Translator: AnubisTL
At that moment—
In the conference room, a man hesitated before speaking, "Shouldn't we seize this opportunity to request authorization to launch the x19 Dongfeng Missile?"
"We've already pinpointed the human player's approximate location."
"A single missile strike would eliminate the threat permanently."
"Absolutely not!"
The elder's face hardened as he coldly retorted, "I refuse to expend such a massive amount of resources to activate the x19 Dongfeng Missile launch authorization merely to kill a single alien player."
"The mechanical race is different from other races."
"We must accumulate sufficient merit points to unlock enough weapons during the Hundred Races War, allowing our mechanical race to slaughter other races like gods of death."
"The x19 Dongfeng Missile is meant for the Hundred Races War, not for eliminating a single alien player, no matter how powerful they may be."
"Understood!"
Seeing the Leader's firm refusal, the man who had made the suggestion dared not press further, nodding in resignation.
In truth, the Leader's initial reasoning was sound.
Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that allowing this human player to continue growing unchecked would be disastrous.
According to the footage transmitted by the first wave of enforcers who died in the wasteland, the human player hadn't possessed such overwhelming firepower back then—and that was less than a day ago.
The firepower in the human player's hands had undergone a complete transformation in that short time.
In theory, if they had unlocked the artillery corps, a few coordinated volleys targeting the human player's location should have resolved the problem.
But the problem was...
City 18 hadn't unlocked the artillery corps.
In the early days, rifles, machine guns, and artillery could all easily slaughter the human forces that had descended near them.
Naturally, mass-unlocking production rights for rifles and machine guns had seemed far more cost-effective.
Now, unlocking the artillery corps was too late.
After unlocking the artillery production rights, the factories would still need to manufacture the cannons, a process complicated by casting and other intricate steps. By the time the first artillery piece was completed, a full seven days would have passed.
To assemble a proper artillery corps, at least a month would be required.
The mechanical race's innate ability was:
[Item Creation!]
They were the only race among the hundred races capable of creating items.
To obtain items, there were only two methods: kill mutated beasts or acquire them from the mechanical race.
However, before creating items, one needed to unlock the crafting permissions.
Unlocking these permissions required merit points, which could only be earned by killing alien races.
At that moment—
Fei Yiming, sitting in a corner, lowered his head, his expression shifting between dark and uncertain, without uttering a word.
No one paid him any attention, nor did they care whether he spoke or not.
But he cared.
He had been the strongest advocate for unlocking the x19 Dongfeng Missile permission and directly bombarding the human player.
Because if that player didn't die within 24 hours, Fei Yiming would be the one to face death.
He didn't know how many merit points City 18 had in reserve.
But he knew that when the Ten Thousand Races Arena began, City 18 had indeed amassed a large number of merit points by slaughtering humans. However, unlocking item crafting permissions had also consumed a significant portion of those points.
Especially the energy shield and the Spiderweb Air Defense System, both of which required vast quantities of merit points.
It wasn't a one-time expenditure.
It was a constant drain, as long as it remained active.
Each rocket launched and every layer of the energy shield were purchased with merit points.
Fei Yiming worried that if the army City 18 had dispatched failed to kill the human player and he escaped, his own life would be forfeit.
No!
A flicker of madness flashed in Fei Yiming's eyes. He had to unlock the x19 Dongfeng Missile authorization. But... the military base had been bombed beyond recognition. Could the missile silos still be intact?
Judging by the Leader's earlier conversation, City 18 must have a hidden x19 Dongfeng Missile launch silo somewhere.
The Leader simply didn't want to activate it.
Fei Yiming took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
There was still plenty of time left on the 24-hour countdown. After all, even the initial six hours of the Heaven's Eye Pursuit Order hadn't elapsed yet. He was probably overreacting.
But if... when the 24-hour countdown was nearing its end, the human player was still alive, and the Leader still refused to activate the x19 Dongfeng Missile, he wouldn't be held responsible for what he did.
Meanwhile, outside City 18, on a small hill a kilometer from the military base, Chen Jiang and Scar Dog stood beside a turret, watching the rockets launched from within the city collide with their artillery shells and detonate in mid-air.
"I have to admit," Scar Dog said, shaking his head, "the mechanical race in City 18 isn't easy to deal with. These rockets exploding in the sky look just like fireworks during the Lunar New Year."
"To be honest, it's kind of nostalgic."
"Ever since Blue Star banned fireworks, we haven't seen such a spectacular display across an entire city."
"Should we retreat first?"
"Retreat?" Chen Jiang shook his head. "There are still a lot of rockets being launched."
"Historically, air defense always requires more resources than offense."
"City 18 is just a small town. I refuse to believe they have that many rockets in reserve. They've already launched tens of thousands in just one minute."
"I just can't believe City 18 has that many rockets!"
"Throw over those semi-scrapped items."
"Reduce the turret's recoil a bit. We'll mount it on the vehicle and give them a proper show."
The military base was essentially destroyed, so there was no need for further bombardment.
Next, they would circle the perimeter of City 18, targeting densely populated residential areas for systematic bombardment.
The previous bombardment had lasted a total of three minutes.
Ammunition consumption totaled 9,570 rounds.
The Steel Sword Autonomous Turret still had 54,430 rounds remaining.
"54,430 rounds / 81,000 rounds."
This was roughly enough for about 18 minutes of continuous firing at full rate.
Fortunately, there was no need to worry about the turret's barrel overheating.
This meant that once his ammunition ran out, he would have to wait 24 hours for it to replenish.
This 24-hour period would create a firepower vacuum, leaving him in an extremely vulnerable position.
The energy cartridges for energy weapons replenished after 24 hours, but not from the moment the first bullet was fired. Instead, there were two types of replenishment mechanisms:
The first type: After 24 hours of inactivity, regardless of how much ammunition remained in the cartridge, it would be fully replenished.
The second type: Once the cartridge was completely depleted, it would begin automatically replenishing, reaching full capacity after 24 hours.
This meant that if Chen Jiang stopped bombarding City 18, the city would undoubtedly retaliate with overwhelming force in its fury.
However—
Chen Jiang glanced at the human merit shop.
There, a conspicuous item caught his eye.
[Item Name]: Energy Cartridge Replenishment Gun
[Item Tier]: One-Star Item
[Item Effect]: Aim this gun at the energy cartridge of your energy weapon and fire to instantly restore the cartridge to its peak state.
[Item Description]: As you know, instantly recharging an energy cartridge is far more costly than letting it replenish naturally, so you should understand why this item isn't cheap.
[Item Price]: 1000 human merit points.
Chen Jiang's current merit point balance was 1234.
Sufficient to purchase one Energy Cartridge Replenishment Gun.
In theory, if he could manage to kill 1000 aliens with a single volley from his Steel Sword Autonomous Turret, earning 1000 merit points, his turret could maintain an infinite ammunition supply.
While the human merit shop offered many valuable items, spending such a large number of merit points on an Energy Cartridge Replenishment Gun might seem wasteful.
However, given his current situation, this item, though not the most cost-effective, was undoubtedly the most suitable.
Chen Jiang looked up at City 18 through the smoke and suddenly laughed.
"Now, let's enjoy this magnificent fireworks display."
(End of the Chapter)
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