The Fortress had put an explicit bounty on every known type of Children of Darkness. Killing a Wanderer, for example, earned one contribution point.
For Ascenders, one contribution point was hardly worth pursuing. But Han Shu had given an order. Even if there had been no contribution points to earn at all, Cang Du and the others would still have acted.
Both members of the War God Class, Cang Du and Old Xu used swords to dispatch their opponents. They were not particularly fast, but their strikes carried enough force that a single downward slash not only shattered the cage, but also cleaved the Wanderer's less-than-sturdy body in two.
Ji Yu, meanwhile, played to the strengths of a Hunter. She drew her longbow, its string a line of deep blue light. Even its arrows were made of energy.
Tianyang knew the bow in Ji Yu's hands was a Star Essence Weapon. Its attacks used star essence energy, which inflicted additional damage on the Children of Darkness.
These weapons could also carry an Ascender's abilities, whether they were arrows, bullets, longswords, or battle-axes.
This was because star essence energy could resonate with the star essence inside an Ascender's body. It was also what set Star Essence Weapons apart from other weapons.
Star Essence Weapons could only be obtained by exchanging contribution points at Military Command or commissioning them from weapons dealers in the Fortress. The only other way was to receive one as a reward from Fortress Military Command for outstanding contributions.
Tianyang wondered which of those methods Ji Yu had used to obtain the Star Essence Longbow in her hands.
Putting those thoughts aside, Tianyang assessed both sides. Rather than draw the Warblade on his back, the boy took out his Assaulter Rifle.
Han Shu, who had been standing nearby and observing, actually smiled when he saw Tianyang choose his gun over his blade.
There was a hint of approval in that smile.
Tianyang assumed a firing stance, keeping a healthy distance from the Wanderers. Then he aimed at the Children of Darkness's will cages and pulled the trigger.
Compared with a firearm that fired physical rounds, the energy rifle had almost no perceptible recoil. Light flashed at its muzzle, and a bowl-sized hole blasted open in a Wanderer's chest.
Blue specks glimmered around the hole, scattered like stars.
The cage shattered and its gray light vanished. As thick, corrosive fluid gushed out, the twisted figure toppled straight over.
Nearby, Cang Du glanced back. His gaze landed on Tianyang's gun, contempt gleaming in his eyes.
He turned away and swung his sword even more fiercely, splitting a Wanderer in half from head to leg!
Unmoved, Tianyang continued firing single shots with his rifle, cutting down one twisted silhouette after another. He had chosen his gun over his blade to put Han Shu's strategic lessons into practice, exploiting the strengths and weaknesses of both sides to complete the order at the lowest possible cost.
Throughout this battle, Tianyang displayed none of an Ascender's advantages. The only difference between him and the soldiers beside him was that he did not need to wear a protective suit.
Ten minutes later, all the Wanderers had been cleared out, and the soldiers were moving their bodies off the tracks.
Just as Han Shu was about to tell the Train to depart, Ji Yu suddenly called out in a low voice, "Movement at ten o'clock!"
Tianyang immediately turned his head. The Tactical Electronic Eye on his left zoomed in, revealing a group of figures shambling toward them.
Beside him, Old Xu said in frustration, "I knew it wouldn't be this simple. Wanderers don't have the five senses, but they do have a collective awareness. When one of their kind nearby is attacked, the others can sense it. Great. Now they're here for revenge."
Han Shu took out his communicator and contacted the Train Conductor. "Can you get the Train moving now?"
The Train Conductor replied, "The emergency braking triggered the Train's cooling protocol. To keep the engine from overheating and exploding, we need to restart it. That'll take about five to eight minutes."
"Start the restart now. We'll buy you some time." Han Shu lowered his communicator and shouted, "Get in there, all of you! Don't let those things near the tracks, or this will never end!"
Just then, the sound of wheels spinning at high speed reached them.
It came from behind the Train. Tianyang looked back and saw lights come on in the distant darkness.
A moment later, an angular silhouette burst out of the dark. It was a steel giant, roughly three meters tall, its armor painted mostly black. With its center of gravity lowered, the machine sped past Raven Squad on the high-speed wheels beneath its feet like a gust of wind, charging toward the nearby cluster of Wanderers.
Then the Rail Rifle in its hands spat bright flames. Its barrel consisted of two rails, using high-voltage current to eliminate friction between the bullet and the rails and propel it at six hundred meters per second.
A single bullet could punch through the armor of an ordinary combat vehicle.
Against Wanderers, the result was that their bodies and cages alike were torn straight to pieces in the metallic storm!
Rank after rank of Wanderers fell beneath the bright tongues of flame, at a rate far beyond what Raven Squad had managed earlier.
This was Tianyang's first time seeing a Three-Dimensional Armament perform on the battlefield. Developed to let ordinary people fight the Children of Darkness, this humanoid weapon was now demonstrating its power to the boy in a stunning visual display!
"A Fifth-Generation General-Purpose Shooting Armament!" Old Xu once again displayed his extensive knowledge. "Now that's a fine piece of equipment. Besides its standard Rail Rifle, it also carries Sniper Equipment for dealing with higher-order Children of Darkness. That uses star essence energy bullets-five hundred contribution points per shot!"
"Hahahaha! I never expected to find someone among the Ascenders who knew so much about Three-Dimensional Armaments." Amid his prolonged laughter, Chen Liu walked over, wearing a protective suit and helmet.
Behind him came another Three-Dimensional Armament, bulky in design and carrying a heavy armored shield.
"A General-Purpose Heavy Armament, also fifth-generation!" Old Xu looked astonished. "That thing has incredible defenses, and it's equipped with heavy firepower, including a heavy rocket launcher. You could call it a humanoid gun emplacement. Aside from its worrying movement speed, it has almost no other obvious weaknesses."
"But fifth-generation armaments weren't in mass production last year. What, you already have models ready for actual combat this year?"
Chen Liu's voice came through his helmet. "We're taking part in this operation to test the fifth-generation models' combat capabilities. Captain Han, if you have no objections, why not let us handle this fight for you?"
Han Shu grinned. "No objections. Why would I object? With you taking care of things for us, Officer Chen, I couldn't be happier."
"Good. Then watch us."
Chen Liu switched communication channels and transmitted his voice to the pilots inside the Mecha. "Kill every last one of them!"
"Yes, sir."
Chen Liu glanced toward Han Shu out of the corner of his eye... Laugh while you can. You'll have plenty to cry about later. Better yet, stay out of every fight from here on. That'll make it even clearer that you Ascenders aren't irreplaceable.
No one knew that Chen Liu had already activated the live video transmission. Raven Squad's earlier battle and the fifth-generation armaments' current performance were all being faithfully displayed on the large screen at the Fortress Military Command Center!
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