241: Chapter 241 A Strong Start but a Weak Finish

"Da da da da da da da da..."

The piercing sound of autocannons echoed through the sky. It was right there—that BMPT tank support vehicle that hadn't been disabled. No one expected the Mediation Force to have such a trump card.

Lieutenant Colonel Emil sat in the command vehicle. An hour had passed since the clearing operation began. The sudden appearance of a dozen tanks had blocked their path, and combined with an unknown number of drones, they consistently hindered the mechanized units' advance. Vehicle-mounted machine guns, grenades and mortar shells falling from the sky, and the occasional suicide drone also made the infantry's progress grueling.

Who knows, man? Once you try to cross the street, some magical grenades or mortar shells just fall from the sky.

Fortunately, after over an hour, they still managed to advance into the core urban area.

After paying a heavy price, the only one of those dozen tanks still moving was the BMPT. However, because of this, the entire Combined Arms Battalion's mechanized equipment was reduced to just a few tanks and armored vehicles; most of the others had been disabled on the spot or destroyed through walls.

It was only because they lacked air support; otherwise, the losses definitely wouldn't have been this severe...

Speaking of which, why is there still no news from the unit attempting to break through the underground pipes again... By now, they should have already stormed the Mediation Force's command center...

Lieutenant Colonel Emil felt that something was not quite right...

"Has the Army Aviation arrived yet? Why is it taking so long?" he asked, looking at the staff officer.

"Four Longbow Apaches will arrive in the combat zone in ten minutes, sir."

"Very well... Avoid that BMPT and let the helicopters deal with it. Get to their command center as quickly as possible!"

——————

*Slash—*

"Dealt with."

The already filthy underground pipes were now completely stained with blood.

Lei pulled her umbrella out of a Federal Army soldier. Although she didn't particularly enjoy this kind of work, one shouldn't forget what she used to do.

"Da da da da da da da da———"

She had been hearing that unique autocannon fire since an hour ago.

"Dian...?"

"I'm here..." Dian crawled out from a pipe on the other side. "They've all been dealt with..."

"Mm." Lei looked toward the ceiling, the gunfire still hasn't stopped. "Let's go up... the Commander needs us."

"Mm!... Huh?" Just as Dian nodded, she saw a glowing blue butterfly pass through the wall. It circled them twice before flying upward toward the outside world.

Dian looked at Lei. "That's..."

"Quick, chase it!" Lei pulled Dian along, running forward at full speed.

——————

It was temporarily quiet.

Steam was rising from the BMPT's barrels. After sweeping the surroundings, there were finally no targets left in front of him for the moment.

He was shifting his combat direction according to Logic's guidance, but the next moment, a laser warning appeared on the scanner, telling him he was locked on by something nasty.

"Damn!"

He deployed smoke grenades.

A missile slammed down right next to him, narrowly missing breaking the tracks.

Li Ming quickly reversed; it had to be said that the -11 was much faster than the -4.

Through the drone's perspective, Li Ming had already confirmed the target's location.

"Four Apaches, closing in using the buildings for cover..."

Although he could suppress them, Li Ming was in a hurry to get to other battlefields, which made things a bit troublesome.

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

A cloud of black smoke suddenly erupted in front of an Apache that had just peeked out. As the smoke cleared, the Apache could be seen spinning and crashing into a building, having lost its entire tail section.

"Enemy aircraft, eliminated." Dian retracted her naval gun and then disappeared into the stairwell.

"Commander, it's Lei and Dian whom Elsa mentioned. I see them."

"Can you establish contact?"

"Not for now, they're moving very fast."

"Then ignore them for now... they can take care of themselves. I'll go intercept the guys coming from other directions."

"Understood, Commander."

The BMPT's engine roared as it headed toward another battlefield.

"Damn it! That BMPT is chasing us! Stop him!"

The next moment, a Bradley was blown away by an incoming TOW Anti-Tank Missile, followed by a continuous barrage of autocannon shells that kept the Federal Army pinned down.

"Damn it! Where are the rockets? Get the rockets!"

A Javelin was set up, but Li Ming locked onto it with his spider-sense, and then both the person and the launcher were shredded to pieces...

The roar of helicopter rotors echoed as an Apache finally bypassed that bizarre anti-air fire and aimed its nose at the BMPT.

"One Hellfire, fire!"

An anti-tank missile shot toward the BMPT; it was too late to dodge at this distance.

"Boom!"

Unexpectedly, the explosion brought no pain.

Recalibrating the sensors, a pink shadow was now standing on the turret at some point.

She folded the umbrella she had used to block the shot for Li Ming, then raised it and threw it out.

The folded long umbrella was like a spear; it struck the cockpit before the Apache could react, causing it to wobble and crash into the adjacent building.

The skyscraper could no longer hold up and collapsed shakily.

"Lei...?"

Seeing a large group of Federal Army soldiers blocked by the collapsed building, Li Ming finally found a moment to poke his head out of the hatch.

"Commander, found you." Lei squatted down and poked Li Ming's head. "Commander, it's time to go online."

"Uh..."

Li Ming was stunned for a moment before reacting. "Yeah, time to go online."

Lei jumped off the vehicle. "Commander needs a carry."

"...Huh?"

Well, her way of speaking was indeed a bit... unique.

"I'm counting on you, Lei!" Li Ming shouted. "Everyone else has lost their combat capability, so you stay safe too!"

Lei turned back. "Lei-chan's affection for Commander +1."

"?"

This otaku girl...

*Whoosh—*

"What's that sound..."

Li Ming looked up and saw a giant triangle flying across the sky.

"That is?!"

Before Li Ming could react, the giant triangle had already disappeared from view, followed by a massive explosion in the distance.

Li Ming was still subconsciously reversing to find a path when his communication was connected shortly after.

It was Kate's voice.

"Li Ming! Where are you?" she shouted. "The Federation used a Memetic Weapon! Are you okay over there?!"

"I'm currently in a firefight with them! Damn it, they're very close to you!"

Next came the voice of Command.

"Li Ming, we are already organizing a counterattack. Please regroup with us and push them back."

"Understood!" Li Ming hung up the communication. "Lei? Are you still there?"

Looking down, the pink-haired girl was under the vehicle looking at him.

"Lei... please take Dian and meet me at the camp... Can you find her?"

"Ten minutes."

"Okay, then I'll see you in ten minutes..."

"I mean, within ten minutes, eliminate them."

"Huh?!"

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