165: Chapter 166 Abundant Gains in Combat Power, New Technological Upgrades

Hum, hum, hum—

Rings of accelerating magnetic rails on the barrels flickered incessantly, emitting a pale blue light.

With the manual cocking operation eliminated, the crossbows had already achieved the firing rate of semi-automatic firearms.

The crossbow bolts, accelerated by Electromagnetics, shot out of the muzzles like phantoms, forming lines in the air.

Moving at high speed with immense kinetic energy, the bolts struck the Smasher, and the moment of contact caused the entire bolt to deform and twist.

The defense of the crystal shell was too thick; the bolts could not penetrate it, and the powerful impact force destroyed the bolts themselves in return.

However, the deformation was not the end. Fine currents, like snowflakes, surged from the bolts, causing localized short circuits on the surface of the crystal shell, further damaging its structure.

Countless crossbow bolts struck the crystal shell, shattering and releasing currents, and a visible electric web spread across the Smasher as the bolts fired.

The thick crystal shell began to change. The originally stable crystal structure gradually loosened under the strong current, and the blue surface was turning purple, piece by piece.

Hiss—

The Smasher realized something was wrong and wanted to re-adjust its muzzle.

However, it was too late. In just a few seconds, the crystal shell at the leg joints had all turned purple.

With a crisp bang, the defense was pierced.

Hum, hum, hum—

Rank 4 Crossbowmen also joined the firing, with 60 Crossbowmen firing in unison.

Countless bolts swarmed in like a bloodthirsty wolf pack.

One of the Smasher's legs was pierced, and the powerful current surging into its body paralyzed half of it instantly.

Roar—

It wailed as it fell, trying to raise its other hand to counterattack.

With a boom, the other leg was also pierced, and current surged in.

The Smasher lost the ability to resist, its massive body slowly falling to the ground like a collapsing mountain.

Boom—

The Smasher fell, and countless dust billowed out.

The Crossbowmen did not stop their output, targeting joints, skulls, and chests.

Bolts shot toward various lethal angles, releasing high-energy currents.

This massive creature could no longer stop the arrival of the Grim Reaper.

[Successfully killed Rank 16 Tyranid Titanium-Crystal Smasher (Ranged Variant), command points +1920 (30% bonus)]

[Obtained Common C-Rank drop, Titanium-Crystal Fragment (Quality +1)]

[Titanium mining, Titanium-Crystal defense, and a series of other technologies can be unlocked at the Xeno Experiment Station (pre-requisite technologies currently not unlocked)]

[Killed Rank 16 Tyranid Brood Mother, command points +2400 (30% bonus)]

[Obtained Expert E-Rank drop, Heart of the Hive (Quality +1)]

[Event Triggered: Gaze of the Abyss (Rank 6)]

[You have become a nightmare for the Insect Swarm; they are constantly thinking of assassinating you and destroying you.]

[Note: The current Insect Swarm attacks will be more intense and unscrupulous.]

With the Smasher down, the largest encounter battle ended.

Once again, an elite unit and a Brood Mother died simultaneously, just like what happened at the Double Mother Insect Nest.

Compared to the first encounter with the Titanium-Crystal Insect Swarm and the thrilling city defense battle last time, the Armored Soldiers were clearly at ease during this battle.

The electromagnetic bonus made the Titanium-Crystal Insect Swarm's armor almost ineffective; apart from the Smasher, other units were completely unable to break through the Imperial Armor army.

This was the first battle after upgrading the Main Base to Rank 5, a truly exhilarating fight.

While General Li Xin and General Meng Tian were organizing the troops to collect corpses and clear the battlefield, Su Yang opened his panel to check the gains from this battle.

The rewards this large-scale battle brought to the territory were unprecedented.

The total number of dead Insect Swarm exceeded 1000, and the piles of corpses almost filled the compressed space of three black iron chariots.

The command points generated from kills alone reached 136,200 points, and after a 30% bonus, it came to a terrifying 177,060 points.

One hundred and seventy thousand command points in a single battle!

This was almost twice as much as the largest battle before!

Without the electromagnetic upgrade, the troops would not have been able to chew through such a large-scale Insect Swarm!

After entering the Rank 5 Main Base, the territory not only saw a significant improvement in technology, but the ability to acquire command points also leveled up by an entire tier.

The farms solved the food problem, the electromagnetic upgrade solved the combat power problem, and the increased threat level meant that command points were no longer an issue.

Next, all that was needed was to acquire more vassal states to further increase resource production, and nothing would be able to stop Great Qin's expansion.

"Continue advancing, reach the Wailing Mountains before the sun sets!"

Su Yang gave the order, and the Expeditionary Force, having finished the major battle, Advanced toward their destination once again.

Meanwhile, Su Yang opened his panel.

With 170,000 command points in hand, he had to spend a wave.

Although this battle went smoothly, it hadn't reached the point of complete crushing dominance.

The final attack by the Smasher reminded him that his troops were still far from being invincible.

Although Electromagnetics could disintegrate the Titanium-Crystal defense, it could not block the insect spikes made of titanium crystal.

As the Insect Swarm threat level increased, the steel Imperial Armor was no longer as sturdy as before.

It was time to upgrade the energy shields and mine Advanced metals to forge more powerful Imperial Armor.

Steel was still being forged, so the upgrades for the Generals Mansion and the Foundry Camp would have to wait.

What he could do now was to use command points to unlock unfinished technologies as much as possible.

The last remaining technology in the Imperial Armor Camp was the Imperial Armor Shield.

[Technology: Deflection Shield]

[The bullet that can kill me has not yet been manufactured]

[Upgrade Unit: Great Qin Armored Elite Soldier]

[In-depth analysis of magnetic field and force field conversion principles, providing the surface of the Elite Soldier's Imperial Armor with an energy shield of charged particle fields, capable of deflecting and reducing various types of damage]

[command points: 12000]

[Time: 36h]

[Pre-requisite Technology: Electromagnetics, High-Energy Capacitor]

The energy shield was a brand-new defense mechanism different from steel battle armor.

Whether it was the soldiers' Imperial Armor or the generals' battle armor, damage encountered in battle could not be repaired in time.

However, as long as there was a sufficient energy supply, the energy shield could be constantly repaired.

This could not only improve the soldiers' defensive capabilities but also greatly enhance their endurance in combat.

Moreover, the Rank 5 Elite Soldier upgrade and the Rank 2 Blazing Steed upgrade matched perfectly, as both were related to energy shield upgrades.

This made a scene of cavalry charging involuntarily appear in Su Yang's mind.

A cavalry unit equipped with energy shields, with full shields every time they charged.

What a terrifying combat force this would be?

[command points - 12000]

[Technology Deflection Shield researching...]

command points invested, research started.

Su Yang switched the panel and came to the next upgrade.

Advanced mineral mining.