304: Chapter 304 One Thousand Fourth-Order Monsters

After the drones took off, the thermal map made everyone in the command vehicle gasp.

The density of monster beasts on the plateau was more than twenty times that of the dense forest.

The thermal map was covered with dense red dots, looking like a piece of paper splashed with red ink.

"Quantity estimate—"

Tao Zhe had Tianheng run an image recognition scan, "Just within the drone coverage area, there are about one hundred thousand."

One hundred thousand, and it wasn't just a matter of quantity.

"The rank distribution has changed."

Tao Zhe pointed to several particularly large heat source signals on the thermal map, "The proportion of third-order monster beasts has risen from two percent in the dense forest to thirty percent. Fourth-Order—"

He paused.

"Detected one thousand suspected Fourth-Order heat source signals."

"One thousand Fourth-Order Monster Beasts?" Su Mingyuan looked at the thermal map, thinking for about thirty seconds.

"The entire army is to stop advancing. Rest in place for two hours."

He returned to the command vehicle, superimposed the plateau terrain and monster beast distribution on the holographic projection, and began to deploy his troops.

Two hours later, Su Mingyuan's voice appeared on the army-wide communication channel, "Segmented cleanup of the monster beasts."

————

The first large-scale battle on the plateau broke out ten minutes later.

One hundred thousand monster beasts surged towards the mech formation from all directions on the plateau.

Horned Wolves were at the very front, the most numerous, charging in the first row while howling.

Iron-backed Pigs followed closely behind, their three-to-four-hundred-kilogram bodies running across the dark red moss with an astonishing momentum.

Hedgehog-type monster beasts were further back, shooting bone spurs while running, which pattered against the mechs' armor.

In the sky, there was also a newly appeared type of flying monster beast—large gray birds with wingspans exceeding eight meters, diving down to scratch at the joints of the mechs with their sharp claws.

The combat mechs reacted very quickly.

The front-line mechs raised their dual-linked cannons.

Firepower coverage.

The muzzles of the dual-linked cannons spat out streams of orange-red tongues of fire onto the plateau, with armor-piercing shells pouring into the herd of monster beasts at a rate of twelve rounds per second.

First-Order monster beasts were like paper in front of the armor-piercing shells—Horned Wolves had their entire bodies torn apart after being hit, and the iron backs of the Iron-backed Pigs could withstand one or two rounds, but the third round would pierce through.

Shredded meat and blood mist permeated the plateau.

Second-Order monster beasts were slightly more durable—Black-backed Leopards could withstand three to four armor-piercing shells, and the bone-spur armor of the hedgehog-types was even harder, requiring five to six rounds.

But quantity was not an issue.

The firepower output of 1,800 mechs was massive.

The mech formation opened fire simultaneously, and the sound on the plateau turned into a continuous roar, like a connected thunderstorm.

The dark red moss was churned up by artillery fire, mixing with the blood of the monster beasts into an even deeper dark red.

Twenty minutes later, all the low-order monster beasts were basically cleared out.

Battle results statistics—annihilated approximately 59,000 First-Order monster beasts, about 30,000 Second-Order, and 10,000 Third-Order.

Third echelon losses—forty-seven mechs with light damage, eight with moderate damage, and two with severe damage.

No casualties.

But not a single one of the one thousand Fourth-Order Monster Beasts appeared on the battlefield.

"They retreated." Tao Zhe looked at the thermal map, "They all withdrew to the north. They retreated to the middle section of the plateau, about twenty-five kilometers from our current position."

"And—" He zoomed in on the thermal map a little.

One thousand Fourth-Order Monster Beasts were crowded into an area with a diameter of less than three kilometers.

"They are huddling together." Su Mingyuan said.

"Or waiting for us to go over." Tao Zhe said.

Su Mingyuan glanced at Tao Zhe but did not respond to that remark.

He opened the communication channel.

"Chen Rong, Lin Wan—set off."

Twenty-five kilometers.

For mechs remotely controlled by Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, this distance was within the extreme range, but it was no longer comfortable.

Chen Rong's stable control distance was fifteen kilometers, and his limit was just over twenty kilometers.

Lin Wan was slightly further, but also not exceeding twenty-five kilometers.

Therefore, Su Mingyuan ordered the command vehicle and the mech formation to move forward together.

The command vehicle advanced to a position about fifteen kilometers away from the Fourth-Order Monster Beast herd and stopped.

Chen Rong and Lin Wan stood right next to the command vehicle.

Both of them closed their eyes at the same time.

120 deep-black mechs split into two paths and advanced northward at an extremely fast speed.

On the holographic projection, Su Mingyuan watched those 120 black light points shoot toward the target area like two arrows.

"Chen Rong's formation has reached the perimeter of the target area." Tao Zhe reported.

Su Mingyuan watched the projection.

Sixty black mechs cut in from the left.

Almost at the same moment—

"Lin Wan's formation has arrived."

The other sixty mechs flanked from the right.

One thousand Fourth-Order Monster Beasts were pinched from two directions by the 120 mechs.

Then the monster beasts moved.

They did not scatter and flee, but instead charged collectively towards Chen Rong's formation.

One thousand together.

Unified direction.

Consistent action.

As if they had received the same command.

"It's like this again."

Su Mingyuan's voice was very soft.

Organized, commanded.

But, who exactly is commanding?

He pushed this question to the back of his mind and focused on the battle first.

Chen Rong's sixty mechs met them head-on.

The twenty mechs in the first row simultaneously raised their skyfall steel combat sabers.

Twenty combat sabers, dozens of meters long, slashed down simultaneously.

The first Fourth-Order Monster Beast was a huge Gray-maned Bear, its gray fur covered by a layer of keratinized hard shell underneath.

Twenty blades slashed down—

The keratinized hard shell was like tofu in front of the skyfall steel.

The Gray-maned Bear was slashed into three pieces.

But it did not die immediately.

The middle torso segment was still wriggling, with a large amount of spiritual energy surging out from within, attempting to repair the wounds.

Chen Rong did not give it a chance.

The twenty mechs in the second row filled in, and their blade tips precisely stabbed into the location of the Gray-maned Bear's skull where the monster core was located.

The blade tips twisted once.

The Gray-maned Bear stopped moving completely.

A fist-sized dark golden monster core rolled out from the shattered skull.

At the same time, the remaining Fourth-Order Monster Beasts also collided with the mech formation's blade array.

A six-eyed lizard tried to burrow through the ground, but its tail was immediately stepped on by three mechs simultaneously, and then five blades slashed down at once.

A crimson giant snake wrapped around the leg of a mech from the side, but four nearby mechs quickly provided support, and four steel blades hacked over simultaneously, cutting the snake's body into four segments.

A six-legged beetle-type monster beast rushed into the middle of the formation, and the acid it sprayed landed on the skyfall steel armor, hissing and smoking, but it did not cause any damage.

Six mechs surrounded it, and six blades hacked it into pieces.

Chen Rong's control style was the same as his spiritual energy attribute—violent, direct, and leaving no room for mercy.

Under his control, the sixty mechs were like a well-coordinated pack of wolves; every mech knew what it should do, where it should stand, and when it should strike.

And the person controlling all of this stood fifteen kilometers away, with his eyes closed.

Things were quieter on Lin Wan's side; she only did one thing.

The temperature plummeted.

The air condensed.

Then, sixty mechs simultaneously plunged their blades into the ground.

Ice began to spread from the positions of the blade tips, expanding along the ground in all directions at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The dark red moss turned white in an instant.

The monster beasts' feet were frozen to the ground.

Four running Fourth-Order Monster Beasts were frozen in place, unable to move.

Then Lin Wan's mechs withdrew their blades, walked over, and finished them off one by one.

Clean and neat, without any superfluous movements.

From the moment the first blade slashed down until the last Fourth-Order Monster Beast fell, the entire battle lasted less than two hours.

One thousand Fourth-Order Monster Beasts, all annihilated.