrong? Luohuan's the type of Alpha to go berserk in a fight. Don't take her temper personally, Captain."
Ji Yuezhi frowned slightly. "Her rut seems to have started."
"R-Rut?!" Jiang Hong wiped his face in astonishment, then recalled, "It usually is around this time, but her rut is usually… uneventful. She just gets a bit quieter."
He really wanted to ask Ji Yuezhi how he noticed.
Zuo Luohuan was incredibly tolerant, even ignoring the abnormalities of her differentiation period. Every year, her rut came and went without much fanfare.
Jiang Hong, having observed Zuo Luohuan's lack of reaction, had assumed all Alpha ruts were the same. He'd been careless during his own differentiation, entering his rut without inhibitors and nearly landing in jail for his near-public pheromone outburst.
"…Did her pheromones erupt?" Jiang Hong probed. "Are there any inhibitors at the port?"
Inhibitors weren't very effective on Zuo Luohuan due to her high rank. They were more of a symbolic gesture than a practical solution.
"No outburst." After confirming that it was indeed Zuo Luohuan's rut, Ji Yuezhi changed the subject. "How is the situation on your end?"
Jiang Hong, oblivious to Ji Yuezhi's deflection, glanced behind him. "We suffered heavy casualties initially, but it's better now. However, everyone's exhausted after more than a day of fighting. We're heading to the mines now."
"Don't worry about the Capital. Just hold out until the reinforcements arrive," Ji Yuezhi said.
"Understood."
After ending the call, Ji Yuezhi went to the makeshift infirmary in the escape room and found two Alpha inhibitors. They were only A-rank, not even S-rank.
This was normal. Xijiang was a small, remote star, frequented mostly by ordinary people. S-rank Alphas and Omegas were rare. Moreover, higher-ranked inhibitors were more expensive, so public facilities wouldn't typically stock them.
Over an hour later, Ji Yuezhi saw Zuo Luohuan. Covered in soot, she clearly had been close to the exploding robot dogs. She was carrying something.
Ji Yuezhi's heart leaped, fearing she'd been injured by shrapnel. Fortunately, her wounds were superficial – a few scratches on her hand, much less severe than her arm injury.
"There are no explosives in the robot dogs' bodies." Zuo Luohuan handed the object to Ji Yuezhi. "Sever the head first, then detonate. The separated body won't explode."
Ji Yuezhi wiped away the soot, revealing the silver-white body of a robot dog.
"I suspect this batch of robot dogs are older models left over from the Gashro's initial development," Zuo Luohuan said. "Aside from increased speed, they're not very sophisticated."
Their ability to inflict so much damage on the troops was solely due to their unexpected appearance. The soldiers, unfamiliar with their weaknesses and capabilities, had been caught off guard.
Ji Yuezhi, not a researcher, wasn't well-versed in such matters. He could only hand it over to the army to be sent to a research facility later.
"Here." Ji Yuezhi offered the two Alpha inhibitors to Zuo Luohuan.
Zuo Luohuan examined the inhibitors in his hand. "A-rank?"
Ji Yuezhi hummed in confirmation. "The infirmary only has A-rank inhibitors, no S-rank."
"A-rank or S-rank, they're useless for me." Zuo Luohuan returned the inhibitors. "My rut will pass in a few days."
"But you…" Ji Yuezhi felt her condition wasn't as trivial as she claimed. She had nearly lost control earlier.
"Shh—" Zuo Luohuan placed a finger to her lips. "Let's talk after the reinforcements arrive."
They only needed to hold out for another seven or eight hours.
…
The next day, at four in the afternoon, the troops at the landing field spotted approaching warships. A wave of relief washed over them: reinforcements had arrived!
Upon receiving the news, Ji Yuezhi rushed to the landing field. It was the Seventeenth Army's warship, but as the people disembarked, he sensed something amiss.
These weren't Seventeenth Army soldiers, but upperclassmen from the First Military Academy, albeit dressed in Seventeenth Army uniforms.
"Junior Ji," Xiang Chengping, the leader, greeted him.
"My father isn't here?" Ji Yuezhi instantly understood. That's why his father's communication had been on speakerphone – a deliberate act for someone's benefit. He must have remained in the Capital.
"General Ji isn't here. He simply issued the mission at the First Military Academy," Xiang Chengping explained.
Zuo Luohuan's gaze swept over the reinforcements behind Xiang Chengping. "Upperclassmen take these kinds of missions?"
Xiang Chengping, unfamiliar with Zuo Luohuan after her year-long absence, simply recognized her. He chuckled. "Do you know us, Student Zuo?"
"No." Zuo Luohuan replied casually. "But you upperclassmen have that seasoned air about you. The uniforms can't hide it."
Xiang Chengping and the others behind him: "..."
"Enough joking around," Xiang Chengping said. "We brought something new this time."
The so-called "Seventeenth Army" consisted of only three thousand people, but they had new weaponry.
"You should have seen the initial prototype." As Xiang Chengping spoke, he and the others pulled objects from their pockets. With a squeeze, thin armor rapidly encased their bodies, starting from their arms.
—Skeletal armor.
Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi recognized it immediately.
"The complete skeletal armor." Xiang Chengping deactivated the armor. "We have twenty more sets. Distribute them. We'll deal with the Gen 3 robot dogs. First, tell us the current situation."
Ji Yuezhi shared all the information he had gathered.
After listening, Xiang Chengping remembered something and shared their own intel. "The warship that took Hong Tongdao was attacked over the West district. By the time the West district sent rescuers, Hong Tongdao had already left. Only a third of the Winter Army soldiers on board survived."
Ji Yuezhi instinctively looked at Zuo Luohuan, who showed no particular reaction.
"A third surviving is considered fortunate," Xiang Chengping said grimly. "There are too many Gen 3 robot dogs there."
Xiang Chengping led two thousand people to clear the port of robot dogs. Their skeletal armor could withstand light guns, grappling hooks, and even the robot dogs' explosions, allowing them to eliminate the machines with ease.
Zuo Luohuan received a set of skeletal armor – or rather, a heavy, graphite-colored sphere with a dark button in the center. Holding it in her palm, she pressed the button. The sphere rapidly transformed and expanded, encasing her entire body, starting from her hand.
Zuo Luohuan moved her limbs, finding the armor's weight negligible. Its responsiveness was exceptional, feeling like an extra layer of clothing.
"…Has she used skeletal armor before?"
The upperclassmen watching Zuo Luohuan depart were stunned. Their mission wasn't a last-minute assignment. They had been training with skeletal armor since the previous semester, with their orders only recently changing to rescuing Xijiang.
"She used it once during a mock battle," Ji Yuezhi explained, gazing at Zuo Luohuan's retreating figure.
"We know about that. That doesn't count."
"The complete skeletal armor is heavy. It takes a long time to get used to," a senior said, handing Ji Yuezhi a spherical armor unit. "Try it."
They had trained day and night for a semester to reach their current level of proficiency.
Ji Yuezhi pressed the button, and the armor enveloped him. He moved his arm, and as the senior had said, it felt much heavier than usual. His legs, too, felt weighted down.
He practiced moving for a bit before deactivating the armor. "Senior, I'd like the remaining thousand people to accompany us to the mines."
"Of course," the senior replied. "Our orders are to follow your instructions upon arrival."
Ji Yuezhi nodded. "How many flyers are on the warship? Send them all to the mines. Another two hundred people will drive with us. We might encounter robot dogs on the way."
Once the flyers departed, Ji Yuezhi led two hundred reinforcements through the port hall, preparing to drive to the mines.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As they entered the hall, they heard several crashes ahead. Moving closer, they saw several Gen 3 robot dogs smashed into the floor, creating craters. They struggled to get up.
Ji Yuezhi looked up. A figure in skeletal armor stood on the dome. Seeing them, the figure leaped down, landing silently, a robot dog clutched in hand.
"Damn," one of the seniors behind Ji Yuezhi exclaimed, looking up. "So agile even in skeletal armor?"
Compared to her, their semester-long training seemed like a joke.
She ripped the robot dog apart, tossed the head away, and shot its throat with her light gun, detonating the head.
Zuo Luohuan flicked her wrist, and the armor retracted, returning to its spherical form. She tossed it up and caught it. "This thing is pretty good."
The sphere seemed to have some sort of buoyancy, reducing its weight. Once transformed and attached to the body, it regained its full heft.
"Junior, you're amazing," the senior behind her praised. "This armor weighs a full 100 kilograms when worn."
100 kilograms was the lightest weight the Federation had achieved with materials that offered sufficient protection and mobility, though it still required the wearer to undergo extensive physical training.
Zuo Luohuan held the sphere and looked at Ji Yuezhi. "We're going to the mines?"
Ji Yuezhi nodded. "Senior Xiang is clearing the port. We're going to the mines now."
Zuo Luohuan turned and walked beside him. Despite her arm injury, she seemed unfazed, even intending to drive. Ji Yuezhi stopped her.
"I'll drive. You rest," he said, getting into the driver's seat.
The vehicle belonged to the West Union Army at the port, requiring only an ID code. Ji Yuezhi waited for Zuo Luohuan to get in before fastening her seatbelt for her.
Alphas in rut had a decreased sensitivity to pain. She might not feel her wound, but he couldn't bear to see it.
Zuo Luohuan looked down at Ji Yuezhi's profile, her fingers twitching beside her, but ultimately, she did nothing.
Ji Yuezhi sat back, started the car, and led the reinforcements towards the mines.
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