Chapter 214: The City Lock About to Seal
The heavy alloy city gates slowly descended along their sliding tracks, the dull roar of metal grinding against metal drowning out the faint beast roars echoing from afar.
The returning soldiers and the wounded on stretchers, mixed with the final batch of evacuated civilians, scrambled frantically through the gate. Military police on both sides maintained order, constantly urging the slow-moving to quicken their pace. Many were still covered in sand and dried black blood. Some were still trapped in shallow illusions, their eyes empty, needing their companions to support them just to move. At the tail end of the column, a few rearguard soldiers retreated into the gate while keeping a watchful eye behind them. On the wasteland outside, the dark shadows of the scaled beasts were continuously closing in along the main road.
"Hurry! The gates have only twenty breaths left before closing!" the gate engineer shouted at the top of his lungs, his hands tightly gripping the hydraulic control console. "Once everyone is inside, immediately evacuate inward! Do not gather in the gate tunnel!"
The news of Old Zhou's death at the chokepoint had already spread throughout the city via the communication network. There were no impassioned eulogies, no time to stop and mourn. A heavy, oppressive weight sat in everyone's chests. Many soldiers who had fought alongside him gripped their weapons tightly, jaws clenched, grief and anger surging in their eyes. But they knew that grief could not solve the crisis before them. If the city gates fell, the entire bastion would become a slaughterhouse.
Outside the city gates, the beast tide advanced steadily.
Five third-tier scaled beasts walked at the very front. The one whose eye Old Zhou had blinded was in the center, its eye socket still constantly seeping blood, emitting occasional low, furious roars. The ordinary scaled beasts spread out on both flanks, searching the ruins along both sides of the road for lone survivors, not letting anyone lingering in the outer perimeter escape. The Beast Commander did not urge a full-speed charge, maintaining a steady pace of advancement, allowing the Illusion and Sharp-Sense Ancient Beings to continuously project psychic waves outward.
The invisible psychic tide washed over the city walls, seeping into every corner of the city.
The soldiers who had just entered the city had briefly relaxed, but in the next second, the familiar, chilling whispers entangled their ears once again. Some saw the outside of the city wall covered in layers upon layers of scaled beasts, only for the illusion to dissipate in an instant, revealing the beast herd still hundreds of meters away on the wasteland. Others heard Old Zhou's shouts from the direction of the chokepoint and instinctively wanted to turn and rush out, only to be firmly held down by their comrades.
"Stabilize your minds! Check each other in pairs! Do not be led astray by illusions!" the non-commissioned officers roared continuously, repeating the wake-up code words that had been etched into their bones.
The rocky hill observation shed was located in a reinforced basement on the inner side of the main city wall. Lin Yan sat cross-legged in front of the control console, his forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat. Having stared at the consciousness of the five ancient beings with his Sea of Consciousness for a long time, his own Sea of Consciousness continuously endured the washing of residual waves, sending waves of burning pain. On the screen, dense thermal signatures moved forward along the main road of the wasteland like a black flood, heading straight for the city wall.
"The beast herd is 220 meters from the main city wall, with seven third-tier scaled beasts leading the formation. The number of ordinary scaled beasts is approximately 160," Lin Yan reported the data calmly, then turned his focus toward the subterranean cavern. "Inside the cavern, the five ancient beings remain guarding the core of the rift, not stepping forward personally. The Beast Commander has full authority over the frontline beast tide. The supreme ruler is still observing the defensive configuration of the main city gates. The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being is accumulating a large-scale psychic impact, waiting to release it synchronously when the beast herd reaches the base of the wall."
In the command hall, Scholar Su stood before the massive sand table, his expression stern.
The outer perimeter defenses were completely lost, all Sea of Consciousness combat power was incapacitated, and most of the heavy firepower equipment had been destroyed. Inside the city, only the city wall defense system, twelve fixed piercing cannons mounted on the wall, and fewer than 120 soldiers still capable of combat remained. The spore anchor points within the city were still occasionally restless, the security forces were exhausted, and the panic of the civilians was spreading through the streets and alleys.
"Notify the wall cannon positions to fire on unified command, prioritizing concentrated fire on the third-tier scaled beasts," Scholar Su ordered in a deep voice. "The reserve demolition teams inside the city wall must be in position. Once the city gates are breached, immediately detonate the blocking explosives pre-buried in the gate tunnel. All civilians must be transferred to the inner city underground shelter. The military police must seal off the streets and alleys in zones to prevent anyone from losing control to illusions and opening the side gates."
Messengers ran swiftly, and the orders were implemented layer by layer.
On the city wall, the soldiers took their positions separately, lying behind the firing embrasures, their weapons aimed at the wasteland outside. The barrels of the fixed piercing cannons slowly depressed, targeting the approaching beast herd. The wind blew in from the embrasures, carrying the rich stench of blood and the musty odor of spores from the wasteland. Everyone could clearly see the black shadows of the beasts continuously growing larger.
150 meters.
100 meters.
The beast herd stopped, gathering just outside the range of the city wall's long-range firepower.
The Beast Commander's consciousness wave transmitted outward, and the scaled beasts dispersed in an orderly fashion, dividing into several small squads, each aiming at different sections of the city wall to avoid clustering in one spot and being massively slaughtered by the heavy cannons above. The seven third-tier scaled beasts were distributed at the head of each assault squad, each corresponding to a section of the wall.
In the next moment, the large-scale psychic impact accumulated by the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being erupted and spread.
This time, it was no longer fine, rain-like spikes, but a thick, turbid tide of consciousness. It washed over the city wall and swept across the entire main city.
In an instant, many soldiers on the city wall groaned, clutching their heads and curling up behind the embrasures, their temples throbbing violently, the world spinning before their eyes. In the shelter, many civilians screamed. Some trembled uncontrollably, while others, losing their minds, walked toward the city wall, only to be immediately intercepted by the military police. The Illusion Ancient Being struck simultaneously, countless terrifying images exploding in everyone's Sea of Consciousness: the city wall collapsing, scaled beasts flooding into the streets, loved ones being pounced upon by behemoths, the subterranean rift expanding infinitely to swallow everything.
"Fire!"
Scholar Su seized the brief gap after the psychic impact and issued the attack order in a fierce voice.
The twelve fixed piercing cannons roared simultaneously, the sound of breaking the air making the city wall tremble slightly. Long-rod armor-piercing shells接连 (one after another) smashed into the dispersed third-tier scaled beasts, black blood splattering. One third-tier scaled beast took a hit to its hind leg, lost its balance, and fell heavily to its knees, but it quickly struggled back up, continuing to gather momentum with a low growl.
Seeing this, the Beast Commander immediately issued the charge order.
The dispersed scaled beast squads activated simultaneously, charging fiercely toward the city wall. Lacking the ability to climb, their sole target was one thing: the heavy alloy main gate. As long as this gate was smashed open, the passage to the inner city would be completely exposed.
"They are concentrating their main attack on the front gate! The flanks are merely diversions!" Lin Yan quickly intercepted the beast herd's deployment signal and reported loudly. "Adjust all cannon barrels, concentrate fire on the four third-tier scaled beasts in the direction of the front gate!"
The gunners gritted their teeth and turned the gun carriages, re-locking their targets. The psychic tide washed over their Seas of Consciousness wave after wave. Every adjustment required fighting against dizziness and hallucinations. Many gunners shouted code words to wake each other up while completing the entire process of loading, aiming, and firing.
BOOM!
The first third-tier scaled beast slammed fiercely into the alloy city gate.
The entire massive door trembled violently, the reinforced steel plates of the gate frame emitting a groan of unbearable stress. Rivets popped out from the crevices in the wall one by one, clinking as they hit the ground. The behemoth took two steps back, then accelerated to ram again. The second and third followed closely behind, ramming in turns. The continuous sounds of impact were like heavy drumbeats striking the hearts of everyone inside the city.
Deep within the cavern, the five ancient beings quietly perceived the vibrations coming from the city gate.
The Beast Commander provided real-time feedback on the impact force and the gate's damage; the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being continuously pushed psychic waves, constantly lowering the defenders' reaction speed; the Illusion Ancient Being stoked the fear of the crowds throughout the city; and the Spiderweb Ancient Being locked onto three hidden high-level spore nodes, holding them in reserve, preparing to detonate them when the city gate defense was at its most critical, creating massive chaos inside the main city.
The supreme ruler's consciousness slowly swept across the entire bastion.
It had watched humanity's tenacious resistance at the outer perimeter, had watched individuals like Old Zhou who still blocked the path despite knowing they would die. Now, it wanted to see how long this main city wall could endure, and to what extent the will of these humans, who had retreated to their last stand, could hold.
At the front gate, the impacts came in waves.
The alloy door was already covered in dense dents. The hydraulic support pipelines began to leak, and faint white mist drifted from the edges of the door seams. The gate engineer stared at the dashboard, his palms sweating profusely. The hydraulic pressure value was continuously dropping.
"Main gate hydraulic pressure is below 30%! It won't hold much longer!" the engineer roared his report.
Scholar Su looked at the behemoths continuously ramming outside the city wall, then at the intelligence prompt from Lin Yan beside the communicator. He knew in his heart that this city gate could not withstand many more rounds of impact.
Above the wasteland, beast roars shook the heavens. Beneath the city walls, a bloody battle had just begun. And deep within the subterranean darkness, the five ancient lizard beings quietly waited for the moment the city gates would shatter.
End of Chapter.
The returning soldiers and the wounded on stretchers, mixed with the final batch of evacuated civilians, scrambled frantically through the gate. Military police on both sides maintained order, constantly urging the slow-moving to quicken their pace. Many were still covered in sand and dried black blood. Some were still trapped in shallow illusions, their eyes empty, needing their companions to support them just to move. At the tail end of the column, a few rearguard soldiers retreated into the gate while keeping a watchful eye behind them. On the wasteland outside, the dark shadows of the scaled beasts were continuously closing in along the main road.
"Hurry! The gates have only twenty breaths left before closing!" the gate engineer shouted at the top of his lungs, his hands tightly gripping the hydraulic control console. "Once everyone is inside, immediately evacuate inward! Do not gather in the gate tunnel!"
The news of Old Zhou's death at the chokepoint had already spread throughout the city via the communication network. There were no impassioned eulogies, no time to stop and mourn. A heavy, oppressive weight sat in everyone's chests. Many soldiers who had fought alongside him gripped their weapons tightly, jaws clenched, grief and anger surging in their eyes. But they knew that grief could not solve the crisis before them. If the city gates fell, the entire bastion would become a slaughterhouse.
Outside the city gates, the beast tide advanced steadily.
Five third-tier scaled beasts walked at the very front. The one whose eye Old Zhou had blinded was in the center, its eye socket still constantly seeping blood, emitting occasional low, furious roars. The ordinary scaled beasts spread out on both flanks, searching the ruins along both sides of the road for lone survivors, not letting anyone lingering in the outer perimeter escape. The Beast Commander did not urge a full-speed charge, maintaining a steady pace of advancement, allowing the Illusion and Sharp-Sense Ancient Beings to continuously project psychic waves outward.
The invisible psychic tide washed over the city walls, seeping into every corner of the city.
The soldiers who had just entered the city had briefly relaxed, but in the next second, the familiar, chilling whispers entangled their ears once again. Some saw the outside of the city wall covered in layers upon layers of scaled beasts, only for the illusion to dissipate in an instant, revealing the beast herd still hundreds of meters away on the wasteland. Others heard Old Zhou's shouts from the direction of the chokepoint and instinctively wanted to turn and rush out, only to be firmly held down by their comrades.
"Stabilize your minds! Check each other in pairs! Do not be led astray by illusions!" the non-commissioned officers roared continuously, repeating the wake-up code words that had been etched into their bones.
The rocky hill observation shed was located in a reinforced basement on the inner side of the main city wall. Lin Yan sat cross-legged in front of the control console, his forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat. Having stared at the consciousness of the five ancient beings with his Sea of Consciousness for a long time, his own Sea of Consciousness continuously endured the washing of residual waves, sending waves of burning pain. On the screen, dense thermal signatures moved forward along the main road of the wasteland like a black flood, heading straight for the city wall.
"The beast herd is 220 meters from the main city wall, with seven third-tier scaled beasts leading the formation. The number of ordinary scaled beasts is approximately 160," Lin Yan reported the data calmly, then turned his focus toward the subterranean cavern. "Inside the cavern, the five ancient beings remain guarding the core of the rift, not stepping forward personally. The Beast Commander has full authority over the frontline beast tide. The supreme ruler is still observing the defensive configuration of the main city gates. The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being is accumulating a large-scale psychic impact, waiting to release it synchronously when the beast herd reaches the base of the wall."
In the command hall, Scholar Su stood before the massive sand table, his expression stern.
The outer perimeter defenses were completely lost, all Sea of Consciousness combat power was incapacitated, and most of the heavy firepower equipment had been destroyed. Inside the city, only the city wall defense system, twelve fixed piercing cannons mounted on the wall, and fewer than 120 soldiers still capable of combat remained. The spore anchor points within the city were still occasionally restless, the security forces were exhausted, and the panic of the civilians was spreading through the streets and alleys.
"Notify the wall cannon positions to fire on unified command, prioritizing concentrated fire on the third-tier scaled beasts," Scholar Su ordered in a deep voice. "The reserve demolition teams inside the city wall must be in position. Once the city gates are breached, immediately detonate the blocking explosives pre-buried in the gate tunnel. All civilians must be transferred to the inner city underground shelter. The military police must seal off the streets and alleys in zones to prevent anyone from losing control to illusions and opening the side gates."
Messengers ran swiftly, and the orders were implemented layer by layer.
On the city wall, the soldiers took their positions separately, lying behind the firing embrasures, their weapons aimed at the wasteland outside. The barrels of the fixed piercing cannons slowly depressed, targeting the approaching beast herd. The wind blew in from the embrasures, carrying the rich stench of blood and the musty odor of spores from the wasteland. Everyone could clearly see the black shadows of the beasts continuously growing larger.
150 meters.
100 meters.
The beast herd stopped, gathering just outside the range of the city wall's long-range firepower.
The Beast Commander's consciousness wave transmitted outward, and the scaled beasts dispersed in an orderly fashion, dividing into several small squads, each aiming at different sections of the city wall to avoid clustering in one spot and being massively slaughtered by the heavy cannons above. The seven third-tier scaled beasts were distributed at the head of each assault squad, each corresponding to a section of the wall.
In the next moment, the large-scale psychic impact accumulated by the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being erupted and spread.
This time, it was no longer fine, rain-like spikes, but a thick, turbid tide of consciousness. It washed over the city wall and swept across the entire main city.
In an instant, many soldiers on the city wall groaned, clutching their heads and curling up behind the embrasures, their temples throbbing violently, the world spinning before their eyes. In the shelter, many civilians screamed. Some trembled uncontrollably, while others, losing their minds, walked toward the city wall, only to be immediately intercepted by the military police. The Illusion Ancient Being struck simultaneously, countless terrifying images exploding in everyone's Sea of Consciousness: the city wall collapsing, scaled beasts flooding into the streets, loved ones being pounced upon by behemoths, the subterranean rift expanding infinitely to swallow everything.
"Fire!"
Scholar Su seized the brief gap after the psychic impact and issued the attack order in a fierce voice.
The twelve fixed piercing cannons roared simultaneously, the sound of breaking the air making the city wall tremble slightly. Long-rod armor-piercing shells接连 (one after another) smashed into the dispersed third-tier scaled beasts, black blood splattering. One third-tier scaled beast took a hit to its hind leg, lost its balance, and fell heavily to its knees, but it quickly struggled back up, continuing to gather momentum with a low growl.
Seeing this, the Beast Commander immediately issued the charge order.
The dispersed scaled beast squads activated simultaneously, charging fiercely toward the city wall. Lacking the ability to climb, their sole target was one thing: the heavy alloy main gate. As long as this gate was smashed open, the passage to the inner city would be completely exposed.
"They are concentrating their main attack on the front gate! The flanks are merely diversions!" Lin Yan quickly intercepted the beast herd's deployment signal and reported loudly. "Adjust all cannon barrels, concentrate fire on the four third-tier scaled beasts in the direction of the front gate!"
The gunners gritted their teeth and turned the gun carriages, re-locking their targets. The psychic tide washed over their Seas of Consciousness wave after wave. Every adjustment required fighting against dizziness and hallucinations. Many gunners shouted code words to wake each other up while completing the entire process of loading, aiming, and firing.
BOOM!
The first third-tier scaled beast slammed fiercely into the alloy city gate.
The entire massive door trembled violently, the reinforced steel plates of the gate frame emitting a groan of unbearable stress. Rivets popped out from the crevices in the wall one by one, clinking as they hit the ground. The behemoth took two steps back, then accelerated to ram again. The second and third followed closely behind, ramming in turns. The continuous sounds of impact were like heavy drumbeats striking the hearts of everyone inside the city.
Deep within the cavern, the five ancient beings quietly perceived the vibrations coming from the city gate.
The Beast Commander provided real-time feedback on the impact force and the gate's damage; the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being continuously pushed psychic waves, constantly lowering the defenders' reaction speed; the Illusion Ancient Being stoked the fear of the crowds throughout the city; and the Spiderweb Ancient Being locked onto three hidden high-level spore nodes, holding them in reserve, preparing to detonate them when the city gate defense was at its most critical, creating massive chaos inside the main city.
The supreme ruler's consciousness slowly swept across the entire bastion.
It had watched humanity's tenacious resistance at the outer perimeter, had watched individuals like Old Zhou who still blocked the path despite knowing they would die. Now, it wanted to see how long this main city wall could endure, and to what extent the will of these humans, who had retreated to their last stand, could hold.
At the front gate, the impacts came in waves.
The alloy door was already covered in dense dents. The hydraulic support pipelines began to leak, and faint white mist drifted from the edges of the door seams. The gate engineer stared at the dashboard, his palms sweating profusely. The hydraulic pressure value was continuously dropping.
"Main gate hydraulic pressure is below 30%! It won't hold much longer!" the engineer roared his report.
Scholar Su looked at the behemoths continuously ramming outside the city wall, then at the intelligence prompt from Lin Yan beside the communicator. He knew in his heart that this city gate could not withstand many more rounds of impact.
Above the wasteland, beast roars shook the heavens. Beneath the city walls, a bloody battle had just begun. And deep within the subterranean darkness, the five ancient lizard beings quietly waited for the moment the city gates would shatter.
End of Chapter.