Chapter 93: Total Breach and the Marshal's Arrival
Heavy footsteps echoed across the wasteland, slowly approaching the walls of Panshi City from hundreds of meters away.
Four fourth-tier scaled beasts dispersed, pouncing toward the eastern, southern, western, and northern sections of the city wall respectively. Behind them, dense swarms of low-tier scaled beasts climbed upward incessantly like a black tide. The artillery fire on the city wall continued to roar, and energy bullets kept exploding. Dark green beast blood flowed down the concrete walls, pooling at the base into foul-smelling puddles.
A section of the battlements collapsed with a deafening crash.
Taking advantage of a "staircase" formed by the piled corpses of its companions, a heavily armored scaled beast leaped through the gap. With a single sweep of its sharp claws, two soldiers who failed to dodge in time were sent flying, tumbling heavily off the high wall. Over a dozen scaled beasts instantly poured through the breach. The close-quarters combat teams immediately rushed forward to seal the gap, the sounds of clashing metal, screams, and beast roars intertwining.
"Eastern sector breach in critical condition! Requesting reinforcements!"
"North sector Sea of Consciousness squad has suffered over fifty percent casualties! The barrier can't be maintained!"
The desperate pleas for help in the communicator came one after another, each more urgent than the last. The defending troops' stamina, ammunition, and Sea of Consciousness power were being rapidly depleted. Every additional minute they held out cost the lives of dozens of people.
Leaning against the city wall, Jiang Tao panted heavily. The backlash from forcibly imprisoning the fourth-tier scaled beast's Sea of Consciousness was now continuously eroding his mind. The veins on his temples bulged, his eyes were bloodshot, and every operation of his Sea of Consciousness was accompanied by a tearing, agonizing pain.
"We can't continue to take on high-tier scaled beasts individually," Jiang Tao said in a low voice to Lin Yan and Old Chen. "The Ancient Progenitor is synchronously controlling all the high-tier beasts from afar. They coordinate flawlessly, tying down our forces. The three of us simply can't be in multiple places at once."
Old Chen wiped the beast blood splattered on his face. His long knife scraped against the ground, emitting a piercing sound. "Leave the south to us. There are no more elite reserves left to fill the gaps in the east and north sectors."
Before he even finished speaking, a low engine roar echoed from the sky.
Several large transport planes skimmed low over the city wall. The cargo bay doors opened, and dozens of warriors clad in specially made dark gray combat armor descended, landing steadily on the main platform of the city wall. At the forefront of the group was a middle-aged man with frosted temples. Wearing a combat uniform without any superfluous decorations, his epaulets were engraved with the highest-level insignia of the six major war zones. Zhou Lin, the Marshal of the Panshi War Zone.
The moment he landed, an invisible yet heavy Sea of Consciousness power slowly spread out. Unlike the outward-striking psychic attacks of ordinary cultivators, this power was like a massive canopy, shrouding the entire southern section of the city wall. The scattered psychic impacts that had been constantly harassing the soldiers' minds were instantly dissolved the moment they touched this domain of the Sea of Consciousness.
"Marshal!" Seeing the newcomer, the remaining soldiers and cultivators on the city wall felt their suppressed morale rise slightly.
Zhou Lin's gaze calmly swept over the devastated city wall. Listening to the battle reports from various sectors, his voice, amplified by a loudspeaker, echoed across the entire Panshi defense line: "I have brought the Sea of Consciousness Imperial Guard Battalion directly under the war zone's command. Split into four squads, they will provide separate support to the four sections of the city wall and stabilize all breaches."
"Marshal, there are at least four more fourth-tier scaled beasts deep in the wasteland. The main consciousness of the Ancient Progenitor is still hidden underground, continuously controlling the beast swarm remotely," a staff officer reported, stepping forward quickly.
"I know." Zhou Lin nodded slightly. His gaze pierced through the overwhelming beast tide, staring at the extremely obscure psychic fluctuation deep in the distant wasteland. "It is hiding in the core of the underground rift. It refuses to appear in person, relying solely on the psychic network to command the beasts to exhaust us. It is gambling. It is betting that our ammunition will run out, and that all our Sea of Consciousness cultivators will be completely drained and collapse."
Lin Yan raised his eyes and looked at Zhou Lin. He could clearly sense the vastness and depth of the other party's Sea of Consciousness, far beyond what fourth-tier cultivators like Jiang Tao could compare to. This was the pinnacle of human combat power across the six major war zones.
"Lin Yan, Jiang Tao, Old Chen." Zhou Lin turned to look at the three of them. "Your squad has ample practical combat experience and is familiar with the scaled beasts' combat patterns. Follow me to intercept the fourth-tier scaled beast pouncing toward the western section of the city wall. The remaining Imperial Guard squads will provide support in other directions."
"Understood!"
The three of them immediately followed Zhou Lin, moving rapidly along the top of the city wall toward the western breach. Along the way, fallen soldiers were everywhere. Some had already lost their vital signs, while others groaned in severe pain. Medics risked being ambushed by scaled beasts to provide emergency bandages on the spot.
The western section of the city wall was now on the verge of falling.
The fourth-tier scaled beast had smashed a large portion of the concrete battlements. Its massive body was half-wedged in the gap, its claws swinging continuously. Several warriors defending this area had already fallen in pools of blood. The two remaining cultivators were doing their best to maintain their psychic barriers, but the barriers were covered in cracks and were on the verge of shattering.
Sensing the arrival of the group, the fourth-tier scaled beast turned its head. Its dark purple vertical pupils locked onto Zhou Lin, and it let out a frenzied roar. The accompanying psychic shockwave came howling toward them.
Zhou Lin's expression remained unchanged, and his Sea of Consciousness shifted slightly. The psychic shockwave, which would have severely wounded ordinary cultivators, collapsed directly in front of him.
"The three of you restrain its movements. I will suppress its Sea of Consciousness," Zhou Lin instructed calmly.
A massive psychic force instantly locked onto the consciousness core of the fourth-tier scaled beast. The behemoth's movements suddenly stalled. Its head shook wildly as it let out a pained roar. Its mind was forcibly imprisoned, but its four limbs continued to struggle desperately, driven by the instincts pre-programmed by the Ancient Progenitor.
"Move!" Old Chen took the lead, charging forward with his knife, hacking at the gap in the armor of the beast's front limb.
Lin Yan activated his ancient martial arts footwork. His figure moved like a ghost to the back of the behemoth, his short blade aiming precisely at the old scar on the back of its neck as he struck with full force. Simultaneously, Jiang Tao deployed his Sea of Consciousness to assist in blocking the beast's psychic signal as it tried to call for backup.
In extreme agony, the fourth-tier scaled beast twisted its massive body frantically, its scale-covered tail sweeping violently. Zhou Lin raised his hand, and a condensed psychic barrier appeared in front of everyone. The tail slammed heavily against the barrier, sending rubble flying into the sky.
Just as the group was entangled in combat with the behemoth, the terrified roar of a monitoring officer suddenly erupted from the communicator.
"Report! A brand-new, ultra-powerful psychic signal has been detected deep underground! It's not an ordinary fourth-tier scaled beast! It's... The Ancient Progenitor has finally deployed its personal guard! A fifth-tier scaled beast has crawled out from the underground rift!"
Everyone's heart sank.
A fourth-tier scaled beast already required several elites to fight to the death to restrain it. A fifth-tier was a monster on the same level as a War Zone Marshal.
In the distance across the wasteland, the earth slowly bulged upward. A massive chunk of rock strata was forcibly torn open, and a colossal creature far larger than any other scaled beast slowly crawled out from underground. Its entire body was covered in thick, ink-black armor, and dark green mucus flowed across its surface. Its two vertical pupils, like eerie green ghost fire, locked directly onto the walls of Panshi City.
A psychic pressure that crushed everything in its path swept across the entire wasteland like a tsunami.
Zhou Lin's expression grew solemn for the first time. He turned to look at everyone: "We are in serious trouble. The Ancient Progenitor has kept its final trump card. Everyone, prepare to fight the fifth-tier scaled beast."
End of Chapter.
Four fourth-tier scaled beasts dispersed, pouncing toward the eastern, southern, western, and northern sections of the city wall respectively. Behind them, dense swarms of low-tier scaled beasts climbed upward incessantly like a black tide. The artillery fire on the city wall continued to roar, and energy bullets kept exploding. Dark green beast blood flowed down the concrete walls, pooling at the base into foul-smelling puddles.
A section of the battlements collapsed with a deafening crash.
Taking advantage of a "staircase" formed by the piled corpses of its companions, a heavily armored scaled beast leaped through the gap. With a single sweep of its sharp claws, two soldiers who failed to dodge in time were sent flying, tumbling heavily off the high wall. Over a dozen scaled beasts instantly poured through the breach. The close-quarters combat teams immediately rushed forward to seal the gap, the sounds of clashing metal, screams, and beast roars intertwining.
"Eastern sector breach in critical condition! Requesting reinforcements!"
"North sector Sea of Consciousness squad has suffered over fifty percent casualties! The barrier can't be maintained!"
The desperate pleas for help in the communicator came one after another, each more urgent than the last. The defending troops' stamina, ammunition, and Sea of Consciousness power were being rapidly depleted. Every additional minute they held out cost the lives of dozens of people.
Leaning against the city wall, Jiang Tao panted heavily. The backlash from forcibly imprisoning the fourth-tier scaled beast's Sea of Consciousness was now continuously eroding his mind. The veins on his temples bulged, his eyes were bloodshot, and every operation of his Sea of Consciousness was accompanied by a tearing, agonizing pain.
"We can't continue to take on high-tier scaled beasts individually," Jiang Tao said in a low voice to Lin Yan and Old Chen. "The Ancient Progenitor is synchronously controlling all the high-tier beasts from afar. They coordinate flawlessly, tying down our forces. The three of us simply can't be in multiple places at once."
Old Chen wiped the beast blood splattered on his face. His long knife scraped against the ground, emitting a piercing sound. "Leave the south to us. There are no more elite reserves left to fill the gaps in the east and north sectors."
Before he even finished speaking, a low engine roar echoed from the sky.
Several large transport planes skimmed low over the city wall. The cargo bay doors opened, and dozens of warriors clad in specially made dark gray combat armor descended, landing steadily on the main platform of the city wall. At the forefront of the group was a middle-aged man with frosted temples. Wearing a combat uniform without any superfluous decorations, his epaulets were engraved with the highest-level insignia of the six major war zones. Zhou Lin, the Marshal of the Panshi War Zone.
The moment he landed, an invisible yet heavy Sea of Consciousness power slowly spread out. Unlike the outward-striking psychic attacks of ordinary cultivators, this power was like a massive canopy, shrouding the entire southern section of the city wall. The scattered psychic impacts that had been constantly harassing the soldiers' minds were instantly dissolved the moment they touched this domain of the Sea of Consciousness.
"Marshal!" Seeing the newcomer, the remaining soldiers and cultivators on the city wall felt their suppressed morale rise slightly.
Zhou Lin's gaze calmly swept over the devastated city wall. Listening to the battle reports from various sectors, his voice, amplified by a loudspeaker, echoed across the entire Panshi defense line: "I have brought the Sea of Consciousness Imperial Guard Battalion directly under the war zone's command. Split into four squads, they will provide separate support to the four sections of the city wall and stabilize all breaches."
"Marshal, there are at least four more fourth-tier scaled beasts deep in the wasteland. The main consciousness of the Ancient Progenitor is still hidden underground, continuously controlling the beast swarm remotely," a staff officer reported, stepping forward quickly.
"I know." Zhou Lin nodded slightly. His gaze pierced through the overwhelming beast tide, staring at the extremely obscure psychic fluctuation deep in the distant wasteland. "It is hiding in the core of the underground rift. It refuses to appear in person, relying solely on the psychic network to command the beasts to exhaust us. It is gambling. It is betting that our ammunition will run out, and that all our Sea of Consciousness cultivators will be completely drained and collapse."
Lin Yan raised his eyes and looked at Zhou Lin. He could clearly sense the vastness and depth of the other party's Sea of Consciousness, far beyond what fourth-tier cultivators like Jiang Tao could compare to. This was the pinnacle of human combat power across the six major war zones.
"Lin Yan, Jiang Tao, Old Chen." Zhou Lin turned to look at the three of them. "Your squad has ample practical combat experience and is familiar with the scaled beasts' combat patterns. Follow me to intercept the fourth-tier scaled beast pouncing toward the western section of the city wall. The remaining Imperial Guard squads will provide support in other directions."
"Understood!"
The three of them immediately followed Zhou Lin, moving rapidly along the top of the city wall toward the western breach. Along the way, fallen soldiers were everywhere. Some had already lost their vital signs, while others groaned in severe pain. Medics risked being ambushed by scaled beasts to provide emergency bandages on the spot.
The western section of the city wall was now on the verge of falling.
The fourth-tier scaled beast had smashed a large portion of the concrete battlements. Its massive body was half-wedged in the gap, its claws swinging continuously. Several warriors defending this area had already fallen in pools of blood. The two remaining cultivators were doing their best to maintain their psychic barriers, but the barriers were covered in cracks and were on the verge of shattering.
Sensing the arrival of the group, the fourth-tier scaled beast turned its head. Its dark purple vertical pupils locked onto Zhou Lin, and it let out a frenzied roar. The accompanying psychic shockwave came howling toward them.
Zhou Lin's expression remained unchanged, and his Sea of Consciousness shifted slightly. The psychic shockwave, which would have severely wounded ordinary cultivators, collapsed directly in front of him.
"The three of you restrain its movements. I will suppress its Sea of Consciousness," Zhou Lin instructed calmly.
A massive psychic force instantly locked onto the consciousness core of the fourth-tier scaled beast. The behemoth's movements suddenly stalled. Its head shook wildly as it let out a pained roar. Its mind was forcibly imprisoned, but its four limbs continued to struggle desperately, driven by the instincts pre-programmed by the Ancient Progenitor.
"Move!" Old Chen took the lead, charging forward with his knife, hacking at the gap in the armor of the beast's front limb.
Lin Yan activated his ancient martial arts footwork. His figure moved like a ghost to the back of the behemoth, his short blade aiming precisely at the old scar on the back of its neck as he struck with full force. Simultaneously, Jiang Tao deployed his Sea of Consciousness to assist in blocking the beast's psychic signal as it tried to call for backup.
In extreme agony, the fourth-tier scaled beast twisted its massive body frantically, its scale-covered tail sweeping violently. Zhou Lin raised his hand, and a condensed psychic barrier appeared in front of everyone. The tail slammed heavily against the barrier, sending rubble flying into the sky.
Just as the group was entangled in combat with the behemoth, the terrified roar of a monitoring officer suddenly erupted from the communicator.
"Report! A brand-new, ultra-powerful psychic signal has been detected deep underground! It's not an ordinary fourth-tier scaled beast! It's... The Ancient Progenitor has finally deployed its personal guard! A fifth-tier scaled beast has crawled out from the underground rift!"
Everyone's heart sank.
A fourth-tier scaled beast already required several elites to fight to the death to restrain it. A fifth-tier was a monster on the same level as a War Zone Marshal.
In the distance across the wasteland, the earth slowly bulged upward. A massive chunk of rock strata was forcibly torn open, and a colossal creature far larger than any other scaled beast slowly crawled out from underground. Its entire body was covered in thick, ink-black armor, and dark green mucus flowed across its surface. Its two vertical pupils, like eerie green ghost fire, locked directly onto the walls of Panshi City.
A psychic pressure that crushed everything in its path swept across the entire wasteland like a tsunami.
Zhou Lin's expression grew solemn for the first time. He turned to look at everyone: "We are in serious trouble. The Ancient Progenitor has kept its final trump card. Everyone, prepare to fight the fifth-tier scaled beast."
End of Chapter.
