177: Southern Military Region

Deep into the night

South of the Ranges Base

Southern Military Region Headquarters

Commander of the Military Region Commander Zhou Keming and Governor of the South of the Ranges Governor Zheng were woken from their sleep by an emergency communication.

Upon hearing the report from their subordinates—"Massive missile strike detected" and "Activity from over twenty unidentified bombers"—both men instantly lost all trace of sleep and rushed to the brightly lit Combat Command Center.

The atmosphere inside the command room was heavy. On the massive Radar screen, dense clusters of light representing missiles and aircraft focused on the Qianzhou City area. The high-frequency Radar alarm seemed to still echo in the air.

"What is the situation?! Have the early warning aircraft and reconnaissance planes been dispatched? What exactly is happening in Qianzhou?" Commander Zhou Keming's voice was steady, but his brow was tightly furrowed as his sharp gaze swept toward the operations staff officer responsible for intelligence. Governor of the South of the Ranges Governor Zheng, standing nearby, also wore a grave expression, staring intently at the screen.

"Reporting, Commander! Governor!" An operations staff officer immediately stood up to report. "Our early warning aircraft and escort fighter jet formation have taken off urgently and advanced to the airspace a hundred kilometers from Qianzhou. According to the real-time three-dimensional battlefield datalink transmitted back by the early warning aircraft..." The staff officer paused, a hint of disbelief in his tone, "...the force delivering the devastating strike against Qianzhou is none other than the Red Alert Legion from Lujiang City! Moreover... this is already the third wave of large-scale bombing!" (The second wave of missile strikes)

"A third wave?!" Governor Zheng exclaimed in astonishment, his face etched with confusion. "Do they get their missiles and aerial bombs for free? With this rate of expenditure, how is their logistics keeping up?" This completely exceeded his understanding of the consumption rates of modern warfare.

Commander Zhou Keming's eyes were also filled with shock and incomprehension. Stroking his chin, he muttered, "This Red Alert Legion... they are truly 'extravagant'! They resort to missile bombardment and saturation bombing at the drop of a hat? Even the wealthy America wouldn't dare be this wasteful before the apocalypse. How much wealth do they actually possess?" This simple, brutal tactic, relying purely on overwhelming firepower, brought him far more shock than tactical appreciation.

At the same time, the urban area of Qianzhou had completely transformed into an inferno of raging flames.

The bomber fleet from Lujiang City, utilizing the "Ammunition Refresh" provided by the System's star upgrade, carried out wave after wave of devastating area saturation strikes. Thousands of tons of high-explosive and incendiary bombs poured down like hail, tearing apart and melting the already burning city once again. The towering flames were clearly visible even dozens of kilometers away, and thick smoke blotted out the sun and moon.

However, this terrifying scene became the brightest light in the darkness for the survivors hiding in the surrounding villages and mountainous areas outside the Qianzhou urban district!

"Look! In the city! It's bombing again! It's bombing again!" A young man hiding in a cave pointed at the constantly flashing explosions over the distant city, shouting excitedly. "These explosions... this fire... it's the military! Our main forces must have returned!" An old man stood up tremblingly, tears streaming down his cloudy eyes.

"With bombing on this scale... those monsters in the city... they probably won't have a speck of ash left, right?"

"That's wonderful... we finally waited for it..." Discussions filled with excitement and hope spread through the various survivor strongholds. Some people couldn't wait to rush into the city immediately to find the military, but the more rational ones held them back.

"Don't rush! Don't cause trouble! The military made such a big move, they definitely have a plan! The city is a furnace right now, it's too dangerous! We'll hold on for a few more days; once the military finishes cleaning the battlefield, they will surely come out and rescue us!"

The desire for survival and the trust in national power supported all the survivors at this moment.

After the peacekeeper bomber formation continued to pour down a rain of death for several tens of minutes, turning the final area into scorched earth, the time was approaching the early hours of the next morning. The bomber fleet began to return. But just as they left, the second wave of missile strikes from Lujiang arrived precisely once more, like maggots clinging to bone! The massive explosions became the final requiem for this land of death.

After four full rounds of insane saturation bombing, the zombie hordes in the two core urban areas were almost completely wiped out, with no signs of activity remaining. The terrifying ultra-high temperatures had nearly evaporated all moisture in the area, the ground was vitrified, and the air was distorted.

That Third-Tier Corpse King, the Swift Blazing Corpse King, miraculously survived the layers of explosions and fierce fire thanks to its extremely high flame resistance. Dragging its charred, broken, and dying body, it struggled out of a half-collapsed sewer opening. What greeted its eyes was an endless sea of fire, scattered charred limbs and fragments everywhere, and... reflecting the firelight, zombie crystal cores of various colors sparkling across the ground like stars!

However, before it could absorb these crystal cores to recover, two apollo aerospace fighters, which had been circling high above like silver reapers, had already locked onto it!

"Attention! Target sighted! Third-Tier Corpse King has appeared! Plasma Beam Cannon, fire!" The apollo pilot excitedly gave the order. Two pale blue beams of destruction instantly descended from the sky, converging precisely on the scarred Swift Blazing Corpse that had just emerged! Without any suspense, and without even time to let out a wail, this powerful Third-Tier Corpse King was instantly vaporized in the extreme high temperature, disappearing completely, leaving behind only a crystal clear blue Third-Tier crystal core.

Almost simultaneously, another Third-Tier Corpse King, the Thunder Scorpion Tail Corpse, was also easily beheaded and purified by another group of waiting apollo fighter jets using the same method.

Inside the command room, the real-time footage was transmitted back. Jiang Xin watched the last two red dots disappear from the screen, and a satisfied smile finally curved his lips.

"Order: Tomorrow morning, the Sappers unit and all armed mining vehicles will enter the site under the escort of combat troops! Fully recover all crystal cores, precious metals, and usable supplies!"

"Yes, sir!"

...Inside the Southern Military Region Combat Room

Based on the final footage transmitted back by the early warning aircraft and high-altitude reconnaissance planes, all high-ranking military and political officials fell into a prolonged silence. They had witnessed the entire process of destruction firsthand: from the initial missile volley, to the repeated devastation by the bombers, to the second round of bombing, and finally the precise executions by the fighters... This style of warfare was simple, brutal, outrageously expensive, but also... maximally effective!

"It's simply... simply using gold bricks to swat mosquitoes..." a general muttered to himself.

"But the mosquitoes were definitely swatted to death, and thoroughly dead at that," another person interjected, their tone complex.

Commander Commander Zhou Keming and Governor Governor Zheng exchanged glances, both seeing shock, emotion, and a hint of... urgency in the other's eyes.

"Old Zheng," Commander Zhou Keming said gravely, tapping his finger on the map over the two cities in northern Lingnan Province still occupied by zombies, "it seems we must re-evaluate the strength of this Red Alert Legion. I believe we need to arrange personnel quickly to formally make contact with them. If possible, perhaps we can cooperate to swiftly reclaim our two northern cities."

"I agree." Governor Zheng nodded heavily. "I will immediately arrange for our most capable cadres to go to Lujiang Base and contact them. We must secure such a 'tycoon' ally!"

Time quickly moved to the next morning. Sunlight barely managed to penetrate the air, which was still thick with the smell of charring and smoke, illuminating the northern and southern districts of Qianzhou, which had been completely reduced to black ruins. There was hardly a single intact building to be found; everywhere the eye could see were charred remnants of walls, twisted metal frames, and strange substances that had melted and then solidified.

Dozens of massive armed mining vehicles roared heavily, slowly driving into this death zone like steel behemoths. Their huge scoops easily shoveled up the mountainous piles of charred zombie remnants and deposited them into the internal processing compartments. These corpses would be transported back to the base, fed into the Power Plant as biomass energy for final "waste utilization," while precious metals within the bodies would also be recovered by the processing compartment.

Following closely behind, the Sappers vehicles sprayed specialized fire retardant and disinfectant, extinguishing the last remaining smoldering fires and purifying this heavily contaminated land.

More soldiers moved through the ruins, carefully searching and picking up the various colored crystal cores sparkling among the debris and corpses, as well as any gold, jewelry, and other precious metals they could find.

On the periphery of the entire operation team, large numbers of grizzly tanks, rhino tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry responsible for vigilance formed a tight defensive line. Machine guns and cannon barrels pointed warily toward the depths of the ruins, guarding against any potential surprise attack from zombies that might not have been completely eliminated.