Jin Zijue and Wang Yuesheng returned to the highway with the artillerymen, holding torches. After finding the supply vehicles, they immediately began their operation. Wang Yuesheng ordered the radar to be activated to search for surrounding targets. Then, following Jin Zijue's directional instructions, they located the enemy headquarters!
"As long as we kill those treants and the large tree they are protecting, this crisis will be resolved!" Jin Zijue said confidently.
Guo Pinming led the soldiers from Luzhou in defense around the area. Currently, there were no vines on the highway, so there was no immediate danger. However, he was unsure when monsters might appear from the white mist. They were said to be giant treants, and he didn't know if his rifle could handle them.
Wang Yuesheng directed the artillerymen to load ammunition and aim. Over thirty artillery vehicles were directly aimed at targets two kilometers away. Wang Yuesheng was very confident, a smile on his face. "Modern warfare is definitely our artillery's main battlefield!"
Wang Yuesheng thought about being protected by a group of hastily conscripted soldiers in the past few days, and he felt deeply humiliated. They were clearly amateurs, yet they never brought him along during operations, as if artillery was useless without its equipment. Now was the perfect time to refresh these amateurs' perspectives and show them how powerful artillery truly was!
Before opening fire, Wang Yuesheng kindly reminded the Luzhou soldiers, "You'd better plug your ears. Be careful not to be startled by the sound later."
The soldiers felt a bit uncomfortable hearing this. Who did he think they were? Who would be afraid of these sounds?
However, when the subsequent artillery bombardment began, the soldiers' faces turned pale. The artillery vehicles had iron stakes to fix them to the ground. Then, a salvo was fired, and explosions followed one after another. The shells tore through the sky towards the distant targets. "Boom, boom..." The sound of firing continued, and a few minutes later, explosions echoed from afar. The soldiers wondered if they would survive if they were subjected to such bombardment.
Thirty minutes passed, and the artillery vehicles had fired three thousand rounds. The sound of firing swept through the surroundings, and the white mist was dispersed by the shockwaves. Seeing this, Guo Pinming couldn't help but exclaim, "With so many modern weapons, any monster can be killed."
"The City Lord is heading north, and we are firing east, so we definitely won't harm the City Lord," Guo Pinming thought to himself.
The shelling lasted for thirty minutes. According to Wang Yuesheng's estimation, the bombed area had likely been stripped of fifty centimeters of soil. Under such intense bombardment, no animals could survive, let alone plants!
However, at this moment, a series of intense sounds came from the mist. "Dong, dong, dong..." The ground vibrated. The soldiers defending on the highway cautiously observed their surroundings, their hearts filled with fear. Had the bombardment failed to kill these monsters?
As everyone was doubting, vines emerged from the mist and began to entwine the soldiers. A dozen people were caught by the vines by accident and dragged into the mist. The soldiers quickly fired into the mist, but the number of vines did not decrease.
"Everyone calm down! Pour gasoline around and set it on fire. Don't use firearms; fight with knives!" Guo Pinming quickly commanded.
The soldiers quickly found gasoline barrels from the vehicles, doused the surroundings with gasoline, and set it ablaze. Finally, a wall of fire blocked the vines, and they could no longer advance. The group was temporarily safe, but they were completely surrounded, making escape impossible.
The vines in the mist twisted and coiled like venomous snakes waiting to strike. Seeing this, Guo Pinming felt that something was terribly wrong.
"Is this what you call combat? Why are there so many vines? The danger has not only not been resolved, but it has also increased. We can't even leave now!" Wang Yuesheng questioned Jin Zijue, asking why the situation had turned out this way. Wasn't it said that the crisis would be resolved once the treants protecting the large tree were killed? Why were they now surrounded?
Jin Zijue was speechless upon hearing this question, stammering, "I did see over a dozen treants protecting a large tree at the time, and I even fought with them. As for why the danger hasn't been resolved, I, I don't know either!"
"Is it possible that the large tree you mentioned is not our enemy?" Wang Yuesheng retorted.
Jin Zijue quickly shook his head. "No, absolutely not. If this large tree wasn't important, why would these treants protect it? It's clearly abnormal!"
At this moment, seeing the two still arguing about these matters, Guo Pinming couldn't help but interrupt their conversation. "You two stop arguing. The enemy is coming. Think of a solution, either fight or retreat. Make a decision quickly!"
Jin Zijue quickly said to Wang Yuesheng, "Quickly adjust the direction and target the surrounding monsters. Continue firing!"
"Do you think this is a mortar? Is it that easy to adjust? In close-range combat, artillery vehicles are not very useful! Only medium and long-range strikes can bring out the power of our equipment!" Wang Yuesheng retorted.
At this moment, there were still tens of thousands of artillery shells, and the artillery vehicles could continue to fire. However, from a combat perspective, it was completely impossible to adjust the direction and continue firing in a short period. Close-range bombardment would harm their own people.
At this time, the monsters in the mist gradually revealed their true forms. They were treants, each ten meters tall, with their heads being giant tree burls. Although they had limbs, their limbs were also composed entirely of dark, black wood. Each of these treants had hundreds of tendrils, and these tendrils were the vines that coiled around them.
"Fire!" Guo Pinming shouted.
The soldiers began to shoot at the giant treants. The bullets hit the treants smoothly, but as soon as they hit, they embedded themselves without causing effective damage. The treants continued to advance, seemingly unaffected by the gunfire.
"How can this be?" Guo Pinming was stunned. Even zombies were instantly pierced by bullets. Hitting a zombie's arm would easily break it. But at this moment, bullets couldn't harm the treants; it was too strange!
Guo Pinming, not believing it, grabbed a rifle and continued to shoot. The bullets sprayed from the barrel and instantly hit a treant, but the treant continued to advance, enduring the bullets. This action shocked everyone. Did these monsters not feel pain?
Wang Yuesheng looked at the surrounding mist. More than twenty incredibly tall treants emerged from the mist, and he panicked. With so many monsters, they must not break through the defenses! These monsters were not even afraid of bullets; how could they be dealt with?
Guo Pinming had no other options at this point and could only order his soldiers, "Quickly pour gasoline around and hold on, waiting for rescue."
Wang Yuesheng was dumbfounded by this order. He slumped against the side of the vehicle and said helplessly, "There will be no rescue. There can't be. No one will come to save us."
Wang Yuesheng knew very well that the only reinforcements were the two thousand soldiers in Fish Town. However, neither Yang Chang nor Chu Chaoyan would come to his rescue, so no reinforcements would come here!
Seeing Wang Yuesheng's reaction, Jin Zijue shook his head and said, "Don't panic. We still have the fire wall as a barrier. These monsters cannot break through."
At this moment, surrounded by over twenty treants, Jin Zijue finally understood that the large tree he had considered before was not the ultimate enemy. Moreover, the number of these treants was definitely not just over a dozen; perhaps thirty, perhaps fifty, perhaps even more.
Guo Pinming had no choice but to trust the fire wall made of gasoline. Plants were afraid of flames, so these treants most likely couldn't break through the fire wall.
However, at this moment, the treants changed. The vines on the treants' arms intertwined, extending over ten meters. With a wave of a treant's large hand, it controlled the vines to sweep into the fire circle. Before twenty people could react, they were hit by the sweeping vines. These people spat blood and were swept out of the fire circle. Then, the vines at the treants' feet grabbed these people and pulled them to their feet, wrapping around their legs. These soldiers were all captured and became prisoners. Some died from the attacks, while others were still alive but inevitably suffered fractures.
"Everyone be careful not to be hit by these vines!" Guo Pinming shouted loudly.
At this time, over twenty treants were swinging their vines, as if they were sweeping the floor. The people in the fire circle were like garbage being swept away. As soon as someone was swept out of the circle, they would be immediately grabbed by the vines.
The soldiers quickly dodged the treants' sweeps. Most of them hid under the trucks. The heavy trucks could not be swept away by the vines, so hiding under the trucks was the safest option.
Unfortunately, the space under the trucks was also very limited. Only a few hundred soldiers successfully hid under the trucks and were not swept out of the circle. None of the soldiers swept out of the circle escaped; all were caught by the vines. The treants had many people bound to them, like scales on a fish, one stacked on top of another, all bound to their bodies.
Guo Pinming looked at the soldiers on the treants' bodies, his heart aching. These soldiers were brave warriors, but now they were being captured one by one. Some were dead, and some were still alive, constantly calling for help.
"Minister, save me, Minister, I don't want to die!" a soldier bound by vines shouted for help. At this moment, he could do nothing but call for help.
Guo Pinming recognized him as Zhou Hai, who had fought alongside him. Now he was captured by a treant. Seeing this, he immediately rushed forward, wanting to save him.
"Don't be afraid, I'm coming to save you!" Guo Pinming shouted loudly and then charged forward, heading straight for the treant that had bound Zhou Hai.
"Fool, don't go!" Jin Zijue shouted loudly. "You can't defeat him!"
Guo Pinming ignored the dissuasion. He knew that these soldiers were led by him. He had thought it was a sure victory, but it had resulted in this crisis. The soldiers were captured one by one, and he had to take responsibility for this situation because it was the consequence of his wrong decision!
Guo Pinming grabbed the side of a truck with one hand, and the side of the truck began to melt. In an instant, his body was covered in steel. Steel armor formed on his body, and a shining steel saber appeared in his hand.
At this time, Guo Pinming used the steel from the truck to create armor and weapons, giving him defense and lethality in close combat.
Guo Pinming actively rushed out of the fire circle, his steel saber cutting through the vines. No vine could get close to Guo Pinming, and even though he was wearing armor, his movements were swift and unhindered.
"Be careful!" Jin Zijue shouted a reminder.
At this moment, a treant's arm swept over, bringing with it countless vines. Guo Pinming leaped up, avoiding the vines and the treant's arm. Then, Guo Pinming's steel saber swung towards the treant's head. With a "clang," the steel saber broke on the spot, and the tree burl only had a shallow mark.
"How can this be?" Guo Pinming was surprised that the treant was so hard that even his steel saber broke. What should he do?
Just then, dozens of vines wrapped around Guo Pinming's body. Guo Pinming quickly controlled his armor to cover his entire body, even his face. At this moment, he was completely like a medieval knight, his entire body encased in armor, with no part exposed. If one word could describe Guo Pinming's appearance now, it would be an iron turtle.
The vines completely wrapped around the armor but could not harm Guo Pinming. Hiding inside the armor, Guo Pinming was extremely anxious but helpless. If he removed his armor now, the only consequence would be to be crushed to death by the vines.
The treant reached out and grabbed Guo Pinming, who was trapped in the vines, lifted him high, and then slammed him forcefully onto the ground. "Thump," the armor hit the ground heavily, stirring up a lot of dust. Guo Pinming, inside the armor, spat blood.
"Thump, thump..." The treant lifted the armor and smashed it onto the ground more than ten times. The armor could protect against sharp objects, but facing such heavy impacts, Guo Pinming could not withstand it. He was only a second-tier ability user, and after being smashed so many times, he immediately fell into a coma.
Seeing this, Jin Zijue shook his head slightly and whispered, "What a reckless fool! It seems I can only escape alone now!"
Layers of electric arcs appeared on Jin Zijue's body, emitting a "crackling" sound. He aimed for the gaps between the treants and charged rapidly. He knew very well that if he stayed here any longer, he would definitely be captured. It was better to let these soldiers attract the enemy's attention, and as long as he could escape, he would eventually find an opportunity to counterattack.
As Jin Zijue rushed out of the fire circle, countless vines wrapped around him, but upon encountering the electric arcs on Jin Zijue's body, they were instantly pushed away. This was Jin Zijue's ultimate move. Anything that approached him would be repelled by the electric arcs on his body, so he had escaped death multiple times using this move. The barrier formed by dozens of electric arcs on Jin Zijue's body was enough to protect him from harm, because anything that approached him would be repelled.