Sky-cracking Rider

People on the prominent platform were surrounded by countless holes in the rock walls as far as the eye could see, looking much like a beehive and shockingly disturbing. Under the light of the Illumination Technique's orbs and electric lights, at least half of these holes faintly revealed white egg-shaped objects the size of basketballs, some even slightly trembling.

Many mutants were crawling around, seemingly checking on those egg-shaped objects.

The cavern space's maximum width spanned at least five hundred meters, as determined quickly by laser rangefinders—the maximum horizontal width was 514 meters and the maximum vertical height, about 384 meters.

The two numbers sounded odd when read out loud. I'm going to die; they can't kill me off; this is really freaking...

"This is..."

The scene before her made Hanna Gagar, who didn't have trypophobia, break out in goosebumps, her hair standing on end.

It was just too damn creepy.

Destroy it all!

I'm tired!

Hurry up!

Captain Blake of the 13th Reconnaissance Squad suppressed his excited emotions and said, "It's a mutant lair!"

Although there had been many twists and turns along the way, in the end, they had found the old den of the mutants, and it had not been in vain.

Whatever the case, the 13th Reconnaissance Squad would not miss out on this great achievement.

"Well, so they were hiding here!"

Thunder Mage God Kanje, who had shown his signature spell and his Jianghu nickname "Undying Thunderbolt," belonging to the First Rank of the Thunder Series, took a sharp intake of breath.

The countless holes in the rock wall meant the number of mutants was equally astonishing.

"Lord Kanje, report to the surface immediately, and we need to set up the bombs as soon as possible."

Blake quickly came to his senses, realizing this wasn't the time to be shocked.

If the whole nest of mutants were alerted and they all attacked, their group would immediately be at a disadvantage.

Especially since setting up the bombs with their devastating destructive power didn't allow for any mistakes.

Thunder Mage God Kanje hastily responded, "Yes, yes, report immediately, get the bombs out, and with mine added, we'll blow them both up together. It's foolproof. Everyone, make less noise."

He, too, feared alarming too many mutants; after all, the space here was vast. Unlike in the corridor where a spell swept through and mutants had nowhere to dodge, making the spells fully effective.

"We need to figure out how to place the bombs at the most central location."

Blake gazed below the platform, where the dim light just barely reached the absolute center of the cavern space, and there seemed to be some unusual objects. The reflective glare from the headlights even suggested a mirrored surface.

Without hesitation, Thunder Mage God Kanje said, "I'll do it!"

The reason he could be the leader of his team was certainly not that he was timid or avoided battle; at critical moments, he was willing to lead by example and not let anyone down. Otherwise, how could he inspire such loyalty?

"Me!"

"How can you do it without me!"

"And me!"

"I have faith in Mage God Kanje."

"Hahaha, since we're already here, why miss out!"

The flatterers from before turned out to not have a single coward among them. Maybe one or two had hesitations, but following the rhythm set by others, they were somewhat embarrassed to stay silent and chimed in with the flow. Stay tuned for updates on empire

"We don't need so many people. Ability users below Superpower Level C, spellcasters, and War Professionals below Human Order Sixth Rank, do not participate."

Thunder Mage God Kanje, waving his hand, made a decisive call.

For such a dangerous mission, the number of people should be small and elite. In such an environment, too many people could hinder action and make a mess of things.

"Number 74, number 76, the two of you will return to the surface later."

Blake pointed to the female electronics expert Cecilia Danbers and Chen Fei.

The latter's Superpower Level had not yet been identified, but since his power had only recently awakened and he had not undergone basic training, he could not yet master his ability skillfully - a rookie indeed, and not much could be expected from him.

Compared to that, the Magical Beast Bird on his shoulder could offer more help.

"No, number 74 stays!"

Hanna Gagar immediately and decisively refused.

On one hand, she had full confidence in her people, and on the other, Chen Fei was not as weak as they imagined.

"He..."

Blake still wanted to try to persuade her but was decisively interrupted by Hanna Gagar, who said without doubt, "He can do it!"

"Well, okay then!"

Facing the forceful executive manager, Blake unconsciously backed down.

When he looked back, he was remorseful and smacked his forehead.

After a round of elimination, one-third of the personnel remained on the platform.

Space Series Ability Users in contact with the surface took all of these people back. One moment they were still in the cavern space, and the next, their surroundings changed abruptly.

Earth Mages in the team finished chanting their spells and released their fully charged magic. The ground trembled slightly as pits around were instantly filled, paving a straight path to the bottom of the cavern space.

"Charge with me!"

After watching those who were non-combatants or not strong enough to vanish on the platform, Thunder Mage God Kanje didn't hesitate. He waved his magic wand and led the way by jumping off the platform, and everyone followed him closely.

War Professionals clutched their cold weapons, guarding on both sides of the team.

The sudden intrusion of the team inevitably startled the mutant creatures here, and several piercing roars rose from the darkness in the distance.

Mutant Creatures clad in heavy armor, bristling with spikes, or bearing a pair of big latches, came into everyone's sight, as the buzzing sound of flapping wings filled the air, bringing together all four varieties of Mutant BC-2325.

Before the two sides engaged in close combat, the sound of gunfire rang out first.

The 12.7mm caliber heavy snipers and 14.5mm caliber cannon snipers became the main firepower, almost one shot per target, interspersed with some rifle grenades, which exploded into flames, devouring a couple of mutants or blowing one to pieces.

The destructive power of bullets above 12mm in diameter compared to those below 6mm in diameter was absolutely not as simple as doubling the latter, in fact, the former was at least four times, even five times greater.

So, while small-caliber weapons couldn't harm these mutants, the large-caliber weapons could chop them up like vegetables, leaving the mutants maimed and bloodied.

"Hand grenades!"

Thrown explosive weapons, in the hands of War Professionals, were hardly different from small-caliber artillery shells, tossed from a distance, the blast wave's impact could overturn several mutants at once, and even if not killed immediately, they'd be stunned and unable to stand for a while.

Unencumbered, the thirty-some-strong charge was immensely quick, reaching the center of the cavern in two minutes. Even mages, when it came to physical stamina, were far from helpless, with firearms, cold weapons, and hand-to-hand combat all part of a mage's mandatory training.

A mage with no weaknesses was a good mage, a truth understood by all.

There were several man-made buildings, which were empty and in disarray, clearly evacuated in haste yet still having taken all things of value.

Now, everyone understood.

The mutant attacks they had encountered before, the pressure release landmines, the collapsing tunnels, and the sudden poison gas attacks, were all without exception meant to delay their progress.

These buildings acted as strongholds, with heavy machine guns of large caliber set up, emitting deep, booming gunfire, flames of gunfire over a meter long, and the large bullets easily pierced through the bodies of the mutants, unable to withstand the penetrative force of the 12.7mm caliber ammunition, even the Heavy Armored Mutants.

The 13th Reconnaissance Squad and the ground reinforcements took out the Dragon Slayer Missile warhead bombs they carried, beginning to authorize and unlock them, setting the detonation sequence.

The destructive power of a bomb comparable to a nuclear weapon was not much simpler in unlocking and detonation operations than a nuclear weapon itself.

Such complicated procedures were necessary, all for the sake of safety.

"Hold for five minutes!"

Blake, captain of the 13th Reconnaissance Squad, and Kanje, the leader of the reinforcements, worked together on the detonation system of the two bombs.

"Xiao Jiu, into your nest, don't fly around!"

Chen Fei, the shoulder bearing a 14.5mm caliber cannon sniper, did not let Xiao Jiu continue to stay on his shoulder but placed it into the bird's nest beside him.

After all, firing this 19-kilogram heavy weapon was quite intimidating, and he feared the little bird would get frightened and fly about chaotically.

Boom!~

The finger-thick armor-piercing shells shot out fiercely.

There was no need to aim deliberately; at several hundred meters distance, especially in a windless cavern space, hitting a mutant the size of a horse was easy—just control the recoil, and even a rookie who had just touched a gun could hit the target every time.

The penetrative power of the armor-piercing bullets could effortlessly penetrate 1.2 meters of concrete; upon striking those mutants, even the heavily armored ones could be penetrated, at times even two or three at once.

"Chirp!~"

Little Bird stayed obediently in its nest but curiously peered at a fist-sized hole in the corner of the wall.

"Chirp?!"

Twenty meters underground, two men were leaning close to a copper pipe, listening intently; this copper pipe connected directly to the cavern above, sounds of shouting, gunfire, explosions, and the roaring of the mutants all clearly audible.

Now there was also a clear chirping of a bird.

"We have five minutes until detonation, we need to evacuate!"

"Wait, where's that bird chirping coming from?"

The two men exchanged glances in bewilderment.

From the copper pipe emerged a small, pointed beak, followed by a mischievous little head that then pecked at the air.

"Chirp!"

A dazzling flash erupted, filling the entire space of more than ten meters around.

"Ah!"

"My eyes!"

While the two men covered their eyes, Little Bird reflected a ring covered in strange runes in its tiny, mung bean-sized pupils; it was full of curiosity.

"Ah! My alchemy storage device!"

One cried out in pain as his finger was painfully pecked; by the time he reacted, the ring that had been on his finger had disappeared.

The other man rubbed his eyes vigorously and managed to recover some vision only to see a little bird fitting their ring-shaped Space System Alchemy Storage Device onto its claws. The bird pecked at it frantically, and suddenly, a whole bunch of items fell out, cluttering the small space completely.

It had taken them great effort to sort out and put away those items, but now they were scattered about like trash.

"Xiao Jiu..."

"Chirp!"

Hearing the call, Little Bird turned around and, flapping its small wings, agilely made its way back to the copper pipe, and disappeared into it.

Watching the little bird vanish from sight, the two men, pressed under piles of boxes, exchanged looks but then screamed in utter horror.

"No..."

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