14: When the sky becomes a dead end

[System Alert: Points have reached the promotion red line (90/100).]

[Matchmaking Locked: High-intensity opponent (Rank Gatekeeper).]

The air in the preparation hall was heavy.

Li Cang sat at the obsidian table, his thin fingers tapping the surface with a dull thud.

"Gatekeeper."

Li Cang spat.

In the meat grinder of the Epoch ladder, these three words represented the purest malice.

In every major rank's promotion series, the system acts like a sadistic pervert, specifically arranging for you to face an old veteran who has occupied that rank for centuries.

These people either enjoy 'smurfing' due to their bad personalities or are simply farming a certain resource; regardless, they possess card deck depth and tactical experience far beyond their current rank.

They are the vicious dogs at the edge of the abyss, specifically responsible for kicking those newcomers who are desperately trying to climb out back into the mud pit.

[Match Success!]

[Opponent ID: Sky Wing]

[Rank: Iron III]

[Civilization Type: Anti-Gravity · Aerial Combat Style]

Across the round table, silver light crashed down.

As the light dissipated, it revealed the flashy virtual avatar of the opponent.

The guy was wearing a streamlined high-altitude combat suit with a full-face tactical helmet. He hovered half a foot off the ground, and two pairs of translucent energy wings on his back were flickering.

The whole person exuded a punchable aura of 'I am noble, you are unworthy'.

"Another one seeking death?"

Sky Wing's voice was processed, drifting like the sound of high-altitude wind.

"Fatality rate SSS? A specialist."

He scanned Li Cang's data and let out a sneer.

"On the ground, you might be invincible. But this round, you've met me. The sky is my domain."

Li Cang ignored the trash talk. His gaze moved past his opponent, focusing on the holographic sandbox rising from the round table.

For heavy infantry like the Thunder Warriors, the most terrifying thing wasn't a meat-grinder-like positional battle, but rather—being unable to reach the enemy.

If they were randomly assigned a flat plain or a sea map full of water, the opponent could just fly in the sky and kite them. These muscle-bound Thunder Warriors, who only knew how to hack at things, would become sitting ducks who could only take hits without being able to fight back.

Light and shadow condensed as the terrain appeared.

[Script Loading: Broken Floating Islands]

[Environment Tags: [Low Gravity], [High Altitude Strong Winds], [Fall is Instant Death]]

[Victory Condition: Occupy the central 'Storm Beacon' and hold it for 15 minutes.]

Li Cang's pupils shrank slightly.

The worst-case scenario.

On the sandbox, dozens of floating rock islands hovered ten thousand meters in the air, maintained by ancient anti-gravity cores. The islands were connected only by rusted iron chains. Hurricanes howled all around, and a bottomless abyss lay beneath.

A paradise for aerial combat. A grave for heavy infantry.

"Good luck."

Sky Wing whistled. "The system thinks you should go back too. There's no cover here. When those tin cans of yours fall, you won't even hear them hit the bottom."

He flicked his fingers with calm confidence.

Slap! Slap!

Two cards were played at the starting point.

Card A: [Energy Level T2] (Quantity: 10) — Flight Assault Units.

Card B: [Energy Level T1.5] (Quantity: 20) — High-Mobility Jump Units.

"Standard air-ground coordination."

Li Cang made a quick judgment. T2 were anti-gravity fighters, and T1.5 were jet infantry. They would use the low gravity to kite him.

He looked down at the only trump card in his hand—[Thunder Warrior Legion (Phase II)].

Despite having [Pain Conversion] and [Hardened Skeleton], the Mk I power armor was still cumbersome. Jumping high in low gravity without the ability to change direction in mid-air made them sitting ducks.

"I can't take them head-on. I must pull them down."

Li Cang's gaze searched the sandbox. Floating islands, suspension bridges, beacons, anti-gravity cores... His eyes locked on.

The thick 'Gravity Chains,' two meters in diameter, connected the floating islands. They were not just passages but key anchor points for maintaining the islands' balance. Without them, the islands would collide and flip in the air currents.

"Since I can't fly up..."

The corners of Li Cang's mouth curled into an arc, a look of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

"Then I'll pull the sky down."

"Deploy."

He flipped his wrist. The card was not placed on the main island, but on the smallest, most precarious satellite island at the edge of the map.

Far from the central beacon, it looked like an act of self-abandonment.

"Hmm?"

Sky Wing was stunned. "Giving up the center? Playing guerrilla? With air superiority, there's nowhere you can hide that isn't death."

Li Cang brought up the [Tactical Preset].

He entered the commands.

[Special Order: All personnel equipped with 'Pneumatic Rock Nails' and 'High-Strength Industrial Cables'.]

[Tactical Bias: Abandon shooting, focus on... structural destruction.]

[System Translation: Combat Engineer Mode / Anchor Destruction / Gravity Weaponization.]

After finishing this, Li Cang looked up.

"You think the sky is your territory?"

His voice was calm.

"Before gravity, all are equal."

[Deployment Complete.]

[Simulation Start.]

The holographic sandbox became reality.

The high-altitude gales from ten thousand meters filled the hall, the wind stinging faces.

Sky Wing's forces took to the air. [Storm Knights] equipped with sophisticated anti-gravity wings circled above the beacon, their streamlined armor reflecting the piercing light. Two heavy Anti-Gravity Gunships emerged from the clouds, rocket pods locking onto the area below.

"Come out, rat."

Sky Wing sneered. "Let's see how long you can hide."

The gunships provided fire coverage, energy beams shattering rock.

But he didn't notice.

On the satellite island shrouded in the shadows of the edge.

The grey giants clad in heavy armor didn't look for cover, nor did they fire into the air. They didn't even look up.

Arik Taranis stood at the edge of the cliff, the tattered cloth of his power armor fluttering violently.

Behind him, thirty Thunder Warriors silently raised their thick Pneumatic Rock Nail guns.

Bang! Bang!

Dull impacts echoed. One-meter-long alloy rock nails were driven deep into the hard rock.

High-strength cables were wound loop after loop around the massive Gravity Chain connecting to the main island. The chain pulled taut, maintaining a fragile balance.

They didn't look at the sky. They looked at the abyss beneath their feet and the rolling sea of clouds.

Arik's crimson eye flashed with light.

There was no need to chase the sky.

They only needed to make the sky fall.

"Pull."

Arik gave the order in a low voice.

Thirty gene-enhanced warriors exerted their strength simultaneously.

Hum—!!!

The servo motors of the Mk I power armor shrieked on the verge of overload, and the back reactors spewed thick smoke. Muscle fibers contracted frantically under the stimulation of drugs, making crisp snapping sounds as they tore.

The cables instantly pulled taut.

The iron chain connecting to the main island endured terrifying torque, letting out a groan of agony.

Creak—

The wail of metal fatigue.

The balance was broken.

Under the brute force of the pull, the peripheral satellite island actually moved! Like a giant pendulum, it began to tilt and plunge outward.

The central main island it was connected to underwent a terrifying tilt under the massive pull.

The ground shook, and rocks tumbled down.

"Wha... what?"

Sky Wing's eyes widened as he stared at the bright red 'Structural Instability' warning on his radar.

"Madman! What are you doing?!"

"Tearing down... the stage."

Arik grinned savagely, his face twisting beneath his faceplate. The muscles in his arms bulged, and the hydraulic rods turned glowing red from the heat.

"Break... for me!!!"

Snap!

A loud crack like the sky collapsing.

The connection point snapped completely. But the cables still held the two islands together.

The satellite island, having lost its fixed point, carried the thirty madmen like a tens-of-thousands-of-tons meteor hammer. Drawn by gravity, it traced a deadly arc and smashed violently into the anti-gravity core at the bottom of the central main island!

This was Thunder tactics.

Simple, brutal.

If I can't go up.

Then I'll smash you down.