258: Chapter 258 All Fronts in Crisis

"I've said too much."

"Minister Lin, my apologies."

He took a step back and gave a respectful bow.

"Since you have Martial Saint Ye's signed slip, the Logistics Department will naturally cooperate fully."

"I wonder... could I also buy a few blind boxes?"

Lin Fan smiled.

"Of course you can."

"Which kind would Minister Zhao like to buy?"

Zhao Weiguo hesitated for a moment before pulling a black metal card from his breast pocket.

That was a special military savings card, containing at least an eight-figure sum.

"I want one purple blind box and two blue blind boxes."

"Additionally..."

He paused, lowering his voice even further.

"That golden blind box, could you... save one for me?"

Lin Fan raised an eyebrow.

"Minister Zhao, golden blind boxes are only sold once a day and require a reservation."

"But since you've asked..."

He pulled a notebook from his system space and wrote down a line of text.

"At this time tomorrow, the golden blind box is yours."

"The price is one hundred million, no discounts."

Zhao Weiguo breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly.

"Thank you, Minister Lin!"

He swiped his card, clutched the three blind boxes, and hurriedly left with his guards.

Once they were far away, Hou San leaned in and asked in a low voice:

"Boss, what's the deal with this guy named Zhao? He just dropped a hundred million without blinking?"

Lin Fan watched Zhao Weiguo's departing figure and adjusted his glasses.

"He's the Minister of the Seventh War Zone Logistics Department, a member of a branch of the Zhao family."

"Although we wiped out the main Zhao family, the branch members are spread throughout the military; they have deep roots."

"He's not buying blind boxes for himself; he's buying them as gifts."

Hou San suddenly understood.

"Bribes?"

"Yes."

Lin Fan put away the jade talisman, his tone calm.

"In the army, if you want to climb the ranks, ability alone isn't enough; you need connections."

"A blind box with S-grade resources is enough for him to grease many wheels."

"However..."

He paused, a cold smirk playing on his lips.

"He probably doesn't know that I specifically added a little 'extra' to that golden blind box."

Hou San's eyes lit up.

"What kind of extra?"

"A little... tiny surprise."

Lin Fan didn't elaborate, but Hou San already understood.

When his boss decided to scam someone, he was never soft-hearted.

As the two were talking, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the direction of the defensive line.

The sound was more violent than any before it, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble wildly.

Rumble!

Immediately after, a shrill alarm echoed throughout the war zone once again.

Wooo— Wooo— Wooo—

This time, it was an emergency alarm of three longs and two shorts.

It meant... the entire line was in critical danger!

A messenger stumbled into the square, screaming hoarsely:

"Report! The foreign races have deployed Siege Behemoths! The first defensive line has completely collapsed!"

"The mecha units have lost over seventy percent!"

"Command orders: all non-combat personnel are to evacuate immediately!"

The square instantly fell into chaos.

The wounded struggled to stand, while logistics soldiers began frantically packing supplies.

An air of despair once again shrouded everyone.

Lin Fan adjusted his glasses, using his S-rank True Sight Eye to look toward the defensive line.

Then, he smiled.

"Hou San, Tie Niu."

"Here!"

"Pack up the stall. Get ready to... welcome guests."

Hou San and Tie Niu were stunned.

"Guests? What guests?"

Lin Fan didn't answer.

He simply watched the defensive line, staring at the sky stained red by smoke and blood.

There, a hundred figures were hurtling toward the base square like meteors.

Leading them was the suicide squad captain, his entire body wreathed in flames.

In his hand, that flame demon-slaying saber was dripping with the blood of the foreign races.

The collapse of the first defensive line was faster than anyone had anticipated.

When those three Siege Behemoths, each over fifty meters tall and looking like moving mountains, appeared on the horizon, the entire Seventh War Zone command fell into a deathly silence.

Those were Abyssal Behemoths, siege units of the Ten Thousand Races Battlefield.

Their entire bodies were covered in thick shells comparable to s-grade alloy; ordinary artillery fire hitting them wouldn't even leave a white mark.

Even more terrifyingly, these giants carried dozens of mobile turrets on their backs.

Each turret was controlled by a Foreign Race Wizard, capable of firing corrosive acid shells and space-tearing energy beams.

Boom!

The first Behemoth raised its forelimb and stepped heavily onto the steel walls of the human defensive line.

That wall, cast from star alloy and capable of withstanding the full-force strike of a Grandmaster, shattered like paper under the Behemoth's stomp.

Rubble and metal debris rained down on the rear positions like a storm.

"Ah!"

Screams rose one after another.

Soldiers who didn't evacuate in time were buried by rubble or pierced by metal shards.

Blood instantly stained the entire position red.

"Fire! Concentrate all firepower on them!"

The sector commander roared hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot.

The heavy artillery, missiles, and energy weapons on the position fired simultaneously.

Squelch—

The acid shells landed, instantly corroding deep pits ten meters in diameter.

Soldiers hit by the splash didn't even have time to scream before they dissolved into a puddle of pus.

The energy beams were even more horrific; wherever they passed, space was torn into fine black cracks.

Any object touched by these cracks, whether steel or flesh, would be instantly sliced into pieces.

"Retreat! Everyone retreat!"

The sector commander finally issued the most cruel order.

This meant they had to abandon the first defensive line they had maintained for years and fall back to the even more fragile second line.

It also meant that all previous sacrifices had been in vain.

But no one questioned the order.

Because not retreating meant death.

"Go, quickly!"

Veterans dragged recruits, and officers covered their soldiers as everyone fled frantically to the rear.

However, the foreign races would not give them that chance.

Under the cover of the Behemoths, tens of thousands of foreign heavy infantry surged through the gaps in the wall like a black tide.

They grinned, brandishing battle axes and spears, hunting down the fleeing human soldiers.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

The weapons of the human soldiers found it difficult to pierce the heavy armor of the foreign races.

While the attacks of the foreign races could easily tear through human defenses.

Even more terrifyingly, those foreign wizards were constantly casting buff Formations.

Bloodlust, Frenzy, Iron Skin...

With every Formation that landed, the combat power of the foreign soldiers would surge significantly.