Chapter 502.1: The Strange Symbol...

Not far behind the Heart of Steel, a slightly smaller airship was trailing closely.

On the bridge, General McClennan's face was twisted in anger as he stared at the heavily modified Heart of Steel in the distance.

He still remembered the moment he got off that airship, when that iron-can-wearing bastard mocked him with a sarcastic ‘Congratulations’.

He swore, the humiliation he suffered would be paid back tenfold!

Standing nearby, Captain Adelia of the Adjudicator frowned in thought for a long while, then suddenly spoke up. “I still can’t figure it out. How are we supposed to take that thing down?”

Compared to his Adjudicator, that monster looked like a porcupine bristling with cannons. Even if it faced an army of 100,000 head-on, they would probably just stand there dumbfounded and outgunned.

He didn’t mean to mock his fellow comrade, but the words still sounded like sharp knives stabbing into McClennan’s ears, making his brow twitch involuntarily.

“That was an accident...”

Seeing that McClennan didn’t want to say more, Adelia regretfully shrugged and didn’t press further.

Although he outranked McClennan by a star, he couldn’t ignore the man's background.

Unlike Griffin, who had risen from the ground up, McClennan, like himself, came from the nobility. Although the expansionists had taken a hit, that didn’t mean McClennan’s position was lost. In fact, his eastern front record might even strengthen his credentials.

Politics mattered, yes, but in a place like Triumphant City, social class mattered just as much. Since they were both from the Air Force, there was no need to make enemies over a few exchanges.

A short silence fell over the bridge.

Eventually, McClennan suddenly asked, “So, how did Griffin die?”

“He died of a stroke,” Adelia answered reflexively.

McClennan scoffed and curled his lip dismissively. “Don’t give me that crap. That idiot never had a health issue in his life.”

Adelia fell silent for a moment before sighing. “Don’t put me on the spot. He was in charge of the ground troops. If you really want to know, go ask Joseph. He might have some idea.”

McClennan didn’t reply. He just nodded slightly as his eyes locked onto the Heart of Steel outside the bridge window.

On the distant deck, aircraft were being rolled out, but curiously, they had no propellers or intake pipes.

“Very bold design,” Adelia nodded in approval. “I heard from the Falcon Kingdom's royal guard captain that they mount these wooden planes on airships and drop them, relying on altitude for momentum. They don’t need propellers or engines. Just two carpenters can make one.”

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“They can’t take off from the ground, which is a problem, but as disposable equipment, it’s quite clever.”

He made a mental note to bring it up with his contacts in the Air Force when they got back. Maybe they could create something similar.

But one glider alone wouldn't be enough.

It also involved retrofitting a strategic asset like an airship. It wasn’t just about convincing command, but also finding a willing commander to make the modifications.

That was going to be difficult.

After all, Triumphant City didn’t consider anything made by wastelanders to be worth imitating. They didn’t see this as a war with the New Alliance, it was a showdown between Triumphant City and Ideal City.

“Can we increase altitude?” McClennan suddenly asked, eyes fixed on the deck.

Adelia nodded and gave a lazy wave. “Ascend 300 meters.”

His adjutant standing nearby snapped to attention. “Yes, sir!”

...

The Adjudicator climbed higher, reaching what was effectively a VIP spectator seat.

And in the roiling dust clouds nearby, long dart-shaped aircraft accelerated and hovered above the battlefield.

Wu Changnian, standing aboard the Heart of Steel, joined representatives from various factions in silently observing the New Alliance’s next move.

And the New Alliance did not disappoint.

30 gliders launched from the deck, riding the howling air currents toward combat coordinates 20 kilometers away.

Meanwhile, beneath the sandstorms, the Enterprise’s 26th Assault Team had already engaged in fierce combat with the Blackstone Mutant Human Tribe.

10 exoframes were spread out at the front lines as vanguards, followed closely by android soldiers, and then infantry clad in exoskeletons.

Orange-yellow tracer rounds danced through the ruins like sparks from a forge. The fighting was intense.

Although the Enterprise had exoframes and powerful Gauss rifles, the mutants had overwhelming numbers and brute strength.

Unless a searing metal round blew off their skulls, even a mangled jaw wouldn’t stop them from charging forward with chainsaws and swinging jaws.

“Crush them!”

“Slice ‘em! Toss ‘em in the fryer!”

“

Hurrrgh... blaaagh

!”

After gunning down over a dozen mutants, a short, stocky one broke through the front.

Yun Song decisively dropped his wide, greatsword-sized Gauss rifle and drew the curved blade strapped to his right thigh. With a metallic clang, he parried the incoming hatchet.

The blade had been a gift from a Lion Kingdom general, supposedly forged from alloy blessed by the Spirits of the Desert. In truth, it was just starship-grade alloy.

Torn from a starship hull, it was leagues beyond wasteland scavenged junk. The hatchet cracked on impact.

The mutant staggered back, a hint of surprise flashing in its bloodthirsty eyes, it hadn't expected this hulking metal beast to be so agile.

But the surprise faded quickly, replaced by ravenous bloodlust.

“

RAAAGH

!”

It roared and lunged forward with its cracked axe, only to have its throat slashed open by a smooth, fluid swing.

As the head flew off, Yun Song flicked the blood from his blade, grabbed his Gauss rifle from the ground, and resumed fire while calmly retreating.

Over 200 corpses lay strewn across the ruins, but the Mutant Humans with gray-black skin pouring from the rubble seemed endless.

“Damn... There’s supposed to be 2,000 of these things?” Su Ming cursed, tossing aside an overheated barrel and locking in a new one.

“Maybe? Who knows... I could only estimate based on their rations and building sizes. Maybe they’re growing mushrooms underground,” the drone operator muttered with a chill running down his spine.

Mutants in the Great Desert were nothing like those from the East Coast.

They had different fighting styles, and different habits.

If they were on the East Coast, they would already have called in tactical nukes or airdropped androids with heavy firepower.

The first line of exoframe clad soldiers clashed directly with the mutant horde.

Three suits had drawn half-meter-long combat knives and were locked in brutal melee with hulking mutants wielding 100 kilogram clubs.

At that moment, the drone operator suddenly shouted, “Most enemy units are now gathered around the artillery coordinates! It’s the perfect moment! Captain, how long till New Alliance support arrive?”

A calm voice responded, “Fire support request already sent!”

Almost the moment the words dropped, a series of booming thuds echoed in the distance.

Blinding flashes tore through the sand like thunderclaps in a clear sky. With a screech of falling shells, white smoke rained down from above.

Explosions erupted skyward, shrapnel and fire tearing through the space between two crooked buildings, instantly engulfing over 100 mutants.

One of the towers took several direct hits. Its twisted rebar finally gave way, and the entire structure began collapsing.