78: Chapter 78: First Battle a Victory, Prestige Rises

The wind was still blowing at the top of the dispatch tower, but Chen Wuwang was no longer there.

He stood on the high slope of the Southeast Cliff Zone; beneath his feet was the newly cracked earth, where three bottomless fissures looked as if they had been cleaved by a giant axe, with black smoke rolling out from within.

A smell of rot and rust permeated the air—the unique scent of Spirit Stones being forcibly twisted and refined into power sources for Puppets.

"They're here," he said softly, not to himself, but transmitting to all frontline members through his psionic earpiece. "Execute according to the contingency plan."

Before his voice had even faded, the first wave of enemies rushed out.

Dense swarms of War Puppets crawled out from the cracks in the ground. They were seven feet tall, cast entirely from grey-black ore with dark red runes embedded in their joints, their eyes glowing with a deathly light.

They didn't breathe or pause, stepping out to pounce toward the nearest modular defense base, their movements as synchronized as the afterimages of some ancient military formation.

"Lock targets!" At Chen Wuwang's command, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye instantly deployed a battlefield holographic projection, clearly marking enemy and friendly positions, movement trajectories, and energy fluctuations. "Armband Warning Group, mark Spiritual Pressure anomaly points; Workshop Reserve Group, load the firepower units!"

Buzz—

Three pre-installed defense tower bases lit up with blue light simultaneously, their muzzles completing their charge within thirty seconds. In the next instant, three high-pressure psionic beams blasted out, accurately covering the three crack exits.

The sound of explosions shook the area, sending gravel flying; the front row of Puppets was blown apart on the spot, their severed limbs and fragments splashing everywhere.

But this was only the beginning.

More Puppets surged out, treading on the fragments of their companions, some even carrying broken rocks as shields to force their way through the firepower.

Cracks had already begun to appear at the edge of the Spirit-conducting cement main road; if it were destroyed, the entire energy transmission System of the Eastern Wasteland Alliance would be paralyzed.

"Triangular penetration, split and advance!" Chen Wuwang pulled out the Titanium Alloy Dagger at his waist. The blade vibrated, activating the built-in rune circuits. "Xiao Dao, I'm leaving the left wing to you. Don't let them near the Spirit-conducting piles!"

"Understood!" Chen Xiaodao's voice came from the left, cold and concise.

Leading a light assault team, he had already cut into the battlefield's flank. The Laser Sword in his hand drew a silver arc, directly severing the neck joints of three Puppets.

Even after the Puppets' heads hit the ground, they continued to turn, emitting a low hum from their mouths as if transmitting some kind of signal.

"These things... aren't dead objects." Chen Xiaodao frowned, his Mechanical prosthetic limb heating up slightly. "They are fighting in coordination."

"Of course," Chen Wuwang sneered, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye constantly refreshing data. "Someone is controlling them from underground, using Shell-driving Techniques modified from ancient battlefield remnants. Unfortunately—" He suddenly looked up, blood-red spiritual patterns flashing in his pupils, "they chose the wrong opponent."

With a wave of his right hand, he issued a remote command.

In the distant construction area, a massive mecha slowly started up—it was the "earth dragon" personally built by Chen Tiezhu.

It was originally an engineering mecha used for excavating deep ley lines, but now it had been modified into a mobile bomb vehicle. There was no one in the cockpit; only a High-energy psionic explosive lay quietly in the loading slot.

"Ten-second countdown." Chen Wuwang softly entered the code.

"Patriarch! That's our last heavy construction mecha!" Elder Xu's startled cry came through the communication channel.

"Now it's the last suicide squad." Chen Wuwang stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the confirmation key. "Shut up and watch closely."

Boom!!!

A massive roar tore through the night sky.

The "earth dragon" crashed into the core of the enemy formation and detonated directly above the second fissure. The shockwave overturned dozens of Puppets, and the ground shook violently. Two runic colossi that had just emerged from the earth were flipped by the air blast, half their bodies embedded into the rock wall.

Before the dust had settled, Chen Wuwang had already leaped from his cover.

His silver-white hair whipped wildly in the firelight, and the three claw scars on his right cheek glowed faintly with blood-red light.

Holding his dagger, he was like a bolt of lightning stabbing straight into the chest of the last colossus—where a constantly flickering Control crystal core was located.

"You think you can break through our defense line with this scrap metal?" he growled, the dagger stabbing in fiercely. "Then let's see whose bones are harder!"

The colossus let out a sharp wail, its limbs twitching as the ground cracked around it.

But just as it was about to lose control completely, a figure leaped from the side and landed on its shoulder.

It was Chen Xiaodao.

His feet were firmly planted on the mecha's shell. He held his Laser Sword high, the blade infused with thick Sword Intent, its light pouring down like a galaxy.

"Break—for me!"

A thunderous slash!

The sword light pierced through the colossus's head, and the Control crystal core was instantly shattered.

The massive body collapsed with a roar, slamming into a deep pit, the aftershock causing the surrounding Puppets to lose their balance.

On the battlefield, there was a brief moment of silence.

Then, cheers erupted.

"We won! We won!" The Li Family youth, his face covered in soot, laughed like a child as he hugged a damaged Spirit-conducting pile and shouted, "I didn't let it break! Not a single one broke!"

The Alliance warriors gradually gathered; some bandaged wounds, some tallied losses, but more looked at the two men on the high slope with changed expressions.

It was no longer doubt, no longer a wait-and-see attitude.

It was conviction.

Chen Wuwang didn't turn back to look at those gazes. He simply knelt on one knee, retrieved a still-pulsing core fragment from the colossus's wreckage, and placed it into a jade box he carried.

Then he stood up and patted Chen Xiaodao on the shoulder. "Beautifully done."

Chen Xiaodao panted heavily, wisps of green smoke rising from his Mechanical prosthetic limb, but he stood tall. "I should be the one saying that. You had already set the stage; I just... delivered the blade to where it needed to strike."

Chen Wuwang smiled and said no more.

He walked to the center of the high slope and raised his hand.

Light and shadows flashed in the air as a projection of combat data appeared: the number of participants from each clan, casualty statistics, resource consumption, tactical contribution values... every item was clearly listed.

A specially marked column read—Li Family Recruit Group, successfully guarded the Spirit-conducting pile nodes, zero losses, S-grade contribution value.

Below, there was absolute silence.

A moment later, Elder Xu took the lead in applauding, followed by Deacon Lin, the Zhao Clan representative... one by one, they stood tall and saluted toward the slope.

The Alliance lights were all lit, their glow piercing through the night mist and illuminating the entire cliff zone.

"We lit the lamps together, and we paved the road together." Chen Wuwang's voice wasn't loud, yet it reached everyone present. "The enemy wants to blow them out? Fine."

He scanned the crowd, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

"Then let them see—this fire will only burn brighter."

The crowd seethed with excitement.

Some raised their arms and shouted, some silently gripped their weapons, and others looked down at the blue light still glowing on their armbands, as if realizing for the first time that they had truly become part of this power.

Chen Xiaodao stood half a step behind him to the side, his cold face unable to hide his excitement. His Mechanical prosthetic limb was still smoking, but he straightened his back like a sword that had finally been unsheathed.

In the distance, the last wisp of black smoke dissipated from the ground crack.

The earth grew quiet, but no one relaxed their vigilance.

Victory had arrived, but the war would not end.

Chen Wuwang still stood upon the high slope, his gaze passing over the cheering crowd and casting into the deeper darkness.

There, something was still moving.