In Clearford Compound’s Military Command Center...
"General Cross," Colonel Mitchell reported in a low, heavy voice, "pretty much all the mines we planted have already gone off. Those mutant beasts are less than six miles from the compound now."
"Mm." General Cross nodded grimly.
"The Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platform—are they ready?"
"Ready!"
"Then deploy the Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platform," General Cross said without hesitation.
"Yes, sir!"
Colonel Mitchell nodded and strode out at a near jog.
By now, people inside the compound were starting to panic.
Especially after the military rolled out not one, but two Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platforms—weapons everyone treated like the ultimate trump card. The second those things appeared, even the slowest folks realized how bad the situation had gotten.
Still... seeing those two enormous platforms standing there, the compound’s residents couldn’t help feeling a little steadier.
No one doubted their firepower.
This parallel world didn’t have nukes or strategic missiles. The Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platform was considered one of the most powerful weapons in existence.
Out on the approach, when Sophia finally spotted that familiar, towering wall in the distance, a cold smile curled across her face.
They’d eaten dirt the whole way, sure—but they’d still made it.
She’d gone through inhuman suffering.
Now it was ti to make the won inside suffer too.
By this point, Sophia’s mind had twisted into sothing ugly.
And then—
Two objects streaked toward them at terrifying speed, dragging flas behind them.
Sophia’s face flashed white with shock.
"Dodge!" she shouted, then instantly dove into the Titan Ape leader’s arms.
The Titan Apes hadn’t even processed what she ant before the two shells dropped in.
BOOM—! BOOM—!
Two thunderous explosions slamd the ground. Dirt and debris blasted skyward, and a choking wall of smoke swallowed the entire area.
Up on the wall, Chris and the others had borrowed binoculars from the military. Watching the distant scene, they could only click their tongues.
"That’s insane," Sean breathed. "Military really is military. That Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platform is brutal."
"Never underestimate what the military can do," Mia said, her face tight. "Even in the apocalypse, they’ve got stockpiles you can’t imagine. Atlas City has no fewer than thirty of those."
"Hiss..."
"No wonder people say Atlas City has stabilized already," soone muttered. "Holding the line in a massive city with over seven million people... it is the capital of the Atlas Federation for a reason."
Chris turned to Garrick. "What do you think—if that hits you, can you take it?"
"I’m not sure," Garrick said after a mont’s thought. "You can’t really asure sothing like that without feeling it firsthand. But I’ve got a bad feeling the center of the blast would be too much. The outer area... I might be able to handle."
Chris nodded slowly.
"Then that ans this thing can kill a Tier 9 powerhouse."
On a road several miles from the blast zone, one man and eight white-furred apes were moving at full speed...
The sudden thunder of explosions startled them too.
Ethan frowned, then snapped at the white-furred apes behind him, "They’ve already started fighting over there. I’m going ahead—hurry up and catch up!"
With that, Ethan vanished from where he stood—one Teleportation—and reappeared 2,000 feet away. He imdiately tossed a crystal core into his mouth to refill his energy, then used Teleportation again, blinking out of the white-furred apes’ sight.
"Roooar..." The white-furred apes instantly grew anxious and charged after him.
Don’t you dare run off. If you leave, who’s going to grill at for us?
Back at the impact site, the smoke cleared quickly. Everyone looked over at once.
A massive crater had been gouged into the ground.
Inside it, Titan Ape corpses lay scattered in every direction.
Out of the original four hundred-plus, only about sixty were still standing.
Every Titan Ape Tier 8 and below had been blown apart. Dozens of Tier 9s were dead too, and the ones still alive were badly injured.
By now, the city wall was packed with people. Plenty of them had binoculars, and when they saw monsters surviving that kind of bombardnt, their faces filled with disbelief.
"What Tier are those things?! Even the Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platform couldn’t kill them!"
"No idea. Probably Tier 9 or higher."
"Are you kidding —that many Tier 9s?!"
"I’m not kidding. The military’s said before the Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platform is enough to kill a Tier 9 powerhouse. If these mutant beasts can live through getting hit by it, they’re absolutely not below Tier 9!"
"..."
General Cross and the others could only sigh. They’d expected sothing like this... but it was still hard to accept.
Those mutant beasts had been right in the center of the blast, and that many were still alive.
"Reload. Keep firing!" General Cross ordered without hesitation.
"Yes, sir!"
Soldiers imdiately heaved the prepared shells up and started loading again.
At the center of the crater...
The Titan Ape leader stared at its fallen pack, rage boiling in its eyes.
Their tribe hadn’t been large to begin with. After this, they’d basically been knocked into "endangered species" territory.
When it had first seen the zombies in this world, the Titan Ape leader had looked down on everything with pure contempt.
It had even imagined using the females here to spread its bloodline and build its tribe into sothing unstoppable.
But it hadn’t even been in this world for a single day, and it had already taken losses this horrific—practically wiped out.
How could it not be furious?
"ROOOOOAR—!"
The Titan Ape leader bellowed, then charged, leading a group of Tier 10 Titan Apes in a mad sprint toward the compound.
And then—
Two more flaming shells ca screaming in.
This ti, they were smarter. They dove away imdiately, throwing themselves down as the shells landed.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two more earth-shaking detonations. Smoke and grit swallowed the area again.
Everyone held their breath, waiting to see what was left...
And then nine mutant beasts burst out of the smoke and kept charging toward the compound at full speed.
"—!!!"
On the wall, people’s eyes went wide.
As the Titan Apes closed in, even those without binoculars could finally make out their shapes. A wave of cold dread went through the crowd.
"Holy shit... what are those things? I’ve never seen anything like them!"
"No clue. Don’t tell gorillas mutated?"
"Bullshit. Mutations might make animals bigger, but they don’t turn them into that!"
"Then where’d they co from?!"
"How would I know?!"
Inside the command center, General Cross and the others felt their hearts sink.
"Looks like we’re doing this the hard way," General Cross said, letting out a rough breath.
He turned sharply. "Notify the combat units. Deploy imdiately! We must stop them outside the compound. We can’t let them break in!"
"Yes, sir!"
Colonel Mitchell answered at once—then personally led ten thousand soldiers out of the compound, taking position 1,500 feet beyond the wall.
Every one of them was braced for battle, weapons clenched tight, ready to die if it ca to that.
They knew exactly what they were facing. They also knew their firepower might not even scratch the enemy’s skin.
Not one of them backed down anyway.
Because if they broke, the hundreds of thousands—no, over a million people behind them would be exposed to those terrifying mutant beasts.
And then the entire compound would turn into a slaughterhouse.
They were soldiers. Their job was to stand between the enemy and the people behind them.
No matter the cost, they would hold the line.
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