As the button was pressed all the way down, the alarms throughout the monitoring room instantly blared with piercing buzzes, and scarlet light flashed wildly across the alloy walls.
"Everyone, fall back to the Second Line of Defense immediately!" the CP0 chief roared into the Transponder Snail, his voice growing shrill and distorted with fear.
"Lock every gate, start the self-destruct countdown, and do not let that monster get the files!" As he issued orders, he frantically gathered the classified documents on the console.
The technician's hands flew across the keyboard, cold sweat soaking his forehead as he said in a trembling voice, "Sir, the self-destruct sequence has started, but transferring the core data takes time. It'll take at least ten minutes to finish!"
"Ten minutes?" The CP0 chief's face twisted as he roared, "Are those troops outside just for show? Make them hold the line with their lives! Tell the defenders to hold Lorne back, even if every last one of them dies!"
The adjutant rushed in to report in a panic, "Sir, Lorne shattered the First Breakwater with a single punch! The Fearless has forced its way ashore, and enemy troops have begun landing!"
"What's there to panic about?" The CP0 chief slammed his palm onto the table. "There are still three thousand elite troops on this island, with concealed alloy bunkers on both sides of the valley, Seastone barbed wire, and heavy artillery. The terrain there is treacherous, easy to defend and hard to attack. As long as the troops don't retreat, they can't get in!"
The adjutant wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said shakily, "But Lorne is terrifyingly powerful. Even the Four Emperors have been defeated by him. Can ordinary troops really stop him?"
"They have to, whether they can or not!" The