"These small balls are all nuclear waste, with high radiation levels. They will be dropped from the stratosphere by aircraft, scattering everywhere. The entire area will be contaminated by radioactivity, and it will be difficult to eradicate because there are too many of them," Ichiro interjected, adding, "The Mil people aren't doing this for the first time. They contaminate the areas they're leaving, similar to tenants smearing feces all over a house before moving out."
Despicable, Jiang Ye thought.
The method to destroy the small balls was simple: step on them. The mechs' feet were sturdy, and each step could crush several radiation balls. For every ten balls destroyed, the merit points would increase.
Simultaneously, the radiation level also rose:
[390usv/h]
[1990usv/h]
[44800usv/h]
By the time the three of them, panting, had stepped on all the small balls, the radiation level stabilized at: [2000000usv/h]
The nuclear waste that had gushed from the small balls filled the room, mixing with the Mil corpses' fluids, emitting a colorful, eerie glow resembling detergent.
"I feel like I'm going to mutate, this number looks huge!" Jiang Ye said.
"It's equivalent to taking three CT scans per minute," Isabel said nonchalantly.
The trio continued forward, leaving the workshop and entering a long corridor. Occasionally, small robots would pop out from corners, firing wildly. Their aim was terrible; Ichiro could even charge forward and decapitate them. The shock value of these small robots far outweighed their actual threat. Every time they appeared, they startled people.
For some reason, Jiang Ye found them rather tragic, futilely resisting the invaders.
They encountered two more large workshops, but these were devoid of Mil people, filled instead with automatically operating machinery. The trio broke in as usual, smashing all the machinery and tearing out all visible wires. Merit points began to surge.
After the rampage, Jiang Ye estimated they had reached the core of the Mil base and would soon encounter the giant cannon.
They didn't see the giant cannon but encountered another production workshop. The outer walls of the previous workshops were transparent, but this new one had metal walls, making it impossible to see inside.
"There's definitely something fishy," Ichiro suggested. "I'll go first and break in to check the situation."
Isabel and Jiang Ye waited behind, guns at the ready.
Ichiro swung his greatsword, creating an opening in the metal door with a few powerful strikes. Unexpectedly, it was pitch black inside, and eerily silent. Ichiro leaned against the door, peeking in. He vaguely sensed something, but it was too dark to see anything. So, he extended his body inside.
Hundreds, thousands of metallic sounds rang out simultaneously. Ichiro yelled, "Not good!"
The next second, he was engulfed by a waterfall of bullets. Countless gun muzzles erupted in flames from the darkness, and ammunition fired from all directions instantly shredded him, his body exploding outwards! Countless red eyes appeared in the dark workshop. The small robots with terrible aim they had encountered earlier were present in the hundreds, even thousands, inside the workshop!
Isabel grabbed Jiang Ye and they ran.
"Is it unfaithful to run and leave a teammate behind?" Jiang Ye asked as they desperately fled.
"He's disintegrated!" Isabel shouted. "You poked a hornet's nest! That workshop manufactures defense robots!"
The robots blasted open the workshop doors and swarmed out in large numbers, firing down the corridor. Their aim was indeed terrible, but they made up for it with sheer numbers; they could hit targets even with their eyes closed.
Both Isabel and Jiang Ye were hit by more than a dozen bullets. Fortunately, they reached a corner and made a sharp turn, escaping the torrent of fire. Jiang Ye didn't dare look back, but the crackling gunfire was denser than rain, and the sound alone was terrifying!
"Should we retreat or fight?" Jiang Ye shouted.
"Fight what! With our two guns, how can we compete with them!" Isabel cursed. "My mech is moderately damaged!"
"Mine is smoking, severely damaged!" Jiang Ye yelled. "But I can still fight. Do you remember those shotgun cannons outside?"
"Got it, let's try!" Isabel's mind raced.
The two of them sprinted out of the base and attempted to turn the shotgun cannons outside the base, aiming their muzzles at the base exit. However, all the cannons were fixed, their bases welded in place, and couldn't be moved. Jiang Ye fired a burst at a cannon mount, then rammed it with all his might, finally dislodging one cannon and turning its muzzle with all his strength.
"It can only fire once. You broke the feeding mechanism!" Isabel immediately spotted the problem.
"There are so many cannons, we can just dismantle them all!" Jiang Ye stared at the base exit.
Dense red eyes appeared; the robots were pursuing them.
Jiang Ye fired without a word!
The blast was louder than a barrel explosion. A torrent of white smoke spewed out, and the robots that were about to rush out were collectively blown away, parts flying, electrolyte spraying into the sky, and sparks flying like fireworks.
[Merit Points +1783]!
"This feels like that 'one hit, 999' thing!" Jiang Ye exclaimed in surprise. This single shot brought in 1.78 million!
Isabel had already dislodged another cannon and was guarding the exit. The rumbling footsteps from inside the base signaled the arrival of hundreds more robots. Before they could even understand the situation, a deafening roar announced Isabel's cannon shell, causing countless casualties.
The two of them took turns prying loose a shotgun cannon and madly bombarding the base exit.
These shotgun cannons were not cheap, yet they were being used as disposable weapons, a terrible waste.
After several rounds of shelling, the entire base exit was practically blown to pieces. Rolling white smoke billowed like an erupting volcano, and even the nearby oxygen levels dropped by several points. Flames flickered from the passage, and the incinerated robots began to burn. In the blink of an eye, the fire spread rapidly, crackling loudly, and many bullets exploded like firecrackers.
Jiang Ye and Isabel each guarded an unfired cannon, waiting outside the exit, watching the magnificent fire inside burn brighter and brighter.
"Is this grand raid over?" Jiang Ye asked. "The merit points given are quite substantial. I already have over forty thousand."
"Not yet. We need to destroy the armory and the anti-aircraft cannons in the center of the base," Isabel said, panting. "Fifty thousand merit points will allow me to level up twice. Next time, I can buy better mechs and learn skills."
"Skills?" Jiang Ye was startled, thinking to himself that the developers of this war machine must have come from a gaming company!
"Skills are basically muscle memory or mech memory. You'll understand when you see the skill list," Isabel said. "This fire won't go out anytime soon, so let's not just wait here. We should look for other entrances."
The two of them fired another volley at the exit and then searched the base's perimeter for entrances. They soon found a door, shot it open with machine guns, and entered.
This time, they walked directly to the center of the base, entering the base of the anti-aircraft cannons. It was a vast space, similar to an indoor stadium, with mountains of ammunition piled up, an astonishing quantity. Especially the anti-aircraft cannon shells, each as large as a refrigerator and too heavy to move.
Dozens of Mil personnel were guarding the area. Jiang Ye and Isabel attacked them immediately, beating them all into puddles of jelly.
The two discussed and decided to end this campaign. They then used machine guns to spray the accumulated ammunition, and with a flash of fire, it was all over.
At the last moment, Jiang Ye saw the notification for merit points increasing by ten thousand.