33: Prism Glacier and Sixty Seconds of Life and Death

The ghostly blue light of the Chronosphere lit up once more, its energy hum more urgent than before. Sun Zheng practically roared his command:

"Target Zone Z-1, prism tank, forced teleportation! Full power, skip coordinate fine-tuning!"

He no longer cared about the slight errors teleportation might produce—the life and death of the Arctic Team hung in the balance of seconds!

"Hum—!"

The intense energy fluctuation caused the base lights to dim for a moment! In the next instant, the air on the Arctic battlefield suddenly distorted, and a massive prism tank was forcibly "squeezed" out of the void, slamming heavily onto the ice and kicking up a cloud of frost!

It landed perfectly, right outside the team's defensive perimeter, behind several Ice Abyss Predators that were about to flank them!

"It's a prism tank! The Commander sent support!" the Second Lieutenant of Falcon One shouted excitedly, finally seeing hope in their desperate situation.

The tank driver was truly a veteran, assessing the situation the moment they landed. The turret rotated rapidly, and the prism muzzle immediately locked onto those stunned predators!

"Zzt—Boom!"

A concentrated beam of white light, like a sword of judgment, blasted out! The beam instantly pierced through the first predator, its thick carapace vaporizing like paper before the high-temperature light! The beam refracted without losing momentum, cutting two more predators in half!

One shot, three kills!

The terrifying power of the prism tank was fully displayed!

"Fantastic!" The morale of the soldiers within the defensive circle soared!

But this thunderous strike also completely enraged the predator swarm. More elite guards surged from the ice cracks and holes, letting out a deafening collective hiss. They abandoned their siege of the team and turned their primary focus toward the greatest threat, the prism tank!

"Protect the tank! tesla coil, full output!" Falcon One immediately adjusted the tactics.

The makeshift tesla coil pushed its arc power to the maximum, blue electric snakes dancing wildly, effectively slowing the charge of the predator swarm. Two American Soldiers concentrated their fire, specifically targeting enemies affected by the arcs.

The prism tank became the core of the battlefield. It constantly adjusted its muzzle, each shot acting like a reaper's scythe, clearing terrifying gaps in the monster swarm. The white beams flickered incessantly across the dim ice plain, each light accompanied by the shattering of shells and death wails.

But there were simply too many predators; they cunningly used ice ridges and spikes as cover to launch attacks from multiple directions. The prism tank's refraction attacks were significantly less effective in the complex terrain. One predator used its speed to dodge an arc and lunged at the tank's side, its claws and stingers slamming hard against the armor!

"Clang! Chrr-sh!" Deep gashes were left on the armor, and it began to freeze!

"Infantry! Take it down!" the tank driver shouted.

The nearby American Soldiers immediately turned their guns, riddling the predator with bullets. However, the tank's side armor was already severely damaged.

"Engineer! How much longer for the beacon!" Falcon One watched the increasing number of monsters, heart burning with anxiety.

"Sixty seconds! Sixty seconds at most!" The Engineer was drenched in sweat, the Chrono Beacon's activation sequence in its final stage.

Sixty seconds! Usually a fleeting moment, it now felt as long as a century!

The prism tank fought while retreating, closing in on the team's defensive circle. The tesla coil became unstable due to overload, and the electric arcs began to sputter. An American Soldier was pounced on by a predator charging from the side while reloading; though saved by his comrades, he was heavily wounded and lost his combat capability.

Casualties began to mount, and the defensive circle continued to shrink.

"For the base! Hold on!" Falcon One emptied his last magazine and pulled out a combat knife, his eyes filled with resolve.

At the critical moment, the Chrono Beacon finally emitted a steady hum, and a blue portal slowly opened in the center of the team!

"Evacuate! Now!" Falcon One roared.

"Tank goes first! We'll cover the rear!" the infantrymen shouted.

"Stop talking nonsense! We're leaving together!" The tank driver maneuvered the tank, using the last of its shells to clear the monsters ahead, opening a path to the portal for the team.

The survivors supported each other as they rushed toward the portal. The prism tank also reversed into it at full speed.

As the last soldier disappeared into the blue light, the portal abruptly closed.

The ice plain was left with only the remains of predators, scrapped equipment, and the core of that tesla coil still futilely discharging arcs.

Seconds later, the tesla coil ran out of energy, and the arcs died out. The surviving predators surrounded the empty battlefield, letting out unwilling roars.

On the teleportation platform of Forward Base Alpha, a blue light flashed, and the scarred team and prism tank successfully returned. The surviving soldiers collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

Sun Zheng looked at the transmitted images and let out a long sigh of relief. Although a price had been paid, the mission was complete. The samples were successfully brought back, and for the first time, they had severely damaged the Ice Abyss Predators in direct combat.

More importantly, they had proven that Chronosphere Teleportation, combined with elite forces, was capable of conducting strikes in extremely dangerous areas.

"Rest well, you are all heroes," Sun Zheng said through the communicator.

His gaze turned toward the North Pole once again. This time, there was no more fear, only cold fighting intent.

"Next time, we won't be in such a sorry state."