Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 384 Corruption
After the order was given, the volunteer company led by Yu Qian quickly set out.

Standing at the makeshift command post, Yu Qian's expression was stern and resolute.

Of course, besides that, it also carried a hint of sarcasm.

He still doesn't understand why Guo Xu thought he could "persuade" the Christian Guard of Wanzhou City through negotiation.

Are you kidding me?
Will these people relinquish the power they hold?
Have you, Guo Xu, been in the Imperial Guard for too long and forgotten how the Mechanicus Cult is organized?

If you ask them to hand over power, they'd probably rather burn the city down.
Reports from various combat units kept coming through the communicator, while the constant gunfire from Wanzhou City in the distance shattered Yu Qian's last hope for a peaceful handover.

He took a deep breath and glanced at the team taking their positions.

After a moment, he gave the order:

"Bombardment!"

"Three rapid-fire shots!"

At a single command, the artillerymen on the artillery positions, who were far from being "skilled," immediately got to work.

Artillery pieces, including 107mm mortars, 201mm mortars, and 152mm howitzers, were arranged in a staggered fashion. The gunners were somewhat flustered as they loaded shells, adjusted parameters, and aimed at the distant city of Wanzhou under the guidance of drones and the Warhead system.

Their speed was clearly not fast.

Even so, compared to the Christian Guardians in Wanzhou City who had already discovered the whereabouts of the Chinese army but were still slowly "pleasing the machine soul," it was already incredibly fast.

Looking through the binoculars, Yu Qian even felt like laughing.

At a distance of 2 kilometers, did those Christian defenders really think that their simple, outdated smoothbore cannons could stand up to the Chinese army?

Although his volunteer company did not have "complete" artillery weapons like the assault company or the infiltration company, even with the existing equipment, it would be enough to drown the missionary army in the sea of ​​fire.
The incense burners in the hands of the machine servants and the cannon priests were still emitting wisps of smoke.

And at this time.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The first wave of shells had already roared towards Wanzhou City.

A huge explosion echoed over the city, and flames and thick smoke instantly rose into the air.

The shells landed precisely within the Mechanicus's position, and the defenders, armed with single-shot rifles, makeshift rifles, and even matchlock guns, cowered in terror.

But before they could even retreat into their bunkers, shells were already exploding around them.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the drones took off simultaneously, circling over Wanzhou City like birds soaring through the air.

Information from within the city is transmitted back in real time and transferred to the smart eyepiece of Yuqian.

Through the drone footage, he could clearly see the chaotic scene inside the city.

The Christian Guards were fleeing in all directions, trying to find cover from the artillery fire.

But the shockwave from the exploding shells mercilessly tossed them away, the overpressure tearing flesh apart and creating a cloud of blood mist.

An unprepared smoothbore cannon was hit directly by a shell and exploded into a mangled piece of scrap metal.

"Report to the leader!"

"The shelling was very effective; some of the enemy's defensive fortifications were destroyed, and the personnel were thrown into disarray."

The report from the gunner and communications officer came through the earpiece. Yu Qian nodded slightly, a hint of relaxation in his eyes.

But he also knew that the real battle had only just begun.

Artillery fire alone cannot kill all the Christian defenders.

Just like an elephant can't possibly crush all the ants in an anthill with one step.

The two rounds of shelling have ended; it's time to advance.

"Infantry advance!"

Yu Qian shouted out the order.

Infantrymen armed with Type 75 and Type 191 rifles quickly rushed out from their bunkers and advanced toward Wanzhou City in a fan shape, in small groups.

They hadn't received much systematic, rigorous training, but through battle after battle, the team had gradually developed a soul.

A small number of Iron Wolf quadruped robots advanced alongside the infantry, their 8.6mm bullets sweeping across the area and completely suppressing the Christian Guardian's firing positions ahead.

At this time, after the shelling, the remaining defenders of the Mechanicus gradually recovered from the chaos.

They picked up their weapons again and tried to form a line and fire at the approaching Chinese troops.

However, their firepower was negligible in the face of the modern weaponry of the Chinese army.

A single volley of machine gun fire was enough to wipe out their entire squad.

"Bang bang bang bang -"

The sounds of rifles, machine guns, and the occasional grenade explosions mingled together, and under the dense barrage of fire, the Christian Guard's defenses were as fragile as a sheet of paper.

Yu Qianhao leisurely followed the group, advancing into Wanzhou City. At this time, Guo Xu, who had been attacked, also began to lead his team to break through the encirclement.

The battle broke out suddenly, but ended in a way that left no room for suspense.

Before the smoke of battle had even cleared, Yu Qian had already led his team into the city.

The streets were littered with the corpses of the Christian Guardians, their broken badges soaked in blood, and those lips that once devoutly recited the Prayer of the Soul could now only spew bloody foam.

When I met Guo Xu, his left arm was already a bloody mess.

He leaned against the collapsed emblem sculpture, watching as an expeditionary soldier slit the throat of a Wanzhou City defender who was attempting to attack with a dagger. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times before he let out a hoarse sound:

"They're crazy."

"Attack the Imperial Guard!"

"They opened fire first!"

"They never intended for me to live in the first place!"

"nonsense."

Yu Qian knelt down and applied the styptic gel that the guild leader had given him to the man's chapped wound. He then spoke:
"Actually, I warned you, but you were too confident. I thought you could really do it."

".Oh shit."

Guo Xu uttered a curse word.

He couldn't even remember the last time he had sworn.

It seems that from the moment he became a member of the Imperial Guard, he truly became a saint.

But what happened today made him want to curse.

"How many people are left?"

"Do those people really intend to resist to the end?"

Upon hearing Guo Xu's words, Yu Qian shook his head.

His gaze shifted to the smart eyepiece, where the footage transmitted by the drone showed the bishop in red robes in Wanzhou City retreating to the church with his remaining forces.

At the top of the somewhat deformed building constructed from scrap steel, the symbol of the Mechanicus was teetering on the brink of collapse.

"have no idea."

The remaining money was used to tear open the bandages on the first aid kit.

"Their resistance was indeed quite fierce - in theory, these Christian defenders should have collapsed long ago after the battle had gone on like this."

"The situation here is indeed very complicated."

"They might be hiding something you don't know about."

After the bandaging was completed, Yu Qian stood up.

At his feet was a member of the religious guard whose chest had been stabbed by Guo Xu earlier.

The man's pupils had already dilated, but he was still muttering scriptures such as "the reciprocating piston is a prayer."

In the distance, the church doors were blown open by a mortar shell.

As the bullets from the 201 machine gun swept across the area, power here was finally handed over in a bloody manner.

Meanwhile, Guo Xu had recovered from the brief dizziness he experienced after the injury.

He stood up unsteadily and raised his hand to signal that the group should be regrouped.

Under the leadership of Liu Hao and Zhang Chao, this team, which had survived the ordeal, regrouped.

But by this time, they had already lost more than half of their personnel.

Even those who survived were covered in dirt and wounds.

"These people are crazy."

Zhang Chao began by saying:
"They didn't even give us a chance to evacuate!"

"They didn't even... ever consider letting us live!" As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Qian immediately turned to look at Zhang Chao.

Then, he asked:
"So... how exactly did you two start fighting?"

Zhang Chao looked at Guo Xu, who sighed and replied:
"Let me tell you."

"In fact, their ambush had already begun as soon as we entered Wanzhou City."

"At that time, they did not know our identities, and the so-called preparations were just in case."

“I even think that if we were just a mercenary group that made a living by robbing, they wouldn’t bother with us.”

"It was because they knew our identities as members of the Imperial Guard that they were able to kill us so ruthlessly."

“During the negotiations, the bishop kept stalling for time.”

“He never intended to negotiate from the beginning; he was just setting up his own team so that he could wipe us all out in one go.”

"This is really strange. What exactly are they trying to do?"

Yu Qian frowned deeply.

After a moment's thought, he spoke:
"Actually, you should first ask yourself what kind of city Wanzhou really is."

"Let's go to the church first, no matter what."

"Perhaps the answer lies within."

"Yes."

Guo Xu tightened the bandage on his hand and started walking towards the Church of the Mechanical God.

It was only then that he truly noticed the unusual nature of the church for the first time.

The rusted badge hung crookedly on the spire, like a rotting eyeball about to fall.

The church's exterior walls were covered in dark red rust, and blackish-brown oil seeped from the cracks, resembling congealed blood.

The bronze gate was covered with scriptures, but the distorted characters were peeling away, revealing layers of strange patterns underneath.

Inside the church, the stench of engine oil mixed with rotting flesh filled the murky air.

The remains of several exoskeletons were nailed to the walls on both sides, with shriveled corpses curled up inside the exoskeletons.

Guo Xu stared in disbelief at what he saw before him—he had never witnessed such a blasphemous scene in any church.

"This...this is still the Cult of Machines?!"

He spoke in astonishment, while Yu Qian beside him said in a deep voice:

"That's a question you should be asking yourselves."

"Wanzhou City is considered an important stronghold for you, yet you're completely unaware of the changes that have occurred here??"

"We have no way of knowing."

Guo Xu let out a long breath, as if he wanted to expel all the polluted air he had inhaled into his lungs.

"This place is too far from the core territory of the Cult of the Machine God, and in addition, we haven't organized any large-scale explorations of the mountain city in recent years. The city is practically already..."

"It has been abandoned."

"Of course, support for it has never stopped."

“We will still send supplies and personnel here, but it seems that these supplies and personnel are not playing their due role.”

"That's not necessarily true."

Yu Qian pointed to the corpse in the corner and said:

"They might have been used elsewhere."

"The people here seem to be conducting some kind of experiment."

Can you tell what they're doing?

"I wish I could tell."

Guo Xu walked to the exoskeleton by the wall and carefully examined the dried-out corpse on it.

The spines of those corpses pierced through the skin at some bizarre angle, protruding from the joints of the power armor and welding themselves to the transmission shaft of the mech.

"Could they be planning to use this method to power the exoskeleton?"

Guo Xu spoke instinctively, but then shook his head immediately.

"impossible."

"They're not that stupid."

His tone was very firm.

Even before the emergence of the Huaxia Army, even before seeing a living, moving exoskeleton, he knew that exoskeletons were not driven by "human power".

Although the knowledge of "electricity" has been nearly lost and most of it is locked away in the Great Archives, the people of this world still have a basic understanding of electricity.

They didn't know how electricity worked, but they knew it could work.

If ordinary people are like this, are the bishops and priests of the Mechanism Church stupid?

"It's more like some kind of ritualistic idol."

"They sacrificed people to the exoskeletons; these people were nailed here alive."

"We need to find the church's archives; there might be clues there!"

Guo Xu's eyes were filled with worry, but at this moment, Yu Qian suddenly waved his hand.

"That's not necessary."

"This is a sacrificial ceremony."

"Mountain City. They are trying to become part of the mountain city."

"What??"

Guo Xu looked at Yu Qian in astonishment.

The latter was holding a blood-stained booklet in his hand.

After quickly flipping through a few pages, he tossed the booklet to Guo Xu.

"This was found on that bishop."

"They believe that anything that can enter the mountain city is a 'machine of the Holy Trinity'."

"Therefore, in order to enter the Holy City, they are also fantasizing about transforming themselves into machines."

"They somehow found some technical information about 'prosthetic bodies'."

"ridiculous."

"If they had studied in Jinling New City and learned about prosthetics, they probably wouldn't have done something so foolish."

Guo Xu took the booklet and remained silent.

He silently turned the pages of the booklet in his hands; the booklet, stained with blood, had become extremely fragile.

After flipping through it once, the booklet was already in pieces.

Just like his current mood.

"These people are really crazy."

Guo Xu began by saying:

"But this should only be an isolated case; most of the Mechanicus cults—"

"This is not an isolated case."

Yu Qian interrupted Guo Xu.

Then, he solemnly stated:
"The knowledge transmission of the Mechanicus has fallen below that warning line."

"This is something the commander had already guessed."

"Your religion is about to go completely bankrupt."

"More and more bizarre and illogical things will happen."

"Then, like bacteria, it will completely corrupt the entire Mechanicus."

"You have no hope."

"Of course, you can try some things one last time."

"But actually, your attempt is pointless."

(End of this chapter)