Chapter 509.3: Feel Honored... This Was Originally Meant For The Adjudicator

Night Ten stared at her without blinking. "Then we’ll see."

He believed in his comrades. There’s no way they would lose to a bunch of rats hiding in the sewers.

It’s just one airship. Even if it really crashed, so what?

That was never their real trump card...

...

At the same time, on the surface, Return to Ruin wore a stunned expression as he stared at Chu Guang, unable to understand why the man remained so calm.

With only a hammer and an exoframe, how could he possibly survive the free-fall of a steel airship?

The airship falling from the clouds would crush him and the entire camp like an elephant stomping on ants.

Yet the moment he looked up, his expression froze in place.

Thousands of parachutes blossomed across the sky like stars, drifting gently downward. At the same time, massive air cushions deployed beneath the airship.

Combined with the thrust from two rows of propellers, the descent of the steel beast slowed significantly, gliding toward an open area near the camp.

"What... the hell is that?!" He lay motionless in the hospital bed, eyes filled with disbelief.

"I haven’t slept well since learning that a single phase cannon could take out the anti-gravity and directional shields." Chu Guang smiled faintly.

He hadn’t just ordered five base vehicles from the Enterprise. He also got a full set of shock-absorbing air cushions built for the Heart of Steel.

... Even if struck down by phase cannon fire, it can ensure crew and equipment safety to the maximum extent, and act as a fixed turret post-landing.

That’s what he told the Long Axe Group when placing the order. Though Wu Mu had thought he was joking, the engineers figured out a workable design.

But parachutes and air cushions alone weren’t enough. The final descent also required blasting off the armor plating welded to the sides and front.

A hard landing would surely damage the airship’s body, but as long as the core was intact, nothing else mattered.

All their preparation work had been completed before the Heart of Steel entered Oasis No.2.

Looking at Return to Ruin’s dumbfounded face, Chu Guang added bluntly, "Feel honored. This was originally meant for the Adjudicator."

Due to the sudden incident, the entire camp was on combat alert. The New Alliance, Enterprise, and Wislander forces had all assembled.

Of course, the main force still lay with the New Alliance.

The 26th Assault Squad had mostly gone to the industrial building, while the Adjudicator’s marines remained on the airship.

The Wislanders clearly didn’t expect to be hit by starship-grade phase cannons. The Adjudicator was crashing toward the Blackstone Mutant Human Tribe’s camp.

Shame... They were in for some suffering.

Chu Guang tapped his helmet, cut a few key clips from the recent recording, and sent them to their Enterprise allies, as well as the Army and Academy representatives.

As chaos erupted outside, the man on the hospital bed forced a laugh, his facial muscles twitching. "Heh... parlor tricks."

Chu Guang ignored him. He patted Yi Chuan on the shoulder and strode out of the half-collapsed barracks.

The thunderstorm had severely disrupted long-range communications, so Return to Ruin’s real body couldn’t be too far away.

If he didn’t plan on running... They would let him stay.

The Adjudicator hit the ground first. Dust and debris shot hundreds of meters into the air, shaking the earth with a thunderous blast.

At the same time, the Enlightenment Society's hidden forces launched their assault.

Hundreds of soldiers split into dozens of teams, unleashing coordinated firepower toward the camp. The defenders were quickly overwhelmed.

"Are these people insane?!" Wu Changnian’s face twisted in shock as he stared at the muzzle flashes outside, then quickly turned to rage.

Even though intelligence had come in at the last minute, he had already learned from Chu Guang about the Enlightenment Society and their unspeakable plot.

These people had murdered their employees, disguised themselves, and deceived those who came across the wasteland to rescue them.

They even had the audacity to plan on replacing them, wearing their faces home...

"This is an affront to the Highest Council and all Ideal City residents! These... these shameless attackers must pay for this!"

The Enlightenment Society, is it?

He had never heard of the name before, but never in his life had he been so furious.

It didn’t matter. Those sewer rats didn’t deserve a formal declaration of war. They would be treated like marauders and mutants.

He swore, once he returned, he’d immediately propose to the Highest Council that the Enlightenment Society be blacklisted!

Every survivor settlement, every traveling merchant, every client doing business with the Enterprise would receive a bounty notice.

The moment they were located, it would be their end!

He swore they would spend the rest of their miserable lives hiding in fear.

"Sir... It’s too dangerous here. Please take cover with us!" Several soldiers pulled Wu Changnian who was still shouting away, just in time.

Almost immediately after they cleared the spot, a rocket slammed into where he had stood, engulfing the area in flames.

Looking back at the blast site, Wu Changnian turned pale. If he’d been two seconds slower, he would’ve been dead. Without hesitation, he followed the soldiers closely, obeying their every instruction to seek shelter.

Thankfully, the New Alliance’s soldiers had built plenty of strange barracks throughout the camp.

He had wondered what they were for back then. Now, he was grateful.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The soldiers took him behind one of the barracks, deployed mobile cover, and quickly set up a basic shelter.

Meanwhile, the research vessel piloted by a B-class Researcher attempted to lift off, only to crash back down moments later.

Captain Adelia stared at the unfolding chaos in disbelief. After receiving his subordinate’s report, shock gave way to fury. "Those damned bastards!"

McClennan asked stiffly.

"What the hell happened?"

"We got played by some group called the Enlightenment Society."

"Enlightenment what?" McClennan blinked. "Who the hell are they?"

"Who knows," Adelia swore. Then he barked at his officers, "Get ready for battle! Show those freaks out..."

He didn’t get to finish.

A tremor rumbled from the direction of the Heart of Steel’s crash site. Everyone turned to look, and witnessed a sight they would never forget.

Beasts clad in heavy armor, with claws half a meter long, stomped forward through clouds of dust.

They looked like walking tanks.

Their powerful legs paid no heed to uneven ground.

"Holy shit... What the hell are those..." Adelia muttered, eyes wide with disbelief.

He had just arrived. No one had told him the New Alliance had a cavalry full of Deathclaws.

McClennan also starred at the beasts, transfixed. At the head of the advancing horde stood an azure exoframe. He patted the neck of a Deathclaw rushing toward him, then leapt onto its back.

The Deathclaw let out a roar, kicking up dust with its powerful stride.

McClennan didn’t look at the beast. His eyes stayed on the man, or more specifically, the hammer in his hand.

That sight... It was all too familiar.

He would never forget it. "It’s over."

Adelia, just about to issue orders, glanced at McClennan and raised a brow in interest. "The gear of those people from the Enlightenment Society doesn’t look easy to handle."

McClennan scoffed. "Give every one of them a Gauss rifle and they would still be amateurs."

At that moment, The Enlightenment Society’s troops had reached the camp’s perimeter, launching their second wave of attacks.

To be fair, they weren’t entirely incompetent. Most were well-trained and physically fit.

They wore exoskeletons and carried fine gear.

But... McClennan was right about one thing.

It was their first time fighting a huge battle... It was totally different from squad skirmishes.

The sight of the oncoming tide of monsters froze their brains for a beat. Fear crept into their eyes.

Deathclaws!

One of the most fearsome mutants in the wasteland, and there were so many of them.

Not only that, the riders on their backs, and the bloodthirsty gleam in their eyes, struck terror into their hearts.

These weren’t scattered militias... They weren’t feeble survivor guards.

They were a seasoned legion.

They were born from a sea of corpses and mountains of bones!

The killing intent rolling off them was overwhelming. Apart from remote-controlled clone soldiers, every living soldier facing them instinctively took a step back.

Seeing the enemy hesitate at the edge of the camp, Chu Guang raised his hammer and pointed it forward.

"Crush them!"

The battlefield erupted in roars and howls, surging like a tide toward the stunned soldiers of the Enlightenment Society.

The stampede of the Deathclaws were accompanied by gunfire louder than thunder.

"Kill!"