19: Bean Tank Attack!

"Boom—!"

A dull, air-tearing explosion slammed violently into the warehouse's west wall.

Brick and stone mixed with rebar exploded inward like a cookie crushed by an invisible giant hand!

A massive shockwave, carrying choking dust and debris, instantly engulfed several machine gun positions near the wall.

A Soldier who was changing a magazine didn't even have time to scream before his upper body was smashed to a pulp by a flying chunk of concrete.

Blood and shredded flesh splattered across the crumbling wall behind him.

"Fire! Open fire, damn it!"

Shangguan Zhibiao's eyes were bloodshot as he roared hoarsely. His military cap had been blown off to who knows where, and the muscles on his smoke-covered face twisted with extreme rage.

"Da da da da da da—!"

The remaining firing points on the second and third floors of the warehouse roared as Czech light machine guns and Maxim heavy machine guns fired simultaneously.

A dense rain of bullets poured frantically onto the slowly approaching steel monster.

However, it was all in vain.

The bullets hitting the sloped armor of the Japanese Army's Type 89 medium tank only produced a series of weak, fleeting sparks.

The monster that the Soldiers fearfully called a "bean tank" didn't even flinch.

It simply rolled unhurriedly over the bodies of its allies and shattered fortifications, its tracks making a grating, teeth-aching "creak, creak" sound.

It came to a stop.

The turret rotated slowly, and its short, thick 37mm tank gun, like a cold, one-eyed beast, locked onto another firing point on the wall that had just been firing frantically.

Despair.

An unprecedented, icy despair spread through the defenders like a plague.

They could face enemies ten times their number; they could face a mountain of bayonets.

But they could not fight this steel-forged monster that was completely beyond their comprehension.

This was a generational gap in technology.

It was a dimensional strike by industry against agriculture.

"Regimental Commander!" Shangguan Zhibiao scrambled to Xie Jinyuan's side, his voice carrying a tremor he hadn't even noticed. "It's no use! The machine guns aren't working! We don't have any anti-armor weapons!"

Xie Jinyuan's expression was also more solemn than ever before.

The binoculars in his hand were locked onto the bean tank as his mind raced.

"What about the cluster grenades?"

"Useless!" Shangguan Zhibiao roared. "That thing moves too fast! Before the brothers can even get close, they'll be riddled with holes by the infantry following it! Unless... unless someone carries an explosive pack to block it!"

By the end, his voice trailed off.

Everyone present knew what "using a person to block it" meant.

That wasn't a battle; it was suicide.

At this moment, the bullet chat in the livestream also fell into an eerie silence.

The tens of millions of viewers who had just been immersed in sadness and emotion now truly felt what "powerlessness" meant through Chen Xi's lens.

[It's over...]

[How can they fight this? It's impossible!]

[Even heavy machine guns are useless... In 1937, this thing must have been invincible, right?]

[Stop it, I feel like I can't breathe...]

Just as the command center fell into a dead silence and everyone was choked by despair...

Chen Xi moved.

He shoved aside a Soldier who was trying to pull him to safety and, moving against the flow of people, rushed in front of Xie Jinyuan and Shangguan Zhibiao.

"I have a way!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a red-hot knife, instantly slicing through the frozen air.

Shangguan Zhibiao whipped his head around. Seeing it was Chen Xi, a nearly frantic hope erupted in his bloodshot eyes.

"Mr. Chen! You have a way?!"

"Cover me!" Chen Xi didn't waste words. He pointed to the roof of the warehouse. "Get me up there! The higher, the better!"

"What are you going to do?"

"Don't ask! Hurry!" Chen Xi roared. "A few more seconds, and that firing point of yours will be gone!"

Xie Jinyuan gave him a deep look and, without a moment's hesitation, made a decisive call.

"Zhibiao! Mobilize every machine gun that can still fire! Suppress that tank at all costs! Buy Mr. Chen some time!"

"Yes, sir!"

Shangguan Zhibiao took the order and turned to organize the firepower.

Under the cover of two Soldiers, Chen Xi rushed toward the staircase leading to the roof, which had been blown to pieces.

"Boom!"

The bean tank fired again.

The firing point it had targeted was instantly transformed into a sea of fire.

Chen Xi's body swayed from the violent vibration of the floorboards beneath him, but he didn't stop. Using both hands and feet like an agile ape, he climbed over the ruins that could collapse at any moment.

Above him, debris and dust showered down continuously.

Beside him, stray bullets whistled past.

At this moment, he was no longer that cynical gaming streamer.

He was "Ghost."

He was the top-tier point man who had once carved out a path of survival for his entire squad amidst a hail of bullets.

Through his violently shaking lens that never strayed from the target, the viewers in the livestream felt as if they were also in that purgatory.

They could see the distorted heat waves as bullets grazed the lens.

They could hear the dull thuds of debris hitting the protagonist.

They could feel the violent tremors from every explosion that seemed ready to blow a person away.

[Holy shit! Holy shit! Master Xi, slow down!]

[Is this a fucking parkour game?! This is too intense!]

[Don't let anything happen! Please, don't let anything happen!]

Finally, at the cost of a gash on his back, Chen Xi successfully climbed to the highest point of the warehouse.

A roof in total disarray.

He forgot about catching his breath, rolled behind a crumbling parapet wall, and peeked down.

The bean tank was directly below him.

Like an ugly steel beetle crouching on the ground.

It had already destroyed all the heavy firing points near the west wall and was now flaunting its power, preparing to crush the final defensive line of sandbags with its tracks.

Behind the line were over a dozen young Soldiers holding rifles, their faces etched with determination and fear.

There was no more time.

Chen Xi took a deep breath.

Under the anxious gazes of Xie Jinyuan and Shangguan Zhibiao, and before the tense eyes of tens of millions in the livestream...

He slowly pulled his "anti-tank divine tool" from the invisible system space behind him.