204: Chapter 204 The "smell" in the air grew even stronger.

The countdown was still running.

05:00.

Su Mingyuan unclipped the walkie-talkie from his waist and clipped it back on several times, finally just shoving it into the pocket on his chest.

Everything that could be done on the plaza had been finished.

The positions were deployed, the ammunition was distributed, the channels were tuned, the first-aid station was set up, and even the backup generators had been checked twice.

All that was left was to wait, and he scanned his surroundings.

Some people were checking their equipment, some were staring blankly in the direction of the portal, and some were silently moving their wrists and necks — a habit only those who had been on the battlefield possessed, loosening up their joints before the fight officially started.

00:3.

00:2.

00:1.

As the countdown ended, a golden light door appeared out of thin air in front of Su Mingyuan.

Afterward, a wave of hot wind carrying moisture blew out from the portal, hitting Su Mingyuan's face, and a scent immediately poured into his nose.

Su Mingyuan froze for a moment.

This smell wasn't right.

The first breath of air in the Zombie World was stinky, the disgusting smell of corpses fermenting in high temperatures, and several soldiers had thrown up directly back then.

The first breath of air in the Giant World was fishy, a bloody smell like rust, indicating that people were dying on the other side of the portal.

The Zerg World smelled the worst, the charred smell after a nuclear strike mixed with radioactive dust that even gas masks couldn't suppress.

But this time, there was no stench, no bloody scent, and no charred smell in the wind.

It was outrageously clean.

Su Mingyuan took another breath, feeling an indescribable sense of comfort in his chest, like gulping down hot water in the dead of winter, warming him all the way from his throat to his stomach, even making his brain a bit clearer.

The part of the back of his head that had been swelling continuously from staying up for two days actually relaxed.

He didn't know what this thing was.

But the body's reaction couldn't lie — this breath of air was different from the air of the Main World, and there was something extra in it.

The Communications Staff Officer beside him also took a breath, then looked at his own hands with a very puzzled expression, moving his fingers twice: "Group Leader Su, am I hallucinating... I feel like my hands aren't as sore anymore."

He had been on duty all night and typed on the keyboard for six hours.

Su Mingyuan didn't respond.

Three worlds in, every time the portal opened, they were walking into Hell.

No matter how comfortable the air on the other side of the portal felt to breathe, it didn't mean that side was heaven.

He picked up the walkie-talkie: "Mecha 1st Brigade, enter according to plan."

Thirty mechas in the front row stepped forward simultaneously.

The forty-four-meter-tall steel giants made a huge commotion when walking, their soles stepping on the concrete ground with a muffled thud at every step, causing the ground to tremble along with it.

Thirty of them walking together, the low-frequency vibrations transmitted from the ground, humming in everyone's chest cavities.

The first mecha walked into the golden light door, its huge figure swallowed by the light, from feet to head, disappearing in three seconds.

The second.

The third.

The fourth.

The ones behind didn't wait for the ones in front to completely disappear before stepping in, one pressing after another, and soon a large space was cleared out on the plaza.

Su Mingyuan stared at the command vehicle's communication screen — according to the experience of the first three times, the communication signal on the other side of the portal required ten to twenty seconds to establish.

Ten seconds passed, and there was nothing on the screen.

Twenty seconds, still nothing.

Thirty seconds.

Su Mingyuan sat into the command vehicle.

The Communications Staff Officer beside him had already noticed the abnormality, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard, adjusting frequencies and changing channels, a layer of sweat rising on his forehead.

"Group Leader Su, all frequency bands have no response."

Su Mingyuan didn't speak.

This situation had never occurred in the first three worlds.

Every time the portal opened, communication could be established within twenty seconds, and it had never failed.

Forty seconds.

The thirty mechas of the Mecha 2nd Brigade were still waiting outside the door.

The infantry battalion was also on standby, the armored vehicles' engines hadn't been turned off, and their exhaust emitted white smoke in the night.

Everyone looked in the direction of the command vehicle, waiting for orders.

The Communications Staff Officer's voice came over again, sounding even tighter: "All thirty mechas of the 1st Brigade have entered the portal, communication signal... is still zero."

It was quiet in the command vehicle for two seconds.

Su Mingyuan had two choices in front of him.

First, stop and wait.

Let the 2nd Brigade and infantry battalion stand by in place, and advance after communication recovered; this was the safest approach.

Second, continue according to plan.

Thirty mechas had already crossed over, and if there was danger over there, they were facing it alone. Waiting one more minute meant fighting alone for one more minute.

He thought for five seconds.

"2nd Brigade, enter according to plan."

The Communications Staff Officer turned his head to look at him, his mouth moved slightly without making a sound, then he turned back to execute the order.

Su Mingyuan picked up the walkie-talkie again: "All infantry battalions follow up according to the original plan, time intervals unchanged. Missile battalion as usual, enter the field in two hours."

Then he stood up and walked out of the command vehicle.

On the plaza, the Mecha 2nd Brigade was already moving toward the light door, thirty steel giants lined up in a column, walking into the golden light one after another.

The ground kept shaking.

Su Mingyuan walked toward the portal following the last batch of infantry.

The moment he crossed through the portal, all the fine hairs on Su Mingyuan's body stood up.

It was like being thrown into a warm pool of water.

There wasn't actually water, but the feeling was too much alike — seeping layer by layer into the surface of the skin, warm and carrying pressure.

Pores opened one after another, and the soreness accumulated in his knees and elbows for who knows how long was squeezed out like someone was pinching it with their hands; the swelling pain in the back of his head from staying up for several consecutive days vanished in two seconds.

This feeling was already there on the Main World side, but after crossing over, it became more than ten times fiercer. His whole person was washed from the inside out.

Su Mingyuan didn't ponder this, raising his head to look ahead.

A forest.

But this forest wasn't right — the trees were too big.

Any random tree required three to five people to hug around it, and their crowns connected together at a height of thirty to forty meters, tightly blocking the sky overhead so that sunlight could only squeeze down through the cracks, shattering into patches of light all over the ground.

Underfoot, they stepped on thick fallen leaves and moss, stepping down softly without a sound, and when the military boots were pulled out, one could smell the dampness of rotting leaves and soil.

The "smell" in the air was even stronger.

On the Main World side, it just felt comfortable, but arriving on this side felt simply like having changed a pair of lungs.

Su Mingyuan took three breaths, and the fatigue accumulated from staying up for two consecutive days was surprisingly gone, his brain as clear as if he had just slept for eight hours.

He scanned his surroundings.

Sound was everywhere — insects chirping, birds calling, who knows what kind of animals darting through the tree crowns in the distance, and the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the leaves never stopped.

The Zombie World was a thoroughly rotted dead city, the Giant World was a barren wasteland, and the Zerg World was scorched earth washed by nuclear bombs.

Out of the three worlds, not a single one was suitable for living, whereas this world was completely the opposite.

The Communications Staff Officer's voice popped out from the earpiece, mixed with a large amount of current static: "Group Leader Su... communication restored... signal strength is only twenty percent of normal... barely usable."

Su Mingyuan gave an affirmative hum.

"All units, report your status."