Chapter 211: The Horrifying Truth Behind the Lost Shelter |
Taranis Ocean.
The Tomorrow Alliance unexpectedly discovered a Vampire Civilization city.
It was found by a Swordfish mini-submarine Li Ye had dispatched.
According to the submarine pilot's description, the city wasn't large, and its exterior was built with a massive semi-circular dome.
This dome was clearly designed to block out sunlight during the day.
Li Ye immediately convened his companions to discuss how to attack.
"Sigh, a Grade 3 monster civilization can actually build cities now, and rather well-structured ones at that," Zhou Xing sighed. "Higher-grade monster civilizations might even be able to establish nations!"
Li Ye nodded slightly.
That was indeed possible.
But more than that, one thing sparked his interest even more.
It was daytime right now. If they obliterated the dome covering the city, would something very interesting happen?
Thinking this, Li Ye couldn't help but feel a surge of eagerness.
A city surely housed tens of thousands of vampires, and the drops from these Grade 3 monsters would be incredibly bountiful!
Upon learning that the small island was only a three-hour journey from the Tomorrow Alliance, he made his decision.
"Depart! We're going to raid that city!"
Three hours later, the Tomorrow Alliance arrived near the small island.
To avoid exposing their whereabouts, Li Ye specifically had all mobile cities activate their "City Camouflage."
Not only that, he also had all mobile cities equipped with the Grade 3 signal jamming device, "Silent Veil."
This Grade 3 item only required 300 units of Grade 3 iron ore to forge, though the design blueprint was a bit expensive, costing a hefty 150,000 Crystal Coins.
The combination of Grade 3 City Camouflage and the Grade 3 signal jamming device transformed the Tomorrow Alliance into an untraceable phantom on the vast ocean.
As usual, Li Ye arranged the special forces members and Bullfrog vehicles on the Star.
The Vampire Civilization had not deployed defensive forces on the island, but instead sent a Grade 3 fleet to patrol the seas and islands within their territory.
On their way to the island, the Tomorrow Alliance encountered a Grade 3 vampire fleet.
Destroyers, cruisers, missile ships...
The fleet was fully equipped.
On the fleet's decks, the vampire crew members wore outfits resembling spacesuits, their helmets pitch black, even reflecting the sunlight.
"This is probably... sunlight protective gear?" a flicker of doubt crossed Li Ye's eyes.
Clearly, sunlight, that fatal weapon, didn't necessarily restrict the vampires' combat capabilities during the day.
From this, it seemed that as long as the cockpits were treated to be sun-proof, vampire fighter jets could also participate in daytime battles.
"Alliance Leader, the Pacifier has prepared its artillery and can bombard the city at any time," Yang Zheng's voice came through the intercom.
"Just use the EM-44 Railgun to blast off its dome," Li Ye ordered.
"Understood."
As the EM-44 Railgun activated, the blue-white electric arcs缠绕 around its barrel suddenly contracted, followed by a blinding, incandescent flash from the end of the rail.
The air immediately filled with the deafening boom and hum of the projectile breaking the sound barrier, and a torrent of heat poured forth along its trajectory.
The instant the projectile struck the city's dome, kinetic energy transformed into destructive power, an unparalleled shockwave erupting at the point of impact.
Countless spiderweb-like cracks appeared across the entire dome, which then violently shattered and collapsed.
High temperatures and shockwaves swept through the entire structure; the dome's supporting framework twisted and snapped with a grating metallic shriek, and vast sections of the enormous curved panels disintegrated, raining down like a deluge under the fiery glow.
In a mere few seconds, Li Ye watched as the colossal dome sheltering the city was reduced to twisted metal frameworks, burning debris plummeting from high above, crashing heavily into the city.
Immediately after, he saw large swathes of warm sunlight pour into the city.
The entire city's alarms blared, clearly signifying the vampires had sounded the alert.
"Utter Catastrophe."
At this moment, Li Ye profoundly understood the meaning of this idiom.
Considering that the city must be in utter chaos, with many vampires likely roasted to cinders, he then ordered the special forces to advance.
After approaching the coastline, the Bullfrog vehicles on the Star's deck began operating one after another, launching special forces members to a point extremely close to the city.
Soon, the special forces breached the vampire city.
"What's the interior of this monster city like?" Li Ye immediately asked.
This was the question he cared about most.
According to the special forces members' reports, all the internal buildings of this vampire city were also in a classical style.
The moment the dome shattered, countless vampires exposed to sunlight were instantly reduced to ash.
Currently, Grade 3 resources, finished products, design blueprints, and Crystal Coins were scattered everywhere throughout the city.
The surviving vampire residents had quickly taken shelter in buildings and underground facilities.
"There's no rush to pick up the Crystal Coins and iron ore for now," Li Ye instructed. "Prioritize collecting design blueprints, Upgrade Blueprints, and energy-saving blueprints!"
He wished he could consume all the resources at once, but with the city's destruction, the Vampire Civilization would surely receive news, and their flying forces and mobile city combat clusters were undoubtedly already en route.
Being too greedy could easily lead to trouble!
To his surprise, there were actually garrison soldiers of the Vampire Civilization within the city.
Like the vampires on the fleet, they wore thick sunlight protective suits, holding firearms, and engaged in battle with the special forces.
Considering that the Vampire Civilization might dispatch troops, and the number of these troops was completely unknown, Li Ye didn't prolong the fight.
After a brief skirmish, he ordered the special forces to withdraw.
Upon receiving the order, the special forces members activated their jetpacks, accelerating sharply to retreat.
To their surprise, the vampire soldiers also sprang into the air, leaping dozens of meters high, just like supermen.
After a short exchange of fire, the special forces members used the Spirit Fox Combat Camouflage to conceal their tracks, withdrawing one by one.
To speed things up, Li Ye dispatched Black Eagle Helicopters to rapidly recover the special forces.
With an excited mood, he inspected the spoils of war brought back by the special forces.
Grade 3 Aerial Refueling Aircraft Design Blueprint, Grade 3 Bulletproof Vest Design Blueprint, Grade 3 Individual Parachute Design Blueprint, Grade 3 Vehicle Upgrade Blueprint...
He nodded repeatedly as he looked, overall, the harvest was quite bountiful.
However, the fact that the Grade 3 flying vehicle design blueprint was for an aerial refueling aircraft left him feeling a bit regretful.
The Tomorrow already had a functional aircraft of that type, the Grade 3 military transport aircraft, the C-5M Super Galaxy.
Looking at the design blueprint before him, he gently shook his head.
"If we can't seize air superiority, having any number of functional transport aircraft is useless!"
But upon closer thought, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
The Tomorrow's air combat power seemed to be quite comprehensive already.
Fighter jets, helicopters, bombers, transport aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, aerial refueling aircraft, gunships...
And now, with the acquisition of light machine gun accessories, drones could also be deployed in combat.
The Tomorrow could now fully make air units its primary development direction.
As long as the air units developed, it wouldn't matter much if the naval and ground units were a bit weaker.
They could even use air units to attack and capture monster civilization cities and fortresses, achieving the goal of sustaining themselves through war.
Li Ye briefly calculated; the aircraft still lacking in their air units were approximately:
Attack aircraft for close air support. Electronic warfare aircraft for electronic jamming, reconnaissance, and anti-radar operations.
Early warning aircraft for radar early warning and battlefield command.
While inventorying, he frowned again.
The Vampire Civilization, this huge obstacle in the Tomorrow Alliance's path.
Without this Grade 3 monster civilization, the Tomorrow Alliance could use bomber formations to blast away all Grade 2 monster civilizations across the entire ocean and completely destroy the monster island chain.
"Forget it, let's not think about that anymore. We'll continue fighting guerrilla warfare on the ocean."
In the following days, Li Ye successively attacked several more Grade 2 monster civilizations.
In a sense, Grade 2 monster civilizations had become the Tomorrow Alliance's personal goldmines.
Resources dropped by Grade 2 monsters.
Wreckage of destroyed naval, ground, and air vehicles, and mobile city debris.
Resources stored in fortresses.
With low war difficulty and considerable gains, the Tomorrow Alliance was naturally delighted.
By inputting the design blueprints, Li Ye crafted a batch of Grade 3 bulletproof vests.
Now, this special forces unit was becoming more and more formidable.
As for the Grade 3 vehicle Upgrade Blueprint, after long deliberation, Li Ye decided to use it to upgrade the Bullfrog vehicle.
After the upgrade, the Bullfrog vehicle's aiming accuracy and water travel speed were further improved.
And its CC98 "Boomer" Infantry Deployment System's range also increased from 1 kilometer to 5 kilometers—in truth, Li Ye had always been concerned about the safety of this system. However, the special forces members seemed to revel in it.
After upgrading to a Grade 3 vehicle, the Bullfrog vehicle's anti-air firepower was once again enhanced.
In the time that followed, the Tomorrow Alliance continued to launch multiple attacks across the Taranis Ocean, destroying numerous islands garrisoned by Grade 2 monster civilizations and cities of the Vampire Civilization.
The Tomorrow Alliance made every battle swift and decisive, quickly activating City Camouflage after gathering spoils, thereby vanishing without a trace.
During this period, they harvested countless vast resources, literally overflowing with wealth.
A huge pile of Grade 1-2 design blueprints and resources like coal, fabric, iron ore, saltpeter, various finished weapon equipment, and a large quantity of Crystal Coins and metals.
Among the design blueprints were also those for ordinary parks, office buildings, libraries, apartments, and other city structures.
Crop seeds included Grade 1 garlic, Grade 1 shiitake mushrooms, Grade 1 strawberries, Grade 1 peas, Grade 1 carrots, Grade 2 green onions, Grade 2 watermelons, and more.
What surprised Li Ye the most was that he indeed acquired a Grade 2 City Crystal.
Through drops from vampire residents, Li Ye obtained another pile of Grade 3 resources and Grade 3 blueprints.
Key design blueprints included Grade 3 flashbangs, Grade 3 drone engineering accessories, Grade 3 electronic warfare aircraft, and Grade 3 heavy tanks.
[Item Name: "Torrent" Heavy Tank]
[Grade: 3]
[Attached Effects: 1. Shell armor penetration damage +35% 2. Defense +40%]
[Required to Craft: 400 units of Iron Ore (Grade 3), 100 units of Ground Vehicle Precision Components (Grade 3)]
[Configuration:]
[Dual 140mm ETC Smoothbore Cannons]
[12.7mm Coaxial Machine Gun]
[40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher]
[Close-in Defense Laser System]
"Excellent, excellent," Li Ye nodded repeatedly.
In Grade 3 ground warfare, heavy tanks could be considered the overlords of the land.
The Tomorrow's ground combat unit strength had further increased.
The only minor drawback was that crafting a "Torrent" Tank was indeed a bit expensive.
Next, he looked at the electronic warfare aircraft design blueprint.
[Item Name: "Weaver" Electronic Warfare Aircraft]
[Grade: 3]
[Attached Effects: 1. Jamming Range +25% 2. Jamming Capability +30% 3. Lock-on Probability -15%]
[Required to Craft: 250 units of Iron Ore (Grade 3), 75 units of Precision Flying Vehicle Components (Grade 3)]
It possessed a series of configurations such as jamming pods, detection systems, and anti-radiation missiles.
While carefully reading the design blueprint, a trace of surprise flashed in Li Ye's eyes.
With this, the Tomorrow Alliance would possess electronic warfare capabilities.
Electronic warfare was the invisible battlefield in modern warfare, primarily aimed at seizing battlefield information superiority by controlling, interfering with, deceiving, or destroying enemy electronic systems.
Simply put, it meant paralyzing the enemy's sensory capabilities, turning them into "deaf" and "blind" entities.
The main functions of electronic warfare aircraft were to suppress enemy air defense systems, interfere with their communication and command systems, and conduct electronic reconnaissance and battlefield situational awareness.
What Li Ye remembered most vividly was the Gulf War.
Besides these two, what also caught his interest was the drone accessory design blueprint.
"Engineering accessories, you say?" he murmured to himself.
According to the blueprint description, once equipped with engineering accessories, drones could undertake construction work and building construction.
This was naturally suitable for engineering-type cities.
Zhou Xing immediately became excited upon hearing this.
Li Ye immediately crafted 100 Universal Drones and their corresponding engineering accessories in the production workshop, delivering them all to Zhou Xing.
"If you feel it's not enough, come find me again," he instructed.
Initially, the Tomorrow Alliance had even engaged in combat with a mobile city combat cluster of the Vampire Civilization.
But Li Ye quickly realized one thing.
The Tomorrow Alliance didn't need to actively seek direct combat with the Vampire Civilization; they only needed to continuously raid its densely populated islands to obtain drops.
This was not only safer but also yielded quite abundant harvests.
Considering that vampires feared sunlight, he chose to operate during the day.
This tactic immediately caused immense distress to the Vampire Civilization.
After operating in the Taranis Ocean for a while, Li Ye looked at the mountainous pile of spoils and realized something.
Now, the Tomorrow Alliance needed time to rest.
Not only did they need to process a huge pile of spoils, but they also needed to properly build up their naval, ground, and air combat units.
"So, where do we go next?" Lin Wu asked.
After a moment of thought, Li Ye made a decision.
"Let's head to the West Barren Continent."
Li Ye decided this for two main reasons.
First, the Tomorrow Alliance had been fighting its way from south to north; as of now, they were quite far from the South Liyue Continent and very close to the West Barren Continent.
Second, during this time, that epic-level intelligence had refreshed.
(End of Chapter)
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