Chapter 217: Alleyway Annihilation
The layout of the streets and alleys had become a double-edged sword.
The towering concrete buildings, branching alleyways, and collapsed walls had sliced the once-flat thoroughfares into fragmented pieces. This restricted the third-tier scaled beasts from executing large-scale flanking maneuvers, but it also tore the defenders' formations into tiny, isolated blocks. The surviving soldiers operated in squads of three to five, scattered and wedged behind corners, stairwell entrances, and broken walls. Relying on the terrain, they provided alternating cover as they retreated. Every single alleyway demanded a toll of corpses and blood to buy a fraction of delayed time.
The first third-tier scaled beast to burst from the tunnel had become the spearhead of the advance. Its massive body made turning difficult in the narrow streets, yet it relied on its hardened hide to charge recklessly. Courtyard walls and makeshift shacks collapsed under its headbutts, sending bricks and rubble raining down like a storm. Two ordinary scaled beasts flanked it, creeping along the base of the walls, specifically watching for any soldiers who poked their heads out from the sides to attempt ambushes.
A four-man squad was concealed on the window ledge of a two-story building opposite them. Waiting for the behemoth to approach, they simultaneously hurled four short spears toward its vulnerable spots around the eyes and behind the ears. Two pierced the scale gaps, while the other two bounced off the hardened scales. Roaring in pain from the strikes, the third-tier scaled beast abruptly lowered its head and rammed the building's wall. With a thunderous crash, the entire outer wall cracked. The two soldiers at the window did not have time to retreat and were instantly buried beneath the collapsing bricks and rubble.
"Change positions! Do not stay in the same spot for too long!" the squad leader roared, yanking the remaining soldier up and bending low to quickly evacuate through the back alley.
The psychic tide had shrouded the entire urban district from the very beginning.
Outside the city, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being continuously emitted relentless, piercing consciousness stings. Inside the city, the three spore nodes ceaselessly leaked chaotic spore intent. The combined forces meant the torment inflicted upon the Sea of Consciousness was far more intense than outside the city walls. Seizing the characteristics of the alleyway environment, the Illusion Ancient Being made its illusions more realistic, targeting the deepest vulnerabilities in everyone's hearts. Some turned a corner only to see their own front door wide open, with a long-lost relative sitting quietly inside. Others heard a child's cries echoing from deep within a stairwell ahead. A momentary lapse in focus caused their steps to halt instinctively, only for a scaled beast lurking behind the wall to pounce and bring them down in the next instant.
Every squad had to assign a dedicated person to monitor their companions' mental states. While fighting off the leaping alien beasts, they constantly shouted code words to pull those sinking into illusions back to reality. Their already scarce manpower was further drained by this division of focus, causing their combat efficiency to steadily decline.
Hidden in the reinforced basement of a building, the rocky hill observation shed housed Lin Yan. On the console screen before him, dense thermal signatures spread inward along the main roads and side alleys like ink dropped into clear water.
"The beast herd is advancing in multiple squadrons. Three main squads of third-tier scaled beasts are pushing inward along the main street, while the remaining ordinary scaled beasts are dispersing into the side alleys to hunt and kill. The scaled beasts that infiltrated through the culverts have already engaged the military police at the end of the alley," Lin Yan reported steadily to the command hall. "In the subterranean cavern, the positions of the five ancient beings have not changed. The Beast Commander is dispatching the various beast herds in real-time, not rushing to concentrate a massive assault on the core shelter pod. Instead, it is clearing the blocks sector by sector, slowly compressing the controlled area. The Spiderweb Ancient Being is maintaining the output of the spore nodes, continuously spawning small mutated insects to create scattered attacks in the residential area."
Scholar Su stared at the sand table. The colored blocks representing their controlled zones were still shrinking inward.
The core shelter pod was located at the deepest part of the bastion, serving as the ultimate fallback zone for the entire West Bastion. Its hull was cast from thickened alloy, featured an independent oxygen supply, and had pre-buried sealing gates designed to block spores. However, there were only two main roads leading to the shelter pod, and both were now targeted by the beast herd. The residential houses and streets along the way were all destined to become battlefields of resistance.
"Notify all blocking squads: do not engage in prolonged combat; prioritize delaying the enemy," Scholar Su ordered in a deep voice. "The delayed explosives inside the buildings on both sides of the main road are to be detonated in batches; do not use them all at once. The military police squads must prioritize gathering civilians scattered in the alleys who have not yet been evacuated. Bring as many as possible."
The relay signals were sent to various locations through the damaged communication network.
In the middle section of the main street, another five-man squad was firmly entrenched at a crossroads. They had piled collapsed reinforced concrete blocks on the road as barricades, waiting for the third-tier scaled beast to approach before detonating the explosives buried beneath. Flames erupted into the sky, and碎石 (shrapnel) swept across the area. The behemoth's front limbs were wounded, and it frenziedly rammed the barricade, sending blocks of stone flying one by one. Using the smoke from the explosion as cover, the squad members quickly retreated toward the next corner behind them. A soldier covering the rear was half a step too slow and was struck by the sweeping tail of the scaled beast, collapsing to the ground on the spot.
No one could turn back to rescue him. If they stopped, the entire squad would be entangled, and everyone would be left behind here.
Deep within the cavern, the five ancient beings resonated quietly.
Receiving combat feedback from various city blocks, the Beast Commander continuously adjusted the flow rate, maintaining the sector-by-sector clearing rhythm to prevent the humans from concentrating the scattered beasts and blocking them all at once. The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being controlled the intensity of the psychic impact, maintaining a level of continuous attrition that would not instantly break everyone's minds. The Illusion Ancient Being deployed targeted, personal illusions to dismantle individual wills. The Spiderweb Ancient Being guided the spore mist through ventilation pipes and stairwell crevices into the interiors of the buildings, forcing the civilians hiding inside to actively run out of their cover and expose themselves to the scaled beasts.
The supreme ruler slowly perceived the flowing fear, despair, and the sporadic, unextinguished will to resist throughout the bastion.
It had witnessed the fall of many human strongholds, most of which saw panic spread immediately and mass routs occur once the defenses were breached. But the West Bastion was different. Even with the city gates wide open and the alleys falling, these surviving soldiers were still conducting staggered resistance. Despite knowing clearly that the outcome was nearly irreversible, they still refused to abandon covering the civilians' retreat. This resilience caused a subtle ripple of curiosity in its consciousness. It did not order the beast herd to recklessly rush the shelter pod. It was willing to advance slowly, crushing this resistance bit by bit.
"They are not rushing to raid the shelter pod. They want to clear all resistance along the way and cut off the possibility of external reinforcements before encircling the core area," Lin Yan interpreted the supreme ruler's intent and immediately warned the command hall. "We still have time, but not much. Every alleyway that falls adds another layer of danger to the perimeter of the shelter pod."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than an urgent communication came from a branching alley on the west side.
"Alley B has fallen! We are pincered by two third-tier scaled beasts, only two left! Requesting retreat support!"
The roars in the communication were quickly severed by beast howls and screams, with no further reply.
Similar messages came intermittently from all directions. City blocks were lost one after another, the blocking squads suffered continuous attrition, the explosive reserves dwindled, and the civilians the military police could find became fewer and fewer. Discarded backpacks, overturned carts, scattered medicines, and corpses left behind were visible everywhere in the alleys.
A military police squad escorting civilians to transfer was guiding over a dozen elderly and children into a narrow alley when they ran headlong into three wandering ordinary scaled beasts. The military police immediately formed a defensive line, drawing their short blades to meet the enemy while urging the civilians to keep running along the base of the wall. The sounds of slaughter echoed deep within the alley. Not long after, the dark shadows of the scaled beasts chasing the civilians emerged from the corner. The little girl running at the very back stumbled and fell to the ground.
At this exact moment, an illusion struck the mind of the military police officer guarding beside the girl.
He saw his own daughter standing in front of the scaled beast, crying and screaming. His mind faltered, and his movements hesitated for a fraction of a second. He bit his tongue fiercely, the intense pain tearing through the illusion. Disregarding everything, he rushed back to shield the little girl, driving his short blade fiercely toward the pouncing scaled beast.
A piercing shriek echoed through the alley.
Further down the main street, the leading third-tier scaled beast had already crossed the third explosive barricade, drawing closer and closer to the main road intersection leading to the core shelter pod.
The wind blowing from the wasteland passed through the shattered city gates, carrying spore dust and the stench of blood as it swirled through the crisscrossing streets and alleys.
The alley warfare continued. Every inch of the streets had to be paid for in blood. And deep within the subterranean darkness, the five ancient lizard beings remained seated at the source of the rift, coldly observing this slow and brutal harvest.
End of Chapter.
The towering concrete buildings, branching alleyways, and collapsed walls had sliced the once-flat thoroughfares into fragmented pieces. This restricted the third-tier scaled beasts from executing large-scale flanking maneuvers, but it also tore the defenders' formations into tiny, isolated blocks. The surviving soldiers operated in squads of three to five, scattered and wedged behind corners, stairwell entrances, and broken walls. Relying on the terrain, they provided alternating cover as they retreated. Every single alleyway demanded a toll of corpses and blood to buy a fraction of delayed time.
The first third-tier scaled beast to burst from the tunnel had become the spearhead of the advance. Its massive body made turning difficult in the narrow streets, yet it relied on its hardened hide to charge recklessly. Courtyard walls and makeshift shacks collapsed under its headbutts, sending bricks and rubble raining down like a storm. Two ordinary scaled beasts flanked it, creeping along the base of the walls, specifically watching for any soldiers who poked their heads out from the sides to attempt ambushes.
A four-man squad was concealed on the window ledge of a two-story building opposite them. Waiting for the behemoth to approach, they simultaneously hurled four short spears toward its vulnerable spots around the eyes and behind the ears. Two pierced the scale gaps, while the other two bounced off the hardened scales. Roaring in pain from the strikes, the third-tier scaled beast abruptly lowered its head and rammed the building's wall. With a thunderous crash, the entire outer wall cracked. The two soldiers at the window did not have time to retreat and were instantly buried beneath the collapsing bricks and rubble.
"Change positions! Do not stay in the same spot for too long!" the squad leader roared, yanking the remaining soldier up and bending low to quickly evacuate through the back alley.
The psychic tide had shrouded the entire urban district from the very beginning.
Outside the city, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being continuously emitted relentless, piercing consciousness stings. Inside the city, the three spore nodes ceaselessly leaked chaotic spore intent. The combined forces meant the torment inflicted upon the Sea of Consciousness was far more intense than outside the city walls. Seizing the characteristics of the alleyway environment, the Illusion Ancient Being made its illusions more realistic, targeting the deepest vulnerabilities in everyone's hearts. Some turned a corner only to see their own front door wide open, with a long-lost relative sitting quietly inside. Others heard a child's cries echoing from deep within a stairwell ahead. A momentary lapse in focus caused their steps to halt instinctively, only for a scaled beast lurking behind the wall to pounce and bring them down in the next instant.
Every squad had to assign a dedicated person to monitor their companions' mental states. While fighting off the leaping alien beasts, they constantly shouted code words to pull those sinking into illusions back to reality. Their already scarce manpower was further drained by this division of focus, causing their combat efficiency to steadily decline.
Hidden in the reinforced basement of a building, the rocky hill observation shed housed Lin Yan. On the console screen before him, dense thermal signatures spread inward along the main roads and side alleys like ink dropped into clear water.
"The beast herd is advancing in multiple squadrons. Three main squads of third-tier scaled beasts are pushing inward along the main street, while the remaining ordinary scaled beasts are dispersing into the side alleys to hunt and kill. The scaled beasts that infiltrated through the culverts have already engaged the military police at the end of the alley," Lin Yan reported steadily to the command hall. "In the subterranean cavern, the positions of the five ancient beings have not changed. The Beast Commander is dispatching the various beast herds in real-time, not rushing to concentrate a massive assault on the core shelter pod. Instead, it is clearing the blocks sector by sector, slowly compressing the controlled area. The Spiderweb Ancient Being is maintaining the output of the spore nodes, continuously spawning small mutated insects to create scattered attacks in the residential area."
Scholar Su stared at the sand table. The colored blocks representing their controlled zones were still shrinking inward.
The core shelter pod was located at the deepest part of the bastion, serving as the ultimate fallback zone for the entire West Bastion. Its hull was cast from thickened alloy, featured an independent oxygen supply, and had pre-buried sealing gates designed to block spores. However, there were only two main roads leading to the shelter pod, and both were now targeted by the beast herd. The residential houses and streets along the way were all destined to become battlefields of resistance.
"Notify all blocking squads: do not engage in prolonged combat; prioritize delaying the enemy," Scholar Su ordered in a deep voice. "The delayed explosives inside the buildings on both sides of the main road are to be detonated in batches; do not use them all at once. The military police squads must prioritize gathering civilians scattered in the alleys who have not yet been evacuated. Bring as many as possible."
The relay signals were sent to various locations through the damaged communication network.
In the middle section of the main street, another five-man squad was firmly entrenched at a crossroads. They had piled collapsed reinforced concrete blocks on the road as barricades, waiting for the third-tier scaled beast to approach before detonating the explosives buried beneath. Flames erupted into the sky, and碎石 (shrapnel) swept across the area. The behemoth's front limbs were wounded, and it frenziedly rammed the barricade, sending blocks of stone flying one by one. Using the smoke from the explosion as cover, the squad members quickly retreated toward the next corner behind them. A soldier covering the rear was half a step too slow and was struck by the sweeping tail of the scaled beast, collapsing to the ground on the spot.
No one could turn back to rescue him. If they stopped, the entire squad would be entangled, and everyone would be left behind here.
Deep within the cavern, the five ancient beings resonated quietly.
Receiving combat feedback from various city blocks, the Beast Commander continuously adjusted the flow rate, maintaining the sector-by-sector clearing rhythm to prevent the humans from concentrating the scattered beasts and blocking them all at once. The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being controlled the intensity of the psychic impact, maintaining a level of continuous attrition that would not instantly break everyone's minds. The Illusion Ancient Being deployed targeted, personal illusions to dismantle individual wills. The Spiderweb Ancient Being guided the spore mist through ventilation pipes and stairwell crevices into the interiors of the buildings, forcing the civilians hiding inside to actively run out of their cover and expose themselves to the scaled beasts.
The supreme ruler slowly perceived the flowing fear, despair, and the sporadic, unextinguished will to resist throughout the bastion.
It had witnessed the fall of many human strongholds, most of which saw panic spread immediately and mass routs occur once the defenses were breached. But the West Bastion was different. Even with the city gates wide open and the alleys falling, these surviving soldiers were still conducting staggered resistance. Despite knowing clearly that the outcome was nearly irreversible, they still refused to abandon covering the civilians' retreat. This resilience caused a subtle ripple of curiosity in its consciousness. It did not order the beast herd to recklessly rush the shelter pod. It was willing to advance slowly, crushing this resistance bit by bit.
"They are not rushing to raid the shelter pod. They want to clear all resistance along the way and cut off the possibility of external reinforcements before encircling the core area," Lin Yan interpreted the supreme ruler's intent and immediately warned the command hall. "We still have time, but not much. Every alleyway that falls adds another layer of danger to the perimeter of the shelter pod."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than an urgent communication came from a branching alley on the west side.
"Alley B has fallen! We are pincered by two third-tier scaled beasts, only two left! Requesting retreat support!"
The roars in the communication were quickly severed by beast howls and screams, with no further reply.
Similar messages came intermittently from all directions. City blocks were lost one after another, the blocking squads suffered continuous attrition, the explosive reserves dwindled, and the civilians the military police could find became fewer and fewer. Discarded backpacks, overturned carts, scattered medicines, and corpses left behind were visible everywhere in the alleys.
A military police squad escorting civilians to transfer was guiding over a dozen elderly and children into a narrow alley when they ran headlong into three wandering ordinary scaled beasts. The military police immediately formed a defensive line, drawing their short blades to meet the enemy while urging the civilians to keep running along the base of the wall. The sounds of slaughter echoed deep within the alley. Not long after, the dark shadows of the scaled beasts chasing the civilians emerged from the corner. The little girl running at the very back stumbled and fell to the ground.
At this exact moment, an illusion struck the mind of the military police officer guarding beside the girl.
He saw his own daughter standing in front of the scaled beast, crying and screaming. His mind faltered, and his movements hesitated for a fraction of a second. He bit his tongue fiercely, the intense pain tearing through the illusion. Disregarding everything, he rushed back to shield the little girl, driving his short blade fiercely toward the pouncing scaled beast.
A piercing shriek echoed through the alley.
Further down the main street, the leading third-tier scaled beast had already crossed the third explosive barricade, drawing closer and closer to the main road intersection leading to the core shelter pod.
The wind blowing from the wasteland passed through the shattered city gates, carrying spore dust and the stench of blood as it swirled through the crisscrossing streets and alleys.
The alley warfare continued. Every inch of the streets had to be paid for in blood. And deep within the subterranean darkness, the five ancient lizard beings remained seated at the source of the rift, coldly observing this slow and brutal harvest.
End of Chapter.