First Battle

The two siblings had no time to fool around.

Bai Jiacao scrambled to her feet, found the medical kit, and deftly prepared tweezers, gauze, syringes, hemostatic gel, and adrenaline.

Dragging the Semi-Automatic Rifle, Meng Chao came to the living room window and expertly arranged sofa cushions into a kneeling firing position.

He narrowed his eyes and looked outside through the firing port in the armor.

In the pitch-black night, the mist that had originally shrouded the wilderness spread toward the city like a demon's tentacles.

Deep in the Mist, red and blue lights flickered in an interwoven glow.

The lights writhed, and monsters gradually revealed their savage forms.

The mist was not mist.

It was a turbulent current of spacetime travel.

Dragon City was a stone, the Otherworld a pond. Tossing a stone into a pond would naturally stir up layer upon layer of ripples.

Having crossed over from Earth, Dragon City had been fortunate not to descend directly into the battle-scarred lands where Another World Civilization flourished and powerful beings gathered.

For fifty years, the spacetime turbulence had also sheltered them in the form of mist, preventing them from being discovered by the powerful beings of the Otherworld.

Unfortunately, Dragon City had arrived in the Otherworld's infamous Cursed Land, a paradise for monsters.

Towering mountain ranges formed a natural barrier, like interlocking fangs that inspired dread at first sight.

Hundreds of Crystal Veins buried underground slowly released toxins and radiation, forming strange spirit-magnetic storm fields that drove plants and animals alike into rampant growth and mutation.

No one knew how many monster nests were hidden here, nor how many new breeds of monsters mutated every day.

Because their spaces overlapped, whenever the spacetime turbulence triggered tides, the mist invaded the city, tore open Space Fissures, and caused monsters to appear anywhere in Dragon City.

At first, the people of Dragon City had been tormented beyond endurance by the endlessly "randomly spawned" monsters, even coming to fear the mist and the night.

Fortunately, through the sacrifices of martyrs who pressed onward wave after wave, they had endured.

Today, the people of Dragon City had basically cleared the Otherworld regions overlapping with the Main District and firmly occupied this living space.

Old residential complexes like Tianfu Garden had not seen a large wave of monsters spawn for a long time.

"Attention, residents. The Flame Black Beetle Swarm has appeared near the kindergarten and is rapidly passing through the Nursing Home and Garbage Recycling Station. Within five minutes, it will strike the Small Plaza.

"'When friends come, there is fine wine; when jackals come, there are hunting rifles.' Put your backs into it, everyone! Whether we can be named a Five-Star Community this year depends on tonight!"

Aunt Cao's high-pitched voice rang out from the Crystal Loudspeaker above the community committee's bunker.

The Spirit Energy Oscillator installed in the center of the Small Plaza continuously released infrasonic waves beyond the range of human hearing, drawing the monsters' attention.

Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle.

More than a hundred Flame Black Beetles were drawn in, gathering into a black torrent and surging toward the main plaza.

Each Black Beetle was the size of a calf. Its pitch-black, metallic shell was covered in flame-like markings, while its oversized mouthparts resembled two guillotine blades above and below. Even an iron rod as thick as a bowl's rim could be bitten through in one bite.

But the fortified residential complex had empty streets, and every building was protected by armor, leaving the ferocious beasts' Big Tooth with nowhere to use itself.

When the monsters flooded into the Small Plaza.

Whoosh!

The searchlights installed atop the residential buildings suddenly lit up.

Dozens of thick beams tore the darkness to shreds, leaving the monsters nowhere to hide.

Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle!

Around the Small Plaza, dozens of high-voltage towers rose from underground and fired hundreds of blinding arcs of electricity, shocking the monsters until green smoke rose from them and leaving them unable to move.

Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss!

Inside dozens of turtle-shell-like automated Combat Fortresses, crystals shattered, releasing high-temperature, high-pressure spirit energy that propelled projectiles howling through the air and rained down upon the monsters like a torrential downpour.

The principle was similar to the air guns of the Earth Era.

But driven by spirit energy, their killing power was naturally a hundred times greater than compressed air.

The Flame Black Beetles were first shocked into a daze, then riddled with holes. No matter how hard their shells were, insect fluid still splattered everywhere as they suffered grievous casualties.

"A Chao, how's the battle?"

Meng Yishan had invited Grandma Wang from next door over.

There was also Grandma Wang's pet beast, a hound genetically modified with fangs like those of a Sabertooth.

The two families were close. As soon as the Saber-Toothed Hound entered, he circled Bai Jiacao, wagging his tail with all his might.

"For now, it's fine. We've held them." Meng Chao turned back. "Grandma Wang, are you all right?"

"You brat, are you looking down on this old woman's arms and legs?"

Grandma Wang carried a shotgun, her face glowing with health as she played the elder card. "Did you see the chaos when we first crossed into the Otherworld? How many zombies did you kill when the virus outbreak happened? How many years have you even fought in the Monster War? Back in my day, that dead old man and I..."

"Grandma Wang, I was wrong. I know you'll definitely be fine. Please look after my mom and my sister, thank you!" Meng Chao had a headache.

"Don't worry. This old woman may not even be able to bite through rhino meat anymore, but this old fellow in my hands isn't one to be trifled with either!"

Grandma Wang waved her shotgun, unceremoniously squeezed Meng Chao aside, assumed a standard kneeling stance, and leaned toward the observation port.

"Oh my, so many Flame Black Beetles! Our community's struck it rich!"

The old woman beamed.

In this era, the people of Dragon City had greatly inflated confidence.

After several decades in the Otherworld, Earth industry, Spirit Energy Technology, and Gene Martial Arts had gradually fused together. The combat power of Dragon City's people had soared, and they had long ceased to take monsters seriously.

To Dragon City's people, seemingly ferocious monsters were merely food and raw materials for building the city.

Dragon City was surrounded by mist, with little space and scarce resources. Every wave of monster attacks was a gift from heaven.

Every part of a monster was treasure.

Their flesh contained abundant nutrients. Their shells and bones could be ground down to forge superalloys, while their mucus was often a high-quality additive or fuel.

Many powerful monsters also possessed all sorts of spiritualized organs and crystals within their bodies, the finest cultivation resources.

An Otherworld monster invasion was simply Earthlings being handed money, equipment, and experience.

But Meng Chao knew that tonight would not be so simple.

Sure enough.

Although the first wave of Flame Black Beetles had been routed into complete disarray.

Tonight's mist was especially dense. More and more Flame Black Beetles poured out from Deep in the Mist, packing the streets to the brim.

Their shells scraped against one another with shrill noises, even striking up sparks.

Hundreds of Flame Black Beetles charged toward the community plaza like moths rushing into flame. Disregarding casualties, they toppled the first high-voltage tower, while their mountain-like pile of corpses blocked the firing ports of the automated guns.

"So many?"

Grandma Wang's expression changed.

The battle-hardened old woman smelled danger.

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!

Among the monsters in the second wave, the shells of many Black Beetles cracked open, extending huge transparent wings as they clumsily took flight.

"They're mutated Flame Black Beetles—Flying Flame Beetles!"

Meng Yishan furrowed his brow deeply, wiped his face, and knelt on one knee at the firing position beside them. "A Chao, tonight may be troublesome. Watch your bullets. Let them come closer before firing."

Among the hundreds of Flame Black Beetles, around twenty or thirty were flying mutants.

They flew over the high-voltage towers and Combat Fortresses toward the residential buildings.

Crisscrossing streams of fire immediately erupted from the buildings.

Unfortunately, the Flying Flame Beetles' flight paths were unpredictable, and their shells were slick and curved, making it difficult for bullets to bite into them.

Even if a bullet hit, unless the angle was exactly right, it would ricochet off the shell.

"Damn it."

Meng Yishan's first burst missed, only drilling a hole through a Flying Flame Beetle's transparent wing. It was still flying.

He cursed impatiently.

He immediately regretted it. He should not have lost his composure in front of his son, or wouldn't that make the kid even more nervous?

Meng Chao had no time to be nervous.

He carefully looked at the information floating before him:

Civilization Fire requires steel and blood to defend it. Begin the first combat mission, "Alien Insect Hunter"?

During tonight's battle, shoot ten Flame Black Beetles and three Flying Flame Beetles to contribute to the defense of your home!

First combat mission reward: 1,500 Contribution Points, and the option to choose any basic skill to raise by one level.

"Begin!"

Meng Chao minutely adjusted his breathing and heartbeat, turning a deaf ear to the gunfire beside him and the monsters' shrieks.

In a daze, everything fell silent.

Every detail of Basic Gunmanship turned into neural currents and surged into his fingertips like lightning, firmly binding his ten fingers and the firearm together.

His gaze seemed unfocused, fixed on none of the monsters.

Yet he was scanning the entire battlefield, turning the monsters' movement paths, the vibration of their wings, the wind speed, and the wind direction into a dazzling torrent of data.

"A Chao, are you scared? How about I take over?"

Meng Chao had aimed in a kneeling stance for a long time, causing Grandma Wang to misunderstand.

The old woman carried a large shotgun, but its range was too short, making it unsuitable for dealing with flying targets at a distance.

Seeing Meng Chao holding the Semi-Automatic Rifle without firing a single shot for so long, as if he had been frightened stupid by the monsters, she was anxious and somewhat covetous.

Before her words had even faded.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Meng Chao fired.