LRAB Chapter 49 The Machine Soul is too fierce, retreat!!
Chapter 49 The Machine Soul is too fierce, retreat!!
Zhongchao, the restricted area of Zone 9, the corridor of facilities in Zone D.
The ozone smell from the high-temperature plasma burning the air, mixed with the acrid smell of corpses being carbonized by lasers, turned this place into a veritable pressure cooker.
Zeman clung tightly to the alloy bunker, gripping a modified precision-engineered explosive gun in his hand.
His breathing was heavy, each gasp accompanied by the pain of his alveoli being burned by the high temperature.
As the head of the combat department of the Helios Group, Zeman has fought many battles in his life.
He led teams to wipe out mutant tribes that had descended into their nests, suppressed a massive workers' uprising, and even clashed with a lost Death Guard Plague Warrior.
His "Gecko" special operations team is equipped with full-body armor, hell guns, standard-spec bomb guns, and even seven heavy plasma cannons.
This configuration would be considered a terrifying paramilitary force on any hive planet.
But right now, Zeman just wants to curse.
"Left flank! Suppress fire from the left flank!"
"Heavy weapons team! Push them up!!!"
Zeman roared into the communication channel.
However, all that answered him were screams and the piercing static of electricity.
At the end of the T-shaped corridor in front of him, a heavy blast door had been violently torn open.
Three dark shadows were moving at high speed through the interwoven web of laser beams.
Those were three security robots that were very likely from ancient times, the legendary... Abomination Intelligence.
To be honest, these three Abomination AIs look terrible.
One of the left arms was broken, leaving only half of the cable hanging outside.
The other one had half of its head missing, exposing the sensor crystals inside.
The last one was even more outrageous; the hole in its chest was big enough to fit a basketball, and the shell was so rusted that it looked like scrap metal just dug out of a garbage dump.
But these three piles of "scrap metal" are causing Zeman's proud Helios elite troops to suffer a crushing defeat.
They're too fast!
It was at least 2.7 meters tall at the shoulder and weighed more than two tons, but its speed completely defied human understanding of heavy machinery!
There is no acceleration process; one second you are still, and the next second you are already rushing in front of you.
Zeman witnessed firsthand a heavily armored assault soldier, clad in full shell armor, having his head grabbed by the one-armed Abomination AI with a single hand.
"Click."
Like crushing a tomato.
High-strength ceramic helmets are utterly brittle and utterly undignified in the face of intelligent, abhorrent hydraulic fingers.
"Oh dear, it broke already?"
A woman's voice, full of mockery, arrogance, and even a touch of naivety, echoed through the corridors via the starship's ubiquitous broadcasting system.
"Your toys are really bad quality."
"The red water inside is splashed everywhere, making a mess of people's floors!"
"Cleaner Number One, hurry up and clean up this trash."
The abomination with the severed arm seemed to understand the command, casually tossing the headless corpse against the wall with a thud, then turning and rushing toward its next target.
Zeman's blood pressure instantly spiked to 200.
That damn machine spirit!
The machine spirit that this ship awakened is absolutely freakish!
A normal machine spirit should be serious, logical, and even sacred, but this thing is a crazy woman who enjoys killing!
But that wasn't the most devastating thing for Zeman.
What drove him to the brink of despair was the group of people chattering incessantly into his earpiece at that very moment.
The board members of the Helios Group!
These bigwigs were sitting on the comfortable leather sofa in Shangchao, drinking red wine, watching the real-time footage transmitted back by Zeman's helmet, and performing breathtaking micro-management.
"Zeman! What are you doing?!"
Saul Hell’s aged and greedy voice boomed across the channel.
"I see your plasma gunner is charging!"
"Make him stop! Stop right now!"
"The wall he was aiming at was a composite armor plate from ancient times! It had complete molecular circuit patterns on it!"
"This board is worth five billion! If you break it, you couldn't afford to pay for it even if you sold yourself!"
Zeman glanced at the heavy weapons handler beside him.
The gunner was sweating profusely as he carried the heavy plasma cannon, finally locking onto the headless Abomination AI.
Once this shot is fired, that abominable intelligence will be crippled if it doesn't die.
But Thor's orders made the gunners hesitate.
"Minister... Shall we fire or not?" The gunner's voice trembled.
"Hit your mother my ass! Didn't you hear the boss say not to break her?!"
Another voice broke in; it was the CFO.
"Zeman, you need to watch your costs! The compensation payments have already exceeded the budget after this war!"
In that half-second of hesitation...
The brainless abomination has already rushed up to the plasma gunner.
It didn't use a weapon; it simply raised its leg and kicked the gunner in the chest.
"Bang--!!!"
The gunner was thrown backward, and a large section of his chest caved in.
The plasma cannon, still charging, flew out of my hand and crashed heavily to the ground, emitting a chilling overload alarm.
"No—! My plasma cannon!"
The CTO screamed in the channel.
"Zeman, go get it for me! That's a prototype!"
Zeman felt like his brain was about to explode.
"Can you please shut up?!"
Zeman roared inwardly, but he dared not shout it out; that was the person who paid his salary.
At that moment, another cold female voice rang out on the channel.
Jessia:
"Zeman, I don't care about the walls, and I don't care about the cannons."
"I want those three abominations dead, and I want the group's excavation work to proceed at full speed."
"No matter what method you use, even if it costs you human lives, you must kill these three hateful intelligences."
Saul immediately retorted:
"No! We have to capture it alive! If we damage it, it'll lose its research value!"
"Then let's use an electromagnetic pulse!" someone suggested.
"Idiot!" the technical director yelled. "This place has strong magnetic interference. If the EMP is released, our own communications and night vision devices will all be disabled!"
"Then use a net gun!"
"What good is a net gun! That piece of junk can't even cut through power armor!"
A group of capitalists who have never been to a battlefield are arguing fiercely over a communication channel about how to take down three killing machines.
Meanwhile, Zeman and his men are being unilaterally slaughtered in this hellish corridor.
Hehehe~
The machine spirit on the radio laughed even more heartily.
"I just hacked into your channel... Are you guys arguing?"
"How interesting, humans, such inferior creatures, still fight amongst themselves even when they're about to die."
"Looks like your commander is a complete waste of space~"
"Since that's the case, I'll help you get rid of this burden."
"Cleaner No. 2, activate 'Windmill' mode. Cleaners No. 1 and No. 3, coordinate with the defensive fire network to suppress the enemy."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Abomination Intelligence, with a large hole in its chest, stopped in its tracks.
Its two arms suddenly stretched out to the sides, and the armor on its wrists flipped open, revealing two high-speed rotating monomolecular cutting blades.
Immediately afterwards, its upper body began to spin wildly like a top.
"Buzz—!!!"
It transformed into a whirlwind of death and charged toward Helios's lines.
Wherever it went, whether it was cover, firearms, or human bodies, everything was shredded into pieces.
It's unstoppable!
It's impossible to stop!
Conventional live ammunition is deflected when it hits it, while laser beams can only heat its outer shell to a red-hot color.
Unless you use a molten metal bomb or a plasma cannon to strike the core directly, there is no way to stop this out-of-control killing program.
But Zeman's only two remaining plasma cannons were in disarray; one had just been smashed, and the gunner of the other was terrified and cowering in a corner.
"Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!" What's more, there's also the starship's defense system precisely targeting and killing them!
The other two Abominations even picked up their bomb guns to use!
"Zeman! Think of something quick!"
Thor was still calling out.
"That's an old tactical maneuver! Quickly, have your men trap it!"
Trapped?
What are you using to get trapped?!
You try putting me in a tight spot, you son of a bitch!
Zeman watched the whirlwind that was turning his elite men into a pile of minced meat, and listened to the absurd commands coming through his earpiece.
The string of reason finally snapped.
Fuck you!
Zeman ripped the tactical headset off his helmet and slammed it to the ground.
"Shut up!!"
He stomped on it, and the valuable communicator turned into a pile of plastic fragments.
The world is finally peaceful.
Without those condescending, bossy attitudes, Zeman's professionalism returned instantly.
He glanced at the battlefield situation.
It's impossible to fight anymore.
This wasn't a battle at all; it was utter suicide.
Although the three Abomination AIs were severely weakened, and even their shield generators were malfunctioning, their physical strength and reaction speed completely overwhelmed mortals.
In addition, inside the starship, there's that twisted machine spirit with a godlike perspective directing operations.
Staying here serves no purpose other than providing laughs for the machine spirit.
"All personnel, listen to my command!"
Zeman's voice was hoarse, but it was resolute.
"Alternating cover! Retreat!"
"Throw out all the smoke grenades and stun grenades!"
"Forget about that junk equipment! Get everyone out of here!"
The remaining twenty-odd team members were granted a pardon.
They had wanted to run away for a long time, but dared not move due to the strict military law.
Now that the officer has spoken, what are we waiting for?
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Dozens of smoke grenades and stun grenades were thrown forward.
The corridor was instantly filled with thick white smoke and blinding flashes of light.
While this won't stop the sensors of the abhorrent intelligence, it can at least interfere with the machine soul's visual capture.
"Retreat! Retreat now!"
Zeman fired blindly into the smoke while dragging the terrified plasma gunner backward.
The team sprinted frantically toward the elevator shaft in a disheveled state.
Behind me came the ear-piercing sound of a cutting blade scraping against the wall, along with the machine spirit's arrogant laughter.
"They ran away? They just ran away like that?"
"This is so boring, I haven't had enough fun yet!"
"Remember to bring some durable toys next time~ Otherwise I'll get really bored~"
"Slow down a bit, Cleaner Number Two isn't full yet~"
The extremely humiliating words lashed at the backs of every survivor like whips.
But no one dared to turn back.
Even a tough guy like Zeman had only one thought at this moment!
The farther away from this awful place the better!
Stay as far away from that crazy, stupid, and idiotic woman as possible!
……
……
Half an hour later.
Temporary command center outside the restricted area of Zone 9.
"Ouch...be gentle!"
Zeman sat on a cot, having a medic bandage the wound on his arm.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
His face was so gloomy it could drip water; the earpiece he had crushed earlier had been thrown into the tunnel.
Now, a new communication terminal is placed in front of him.
On the screen, Thor's old face had turned a deep purplish-red as he roared.
"Zeman! How dare you cut off communications!"
"How dare you desert your post!"
"Do you even know what you've given up?! It's priceless!"
Zeman watched the screen calmly, his eyes showing no emotion.
"Chairman."
Zeman interrupted Thor's roar.
"My troops suffered more than 70% casualties."
"All seven heavy plasma cannons were destroyed, and all heavy weapon ammunition was exhausted."
"The defense system in Sector D has been fully activated; those three Abomination AIs were just an appetizer."
Zeman started lying, and he did it without batting an eye.
"Our sensors detected a higher level of energy response."
"If we don't retreat, the machine will activate its self-destruct program and blow the entire ship and us to smithereens."
"In order to protect the group's assets, I have no choice but to make a tactical retreat."
Upon hearing that there was even a self-destruct mechanism, Thor shut up.
Although he was greedy, he was also afraid of losing everything.
If the ship blows up, then there will be nothing left.
"So... what do we do now?"
Jessia, who had been silent the whole time, asked coldly.
"Are you just going to wait here like this?"
"No."
Zeman shook his head.
"Conventional forces can't break through. The machine spirit has extremely high computing power, and its personality... is extremely wicked."
"Dealing with this kind of enemy is no use in terms of sheer numbers."
Zeman paused for a moment before offering his professional advice.
"We need more specialized heavy firepower."
"Or... a more advanced electronic warfare expert."
"Before that, I suggested sealing off all entrances and exits, barricading the area, and letting it play by itself."
He said nice things, but what Zeman really thought was—
This lousy job can be done by whoever wants it, but I'm not doing it!
That crazy, scheming woman—whoever can subdue her, I'll call him daddy!
……
……
P.S.: I've seen many friends mentioning the issue of frequent updates, so I'll explain it here.
Qidian has strict rules for the new book period; only two chapters of 4,000+ words can be published per day, preferably 4,000-4,500 words.
However, because my book contains a lot of information and I don't want to ruin the reading experience, I usually start with 5K words, and sometimes even aim for 6K or 7K.
From the perspective of a new book release, I actually wrote way too much...
No problem, I can update like crazy once it's released!
[Readership data during the initial release period is extremely important; it directly affects a book's success or failure. I hope everyone will continue reading!]