87: Chapter 87: Triple Slash with the Ray Cannon! All Six Howitzers Destroyed

A 105mm Howitzer shell slammed into the ice thirty meters directly in front of the Polaris, detonating on the spot.

Ice fragments and shrapnel kicked up by the shockwave slapped against the front armor, creating a dense clatter of metal collisions.

The wedge-shaped surface of the Angled Anti-Projectile Outer Armor deflected most of the shockwave and fragments to both sides.

A layer of grayish-white powder splashed onto the vehicle's windows.

However, a piece of shrapnel became embedded in the weld seam of the front left armor plate, penetrating to a depth of two millimeters.

Two millimeters.

A 105mm high-explosive shell, at a near-miss distance of thirty meters, had only penetrated two millimeters.

Lu Chen's gaze was fixed forward, his hand resting steadily on the control lever.

Distance to the transport vehicles: three hundred meters.

Close enough.

He placed the crosshairs on the center of the nearest transport vehicle's chassis.

His index finger pressed the Ray Cannon's fire button.

A crimson beam of light erupted from the turret at the rear of the roof.

The rust dust in the air was instantly ignited, forming an orange-red channel thirty centimeters thick.

The ray directly hit the side of the transport vehicle's chassis.

The heavy transport vehicle's armor was thirty percent thinner than that of a standard Lv.2 combat vehicle.

They were designed for transport; how could they be used for combat?

In less than half a second, the armor plate turned a bright orange-red.

A second later, it was a brilliant white.

The ray sliced in from the left, penetrating the internal load-bearing structure and the rotating base of the 105mm Howitzer mounted on the roof, before exiting through the right side.

Molten iron splashed from the cut, trailing a long string of sparks in the evening twilight.

The transport vehicle was forcibly sliced in half right through the middle.

The two 105mm cannons on the roof, along with their mounts, tumbled down and hit the ice with a heavy thud.

[High-Temperature Thermal Melting Cutting Ray Cannon single shot complete. Current power storage 70%, remaining shots: 2.]

Lu Chen released the fire button and rotated the turret toward the second transport vehicle.

The driver of the second transport vehicle saw everything that had happened ahead.

He turned the steering wheel like a madman, trying to make the transport vehicle turn around and flee.

But the heavy transport vehicle's turning radius was extremely wide; the clumsy body got stuck after drawing half an arc on the ice.

Lu Chen steadily locked the crosshairs onto its engine compartment.

His index finger pressed the fire button again.

A second crimson beam of light pierced through the engine compartment.

The transport vehicle's power core was directly melted through by the ray, causing the engine to explode. Thick black smoke billowed from the rear of the vehicle.

The two cannons on the roof tilted forward, their barrels plunging into the ice.

[Current power storage 40%, remaining shots: 1.]

The third one.

The driver of the last transport vehicle reacted faster than the first two.

Instead of turning to flee, he slammed on the brakes and stopped the vehicle where it was.

The vehicle doors opened.

Three artillerymen wearing heavy cold-weather gear jumped out of the cabin and ran desperately to the sides.

They knew exactly what that red light meant.

Lu Chen did not chase the people.

He was after the vehicle.

Although the third transport vehicle had stopped, the two 105mm cannons on the roof were rotating manually, attempting to aim at the Polaris.

Distance: one hundred and fifty meters.

He pressed the fire button for the third time.

The crimson beam sliced through the upper half of the transport vehicle's chassis.

The cutting line drew a clean, sharp diagonal from the front left corner to the rear right corner.

The entire roof was blown off, and the two cannons, along with their mounts, flipped twice in the air before crashing onto the ice thirty meters away.

[Current power storage 10%, remaining shots: 0. Estimated time to full charge: 5 hours and 46 minutes.]

Three transport vehicles, three Ray Cannon shots.

Six 105mm Howitzers, not a single shot fired.

From the first shot to the third, the total time elapsed was thirty-two seconds.

He moved his hand away from the Ray Cannon panel and gripped the steering wheel again.

"City Lord, are the transport vehicles all destroyed?" Lin Wan's voice came from the planting area, her tone trembling at the end.

"All destroyed."

The communicator lit up, and Zhao Tiezhu's voice came through.

"City Lord Lu Chen! The signals for the three transport vehicles in the rear have all disappeared!"

"It's handled."

"Three transport vehicles in thirty seconds?"

"Thirty-two seconds."

There was a moment of silence on Zhao Tiezhu's end of the communicator.

"All six 105s are gone?"

"All gone."

"Then only the 75mms are left in front." Zhao Tiezhu's voice gained a layer of confidence. "A 75mm hitting the iron wall is like scratching an itch."

"How is the battle at the front?"

"The first volley hit six times, stopping four vehicles and damaging two. The second volley is currently reloading."

"Keep firing."

"Keep firing!"

The communicator switched back.

Lu Chen began to process the wreckage of the three transport vehicles.

The mechanical arm extended, decomposing them one by one.

[Heavy transport vehicle wreckage x3 (including 105mm Howitzer mounts), conversion obtained: 987 Truth Points.]

The three transport vehicles were worth fifty percent more than standard Lv.2 combat vehicles.

The current balance rose from 3052 to 4039.

Ammunition consumption: The electricity used by the Ray Cannon is not converted into Truth Points.

A net profit of 987.

He retracted the mechanical arm and turned the vehicle around.

Two kilometers ahead, the Ice-Rift Swarm's charge formation was grinding toward the iron wall.

Zhao Tiezhu's second volley arrived.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ten 105mm cannons fired simultaneously.

The shells landed in the front row of the charging formation.

Firelight and smoke bloomed one after another in the twilight.

He pushed the vehicle speed to seventy kilometers, keeping the supercharger on.

The Polaris charged into the rear of the convoy at seventy kilometers per hour, coming from directly behind the Ice-Rift Swarm.

"Lin Wan, it's going to get very bumpy."

"I'm holding on."

"Good."

His right hand moved to the trigger of the Fragmentation Grenade Array.

Pre-loaded one round, free of charge.

The four Lv.2 combat vehicles closest to the rear of the charging formation: five hundred meters.

Four hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

He pulled the trigger.

Puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff!

Twelve fragmentation grenades streaked across the twilight sky, detonating at a fixed height above the four combat vehicles.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A rain of metal fragments poured down.

The roofs of the four combat vehicles were covered in fragments; one vehicle's observation window was shattered, and the communication antennas of two others were snapped.

Blinding complete.

Lu Chen rotated the Heavy Machine Gun turret to face directly ahead, locking the crosshairs onto the rear engine exhaust of the nearest vehicle.

A thirty-round burst.

Chichichichichichichichichichi!

Five rounds punched through the thin armor around the exhaust port.

Black smoke billowed from the engine.

The vehicle did not slow down.

The driver kept his foot floored on the accelerator.

What Zhao Tiezhu said about not slowing down was true.

He aimed the ramming horn at its rear right side.

At a speed of seventy kilometers, the Homogeneous Manganese Steel Ramming Horn turned into a heavy iron chisel.

The moment the collision occurred, a half-meter-wide gap was pried into the opponent's rear right armor plate, and the entire vehicle was pushed four meters away by the lateral impact.

Two links of the right track fell off.

The vehicle body drifted out in a spin, colliding with another combat vehicle nearby.

The two vehicles crashed together and flipped upside down.

He pressed the Steam Spray Gun.

Two-hundred-degree steam flooded into the gaps of the overturned undercarriages.

Two vehicles, finished.

The Polaris tore the first opening in the rear of the charging convoy.