Panshi Fortress · City Wall Command Center
In front of the massive arched floor-to-ceiling window, Qin Weiguo stood like a steel sculpture. Outside the window, the rolling black cloud of death had approached to a distance visible to the naked eye!
The sharp screams of the flying ghouls were like billions of files, fiercely scraping against the fortress's energy shield (which had just risen, emitting a faint blue light)!
The three mountain-like black shadows also revealed their ferocious true forms—a gigantic Corpse Rhino covered in thick bone armor, resembling a mobile fortress! A deformed Giant Lizard with three heads, spitting poisonous flames and ice! A terrifying Crocodilian Dragon covered in metallic scales, its tail like a giant flail!
Bone Eater Stage Peak! Three of them! Leading a hundred thousand ghoul tide! Like a destructive torrent, they fiercely slammed into Panshi Fortress!
"Energy shield charged to 90%! Main cannon fully charged! Missile array locked on target! Ability User Special Operations Team has entered defensive positions!" The Chief of Staff's report sounded from behind, carrying a hint of barely concealed tension.
Qin Weiguo was expressionless, his eyes like cold blades, scanning the holographic projection of the battlefield. His fingers unconsciously caressed the old photograph in his military uniform pocket.
Suddenly! His gaze sharply focused! It landed on the flank of the battlefield, a relatively "calm" area! There... the surging of the ghoul tide seemed... somewhat abnormal? As if guided by an invisible force, avoiding a certain... point?
"Report!" An intelligence officer suddenly rushed in, his face extremely grim, "Abnormal energy fluctuations detected! Source... deep within the Linghui Academy Ruins! Intensity... unmeasurable! Type... unknown! But... the ghoul tide's trajectory... seems to be influenced by it?!"
Linghui Academy?!
Qin Weiguo's pupils suddenly constricted! He suddenly remembered something! That young man named Ling Chen! That heavily injured and unconscious Ability User from Beast Control who was sent to the Medical Center! Lin Wei... and that Chen Xue, seemed... very concerned about him?
An extremely ominous premonition, like a cold viper, instantly coiled around his heart!
He suddenly turned around and sharply ordered into the communicator: "Immediately! Connect me to Zhou Zhengyang at the Medical Center! I want real-time monitoring of that injured person named Ling Chen! Immediately!"
A few minutes earlier, they had extremely quickly crashed into Panshi Fortress, and some staff members and a portion of survivors who hadn't had time to enter were swallowed by the ghoul tide without even a scream.
The roars of the ghoul tide were like billions of rusty saws cutting through the steel city walls of Panshi Fortress.
The dull thuds of impact, even through the thick alloy gates and layers of concrete structures, still echoed like muffled drumbeats, striking the cold floor of the Medical Center's isolation ward.
Alarm red lights flashed wildly outside the one-way glass window, illuminating Ling Chen's pale face in flickering light. He leaned "weakly" on the raised hospital bed, his plaster-fixed left arm resting on his chest, and faint but regular breathing sounds came from under his oxygen mask.
On the monitoring instrument screen, the curves representing vital signs rose and fell steadily, heart rate stable at 60, blood pressure maintained at a standard state of severe injury not yet healed, with stress reactions suppressed by medication under immense threat.
Outside the ward, in the observation room. Zhou Zhengyang and Old Zhang did not retreat into deeper shelters like others.
They were like sailors nailed to a reef, staring intently at the dozen segmented monitoring screens in front of them. The largest one was displaying the terrifying scene outside the northwest city wall in real-time:
The rolling "black cloud" had completely obscured the sky! It was a death curtain formed by tens of thousands of flying ghouls! Like mad locusts, they fearlessly crashed into the faint blue energy shield that had risen around the fortress!
With every impact, violent ripples spread across the shield's surface, emitting a grating "sizzle" sound! The shield's light was dimming at a visible rate!
Even more terrifying was the ground! Ordinary ghouls, like a black tide, mixed with colossal and oddly shaped mutated beasts, like tireless battering rams, furiously impacted the thick alloy gates and spike-filled defensive fortifications!
Flesh exploded on the automatic turrets' Metal Storm and high-voltage electric nets, but the ghouls behind them stepped on their companions' remains, still charging forward relentlessly!
And at the very front of the ghoul tide, the three terrifying Bone Eater Stage Peak giant beasts, like mobile war fortresses, were launching the fiercest assault on the city wall!
The gigantic Corpse Rhino, covered in thick bone armor, was like an out-of-control locomotive, slamming into the energy shield again and again.
Each impact was accompanied by an earth-shattering roar and violent flickering of the shield!
The three heads of the three-headed Giant Lizard spewed poisonous flames, ice, and corrosive acid respectively! The poisonous flames burned on the shield, the ice froze energy flow, and the acid continuously corroded like a persistent maggot!
Three completely different destructive energies bombarded alternately, making the shield's repair speed far unable to keep up with the destruction!
The most terrifying was still the Crocodilian Dragon covered in metallic scales! Its tail, like a giant flail, let out a piercing shriek with every swing!
It slammed heavily onto the shield! With every heavy blow, the shield's surface instantly filled with spiderweb-like energy cracks, as if glass had been struck by a heavy hammer! The automatic turrets and missile launchers near the defensive nodes did not output, but the explosion's light only left scorch marks on its scales!
"Energy shield charge rate has dropped below 40%! Node Three, Node Seven overload alarm! Main cannon cooling system corroded by acid, unable to charge!" The Chief of Staff's voice shrieked in the communication channel, with a desperate tremor.
Qin Weiguo stood like an iron statue in front of the command platform, his hands pressed tightly on the edge of the holographic sand table. His expression remained unchanged, thinking that relying on such a small military force to defeat Panshi Fortress was simply a pipe dream.
However...
He stared at the three blood-red, glaring light points representing the giant beasts on the sand table! Especially that Crocodilian Dragon! Its attack route... was too precise! Every heavy blow landed on a critical node of the shield's energy flow! This was definitely not unconscious beast behavior!
"Find the controller!" Qin Weiguo's voice was low, "Behind the ghoul tide... there must be something commanding! Find it for me!"
"Commander! The energy detection array is experiencing mental interference from the ghoul tide! Unable to lock onto a precise target! Can only confirm... the interference source is behind the ghoul tide, in the direction of the Linghui Academy Ruins!"
The technical officer's voice was filled with despair.
Linghui Academy! Linghui Academy again! Qin Weiguo suddenly turned his head, his gaze like a tangible sharp blade, instantly penetrating layers of space, firmly fixed in the direction of the Medical Center!
That kid named Ling Chen... was still "unconscious" in the ward!
"Zhou Zhengyang!" Qin Weiguo roared sharply into the communicator, "Keep him under strict watch for me! Not a second out of sight! I want to know everything that happens in his ward! Everything!"
Inside the ward. Ling Chen's eyelids twitched ever so slightly.
The cold will of the Soul Jade Physique, like an invisible spiderweb, had long penetrated the alloy walls of the ward and the layers of obstruction of the fortress, covering more than half of the battlefield!
The roars of the ghoul tide, the thunder of artillery, the surging of energy... all information flooded into his consciousness like a tide!
Ling Chen also didn't think that relying solely on these low-level ghouls and a few mutated beasts that had just reached the Bone Eater Realm could break through the fortress's defenses.
The fortress's true strength far exceeded imagination! Although the main cannon was temporarily unable to charge, the heavy laser arrays and electromagnetic railguns hidden in the city wall's interlayers had not yet been activated! Qin Weiguo, that old fox, was still enduring! He was waiting! Waiting for the "Commander" hidden behind the ghoul tide to reveal its true weakness!
Then... I definitely need to significantly weaken your foundation!
Ling Chen's intent, like a cold current, converged into a needle-point size, allowing his mental power to spread very far. He used the brains of individual ghouls as conduits, instantly spanning tens of kilometers of space, precisely piercing deep into the ghoul tide, connecting with Zhuang Han's loyal soul!
Command issued:
Crocodilian Dragon! Target: Exposed node of the energy transmission pipeline on the east side of the fortress! Destroy it at all costs!
Corpse Rhino! Abandon ramming the shield! Turn! Ram the entrance of the underground ventilation shaft on the south side of the fortress! Create a collapse!
Giant Lizard! Poisonous flame head! Concentrate fire! Burn the disguised cover above the ammunition storage depot on the west side of the fortress!
Flying beast swarm! Ascend! Interfere with the anti-aircraft radar and communication antennas on top of the fortress!
Ghoul tide! Divide forces! Thirty percent of forces feign attack on the north gate! Seventy percent of forces! Full assault on the west gate! Create chaos!
The commands were precise and ruthless! As if the most precise war machine had been instantly activated!
Deep within the ghoul tide.
Zhuang Han's massive bestial body was lurking in the shadow of a half-collapsed teaching building. His dark blood patterns shimmered with an eerie light, like two burning flames!
Ling Chen's command, like a cold imperial decree, was instantly branded deep into his soul!
He suddenly raised his head, his crimson beast eyes looking towards the fortress, and let out a silent, yet soul-piercing roar that cut through the ghoul tide's clamor!
Boom—!!!
The battlefield situation instantly changed dramatically!
The Metal Storm Crocodragon suddenly ceased its bombardment of the shield nodes! Its massive body, with an agility unbefitting its size, abruptly turned! Its thick hind limbs, covered in metallic scales, vigorously pushed off the ground! Its colossal form shot forward like a cannonball, with a piercing shriek that tore through the air, charging towards a seemingly unremarkable alloy protective wall on the eastern side of The Boulder Fortress! That was… precisely where the cooling liquid transport pipeline's exposed node for the fortress's underground energy reactor was located! Once destroyed, the reactor would be forced to shut down due to overheating! The entire fortress's energy supply would instantly collapse!
"No! It's turned! Its target is the energy pipeline!" In the command center, a staff officer shrieked in alarm!
Almost simultaneously! The Bone-Armored Rhinoceros Corpse abandoned its futile ramming, its enormous head suddenly turning south! It let out a deafening roar, its four limbs, thick as stone pillars, frantically pawed the ground, kicking up a sky full of dust!
Then, like an out-of-control locomotive, with an air of crushing everything in its path, it slammed violently into an inconspicuous ventilation shaft entrance on the south side of the fortress, covered by a thick camouflage net! That was… the vital ventilation artery for the fortress's underground command center and core laboratories!
Once the entrance was collapsed and blocked, the underground area would face the fatal threat of oxygen deprivation and toxic gas backflow!
"South ventilation shaft! Quick! Stop it!" Qin Weiguo's eyes were bloodshot! He instantly understood the enemy's intention! This was a move to cut off the enemy's lifeline!
An even more fatal attack came from the three-headed Giant Lizard! The middle head, which spewed venomous flames, suddenly reared high! A dazzling, eerie green light glowed deep within its throat!
A pillar of venomous flame, ten times more ferocious than before, like lava erupting from hell, carrying terrifying high temperatures that could incinerate everything, precisely struck a "hill" on the western side of the fortress, covered with camouflage vegetation and earth!
Screech—!!!
The camouflage was instantly incinerated! Revealing below… rows upon rows of neatly arranged, heavily armored missile silos and ammunition depots! The high-temperature venomous flames frantically licked at the armor! Pungent smoke and alarm bells instantly soared into the sky!
"Ammunition depot! The western camouflage ammunition depot is exposed!" The command center fell into a dead silence! Everyone's faces instantly turned ashen! Nearly half of the fortress's strategic reserve ammunition was stored there! Once it detonated… the consequences would be unimaginable!
"Anti-air! Anti-air radar is heavily jammed! Cannot lock onto targets!" The radar operator's shriek was like a death knell!
"Communication cut off! Lost contact with front-line troops!" The communications officer desperately slapped the malfunctioning equipment!
"The Corpse Tide is splitting! The main force is assaulting the west gate! The pressure on the north gate has drastically reduced!" The intelligence officer's voice carried a hint of absurd relief, which was immediately drowned out by even greater fear! West gate! That was a relatively weak defensive area of the fortress! And… it was close to the Medical Center!
The entire command center instantly plunged into immense chaos and panic! The enemy… knew their defensive weaknesses like the back of their hand! This was definitely not an unconscious Corpse Tide! This was a meticulously planned, target-specific decapitation operation!
Qin Weiguo clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging deep into his palms! Blood dripped between his fingers! His gaze, like a poisoned dagger, once again fiercely pierced towards the Medical Center! Ling Chen! It must be him!
Only him! Only this monster who crawled out of the Linghui Academy Ruins! Could possibly understand the fortress's internal structure so thoroughly! Could possibly command this fatal attack so precisely!
"Zhou Zhengyang!" Qin Weiguo's voice, due to extreme anger, became unusually calm, yet carried a chilling coldness.
"For me… 'take care' of Ling Chen! Let him… 'feel' our Panshi Fortress's 'enthusiasm'!"
Medical Center, outside the isolation ward.
Zhou Zhengyang and Elder Zhang watched the instantly deteriorating battlefield situation on the monitoring screen, their expressions also changing drastically! Especially when they saw the main force of the Corpse Tide surge like a black torrent towards the west wall, and behind the west wall… was the area where the Medical Center was located!
"The target… is the Medical Center?!" Zhou Zhengyang's voice carried an unbelievable shock! The enemy not only wanted to destroy the fortress's defensive core, but also… to eradicate them? To kill Ling Chen? Or… to rescue him?
"Impossible!" Elder Zhang stared intently at the monitoring screen inside the ward. Ling Chen was still "unconscious," his monitoring data as stable as a dead line.
But… it was too quiet! Eerily quiet! Outside was a world-destroying war, but inside the ward, it was as if time had stopped!
"Initiate Plan B!" A ruthless glint flashed in Zhou Zhengyang's eyes as he snarled into the communicator, "Add something extra for the 'patient'! Let's see if he… can still 'sleep' so soundly!"
The order was given!
Inside the ward, several inconspicuous vents on the ceiling silently emitted a faint, colorless, and odorless mist. The mist rapidly spread, carrying an extremely faint, mint-like cool scent.
Nerve gas! Code-named "Awakener"! Inhalation of small amounts can stimulate the central nervous system, producing intense anxiety, fear, and a sense of impending death! It was an auxiliary tool used by the military for interrogation! The dosage was strictly controlled to the amount used for ordinary people, causing no permanent damage, but enough to break psychological defenses!
Zhou Zhengyang and Elder Zhang stared intently at the screen! Staring at Ling Chen's breathing curve! Staring at his heart rate! Staring at every subtle reaction of his body!
If he was faking it… under the stimulation of this nerve-acting gas, he couldn't possibly be flawless!
However…
On the hospital bed, Ling Chen's breathing… remained steady. His heart rate… even showed an extremely faint acceleration due to the gas's stimulation, consistent with a severely injured person's stress response…
It went from 60 to 65! Then… slowly fell back! His body twitched ever so slightly, his brows furrowed slightly, as if struggling in a nightmare, but he still didn't wake up!
In his previous life, he had seen all sorts of interrogation methods; this level of gas was simply too basic.
The monitoring equipment faithfully recorded all of this—a normal physiological response of a severely injured person under the dual stimulation of loud noise and neurotoxins!
"How could this be…?" A hint of wavering flashed in Elder Zhang's eyes. Could it be… that they had really wronged him? Was he truly severely injured and unconscious?
"Increase the dosage!" Zhou Zhengyang gritted his teeth and ordered! He didn't believe it!
A thicker mist sprayed into the ward!
Ling Chen's heart rate again "struggled" to rise to 70! The amplitude of his body's twitching increased! Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead (Soul Jade Physique simulation)! His breathing became slightly rapid!
But… he still didn't wake up! Although the monitoring data fluctuated, it remained within the acceptable range for a severely injured person!
There were no signs of mental collapse! No energy fluctuations from uncontrolled abilities!
"Report! West gate is in critical condition! The Corpse Tide has breached the first line of defense! 70% of automated turrets are damaged! Requesting support! Requesting support!" The desperate roar of the west gate defenders came through the communication channel!
Zhou Zhengyang's face instantly turned extremely grim! He glanced at the still "unconscious" Ling Chen, then at the precarious west gate defense line on the screen, and finally slammed his fist hard on the control panel!
"Stop releasing! Prepare to transfer the wounded!" He roared hoarsely! They couldn't waste any more time here! Once the west gate fell, the Medical Center would be the first to bear the brunt! Whether Ling Chen lived or died didn't matter, but he absolutely couldn't fall into the hands of the Corpse Tide! Whether as a possible "controller" or as a valuable "research sample"!
Inside the ward.
Deep within Ling Chen's consciousness, the cold will of the Soul Jade Physique, like the most precise filter, instantly decomposed, devoured, and transformed the inhaled neurotoxins into negligible energy. That dosage, for his powerful physique, wasn't even an appetizer.
He "felt" Zhou Zhengyang's frustration and helplessness, and a cold arc formed at the corner of his mouth, hidden by the oxygen mask.
The first round of the game… he won. With perfect disguise, he withstood Qin Weiguo's probing and the test of the nerve gas.
But… the real crisis had only just begun.
His thoughts reconnected with Zhuang Han.
New orders:
Crocodragon! Abandon the energy node! Feign injury! Retreat southwest! Draw the fortress's firepower!
Rhinoceros Corpse! Stop ramming the ventilation shaft! Turn around! Coordinate with the main force of the Corpse Tide! Assault the west gate!
Giant Lizard! Venomous flame head! Target changed! Incinerate the outer wall of the Medical Center… after the west gate's defensive fortifications!
Bat swarm! Lower altitude! Blend into the Corpse Tide! Prepare… for rendezvous!
The core of the orders: Assault the west gate! Target directly—the Medical Center!
Since Qin Weiguo wanted to use the Corpse Tide to test him… then he would let this test… become true destruction!
Let the Corpse Tide's claws… personally "verify" his "severe injury"!