Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 109: Emergency

The soldiers, although filled with various doubts, followed Zhu Yanchen’s instructions and dispersed as planned. As expected, the three large Erosion Swamps paid no attention to this small human team. They were like industrial production machinery on an assembly line, ceaselessly spewing out nightmares.

In theory, Zhu Yanchen shouldn’t have personally taken such a risk. He was, after all, the overall commander of this war. If he were to fall here, Zhu Sheng might not be able to handle the situation, let alone Yi Ning.

To be honest, they hadn’t fully recovered from the shock of Zhu Yanchen’s resurrection until now. It was only that the war diluted this chaos. Suddenly receiving such an absurd and ludicrous command, it was impossible not to feel anxious.

Team C, as agreed upon, launched purification grenades at that thing. The old-style purification grenades dented a significant portion of the Erosion Swamps, obstructing their movement and causing them to slowly rotate in the direction of Team C.

At the same time, Zhu Yanchen adjusted his mask, connected his respirator, and activated the suppression device in his hand.

The appearance of this device was a bit strange. Instead of a firearm, it looked more like a peculiar whisk. As the attention of the Erosion Swamps was drawn away by Team C, Zhu Yanchen climbed to a nearby elevated position and jumped down together with the device.

The person in charge of Team C nearly cursed aloud—the Erosion Swamp was particularly viscous, completely different from ordinary liquid. Even without considering the erosion, if something went wrong, they might suffocate inside. They couldn’t make heads or tails of Zhu Yanchen’s actions.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t carry any threatening weapons and didn’t cause any additional destruction. Consequently, the Erosion Swamps remained vigilant against Team C and attempted to incorporate them into the trajectory of their creations. While they clumsily adjusted their bodies, Team C received an extremely faint signal.

This time, they used launchers with greater penetrating power and fired purification grenades at one of the spherical Erosion Swamp.

The purification grenade slammed into the largest Erosion Swamp, bursting open abruptly. The spherical Erosion Swamp, caught off guard, sustained damage to its brain. Immediately, it was unable to spew out countless small spheres and could only barely maintain its external shape.

The signal came again.

Although the human forces didn’t understand the principle behind it, seeing that the attacks were effective and Zhu Yanchen was still alive, they became more decisive in their actions. Several purification grenades were launched consecutively, and the spherical Erosion Swamp finally couldn’t hold its unique form any longer. The viscous Erosion Swamp flowed to the ground, resembling melting ice cream in a dish.

However, even after that portion of the erosion substance had drained away, they still didn’t catch sight of Zhu Yanchen.

Immediately after, a signal appeared inside the next spherical Erosion Swamp. Moving within the Erosion Swamp was no simple task; no one knew where this guy got his stamina from.

Team C followed the same procedure and wounded another one. This time, the Erosion Swamp learned its lesson. The spherical Erosion Swamp, responsible for creating the “horde”, split from the one that received injuries and began acting separately. The injured spherical Erosion Swamp couldn’t produce erosion spheres anymore but managed to preserve its mobility. As for the largest Erosion Swamp that was responsible for creating ground monsters, it remained intact. It had become smarter and began using the injured spherical Erosion Swamp entities as alarm signals, moving quite diligently.

They caught the Erosion Swamps off guard. From the results, both of the troublesome irregular Erosion Swamp spheres disappeared, which meant the pressure on Yi Ning’s side should be significantly reduced.

The problem lay with the final large Erosion Swamp

The two Erosion Swamp spheres weren’t large in size and had regular shapes. However, they had no idea how Zhu Yanchen identified their “vital points” amidst their exaggerated irregular shapes. Moreover, the thing in front of them was just too enormous, and finding its vital point was probably as difficult as fishing out a coin from a swimming pool.

What was worse, the injured Erosion Swamp spheres detached itself from the large Erosion Swamp causing the flow of erosion on its body to suddenly accelerate, as if it intended to drown Zhu Yanchen within its own body.

This time, no signal came out.

The Erosion Swamp spheres hung in the air, and something fell gracefully from its bottom. Zhu Yanchen still held the suppression device in his hand. Judging by the condition of the device, it was nearly broken.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t waste any time. He propped himself up and ran towards the elevated position where Teams A and B were located. Since the Erosion Swamp sphere couldn’t produce spheres anymore, they directly pursued Zhu Yanchen, attempting to eliminate this particularly troublesome bug.

As a result, this pursuit led them directly into the encirclement formed by Teams A and B. Several elite teams had followed Zhu Sheng for many years and had good reaction speed—they didn’t wait for Zhu Yanchen’s orders and launched an indiscriminate concentrated attack against the pursuing Erosion Swamps.

The poor Erosion Swamp spheres might have evaded the first hit, but it couldn’t escape the subsequent attacks. It barely avoided Zhu Yanchen’s comprehensive destruction of its brain, but it couldn’t dodge the relentless bombardment. No matter how powerful its size was, it couldn’t withstand the elite teams’ relentless and indiscriminate assault.

Soon, the Erosion Swamp spheres couldn’t protect their brains anymore. It attempted to abandon its damaged body, struggling to preserve its incomplete brain. Unfortunately, Marshal Zhu was watching closely. The moment the brain was exposed, he commanded the two teams to concentrate their attacks.

Soon, the sentient Erosion Swamp returned to its primitive state—a thin puddle of erosion substance accumulated on the ground.

“Join up with Team C,” Zhu Yanchen decisively ordered, removing his heavily eroded mask and showing no intention of resting.

“As for the remaining one…”

“Their learning ability is not bad. That one remaining won’t fall into the same trap. It’s most likely adjusting its instructions to have its creations take us out first.”

The soldiers were taken aback. The theory of “lurking and then ambushing” was theoretically feasible, but once they were targeted by the enemy’s large army of monsters, the enemy could also turn the tables by overwhelming them in numbers. They had just defeated the enemy through superior numbers, and now they faced the prospect of history repeating itself—it was truly an unpleasant feeling.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you go to your deaths.”

“But…”

“Run,” Zhu Yanchen said concisely. “The newly spawned army of monsters will target us, and there won’t be any reinforcements near Y City. Moreover, this Erosion Swamp has witnessed our attack methods and won’t stay too far from its army of monsters. Take the opportunity to shift the battlefield elsewhere.”

“We have limited weaponry. We can’t keep playing this cat and mouse game forever.” The leader of team A’s voice became sharp as he glanced at the indistinct horde of monsters in the mist. He had considerable courage, but when faced with an unknown enemy, fear was an instinct for most beings.

“Go over there.” Zhu Yanchen pointed to the black wolf that was currently engaged with Sigma.

Shu Jun had never expected that they would have a chance to meet again on the battlefield.

To stabilize the structure of the black wolf, he used almost all of his available abilities. Through “Creation”, he had manufactured lightweight yet hard erosion bones, and the erosion vines filled the interior of the black wolf, replacing its organs and muscles, preventing the giant wolf from collapsing under its own weight. Sigma had also used numerous powers. During their fight, he sensed at least fifty different abilities.

However, not every ability had sufficient offensive capabilities. The majority were used as distractions to divert his attention. Among them, there were only about three abilities that possessed significant destructive power—

“Spiderweb”, “Paralysis”, and “Bite”.

These abilities weren’t complex. The function of “Spiderweb” was quite straightforward—Sigma could construct a large number of erosion threads in a very short time. These threads were extremely sticky, and even though Shu Jun could suppress the erosion substance, once he was touched by this stuff, his movements would be affected to some extent. Sigma was much larger than the black wolf, so he couldn’t afford to be distracted removing the erosion threads all the time.

“Bite” and “Paralysis” were as their names suggested. Sigma combined them together. Giant jaws would appear in the area where Sigma made contact with Shu Jun and desperately consumed the erosion that Shu Jun had gathered. Once bitten by Sigma, Shu Jun could feel the erosion from his wounds becoming chaotic, no longer obedient, making it difficult to quickly restore his body’s structure.

Sigma used “Spiderweb” and “Paralysis” quite diligently. The black wolf was also trapped between the ruins of two high-rise buildings and could hardly move. Shu Jun was afraid that Sigma would bypass him and attack Y City, while Luo Duan was afraid that Shu Jun would turn around and destroy the Erosion Swamps with brains that Sigma had released. The two giant Erosion Swamps were stuck on the outskirts of Y City, entangled with each other, in a deadlock.

In this manner, both sides fought their own battles, and the battlefield was clearly divided. However, just as Shu Jun shook off the threads from his body and prepared for the next assault, Monday, who was behind his true body, suddenly showed a sign of agitation. “Zhu!”

At this level of battle, Monday was almost useless. However, it had the advantage of having the instincts of a small animal—acute perception and a natural sense of smell for special life forms in its surroundings.

Zhu Yanchen was nearby.

Shu Jun was initially taken aback, but then he couldn’t help but smile. In the past, he never imagined that A’Yan would resort to such tricks.

“Did he bring an Erosion Swamp with him?”

“Yes.”

“Sure enough, he must have led the Erosion Swamp to a crucial location. Let me see… The water tower by the left hind leg of the wolf. Let me know when the Erosion Swamp arrives.”

Monday twitched a few times, indicating that it had heard. Sure enough, Zhu Yanchen rode his motorcycle and led the team straight there. They agilely evaded the black wolf’s massive claws and lured the Erosion Swamp towards the water tower.

“Bah! Bah! Bah!”

Monday made three spitting sounds at the maximum volume, deliberately spraying erosion onto Shu Jun’s neck, afraid that he wouldn’t hear it.

Almost in the next second, Shu Jun manipulated the black wolf to take a half-step back. Taking advantage of Sigma’s lack of response, he stepped on the Erosion Swamp that was chasing behind them with one paw.

This step caught the large Erosion Swamp off guard. It was certainly large enough when facing humans, but compared to the black wolf, its size was equivalent to that of a watermelon to a human. When Shu Jun’s paw came down, it struggled to withstand the impact and almost burst open.

Not to mention the simple-minded Erosion Swamp, even Luo Duan was momentarily stunned. Shu Jun and the humans who had just arrived hadn’t communicated at all. It was already difficult enough for him to perceive the Erosion Swamp, let alone precisely step on it with a single paw.

This step nearly flattened the large Erosion Swamp into a donut shape. It desperately mobilized the erosion in its body, trying to move its brain to a safe corner. Zhu Yanchen didn’t miss this opportunity to observe closely. This time, he didn’t need to infiltrate the Erosion Swamp’s interior. He directly indicated the approximate location of its brain.

The human soldiers lived up to their elite title, launching another fierce attack like a storm.

By the time Shu Jun withdrew his paw, the large Erosion Swamp followed the fate of the two Erosion Swamp spheres—it had also reverted to its original form, crawling on the ground like an ordinary Erosion Swamp.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t delay and had no intention of giving Sigma any time to attack them. The moment the large Erosion Swamp was destroyed, he started his motorcycle, made a sharp turn, and led the team back towards Y City.

But before he could get far, something swept over his head. The black wolf’s large tail drooped, and its tail tip lightly brushed against him in dissatisfaction.

At this moment, the soldiers were busy fleeing the scene, running as fast as they could. Zhu Yanchen intentionally landed at the rear, where no one could see, and clumsily but earnestly blew a kiss.

“Thank you.” He removed his mask and mouthed the words.

A strand of erosion struggled and climbed onto his motorcycle, eroding a line of words in the middle of the handlebars—

“You’ve learned to slack off, A’Yan. What happened to being an upright gentleman?”

“To defeat it, I still have two or three independent battle plans. But regardless of which one, I might get seriously injured… You wouldn’t like that.” Zhu Yanchen gently touched the strand of erosion and replied softly.

Even if Shu Jun couldn’t hear it.

“Also, it’s only fair to return the favor. I’ve left you a little gift.” He smiled and added, “You’ll definitely find it.”

Shu Jun indeed discovered the “little gift” from Marshal Zhu. It was lodged in the pad of his wolf paw.

That was a suppression device in the process of activation, about the size of an apple. Shu Jun hadn’t seen this model before, and he estimated that Zhu Yanchen had created it using the power of the command center during the time they were apart.

He quietly used erosion to hook it into the black wolf’s body and took it into his hand.

It was a sophisticated explosive device that resembled a smoke bomb more than a lethal weapon. On the thick metal casing, a short sentence was engraved—

[For short-term and high-efficiency suppression. If the situation becomes extremely critical, please escape.]

“Meddling fool,” Shu Jun laughed and cursed, tossing the explosive device into the weapons bag behind him. Monday also sensed the oppressive feeling from the object and immediately voiced its discontent.

Luo Duan’s face looked grim.

The entire process happened quickly, taking less than half a minute for the human team to complete the process of impact—killing the Erosion Swamp—and retreating. By the time he realized it, Zhu Yanchen’s group had already gone far away. The surroundings were filled with debris, and the terrain was complex, making it difficult for him to find them.

Moreover, Shu Jun was blocking his way ahead.

He felt a sense of anger, tinged with a hint of grievance—even in such circumstances, humans dared to brazenly use Shu Jun. As a member of the synthetic people, Shu Jun had no resistance to such behavior.

Luo Duan clenched his fist, pressing his hand against Sigma.

“According to the Erosion Swamp’s intelligence, you hid the synthetics and the settlement humans east of Y City, wanting to completely avoid this war.”

His voice was amplified by Sigma’s ability, and Shu Jun could hear it clearly.

“The humans over there are aberrations who won’t live much longer, and the synthetics are my kin, so I won’t let Sigma harm them. And I can understand why you cooperate with humans to protect the synthetics from Sigma. We will have a fair fight… I have to admit, that was my thinking until just now.”

Luo Duan’s voice gradually lowered, and he made no effort to conceal the anger in his tone.

“But now, you’re obstructing me, and it’s not just for the sake of your kin, right?” He growled. “Since you’re so fond of humans, then make a proper choice. Transmit the command—tell the mutant beasts and Erosion Swamps east of the city that they can move.”

The author has something to say:

Shu Ge left a huge paw print on the large Erosion Swamp.

Marshal: Shu Jun is a true warrior (?), he must have sensed the explosive device beneath the thick pad.

Well, that explosive device is not even as big as a pea… Shu Ge, the prince of explosives in Marshal Zhu’s eyes* (…

*Clarity: Referring to the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea, where a princess slept on a bed with twenty mattresses and a pea placed at the bottom. In the morning, the princess complained that she had been kept up all night due to something hard in the bed. This made the prince realize that she was a true princess, and the two happily married.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 108: Stalemate

Shu Jun adjusted his movements cautiously, constantly sensing Sigma’s actions. On the surface, it seemed like they had the advantage, but realistically, considering the situation, Sigma hadn’t truly started yet.

Sigma’s lifespan was likely over a hundred years, and its collection abilities were indispensable. Not every ability could be used for combat, but it couldn’t be possible for it to only possess three noteworthy combat skills—Luo Duan certainly still held some hidden cards.

Not to mention the Erosion Swamps with brains acting as the main offensive force, the number of regular Erosion Swamp had already reached hundreds. They were approaching Y City from various directions, trying to find a way to penetrate deeper into the city. The numerous breaches caused by Shu Jun’s previous actions hadn’t been repaired yet, and the Erosion Swamps overflowed the buildings around the city, relentlessly squeezing towards the city center.

Yi Ning couldn’t stop them.

The human forces dispatched outside the city were limited, and they were already giving their all to hold back the three Erosion Swamps with brains. Zhu Yanchen took the most elite soldiers with him, forming a small team. Yi Ning ordered the remaining soldiers to guard the largest breach, tightly holding the new weapons in their hands.

“Marshal Yi, there is more than one breach! Shu Jun damaged dozens of sections of the protective wall a few days ago, and there are still those remaining Erosion Swamps…”

“Guard the most dangerous one,” Yi Ning said hoarsely. “He didn’t bring Xia Liang with him, and Zhu Sheng is also in the city. There must still be defenders inside the city. If we try to intercept everything outside the city, even if our manpower is increased tenfold, it wouldn’t be enough.”

“But—”

“If we don’t divert these Erosion Swamps and let them flood in through the same breach, the people inside won’t be able to handle it.”

When it came to regular Erosion Swamps, as long as purifiers could be utilized, ordinary people could barely handle them with adequate protection. But facing such a large army of monsters in front of them, the chances of regular citizens winning were absolutely zero.

Zhu Yanchen’s team had long disappeared from sight, and seeing their successful advancement, people in their hearts felt a sense of luck to varying degrees—since the weapons in their hands made no difference, as long as they were careful, the things in front of them would be easily dealt with.

However, it was ultimately just wishful thinking.

The creatures made of erosion surged continuously. Yi Ning gritted his teeth and decided to confront the horde in front of him using the methods employed against mutant beasts.

The escort team took the lead, using armored vehicles equipped with suppression weapons to crush the creatures. This method proved effective initially. However, the cooling parts of the vehicles quickly attracted the floating erosion spheres. They swarmed towards the rear of the vehicles, one after another, and exploded. The vehicles themselves were heavy and found it difficult to maneuver agilely to evade these spheres. It was as if a rain of erosion substance fell from above each vehicle, with liquid erosion continuously splattering into the seams of the vehicles’ equipment, rapidly eroding the mechanical structures. The heavy armored vehicles gradually came to a halt in their original positions.

Coming to a stop wasn’t the main concern; the swarming horde enveloped the massive vehicles and began to squeeze into their interiors. Their bodies seemed like they were made of rubbery clay, able to forcefully squeeze through gaps less than an inch wide.

Inside the armored vehicles, a powerful short-range communication system was set up. However, after the vehicles came to a stop, the calm reports gradually turned into panicked shouts, followed by weak moans. By the time three or four creatures squeezed into the vehicles, there was only silence left inside.

They were submerged in the pitch-black Erosion Swamp, eroded and marred, like ships sinking into the depths of the sea.

All eight large armored vehicles were wiped out—the entire process lasting no more than ten minutes. The randomly floating spheres continued to collide with the wreckage of the vehicles, and the splattered erosion substance continued to erode the purifiers of the operators.

In just a short ten minutes, they only managed to slightly delay the advance of the horde of monsters. More spheres floated in from the grayish mist, and the contorted creatures took another step forward, heading towards the city center of Y City.

Yi Ning’s ears rang, and it felt like his heart had jumped into his throat. Having witnessed the battles of synthetic humans too often, he had developed the mistaken impression that the Erosion Swamps weren’t that formidable. They had underestimated what lay before them; in an instant, they had lost eight vehicles and twenty-four soldiers.

This was only the beginning, and the lives of those people disappeared like bubbles.

The human soldiers hadn’t experienced real war in a long time, and seeing the devastation before them, Yi Ning could sense the drop in morale. He racked his brain, trying to come up with a better solution—

“Advance, marksmen! Purify the floating spheres first and set up suppression weapons in place. They will come to us!”

This was also one of the standard tactics, frequently employed by Luo Duan to deal with flying mutant beasts. Yi Ning glanced at the situation and followed suit.

However, the current environment was highly unusual. The range of the suppression weapons was limited, and as the troops advanced as required, aiming and firing in unison, the countless black spheres that filled the sky were reduced to their erosion substance form. However, there were tens of thousands of these spheres, flickering like ghostly flames, continuously approaching from a distance. Relying on the marksmen to eliminate them, it was visibly impossible to clear them all.

Indeed, the speed of the troops’ reactions couldn’t match the speed at which the spheres flew towards them. Many tracking spheres attached themselves to the necks of the marksmen and exploded, taking lives with each blast. Many people tried to retreat and find new cover, but the floating spheres, carried by the airflow, suddenly appeared in their path, once again exploding into a mass of destruction.

The scene was even worse than the armored vehicles being overrun. Living beings were blasted into pieces, their bodies eroded, dying in agony right before their eyes. The vivid red blood flowed into the erosion substance, instantly turning a lifeless gray.

After having climbed to this position all the way, Yi Ning wasn’t on the verge of collapsing because of this. The tragic scene flickered on the screen, and he even held his breath—

It hadn’t been half an hour since Zhu Yanchen left. Judging by the speed of the advancing horde of monsters, in just another half hour, they would break through the escort team and enter Y City directly.

They wouldn’t even be able to buy much time. Sacrifices were coming too quickly, and Yi Ning didn’t dare to directly deploy the main force of the troops into the battlefield.

What should they do?

The monsters continued to advance, unhurriedly traversing the wet mud and bypassing the damaged buildings.

Tap, tap, tap.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a way to minimize the sacrifices. Did he really have to let these people risk their lives and gamble with their very existence?

Tap, tap, tap.

The escort team maintained the most conservative formation—using the vehicles as cover, placing the suppression weapons externally, and using maximum power for defense, creating an invisible shell. For now, with not many monsters around, this crude method barely managed to hold them off. But the pressure on the frontlines was increasing, and without a better solution, collapse was only a matter of time.

In the temporarily formed command group, no one spoke. Yi Ning had the most theoretical experience among them, but even so, humans had hit a wall from the beginning. Everyone could only look silently at the screens, seemingly hoping for Zhu Yanchen’s mission to succeed and these things to disappear on their own.

“How about… we let some of them in? That way, we can cut them off in the middle, reducing the pressure,” one person dryly suggested. “Zhu Sheng should have more ways to deal with it than we do. Even if it means sacrificing some civilians, I think it would be more reasonable.”

“No, we already have enough ordinary Erosion Swamp entering the city center.” Yi Ning gritted his teeth. “And no one can guarantee that there aren’t any hidden ‘sentient Erosion Swamp’ among the ordinary ones. The pressure in the city center is likely significant; we can’t do it this way.”

Another silence fell over the command group.

“So what should we do then?” The person who had spoken before spoke again, his voice now tinged with fear and anger. “This isn’t peacetime, and it can’t be solved by just chanting slogans. Marshal Yi, if you say it can’t be done, then come up with a solution!”

“Yeah, we can’t defend against so many. If we don’t find a better way, they will overwhelm us in one fell swoop, and the consequences will be even more severe.”

“…That’s true. One can’t bite off more than they can chew. Just letting some of them in, with Zhu Sheng having been in charge for so long, he should be able to handle this situation.”

“And how many should we reduce it to? The fog is too dense; we can’t see the situation on the other side. If we let in that many…”

“No,” Yi Ning rasped, cutting off the conversation.

“What’s wrong, Marshal Yi? Don’t you have a better idea? This is the plan that sacrifices the least.”

“Remember what Zhu Yanchen said? He told us to hold the line. As the overall commander, his decisions must have his reasons.”

“So what? We can’t hold the line, can we? Right and wrong, who doesn’t understand that? It’s easy to talk about what should be done, but it’s only possible if it can be achieved. The armored vehicles and marksmen are our most important forces in this battle, and within the first half-hour, we’re already in such a sorry state—”

“…” Yi Ning’s back was covered in sweat. Time didn’t wait for anyone; they had to adjust their tactics quickly.

His brain cycled through the tactics against the Erosion Swamps that synthetic humans had devised, but no matter which piece of the puzzle he tried, it couldn’t fit into the current situation. In the past, he could adjust and experiment without any burden, but now, even a slight misstep would result in pointless sacrifices and further declining morale.

The ticking of the second hand didn’t stop due to this anxiety, and the number of monsters outside kept increasing. They crowded outside the suppression range, starting to pave a path with corpses—the monsters in the forefront were reduced to erosion substance by the suppression weapons, and the amount of this substance continued to grow, indicating a trend of accumulating into an ordinary Erosion Swamp.

The human blockade couldn’t hold up for too long in the deep Erosion Swamp.

What should they do?

Yi Ning tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.

…He stared at the sand table in front of him, feeling true despair for the first time.

Not far away, Zhu Yanchen’s team was also rushing forward, fighting against the clock.

To deceive the enemy, this small team had only around twenty members. They skirted around the areas with the densest concentration of monsters and charged towards the enemy’s rear. The team he led consisted of elites, so there were no situations where they would drop the ball at critical moments. Just as Zhu Yanchen had expected, the Erosion Swamps behind the monsters were solely focused on charging towards the city, lacking any interest in this small team with its limited numbers. That way, they barely managed to break through one encirclement after another, approaching the vicinity of the Erosion Swamp.

However, when one of the elite team members saw the Erosion Swamp behind the monsters, he nearly fell to the ground.

The thing in front of them was something that no human could handle, no matter how you looked at it.

It was too massive.

The two sentient Erosion Swamp and their creations floated in the air, appearing as gigantic, uncomfortable spheres. Another Erosion Swamp was responsible for keeping them fixed in place. From a distance, they stuck together, resembling eyeballs and brains peeled from human bodies.

Countless small floating spheres oozed out from beneath the two large spheres, while the large Erosion Swamp that intertwined them extended tentacle-like appendages, delving into the ground, allowing humanoid creatures to emerge, struggling to stand up.

The combination of these three Erosion Swamps wasn’t as large as Sigma and Shu Jun battling in the distance, but it was comparable to a four-story building. They were exerting their full effort to create monsters, and the number of monsters surrounding them was terrifying. It would be a challenge to even eliminate them, let alone get close.

Forget about twenty people; even twenty thousand people might not be able to suppress them.

“Team A, equip yourselves with standard suppression machinery and take up positions on the high ground over there. Team B will assist Team A and focus on dispelling enemies approaching from behind” Zhu Yanchen’s voice remained calm. “Team C, throw old-style purification grenades from the twelve o’clock direction later to attract their attention.”

“Diverting their attention is not a problem, but what do we do when the horde rushes up?” Although they were divided into teams, each team consisted of only six or seven people. The person in charge of Team C had a pale face. “I’m talking about those spheres; even if the erosion substance can’t pass through the purification machinery, the explosive force alone is enough to blow us to pieces!”

“They won’t easily change targets.”

“Why not?”

“A lion won’t give up attacking a gazelle because of fleas on its fur. We humans are too few in their eyes to be considered a threat,” Zhu Yanchen instructed decisively. “Those monsters don’t have intelligence; they can only obey the most basic commands. For the Erosion Swamp, adjusting their instructions temporarily just to deal with a few humans would come at too high a cost. As long as we control the level of provocation carefully, they won’t mobilize the horde.”

“T-Then how do we stop it?”

“The next part is crucial,” Zhu Yanchen said in a deep voice. “I will use old-style purification grenades to break through their outer shells and infiltrate the Erosion Swamp. You need to provoke them intelligently, enticing them to change positions and creating an opportunity for me.”

“…The risk is too high. This is not child’s play,” the person in charge of Team C whispered. “That’s an Erosion Swamp; if you fail once, you’ll die.”

“I don’t intend to succeed on the first try.”

Zhu Yanchen smiled.

“Don’t worry, I won’t die until I kill them. As for the reason… I’ll explain it properly once I bring all of you back alive.”

The team members looked at each other and tentatively accepted this seemingly absurd and ridiculous tactic. “When you infiltrate…”

“The Erosion Swamp erodes sophisticated machinery, making it difficult to activate destructive weapons inside. Instead, I will carry a short-range powerful communication device. Once I send a signal, immediately shoot at my location.”

“?!?”

“There must be absolutely no hesitation.”

“But…”

“What’s your answer?”

“Yes!” The group gritted their teeth and replied.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 107: Three Erosion Swamps

In that moment, when he saw the black wolf, Luo Duan realized that he had fallen into a trap.

With that level of power, it couldn’t be anyone else. Shu Jun had truly joined forces with the humans, and based on their previous actions, their cooperation could even be considered extensive.

For what reason, their lives? Shu Jun was a ruthless person, and he should have been more aware than anyone else of the consequences of collaborating with humans. Luo Duan couldn’t understand it, and all he could feel was a surge of disappointment and hatred.

A traitor who bowed down to humans.

It was too late to turn and run. Since the other side had led them here, they must have been prepared. The best course of action would be to move the battlefield away, at least to the heavily eroded area. However, just as Sigma stopped advancing, a tremendous pressure emerged around them. Gravity seemed to suddenly increase, and Sigma instinctively stayed in place, unable to retreat any further.

The small Erosion Swamps used for investigation had been painstakingly moved to the surroundings, and several new machines were discovered. They were completely different from the previous purification weapons, seemingly controlled remotely, emitting a buzzing sound.

What was worse was that they couldn’t be easily destroyed.

The previous purification weapons were more like emitting noises that annoyed the Erosion Swamp, forcing them to move away. To weaponize them and increase their power to the point of “killing” the erosion substance would severely limit their effectiveness. When faced with a sentient Erosion Swamp, their effectiveness would be quite limited and would require a significant amount of manpower.

But what was in front of them was different—these new machines didn’t “kill” the erosion substance; instead, they efficiently stunned it, causing the Erosion Swamp to lose control over its erosion. For a sentient Erosion Swamp, this was equivalent to advancing into a minefield. Once they touched these things, they would inevitably lose some of their erosion.

Sigma’s brain was deep within its body and wouldn’t be harmed, but it was already quite laborious for it to move forward by grasping the ground with its hands. Surrounded by these things, its hands would instantly melt like hot wax upon contact, making it completely unable to escape this situation. In order to facilitate movement, Sigma had folded its body several times, making it considerably thicker than before. Even if it wanted to expand its body now and escape from Shu Jun, it was impossible.

Every step was carefully calculated by the opposing side.

At this point, instead of contemplating escape, it was better to take action first. Just because they couldn’t move far away didn’t mean Sigma had lost its fighting ability. Even if it was trapped, a wild beast was still a wild beast. As for whether Sigma could leave intact after the battle, Luo Duan didn’t care.

What he wanted was the suffering of the humans, not the victory of the Erosion Swamp. There was no emotional connection between him and Sigma, and Luo Duan was well aware of that.

He stood up straight.

“Attack,” Luo Duan said. “I will help you destroy this city.”

Sigma immediately reacted. While avoiding the black wolf’s bites, it commanded the ordinary Erosion Swamps to rush forward and stick to the black wolf. Even before the humans appeared, Shu Jun had already torn off fifteen to sixteen of Sigma’s arms. Despite Sigma not lacking erosion substance and being able to regenerate its arms, the process would undoubtedly affect its mobility.

The mindless Erosion Swamp rushed forward, attempting to envelop the black wolf and hinder its movements. However, once they touched the black wolf, they quickly became docile, causing the black wolf to grow in size.

To make matters worse, when the black wolf bit down on the base of one of Sigma’s arms, countless vines shot out from the wolf’s body, merging into Sigma’s body and burrowing into the ground. Shu Jun was gradually pinning Sigma in place, and although Sigma tried to regain control over the vines, it was unsuccessful.

This was the ability Sigma had separated earlier to attack Shu Jun.

An alarm bell rang in Luo Duan’s mind. He had previously thought that Shu Jun’s situation was similar to his own, merely merging with an Erosion Swamp, enhancing his abilities, and at most gaining some additional powers. Now it seemed that he had made a fundamental mistake.

Shu Jun not only possessed other abilities, but he could also assimilate Sigma’s abilities. At this point, it could be tentatively concluded that he had an innate talent. However, competing for control over the Erosion Swamps on Sigma’s level was something that the synths couldn’t achieve.

Shu Jun had transformed into a real Erosion Swamp; he wasn’t some mediocre hybrid like himself.

“Stop the ordinary Erosion Swamps’ attack and let them focus on destroying Y City. You and I will deal with Shu Jun using our abilities. Attacking him with Erosion Swamps is useless!”

“Understood.” Sigma’s hand formed a crooked and dejected figure, and its voice sounded muffled.

“We have previously compiled a list, and in this war, you have seven abilities that are most destructive—now, separate the abilities of ‘Kiss’, ‘Crowd’, and ‘Flight’, and create three Erosion Swamps with brains to attack Y City.”

“What about Shu Jun?”

“Shu Jun’s task should be to hold you back; he cannot handle both tasks simultaneously. Given his current condition, those three abilities won’t be effective against him.”

Luo Duan’s explanation had no logical issues, and Sigma fell silent for a moment before promptly following the instructions. Three brains detached from its grape-like neural strand and merged with three clusters of Erosion Swamp. The arms far away from Shu Jun grabbed them and launched them directly towards the outskirts of the city. The surroundings of the city were filled with mindless large Erosion Swamps, and the three brains quickly took control of three Erosion Swamps, transforming themselves into Erosion Swamps with brains, and rushed towards the center of Y City.

As Luo Duan had deduced, the black wolf merely let out a low growl and didn’t release its bite. Shu Jun relentlessly attacked Sigma, seemingly intent on pinning it to the ground.

On the other side, the three large Erosion Swamp hadn’t reached the central area of the city yet when they collided head-on with the human military forces leaving the city center.

Without hesitation, they unleashed their abilities.

The abilities of Kiss, Crowd, and Flight were remnants of the dying desires of unknown individuals. While they sounded beautiful, when transformed into weapons, their appearance became particularly eerie.

The Kiss Erosion Swamp released numerous head-sized spheres into the air, which floated leisurely. Once they collided with obstacles, they would explode violently, splattering erosion with a destructive power comparable to strong acid.

The Flight Erosion Swamp did almost the exact same thing as the Kiss Erosion Swamp—it also released numerous spheres of varying sizes, and the two types mixed together, making it extremely difficult to distinguish between them. This light and floating erosion bomb floated towards the human army and was overwhelmingly “hollow” devoid of any reflection, as if the entire space had been pierced into a honeycomb.

And that wasn’t all.

Such light and floating attacks weren’t the main force. The attacks of the Crowd Erosion Swamp were completely different from its comrades. It absorbed the surrounding erosion and solidified them into distorted human-like figures. These human-shaped figures didn’t move in accordance with human habits. They staggeringly rose from the ground, with twisted joints and four-legged movements, advancing like wild beasts.

Among them, half of the chests faced upward while the other half faced downward. They completely disregarded the actual human joint structure and casually folded their bodies, making one’s stomach churn. For the convenience of attack, their mouth structures were extremely similar to humans, but much larger—these enormous mouths were located on top of their heads, wide open, making the heads of these “humans” appear split in half.

From a distance, they resembled more of a herd of beasts forcibly transformed into humanoid structures. They hid themselves beneath the floating spheres and crawled towards the human military at a steady pace.

When the reconnaissance troops saw the composition of this Erosion Swamp army, they almost lost their breath. The adrenaline for survival had just ignited, but they were almost frozen by this deadly scene.

Fortunately, Zhu Yanchen himself didn’t stay behind to command. He took a quick glance, and his expression remained unchanged. “Release the test subjects.”

Seeing that the commander remained calm, the soldiers could finally breathe again. The team responsible for the test subjects stepped forward and immediately released the test subjects–

It was a small group of live pigs used as a source of meat. They were equipped with various testing instruments and had disruptors covering their eyes. The disruptors made them ignore the crisis in front of them and charge directly towards the horde of monsters.

Although the Erosion Swamps had brains, their intelligence was closer to that of intelligent animals. They wouldn’t actually select their enemies. When they saw living creatures coming towards them, the Erosion Swamps immediately switched to attack mode.

The floating spheres in the air reacted in two ways. Some spheres rushed straight towards the test subjects and exploded, eroding the living pigs into unformed pieces of flesh. The others moved irregularly, colliding and exploding when the charging pigs bumped into them, with destructive power no less than the “tracking spheres”.

As for the humanoid monsters on the ground, their attacks were more straightforward and brutal. They leaped like wild beasts, using their large mouths to bite through the audaciously daring creatures. Then, they regurgitated a large amount of erosion from their mouths, rapidly seeping into the wounds of the test subjects.

Compared to the two types of spheres, their victims died more decently. However, for the human military, this was not good news.

Yi Ning’s heart gradually sank.

Even if they wore thick protective suits, nobody was invincible. Not to mention the erosive nature of the Erosion Swamps themselves, no one had the confidence to withstand a few bites from them.

On the other side, it was clear that they had learned their lesson. The three main bodies of the Erosion Swamp were hidden far away, continuously processing the surrounding erosion and frantically producing these deadly things.

To stop them, it would be necessary to destroy their main bodies, but first, they had to break through this death trap in front of them. However, if they concentrated their attack and neglected defense, allowing these things to enter Y City, they would instantly turn into the most terrifying slaughter weapons.

That black wolf was indeed capable, but at the moment it was busy biting Sigma, unable to support the battlefield on this side. They did bring many new weapons against the Erosion Swamps, but the size of the opposing spheres was too troublesome—

Humans didn’t have superpowers, and their control effects were inferior to synthetics. It was manageable to wield weapons against large Erosion swamps, but those erosion spheres were small in size. Once they attacked from blind spots, soldiers were still at risk of being injured. On the other hand, even if those weapons could revert the erosion substance back to its basic form, it was still dangerous for humans.

Anti-erosion medicine could only ensure that normal breathing and skin contact weren’t affected. If the erosion substance splashed into the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, or large wounds, people would still suffer from erosion diseases.

Regardless of which type was singled out, those three Erosion Swamp could find ways to deal with it. The opposing side, however, decided to combine those three abilities, making their tactics particularly malicious.

Yi Ning reviewed the situation and felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

“The data we received was quite comprehensive. Thank you all for your hard work.” Zhu Yanchen focused on analyzing the data. “The attack patterns of those three Erosion Swamps aren’t complicated.”

Yi Ning couldn’t help but ask, “What do you mean?”

“The ‘tracking spheres’ would lock onto heat sources and engage in contact-based tracking attacks. The ‘floating spheres’ would follow the movements of the tracking spheres and perform irregular motions on their own. They wouldn’t initiate attacks themselves—having them together complicates the situation.”

“The group of monsters on the ground has attack patterns similar to regular packs of ferocious animals. If my speculation is correct, they possess basic tactical capabilities and can create a breakthrough point in our defense. Remember, Sigma isn’t seeking victory. It won’t systematically eliminate the military and then slaughter the people. It only wants to kill. It’s entirely possible for it to bypass us.”

“Given the situation, it seems keen on bypassing us,” Yi Ning said bitterly. “Once time drags on, those things will only increase in numbers. Even if the weapons are effective, we can’t conjure combat personnel out of thin air. Their invasion of the city is only a matter of time.”

“So, you’re already thinking of losing?” Zhu Yanchen turned his face away. His tone lacked much sarcasm, sounding more like a warning.

“It’s just an objective analysis.”

“Split into two teams. I’ll lead one team to assassinate the Erosion Swamps, while the other team will hold the city center during that time.” Marshal Zhu shook his head. “Yi Ning, you take charge of the defense in the city—no need for you to launch an attack. Just operate the heavy ‘Suppression’ weapons to guard the surroundings.”

“Any specific instructions?”

“No, I don’t need your support.” Zhu Yanchen spoke quickly. “I have only one requirement: those things must not set foot in Y City before all of you are dead. Got that?”

“……” Silence fell over the crowd.

“This is war, not a spring outing. Even if we don’t have synthetic humans as shields, you’re all soldiers. Show some dignity!”

“Understood!” the people shouted at the top of their lungs.

“In contrast, our team will quickly eliminate the main bodies of the Erosion Swamp. As long as these things don’t increase, it won’t be difficult to completely eradicate them.”

“But… But what if something happens to you? What should we do then?”

“If something happens to me, Zhu Sheng will take over the command. The current situation is still under my control, so there’s no need to worry. Additionally,” Zhu Yanchen looked towards the massive black wolf not far away, and his voice carried a hint of amusement, “He has never lost, and I won’t be a hindrance either.”

With that, Zhu Yanchen took a deep breath. “Assemble immediately and redistribute the weapons.”

“We’ll depart in fifteen minutes!”

The author has something to say:

Erosion Swamp A, B: Plop, plop, plop blowing bubbles.

Erosion Swamp C: Smack, smack, smack squeezing people.

Yi Ning: This is different from what I imagined.jpg

Marshal: My Erosion Swamp is still cuter (?

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