Vol 14: Chapter 10-1.
Zheng took several deep breaths. The yellings, the fears on the troopers running away, and those attacking under Kampa’s commands were in slow motion during unlocked mode. He was like the audience watching through a screen. Every movement was vividly printed in his head. The brutal scene activated his qi again.
He looked at the bended knife on his hand. The knife wouldn’t have been able to stab through the eyelid of the bug. That was the result of him forcing it in. That stab bended the tip of the knife. The technology used wasn’t anything high tech. Its toughness was less than titanium. He threw the knife on the ground then pulled the leg out from his stomach. Blood spurted out. He stepped a foot on the dead bug and gave a hard pull with his left hand. The qi in addition to his abnormal strength made him snapped a leg off the joint of the bug. It was spear like, about one meter long, and with unbelievable toughness. He swung the leg a few times then charged at the other jungle spider.
That bug’s vision had been focusing on him for a while. As soon as it saw Zheng snapped off the leg, it abandoned the troopers around and leaped at Zheng.
Multiple thoughts flashed through Zheng’s mind in this instant. Yet, before he could do anything, several bullets hit the tip of the jungle spider’s front leg. The bullets weren’t powerful but they broke the spider bug’s balance and made it rolled forward. Rolling towards Zheng. He stabbed the leg forward without a second thought. The leg pierced the bug’s head. A few twitches later, its body stopped moving.
Zheng pulled out the leg and panted. A dozen troopers ran toward him as they cheered. The cheers were seemingly crazy at this point. The female troopers hurriedly bandaged the wound on his stomach. WangXia walked over and asked. “You alright?”
“Not an issue. Big rewards. 100 points each. And you? Did the kills from the tactical nuke reward you points?” Zheng recalled the notification and replied.
WangXia paused for a moment then gave a bitter smile. “No points. It seems like the tactical nuke won’t give you points. Maybe that’s due to the nuke being their weapon.”
Zheng looked around at the troopers staring at him with admiration, especially from the female troopers tending his wound. He sighed and said. “Everyone back to your assigned position. The first group continue shooting. Second group get ready! Coordinate to swap in groups of a hundred. Third group begin clean up of dead bodies and delivery of ammunition!”
The troopers scattered back to their position following his shout. Other troopers on this mountain top were resting on the ground. They knew this was the time to fight for their lives. They couldn’t afford to waste any energy. And maybe this was the final rest of their lives.
The second group gradually swapped places with the first group. These three hundred troopers dropped to the ground completely exhausted as soon as they were off the defense line. People had to carry them back to the bonfires. Water, ration, and over ten minutes of resting before they came back to their senses. Then they just sat there quietly.
Physical exhaustion was intense but so was the mental pressure. That boundless sea of bugs was seemingly just a moment away from breaking through their defense. They were fortunate to be in a strategic location.
“Zheng, be careful. Another of those new tanker bugs is coming up. It wasn’t moving fast but the others bugs are hiding behind it.”
Lan’s voice was transferred to his mind along with an image. He saw an eight meter tall black bug crawling toward them step by step.
“WangXia, how are the modified grenades?” Zheng quickly turned to WangXia. He brought out several grenades that looked normal.
WangXia said. “The dynamite in this world is high tech. Inside the grenades is a thumb size unknown white crystal stabilized by black liquids. I don’t know of its power so I took out the crystals from ten grenades and put them into a single shell. However, that means the amount of stabilizer is reduced. I am uncertain of its effect. It maybe dangerous. You have to decide whether to use these grenades.”
Zheng nodded. He took the grenades then put them into the ring. The lack of stabilizer might mean any intense movement could trigger them. The Na ring was safer in this respect. He looked ahead and muttered. “WangXia, remember to use the tactical nukes when that tanker bug gets close. We still have forty one, don’t let them go to waste. Or else we might not even make it to three hours.”
Dozens of blaster bugs began moving up the road as they spoke. On the back of several of them were tumors. Now that the troopers knew what these tumors were, their fire was focused on these blaster bugs. Those bugs were killed at the 500m mark. The tumors only shot forward 400m before landing. As soon as the jungle spiders stretched out, hundreds of guns focused on them and killed these jungle spiders.
However, there was always a cost to any action. Several blaster bugs broke through the 100m mark when the troopers were focused on the jungle spiders. Rays of fire shot out. They could feel the heat despite the distance.
Kampa shouted. “Don’t panic! They are still far away. Continue shooting! Do not back off one step even at the cost of your life! Otherwise you will be subjected to military punishment!” He stood in front of everyone and began shooting with his two rifles. It increased the troopers’ courage. Everyone was yelling and shouting at this point. Some Caucasian tore off their uniform and jumped out just like Kampa.
The blaster bugs weren’t invincible. Gunfire finally broke through their exoskeleton when they reached the 50m mark. They didn’t get to shoot fire again as their bodies got torn by the bullets.
Everyone synchronized a sigh of relief. The blaster bugs charged ahead so that the next wave of bugs were still some distance away. A hundred troopers immediately dropped to the ground to catch their breaths at this opportunity. Xuan noticed it and ordered the next group to swap in.
“Zheng, the tanker bug is coming! They masked the tanker bug. Something is not right!”