SCOM - Chapter 108
Chapter 108
Ji Xixiu had always doted on his son. When Ji Yuezhi learned that Zuo Luohuan had visited the clinic several times, he worried she was injured, so Ji Xixiu had investigated Fang Yong.
In that light, it wasn't surprising they could contact Fang Yong.
Ji Yuezhi glanced outside. As time went on, the situation inside grew more complex. They still didn't even know what had happened in the capital. They had to send someone in to investigate tonight.
Zuo Luohuan met Ji Yuezhi's gaze, seeming to read his thoughts. "Jiang Hong and I will take a team in."
"I'll go too," Guan Xue said, raising her hand.
"Stay here." Zuo Luohuan turned her head to look at her. "You take the snipers and set up an ambush around the port. Don't let any Gashiro in."
Guan Xue could only agree. "Be careful."
To lead a team in, they had to be selective. Ji Yuezhi accompanied the two of them, and just as they finished picking their team members, Qian Mao came looking for them.
"Luohuan," Qian Mao called softly from behind.
Zuo Luohuan turned and walked over. "Is it fixed?"
Qian Mao took out the skeletal mech. "It's fixed. Are you leaving now?"
"It's about time." Zuo Luohuan put on the skeletal mech, moved her arms and legs, and only put it away after confirming there were no issues.
Ji Yuezhi turned to look at Zuo Luohuan, who was not far away. Her skeletal mech had been taken for repairs?
Zuo Luohuan's mech usually required the fewest repairs because most people couldn't even get close to her, let alone damage it.
Qian Mao was worried sick. "You all must be careful."
Zuo Luohuan nodded, indicating she understood. When she walked back, she met Ji Yuezhi's eyes. She smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I'll wait for you to come back," Ji Yuezhi said slowly and earnestly.
Zuo Luohuan was taken aback for a moment, then reached out and hooked his fingers with hers. She childishly pressed her thumb over his and let out a muffled laugh. "Okay."
...
Late at night, Jiang Hong was the first to emerge from the passage at the port.
Like a phantom, he moved quickly, sticking to the wall along the side of the road. Seeing no immediate abnormalities, he gestured to those behind him, and Zuo Luohuan led the others forward swiftly.
The surroundings were deserted, with only dim yellow streetlights illuminating the road. Jiang Hong was on high alert, yet he still couldn't find anything amiss.
A few miles from the port was a residential area. Zuo Luohuan signaled for everyone to spread out and run toward it. Just as she reached the entrance, she raised her hand, ordering everyone to halt.
"Robot dogs." Jiang Hong stared at the tracks on the ground. They were the footprints of robot dogs. His heart sank. "Did something happen inside?"
"Let's go in and see. Everyone be careful, watch your surroundings." This time, Zuo Luohuan took the lead.
Almost no lights were on in the residential area. As they walked, they saw overturned flowerbeds, fallen trees, and bloodstains everywhere. It was hard not to assume the worst.
Zuo Luohuan quickly climbed a residential building. Peering through windows with undrawn curtains, she saw no one inside. Jiang Hong and the others were checking other buildings and also found no signs of any residents.
"No bodies. Most of the homes are a mess, looking like they've been searched," Jiang Hong said to Zuo Luohuan after coming down.
Zuo Luohuan nodded and signaled for everyone to gather. The team converged silently like a tide. "No bodies means someone took the residents away."
But these residents were of no use, except to threaten the army groups.
Zuo Luohuan scanned the road they had just taken. "They might still be here."
Since the entire capital was unable to call for help, she was more inclined to believe that most residential areas were under control. It wouldn't even require a large force, just some Gashiro or rebels, plus robot dogs.
It was impossible for so many residents to have been moved.
Zuo Luohuan signaled for everyone to start spreading out to search for any Gashiro or robot dogs.
This residential area was very close to the port. Port staff and perhaps even guards lived here, so there had been resistance. But their numbers were small, and they had never encountered robot dogs before. The final outcome was likely suppression or... death.
Following the surrounding roads, Zuo Luohuan could almost reconstruct the scene.
Reaching a corner, Zuo Luohuan instantly raised her hand, signaling for everyone behind her to stop. She indicated there were enemies ahead.
It was a row of patrolling robot dogs, their red eyes looking terrifying in the dim light.
Zuo Luohuan quickly made a few hand signals. The team immediately split in two. She led one squad, while Jiang Hong led the other to circle around to the rear.
A row of ten robot dogs patrolled back and forth in front of the building's entrance. Zuo Luohuan's gaze fell on a green icon at the main entrance of the building. It read "Underground Escape Shelter." This was a capital regulation: every residential area had to have an underground escape shelter in case of accidents or disasters, and they were usually located beneath one of the buildings.
They forced the residents into the underground escape shelter?
Zuo Luohuan and nine others suddenly appeared before the robot dogs with astonishing speed, directly restraining them. Team members hiding behind them simultaneously fired their light guns, hitting the chips.
The robot dogs instantly lost their ability to move.
The light guns were already quiet, and the skeletal mech team's guns had special silencers. This row of robot dogs was eliminated without a sound.
On the other side, Jiang Hong's team had already entered the building through a window from behind and was moving down quickly.
Just as he reached the second-floor landing, Jiang Hong heard people talking below. He raised his hand to signal his team to pull back, and a team member from behind passed him a probe device.
Jiang Hong took it and silently extended a long, thin probe. The screen held by another team member immediately displayed the scene inside the building. He gestured for the team member to transmit it to Zuo Luohuan outside.
The team member did as instructed, but they soon discovered the signal here was jammed. No communications could be sent out.
Jiang Hong closed his eyes, passed the probe back, and led his men quickly downstairs to eliminate the enemies.
There were a dozen enemies at the first-floor entrance, along with more than twenty robot dogs, all gathered there. No matter how fast Jiang Hong and his hundred-plus team members were, some were missed. One of the Gashiro soldiers, revealing his vertical pupils, took out his optical computer, intending to report.
However, just as he pulled out the optical computer, his neck was snapped by Zuo Luohuan, who had entered from outside.
Jiang Hong, who had just shot through the robot dogs' chips, looked back at the optical computer in Zuo Luohuan's hand and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she had arrived in time.
Zuo Luohuan said, "The nearby communication box is broken."
She had just discovered it while circling the area.
With the arrival of Zuo Luohuan's team, the people on the first floor were completely cleared out.
Next, they needed to enter the underground escape shelter. This wasn't Zuo Luohuan's first time, but this time was different; there might still be enemies inside.
"We need to be fast once we're inside. You lead a team to protect the residents," Zuo Luohuan said.
The underground passage was not narrow, having been built with various factors in mind. Zuo Luohuan went all the way to the end, pushed open one of the shelter's doors, and threw something inside.
The Gashiro inside were distracted. Just as they realized they were under attack, Zuo Luohuan, Jiang Hong, and the others burst in.
Zuo Luohuan led her team to focus on the people inside holding light guns, showing no mercy. The surrounding robot dogs tried to attack them frantically, but there were only about twenty of them. It was clear that in order to control the entire capital, the number of robot dogs in the Gashiro's hands was limited.
But two Gashiro soldiers reacted extremely quickly, pulling out a handful of spheres from their pockets and smashing them on the ground. The moment the spheres hit the floor, they became fourth-generation robot dogs and rushed toward the crouching civilians.
Jiang Hong immediately gave a warning. Fourth-generation robot dogs had to be shot through before they could climb onto someone.
Zuo Luohuan, who clearly had her back to the two Gashiro soldiers, suddenly raised her hand behind her and fired two shots, hitting them right in the forehead.
There weren't many enemies in the underground escape shelter. Zuo Luohuan and Jiang Hong took less than half an hour to eliminate them all. But after they stopped, the team members fell silent upon seeing the piles of bodies in the corner, clearly dead for several days.
Zuo Luohuan stared at the camera directly opposite her and suddenly frowned. "Jiang Hong, see what they recorded."
Jiang Hong walked over, quickly checked the optical computer connected to the camera, and successfully infiltrated other networked locations. "...This should be a secret wireless communication channel they set up, allowing them to stay in contact even when the signal is disrupted."
"Look." Jiang Hong's face was dark as he showed her the videos playing from other locations.
It was much as Zuo Luohuan had guessed. Various residential areas were under control. What was worse, the people guarding the residents seemed to have received orders to start randomly shooting civilians, regardless of age or gender, stopping only after a certain number had been killed.
"What now?" Jiang Hong asked.
Zuo Luohuan glanced at the group of civilians huddled in the corner, trembling. Next to them were bodies that had been dead for days. "You take a group and find a place with a signal. Contact General Captain Ji and have more people sent out. Use the port as the center and sweep through the area."
Jiang Hong immediately turned and left.
Zuo Luohuan signaled her team to clean up the bodies. She didn't let the civilians leave for now; there were too many unknowns outside. Staying here might be safer.
"Can anyone stand up and tell me what happened these past few days?" Zuo Luohuan suddenly asked.
"Who are you?" A short-haired woman stood up. Looking at the skeletal mech on Zuo Luohuan, she said, "I've never seen anything like this. Although you seem to be here to save us, what you're wearing looks more like Gashiro technology."
Zuo Luohuan took off her skeletal mech. "Students from the First Military Academy."
The civilians, already like startled birds, immediately stirred. Zuo Luohuan quieted them and walked over to the short-haired woman. "Can you tell me what happened these past few days?"
"Around ten at night, the community gate was suddenly sealed, and those Gashiro people attacked us with a group of robot dogs," the short-haired woman said as she stepped forward. "Many of the port's guards live in our community. They tried to fight back, but they all failed."
Tears welled in the short-haired woman's eyes. "There was no escape, no matter what. Those robot dogs... they were terrifying."
Her words resonated with many of the civilians, and some couldn't help but break down and cry.
"Why did you take so long to get here?" The short-haired woman wiped her face forcefully and pointed at the bodies being carried out. "They're already starting to stink."
Hearing this, Zuo Luohuan frowned. Before she could react, the short-haired woman, who was already close, suddenly flicked out a dagger and stabbed viciously toward her heart.
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