Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 253: Exploration Mode (2)

Hey, whyre you rushing? The ones that go first are doomed to become cannon fodder. The only reason your mech was the first to be destroyed for the past few times was that you kept rushing in first. Xiang Ning held Li Zimo back.

Li Zimo glanced at him with dissatisfaction. You might not feel the urgency, but what if the mission this time is easy? I cant upgrade my mech if everyone else earns all of the contribution points.

Look at the terrain. Have you forgotten that we were just here yesterday? Were facing a highland. If the enemy were to place multiple snipers on the high ground wed be turned into swiss cheese if we just mindlessly charge.

Also look at the description of our mission. This is a recon mission, not a rescue mission. That means there were no survivors at the outpost. To be able to wipe out an entire troop stationed at the sentry outpost means that our enemies arent weak, Xiang Ning said.

Ah shit, youre right. So what do we do now?

Easy. Do you see the other 295 mechs? Theyll become our shield, hehehe, Xiang Ning sinisterly chuckled.

Hohoh, you sly old fox. Youre the best!

Xiang Nings mech was a Dark Blade. Forged from a special dark metal alloy, the three-meter-tall mech was powered by a miniature nuclear reactor. While it was renowned as an elite-class close-combat mech, it also mounted a Hephaestus Mk. 3 Gatling gun for range combat. Rather than regular bullets, the Gatling gun was loaded with high-explosive incendiary/armor piercing (HEAP) ammunition, capable of tearing through defensive tank mechs. Its original long sword had been kept in the weapon storage by Xiang Ning. Instead, his mech was holding a custom longsword with similar dimensions as the Devourer.

Li Zimo and the rest were piloting normal-class mechs known as Earths Defenders. They were five meters tall, light green in color, and had stronger defensive capabilities than the Dark Blade. Due to that, they were known as starter mechs.

The Earths Defender mech can be differentiated into three types: melee, gunner, and tank. Xiang Ning, Li Zimo, and Fang Rous mechs were melee mechs. As for Liu Ruoxue and Lu Shiyu, they had chosen gunner mechs.

None of them had chosen the bulky tank mechs, because their squad specialized in striking the enemys ranks like a sharp blade. There was no reason for them to prioritize defense, as they could always get a new mech if theirs were to be destroyed.

Xiang Ning and his squad finally departed after the rest of the mechs had gone ahead. Rather than following behind the rest, they took a detour in an attempt to flank the enemy. Due to that, they arrived at the site five minutes later than the others, but that was of no issue as battles usually lasted longer than that.

While they knew there would be a battle at the outpost, they werent sure what to expect from the enemy. If the enemy hadnt set up an ambush and decided to launch a frontal attack, Xiang Ning could pick off the stragglers from behind the enemys line. Even better, if the battle was very intense he could always pierce through from the flanks and sow chaos among the enemy. That was his favorite method, as he could farm Fury Points.

Back to the main force, out of the 295 mechs, there was a single mech that caught everyones eyes. It was bright yellow and walked on all fours. It was a Bellowing Tiger, a unique mech from the beast mech line. While its potential in battle was large, it was also the hardest mech to pilot.

It was the highest-grade mech for this mission, indicating that the pilot was the one that had gone through the highest number of successful missions. As such, the system had downloaded the details of the mission directly into his brain.

As they approached the outpost, the pilot of the Bellowing Tiger stopped marching and surveyed the site. The outpost was completely destroyed and craters marred the ground. In the center of the outpost, a single purple flag with the motif of a red beast had replaced the Federations flag.

While Xiang Ning didnt know what the flag meant, the system had tagged it as demons. That was somewhat true, as the enemies were not only fierce, but they also looked like demons.

Stop! Send a message back to HQ. Let them know that sentry outpost twenty-one has been destroyed and were requesting backup! Well need artillery support!

A purple mech nodded and sent the message, but halfway through, the transmission was corrupted!

Not good! Its an ambush! the purple mech shouted. Everyone leave the area! Retreat ten kilometers!

The command was quick and precise, but it was too late. The demons were one step ahead.

Tanks! Raise your shields and protect everyone!

But before they could carry out the order, a hundred squid-like mechs burst forth from the ground and surrounded the 295 human mechs. Some of the humans started struggling.

The Bellowing Tiger immediately responded as the pilot jumped away from the area, but the rest of the mechsespecially the tank mechswere dragged into the earth. In just a split second, almost all of the tank mechs had been dragged down below as muffled explosions rang out. Soon the earth was silent.

The Bellowing Tiger saw that and shouted at everyone, All of you! Break the encirclement and head to the mountain on your left side! He led his own squad and tried breaking through from the left. Without protection from the tank mechs, many of the human mechs were destroyed by the demon mechs.

Shit! The Bellowing Tiger saw that his troops had been reduced to less than half and was furious. It hadnt even been three seconds and theyd already lost more than a hundred mechs; how could they win now?

Before they could break through, their path was obstructed by two elite-class black octopus mechs and ten common-class black octopus mechs.

Dammit! Ill kill you all!

Kill one and we break even! Kill another and we can buy a new mech!

Kill them all!

Pushed back against a corner, their combat strength had exploded. While they were still at a disadvantage, most of the humans managed to bring down two or more mechs before being destroyed themselves. They were earning time!

Just then, Xiang Ning and his squad arrived at the battlefield. Li Zimo gave him a thumbs up. Wow, just like you said, there really was an ambush. Look, all of them are trapped.

Looks like I was right. There really was an ambush. I expected it when we found out we could no longer send a signal within five kilometers of the outpost. Looks like the demons came prepared.

Fang Rou, protect Liu Ruoxue and Lu Shiyu. Li Zimo and I will rush into the fray.

Ok!

The team nodded as Liu Ruoxue and Lu Shiyu readied their weapons and equipped them with silencers.

Doge & Chacha's Thoughts

Earth Defender mechs are basically Zakus I guess