Chapter 72 Fight to the bitter end! The absolute declaration of independence for Star Fortress
Outside the iron gate, the so-called "official requisition team" craned their necks, staring intensely at the towering titanium alloy walls of Star Fortress.
Under the sweltering heat of over sixty degrees Celsius, this massive black metal wall radiated a suffocating sense of oppression.
But in the eyes of Scarface and his group, this was simply a glittering mountain of gold!
"Boss, this tortoise shell looks damn tough. Can our few crappy guns really do anything?" A sweating subordinate with yellow hair nearby swallowed hard, feeling a bit intimidated.
Scarface slapped the back of the yellow-haired man's head and cursed, "What the hell do you know! Don't you see what kind of skin I'm wearing?"
He tugged at the crumpled, blood-stained camouflage uniform he was wearing. This was something they had managed to strip off only after killing several real rescue team members.
"In The Apocalypse, this skin is an imperial decree! So what if these cowards have food and guns? They're still just commoners!"
Scarface spat a glob of yellow phlegm onto the ground, his eyes gleaming with greedy, vicious light. "As long as they dare to open the door, I'll crush them with the charge of betraying humanity!"
"By then, the supplies and women inside will all belong to us brothers!"
The more Scarface spoke, the more excited he became, as if he could already see the happy days of cuddling women in an air-conditioned room.
He raised the megaphone in his hand, cleared his throat, and prepared for another round of psychological warfare.
"Listen up, people inside! My patience is limited!"
"If you don't open the door, you are going against all of humanity! It's a capital offense!"
"I'm counting to three—"
Before Scarface could even shout "one," a faint sound of a motor turning suddenly came from above.
"Hum—" The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the silent valley.
Scarface paused, instinctively looking up.
On the balcony at the very top of The Fortress, a slender, tall figure appeared out of nowhere. Lin Xingwan was wearing a black tight-fitting tactical vest.
She rested her hands on the railing, looking down at the clowns below from a position of superiority. Even from a distance of dozens of meters, Scarface could feel the coldness and mockery in that woman's eyes. It was as if she were looking at a group of dead people.
"Yo, finally willing to show your face?" Scarface felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of unease, but then he reminded himself that he represented the "official" side, and his confidence stiffened again. He raised the megaphone and shouted at the balcony.
"Little lady, you're quite the looker!"
"Open the door, be a good girl and come with me, and I'll make sure you live in luxury at the shelter!" The lackeys below burst into laughter, their filthy language endless.
Lin Xingwan didn't speak. She didn't even have the interest to pick up a megaphone to argue with them. Wasting even a single word on trash like this was a waste of breath.
She simply lifted her right hand nonchalantly and made a pressing-down gesture toward the beat-up pickup trucks below.
In the Central Control Room, Lu Ting had been staring fixedly at the screen. Seeing Lin Xingwan's gesture, a flash of excitement exploded in his eyes. "The Boss's lady has given the order! Brothers, get to work!"
He slammed his hand down hard on the red firing button of the fire control system. "Boom!" A highly concealed armor plate on the villa's outer wall instantly popped open.
A micro armor-piercing missile, about the thickness of a forearm, shot out like lightning, trailing a long white plume of smoke! The missile was so fast that it tore through the air with a sharp sonic boom.
"What the hell is that?!" The yellow-haired lackey was scared out of his wits, pointing at the white trail in the sky, his voice cracking.
The lecherous grin on Scarface's face froze completely. His pupils constricted, and only one thought remained in his mind: Is that a damn missile?!
"Run! Run!" He threw away the megaphone and turned to dive under the car. It was too late.
"Boom—!!!" A deafening explosion erupted on the mountainside! The micro armor-piercing missile hit the lead pickup truck where Scarface was located with pinpoint accuracy.
A blindingly huge fireball soared into the sky. The terrifying shockwave, mixed with shards of steel, swept outward like a rainstorm. The two-ton pickup truck was blown directly into two pieces.
The front of the car was blown ten meters into the air, then slammed down heavily, engulfed in roaring flames. As for that arrogant Scarface, he didn't even have time to scream before he was instantly vaporized at the center of the explosion. Not even a complete bone was left behind.
"Ah—! My eyes!"
"Help! My leg is broken!" The aftermath of the explosion knocked the remaining dozen or so people to the ground.
The few thugs close to the blast point were sliced in two by flying shrapnel, their organs spilling all over the ground. Those who were lucky enough to survive were left bleeding from their seven orifices, with perforated eardrums.
They scrambled to their feet, crawling and tumbling, and seeing the hellish scene before them, they were scared out of their minds. Is this the kind of firepower ordinary commoners can have?! This is practically a regular army stationed deep in the mountains!
"Don't kill us! We're leaving! We're leaving right now!" The yellow-haired lackey, covered in blood, scrambled toward the remaining pickup truck that hadn't been destroyed, wailing and crying for his parents.
The remaining remnants didn't care about looting supplies anymore. They scrambled onto the car and floored the gas pedal. The battered pickup truck roared hideously and fled down the mountain like a stray dog, driving like a madman. They were as pathetic in their escape as they were arrogant upon their arrival.
As the smoke cleared, only the crackling sound of the burning car wreckage remained in the valley. Lin Xingwan stood on the balcony, watching coldly as the fleeing pickup truck disappeared from sight.
She did not order a pursuit. Leaving these few survivors was so they could spread the word about what happened today. This was more useful than killing them all.
Huo Yuan had walked onto the balcony at some point and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder, looking at the devastation below.
"Just letting them go like that? Leaving the roots instead of cutting them out isn't your style."
Lin Xingwan chuckled softly and turned her head to bite his chin. "This is called killing the chicken to scare the monkeys."
She pushed Huo Yuan away, walked to the edge of the balcony, and picked up the high-volume megaphone that had been prepared. She pressed the switch.
Lin Xingwan took a deep breath. Her cold, icy voice, carrying the absolute pressure of a monarch, instantly echoed throughout the empty valley via several ultra-high-power speakers. It could even be heard clearly in the city ruins several kilometers away.
"I am the leader of Xingchen Base, Lin Xingwan."
"Tell those hiding in rat holes, plotting against me."
"Xingchen Base will never submit to any official authority, nor will it accept any requisition!"
She paused, the murderous intent in her voice undisguised. "In Xingchen territory, trespassers will die!"
The last four words were like a thunderclap on flat ground, echoing for a long time over the scorching ruins. This was not just a warning to that group of fake rescue teams, but an absolute declaration of independence to the entire The Apocalypse.
From today on, Xingchen Base officially became the most glaring, untouchable thorn in this wasteland.
The megaphone turned off. Lin Xingwan tossed the megaphone aside. "Let's go, it's too hot outside, let's go back and turn on the air conditioning." She clapped her hands and turned, ready to walk back inside.
Just then, Qian Duoduo's voice, filled with extreme terror, suddenly came through the walkie-talkie on Huo Yuan's waist. "Boss! Big Sister! Look at the sky to the northwest!"
"What... what the hell is that thing!"
Lin Xingwan paused. She and Huo Yuan turned their heads simultaneously, looking in the direction Qian Duoduo mentioned.
At the end of the skyline, which had been gray and hazy from the high-temperature baking, a strange, dark red cloud layer had appeared out of nowhere. The clouds were so low that it felt as if they could crush the entire city.
Even more terrifyingly, deep within the clouds, a terrifying, unnatural air vortex was forming. It looked like a massive, awakening eye of the abyss.
"The wind is picking up." Huo Yuan narrowed his eyes, feeling the faint, yet bone-chilling, coolness in the air.
Lin Xingwan looked at the dark red sky, the sense of unease in her heart instantly magnifying. The last month of the extreme heat disaster. Was that super typhoon that destroyed half the Earth finally coming?