Chapter 173: An Overwhelming Advance
“It’s been this long, and there’s still no news. Has the satellite picked up anything at all?”
The commander sent by Nevada frowned as he questioned his adjutant.
“Nothing. Ever since PROJECT’s ten-thousand-strong force left Agas City, there hasn’t been a single trace.”
The adjutant looked just as confused. No matter how he calculated it, even if the enemy moved at the slowest possible pace, they should have reached Elor by now. After all this time, the fighting at Amir City had already entered a white-hot phase.
New United States had seized a quarter of the city and was now locked in intense urban combat. Ironically, the inability to use large-scale destructive weapons had bogged their forces down there instead.
The Free States Alliance was desperate to break the deadlock. If that wasn’t possible, they at least wanted more reinforcements—and Nevada, which hadn’t yet formally entered the war, naturally became their main target for requests.
Meanwhile, the continued absence of PROJECT’s forces only made the commanders in Elor increasingly agitated.
“Don’t tell me those guys chickened out and didn’t dare to come?”
“Sir, our forces are under attack by an unknown entity!”
“What did you say?!”
The commander’s pupils shrank violently. He rushed forward and then froze on the spot as a unit slowly materialized on the surveillance feed.
Thoughts flashed through his mind in rapid succession.
How did they evade radar scans? How did they avoid satellite detection? How did they silently bypass the minefields and reach this point? One question after another surfaced—but the situation on the field gave him no time to think.
Emotionless robots surged forward, charging straight at Elor’s forces. The terrifying firepower combined with the sudden assault instantly tore open a breach in the front lines.
And with both sides’ troops already intermingled, they were forced to hold back, unwilling to use large-area destructive weapons for fear of friendly fire.
Seeing the situation deteriorate, the commander didn’t hesitate for a second. He immediately ordered the Rhino armored vehicles into the battlefield, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
“Go. Activate the EMP device.”
“But—”
“No ‘but.’ Follow orders!”
The commander snapped as he whipped around to glare at his adjutant. Seeing this, the adjutant stopped hesitating and slammed the button.
In an instant, a wave of electromagnetic energy rippled outward. Everyone nearby froze. Neither the PROJECT forces nor Elor’s own troops had expected the local commander to actually activate an EMP.
A flicker of surprise passed through Roland’s eyes—but it vanished just as quickly. He trusted that Chris would deliver a satisfactory answer.
“Activate the anti-EMP systems. Deploy the Nightmares. Columns One, Four, and Six disengage from the current battlefield and begin splitting the combat zone. PROJECT squad, execute the decapitation mission. Primary targets are squad leaders—remember, squad leaders, not senior officers.”
Chris issued his orders calmly and methodically, executing fine-grained control over the battlefield. With a series of precise adjustments, the flow of combat gradually fell into his rhythm.
The Nevada commander began to sense that something was wrong. No matter what countermeasures or tactical changes he tried, the opposing commander always seemed one step ahead—sometimes several steps.
It was as if an invisible hand had him firmly in its grasp, leaving him no way to break free.
At that moment, the Nightmare war chariot officially entered the battlefield. As its optical camouflage slowly dissipated, the massive black vehicle drew every eye the instant it revealed itself.
The Rhino armored vehicles rampaging across the field immediately noticed it. Without hesitation, a driver swung the turret around to lock on, while Nevada’s netrunner team launched a focused intrusion.
They were instantly hit by Kelly’s reverse trace, followed by a smooth chained counterattack—turning them into roasted brains.
Boom!
The Rhino’s large-caliber shell slammed into the Nightmare war chariot, and roaring flames swallowed its silhouette. Just as the driver thought the target had been destroyed, a deep blue energy shield flickered into view across its surface.
“What… what is that thing?!”
The Nevada commander cried out in shock.
The officers around him were stunned—let alone the soldiers facing the Nightmare war chariot head-on.
But while they stood frozen, the Nightmare didn’t pause. Its turret slowly rotated, sections of its hull rippling like overlapping scales as arcs of electricity began to glow.
Watching through the Rhino’s onboard camera, the officers felt their breathing stop.
Then, a blinding white light filled their vision.
Boom!
The ground was torn apart as an orange-red glow erupted in the distance. A stark, unmistakable scar was carved across the battlefield, and everything in the cannon’s path was wiped clean, as if erased by a cloth.
Inside Elor’s command center, the silence was suffocating. After a long moment, the sound of someone swallowing hard finally broke it.
“Th-that’s… an electromagnetic weapon…”
“Retreat… retreat!!”
The commanding officer was drenched in cold sweat. He slammed his fist onto the table and roared, as if only fury could suppress the fear clawing at his chest.
At the same time, he furiously cursed the intelligence department in his mind. You told me this place didn’t have any serious heavy firepower?!
Then you come and take that shot yourself and tell me whether this counts as heavy firepower or not!
On the battlefield, the troops who received the retreat order all let out a breath they didn’t realize they’d been holding. That single shot from the Nightmare war chariot had completely shattered their will to fight.
Roland nodded in satisfaction, acknowledging the Nightmare’s power. The only drawback was its heavy energy consumption—solving the energy issue was still a priority.
Come to think of it… if he remembered correctly, there was a coastal city near Agas City…
Mm. Worth wanting. Worth planning carefully and figuring out how to take it.
He had originally considered building space-based weapons, but… going down that route would almost certainly attract the attention of certain factions. Better to put that idea aside for now.
After all… once the Super Body appears, what’s yours will be mine—and what’s mine will still be mine.
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