Although the sandstorm had passed, there was still a strong wind blowing.
Tiny gravel and sand struck my face with a sharp sound, forcing me to pull up my cloak to shield myself.
We were now lying prone on a sand dune, using the Madman’s extraordinary vision to observe the Saint Assembly camp a thousand meters away.
This camp was the one I had been thinking about all along—the camp with the large Jamming Tower.
If we could destroy it, the Interception Circle would have a gap, allowing us to make contact with the outside.
I glanced at my watch.
It was 2:10 PM.
Leng Qiongling should have started negotiations by now, so it was time for us to act.
“Okay. Let’s move.”
“Understood.”
The three members beside me stood up and lightly brushed the sand off their clothes.
The plan was as follows: Xi Si Te would draw the attention of the Saint Assembly in the camp, while Hai Shi would locate their Anti-Air Device and destroy it.
Then, Ou Mi You could snipe the Jamming Tower from a distance.
Although this might be overkill, I now realized that we didn’t actually know much about the true strength of the Saint Assembly.
Almost all the intelligence we had was brought back by Mora.
And now Mora was imprisoned, and… I felt something was off.
Xi Si Te slid down the slope of the sand dune, leaving a long scar on it with the double-headed scythe in her hand, but it was soon buried by the yellow sand behind.
Hai Shi, on the other hand, approached from the side, almost as if surfing on the sand sea, reaching the camp wall.
After confirming that Xi Si Te was also close to the wall, and after verifying with each other, Hai Shi planned to sneak into the camp from a place where no Saint Assembly members were patrolling.
And Xi Si Te, seeing that Hai Shi had found a path, also prepared to make a big scene.
She raised the double-headed scythe high and cut the wall in half with a horizontal slash.
Sand, gravel, and fabric exploded outward, then were blown away by the wind pressure.
As soon as she cut open the camp wall and was about to charge in, Xi Si Te suddenly felt a violent tremor, as if the entire ground was being shaken.
Then she saw that the ground, which had been covered by yellow sand, revealed a metallic luster.
They were launch silos.
Extending from them were not rockets, but modified ground-attack launch platforms.
From the pitch-black muzzles, blinding flashes of fire burst out.
In less than three seconds, over two thousand shells were fired from hundreds of launch platforms, raising the air around Xi Si Te to several thousand degrees.
The area within a kilometer was nearly blasted to dust.
Countless crushed gravel and sand drifted helplessly in the air.
Nearly half of those shells landed directly on Xi Si Te’s face, chest, and limbs.
In an instant, she was covered by the bombardment.
Dense black smoke shrouded everyone’s heads.
“Xi Si Te!”
Hai Shi, who was already standing on the wall, saw that Xi Si Te was engulfed by the crazy bombardment in an instant.
She immediately turned around and ran toward Xi Si Te.
Even a Madman, after suffering such a terrifying artillery barrage, could not remain unscathed as before.
A volley from fifty rocket vehicles was enough to put a Madman on alert.
And two thousand shells fired in such a short time were almost enough to kill a Madman.
On Hai Shi’s route, the same situation as Leng Qiongling’s side occurred.
Countless black shadows flew out from underground, bringing up sand to form pillars.
Almost at the same time, hundreds of sand pillars appeared.
The creatures within each pillar were evolved beings capable of killing a squad of soldiers—Daizer.
This was a special evolved form native to the desert region.
It looked similar to a scorpion but had no tail.
Instead, it had two spikes on its head, whose strength could even pierce vehicle armor.
It also showed extremely strong survival ability, posing a high threat to vehicles traveling in the desert.
Now they all appeared together here.
It was clearly not a coincidence.
They were following the orders of the Saint Assembly, having been ambushed here long ago.
“Ugh! Annoying…”
Hai Shi’s left hand hooked the ring.
Once, twice.
The chainsaw in her hand began to boil and roar.
Its thirst for blood made it furious now.
The Daizer swarm encircled Hai Shi.
Their numbers, though not enough to threaten Hai Shi’s life, were sufficient to delay her.
Hai Shi’s chainsaw kept roaring in her hand.
The high-speed spinning teeth collided with the Daizer’s armor.
Although it could still damage them, it was difficult to cut them in half.
Only after sawing through the armor could she tear into the flesh inside.
This undoubtedly slowed Hai Shi down.
Looking at Xi Si Te’s position, still shrouded in black smoke and unclear, Hai Shi felt somewhat anxious.
The ominous feeling in my heart had become reality, making me a bit dizzy.
“Not only did they anticipate our actions, they even guessed the direction of our attack…”
“Captain? What should we do now?”
Ou Mi You put down the long rifle she was holding and looked into the distance at the positions of the two.
I patted my forehead.
Although I really didn’t want to return empty-handed, we might really have to reevaluate the Saint Assembly.
The firepower just now was almost close to that of a regular army division.
“Retreat.”
“Got it. I’ll carry those two back. I just wonder if any parts of Xi Si Te’s body are scattered everywhere…”
“No, no, no. Don’t say that. Go and come back quickly. I don’t know how Leng Qiongling is doing over there. She might have been ambushed too. I hope they’re all safe.”
Ou Mi You almost flew in a straight line from the sand dune toward the camp.
The strong wind pressure blew away the lingering black smoke.
The burnt smell made Ou Mi You frown in discomfort.
“Let me see. Oh, oh, found it, found it. Doesn’t seem like anything’s missing. Good. Otherwise I’d have to go looking—what a hassle.”
Ou Mi You hoisted Xi Si Te’s body onto her shoulder.
Although she appeared dead, Xi Si Te’s body still retained the biological characteristics of a living being, as if she were just asleep.
“Hey, hey, Hai Shi. Time to pack up.”
Hearing Ou Mi You shouting from afar, Hai Shi pouted instinctively.
Although unwilling, spending too much time here was pointless.
The Mad Beasts could never be completely wiped out.
But despite knowing that, Hai Shi still couldn’t swallow her anger.
Seeing that Hai Shi wasn’t listening, Ou Mi You scratched her head, charged straight into the Daizer swarm to Hai Shi’s side, punched her on the head, and hoisted her onto her shoulder.
“Alright, Captain. Retrieval complete.”
“Okay, okay, okay. But let’s not use the word ‘retrieval,’ okay?”
“Alright. So what do we do now?”
“Let’s head back first. Wait for news from Leng Qiongling.”
Ou Mi You threw the two onto our borrowed off-road vehicle like cargo, then jumped into the passenger seat.
I started the engine and looked back at the camp in the distance.
Beside hundreds of giant metal structures stood a frail man.
He looked straight ahead, but his eyes were glancing at us.
‘He’s provoking me.’
‘So infuriating.’
“You got away with this time, but I’ll pay you back double later,” I gritted my teeth and said in a low voice.