Chapter 58: Imperial Palace
The allied army completely surrounded the ancient royal city. Most of the soldiers hid within crisscrossing trenches—fighting against the parasitic insect warriors required this caution; a single lapse in attention could mean death on the battlefield.
Baha and Bubu Wang circled high above in tandem, waiting only for the bombardment to begin before tossing Apollo into the royal city.
On the ground, shock-absorbing devices were fixed around the bases of the ship's main cannons. Theoretically, such massive artillery could not be used in this manner. Their cost was astonishingly high, and employing them this way would drastically shorten their service life. But these were the weapons of the allied forces, and Su Xiao felt no pity.
Behind one of the ship's main cannons, Su Xiao took a field telephone from a communication soldier and spoke: "Target, directly ahead. Full firepower bombardment."
This command was relayed through the messengers of each legion. A few seconds later, a dull roar came from a hundred meters to the side.
Boom.
The blast wave from a ship's main cannon spread outward, kicking up dust a meter high from the ground beneath it. The shell tore through the air with a piercing whistle before slamming into the city wall ahead.
Thud!
A ball of fire erupted on the wall, sending weathered stone fragments flying. From the impact point, a large network of cracks spread across the surface. The wall, which had stood for so many years, actually withstood one shot—a construction quality that would shame modern architects.
The bombardment continued without pause. The ship's secondary cannons, located a dozen meters behind Su Xiao, opened up with full force, firing smaller shells that struck the city wall ahead.
The dense bombardment caused the earth to tremble. The intense flames rising made the sunlight seem dim.
After thirty seconds of shelling, the wall—once hailed a thousand years ago as the "Emperor's Barrier," forever unbreachable—was reduced to a cloud of stone rubble under the "heavy fists" of the artillery.
Just a few seconds after the front wall was shattered, the right wall also collapsed, followed by the left wall and then the rear wall.
With the outer defenses of the royal city broken, the allied soldiers erupted in cheers. They had fought the parasitic insect warriors to the brink of collapse, and this sight was deeply satisfying, sweeping away the pent-up frustration in their chests.
After the outer defenses were breached, the bombardment did not stop. It shifted to the buildings within the royal city. The first to be targeted was the tallest structure at the city's center—the imperial palace.
Shell after shell, trailing flames, shot out and landed on the imperial palace. What happened next, Su Xiao did not know clearly. Within just a dozen seconds after the surrounding walls were demolished, the entire royal city was engulfed in a sea of fire.
From within the flames, parasitic insect warriors burst out one after another, scattering in all directions. They were not trying to hide underground in the royal city; during the previous night's purge, they had been gradually herded by the allied forces to the outskirts of the city, and had no choice but to take shelter here.
The parasitic insect warriors displayed unprecedented ferocity. Braving the bombardment, they surged out from various ground-level exits one by one. The scene was like stuffing a firecracker into a hornet's nest.
"Open fire!"
Shouts rose and fell in succession. The allied soldiers had already encircled the royal city, effectively surrounding the insect warriors that had charged out.
The crack of rifles was as dense as popping beans. Heavy machine guns spat tongues of flame, and bullets from all directions converged on the center. The insect warriors within the flames fell in droves.
After more than half an hour, no more insect warriors emerged from the fire-engulfed royal city. Large areas of buildings had been leveled, leaving only the imperial palace still standing at the center. On the outer walls of this structure, faint black mist could be seen drifting, protecting it.
Su Xiao did not have Baha throw Apollo. The enemy also had brains; they knew the situation was hopeless and deliberately feigned weakness, letting some insect warriors break out to lure them in. The feast of harvesting World Source was still to come.
The bombardment continued. One hour, two hours, three hours.
Seven levels deep beneath the royal city, in the underground palace.
Thud, thud, thud…
The dull sounds came continuously from above, shaking dust loose from the ceiling.
Guang Mu sat in a corner, hugging her knees. Before suffering under Bai Ye's style of legion warfare, she had been an elegant, mysterious beauty. She wore a black dress with a high slit, always in high heels no matter which Primordial World she was in, a smile on her face as she watched enemies die from her healing-type abilities.
But now, Guang Mu was covered in dust and grime. She was pondering a very serious problem: the higher the rank, the fewer contractors there were, and the higher the probability of running into that guy. Thinking of this, Guang Mu felt utterly terrible.
In the past, she would blend into a large group of scheming contractors, cooperating to take down the world's most powerful boss while also figuring out how to snatch the kill reward. As the saying goes, fighting against people is endlessly entertaining.
But now, everything had changed. She had run into a bastard who brought tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of natives to besiege the big boss.
"Fuck this. I can't take it anymore. Six levels of the underground palace have been blown through. What the hell am I even fighting?"
A man with a mechanical eye slammed his terminal hard on the ground, then crushed a converter. He vanished from the spot, teleporting to some corner of this world.
Items like this were not hard to obtain if the price was right, but there was a catch: during combat, it was nearly impossible to use such items. To escape from intense battle required a rare item with escape properties. Such items were scarce, and once used, they forcibly removed the user from the current world, prevented world settlement, and deducted all gained benefits.
The Western Continent faction originally had over twenty contractors, but after the general offensive began, more than a dozen on the battlefield were focused down by allied soldiers. Only two managed to escape. Being focused by bullets was not the most lethal part; the real danger was the true damage inflicted by the soldiers.
"I currently have 15,900 faction reputation points."
A contractor in combat gear sighed. His resolute face was etched with stories.
"Are you going to use them or let them hatch?"
"Use my ass. I originally planned to kill some allied soldiers, accumulate 20,000 reputation, and exchange for that parasitic skill scroll. Who the fuck knew they'd suddenly launch a general offensive with such force?"
"Why didn't you spend your reputation earlier?"
"Do you think I'm stupid? I wanted to! But as soon as I retreated to the royal city, I found out the faction officer had already run off."
"At least I've already spent all my reputation."
"The faction officer running off is nothing. Even the three knights have slipped away."
When the charm-type female contractor said this, her sense of helplessness was overwhelming.
"Everyone, fate willing, we'll meet again."
Shui Ge crushed the gem in his hand. Though he didn't say it outright, he couldn't take it anymore either. He couldn't even see the enemy. The bombardment from above had been going on for hours. The human wave tactic filled him with a sense of powerlessness.
Shui Ge's figure disappeared. Guang Mu sighed, her mood now extremely gloomy. Compared to the others, she had more Western Continent reputation—a full 67,583 points. She was only 3,417 points short of being able to exchange for the [Insect Calamity Symbiosis] Holy Spirit Rank set.
That was also why Guang Mu hadn't left. The same went for Bao Jun, who was in her temporary team. He also had over 60,000 reputation. The two were secretly competing for the [Insect Calamity Symbiosis] Holy Spirit Rank set.
Otherwise, both would have already used their life-saving items to leave. The other contractors were the same—they couldn't bear to part with their faction reputation. Leaving the Western Continent during wartime would instantly clear all reputation.
"There's… no other choice. Kukulin Bai Ye."
Guang Mu gritted her teeth as she uttered the last few words. She looked at the crystal disc in her hand. Using this item would teleport her to a random location in the Southern Continent, a pre-set destination.
Just as Guang Mu was about to crush the crystal disc in her hand, a deafening explosion sounded from above.
With a boom, the ceiling defense of the seventh underground level could no longer hold. Golden flames spread through the cracks, surging into the underground palace.
Guang Mu immediately retreated. The golden flames rushing toward her scorched her cheeks until they ached. A burnt smell drifted into her nostrils.
When the golden flames stopped spreading, Guang Mu looked upward. On the ceiling was a hole several dozen meters wide. Through the rising flames, she could see the blue sky and white clouds~
"Yahoo~"
A dark blue blur streaked past. Guang Mu also noticed that on the back of this dark blue blur, a large dog seemed to be riding. The dog was using its fluffy paw to throw explosives downward.
Several reduced versions of Apollo landed in the underground palace. Guang Mu no longer hesitated and crushed the crystal disc in her hand.
Boom!!
The explosion erupted beside Guang Mu. She closed her eyes, her only thought being: 'My faction reputation is gone, dammit.'
"Trash!"
From within the explosion of Apollo, a roar spread. It was Bao Jun. He stood firm against the reduced Apollo blasts, like a war god, standing in the flames.
Baha, soaring above, saw this.
"Bubu, give him another dozen, right in his face."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang's outfit was amusing. Not only was he wearing a steel helmet, but he also had on his beloved pilot goggles.
Bubu Wang raised his dog paw, closed one eye, calibrated the angle with his paw, and then, using both paws, started tossing out Apollo after Apollo.
Within the golden flames, Bao Jun stood unyielding. It looked impressive, but in reality, he was enduring the shockwaves from the explosions. A single moment of slack would send him flying to the edge, slamming into the wall so hard he couldn't be pried out.
A reduced Apollo exploded right in front of Bao Jun. His head buzzed, and cracks appeared on his skull.
Bao Jun's eyes bulged to their limit. Though he was being blasted into a grandson, he refused to give in.
"Ah!!"
Amid Bao Jun's roar, one Apollo after another was thrown down. The bombardment continued without pause. In the blazing sun, Bao Jun gradually turned into charcoal, then finally into ashes.
The bombardment lasted a full dozen hours before finally showing signs of subsiding. The royal city had vanished. In its place was an enormous crater. The only intact building within the royal city, the imperial palace, now lay upside down at the bottom of the giant pit.