26: Broken Barrier

"Dong... Dong... Dong..."

The heavy footsteps of the Smasher were like a death knell, pounding in everyone's hearts. Its massive body, covered in dark, dull metal carapace, moved like a mobile fortress through the steel labyrinth of containers, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression. Around it, the scarlet compound eyes of the Predators gleamed in the shadows, and the invisible mental pollution ripples of the Whisperers constantly assailed the stabilization field that Lin Mo had expanded.

Bypassing was no longer possible; retreating would only lead to being overwhelmed by the swarming monsters. There was only one option: fight to the death!

"Everyone! Form a circular defense using the containers! The elderly and children to the innermost part!" Li Rui's roar instantly shattered the frozen fear, and his combat instincts quickly led him to the most correct judgment. "Zhao Qiang! Da Liu! Form the front line with me! Ye Qing, find the Smasher's weak points and interfere with the Whisperers! Lin Mo, maximize the field and withstand the first impact!"

The commands were absolute, and the will to survive overcame fear. People moved chaotically but swiftly, using scattered containers and debris to construct a crude but better-than-nothing defense. Zhao Qiang and Li Rui, wielding the strongest firepower, stood at the very front, while Da Liu and a few other young men, armed with fire axes and steel pipes, nervously guarded the flanks.

Lin Mo took a deep breath, a glint of determination in his eyes. He pushed the energy of the reality stabilization anchor fragments to its limit! A milky white aura erupted with unprecedented brightness, and he forcibly expanded the stabilization field to its extreme, nearly fifteen meters! The powerful purifying force acted like a tangible barrier, firmly resisting the mental pollution of the Whisperers and the chaotic energy permeating the air.

"Awooo—!"

As if stimulated by the stabilization field, the Smasher let out a deep, thunderous roar. Its massive bony claw suddenly lifted, bringing with it a tearing gust of wind, and slammed down fiercely onto the container defense line the group was relying on!

"Get out of the way!" Li Rui warned sharply!

"Boom!!!"

A deafening crash! The entire container was like a cannonball target, its thick steel plates instantly twisting and denting, emitting an ear-splitting metallic groan! Those hiding behind it were thrown off balance by the immense impact, their ears ringing!

With just one strike, the defense line was on the verge of collapse!

"Fire!" Li Rui and Zhao Qiang pulled their triggers almost simultaneously! Rifle and pistol bullets rained down on the Smasher's chest and head! However, to their despair, the bullets merely sparked against its dull carapace, leaving shallow white marks, utterly unable to penetrate! Its physical defense was abnormally strong!

"The carapace is too thick! Regular bullets are useless!" Zhao Qiang roared.

At the same time, the surrounding Predators, like hyenas smelling blood, swarmed from all directions! They ignored the discomfort brought by the stabilization field, frantically assaulting the flanks and rear of the defense line!

"Hold them off!" Da Liu, eyes red, swung his fire axe at an incoming Predator; the axe blade bit into the monster's shoulder but got stuck in the bone! Another Predator seized the opportunity to lunge at his throat from the side!

"Watch out!" A young man nearby screamed, stabbing at the monster with a steel pipe, but his movements were distorted by fear.

In this critical moment, Lin Mo's eyes narrowed! He didn't go to Da Liu's rescue but instantly condensed and compressed the energy of the stabilization field, transforming it into an invisible impact that precisely struck the ambushing Predator!

"Bang!" As if hit by a speeding car, the Predator was sent flying backward faster than it had lunged, crashing heavily against a container behind it, its bones shattering, and falling silent.

Da Liu seized the chance to exert force, finally pulling out the fire axe, and glanced at Lin Mo with lingering fear.

But Lin Mo had no time to catch his breath. The Smasher's second attack followed! This time, it didn't smash with its bony claw but raised a giant foot and stomped heavily on the ground!

"Warning! High-intensity shockwave energy detected gathering!" The editor issued a sharp warning!

"It's a shockwave! Find cover! Hold on tight!" Lin Mo screamed hoarsely!

Before he finished speaking—

"Dong!!!"

A visible, air-distorting circular shockwave erupted from the Smasher's giant foot as its center, spreading outwards! The ground undulated like waves, and gravel and dust were violently churned up! Several containers directly in its path were displaced and overturned! Those hiding behind them were sent flying, as if struck by a heavy hammer, spitting blood and collapsing, the defense line instantly crumbling!

Even the stabilization field, which Lin Mo maintained with all his might, violently fluctuated under this terrifying physical vibration, its light dimming for a moment! He himself felt as if his internal organs had shifted, his throat sweetened, and he forcibly swallowed the blood that surged up.

Too strong! Is this the power of a mature Smasher? Pure, overwhelming physical destructive force!

"We can't let it launch another shockwave!" Li Rui crawled out from behind an overturned container, blood at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were even fiercer. "Ye Qing! Have you found its weakness?!"

"Analyzing! Its joints! The connections of the carapace at its knee and elbow joints are relatively weak! Also, the throat area beneath its head!" Ye Qing operated her equipment while dodging stray bullets and flying debris, her voice urgent. "But its core energy source is deep within its chest cavity, protected by multiple layers of carapace!"

Joints! Throat!

Li Rui immediately understood the tactic: "Zhao Qiang! Aim for its knees with me! Lin Mo, find a way to restrict its movements or create an opportunity!"

Restrict its movements? Lin Mo's brain raced. The stabilization field had limited effect on such a purely physical behemoth; the previous shockwave had almost shattered the field itself. The jade slip's "authority ripples" might be useful, but they consumed a lot of energy, and their effect on targets with astonishing physical defense was unknown... The editor! The newly unlocked Energy Structure Simulation!

He immediately locked his perception onto the Smasher, simultaneously frantically consuming editor energy to activate the simulation function!

"Target: Smasher (Mature). Analyzing energy structure and physical weaknesses... Simulation running... Energy consumed: 0.1 units..."

Data scrolled wildly across the editor interface, and a 3D model of the Smasher, composed of energy lines, was rapidly constructed. Its carapace structure, energy flow, and muscle exertion points were analyzed and simulated one by one!

In an instant, Lin Mo's eyes blazed with light! He saw it! In the editor's simulated model, the moment the Smasher launched an attack, especially when it stomped its foot to create a shockwave, a fleeting, minuscule node of energy flow disorder would appear at its knee and ankle joints! That was the moment when old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet emerged, when the structure was most vulnerable!

It's now!

"Captain Li! Zhao Qiang!" Lin Mo screamed hoarsely, "The next time it lifts its foot to stomp, aim for the knee of its supporting leg! That's our chance!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the Smasher, seemingly agitated by its two failed attempts to crush its enemies, once again lifted its giant foot, like a stone pillar. Dark red energy began to gather at its sole, clearly preparing to unleash another terrifying shockwave!

"Now! Fire!" Li Rui didn't hesitate, simultaneously swiveling his rifle with Zhao Qiang, aiming at the Smasher's thick knee joint, which supported its body weight! Specially made demon-breaking and armor-piercing bullets whistled out!

However, the Smasher seemed to possess a certain combat instinct. The moment it lifted its foot, its massive body made an extremely subtle lateral adjustment. Most of the bullets, originally aimed at its knee, struck the thicker carapace of its thigh, still failing to cause effective damage!

"Damn it!" Li Rui cursed.

Seeing the giant foot, laden with terrifying energy, about to stomp down again, once it landed, the already crumbling defense line would completely collapse, and casualties would be unimaginable!

Just at this critical moment, Lin Mo moved!

He didn't try to directly resist or interfere with the descending giant foot. Instead, he took the information about the energy disorder node in the joint during the attack, which he had just perceived through the simulation, and combined it with the power of the reality stabilization anchor fragments to perform an extremely bold and precise "edit"!

He locked onto the knee joint of the Smasher's supporting leg, no longer diffusing the stabilization field's energy for purification. Instead, he condensed it into an invisible, intangible "energy needle" that contained the ultimate concepts of "order" and "stability"! Then, guided by the editor's millisecond precision, at the exact moment this energy disorder node appeared—when old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet emerged—he fiercely "stabbed" this "needle of order" into the energy gap at the connection point of the Smasher's knee joint carapace!

This was not a physical attack, but an interference at the rule level! He forcibly injected a foreign energy of "stability" into that disordered energy node!

"Buzz—!"

A low, abnormal energy sound emanated from the Smasher's knee joint! Its giant foot, about to stomp down, suddenly froze! The dark red energy gathered at its sole violently flickered and became chaotic, like a short circuit, ultimately failing to fully form and erupt! Its massive body lost balance due to the forced interruption of its exertion, stumbled, and knelt on one knee, smashing a shallow pit in the ground!

Opportunity! A heaven-sent opportunity!

It knelt! Its head and throat were exposed!

"Shoot its throat!" Lin Mo screamed with all his might!

Without his reminder, Li Rui and Zhao Qiang, who had been waiting for an opportunity, instinctively aimed their guns at the briefly exposed, relatively vulnerable throat area!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Li Rui's demon-breaking bullets precisely entered the constantly opening and closing, mucus-oozing fissure! Zhao Qiang's large-caliber pistol bullets followed close behind!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Green, corrosive blood spurted from the Smasher's throat! It let out an unprecedented, earth-shattering roar mixed with pain and fury! Its massive body struggled violently, trying to stand up again.

But how could Lin Mo give it another chance? He endured the immense consumption of mental power and the severe pain in his body, once again condensed the "needle of order," and aimed it at the knee joint of its other leg!

At the same time, he unleashed the remaining stabilization field energy like a storm, sweeping over the surrounding Predators and Whisperers, who were stunned by the Smasher's injury!

"Get out of here!"

The powerful purifying force and mental impact made those low-level Corruptors shriek in terror, as if splashed with boiling water, their offensive stalling!

Seizing this opportunity, Li Rui and Zhao Qiang poured all their firepower, without reservation, onto the Smasher's vulnerable throat and head!

"Boom boom boom!"

Under the continuous, precise strikes, the Smasher's struggles grew weaker and weaker, and the wound on its throat continuously expanded. Finally, its small head suddenly tilted backward, and after a reluctant wail, its massive body collapsed with a crash, kicking up a sky full of dust.

With their leader dead, the remaining Predators and Whisperers immediately fell into chaos. Some scattered and fled, while others were systematically cleared by Da Liu and the others, who had stabilized their positions, and by Ye Qing's interference equipment.

The battle was over.

The logistics park was a mess, filled with the smell of gunpowder, blood, and the stench of monster corpses.

The survivors, supporting each other, emerged from behind cover, looking at the Smasher's corpse, which was like a small mountain, their faces filled with the dazed shock of having survived a great calamity.

Lin Mo leaned on his knees, panting heavily, his face pale, his clothes soaked with sweat. Those two exquisitely precise "needles of order" had almost drained his recently recovered mental energy, and the editor's energy had once again dropped to 0.4 units. But in his eyes, a flame of excitement burned.

He had done it! Not just by relying on the power of the fragments, but also by relying on the editor's analysis and his own "editing" of reality, he had defeated a seemingly invincible powerful enemy!

Li Rui walked up to him and patted his shoulder heavily. He said nothing, but the admiration and recognition in his eyes were more eloquent than a thousand words.

Ye Qing looked at the collected Smasher data, especially the faint, not yet completely dissipated "order" energy residue at its knee joint, her eyes filled with an incredulous research fervor.

Professor Wang tallied the casualties; fortunately, no one had died, but many were injured and needed immediate treatment.

Lin Mo raised his head and looked into the depths of the logistics park, where chaotic energy still permeated. He knew that this battle was just the beginning. But after this tempering, he had a deeper understanding and confidence in the path he had chosen and in the power of "editing reality."

Beyond the shattered barrier lay a wider and more dangerous world.