"Unforeseen circumstances—I couldn't have guaranteed against that either," Pacquiao responded coldly. "Besides, in a fight of this scale, who can guarantee not a single thing goes wrong? Is this your first day on the job?"
For a moment, the questioner fell silent. Sighs and jeers came over the comms. Amid the confusion, someone spoke up: "In that case, wouldn't it be better to—"
Better to preserve their strength, better to pull back first, better to live to fight another day—
"Run?!"
Before Pacquiao could speak, someone burst out laughing. "Can you fucking run? Why don't you give everyone a demonstration first?"
They had already closed right in their faces, and you fucking want to turn your ass to the enemy and run?
Why don't you look at the damn situation!
Running now would only let them press their advantage and chase you down. Once you're out on the open sea with zero cover or scruples, guess what kind of ridiculous firepower the other side could whip out?!
The sharper minds had already caught on. That bastard Pacquiao had probably known the enemy's situation all along; coaxing so many people to join was just to use them as cannon fodder.
Still, cannon fodder was cannon fodder. The water ghosts below were cheap recruits pulled in off the street anyway; no one cared how many of them died. Everyone was just sore about taking a loss on their investment.
"Things have come to this: advance or die. Besides, Xinquan is right before our eyes. Won't plundering it make up for all these losses?" Pacquiao warned coldly, offering both carrot and stick. "I can shoulder all repairs and losses for the coalition. However, if anyone wants to abandon me now, you'd best watch your back in the future! If you truly want a cut, bring something to the table. Otherwise, don't blame me if I make no room for you!"
To still expect the cannon fodder sent to scout and wear down the enemy to achieve anything was pure delusion.
Even if every last one of those scumbags died, would it actually dent the strength of your flotillas?
Stop fucking holding back!
Either fight alongside me, or wait until I'm finished and bring everyone to wipe you out. It's that simple!
In an instant, the comms fell dead silent. Immediately after, an unbroken stream of assents, flattery, praise, and compliments poured in. Pacquiao turned a deaf ear to it all.
Then, the previously thin sea mist thickened in an instant.
Eerie flute notes and horn blasts abruptly sounded, echoing and spreading. The shrill, piercing noise reverberated over the battlefield. Wherever it passed, the sound seemed like a living thing burrowing into eardrums, inducing dizzying spells and even causing the heavy exoskeletons' movements to stall. In their stupor, some operators even slipped into shock and lost consciousness, triggering their systems' electric shock revival and automated injections of potent stimulants.
Yet the piping did not stop there; it didn't even linger on the battlefield, plunging instead beneath the water, pulsing relentlessly.
And then, the stagnant Longjiang River began to boil and churn once more!
Shrieks rang out. Eerie shadows surged from the dense fog, leaping into the air like birds. Once their massive bodies broke from the surface, they actually swam through the liquid mist.
Ravenous and desperate, like a rising tide, they threw themselves toward the battlefield!
They were colossal sharks, sea serpents, and even undulating jellyfish—countless ocean horrors lured along the way by bait, now freed from the shackles of the sea by the summons of the pipes, soaring into the sky.
Blotting out the heavens, they hurtled toward Xinquan!
The beasts' animal reason had long been clouded by drugs and piping. Driven now by the Heart Pivot, they were consumed by unbearable hunger, ravenously devouring the mangled flesh and blood as they infiltrated every corner of the town.
Besides these, amidst all the pirate ships on the Longjiang River, an unremarkable yet bizarre modified vessel swung open a massive hatch on its hull, followed by the grinding scrape of chains.
A grotesque fish over ten meters long hissed, its fish-like tail whipping around a water ghost who had strayed too close. It yanked him violently over, whereupon its humanoid torso thrust out four arms, grabbed him, tore him to pieces, and stuffed the mangled limbs into a maw bristling with razor-sharp teeth.
Its scale-covered face was like a fish's, its two eyes devoid of luster, filled only with the hollow ache of ravenous hunger.
Merfolk!
And three mature merfolk at that!
Urged on and controlled by the piping, the three merfolk snapped their iron chains, leaped out, and rapidly closed in with swishing tails.
Ignoring the heavy machine-gun fire, they advanced and retreated at will. Vast quantities of moisture gathered, cloaking their massive forms like a bizarre suit of armor, impervious to blade and bullet.
As their four arms flailed, water coalesced into bizarre weapons, crackling with wisps of electrical arcs.
The innate blessing unique to the calamity beast species!
With this motley host of sea monsters harrying the defenders and three ravenous, fearless merfolk blazing the trail, the Celestial Chosen among the water ghosts finally showed themselves, advancing silently under the cover of cannon fodder or their own abilities.
After suffering initial casualties, the heavy exoskeleton tactical squads holding the outer perimeter of Xinquan Town began covering each other and falling back under orders.
For a moment, it looked like a headlong retreat.
Within just a few minutes, the water ghosts had breached Xinquan's main thoroughfare. Once inside the town, they spread out in excitement, looting everywhere in search of valuables.
Unfortunately, behind every door, the rooms were completely empty, without a soul in sight.
Vast as Xinquan was, it had long since become an empty town!
The instant the alarm had sounded, everyone had evacuated into the underground shelters with their valuables. At a juncture like this, no matter how oblivious someone was, they wouldn't drag their feet. What's more, among those who managed to survive out in the wilderness, there were the scheming, the exceptionally capable, and the irredeemably wicked—but not a single giant baby!
If there really had been one, dying was no more than they deserved.
Now, watching the enemy advance unchecked down Xinquan's main thoroughfare, Ji Jue calmly picked up his walkie-talkie.
"Mr. Slan, can you hear me?"
From the other end, a deep voice immediately answered, "I am here, Your Excellency."
"It's time for your entrance," Ji Jue said. "Is there anything else you require?"
"Everything is ready!" Slan answered decisively. "If there are any specifics, please do not hesitate to give your commands, Your Excellency."
"No commands. There is no need for restraint or mercy, nor any need to take prisoners. Just do what you do best."
Ji Jue told him, "I have only one requirement—leave none alive!"
Slan paused briefly. He subconsciously glanced back toward the tall building behind him, unable to clearly see the silhouette on the rooftop or imagine his expression.
Those words carried no impassioned fervor; from start to finish, they were utterly calm.
Yet for some reason... they set his blood racing!
The moment he processed them, a smile couldn't help but creep onto his face.
So delightful.
All he could do was give a resolute response.
"Understood!"
Astride his steed of blood flame, Slan raised his hand and donned his helm. Beneath the visor, all human features vanished, replaced by the cold brutality of an iron beast-mask.
At that moment, behind the gates of Haian Industries, the sprawling factory grounds were dead silent.
Like a realm of ghosts.
Yet within the shadowy domain shrouded in drizzling rain, pairs of crimson eyes lit up behind Slan. The blood-flame steeds snorted, iron horseshoes scraping against the concrete ground as sparks burst from the rain.
A metallic din echoed.
Not just the knights—even the monsters summoned by the holy relics had long grown impatient!
There was no need for lengthy speeches to rally morale, let alone explanations of victory's significance. Only one thing needed to be known!
The enemy was ahead, and the enemy must die!
"By the witness of the Priest King—"
Drawing his scimitar, Slan roared at the top of his lungs:
"This battle and this victory, all dedicated to the Swarm!"
In an instant, endless blood fire erupted from the bodies of the Swarm's Celestial Chosen, linking together as one. A raging pillar of spiritus light surged into the sky, rivaling even Pacquiao's venomous flames and blood-dyed clan on the other side!
So brazenly did they declare their presence, utterly unrestrained. And the moment everyone felt that violent surge of spiritus, an earth-shattering roar erupted from within Xinquan!
The gates of Haian Industries shattered into pieces.
And on Xinquan's main thoroughfare, the rampaging, spreading water ghosts saw brutal, surging blood flames gush forth like a cataract.
A chaotic thunder of iron hooves rose and fell. Through the light rain and mist, monstrous, berserk silhouettes wrapped in bloodlight coalesced into an indivisible mass, advancing forward!
The earth shook violently like an iron plate, and countless puddles shuddered, throwing up ripples and sprays of water.
In a single instant, the lead water ghosts were trampled into paste before they could even react; not even the Celestial Chosen possessed the slightest power to resist!
Who knew how many faces abruptly drained of color.
Knights of Homecoming!!!
Among the water ghosts' upper echelons, who knew how many stood paralyzed with hesitation, while many more who had just set foot outside hastily shrank back...
Charge out to fight them head-on? Capture their banner and slay their general?
Are you insane?!
Do you hear the pig-headed nonsense coming out of your mouth?
Those aren't lone-wolf errant knights or war dogs carrying AKs to scrape a living—that is a bona fide Swarm legion!
They have lineages, holy relics, priest lords, and a damn coordinated army of Celestial Chosen brothers-in-arms!
If we're talking numbers, we definitely have more people than them, but what good are numbers right now?!
"Swarm" carried the meaning of "legion" in the ancient tongue of the Age of Chaos, referring to the chaotic horrors of war, rabid and brutally violent like mad dogs.
No path was better suited for massed combat than the Swarm. Even members of the Swarm who were strangers and had never met could advance and retreat as one, moving with single-minded unity once they exchanged each other's blood flames. Let alone an orthodox Swarm lineage like this, forged through rigorous discipline under the same heritage and bound together by nation, faith, and even blood ties.
Just like the Federation's Extinction Heavenly Balance or the Empire's Imperial Guard—this was a terrifying force that could only be cultivated through the wealth of an entire nation and boundless foundations!
What they excelled at most was precisely this kind of head-on clash!
And the Knights of Homecoming before them were a war machine created by the Four Powers of the Mid-Continent.
Even if the Red States had declined and were now reduced to puppets of two great nations, tracing back their lineage, their forebears had been the divine guards painstakingly forged by the Four Priests second only to the Emperor during the Eternal Empire! Even if limited resources and operational constraints abroad meant that when few in number, they could only serve as ordinary Swarm grunts—these bastards right now were a combat legion fully outfitted with holy relics, sacrificial offerings, battle standards, and priest lord blessings!
A hundred and seventy!
A hundred and seventy men, holy fuck!
That exceeded a full company. Anyone who counted the enemy's numbers felt their skin crawl.
If Ji Jue wanted to rid the people of a menace, these one hundred and seventy fearless Knights of Homecoming—fully armed with armor, holy relics, offerings, and supplies—would be enough to charge all the way from Xinquan to Yacheng, lop off Xu Chaoxian's dog head, and then charge straight into Chaocheng to hang it on the city gates!
At this moment, everyone's heads were buzzing, left with only one urge: to grab Ji Jue by the throat and demand:
Just how much fucking money did he spend?!
How much did he pay to make the Knights of Homecoming risk universal condemnation, brave the threat of offending the Federation, ignore the Law of Heavenly Overseer's suppression and wear on holy relics, and fight fully armed within the territory of one of the world's two superpowers?!
They had even brought out the Mycelium's ritual sacrifice?!
One had to know that among all the Swarm's priest lord lineages, the Mycelium ranked within the top ten. Above all, it excelled at large-scale favors and blessings. Aided by sacrificial offerings, it could blow the stats of its Celestial Chosen right through the roof; the more people there were, the stronger the amplification became.
Now, the moment a formed unit of Knights of Homecoming appeared on the battlefield, everything else lost all meaning.
All that could be seen beneath their iron hooves was an unstoppable, crushing rush, an arrow-straight advance.
Like a surging torrent of blood and flame rolling forward!
Chapter 418