Free Web NovelChapter 2312: Chapter 2314: Timely Rain
Qu Majidan is a reservist soldier in Xiajing City, fifty-five years old this year. After retiring from the army, he returned to Xiajing City, where he was born and raised.
His ancestors were members of the pioneering Frontier Star, which made it impossible for him to develop on other planets. Theoretically, children born on Frontier Stars, without special reasons, could only return to their hometown.
If it weren’t for this, everyone would be drawn to safety and comfort, choosing planets closer to the center of the Human Race. However, residents in the Frontier Star area can enjoy excellent welfare and subsidies, which is the motivation for everyone to stay here.
This star system hadn’t been invaded by the Insect Race for twenty years, so now those wishing to migrate here have to make some connections. But this time, the large-scale invasion by the Insect Race has changed everything.
Originally just a reservist, Qu Majidan was now enlisted. Because of his military combat experience, he became a squad leader among the reservists—similar to a sergeant on Earth.
Now, his squad is at the forefront of the Insect Race invasion, with three combat fortresses holding their ground. One has already been destroyed, and the second fortress is in a precarious position.
Seeing two golden beetles suddenly appear from the enemy, Qu Majidan shouted, "Gauss machine gun... Stop those two slime beetles, Fortress Number Two prepare for evacuation."
"Let Xiao Gao leave," someone from Fortress Number Two shouted through the intercom, "I’m done for. It’ll be satisfying to take a few bugs with me."
"Old Ge, didn’t you just lose a leg?" Qu Majidan shouted back loudly. With the Xingzheng Main Star’s medical advancement, losing a leg isn’t a big problem. Smart Prosthesis Technology is already very mature. If you truly have the wealth, you can even consider spending large sums for limb regeneration.
That’s why he hoped Old Ge wouldn’t act impulsively, "Now there are only six left from eleven. You need to follow orders and retreat!"
"My other leg is gone too," Old Ge answered casually, as if discussing someone else’s affairs, "And there’s a big wound on my belly. No need to waste medical resources, I’ll spare some for you."
Qu Majidan was momentarily speechless; though he was the squad leader, Old Ge had served as a lieutenant company commander during his military days. But he once lost his way in battle, and though he eventually led his unit back, he was held accountable and had to retire in resignation.
Old Ge is over ninety years old now, and in a Human Race society with an average lifespan of 150 years, he’s considered "middle-aged," which is why the squad leader position fell to Qu Majidan while Old Ge, with his rich experience, acted as his assistant squad leader.
"I know you’re worried about the wounded transport issue," Qu Majidan took a deep breath, controlling certain emotions in his chest, and spoke slowly. "No problem, you can retreat to my fortress first. I’m not retreating any further... We’ll meet our fate together."
"No need," Old Ge answered lightly, "I’ll take a last stand, can take down a few, and hopefully wait for reinforcements... I’m counting on you to help me get a martyr’s status!"
As the two talked, outside the fortress came a series of light, continuous sounds like "scht, scht, scht," as if the wind was blowing. In fact, it was the only rapid-fire heavy weapon in this squad—a Gauss machine gun.
With the firepower composed of a reservist army, it’s like this. In an official military unit, a squad would have at least one main and two secondary Gauss machine guns, but the local forces’ equipment isn’t up to that standard.
"Hmm?" The next moment, the Gauss machine gun abruptly stopped. Then a young female voice came through the headset again, "Assistant gunner head injury, confirmed unable to continue fighting. Xiao Ai requests to use the machine gun."
"Don’t mess around!" Qu Majidan shouted, "You’re still a kid!"
Xiao Ai is his cousin niece, a situation common in immigrant stars. Most families have five to ten children, and after a few generations, they’re unimaginably large families.
Xiao Ai is still in college, has never served in the military. Only during high school and college admission did she undergo three months of military training altogether, and was enlisted as a reservist and female soldier.
Xiao Ai does have a good shooting talent, but the location of the Gauss machine gun is also an area with an extremely high risk of death.
However, Xiao Ai’s application to use it is, in a sense, just a reporting procedure. Having such a big weapon on the battlefield, not using it would be foolish. Even if Qu Majidan voiced his objection, he couldn’t change her actions.
The next moment, the sound of "scht, scht, scht" blowing began again, effectively suppressing the two slime beetles, preventing them from flying or struggling through their attack.
"Can I live a few more minutes?" Old Ge murmured quietly, slowly organizing the weapons beside him. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
But then a tall young man quickly rushed in, "Grandpa Ge..."
"I told you to get lost, didn’t I?" Old Ge glanced sideways at him. His forehead was wrapped in thick bandages, and the blood flowing made it difficult for his left eye to see. He had excellent hemostatic agents by his side, but this was on the battlefield.
With a head injury, you must use hemostatic medicine cautiously. If the brain nerves are numbed, it’s basically count as a combat unit casualty.
But Old Ge still recognized the visitor; it was Xiao Gao, who had just been called back. In fact, even if he were blind, he could tell it was this little rascal just by the footsteps.
"Outside, outside... it’s raining!" Xiao Gao pointed outside the fortress, so thrilled that he stuttered a bit.
The Human Race Command Center would be very cautious about rain, but for soldiers on the frontline, discovering rain is a joyous affair. Rain will increase the difficulty of defense, but it will exponentially increase the difficulty for the attackers.
"Is it?" Old Ge wiped his left eye with his good right hand and looked outside through the goggles, "Well, it really is raining. Maybe we can actually hold out until reinforcements arrive... Quickly switch to thermal imaging mode." fгeewebnovёl.com
"If only it could rain until nightfall," Xiao Gao sighed as well, "We just need to hold until midnight... right?"
Reservists are still reservists, cannot be used as regular troops. Their tactical skills, organization ability, battlefield coordination, even will to fight, are all slightly less than regular troops. They can be used for interception, but not to the point of recklessness.
"Midnight?" A strange smile appeared on Old Ge’s face, and with his face covered in blood, he looked a bit fierce, "Reinforcements, huh? It’d be good enough if they can arrive... after all, the whole line is in battle, isn’t it?"
Just then, there was a dull thud outside the fortress, "thump," followed by two more thuds.
"Momentum Laser Gun?" As a veteran, Old Ge had excellent hearing, and the expression on his face grew even stranger, "Is it really reinforcements?"
As soon as the rain started, Yi Jue and others began their actions. Since the Human Cultivators were mostly at the Nascent Soul level, their Divine Senses were undoubtedly strong. The Golden Core Insectoids couldn’t detect their tracks, clearly an asymmetric warfare.
True Immortal Huo Liu wanted Feng Jun to guard the Rain Prayer Array—even with the Hidden Formation, if a Nascent Soul Insectoid focused on it, some trouble could come if the Spiritual Energy were detected.
But Feng Jun simply refused, saying, "I can only stay here for a day in total. You must allow me to take a look around."
Though he was only at the Initial Golden Core Stage, True Immortal Huo Liu couldn’t force him, so he reluctantly sighed.
Yi Jue and others primarily hunted Golden Core Insectoids. However, when they encountered Insectoids in the Nascent Range, they wouldn’t hold back on ammunition. Many times, they left behind Nascent Range Insectoid corpses to create the impression that the Human Race Army had sniped them.
Feng Jun did not specifically target the Golden Core Insectoids. With his strength, Golden Core Insectoids wouldn’t be too difficult to handle, but the Paralysis Talismans were ultimately limited. The Big Boss gave him talismans primarily for self-preservation, not for him to go around hunting prey.
So he wielded a portable plasma cannon, navigating through the rain, sniping Insectoids at will as he encountered them.
The portable plasma cannon was more powerful than Yi Jue’s momentum laser gun; even Nascent Range beetles couldn’t withstand it. The downside, however, was its slow firing rate, which could easily give away his position.
In fact, the management of such a cannon is also quite strict. To prevent it from being captured by Insectoids for use against humans, the weapon itself came with password recognition and a self-destruct mechanism. Yi Jue acquired this freely usable cannon during intense combat on the eighth Mining Star.
Of course, there are certainly stories within about why it could be used freely, but since Yi Jue didn’t say, Feng Jun didn’t ask. In any case, he just killed as many Insectoids as he could to let the weapon’s original owner rest in peace.
Apart from the plasma cannon, Feng Jun also had a Gauss machine gun and a momentum laser gun. It wasn’t that these weapons were dime a dozen, but due to the immense casualties among Human Warriors in this battle, Yi Jue and other cultivators had the opportunity to gather these kinds of weapons.
For Feng Jun, he could freely switch between weapons, and was not in short supply of ammunition for the moment. So, he transformed into the grim reaper in the torrential rain, relying on his vastly superior Divine Sense to casually snipe one Insectoid after another.
He didn’t just kill any Insectoid he saw but chose those above the Nascent Range; as for the Qi Refinement Realm Insectoids, the Human Warriors could more or less still hold them off by fighting to the death. With the Nascent Range, it required not only piling on human lives but also sufficiently powerful weapons.
After nightfall, the rain lessened significantly. To Feng Jun’s confusion, not only did the Human Race not intervene in the rain reduction, but even the Insect Race didn’t seem to interfere; for this, he particularly sought out True Immortal Huo Liu again, who also expressed his puzzlement.
He wandered around until dawn, having sniped over eight hundred Nascent Insectoids. As the sky began to brighten, and with the rain showing a tendency to increase, a sudden thought struck him: why not take a look inside Xiajing City?
With a population of over six million, Xiajing City had a vast expanse, with the main city covering over a thousand square kilometers. Including the suburbs, it extended nearly ten thousand square kilometers. There were plenty of tall buildings, but also many independent courtyards suitable for large families.
On the streets of the main city, there was hardly a soul to be seen. Occasionally a few low-hovering vehicles would pass by, most of them appearing to be military vehicles.
With an umbrella in hand, Feng Jun had only just set foot on the main city street when he felt an energy beam tightly locking onto him.
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