Free Web NovelChapter 274: Chapter 268: Taught a Lesson Again
Six Freedom Gundams soared at cruising speed across the Gobi wasteland. The astral winds at high altitude were harsh and cold, but their AT Fields pushed all the violent air currents aside.
The Gundam squadron maintained a tight, hexagonal hunting formation, with five kilometers between each unit.
Their first target was three hundred kilometers away.
Allen’s physical body had its eyes closed, busy with cultivation. A separate sub-thread of his consciousness was traversing the vast distance to directly command the six Freedom Gundams in battle.
Multithreaded operation had now become routine for him, as natural as breathing.
As the two powerful surges of Magic Power in the distance grew closer, the sub-thread issued a command. "Initiate standard pre-engagement procedure."
Two high-altitude Demon Eye IVs adjusted their lenses and locked onto the target area.
In response to the "Eternal Secret Sect metal implant" previously discovered inside the Snail Monster, Allen had worked overnight to develop a brand-new auxiliary screening algorithm.
Beams of high-frequency, resonant Magic Power crisscrossed over the ground below.
The hides of the two chieftain-level Magical Beasts were rendered in minute detail. Analysis of their external morphology and behavior patterns showed no abnormalities.
[Target confirmed clean. No abyssal mechanical modifications.]
’Treat as a conventional target. Commence the operation.’
Half an hour ago, the western Demon Eye reconnaissance network sent back an alert: two "troublesome"-class Magical Beasts had successively entered the region six hundred kilometers northwest of Zone 18.
The first was a giant Molten Core Lizard with a shell of volcanic rock covering its body, its Magic Power fluctuation at 4700. The second was a Rock Armor Earth Dragon with a Magic Power fluctuation of 4100.
The two were about one hundred and twenty kilometers apart, heading in a generally eastward direction. Without intervention, they would enter the western border of the war zone in six days. Allen ordered the six-unit Freedom Gundam squadron to engage immediately, simultaneously dispatching two Demon Eye IVs to move forward and provide a real-time view of the battlefield.
The first to be hit was the Molten Core Lizard with a Magic Power fluctuation of 4700.
It was a behemoth over twenty-five meters long, advancing slowly. A terrifying heat that distorted the very air radiated from its body, making it look incredibly formidable.
Unfortunately, it had no beyond-visual-range strike capability, and its perceptual range was extremely limited.
For a high-level, purely melee-type target like this, death ought to be quick and clean.
’Unit One, release the bomb.’
The pylon on the back of Freedom Gundam Unit One unlocked. The cylindrical "Big Boy" detached from the frame and plummeted downward, pulled by the acceleration of gravity.
The Molten Core Lizard only startled awake when the metal pillar was less than a hundred meters above its head. It opened its massive maw, a searing red light glowing deep within its throat as it tried to spew a breath of molten lava.
But it was too late.
The metal pillar smashed squarely onto its head. Five tons of high-purity Crystallization Seed ore instantly released all their energy.
An overbearing rewrite of the laws of physics descended.
The Molten Core Lizard was frozen in its roaring, head-thrown-back posture. Its dark red scales instantly lost their color, transforming into pure white, transparent crystal.
The blood-red afterglow of the setting sun spilled down, illuminating the one-kilometer-radius crystal basin and refracting into a dazzling glimmer of shattered gold across the ground.
It was beautiful.
And very expensive.
’There goes another hundred thousand—no, three hundred thousand Magic Stones.’ In a break between carving Runes, Allen’s main consciousness glanced at the battle report. The recent losses of Magic Stones had already left him feeling numb.
Although the Neutralizing Force Field had lowered the cost of mining the raw ore, five tons of Crystallization Seed was still a massive asset. His stockpile had only been replenished to eight units. Each one used was one less, so he had to be frugal.
"Squadron, change course. Lock on to Target Two," the sub-thread issued a new command.
One hundred and twenty kilometers away was a Rock Armor Earth Dragon with a Magic Power fluctuation of 4100.
Allen pulled up the real-time intelligence file on this earth dragon. It was about fifteen meters long, with an unremarkable Magic Power reading. Compared to his "old friend" from memory, which had a reading as high as 5850, this was just a rather unimpressive chieftain.
’Probe with conventional firepower. Keep the Ship-Slicing Blades on standby for close combat. Save the Big Boys for more threatening red targets.’
The sub-thread formulated a cost-saving battle plan.
The six Freedom Gundams pushed their engines to maximum output. Ethereal blue particle streams traced six beautiful arcs through the air as they dove straight for the target.
The distance closed to fifty-eight kilometers.
Unit Four’s sensors were the first to capture the target’s outline.
It was resting quietly in a field of rubble, looking as harmless as a large river stone.
The next second, the "river stone" suddenly moved.
Allen’s sub-thread captured the entire process through its optical modules.
Later, when reviewing this moment, he used a term that was highly unbefitting of academic rigor to describe it: slippery.
The earth dragon’s reaction speed was extremely fast.
It didn’t roar at the sky to assert its territorial dominance, nor did it release a gravity field as a deterrent.
It simply got up, did a crisp one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn on the spot, and began frantically digging at the ground with its claws.
The movements were as smooth as flowing water, executed in a single, fluid motion.
The entire process took less than three seconds.
When the six Freedom Gundams arrived at supersonic speed at the target’s last known coordinates, all that was left on the ground was a massive, seven-meter-diameter hole and a fringe of rock shattered by a furious force.
The target had vanished from the surface.
"Target’s depth is continuing to increase. Currently located over one hundred meters underground," Jarvis reported, extrapolating the data from ground vibrations.
Allen’s sub-thread synced the tactical footage back to his main consciousness.
For the first time ever, the sub-thread experienced an emotion: absurdity.
This earth dragon was just too cowardly.
From fifty-eight kilometers away, it had merely sensed the Magic Power fluctuations of the six approaching Freedom Gundams and accurately determined that it stood no chance. Then, it chose to escape in the most efficient and undignified way possible.
There was no hesitation, no indecision, and absolutely no psychological burden like, ’I am a mighty chieftain of a Second-Level Magical Beast! How can I flee without a fight?’
It turned tail and dug, never looking back.
’What a coward.’
Allen evaluated it in his mind. This earth dragon’s survival instinct surpassed that of many conceited Wizards.
But praise aside, a very real tactical problem now lay before him.
The earth dragon was now lurking one hundred and twenty meters deep, tunneling at a high speed of roughly forty kilometers per hour through the hard rock strata.
The six Freedom Gundams with their formidable firepower hovered above the massive pit, staring blankly at each other with nothing to do.
Allen’s Mechanical Mind began rapidly running through strike scenarios.
’Bunker busters?’
’The heavy crystallized bunker busters currently produced by the workshop have a theoretical maximum penetration depth of only eighty meters, not nearly enough to reach a target one hundred and twenty meters deep. Moreover, the earth dragon is constantly moving. The bunker buster’s flight time plus the time it takes to penetrate the rock layer is a good four to five seconds. Trying to lead a high-speed target a hundred meters underground has a near-zero probability of hitting.’
’Big Boys?’
Allen considered it for half a second before completely dismissing the idea. ’The reality-warping erasure of the Crystallization Seed is terrifying, but its effect is severely diminished against targets deep underground. What’s more, using his remaining strategic-level nukes to bomb an earth dragon hell-bent on escaping was appallingly cost-ineffective.’
’Conventional aerial bombs and Crimson Lotus Magic Missiles? A hard pass.’
Allen ran through all the active equipment in his armory in his mind and came to a cold, helpless conclusion:
With his current technology tree and arsenal, he had no effective means of striking a Rock Armor Earth Dragon hidden one hundred and twenty meters underground and constantly on the move.
Fortunately, the Demon Eye IV’s ground-vibration-based monitoring algorithm was already quite mature.
Four Freedom Gundams lowered their altitude, slowly tracking the source of the underground vibrations at a low altitude.
Allen ordered Jarvis to monitor the seismic signals at full power. If the earth dragon ever surfaced to a depth of fifty meters or less, they were to immediately implement saturation fire.
But he also knew in his heart that an earth dragon smart enough to flee from fifty-eight kilometers away couldn’t possibly be stupid enough to pop its head out for a breath of fresh air right under the noses of six steel angels of death.
It would stay hunkered down underground until it was completely out of the danger zone.
"Commander, the target’s direction of travel is stable. It’s heading southeast and has already deviated from the border of Zone 18," Jarvis provided with the latest trajectory prediction.
Southeast.
Allen pulled up the panoramic sand table, watching the red line representing the earth dragon’s path point straight toward a continuous volcanic region.
That was Zone 19.
Allen’s tense nerves relaxed slightly.
He brought up the communications interface and typed out a message. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"Victor, I’ve got a Rock Armor Earth Dragon chieftain with a Magic Power fluctuation of 4100 heading toward your zone with an extreme will to survive. It’s exceptionally good at burrowing and escaping."
After sending the message, Allen thought for a moment and added another line:
"You said before that you built a Level 3 Golem, and that Zone 19 was as solid as a mountain. Well, now’s the time to test the fruits of your family’s investment. Don’t let it get away. I’m counting on you."
Message sent successfully.
The squadron circled in the air for four hours.
The earth dragon consistently remained at a depth of over one hundred meters, maintaining a steady speed as it headed southeast.
Allen finally gave the order to retreat.
"Freedom Gundam squadron, disengage tracking. Return to Zone 18 and await orders."
The six Steel Giants turned, their tails ejecting ethereal blue particle streams as they disappeared over the horizon.
In the main workshop, Allen slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
He wasn’t omnipotent.
He could build Demon Eyes that could survey targets hundreds of miles away from an altitude of twenty thousand meters, Crystal Bombs that could destroy a high-level Magical Beast in a single shot, and falcon-type Flying Golems that could hunt the skies with the speed of a storm.
But he couldn’t hit an earth dragon that turned tail and fled one hundred and twenty meters underground.
"Jarvis, add ’Tracking and Striking High-Speed Subterranean Moving Targets’ to the R&D checklist. Priority: High." Another problem to be solved was added to the ever-growing list.
This world always had a way of reminding you to stay humble.
