Chapter 288: Remote Electrotherapy
Chapter 288: Remote Electrotherapy
"Boom!"
As the heavy object hit the ground with a dull thud, a Breacher holding an air-powered shield in the Assault Squad, who was advancing in an orderly fashion at the base of the Boarding Tower, suddenly staggered, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed.
"Enemy attack!"
The sergeant, startled by this scene, immediately commanded the soldiers to spread out and called for backup from the support squad, hoping to suppress the enemy with firepower.
However, even with the backup team quickly catching up and searching every possible hiding place, even tearing down parts of the floorboards, they still couldn't find the attacker.
What's worse, from the moment the first Breacher fell, it was as if an unknown epidemic was rapidly spreading, causing one soldier after another to collapse with their eyes rolling back.
Whether hiding behind air-powered shields, the steel beams of the Boarding Tower, or retreating into the cleared compartments, the soldiers of the Breaching Team couldn't stop the unseen attacker. They not only failed to locate the attacker but also didn't understand how their teammates were being taken down.
The soldiers, who were honestly hiding behind cover, with no body parts exposed, seemed to be picked off one by one by the Grim Reaper, passing out every few seconds. The rate of casualties was only increasing!
"Retreat! Front team to the rear, Breachers with shields hold the rear, retreat quickly!"
After the thirtieth soldier fell and lost consciousness for no apparent reason, the sergeant, who had been gritting his teeth and holding on, finally couldn't take the pressure and ordered an immediate retreat, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, the soldiers didn't get to relax for long.
Although the number of unconscious soldiers decreased sharply after the Assault Squad began to withdraw, in less than ten seconds, the "Grim Reaper," who had never shown his face, followed them down.
As the soldiers retreated with terrified expressions, one after another, they suddenly collapsed with their eyes rolling back, without any warning. It wasn't just the lagging Breaching Team; even the Support Squad in front started to have members suddenly fall, blocking the path of retreat.
He wants to wipe us all out!
Realizing the "Grim Reaper's" intention and seeing their teammates lying on the ground with uncertain fates, the Assault Squad soldiers became increasingly panicked.
At first, the sergeant tried to maintain order, but when he too collapsed with his eyes rolling back, the previously orderly retreat descended into chaos.
One by one, the soldiers, their eyes filled with terror, discarded their heavy gear and frantically ran downward. People kept collapsing, and those who fell were tripping up their teammates, who then also passed out under the "Grim Reaper's" watch.
In less than two minutes, nearly a hundred people had fallen on the long staircase of just over five hundred steps.
Both the Assault Squad that entered first and the Support Squad that followed were all lying unconscious, neatly lined up on the ground. The entire Boarding Tower fell silent, except for the breathing of the unconscious soldiers; no other sounds could be heard.
...
I might have overestimated my abilities...
After confirming that everyone who had entered the Boarding Tower was knocked out, Leon, who had activated the Holy Spirit Pendant hundreds of times in a row, couldn't help but let out a sigh, massaging his throbbing temples.
Under the premise of avoiding mass casualties, the Holy Spirit Pendant's psychic shock ability was stable and efficient, allowing him to take down targets without revealing himself. Additionally, the physical fatigue from activating it could be replenished by the War Diagonal, theoretically making it the fastest and safest way to fight.
Unfortunately, while the War Diagonal could provide infinite stamina, it couldn't compensate for mental exhaustion.
Each time Leon used the Holy Spirit Pendant to launch a psychic shock, he was using his willpower to shake the willpower of his opponents, essentially cracking open their heads like watermelons. Doing this repeatedly would eventually give him a concussion.
If it weren't for the completely unknown methods that caused the Assault Squad soldiers to be gripped by fear and their battle spirit rapidly collapsing, this mental struggle alone would be enough to make one want to drink a pot of wine.
I must change my approach!
After assessing his own condition, Leon realized that relying solely on spiritual shock wouldn't be enough to handle so many soldiers. He quickly adjusted his strategy and began climbing back up, setting up his sniper rifle that had been collecting dust in the middle section of the boarding tower.
If he were to use the Black Goat's ability to incite the guards to slaughter each other, he would undoubtedly be able to escape safely. However, unlike the previous incident with Ryan Bloodnight, the soldiers outside the tower were merely performing their duties faithfully and had not committed any unforgivable sins.
With his own three life-saving abilities: the Goat Horn's [Blood Battle Unceasing], the Goat Heart's [Dominate Substitute Death], and the ultimate trump card [Immortal in Wine], there was no need to go on a killing spree.
The most suitable approach at the moment was to temporarily disrupt the soldiers' command system, take advantage of the ensuing chaos, and make a break for it, pretending to be defeated. This would complete the "future" loop, and after Joshua's soul flame departed, he could get up and break out of the encirclement! A foolproof plan!
...
Five fully-armed elite squads were annihilated in just over two minutes from the first gunshot to the end?
Looking at the now silent boarding tower, the officer outside couldn't help but feel his palms trembling slightly.
What was going on inside?
When they first entered the tower, they had pneumatic shields and standard light armaments, and even a medium-sized automatic weapon—a typical configuration for mopping up local strongholds in large-scale wars.
The Assault Squad and Support Squad maintained a slow but steady ascent, and even if there were hundreds of armed bandits inside, they wouldn't pose any threat to them.
Even if the tower wasn't filled with armed bandits but with a similarly equipped military force, with the elite level of the breakthrough team, they should have been able to hold out for at least a little while. How could they have gone silent so quickly?
As the commander of the guard watched the boarding tower, which seemed like it could devour people, he hesitated about sending more men in to check the situation. Meanwhile, the other military units on patrol had already rushed over in a hurry.
"Matthew! What's going on in there?!"
A tall commander, surrounded by guards, approached the first commander to arrive, his face contorted with anxiety as he shouted:
"We set up so many patrol posts, how could someone still sneak in? And where are your men? I saw you send in the breakthrough team, but now there's no movement inside. What's the situation in the tower?"
"Inside the tower... be careful!"
"Bang!"
Accompanied by the sound of air being torn, a nail gun shot out from the middle of the boarding tower, piercing through the gap between two pneumatic shields and embedding itself into the ground not far away with a 'pfft' sound.
There's a sniper?!
Seeing the bullet hole just one step away from them, the two commanders who had narrowly escaped death turned pale. The cold sweat on their backs soaked through their uniform shirts, grateful that the sniper had missed, or they might have been killed on the spot.
However, before they could even call for the guards, a small dog paw emerged from the bullet hole and pushed out a strange deep purple crystal.
Thunderbolt Ore?!
Recognizing the sudden appearance of the strange crystal, which was stored in the airship's cargo hold, the two commanders' pupils constricted in shock, and they immediately turned to run.
Unfortunately, before they could complete their turn, the little dog paw slammed down, shattering the deep purple thunderbolt ore. Countless leaping arcs of electricity instantly engulfed their silhouettes!
(End of Chapter)
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