Chapter 75: The Strike That Pierced The Heaven and The Earth.

Chapter 75: The Strike That Pierced The Heaven and The Earth.

One of the teachers, Zhang Ze, looked a bit bewildered. "What's going on here? Comprehensive research and evaluation went into each set of this armor to ensure advantages in agility, flexibility, defense, and other aspects. Adding all this thickness and fancy wings will greatly weaken its combat effectiveness."

Liu Feng chuckled bitterly. "Sir, what's the point of being agile if I’m dead?"

His words caused Pang Long and the other two to go silent as they recalled the student who had been sniped and killed, immediately understanding what the students were worried about.

Pang Long said in a deep voice, "Let's go."

Under the cover of night, armored vehicles and transport trucks traversed the blocked roads at a slow speed of eighty kilometers[1] per hour. Only the lead armored vehicle had its headlights on, while the rest of the vehicles followed with their low beams.

After leaving the city, the convoy began to accelerate. Soon, the rumbling vibrations echoed far across the wilderness.

The cult's stronghold was nearly a hundred kilometers away from Leisteru City, hidden within a naturally formed cavern in the middle of a small mountain range. The last of the rebel forces that had once occupied Leisteru City were hiding in a valley beneath another mountain.

The main forces usually gathered at the stronghold, while most of the lower-ranking members dispersed and blended into the villages, assuming various identities and coordinating with their many informants. Due to the fact that most of these rebels were locals, the Federal Army had found it difficult to distinguish them at first, since there had been little time to establish a comprehensive intelligence system of their own.

Many Kyrola civilians also harbored a subtle hostility towards the Federal Army. Oblivious to the consequences of allowing the rebels to establish a divine kingdom on Earth, they instead believed that the Federation wished to see them continue to be enslaved by the monarchy, and was thus hindering the rebels’ efforts to liberate their nation.

After an hour and a half, with darkness blanketing the sky, the contours of distant mountains began to emerge on the horizon. Chen Chu and the others in the convertible transport truck suddenly grew solemn, their gazes shifting up toward the heavens.

The drone of fighter jets echoed as dozens of them flew thousands of meters above and released powerful aerial bombs, one after another.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the distance, flames soared from between the mountains into the sky, illuminating the horizon with dazzling light. Even from a considerable distance away, Chen Chu and the others could still hear the thunderous roar of the explosions.

And this was only the beginning.

As the first wave of fighter jets departed after the bombing, in the far distance to the left, countless eruptions of fire burst forth. A dense barrage of rockets, accompanied by a piercing shriek, tore through the sky.

Meanwhile, on the right flank, the howitzer battalion that had already reached their positions launched their attack, unleashing a barrage of heavy artillery shells raining down from above.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground trembled under the bombardment of countless shells. Just then, fighter jets streaked across the sky once more, and dozens of heavy bunker-busting missiles descended with pinpoint accuracy, igniting instant infernos along the mountainside.

The deafening rumble shook the air, terrifyingly intense. The dreadful spectacle left Chen Chu and the others momentarily stunned, their expressions frozen in fear.

Such was the power of modern weaponry. Even Pang Long, an advanced martial artist capable of withstanding individual rocket attacks, would face certain death in the wake of such bombardment. A high-level practitioner like Lin Xiong would meet the same fate if unable to escape the blast radius in a short enough time.

Chen Chu and other low-level practitioners at the Second or Third Heavenly Realm could withstand rifle and submachine gun bullets when facing ordinary people, but against this level of onslaught, they would stand little chance. Just one of those aerial bombs could send them to their demise.

"The bombing has begun. Armored vehicles and transport trucks, continue forward." With that command, the convoy, which had previously halted, continued its advance.

They were still over ten kilometers away from the rebel stronghold.

The terrain here was rugged, and many areas along the mountainside were suitable for defense. Even under the heavy bombing, many people had managed to survive by taking cover in the fortifications.

Such as the one Chen Chu discovered halfway up the mountain. It was clear, however, that this position had already suffered heavy casualties; there were only a few rebels and one cultivator hiding in a cave, having narrowly escaped disaster.

Chen Chu activated the miniature camera attached to his body and dashed into the cave with a swift movement.

Swish!

In the darkness, his blade flashed and gleamed, and three rebels who hadn't regained their senses yet were swiftly slain.

Boom!

Chen Chu spun around and delivered a powerful punch, causing the air to explode. His formidable fist landed directly on the chest of the cultivator who was attempting to ambush him from the corner.

Under the ferocious and domineering force, the Second Heavenly Realm cultivator’s chest collapsed, blood spewing from his mouth. With a thunderous crash, he slammed into the mountain wall, dying instantly.

After swiftly dispatching these few individuals, Chen Chu didn't even glance back as he dashed out of the cave and continued his mad sprint upward.

According to the intelligence provided on the way, the main force of the rebel stronghold consisted of over 1,400 soldiers, and dozens of ordinary cultivators, most of whom were at the First or Second Heavenly Realm, with around ten individuals at the Third.

The two leaders at the Fourth Heavenly Realm, who had been consistently accompanying the powerful members of the Demon Cult, had been stationed at the mountain peak, the one that had been initially destroyed by bunker busters and subsequently obliterated by energy weapons.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just as he arrived at the mountainside, gunfire erupted from a half-collapsed fortification ahead. Despite sensing the danger beforehand, Chen Chu found himself unable to evade the bullets in time, due to the sheer number and velocity of them.

He chose not to; wouldn't his battle armor have been reinforced in vain otherwise?

Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!

Dozens of bullets struck his armor, creating a dense shower of sparks. One heavy machine gun bullet even slammed into the face mask. Aside from leaving a small dent, however, the impact didn’t inflict any harm on Chen Chu. His head was simply pushed back slightly in response to the force.

Amidst the hail of bullets, Chen Chu swiftly covered a distance of over thirty meters, smashing through the wooden barrier in front of him and charging into the enemy position. With his straight saber in hand, he unleashed a whirlwind of slashes.

Wherever his blade flashed, three rebels were instantly cleaved in half, their blood and entrails gushing out amidst their piercing screams of agony and despair.

The dozen or so rebels armed with rifles and submachine guns were utterly powerless to resist. In the blink of an eye, Chen Chu darted back and forth, leaving behind a trail of empty space where they once stood as he swiftly dispatched them.

"Die!"

Just as Chen Chu finished off the last of the ordinary rebels, the ground behind him erupted, revealing another rebel buried beneath the collapsed wood and soil.

"No playing dead now." With a cold tone, Chen Chu swiftly turned around and delivered a strike before the mid-stage Second Heavenly Realm rebel could react, slicing him in half from bottom to top. Instantly, the battlefield fell silent.

Amidst a pool of blood, its gurgling flow staining the ground crimson, Chen Chu stood amidst the dozen or so corpses in his dark red battle armor, emanating a terrifying aura just like a demon’s.

1. The original novel uses “fifty miles;” this was converted to kilometers for standardization ☜