Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 399 Death Descends from the Sky
For this small port city, most people had already fled when the Empire launched its initial attack. Therefore, the Second Brigade encountered little resistance when it stormed into Port Drey.

In fact, to everyone's eyes, the entire city seemed abandoned, except for the raging fire in the distance and the sound of gunfire coming from the port; it was deathly silent.

But Lieutenant Lawrence knew this didn't mean everything was going smoothly. On the contrary, they were now stepping into hell. And what lay ahead might truly determine their life or death on the battlefield.

Urban warfare.

This is the most troublesome situation for any army: fighting in an unfamiliar city, on unfamiliar streets. Any building around them could suddenly open fire. Their enemies could emerge from anywhere. For soldiers, there is no more challenging environment.

He still carries a radio with him.

"Your target is the command post... Do you know where it is?"

"Yes, sir."

Lawrence answered in a low voice.

"Do you know what to do?"

"Yes, sir."

Lawrence gestured to the communications officer behind him, who hesitated for a moment before maneuvering his mech into a figure-eight circle. This was a requirement given to them by the Sky Eye before their departure; in order to confirm the location of their own troops, they needed to respond to the Sky Eye in this manner from time to time.

"Very good, I see you. Let's move out. If you spot the enemy, you can ask me for cover at any time."

"Yes, sir."

Lawrence gave a reply and then issued the order.

"Mechs, advance! Everyone, be on alert!"

This is the Imperial Army's combat method: mechs scout ahead, while infantry follow closely behind, relying on the mechs' cover. After all, mechs have a high vantage point and a long field of vision, and they are also large and sturdy. In fact, the Empire does have specially designed fortress mechs for urban warfare, but airships have limited carrying capacity, so they can only carry hound mechs.

Although the Hound Mech's protection is very poor, considering its speed, this is the only option.

Soon, the searchlights on the hound mechs' heads lit up, scanning the surroundings, and they took long strides forward.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Hound mechs moved along the road leading to town, flanked by cornfields with tall corn stalks. Lawrence gripped the control stick tightly, gritting his teeth as he constantly scanned the surrounding cornfields. He wondered if the enemy was hiding in the cornfields, waiting to launch a surprise attack, or rather, if he were the enemy commander, he certainly would…

Just then, a voice came through Lawrence's radio.

"We have discovered military personnel hiding in the barn. We will launch an attack. Please remain where you are."

"Huh? Oh, it's..."

Upon hearing this unexpected report, Lieutenant Lawrence paused, then signaled the entire army to halt. He looked up and could vaguely see barns and mills at the edge of the fields. If the enemy was indeed lying in ambush there…

"Thump—!"

Suddenly, something unexpected happened.

Lawrence saw a flash of fire fall from the sky and hit the barn. The next moment, the entire barn was blown to pieces. At the same time, a series of cannon fire appeared in the air, raining down around it like a sky full of fire. In just a moment, explosions continued one after another, and the barn and the mill next to it were blown to pieces.

Then, the voice echoed in Lawrence's ears again.

"Target destroyed, proceed."

"Yes."

Upon hearing the response, Lieutenant Lawrence swallowed hard and led the mechs forward once more.

Even so, Lieutenant Lawrence still found it incredible. How did the other side know that the soldiers were hiding in the barn? Was it a hoax? Or did the Eye of the Sky really have such powerful abilities?

So when the mech reached the vicinity of the barn, Lawrence stopped, then moved the mech around and swept the searchlight toward the barn.

Under the stark white light, the barn in front of us could be seen to have been smashed into ruins. Around the ruins, the bodies of several Krant soldiers could be seen, along with the wreckage of a destroyed cannon.

"hiss……………!"

Upon seeing this, Lieutenant Lawrence gasped.

He subconsciously looked up at the sky—it was pitch black, and he could see nothing but the moon and starlight.

How exactly did the Eye in the Sky see this? And this is at night, not during the day!

Lieutenant Lawrence forcibly suppressed his excitement, focused his gaze ahead, and then gave the order.

"keep going!"

For soldiers, urban warfare is always an extremely dangerous battlefield. After all, in an unfamiliar city, on unfamiliar streets, any building could suddenly become a terrifying fortress with overwhelming firepower, launching an attack on the soldiers. In fact, Lieutenant Lawrence was just as nervous when he received this mission.

After all, the task was to capture the command post as quickly as possible and launch a surprise attack on the port fortress complex from the rear, which, in Lieutenant Lawrence's view, was almost an impossible mission.

However, this is not the case.

"Keep going! Don't stop!"

Lieutenant Lawrence piloted his mech, striding forward. They did encounter attacks along the way, but the Eye of the Sky had already completely destroyed them long before they were attacked.

"Enemy troops were in the northwest... They have been annihilated."

"The enemy is approaching from the right, chimera."

"Stop!"

With Lieutenant Lawrence's roar, the Hound mech raised its machine gun and abruptly stopped. Almost simultaneously, the building in front of them collapsed, and a monster, almost as tall as the Knight mech and resembling a giant rhinoceros, charged out. Had it not been for the timely warning from the Sky Eye, Lawrence's mech assault team would likely have been smashed into the ground by this monster.

But now...

"Fire!"

"Thump thump thump thump thump...!!"

The mechs simultaneously raised their cannons, and a hail of bullets rained down, riddling the massive synthetic beast with holes. The beast reared its head, let out a mournful howl, and then collapsed to the ground.

"Keep moving forward, the command post is just ahead!"

Lawrence maneuvered his mech and smashed through the giant beast's corpse, continuing forward. He raced all the way to the end of the road, and when he turned around, he saw the Krant soldiers already in full battle array in front of the command post. They were lying behind the makeshift fortifications, and several cannons were set up at the street corner.

In the past, Lawrence would have definitely tried to avoid the opponent's attack, but he didn't do so now because he knew there was no need.

"Thump thump thump—!"

Sure enough, at the same moment, a series of cannon shots rang out, and the shrill reaper descended from the sky, exploding completely in the crowd. Soldiers were swallowed, buried, and covered by the explosions. Even the cannons were twisted and destroyed in the merciless explosions, turning into pieces of broken iron.

When the Second Brigade arrived at the gate of the command post, there was nothing left but corpses and remains.

At the same time, Lawrence heard a report from the Eye of the Sky.

"The enemy has set up defenses on the first and third floor corridors, and there are guards at the back door."

"Understood, proceed with the attack."

Lawrence stared at the command post gate before him, took a deep breath, and felt a faint sense of pride. Just moments ago, he had even begun to doubt the very existence of his group. No matter where the enemy was, they would be detected, informed of, and eliminated by the Eye of the Sky.

But now it seems... they still have some value, at least the Eye of the Sky can't blow up the command center, right?
While thinking this, Lawrence piloted his mech and crashed headfirst into it!
"Da da da da da!"

Almost as soon as the mechs entered the gate, gunshots rang out. Lieutenant Lawrence did not immediately launch an attack, but instead closed his eyes and pressed a button.

Immediately afterwards, a flashbang was fired, instantly illuminating the surroundings.

"Ahhhh!"

The intense gunfire ceased at that moment, and Lieutenant Lawrence opened his eyes, maneuvered his mech to aim upwards, and pulled the trigger.

Soon, bullets whistled through the corridor, turning all the Krant soldiers who didn't have time to dodge into pieces.

The soldiers followed closely behind and rushed into the command post.

Gunfire erupted all around.

A moment later, Lieutenant Lawrence received the news.

"The command post has been completely taken over, and all personnel have been captured or killed."

"very good!"

Lieutenant Lawrence was thrilled to hear this answer.

"The fourth platoon will remain to defend the command post. The rest of you, proceed to the fortress immediately!"

"Yes!"

The soldiers' morale soared. They had never fought such an easy battle before. Almost all the enemies were spotted and eliminated in advance. They could easily achieve victory simply by following behind. It was almost too easy! Before coming here, they had never imagined that fighting could be such an easy thing!

This completely overturned their original concept!
At this moment, Lawrence was brimming with confidence. He felt his entire body brimming with power. With the assistance of the Eye of the Sky, Lieutenant Lawrence felt that victory was impossible! They possessed eyes that could see the enemy even in the dark, and they also had firepower capable of destroying the enemy from the sky! With such power, how could the Kingdom of Krant possibly deal with them with just those ugly chimeras?
That's absolutely impossible! How could we possibly lose? There's absolutely no reason for us to lose!
"Everyone, set off immediately! We must completely capture Drei before dawn!"

(End of this chapter)