109: Chapter 109 Lin Xiao's roar! Hiding behind me

Polaris rushed toward the rear of the Ice Thorn Lv.4 Main City at a speed of 85 km/h.

The seven cannons on the left flank chased after him, firing.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three 105mm cannon shells detonated 40 to 60 meters around the vehicle.

All missed.

For an eight-meter-wide target performing serpentine maneuvers at 85 km/h, the hit probability for seven cannons at a distance of 1.5 kilometers was less than 2%.

Lu Chen bypassed the left side of the wall and saw the rear of the Ice Thorn Lv.4 Main City.

The rear wall of the lv.4 was higher than he had imagined.

The wall was forty meters high, and the rear exhaust system was distributed within the bottom six-meter-high area.

There were six sets of exhaust vents, each with a diameter exceeding two meters.

The protective cover was a louver-style structure welded from heavy armored steel plates.

The harpoon could penetrate the gaps in the louvers, but the embedding depth might not be enough to trigger an effective delayed implosion.

Three hundred meters.

At this distance, four small-caliber anti-aircraft guns on the rear wall were aimed at Polaris.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four small-caliber shells struck the front armor.

The small-caliber warheads were all deflected by the angled deflector armor.

It was like a tickle.

Lu Chen aimed the Harpoon Cannon at the lowest exhaust vent protective cover.

One hundred and fifty meters.

His index finger pressed the launch button.

Bang!

The harpoon flew out and hit the gap in the louvered protective cover.

It embedded five centimeters.

Too shallow.

Delayed fuse.

Boom!

The implosion bent two steel bars of the louvers, but the protective cover as a whole remained unbroken.

The harpoon's armor-piercing capability was insufficient for the heavy protective cover of the lv.4.

"It won't penetrate."

Lu Chen's tone was no different from reading an inventory list.

If it won't penetrate, change the strategy.

Don't hit the exhaust vents.

Hit the drive shaft.

Polaris cut from the rear to the right side, converging with iron wall.

Zhao Tiezhu's ten cannons were concentrating fire on the drive shaft protective cover at the bottom right side of Ice Thorn.

Continuously hitting the same spot.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The protective cover began to deform under continuous hits.

The steel plate bent inward by three centimeters.

"Battalion Commander Zhao, clear the position! I'm going to ram that spot with my ram!"

"Ram? Your lv.2 ram against the chassis of an lv.4?"

"The 105mm cannon dented the steel plate by three centimeters; my Homogeneous Manganese Steel Ramming Horn can expand that three-centimeter dent to ten centimeters at 85 km/h!"

"Is ten centimeters enough to jam the drive shaft?"

"Not enough, but it will increase the friction of the drive shaft by over 20%!"

"Good! Clear the way!"

iron wall moved 300 meters to the right.

Polaris charged straight toward the bottom right side of Ice Thorn at 85 km/h.

The Homogeneous Manganese Steel Ramming Horn on the front of the vehicle was aimed at the drive shaft protective cover that had been dented by three centimeters by the 105mm cannon shells.

One hundred meters.

Fifty meters.

Impact.

Clack!

The entire Polaris lurched forward at the moment of impact.

The twenty-plus-ton vehicle body poured all its kinetic energy into the tip of the ram at 85 km/h.

The iron pot in the cabin bounced off the stove and smashed onto the ground.

The surface of the nutrient solution on the hydroponic rack splashed waves half a palm high.

A crack appeared on the ram.

But the dent in the protective cover on the other side went from three centimeters to twelve centimeters.

The twelve-centimeter concave steel plate jammed against the casing of the drive shaft.

The sound of metal grinding came from under the chassis.

Sharp and ear-piercing.

The drive shaft was still turning, but with every revolution, it had to grind over that concave steel plate.

The friction increased dramatically.

The speed of Ice Thorn Lv.4 Main City dropped from 25 to 22.

A drop of 3 km/h.

Originally it would have hit Black Rock City-State in fourteen minutes, now it had become sixteen minutes.

Two extra minutes.

"City Lord Lin Xiao! Ice Thorn has slowed down! It dropped from 25 to 22!"

"I heard it!" Lin Xiao roared hoarsely.

"The City-State has finished turning! Main engines at full power! Accelerating now!"

"How much can you accelerate to?"

"10 km/h! It's already at 10! Still accelerating!"

10 km/h against 22 km/h.

Relative speed: 22 minus 10 equals 12.

More than half better than the previous 25.

But a head-on collision at 12 km/h plus six tons of explosives.

The wall of Black Rock City-State still couldn't withstand it.

"City Lord Lin Xiao! You can't let him crash into you!"

"I know!"

"You must get his speed down below 10 before the impact!"

"With what? His engine is stronger than mine!"

There was a one-second silence on the communicator.

Ice Thorn's voice appeared on the public frequency again.

"Lin Xiao, I'm coming."

"Run."

"Run as fast as you can."

"If you can't run, then stop running."

"Let's all die together."

Ice Thorn's laughter rang out on the public frequency.

No longer sharp.

No longer cheerful.

It was the sound of someone who had laughed enough, saying goodbye to this world.

Dull.

Welling up from the deepest part of the chest.

"Ice Thorn!" Lin Xiao's loud voice roared on the public frequency.

"Do you think I will let you crash into me?"

"Brother Lu Chen! Zhao Tiezhu!"

Lin Xiao's voice rang out on all frequencies simultaneously.

"Listen to my order!"

"iron wall and Polaris must immediately disengage from Ice Thorn Main City! Retreat at full speed to the rear of Black Rock City-State!"

"What?" Zhao Tiezhu's voice was full of confusion.

"Retreat?"

"Fall back!"

Lin Xiao's voice was pushed to the limit.

"You two hide behind me!"

"Hide behind The City-State!"

"In case I can't withstand his impact, the wreckage of The City-State can at least serve as a shield for you!"

"City Lord, what are you saying?" Zhao Tiezhu's voice cracked.

"I'm saying that if I die, at least you can live!"

Lin Xiao's voice came through the communicator.

"Zhao Tiezhu! There are three hundred people on your iron wall! On Lu Chen's vehicle, there is him and my sister!"

He took a deep breath.

"These people cannot die with me in Ice Thorn's explosives!"

"Fall back! Hide behind me!"

The sound of gunfire in the communicator filled three seconds of silence.

Lu Chen's voice cut in.

"City Lord Lin Xiao."

"Don't give me any nonsense! Retreat!"

"I'm not retreating."

"What?"

"iron wall will retreat. Zhao Tiezhu will take the three hundred people and retreat to the rear of The City-State."

"And you?"

"I will keep fighting."

"What are you fighting? You, a single lv.2, cannot stop the full-speed charge of an lv.4!"

"I'm not stopping it." Lu Chen's speaking speed hadn't changed.

"I'm going to cut his tracks."

The gunfire on the other end of the communicator paused for a beat.

"His main tracks are as thick as his walls."

"But the track connecting pins aren't that thick."

"How will you hit the connecting pins?"

"Mechanical Arm."

Lu Chen turned the front of Polaris toward the bottom side of Ice Thorn Main City.

Eight hundred meters away.

Ice Thorn was charging toward Black Rock City-State at full speed at 22 km/h.

"Battalion Commander Zhao, retreat."

Zhao Tiezhu was silent for four seconds.

"Take care."

iron wall turned around and drove at full speed toward the rear of Black Rock City-State.

Polaris was left alone on the battlefield.