Burn!
The bacteria source seemed to be at the bottom of a deep hole in the ground. The hole was placed right in front of the area hospital's empty lot. Due to the high concentration of bacteria, the bacteria stuck together to form visible chunks and filled the egg like area with an ominous and dangerous yellowish-green color.
To solve this, Jiang Chen's strategy was simple and ruthless.
He commanded the survivors to surround the area in a 1000 meter diameter, which was precisely the location where the bacteria concentration would not exceed the human immune system's limit. He ordered them to stay put 2000 meters away from the central area. Once they hear the explosion, they then should quickly rush into their battle positions.
He then ordered another group of survivors to install the one-time launch pads on 12 roofs, in different directions, 2000 meters away from the source. Each person would also be armed with a high energy vacuum bomb, as thick as two legs.The zombies who periodically rushed to the top of the roof fell under the cross fire. Jiang Chen did not act cheap at all, as he offered the general ammo supply in the armored vehicle to all the survivors.
All the crystals collected will be stored on the armored vehicle with a ledger. After the end of the battle, each of the squad leaders would then obtain their fair share. As to the consumed ammunition, Jiang Chen would only charge half of the cost benchmarked to the Sixth Street's price. It was a battle for all of them.
The armored vehicle was parked on the main road. It also fired at the zombies, who were drawn by an unknown force.
As they approached the bacteria source, the zombies were more ferocious. This was demonstrated through their increased speed and reaction. But, they were still no match for bullets. On top of that, all the survivors had surprisingly great aim, which eliminated any need for close range combat.
"Prepare to enter," Sun Jiao took a deep breath as she spoke into the public channel. Then, she looked at Jiang Chen.
"Roger."
A sneer flashed across Jiang Chen's face as he took out the firing terminal for the high energy vacuum bombs from the back of the armored vehicle.<Launch Angle: 75
Launch distance: 1300m
Initiate.>
"Burn!" Jiang Chen firmly pressed the <Initiate> button.
12 missiles, trailing whites flames, rose in the distance. The curvature of the trajectory aimed directly at the bacteria filled area.
When the bomb reached 1200 meters.
The bright white light had ignited the entire sky before the deafening explosion shook the ground.
The highly concentrated fuel almost instantly draw out all the oxygen in the area and mercilessly burned in the sky. Despite how resilient the bacteria was, there was no way it could survive under the scorching heat that could melt through steel.
When the thick smoke replaced the bacteria cloud, what remained was scorching ground and air.
Even standing 2000 meters away, the mixture of cold and hot air could be sensed from afar.
"Initiate gliding position! Go, quick!" Sun Jiao shouted in the public channel as she was the first to valiantly dash in with her machine engaged.
Flashes of pitch black power armor passed through the thick smoke and accelerated at full speed to the targeted area.
The bacteria had been fully destroyed. Even the unknown bacteria in the vicinity were pushed away by the shockwave.
They must clean out the area before the bacteria regenerated and covered the area again.
2000 meter distance took only a matter of seconds for the fully mobilized T-3.
But at this moment, something unexpected occurred.
An unstable static noise suddenly occupied the communication channel.
"What's going on! Fu*k-"
"EMP?!"
The public channel went offline due to the automatic activation of the EMP absorber. It blocked and separated all communication signals.
Under the unsuspected EMP disturbance, all the electronic devices were temporarily disabled. The most crucial armor balance system was affected as the team in high velocity began to fall to the ground.
"Break! Close the power system!" The communication channel was blocked, so Sun Jiao shouted out of her speaker.
"Fu*k! My power system is offline!" Jiang Chen could only watch as he dashed into the thick smoke and then immediately over the daunting hole, smashing into the area hospital.
Concrete debris and glass shards broke all over the ground.
The high impact forced the physical protection system to activate, which shut down all turbine engines. Jiang Chen, still dizzy from the impact, felt his ribs were almost dislocated as he tried to stand up.
Although power armor was usually equipped with EMP resistance function, the temporary disturbance was inevitable. With the exception that the EMP absorber was opened voluntarily, not triggered open.
[But who the fu*k thought there would be an EMP here?]
Suddenly, Jiang Chen was on alert. Reflexively lifting his left hand to guard himself.
Bang!
There was high impact followed by a deafening screech. The sharp blade even penetrated through the reinforced plastic steel armor.
The scythe like teeth fiercely opened. The eyes resembled death and blood. The most fearful close range creature on the wasteland - Death Claw.
It scared Jiang Chen enough to respond instantly by kicking at the Death Claw's chest. But the firm chest of the Death Claw easily absorbed the 1-ton force from the kick as it countered by furiously swiping it's talon, like a butchering knife, at the neck of its prey.
Without time to hesitate, the nitrogen armor on his left arm was immediately activated. The hammer like vortex airflow pushed away from the critical hit of the Death Claw. The Death Claw's talon smashed onto the ground, two feet from his head, and rocks flew from the impact.
He caught the opportunity as he restarted the turbine engine and pushed it to maximum output. He desperately tried to gain lateral distance from the side.
If the first hit missed, then there would be a second hit!
Death Claw immediately flew at Jiang Chen. But Jiang Chen was not to be underestimated. Before the revolving machine gun could be activated, his right hand pulled out the tactical rifle.
Tatata!
The bullets that could destroy concrete did nothing to the Death Claw.
But the suppressive shooting managed to hold the Death Claw down. Natural instinct forced the Death Claw to protect its vulnerable eyes, ducking into a barrier before circling back around to Jiang Chen's position.
The clip was shot empty, there was no time to reload.
Jiang Chen, finally regaining his balance, immediately dropped the tactical rifle in his hand and pulled out a dagger. Then he backed up against the wall.
It was extremely unwise to go into close combat with a Death Claw. Especially when he was against a wall with nowhere to retreat.
But -
Seeing that Jiang Chen dropped the rifle, the Death Claw grasped on the opportunity and dashed over. Its dagger like claws were ready to rip through the prey's chest.
But all of a sudden, the prey disappeared out of thin air.
Death Claw, unable to react, smashed right into the wall.
<Death Claw's weakness is its spine with minimal armor and its eyes.>
In a blink, Jiang Chen returned to the same spot and stabbed the dagger into its back without hesitation. The blade penetrated deep inside the Death Claw's back and chopped through its spine.
The parts below the Death Claw was paralyzed as it only let out a faint screeched.
With both hands on the dagger, Jiang Chen slashed down and cut open its back.
Slash.
Blood, meat, and organs spilled everywhere. But because it was an animal, it didn't make him sick.
After killing the Death Claw, Jiang Chen sat down and tried to catch his breath. His entire body was drenched in sweat.
To use interdimensional travel twice put an unbelievable amount of stress on his body. The sharp nerve pain almost made him pass out.
The entire fight happened within seconds, but he felt the threat of death twice.
The turbine engine's homing noise became more visible.
Through the thick smoke, Sun Jiao dashed to Jiang Chen and saw the Death Claw's body.
"Are you okay!" Sun Jiao quickly helped Jiang Chen up and opened her mask, her voice trembling.
"Ahem, I am still alive aren't I. I just used that ability, the one you know, so I am a bit dizzy." Jiang Chen weakly smiled. Being hugged through the armor did not feel good at all.
"You scared me to death. Who would have thought there would be an EMP... Wait, why was there an EMP? And how did the Death Claw peacefully interact with the zombies?" Jiang Chen suddenly realized the oddity as questions began to burst out.
Death Claw, with every part of its body designed for killing, had no allies except for its species in the apocalypse. Every other creature was their prey, including zombies. In fact, the slow moving zombies were their primary food source. Normally, the mutant's natural immunity was enough to go against the zombie bacteria, which is unlike humans who still required vaccines to enhance their body's functions.
"Perhaps we can only find out once we go in. A massive wave of zombies is surrounding us. Seems like they are trying to get reinforcements here." Sun Jiao looked perplexedly at the daunting hole outside of the area hospital.
Orange flame sparked from the hole. Following it were periodic explosions.
Jiang Chen used all of his energy to stand up and pick up his tactical rifle from the ground. He then reloaded and attached it to his waist. He opened the life detection device and adjusted it to maximum capability.
The dense red dots were closing in on their defense line.
"You take the other eight power armored soldiers to defend here. I'll go in."
"No! You're crazy! Do you know what's inside?" Sun Jiao shouted.
"I can escape any time in there. But you can't." Jiang Chen looked seriously into Sun Jiao's eyes. "Trust me, if I say I can come back, I will be able to return."
With the ability of the interdimensional bracelet, as long as it was not a one hit kill, he would be able to escape from any danger. But this was obviously not the case for Sun Jiao. Despite her wealth of combat experience and strong combat power, she was still human after all.
Especially this time, the situation was completely unknown. Maybe the Sixth Street force could use its massive power to fill the hole with human lives, but Jiang Chen didn't have the privilege.
Even losing just one single power armor would be an insurmountable loss for the Fishbone base because Jiang Chen won't be able to acquire such a dominant force again. At least not for the time being. Even if Zhao Chenwu wanted to help him, he wouldn't dare to. Since it was already unreasonable for him to have lost 10 power armors, for him to lose a few more, even reta*ds would suspect he broke the rules by selling prohibited weapons.
Especially the production quantity for these were low to begin with.
So he had to go alone.
Before he left, he already considered this possibility.
"..." Sun Jiao's lips trembled as she locked her eyes on Jiang Chen.
"We don't have time to waste. Help me defend the area for the next 2 hours. If I don't come out, then this mission has failed. Although disappointing, you must give up on the survivors. Use the power armor's ability, jump between the buildings, and escape.
Sun Jiao grabbed Jiang Chen's power armor collar and put his face in front of hers as she said ferociously.
"I won't go, and I mean it!"
"Don't be like this. I said that this is not threatening to me." Jiang Chen forced a smile as he looked into Sun Jiao's fierce eyes, locking onto them. Even if the power armor was almost destroyed, he could escape to the other world and then put the power armor into the storage dimension to avoid any suspicion.
"Then would you be able to come out?! Would you be able to return to this world?! You, you..." The gorgeous face became twisted due to her sadness. Her distraught shocked Jiang Chen.
True.
[Even if I escape, the next time he came back it would be in the same spot. The modern world would not have any place to fix the power armor, without the power armor, once the bacteria reoccupy this space...
It would mean death if he came back.
But he was already here, would he just go back now? He was not willing. If the bacteria concentration continued to get worse, the Fishbone Base would be unhabitable. If they left, that means months of effort would go down the drain.
[Fu*k, I'll risk it!]
He had no time to hesitate. He made up his mind, took a deep breath, and looked straight into Sun Jiao's shaking eyes.
"I promise I will be back. Give me two hours."
"But..."
"Be good." Jiang Chen smiled as he patted her helmet to comfort her.
[I will not give this place up.]
He promised in silence. Then, he let go of the still stunned Sun Jiao.
"Defend the entrance for me. Once the two-hour limit is up, evade into the building to hide. Right now, it is still day time. Once the bacteria source is destroyed, the zombies should stop. Trust me! I can do it!"
He turned around.
Slowly inhaling, Jiang Chen looked at the dark pit and jumped down.
