299: Chapter 299 The Terrifying Power of Tanks!!

"BOOM—!!!" Accompanied by a deafening roar that seemed to shatter the sky.

Fifty silver-white steel behemoths tore through the thick snow fog, carrying an unmatched momentum!

They came to a heavy—hover, half a meter above the ground.

That's right, hovering.

Commander Zhang Dagang, who had been prepared to die, was currently holding a "heroic sacrifice" pose, with the pin of the grenade in his hand already pulled.

But he froze completely. Because those "heaven-sent troops" didn't slam into the ground and kick up clouds of dust as he had imagined. Instead, they were floating as lightly as feathers.

The blue halo beneath their chassis blew the accumulated snow away, forming perfect circular clearings.

"What… what kind of maneuver is this?" Zhang Dagang stared blankly, the grenade in his hand smoking and "hissing."

The adjutant beside him was quick-witted, snatched the grenade, and threw it into the ruins in the distance.

"BOOM!" A lackluster explosion sounded, appearing especially pathetic amidst the humming of those silver behemoths.

Just then, the hatches of the fifty tanks opened simultaneously.

No one walked out; instead, an extremely arrogant female voice came from the external loudspeaker of the lead tank:

"Hey! You, with the grenade trying to blow yourself up! Stop exploding!"

Zhang Dagang: "???"

Is something wrong with this picture?

...

On the other side of the battlefield.

The sea beast herd was clearly not intimidated by these sudden "silver UFOs." As the overlords of the deep sea, they had their own pride.

Especially those few S-class mutant sea beasts charging at the very front—the Deep Sea Demon Whale Beasts.

Their bodies were as massive as small hills.

Their entire bodies were covered in iron-hard scales, and ordinary artillery shells couldn't even leave a white mark on them.

"ROAR—!!!" The lead Demon Whale Beast let out a deafening roar.

It seemed to be mocking these "little iron boxes" that were not even as big as its teeth.

It strode forward with its thick limbs, leading tens of thousands of shrimp soldiers and crab generals behind it.

Like a black tsunami, it crushed toward the tank formation!

At this moment, inside the cockpit of "Flame Burst One," Ji Wushuang was wearing a holographic helmet, her mouth grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh my god! So many? It's triggering my trypophobia!"

Although she said she was afraid, her hands were excitedly grabbing at the void, as if catching those red target-locking frames.

"Hubby! Hubby! Can I open fire yet? My cannon is already starving!"

In the communication channel, Lin Yuan's voice came through, calmly sipping tea:

"What's the rush? Let them get closer."

"Huh? Closer still?" Ji Wushuang looked at the bloody maw right in front of her on the holographic screen. She could even clearly see the strands of seaweed in the creature's teeth.

"Any closer and it'll be point-blank fire... oh no, point-blank kissing!"

"Then kiss it point-blank." Lin Yuan's voice remained flat. "Saves the trouble of aiming."

Just as the sea beast herd was less than fifty meters from the tank formation, Lin Yuan put down his teacup.

"All units, prepare."

"Fire!"

Only two simple words.

The next second.

The world went quiet.

No, to be precise, the sound was swallowed by a massive energy fluctuation.

Fifty 300mm plasma fission cannons lit up with blinding blue light simultaneously.

Immediately after, fifty thick beams of light, like light swords wielded by God, swept out!

There was no explosive flash of fire, nor was there a scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere.

Because it was too fast.

And too hot.

The S-class Demon Whale Beast charging at the very front didn't even have time to scream.

The moment its massive body touched the beam, it was like ice cream thrown into a furnace, instantly vaporized!

It disappeared.

Leaving behind only a mass of distorted air and a bottomless glass-like trench on the ground.

And this beam didn't stop.

After piercing through the Demon Whale Beast, it continued to extend backward.

It penetrated a dozen A-class sea beasts behind it in one go.

Finally, it slammed into an abandoned building, slicing the entire structure in two!

One shot, one kill!

What was even more terrifying was that this was only one of the fifty beams.

The remaining forty-nine beams wove into a destructive net of firepower, forcibly "erasing" a large chunk of that black beast tide!

It was as easy and casual as an eraser wiping away pencil marks.

"Holy… crap…"

Zhang Dagang, who had just regained his senses, dropped the binoculars in his hand onto his feet with a "clatter," but he felt nothing.

What had he just seen?

One strike?

Just one strike?!

The S-class sea beast herd that had beaten their entire division into a retreat and caused heavy casualties, just like that… was gone?

Is this f*cking a tank?

Isn't this a f*cking Star Destroyer?!

...

"Awesome!!!" In the communication channel, Ji Wushuang's scream almost shattered Su Yuyan's eardrums.

"Hahahaha! Did you see that! Did you see that! That big guy was glaring at me just now! Now it's turned into air! Serves you right! Remember not to grow so big in your next life; your target profile is too obvious!"

Ji Wushuang piloted "Flame Burst One" and performed an extremely flashy 360-degree spin in the air!

Then the cannon recharged.

"Sisters! Charge with me! Leave that one with tentacles to me! I want to eat grilled octopus tentacles!"

"Don't smash that one that looks like a crab! That's a King Crab! Keep the corpse intact!"

"And that one! The one that looks like a mantis shrimp! Don't use the main cannon! Use the secondary cannon to snipe it! Otherwise, the meat will be burnt!"

The originally serious and tragic battlefield underwent a sudden shift in tone because of these few shouts from Ji Wushuang.

Lin Yuan, in the rear, listened to the chaotic "ordering" in the communication channel and helplessly rubbed his forehead.

"Wushuang."

"Here! Do you want it extra spicy or mild?"

"...Watch your formation." Lin Yuan sighed, "Also, don't use the loudspeaker to shout; it's embarrassing."

"Oh…" Ji Wushuang pouted aggrievedly.

Then she took all her anger out on the remaining sea beasts.

"It's all your fault! You got me scolded by my hubby! Go to hell!"

With a thought, her entire S-class Fire-type Superpower surged crazily into the tank's energy core.

The originally blue-white plasma beam was instantly dyed with a layer of violent crimson!

"BOOM—!!!"

This artillery strike was no longer a single-target penetration, but a large-scale explosion!

A massive crimson ball of light exploded in the center of the beast tide.

The terrifying high temperature instantly created a pool of magma with a diameter of one hundred meters.

Countless low-level sea beasts didn't even have a chance to struggle before they were reduced to ashes.

"..."

This scene not only stunned the sea beasts, but even the tank drivers behind were dumbfounded.

So… these tanks could be enchanted?

"Fire-type Ability Users, listen up!" Su Yuyan keenly seized the opportunity and immediately ordered in the channel.

"Inject your Superpowers! Increase the damage range!"

"Yes!"

For a time, a spectacle appeared on the battlefield.

The originally uniform blue-white beams suddenly became colorful.

There were red explosive shells from Fire-types.

There were purple plasma shells from Lightning-types.

There was even an Earth-type Ability User who fired a dirt-yellow beam carrying a gravity field, directly crushing a sea beast into a meat patty.

"Is this… a combination of magic and technology?"

On The Authorities' position in the distance, a young soldier muttered to himself, his rifle having slipped to the ground at some point.

He turned to look at the old squad leader beside him:

"Squad leader, are we… unemployed?"

The old squad leader's hands trembled as he lit a cigarette and took a deep breath.

A bitter smile appeared on his weathered face.

...

The battle ended faster than anyone had expected.

In just ten minutes, the originally dense and despair-inducing sea beast tide had turned into a field of charred remains and… cooked food.

The air was no longer filled with the nauseating smell of blood, but with a… extremely strange barbecue scent.

"Slurp…" Someone didn't know who swallowed their saliva first.

In this icy, snowy Apocalypse, this charred, fragrant meat scent was simply the most fatal temptation.

The silver-white tank formation slowly landed, the humming of the engines gradually subsiding.

The hatches opened.

Ji Wushuang was the first to jump out.

She wasn't wearing that heavy military coat, but had changed into a sleek dark red combat suit, still holding her signature giant sword.

"Work done!"

She flicked her hair stylishly, and then… her foot slipped, stepping on a patch of frozen blood.

"Ouch!" Ms. Ji Wushuang fell face-first into a snowdrift in an extremely ungraceful posture.

The whole scene was dead silent.

"Ahem!" Ji Wushuang climbed up as if nothing had happened.

She patted the snow off her face and looked at everyone seriously:

"The ground is slippery. Be careful."

Everyone: "..." We don't buy that!

At this moment, a spatial gate opened behind the tank formation.

Lin Yuan, accompanied by Chu Yanran, Luo Qinghan, and others, slowly walked out.

Compared to Ji Wushuang's goofiness, Lin Yuan's aura was clearly much stronger.

He just stood there quietly, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

Zhang Dagang took a deep breath, straightened his tattered military uniform, and hurried up to meet them.

"You… you must be Mr. Lin, right?" Zhang Dagang's voice carried a hint of trembling, not knowing if it was out of excitement or awe.

"I am Zhang Dagang, the commander in charge of this defensive line. Thank you… thank you for your support! If it weren't for you, we would have today…"

Speaking of this, the 1.8-meter-tall man's eyes turned red.

On the position behind him, the surviving soldiers also stood up one after another and gave Lin Yuan the most standard military salute.

There were no cheers, no shouts.

Only the most silent tribute.

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over those blood-covered soldiers, his tone flat but not cold:

"No need to thank me. I just came to collect my spoils of war."

After speaking, he pointed to the fragrant corpses on the battlefield.

"Extra meal tonight. If you want to eat, go pick them up yourselves."

Hearing this, the originally serious atmosphere instantly broke.

The soldiers looked at each other, and then erupted into a sky-shaking cheer!

"Long live!!!"

"I knew it! Following the boss means eating meat!"

"Hurry and grab it! That big lobster is mine! I'll fight anyone who tries to take it from me!"

Watching the battlefield instantly turn into a "buffet restaurant," Zhang Dagang was stunned.

He looked at the young man standing in the snow with a calm expression, and an unprecedented shock surged in his heart.

In this dog-eat-dog Apocalypse, everyone valued supplies more than their own lives.

But this person… just casually gave the invaluable S-class beast meat to these soldiers he didn't even know.

"Mr. Lin…" Zhang Dagang's voice choked.

"Don't misunderstand." Chu Yanran stepped forward, adjusted her glasses, and coldly added a finishing blow.

"Lin Yuan just thinks the meat of these low-level sea beasts is too tough and doesn't taste good, so he couldn't be bothered to take up inventory space."

Zhang Dagang: "..." Can you give me back my touched feelings?

However, watching the soldiers wolfing down the food, Zhang Dagang smiled.

Regardless of whether he disliked it or not, in this time, giving a bite to eat was like being a second parent!

"Report!" A signalman suddenly ran over, stumbling, with terror on his face.

"Com… Commander! Mr. Lin! Satellite monitoring has detected… detected something even more terrifying approaching!"

Zhang Dagang's expression changed: "What?"

The signalman handed over the tablet, his fingers trembling.

"In the Core Zone of the coastal city… which is the original CBD center… the water level is rising rapidly! And… and…"

"And what?!"

"And a… thermal source with a diameter of over five kilometers has appeared there!"

The whole scene instantly quieted down.

Everyone stopped what they were doing; even the lobster meat in their mouths no longer tasted good.

Five kilometers?

What kind of concept is that?

A small hill?

Lin Yuan took the tablet and glanced at the huge, pitch-black-red light spot on the screen.

Instead, a smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Finally here."

He threw the tablet back to the signalman.

He turned his head to look at Ji Wushuang, who was trying to stuff a huge crab leg into the tank cockpit.

"Stop stuffing it. That thing doesn't even taste as good as crab sticks."

Lin Yuan's voice clearly reached everyone present.

"The real main course is on the table."

He looked toward the distant city ruins.

It had already been submerged by black seawater, with only the tops of some skyscrapers exposed, like isolated islands.

And beneath that pitch-black water, a heart-palpitating aura was slowly awakening.

"Everyone, get in the vehicles."

Lin Yuan turned, the hem of his coat flapping in the wind and snow.