18: Chapter 18 The First Sneak Attack

The night was as dark as ink, the bloody moon completely obscured by heavy, dark clouds. Only the sporadic energy lamps within the Fortress emitted a bleak light, stretching the shadows of the buildings like grotesque, clawing specters. It was a night perfect for lurking and ambush.

Outside the Fortress, near a disused subway ventilation shaft about five hundred meters from the main wall, the air warped unnaturally. Immediately after, over a dozen figures, blurry and indistinct like melting wax statues, slid out silently from the depths of the shaft.

They wore tight-fitting dark combat suits, their faces covered with light-distorting visors. Their movements were swift and coordinated, not making a single unnecessary sound. They were the elite infiltration squad dispatched by the Thousand Faces Cult—the 'Faceless One'. Their mission, based on the latest intelligence transmitted back by 'Phantom' (Qin Weiwei's codename), was to ambush and destroy the 'Superconducting Energy Core Array' located in the B7 Sector on the Fortress's underground third level!

The squad leader, a man codenamed 'Shadow Blade', made a complex hand signal. The team members immediately dispersed, moving like ghosts using the shadows of the ruins to quickly advance towards the Fortress. Their route cleverly avoided the fixed patrol paths of the outer Yin Soldiers, clearly demonstrating an intimate knowledge of the Fortress's overt defenses.

Everything was going unbelievably smoothly.

Soon, they reached a relatively concealed corner of the Fortress's outer wall. According to intelligence, there was a maintenance access passage here. Although locked from the inside, its structure was relatively weak, making it their best point of entry.

Shadow Blade took out a palm-sized, flesh-colored device from his tactical waist pouch that wriggled slightly as if alive and pressed it against the thick alloy door. The device extended countless tiny tendrils, beginning to silently corrode the door's locking mechanism.

Meanwhile, in the Fortress's core control room.

A massive Netherlight screen clearly displayed every move of the infiltration squad, even capturing the faint, confident micro-expression on Shadow Blade's face with perfect clarity. The perspective came from several 'Peeping Phantoms' floating extremely high above them, almost blending into the darkness.

Zhang Hao rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "Master! The fish has taken the bait! Let me take a squad of Yin Soldiers and surround them! I guarantee not a single one escapes!"

Su Qingyu watched the screen with slight tension. Even though she knew it was a trap, seeing the enemy approach so easily still made her palms sweat.

Lin Chen leaned back in his chair, idly playing with the damaged Nether General token obtained from the armory. Hearing Zhang Hao, he didn't even lift an eyelid.

"What's the rush?" he said lazily. "The guests have come a long way. We should at least let them... see a glimmer of hope."

With a thought, he issued an order through the system to the Yin Soldiers responsible for that area—【Proceed as planned. Allow passage to the periphery of B7 Sector. Maintain surveillance. Avoid contact unless necessary.】

...

Outside, Shadow Blade's squad had successfully opened the maintenance passage and slipped inside like slippery loaches. The passage was dark, damp, and filled with the smell of metal and dust. Following the 'Fortress structural map' memorized in their minds, they navigated the maze-like underground tunnels swiftly, accurately avoiding several patrol points, heading straight for the third underground level!

"Leader, it's going too smoothly! The Fortress's defenses really do have a flaw!" a team member reported in a low voice via the built-in communicator, his tone laced with suppressed excitement.

A sliver of doubt flickered in Shadow Blade's heart, but the temptation of imminent success overwhelmed everything. Thinking of the immense credit from destroying the energy core, his eyes grew fervent.

"Stay alert. Proceed as planned!"

They finally reached the target area—the entrance to Sector B7 on the third underground level. An incredibly thick alloy door, engraved with complex energy circuits, blocked their path. Indicator lights on the door flashed a steady green, signifying normal operation.

This was it! The 'Superconducting Energy Core Array'!

Shadow Blade signaled. Two team members immediately stepped forward and began installing high-energy polymer explosives on the door's control system. The others quickly set up defensive and sniper positions at both ends of the passage, preparing to block any reinforcements that might arrive after detonation.

In the control room, Zhang Hao watched as the enemy placed explosives on that purely decorative, fake door—behind which was solid rock—and scratched his head anxiously: "Master! They're really going to blow it up! That door looks pretty expensive..."

Lin Chen glanced at him: "If it blows up, it blows up. We'll get the system to reimburse us later."

Su Qingyu: "..."

At that moment, Shadow Blade's squad finished setting the explosives and quickly retreated to a safe distance.

"Detonate!"

BOOM——!!!

A violent explosion echoed through the underground passage, deafening! Flames and thick smoke instantly engulfed that 'expensive' alloy door!

Before the smoke cleared, Shadow Blade impatiently waved his hand: "Assault!"

Squad members charged out like leopards, rushing through the blasted doorway, ready to meet the dazzling light and deafening hum of the energy core, and the ensuing chaos...

However, once they charged in, they all froze in place.

Behind the door was not some futuristic energy core array.

Instead, it was an impossibly vast, enormous underground space! The surroundings were cold, unadorned rock walls. The ground was level but completely empty!

Only in the center of the space, standing neatly and silently... were over fifty Yin Soldier Centurion! They stood like sculptures that had been waiting for a long time, their empty eye sockets collectively 'gazing' at the intruders. The Nether Spears condensed in their hands emitted a chilling, cold light!

At the very front of the Yin Soldier phalanx stood three even more terrifying figures clad in heavy armor, with golden soul-fire burning in their eye sockets—Yin Soldier Chiliarch!

A suffocating, despair-inducing aura of Netherdeath enveloped the entire space like a solid entity!

It was a trap!

Shadow Blade's mind went 'buzz', instantly blank. Immense fear, like ice water poured over his head, froze the blood in his veins!

"Retreat! Retreat now!!" he screamed hoarsely, his voice distorted by extreme terror.

But it was already too late.

The Yin Soldier Chiliarch facing them slowly raised an arm.

In the next moment, over fifty Nether Spears were raised simultaneously! Dense ghostly energy converged like a tidal wave!

"Kill——!"

There was no shout, only a cold mental command that swept over them like a storm!

Countless black spears, formed of pure Nether energy, rained down on the dozen-plus infiltration team members like a downpour! Their speed surpassed the limits of visual perception!

"No!!"

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

The sound of blades piercing flesh was as dense as popping beans! Dark blood and shattered limbs flew everywhere in the empty underground space!

Those light-distorting visors were as fragile as paper under absolute force and energy suppression! Their meticulously trained stealth and assassination skills seemed so laughable and powerless before the organized Yin Soldier military formation!

In the brief span of two or three seconds.

Everything returned to deathly silence.

Over a dozen elite 'Faceless One' of the Thousand Faces Cult, along with their leader Shadow Blade, had been completely reduced to a dozen-odd smears of unrecognizable pulp and shattered equipment on the ground, without even leaving a complete last word.

The fifty-plus Yin Soldiers silently retracted their spears, their formation unwavering, as if they had merely swatted a few flies.

In the control room, Zhang Hao punched the air fiercely: "Beautiful! Perfectly done! That'll teach those bastards to try an ambush!"

Su Qingyu watched the bloody scene on the screen, her face slightly pale, but she quickly regained her composure. This was the consequence of challenging Lin Chen's rules.

Lin Chen snapped his fingers.

The image on the screen switched to real-time surveillance of Qin Weiwei's room.

In the feed, Qin Weiwei seemed disturbed by the faint sound of an explosion in the distance. She sat up uneasily from her bed, listening intently. Her face wore the perfectly appropriate panic of a 'frail little sister'.

Lin Chen watched her performance, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Good little sister," he murmured to himself, like a demon's whisper. "The 'guests' you sent, big brother has... properly entertained them for you."

"I wonder what kind of 'surprise' you'll bring me next time?"