Chapter 985: Chapter 985

The officer clad in exoskeleton armor stood among the crowd, looking at the elderly man standing at the far end of the bloodbath, then turned to the soldiers hesitating amidst the pools of blood and corpses, raising his arm,

"Fire!!! Fire!!! That is your enemy, fire!!!"

His voice echoed through the corridors, reverberating in the blood-scented space.

Some soldiers raised their firearms, but many others, equipped with the simplest of gear, bowed their heads, looking at the blood and corpses with hesitation.

They were not purely green recruits; they had hunted exotic beasts and committed cultists in the wilderness, they knew not everyone in this world could be killed by a bullet, and they knew the great gap between a powerful Transcendent and ordinary soldiers.

"Commander, the terrain is not in our favor right now, we can’t bring our firepower into play,"

a soldier raised his head and looked to the officer in front of him, "We should move to an open area..."

"A bunch of cowards."

The officer directly snatched the machine gun from a nearby soldier.

It was a standoff; if they retreated then, the entire morale would be completely shattered. By the time they reached the open, they would only be able to discard their helmets and armor and surrender.

The officer lifted the machine gun in his hands and pulled the trigger.

And just as a torrent of flames burst from the muzzle of the machine gun, the elderly man at the end of the alleyway lifted his head to look at him.

In that instant, everyone’s field of view seemed to flicker.

The elderly man, leaning on his cane, seemed still to be standing there.

And yet, it seemed as if he had already vanished before their eyes.

A crisp sound rang out in everyone’s ears.

The gushing flame went out in an instant, and the officer looked down to see a cane piercing his body, and he saw the elderly man in front of him slowly withdrawing the cane.

Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth; he opened his mouth, but could not utter another word.

He Ao raised his hand to cover the officer’s eyelids.

His body fell backward, crashing to the ground.

As the officer’s body was still falling, gunshot after gunshot rang out from nearby soldiers.

Some of the soldiers around him charged directly towards He Ao, standing in the midst of the crowd.

Blood splattered in the already dim corridor, toppled corpses covered the floor, and one body filled the space between corpses, only to be pressed down by new ones.

Time passed quickly, yet it seemed so slow; some people didn’t have time to react with their guns before the gunfire seemed to gradually fade away.

The remaining soldiers crowded in the rear corridor, holding their firearms, trembling as they watched all that unfolded before them, watching the crimson bodies spread like a blanket over the floor, watching the elderly man step out from the pile of corpses, walking.

They watched that aged face, as though gazing upon death itself.

They saw the elderly man step over the corpses on the ground, saw those leather shoes glide over the sticky blood.

Step by step, he came closer to them.

Some grasped their guns, some tensed their bodies, but not one dared to raise their gun again, aiming at the elderly man.

The golden cane struck the ground, and the fresh red blood trickled down its side, blending into the sticky blood covering the floor.

The elderly man halted his steps, hands resting on the cane before him, and calmly gazed at the soldiers in front of him, "I believe some of you recognize me. I am now officially taking over the command of the North City Defense Forces. The ringleader is dead, those who surrender will be spared."

Upon hearing the elderly man’s voice, the crowd shuddered slightly, looking at each other.

Eventually, a young soldier at the forefront trembled as he knelt down, laying down his rifle, and slowly raised his hands.

He Ao watched the young soldier who had laid down his gun—it was precisely the same soldier who had just been released after delivering the red wine.

The soldier must have been hiding in some room, as He Ao saw him running out of the room and blending into the squad.

According to his uniform number, he should have been originally part of the troops before him.

When the first person appeared, everyone else seemed to snap out of a trance. Immediately afterward, one by one, they crouched down, and handful after handful of rifles were placed on the ground.

Just then, a dense rush of footsteps echoed from deep in the corridor, suggesting a new force was nearing.

"It’s the second battalion, they were right behind us..."

A soldier said softly within the crowd.

As this statement spread, an invisible restlessness spread among the soldiers, who had already laid down their arms. With the rear troops approaching, the first ones they would collide with would be themselves.

Some of them raised their eyes, looking at He Ao.

They had surrendered, no longer belonging to Scott’s forces. If He Ao didn’t take care of them now, staying in this perilous position would likely make them targets for the troop coming from behind.

As if sensing the soldiers’ gazes, or maybe seeing nothing at all, the Elder picked up his cane resting on the ground, stepped forward, and slowly spoke,

"Pick up your guns, prepare to quell the rebellion."

His words, like an invisible hand, smoothed the ripples in people’s hearts. After a brief hesitation, the soldiers one by one squatted down and picked up the guns.

Then they turned around and followed the Elder’s steps, facing the rapidly advancing army behind them.

North City Gate Control Center

Stray bullets whizzed against the metallic door. A soldier wearing a military cap took cover behind it, shooting outside while loudly asking the tall soldier hiding behind another side of the window,

"When exactly is the reinforcement you talked about supposed to arrive?"

In the distance, their sandbag barricade had been overturned in places, while other remaining bags were being used by soldiers in Exoskeleton Armor as cover to advance.

"Don’t know! It should be soon!"

The tall soldier ducked back behind the window, reloading his magazine as he spoke rapidly.

"When exactly is ’soon’?"

The soldier with the military cap shouted, "If we wait any longer, we won’t be able to hold on."

Then he too quickly removed the empty magazine from his rifle, reaching to his waist only to find it empty, "I’m out of ammo, damn it."

A grenade landed in front of the military-capped soldier’s door. He immediately moved sideways and retreated behind the adjacent wall.

With a fierce explosion, the door used for cover was blown apart.

"Speed up! We’re already three full minutes behind schedule!"

Behind the sandbags, the young officer, holding his rifle, looked toward the blown-open metallic gate and shouted loudly.

"Commander, the firepower on the other side exceeds our expectations!"

One of the soldiers quickly responded.

"That’s no excuse for failure! Our firepower is much stronger than theirs."

The young officer yelled, "Their firepower has already reduced significantly, they are almost out of ammo—charge and kill them, take control of the center."

"Commander, regarding the broadcast just now..."

Among the crowd, another soldier couldn’t help but ask,

"That must be fake, Mid has been wanting to start a rebellion for a long time now, don’t fall for his trap. The moment we open the door, it’s all over!"

The young officer lifted his rifle, "A life of luxury is waiting for you, charge!!!"

The surrounding soldiers lifted their guns and burst out from behind sandbags.

At that moment, the sudden intense sound of gunfire erupted in this narrow space.

The young officer was a bit stunned; he picked up his gun—these gunshots didn’t come from him and his subordinates, nor from the depleted defense forces on the other side.

At this moment, he seemed to realize something and turned his head.

A strong man with a scarred face slowly charged from the rear, holding a gun. He looked at the young officer, glanced down at his own gun that had emptied its magazine, then simply threw the whole gun away. He snatched a machine gun from a Mechanical Armored Warrior who followed him and aimed it at the young officer.

The rapid gunfire, accompanied by intense bullets, instantly filled the young officer’s field of view.

He wanted to dodge, but it was too late.

Fresh red blood blossomed on his chest, and the powerful impact sent his whole body flying backward.

And behind the young officer, in the control room with only half a door left, the soldier in the hat raised his head, "What’s that sound?"

He immediately ducked down and crawled toward the door, looking outside. When he saw the last troops outside the door, he shouted, "It’s support! The support has arrived!"

The tall soldier was also taken aback by this; he leaned on the window and looked outside.

There really was support.

He had just shouted to boost morale at random.

"Damn, kid, you really have something," said the soldier in the hat, sitting back down excitedly and looking at his teammate, "How the hell did you know support was coming?"

The tall soldier raised an eyebrow, "Otherwise, how could I be half a rank higher than you? You’ve got a lot more to learn, kid."

"Flattering you a bit and you get all high and mighty. I think it’s just a case of a blind cat running into a dead rat," the soldier in the hat turned away, glanced at the soldiers appearing from behind, and breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall as if drained of all strength, "I see Commander Mid, we’re really saved."

He fumbled a half-finished cigarette from his pocket, shakily lit it, and put it in his mouth, "Damn it, I have to ask who the big shot was that called for our rescue."

North City Command Center Building

Soldiers wearing Exoskeleton Armor rushed up the stairs at high speed.

"Has everyone else arrived?"

Leading them was an officer in his forties with a broad face. He ran quickly upwards while turning to a younger officer beside him and asked briskly.

"Most have arrived; they are following us," the young officer replied promptly, "Some are still assembling, not far from us."

"We are far behind," the broad-faced officer looked at the stairs ahead leading to the top floor, "Scott’s people are on higher floors, closer to the top floor, and also live together. They can gather much faster than us. One step slow, every step slow; the situation is probably not optimistic."

"At least one powerful Transcendent should be protecting Mayor Lin En; he should be able to hold on for a short period,"

The young officer spoke rapidly, "We’re already moving fast enough, there should still be time."

"Once we’ve made a decision, there’s no point in regretting it."

The broad-faced officer strode towards the staircase door leading to the top floor and leaned against the wall behind the door.

At that moment, his complexion darkened slightly, "No gunshots."

Hearing this, the young officer carefully pressed his ear against the door and listened, his expression growing grave.

At this time, the soldiers who had initially stood at the back had already gathered around, flanking both sides, and then the broad-faced officer reached out and opened the staircase door.

The second the door cracked open, a thick scent of blood surged out from within.

"Who is behind this?"

But before the person behind the door could respond, a sharp shout came from behind the door.

Hearing this, the expressions of the two men changed at once.

The soldiers at the rear immediately crowded forward, arranging themselves in formation through the opened doorways.

The broad-faced officer and the young officer also gripped their guns and stepped out.

The first thing that entered their sight was the spacious lobby, followed by the corpses and fresh blood strewn all over it.

Troops of soldiers were rapidly checking the identities of the bodies at that moment, then using cargo robots to move the corpses and clean up the bloodstains.

In front of the staircase door, two soldiers clad in mechanical armor were raising machine guns, confronting the soldiers who had arranged themselves in position.

"It’s Scott’s soldiers, they’re cleaning up after the battle, and they’ve set up sentries too, I’m afraid the fight is over."

The young officer’s expression was somber as he lowered his voice and spoke rapidly.

"It seems we’re still too late, even a powerful Transcendent has difficulty unfolding their power under the siege and vitality suppression of relentless elite troops. But judging by the bloodstains on the ground, the battle must have just ended,"

The broad-faced officer gripped his gun and slammed his fist against the metal door next to him, creating a dent with a loud bang, "If we’d acted just a tad quicker, we might have made it in time."

"Don’t damage public property—"

At this moment, one of the two mechanical armored soldiers, who was closer, quickly called out.

Then he glanced down at the number on the soldier’s uniform in front of him and asked quickly, "Are you from Commander Mid’s Third Brigade?"

"What do we do next? Scott’s army is still outside, and we don’t know when they might return,"

The young officer was slightly distraught as he looked at the broad-faced officer, "But if we act quickly, we might still be able to seize Mayor Lin En’s body?"

The broad-faced officer disengaged the safety on his firearm and declared, "We’ve prepared for this many years, and there probably won’t be another chance. Even if we die, we’ll show Scott and the Consortium’s dogs a thing or two. Mayor Lin En was a brave man; we can’t let his body fall into the hands of these bastards."

"Does anyone have something to say?"

The mechanical armored soldier guarding the door looked at the soldiers in front of him with confusion, his gaze locking onto the two officers whispering to each other.

The young officer glanced at the broad-faced officer beside him and responded gravely.

"Alright, Mr. Lin En had instructed us earlier that if you came, to go a little deeper into the hall,"

The mechanical armored soldier seemed to have entirely given up on the idea of further conversation and spoke quickly, "The officers should register over there, and weapons are not allowed inside. Mr. Lin En is waiting for you in there."

The broad-faced officer roared lowly, leaning forward as his muscles tensed in an instant.

The young officer also gripped his handgun tightly at that moment.

Then both of them paused simultaneously, their heads lifting to look at the mechanical armored soldier who had spoken: