Chapter 437 - 285: Plane? Nuke? Battle
"We have sixteen Tier Three Blood Moon Envoys in total. That’s nearly all of our strength in the Southeast Asian Region."
"In addition to the Blood Moon Envoys, we have over a hundred elite Tier Two Moon Worshipers. No matter how strong Dragon Country is, they can’t possibly gather a force in Modu capable of rivaling ours on such short notice."
The two Blood Moon Envoys from abroad assessed the disparity in strength between the two sides and ultimately concluded, ’The advantage is ours!’
It wasn’t just an advantage in strength; they also had the element of surprise.
This was a surprise attack!
Even Dragon Country’s government couldn’t have imagined that they could assemble so quickly after the apocalypse began and all forms of communication had failed.
This was all thanks to Jin Wei. As expected of someone from Dragon Country, his organizational skills were truly impressive.
Jin Wei nodded slightly, then walked out of the cockpit and into the main cabin to continue briefing the other Blood Moon Envoys and Moon Worshipers.
...
「Club Activity Building—Rooftop.」
As Wang Qiang familiarized himself with the Widowmaker’s scope, he said to Lin Qi, "My buff lets me sense their numbers. The Moon Worshipers should have 16 Tier Threes and 119 Tier Twos. I know you’ve made preparations, but the disparity in our numbers is too great. If we’re overwhelmed, you have to listen to me."
Wang Qiang was still briefing Lin Qi on the details of his "fallback plan."
The upcoming battle with the Moon Worshipers wasn’t what was giving Lin Qi a headache; it was the exasperating nature of Wang Qiang’s plan.
"Major Wang Qiang, you can’t be serious about activating your ’fallback plan.’ Nuking the university? That’s just reckless."
Even Lin Qi, who had used a nuke during a mission in the Cyber World, wasn’t as crazy as Wang Qiang. In his case, he had been prepared to have Ding Yang drop it right on top of him.
Wang Qiang remained resolute. "Lin Qi," he said, "you absolutely cannot have anything happen to you here. You’re humanity’s hope! You must memorize the plan. The moment I give the signal, head immediately for the civil defense shelter at Mo University and hide. I’ll personally lead your body double in a breakout."
Wang Qiang’s plan wasn’t complex. He’d use a small tactical nuke to clear a path and intimidate the Moon Worshipers.
Then, he’d have Lin Qi hide in the civil defense shelter near the blast zone, while Wang Qiang himself would lead Wang Ziru in a retreat.
Ostensibly, it was a retreat. In reality, it was a ploy to use a body double for Lin Qi, turning themselves into a living target to draw the remaining Moon Worshipers’ pursuit.
Whether the breakout succeeded or failed, Lin Qi’s safety would be guaranteed.
Seeing the look of heroic resolve on Wang Qiang’s face, Lin Qi knew there was no point in trying to talk him out of it.
’Rather than try to change his mind, I should just make sure the coming fight is clean and decisive.’
’If I demonstrate an overwhelming advantage, Wang Qiang won’t be so quick to start tossing nukes.’
Lin Qi shook his head slightly, then walked to the edge of the rooftop. He used his Intelligent Brain to initiate a pre-combat diagnostic of his Prosthetic Body and its weapon systems.
[Diagnostic sequence initiated. Commencing self-check.]
[Subcutaneous Armor integrity: 100%]
[Arm modules: nominal.]
[Leg modules: nominal.]
[Power linkage clear. Capacity: 100%.]
[WARNING: No operating system detected.]
[WARNING: No network firewall detected.]
The diagnostic results were as Lin Qi expected. He hadn’t installed the complete A-Class Prosthetic Body suite, having forgone all components that required neural implants.
That type of prosthetic integrated too closely with the brain. If a problem occurred, even with his Rapid Growth Ability, he might not be able to heal himself in time.
Take, for example, products from Ninghang Technology that were equipped with sub-samples, capable of remotely short-circuiting a Prosthetic Body.
A short circuit in his limbs was one thing, but a malfunction in his brain could cause an instant loss of consciousness.
The prosthetics Lin Qi chose to have implanted were all highly functional and low-risk.
His Prosthetic Body was in perfect working order.
Next up was the inspection of the various weapons integrated with his Prosthetic Body.
[Verifying external equipment...]
[S-Class Prototype Powerful Prosthetic Enhancement - S-M-021 - Lone Brave. Status: Optimal. Estimated uses remaining: 6.]
[S-Class Prototype Dual-Mode Mini Cruise Missile - Little Flying Stick 04. Status: Standby. Quantity: 4.]
...
The verification process was complete. All prosthetics and weapons were newly installed, with zero malfunctions. He was ready for combat at a moment’s notice.
Lin Qi raised his head and looked toward the sky.
His Intelligent Brain captured an image through the A-Class visual scanner, then analyzed, denoised, magnified, and color-corrected it.
A mid-sized passenger jet came into sharp focus.
"They’re here."
Lin Qi murmured, gazing into the distance.
Beside him, Wang Qiang heard Lin Qi’s voice. He was looking through the Widowmaker’s scope, and was astonished.
’Lin Qi can see it?’
’It’s clearly more than fifteen kilometers away. How can he see it?’
Wang Qiang quickly put two and two together. If he could see the target with the sniper rifle Lin Qi had given him, then Lin Qi’s own prosthetic enhancements must be even more powerful.
Lin Qi ordered, still examining the visual feed, "Get ready to snipe. Try to pick off a few of the Tier Threes first."
’Another five kilometers and they’ll be within the Widowmaker’s effective range.’
’This is an S-Class sniper rifle. Used against Tier Three Extraordinaries, it’s a guaranteed kill if they don’t see it coming.’
’Unless the target is equipped with detection or defensive prosthetics, it’s nearly impossible for a Tier Three Extraordinary to dodge a shot from an S-Class sniper rifle.’
’But this is the Doomsday World. The Moon Worshipers don’t have any prosthetic support.’
Wang Qiang took several deep breaths, shifting into a combat mindset.
’There may be a fallback plan,’ he thought, ’but I can’t be thinking about that during the fight.’
He focused his attention on the Widowmaker’s scope.
Once the target was within ten kilometers, the image in his scope changed.
The distant jet seemed to turn semi-transparent, and a multitude of humanoid, red silhouettes appeared in his field of view.
Green boxes also appeared, highlighting each of the figures.
Small lines of text appeared.
[Target unequipped with prosthetics. Headshot recommended. Smart trajectory adjustment enabled.]
[Please mark target priority to generate sequential engagement plan...]
The Widowmaker wasn’t just good at making widows; it excelled at making them in sequential order.
Its built-in Intelligent Brain could conduct real-time battlefield analysis based on the user’s designated target priorities.
Wang Qiang stared at the text in his scope, his heart pounding in astonishment.
’This weapon... If this existed in peacetime, Dragon Country might have been able to unite the world!’
’It’s too smart!’
’How on earth did Lin Qi develop something like this?’
’Doesn’t weapons R&D require years of accumulated experience?’
’Or... was Lin Qi secretly researching this back in peacetime, while he was still in university?’
HISS!
’I can’t get distracted. Focus on the fight!’
The moment Wang Qiang’s thoughts began to stray, he quickly reined them in.
He quickly began marking targets according to the instructions.
Thanks to the feedback from his buff, Wang Qiang could clearly perceive the Power Level of every Moon Worshiper.
Wang Qiang marked all sixteen Tier Threes, one by one.
The instant he finished, a firing solution was generated.
The first targets were the two unlucky bastards in the cockpit.
...
Inside the cockpit, two Blood Moon Envoys were in conversation.
"Co-pilot, get Jin Wei in here. I’m not sure of the exact location of the Mo University Camp. This city is too damn developed—it’s nothing but landmarks. How is anyone supposed to pick out our target!"
"Right away, I’ll just—"
He didn’t even finish his sentence before a warm spray splattered across his face.
He instinctively turned his head and watched in horror as the pilot’s head exploded into a fine mist of blood.
Shards of his skull even grazed the co-pilot’s cheek.
’An attack?’
’How is that possible?’
’We’re at an altitude of over a thousand meters, and we’re inside the plane!’
The co-pilot immediately turned and yelled down the aisle through the open cockpit door, "Ambush! We’re under attack! Park Zeyuan is dead!"
As he shouted, he was suddenly struck by the realization that he was next.
The next second, a dense, crimson light enveloped his entire body.
His body swelled abruptly, and his entire head seemed to retract into his torso, as if he were about to transform into a new shape.
As his body began to change, a bullet carrying enough force to kill a Tier Four entity pierced through the space where his head had been, kicking up another spray of blood.