A hymn to the Lizardmen's courage

Cheng Yu stared wide-eyed and asked, What did you say?! (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)ﾂ

"Our iron and steel are almost gone." ┐(─__─)┌

Didn't you say we'd found over ten million tons last time? How long has it even been? ╭(°A°`)╮

"With the RTX Destroyer's level of technology, how long do you think mining some iron ore takes?" →_→

Holy shit! Before I crossed over, annual iron production was only a few million to ten million tons or so, and we've burned through ours in barely ten days? ∑(っ°Д°;)っ

"Forget it. Take a look at your legion's numbers."

Basic Unit: 300,000 units

Purifier 0-1: 500,000 units

Purifier 0-2: 200,000 units

Purger 0-3: 80,000 units

Purger 0-4: 1,000 units

Purger 0-5: 500 units

"Holy crap, I've got an army of a million after barely ten days? But those numbers don't match our iron and steel output."

The system spoke up.

"We've also discovered several small iron deposits over the past few days. Where else did you think all those troops came from?"

Cheng Yu scratched his head. "How come I didn't know?" ^_^|||

"Heh. You haven't handled anything since Conductor showed up." (¬д¬.)

"Hehehe, I'm just leaving it to the professionals. So, why did you wake me up?" (oﾟωﾟo)

"Conductor wants to know whether you'd like to attack new territory."

Cheng Yu nodded.

"Of course. Actually, I'll go see him myself."

Steel Main City's command room.

Cheng Yu walked in and said,

"Good morning, boss! You too, ma'am. Good morning!" ( ＾∀＾)／

Yog raised his teacup and said airily, "It's noon."

Miss Puppet, however, addressed Cheng Yu with complete seriousness.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness the Apostle."

Somewhat embarrassed, Cheng Yu rubbed his nose.

Just then, Conductor entered.

"My highest respects to Your Holiness."

"My profound respects to the Supreme Intelligence."

"My respects to you, Commander."

Cheng Yu sat in the seat of honor and looked at Conductor.

"Have you decided on our targets?"

Conductor placed a hand against his chest.

"Before that, I would like to offer you a suggestion, Commander."

Surprised, Cheng Yu asked,

"Oh? What suggestion?"

"I would like to ask you to manufacture two more Wise Unit Z Series units, Commander."

Cheng Yu asked curiously,

"What, have you hit your processing limit?"

Unfazed, Conductor continued.

"No. According to my calculations, we can launch attacks against several factions."

"I can command multiple battlefields, but that would greatly reduce the research institute's spare processing capacity. My calculations indicate that manufacturing more Wisdom units to process independently would leave us with more capacity to spare."

Cheng Yu asked curiously, "What exactly is this processing capacity used for?"

Conductor answered,

"Production at every facility and the actions of every troop type require processing support. The research institute reserves dedicated capacity for these tasks, but its remaining capacity can still support the manufacture of two Wisdom units. With a Planetary Computer, you could manufacture Wisdom units in large numbers."

Understanding dawned on Cheng Yu, and he gave the order.

"Then manufacture two Wisdom units. Name them Artist and Performer."

Inside the command room, Cheng Yu sat in the seat of honor and assigned their tasks.

"Artist, assemble a legion of three hundred thousand. Your target is Wetland Swamp.

Performer, you also get a legion of three hundred thousand. Your target is White Cloud Basin.

Conductor, assemble another legion of three hundred thousand. Your targets are the factions around us."

Having launched satellites long ago, Cheng Yu now watched three torrents of steel spread outward from Monster Forest.

Their advance truly embodied the saying that the sound arrived before the troops. Using markers on the satellite map and the Wisdom units' calculations, the 0-2s' thermal cannons landed squarely among the enemy. The resulting scenes were unbearable to behold.

Conductor swept through almost everything in his path. The surrounding factions, large and small, either surrendered or were wiped out.

On the way to White Cloud Basin, Performer likewise slaughtered anything that stood in his way, gods and Buddhas alike. The gods and Buddhas all protested, "First of all, we didn't provoke you. Second..."

Thermal cannon shots rained onto their territory, silencing them completely. After all, everyone was thoroughly cooked by then.

Cheng Yu maintained that, brutal as it looked, he felt no guilt whatsoever. First, these factions were all nonhuman. Second, even if there were humans among them, the system had told him when he first arrived in this world:

Anyone who came to the Northern Borderlands was a bandit, robber, or the like. Good people did not live long there.

Artist's advance, however, was somewhat slower. The terrain was all swamp. The 0-1s and 0-2s managed well enough, but heavy units like the 0-3s and 0-4s struggled to move forward.

Still, the Purger Series lived up to its reputation as killers of organic life. The 0-4s deployed their Interference Net Fields, and all the 0-2s raised their barrel-shaped arms. Instead of white spheres of light, they fired pale blue ones.

The Cryogenic Particle Cannon froze the swamp solid within a ten-meter radius with a single shot. Tens of thousands of shots were fired every second, and in just five seconds, the vast stretch of swamp ahead became a field of ice.

Artist's legion advanced into the depths of the swamp, slowly but steadily.

Then a crocodile roughly fifteen meters long leaped out of the swamp and landed in front of the army. The hundreds of 0-3s at the front reacted first, firing hundreds of Piercing Beam Cannon shots at it.

A ring of filthy water appeared around the crocodile, actually blocking the volley. The ring vanished in the process, and the crocodile plunged back into the swamp.

But the Purger Series was designed to target organic life. Mere swamp mud could not obstruct their vision. Every 0-3 and 0-2 unleashed a furious barrage into the swamp.

The giant crocodile seemed to realize this could not continue. It leaped out, apparently intending to crash straight into the 0-2 ranks.

But the moment it broke the surface, a 0-4's cannon was already charging. The unit strode forward, crossed its scimitar-shaped arms to intercept the falling crocodile, then raised its cannon.

Boom!

A solid tungsten-steel shell weighing five hundred kilograms blasted the fifteen-meter crocodile into the sky. Before long, it was no more than a tiny black speck overhead.

A little later, flesh and blood rained from the sky. A cone-shaped piece of black metal fell into the swamp at the same time, sending up a shower of filthy water that splashed over the mechanical legion advancing behind it.

Watching the 0-4 dispatch the giant crocodile in one fluid sequence, Cheng Yu could only think how brutal it was. This was his first time seeing an actual rain of blood.

They pressed on, and another giant crocodile leaped out of the swamp. It opened its enormous, blood-red maw and lunged at the protected 0-2 formation in the center.

This time, they seemed prepared. Another 0-4 stepped forward and raised its drill-equipped arm to block the crocodile's gaping maw. Its other two scimitar-shaped arms stabbed straight into the crocodile's belly and pierced clean through.

The crocodile proved remarkably tenacious, struggling without pause until the small holes in the blades began spraying streams of molten heat. Its struggles grew even fiercer, but soon white smoke rose from its wounds, and it stopped moving.

The army continued forward. On the satellite map, Cheng Yu saw a mass of Lizardmen ahead of Artist's legion. Some rode the giant crocodiles they had just encountered, while some childlike Lizardmen rode creatures resembling pterosaurs. There appeared to be at least four hundred thousand of them.

Cheng Yu shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. An entire population under arms. I never thought a race like that actually existed."

An elderly Lizardman at their head stepped forward and said,

"Honored Yuri, we have no wish to make an enemy of you, nor have we stolen anything belonging to the great God of Primordial Darkness. Why do you invade our home?"

Cheng Yu immediately felt rather awkward. When he had first attacked the monsters, he had at least had an excuse: they had provoked him first. As the fighting grew in scale, he had spread word that someone in this world had stolen something from the boss. Now these people had come forward looking every bit the victims.

Thin-skinned as he was, he really did feel a little embarrassed. Forget it. I'll ask whether they're willing to surrender. Resources are what I want anyway. These Lizardmen don't matter.

He took over Artist's controls and spoke in the same manner.

"If you are willing to surrender and submit to me, I can spare your lives."

The elderly Lizardman returned to his people, and they chattered among themselves for quite some time.

Cheng Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and handed command back to Artist, saying that if they refused to surrender, he was to attack immediately!

"As you will, Commander."

The elderly Lizardman returned to the front and called out again.

"Honored Yuri, we can bow before you, but we ask that you not interfere with our lives or our home."

Cheng Yu sneered. "So you'd submit in name only. Heh."

The elderly Lizardman was waiting for a response when Cheng Yu spoke through a 0-5 hovering near space.

"Unfortunately, you have not accepted my offer. Go back, old man. War is now inevitable."

Hearing the voice from the sky, the elderly Lizardman wavered in alarm and uncertainty. He felt they might have made the wrong decision.

Sure enough, every 0-2, 0-3, and 0-4 facing them was ready to fire.

A deluge of firepower. Watching through the satellite feed, Cheng Yu could find no other words to describe the scene.

Watching the Lizardmen charge forward, one wave after another, Cheng Yu fell silent. The swamp gradually turned red with blood, yet not a single Lizardman retreated. This was a hymn to the Lizardmen's courage, an epic of an entire race.

To approach Artist's legion, they used their comrades' bodies as shields. Lizardmen shamans wove magic, placing Magic Shields over the warriors at the forefront of the charge. Those without Magic Shields followed behind those who had them.

At last, they reached melee range. Crossing those few hundred meters had cost them the lives of nearly three hundred thousand of their kin. The Purger 0-1 swung their bladed legs, slaughtering these fragile organic beings.

Their bone knives and bone hammers struck the Purifier 0-1s' bodies to no effect.

An hour later, the almost entirely unscathed mechanical legion had exterminated every Lizardman in the Northern Borderlands.

Artist said, "Foolish cold-blooded creatures. They're the same in every world. Still, I truly hope every opponent we encounter is like these cold-blooded creatures."

Cheng Yu suddenly said, "That wasn't foolishness. That was a chapter they wrote with their lives, a hymn they sang with their courage."

His expression was utterly solemn, and his words were utterly sincere.