Industrial Zone Great Battle

The convoy bumped along the road until it came to a stop on a mountain five kilometers away from the industrial zone.

As for why they dared not approach, it was because they had detected a massive battle raging within the industrial zone!

Wang Zhong was the first to jump out of the vehicle, lying flat on the ridge to raise his binoculars.

The players behind him quickly fanned out to take up defensive positions, with the Crimson Wind members mounting machine guns on the vehicle roofs, aiming their barrels toward every possible direction from which an enemy might appear.

Within Wang Zhong's field of vision, a bizarre scene was rising from the direction of the industrial zone.

The original site of the industrial zone was currently shrouded by a translucent barrier.

The surface of the barrier rippled with geometric shapes and constantly fragmenting and reforming linguistic fragments; the mere sight of those symbols was enough to make one's head throb.

Outside the barrier, the joint forces of four factions were locked in a bitter struggle.

"That is the Logic Lockdown Field of the Cult of the Machine Thought."

A player's voice came from behind; he was crouching beside the second vehicle, his eyes glowing with a faint, psionic blue light. "A typical countermeasure used by Tzeentch demons, using a rule-level barrier to restrict the firepower projection of the material universe."

Wang Zhong zoomed in with his lens.

The armored division of the Adons Knight Family was launching a charge.

Twelve Knight Mechs painted in black and gold color schemes took heavy strides, leaving deep craters in the wasteland with every step.

Their shoulder-mounted melta cannons fired in a volley, the searing white beams slamming into the barrier, yet they only stirred up ripples.

Inside the barrier, the scene was even more horrifying.

Hundreds of Tzeentch Horrors were leaping among the ruins.

Those twisted blue creatures possessed avian claws, reptilian scales, and the compound eyes of insects, each clutching weapons condensed from pure sorcery.

They shrieked with laughter, hurling fire, frost, and lightning toward the lines of the joint forces.

Deeper within, the Lord of Change and Mystery summoned by Ren had already bloated to the height of a three-story building.

It now possessed seven arms, and at the end of each arm was not a hand, but constantly shifting organs: tomes with flipping pages, test tubes dripping poison, and tentacles drawing runes.

"Report firepower configuration," Wang Zhong said, lowering his voice.

The voice of the observer player [Tau Here Has Flower Girls] rang out: "Visual observation, the joint forces have twelve Knight Mechs, Leman Russ Tank wrecks... damn, at least twenty have been blown up, and there are eight still moving."

"About thirty Sentinel Mechs, and infantry... estimated at seven thousand."

"They won't hold."

[Have You Been Loyal Today] said, "Look at the formation. The Adons Knights are pushing the front, while the private soldiers of the Simans Chamber of Commerce are slacking off in the rear."

"The psionic squad from the Khomo Psionic Family hasn't even entered the fray; they're hiding in the transport trucks."

[The Traitor Deserves No Forgiveness] spat, "Classic teammates."

Just then, a sudden change occurred on the battlefield.

Four self-propelled artillery pieces opened fire from the rear position; they were assets of the Cult of the Machine Thought, their barrels engraved with binary prayers.

The high-explosive shells traced a parabolic arc, but at a distance of a hundred meters from the barrier, they turned unnaturally, slamming back into the artillery position instead!

"Mirror Reflection!"

[Have You Been Loyal Today] exclaimed, "The signature ability of the Lord of Change and Mystery! It can distort the causal direction of attacks."

The explosion engulfed the artillery position.

Three Basilisk artillery pieces were blown to pieces by their own shells, and the fourth stopped in an emergency, its barrel already twisted into a pretzel.

The joint forces' line began to waver.

Wang Zhong saw an infantry company of the Adons Knights attempt to retreat, only to be intercepted halfway by Flesh Hounds burrowing out from the ground.

Those Khorne demons had the appearance of flayed dogs, their muscles exposed, their fangs dripping with corrosive saliva.

In three swift motions, they tore through the joints of the power armor, dragging the soldiers out to devour them alive.

"Khorne's stuff is truly fierce."

Wang Zhong muttered, "This script isn't quite right, is it?"

"Commander, something's wrong."

The veteran driver suddenly said, "Look inside the barrier—"

Wang Zhong adjusted the lens.

The seven arms of the Lord of Change and Mystery were all pointing simultaneously toward the ridge where they were positioned.

On that head, three eyes composed of ghostly blue flames stared straight at them from five kilometers away.

"It has discovered us."

Wang Zhong felt his hair stand on end. "Retreat! Everyone get in the vehicles!"

Almost at the same moment the order was issued, a gap tore open at the edge of the barrier.

Twelve Tzeentch Horrors squeezed out.

They did not charge toward the battlefield like the other demons; instead, they sprinted toward the ridge with eerie, rhythmic strides!

"Drive! Drive!"

Wang Zhong dove into the passenger seat, "Old Driver, use the same energy you use to dodge traffic police while hauling cargo!"

"You got it!"

The Old Driver slammed on the accelerator, and the transport truck's engine let out a roar.

Five vehicles made frantic U-turns on the ridge, kicking up a sky full of dust.

In the rearview mirror, the speed of those Horrors was terrifying.

With every step they took, glowing geometric patterns appeared beneath their feet, and their figures would flicker forward by dozens of meters. At this rate, they would catch up in three minutes at most.

"Fire! Suppressive fire!" Wang Zhong grabbed the vehicle's comms unit.

The machine guns on the roofs began to bark.

The crude heavy machine guns spat tongues of fire, and the 20mm black-powder rounds traced visible trajectories through the air.

But the Horrors merely giggled, sidestepping the moment the projectiles were about to strike—not through physical evasion, but by briefly turning their bodies ethereal, letting the bullets pass through where they had just been.

"Psionic phase-shifting!"

A psionicist player in the second vehicle shouted, "Standard physical attacks are hard to land! Use lasers! The high heat of laser weapons can disrupt their phase stability!"

"Tell us sooner next time!"

Have You Been Loyal Today poked half his body out of the third vehicle's sunroof, holding a laser pistol in his hand.

He pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Crimson beams tore through the air.

The first shot missed, melting a pit into the ground beside a Horror.

The second shot grazed the arm of a Horror just as it was phase-shifting; its blue scales instantly carbonized, and it let out a piercing shriek.

"It's effective!" Have You Been Loyal Today grinned.

More laser weapons opened fire.

Players leaned out of windows and sunroofs with standard-issue laser rifles, pistols, and even two Hecate-pattern Laser Carbines—assets of the Crimson Spirit chapter that they had gritted their teeth to purchase, costing 230 Imperial Coins apiece.

The beams wove into a net.

After being struck by three consecutive laser shots, one Horror's phase ability finally collapsed.

Its body solidified, and it was immediately struck square in the chest by a 20mm round.

Blue scales and twisted flesh exploded outward, and the creature collapsed to the ground, dissolving into a puddle of smoking pus.

Kill Record: Tzeentch Horror x1, Estimated Salvage Value: 350 Imperial Coins.

The game system prompt rang in every player's ears.

"Holy crap, that's worth a fortune, too bad we can't salvage it right now," Have You Been Loyal Today said regretfully.

A player spoke up in the area channel, "Should we turn back and take them on?"

"They're worth so much, killing just two would pay for the ammo."

"Killing one is worth three days of mining!"

"Turn back! Turn back and kill them!"

"Kill my foot!"

Wang Zhong roared into the area channel, "Keep retreating! Look behind you!"

More Horrors were pouring out from the barrier.

Not twelve, but thirty, fifty...

And it wasn't just Horrors; there were also Bloodletters, the lesser demons of Khorne, wielding burning great axes, leaving scorched marks on the ground with every step.