Chapter 71: Ch 71: Sabotaging
Master Verde (Raidan) watched from the rocky ridge as his followers vanished into the dense foliage below.
The night swallowed them completely. Through his administrative interface, he monitored their vitals and positioning. Four glowing green dots descended the slope, moving in perfect synchronization toward the fortified concrete walls of the remnant army base.
"The first step of any conquest is blinding the enemy."
Saying, he raised his hand and conjured a localized observation window. The floating blue screen displayed a tactical feed of the compound, courtesy of the system network connecting him to his followers.
Down below, Leo and Chloe reached the base of the massive outer wall. The concrete structure stood thirty feet high, crowned with thick coils of electrified razor wire. A standard human would need grappling hooks and insulated mats to even attempt a breach.
Leo simply looked up and channeled his mana.
[ Skill Activated: Shadow Step. ]
Leo grabbed Chloe by the shoulder. His body dissolved into a wisp of dark smoke. The two cultists bypassed the physical barrier entirely, rematerializing instantly on the inner walkway of the perimeter wall.
They crouched low in the shadows of a watchtower, perfectly hidden from the automated turrets swiveling back and forth just a few yards away.
"Command center is dead ahead, Leo," Chloe murmured, checking the digital map projected into her vision.
She then drew her custom forged energy pistols, the barrels humming with lethal blue plasma.
"Two guards at the front entrance. Electronic lock on the main door."
"I will handle the guards," Leo replied, his twin serrated knives catching the moonlight. "You prep the bypass sequence for the lock."
They moved like ghosts across the inner compound. The military personnel were complacent, relying entirely on their technology to keep the wilderness at bay. They had never faced an enemy empowered by a divine system.
Leo dropped from the walkway roof directly behind the two heavily armored guards stationed outside the command center. He did not make a single sound. Before the soldiers could register the sudden shift in air pressure, Leo struck.
Swissh!
He drove the pommels of his knives hard against the base of their helmets. The blunt force trauma, amplified by his boosted strength stats, knocked them unconscious instantly.
They crumpled to the ground in a heap of thick Kevlar and steel plating.
Chloe stepped over the unconscious bodies and pressed her hand against the electronic keypad securing the heavy steel door. She tapped into her neural interface, feeding raw system mana into the ancient circuitry.
Sparks flew from the keypad. The heavy deadbolts clicked backward with a loud mechanical thud.
The door slid open, revealing a dimly lit room filled with glowing server racks and blinking monitor screens. A single technician sat at the main console, wearing a headset and sipping from a tin cup.
Leo surged into the room. He clamped his hand over the technician’s mouth and pulled him backward, pinning him to the floor.
"Sleep," Leo commanded softly, applying precise pressure to the man’s carotid artery. The technician went limp in seconds.
Chloe ignored the bodies and walked straight to the primary server bank. She located the thick bundle of fiber optic cables connecting the automated turrets to the central power grid.
She raised her energy pistol and fired a single, concentrated burst of blue plasma.
The cables melted into a puddle of bubbling plastic and fused glass.
Instantly, all the monitor screens in the room flashed red. The mechanical humming of the automated turrets outside ground to a sudden halt.
[ Objective Complete: Disable the Turret Grid. ]
[ Reward Distributed: 5,000 System EXP. Shadow Step Skill Book added to inventory. ]
Leo and Chloe shared a victorious grin. Half of the base defenses were now completely useless.
On the opposite side of the compound, Sarah and Aaron were making their move.
The motor pool was a massive garage bathed in harsh yellow floodlights. Three towering mechanized walkers stood in the center, looking like steel titans waiting to be unleashed. Mechanics in grease covered overalls were currently sleeping in the adjacent barracks, leaving only a single patrol squad to guard the vehicles.
Sarah gripped her enchanted war hammer. The heavy iron head pulsed with latent kinetic energy. "I can crush the patrol in five seconds," she offered, her eyes locked on the soldiers walking their route.
"Master Verde told us to use stealth until the trap is sprung," Aaron cautioned, keeping his heavy plasma rifle slung across his back. "Let them pass. We only need thirty seconds to plant the charges."
They waited patiently behind a stack of rusted oil drums. The patrol squad marched past their position, completely oblivious to the hyper lethal strike team hiding just ten feet away.
The moment the soldiers turned the corner, Sarah and Aaron sprinted across the open tarmac. Their enhanced agility made them a blur of motion.
Aaron reached the first mechanized walker and slapped a glowing silver explosive charge against the primary fuel line joint on its right leg. He tapped the detonator, syncing it to his neural interface.
Sarah vaulted onto the chassis of the second walker, wedging her explosive deep inside the exhaust port of the plasma cannon. She jumped down gracefully, landing next to Aaron as he rigged the third and final machine.
Just as Aaron attached the last charge, a harsh voice rang out across the tarmac.
"Hey! What are you doing near the mechs?"
A mechanic had stepped out of the barracks to smoke a cigarette. He dropped his lighter, staring in shock at the two intruders dressed in black cultist robes. He immediately reached for the alarm switch on the wall.
"Blow them," Sarah yelled, hoisting her war hammer onto her shoulder.
Aaron grinned wildly and triggered the detonators via his system link.
Three deafening explosions shattered the quiet night.
The blast waves ripped through the motor pool. The first mech collapsed as its leg joint turned into shrapnel. The second mech suffered a catastrophic chain reaction as the exhaust port charge ignited its internal plasma reserves, sending a massive fireball high into the purple sky. The third mech simply fell backward, its central engine block completely blown to pieces.
[ Objective Complete: Sabotage the War Machines. ]
[ Reward Distributed: 5,000 System EXP. Enhanced Weapon Proficiency activated. ]
The alarm klaxons finally began to wail, painting the entire base in flashing red light. Soldiers poured out of the barracks in complete confusion, clutching their rifles and shouting contradictory orders.
The element of stealth was gone. The chaos phase had officially begun.
Up on the ridge, Master Verde watched the fireball illuminate the valley. The shockwave rustled his digital emerald cloak.
"Perfect execution," Master Verde praised calmly.
He deactivated his stealth aura, and the faint green glow erupted into a blinding pillar of emerald light, announcing his presence to the entire world.
He then stepped off the edge of the cliff.
But gravity refused to claim him.
Master Verde floated downward, descending upon the panicked military base like a falling star.
He landed directly in the center of the courtyard, the impact cracking the concrete pavement beneath his boots.
Hundreds of soldiers skidded to a halt, raising their assault rifles and energy weapons. They formed a massive perimeter around the glowing intruder. The base commander, a scarred man wearing heavy powered armor, pushed his way to the front of the line.
"Open fire!" the commander roared, not bothering to ask questions.
A hail of bullets and laser fire converged on Master Verde. The sheer volume of firepower was enough to vaporize a tank.
Master Verde did not even flinch. He raised a single finger.
A dome of translucent green geometry expanded around him. The bullets flattened against the barrier, dropping to the ground as harmless lumps of lead. The laser blasts refracted off the shield, scattering harmlessly into the sky. The soldiers kept firing until their magazines clicked empty and their energy cells overheated.
When the smoke cleared, Master Verde stood completely untouched.
"My turn," Master Verde announced. His synthetic voice amplified through the compound, shaking the dust off the concrete walls.
He clapped his hands together.
[ Skill Activated: Verdian Judgment. ]
Vines thicker than tree trunks erupted from the cracked concrete all across the courtyard. The glowing green flora moved like giant serpents, wrapping around the soldiers, their weapons, and their armor. Within seconds, the entire military garrison was pinned to the ground, entirely helpless against the aggressive magical vegetation.
The base commander struggled furiously, his powered armor whining as it tried to break the thick vines binding his arms. It was completely useless. The plants were infused with maximum tier system mana.
Master Verde walked slowly across the courtyard, the vines parting respectfully to clear a path for him. He stopped right in front of the kneeling commander.
"You planned to march on the Detroit camp," Master Verde stated, looking down at the defeated man. "You believed you could simply take what we have built. Well, you were mistaken."
The commander spat on the ground. "You are just a freak with some old world tech. The main army will crush you."
Master Verde chuckled. It was a cold, metallic sound.
"I am the architect of the new world. Your army relies on finite bullets and failing engines. My followers wield the boundless power of the system. I did not come here to destroy you, Commander. I came here to offer you a choice."
The commander stopped struggling, staring at the glowing green entity in confusion. "A choice?"
"Serve the Verdian Cult. Swear loyalty to the network. In exchange, I will grant your men strength beyond human limitation. I will cure the sickness in your ranks. I will give you food that does not taste like ash. Join us, or rot here in the ruins of your broken pride."
Leo, Chloe, Aaron, and Sarah emerged from the shadows, taking their places behind their master. They looked completely unharmed, holding their glowing weapons with proud, fanatic posture.
The commander looked at the destroyed mechs burning in the distance. He looked at his entire garrison, effortlessly subdued by a single man. Then, he looked at the four cultists who had completely dismantled his defenses in a matter of minutes.
Slowly, the commander bowed his head.
"We yield. We will follow the Verdian Cult."