Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 222 The Dwarven Script! Robots and Mechanical Dogs Unleash Their Power! (Bonus Chapter)
Dwarves are nocturnal, so to keep up with their pace, the only option is to adjust your reconnaissance patterns.

Having stayed up all night, Su Mingjin and the others rested near the hall, using their coats as blankets.

After sleeping for a few hours, when she vaguely remembered that she needed to use the restroom, Su Mingjin saw a number of soldiers and some young archaeologists gathered there.

"what happened?"

"President Su, you're awake! We've made a new discovery. When the bionic spiders were scouting the tunnels, they found a lot of dwarven script. This script is very similar to the fragmented script of the ancient giant civilization we encountered before!"

The dwarven script is surprisingly similar to that of the ancient giants?
Su Mingjin's heart skipped a beat. Upon closer inspection, she indeed discovered that the place, which was originally just a simple reconnaissance site for scouting the dwarves, contained many broken but still faintly legible characters.

She immediately became happy.

How do we understand a civilization?
Learn about this civilization through its mythology, history, and current social systems.

Humanity's exploration of other worlds has never diminished; in fact, on some occasions, it has conducted particularly detailed investigations.

Just like the large ruins that were first discovered.

Humans discovered traces of giants and humans living together in the destroyed buildings, but unfortunately, they were destroyed by the undead scourge.

Although no written records of the legendary primitive people have been found, through the excavation of civilizations and the clearing of the land, humans have collected a great deal of useful information.

The subsequent rescue of the Ice River tribe's wild humans also reduced many of humanity's losses and provided them with a preliminary understanding of the world's civilization.

The only pity is the elves.

This civilization undoubtedly possesses a rich culture and a profound history, but currently, all the written and runic information that humanity has obtained from the other side is discovered from spoils of war.

Ironically, despite capturing nearly a thousand prisoners, humanity has yet to obtain a complete set of books about elves.

Now, humans were conducting a routine infiltration and reconnaissance of the dwarf tunnel ruins when they unexpectedly discovered a large amount of writing there.

Su Mingjin's gaze was fixed on the mottled stone walls. Although she was tired, her eyes shone with a thirst for knowledge.

"Can those characters be analyzed to determine their meaning?"

The dwarven script presented to her was not a simple pictograph or ideograph, but rather a clever combination of letters and some pictographic symbols.

This eclectic style gave Su Mingjin a vague sense of familiarity, but she couldn't immediately pinpoint its origin.

The field of text is not her area of ​​expertise; it requires a more specialized mind to interpret it.

As Su Mingjin inquired, a young woman wearing thick glasses raised her hand in the crowd. Her oval face looked somewhat haggard from long hours of staying up late, but her eyes shone with excitement. She was a key member of the archaeological research team.

"President Su, Professor Dou has been monitoring these discoveries remotely. He analyzed that these dwarven scripts do indeed have similarities to the scripts of the ancient giant civilization we discovered before. However, they are scripts that have undergone a major evolution!" The girl spoke a little faster, clearly very excited about this discovery.

"The evolved script?" Su Mingjin raised an eyebrow; the word instantly caught her attention.

It's important to understand that civilization and biological evolution are mutually reinforcing.

The girl nodded and pointed to a piece of text enlarged on the screen: "Based on preliminary interpretation, the meaning of these words should be—[Safety first, be careful with fire]."

Upon hearing this, Su Mingjin nodded and then turned her gaze to the underground space shown in the video.

The footage recorded by the bionic spider shows a severely collapsed appearance, but it is still possible to vaguely discern that the floor height in this area is far beyond what is usually seen.

This area is completely different from the dwarf settlements and many low, cramped spaces that the bionic spiders had previously scouted.

"It looks like an abandoned dwarven arms depot..." Su Mingjin murmured to herself, her voice tinged with contemplation.

She instinctively reached for the thermos beside her, where she usually kept strong tea to keep her alert. But remembering that she had stayed up almost all night to monitor the dwarves' movements, her body was now protesting quite strongly. She was no longer the young woman who could go three days without sleep.

Su Mingjin rubbed her temples and then asked the guard beside her, "Have the dwarves made any new moves in the last few hours?"

The guard immediately responded, "Reporting to General Su, no movement was detected. The other party is sound asleep, everything is normal."

Hearing that the dwarf was fast asleep, Su Mingjin's tense nerves relaxed slightly.

The enemy's sloppy and extremely backward marching capabilities bought humanity precious time for reconnaissance and analysis. She nodded slightly, her gaze returning to the ancient text.

"Safety first, be careful with fire... But this place is abandoned! It couldn't have been carved here just anywhere!" Su Mingjin stared at it for a long time.

In this somewhat collapsed, tall space, the warning is not out of place. Considering the location of this underground base, this warehouse should be storing weapons to deal with the northern undead calamity, or other dangerous weapons.

Of course, it could also have been simply a military base for the dwarves. But for some reason, they had to abandon it!
There is too little information, and humanity cannot figure it out for the time being.

Su Mingjin simply decided to stop thinking about it.

“Very good. Let us know if you have any military intelligence. Have your people compile this written information first; I want to see a detailed report when I wake up tonight,” Su Mingjin replied in a hoarse voice.

The discovery of these texts is significant, as it may reveal a small part of dwarven civilization without direct contact with the dwarves, and even uncover more secrets about this alien world and the ancient giant civilization.

"Yes, General Manager Su!" the staff from all departments responded in unison, their eyes filled with enthusiasm.

Time flies, and another day has passed without us even realizing it.

Outside the dwarven supply cave, outside the camouflage tents almost completely obscured by snow and wind, the cold wind howled, and the tent fabric fluttered loudly.

Wearing snow blindness-proof sunglasses, Xiao Zhou tightened his cold-weather clothing. His eyes were a little sore after two days of continuous observation, but he never put down his binoculars.

In the distance, several dwarves were sneaking in and out of the cave entrance. They were very vigilant, carefully stepping on the footprints of their companions ahead of them.

Because of the elves' invisibility cloaks, they are almost invisible to the naked eye.

However, with the help of high-precision human detection equipment, the dwarves' tricks were completely exposed.

Xiao Zhou silently memorized the dwarves' patterns of movement and confirmed their numbers. He then handed the binoculars to his comrade beside him and retreated into the shadows.

"Captain, this is the sixth wave of dwarves we've moved tonight! Based on our previous reconnaissance, there should only be three dwarves left at most!"

Xiao Zhou's excited voice broke the oppressive silence inside the tent.

Zhao Chong stretched his body, climbed out, and squinted at the distance, the biting cold wind stinging his cheeks.

The weather was truly cold, and the two days and two nights of waiting felt like two years. However, when he thought of his predecessors fighting in even harsher environments decades ago, Zhao Chong was filled with determination.

Looking at the three furtive dwarves, Zhao Chong smiled; all his efforts were about to be rewarded.

The carefully accumulated savings can finally be tightened.

He picked up the communicator and reported to headquarters in a deep voice: "Report, the shorty-looking people in the target area have been transferred. Requesting to proceed according to Operation Plan One."

Soon, Su Mingjin's efficient and clear voice came through the communicator: "Approved. Proceed according to Operation Plan One. Focus on capturing prisoners alive."

Suppressing his excitement, Zhao Chong put down the communicator and whispered to his teammates, "According to the previous battle plan, deploy the robots in half an hour. Those controlling the robots should proceed as planned. Xiao Zhou, contact the air units to prepare! Make sure to completely control the target area!"

"it is good!"

The team members responded in hushed tones, their eyes showing no sign of fatigue, only excitement and focus as they prepared to take action.

After lying dormant in the icy wilderness for a long time, the moment to strike has finally arrived.

Shortly after the last batch of dwarves went to the dwarven underground fortifications under the cover of night, the various units that had already set up the ambush began to move according to the battle plan.

Ten minutes after the message was reported, the first to take action were the soldiers who had been lying in wait at the edge of the forest and the large army of machines they controlled.

They moved quickly, following the safe route previously scouted by the drones, rapidly advancing towards the underground forest base where the dwarves were hiding.

Fully armed, they appeared exceptionally agile in the forest. The exoskeletons they wore emitted a slight mechanical hum, and each step covered an extremely long distance, moving with incredible speed.

However, these soldiers were not conspicuous and did not make up the majority.

What's most captivating is the robot army that follows them.

The most attractive feature is the large number of humanoid robots and mechanical dogs that are just over one meter tall, appearing miniature and small, and carrying various capture nets and non-lethal weapons such as electric shocks.

These robots are very similar to the R1 robot of a certain tree, but they look more robust and are more agile.

Some robots even ride on half-meter-tall mechanical dogs, carrying various supplies.

In just a few minutes, the human and mechanical forces had approached their respective combat positions!
Fifteen minutes later, just as the last group of dwarves arrived near the underground base, twelve armed assault and transport helicopters, arrayed in a steel formation, pierced the night sky...

The enormous propellers spun rapidly in the cold wind, emitting a deafening roar that shattered the silence of the night.

Dozens of unmanned transport aircraft also took off at the same time, carrying follow-up support supplies and more combat robots, and followed closely behind.

With the roar of helicopter rotors, the combat troops quickly converged from all directions, completely surrounding the dwarf stronghold.

A surprise attack on the dwarven underground stronghold suddenly began on the icy plains of the far north.

"Report: All units have reached their designated positions!"

"Release the bunker-buster bombs! Don't let those shorty guys escape through the burrows!"

"Yes!"

Pre-deployed bunker-buster bombs and large quantities of non-lethal munitions were released from the Wing Loong UAV and ground launch platform...
-

In the darkness, Attila Ironhammer, hiding in an underground tunnel, watched the last group of dwarven warriors put away the supplies and nodded with great satisfaction.

"All personnel are in place. Once the equipment for crossing the river is ready, we can prepare to attack the human base."

As he was saying this, preparing to return to the depths of the underground base, he suddenly noticed a strange sound.

The voice was deep and drawn out, with a piercing sharpness that made people feel physically uncomfortable.

"what?"

The dwarves, who often reside in caves, possess not only exceptional night vision but also remarkable hearing. When sober, they are highly skilled and elite warriors.

Attila suppressed his unease and looked toward the source of the sound. The noise hurt his ears; it was definitely not something a wild animal could make.

He was so short, and there was no high vantage point to observe the enemy situation, that he couldn't possibly spot the helicopter flying almost close to the treetops.

But the approaching sound brought a strong sense of oppression.

Attila's mind suddenly flashed some of the battle reports that Balrogas had given earlier—about the flying iron birds of the Manju.

His heart tightened: "All units prepare for defense! It must be a mixed group of people!"

Not long after he finished speaking, he suddenly saw flames and thick smoke rushing towards them from the sky.

"A magical artifact?"

The speed of the flames was so fast that it far exceeded the speed of the dwarves' most advanced gunpowder weapons.

Attila could only have a startled thought in his mind before the flames plunged violently into the distant ground.

Boom!

Attila felt a violent tremor in the ground, as if he had been struck by a giant warhammer.

He almost lost his balance, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw that a large section of the ground had collapsed several hundred meters ahead, with mud and gravel mixed with smoke rising into the air.

"Damn it, they found out?"

After a moment of stunned silence, a few thoughts flashed through Attila's mind, and he quickly shouted for the dwarves to prepare to defend against the attack from the hordes of humans.

No sooner had he finished speaking than several more missiles, accompanied by flashes of fire, hurtled toward him from a great distance!

Rumble…

This time the tremor was even more violent, as if the mountains themselves were shaking. When Attila stood up again, he saw that the surrounding area had been reduced to rubble, with huge trees snapped in half by the shockwave and mud churning up everywhere.

Several hundred meters away, several large collapsed holes appeared, like the mouths of monsters, silently proclaiming the enemy's strength.

"They didn't manage to attack our hideout? Haha... those rabble's aim is terrible!"

Attila thought of this and laughed heartily, trying to boost the morale of the dwarves.

But in his heart, he was thinking about the purpose of the people's actions. They could have bombed them, so why were the targets being bombarded from hundreds of meters away, and some even leaning towards the underground base where the dwarves were hiding?

Why are these people so anxious?
"They're trying to scare us with noise and explosions, to put psychological pressure on us! Stay calm! Stay calm! Don't cower in your bunkers, come out, all of you! Establish a defensive line, establish a defensive line!"

He roared loudly, then signaled to all units to quickly establish defensive positions and prevent the enemy from infiltrating.

The dwarves were well-trained and quickly deployed their defenses, taking advantage of the terrain.

Looking at the flying machines high in the sky, Attila gritted his teeth and decided to climb up to the top of the sky himself to scout out the enemy's situation.

The forest was incredibly dense. Dressed in full armor, he easily climbed to the top of a nearby sturdy tree with the help of ropes and other tools, looking around in hopes of spotting any trace of the enemy.

Then, he saw a scene that chilled him to the bone...

In the forests of the other three directions, excluding the river area, those huge and noisy iron birds circled.

What chilled him even more was that below the iron bird, squads of swiftly moving human soldiers appeared in the shadows. They were dressed in uniform combat clothing, and their efficiency far exceeded his expectations.

Besides the tall humans, there were also some short, slender humanoid creatures approaching.

Those creatures weren't tall, about the same size as the dwarves, slender, and carried weapons; they looked like menacing opponents. "Damn it! We're surrounded!"

"Is this a conspiracy by the traitors?"

Attila felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

Humans have such a precise grasp of their movements.

When did they find us?

We were extremely careful!
Thinking of this, he looked around at the explosion sites and realized that the inaccurate magic bombs he had been mocking were not due to human inaccuracy, but rather intentional.

These places seem to be the routes through which they can quickly relocate.

The collapsed underground passage severely restricted the dwarfs' living space for moving around underground.

Attila cursed the cunning humans in his heart, knowing the enemy was well-prepared, and had to change his strategy: "Bring out all the magic cannons! Prepare the muskets too! We're surrounded!"

He shouted, "Everyone, prepare for battle! For the Kingdom, for the Hammer of the Coast, teach that vile and cunning human a terrible lesson!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed a large metal object with a delta wing-like structure approaching from a distance.

buzzing...

Even before those delta-winged iron birds got close, a low-frequency noise that made people shudder emanated, as if it were hitting the deepest part of their eardrums.

If any human heard this sound, they would surely exclaim, "The little flying stick is here!"

This is an inexpensive yet very useful flying motorcycle drone.

Their objective was very clear: they landed directly near the area where Attila was located.

Thinking of the power of the previous explosion, Attila felt a chill. He quickly tied the rope he had used to climb to a thick branch, quickly estimated the length and weight capacity of the rope, and then jumped down, plummeting downwards.

"Squeak!"

The tree trunks rubbed against the ropes, making a piercing sound.

The short, stocky Attila gripped the rope and plummeted downwards, falling seven or eight meters in an instant. The terrifying inertia and gravity caused excruciating pain in his hands as he held the rope, almost causing him to let go.

He gritted his teeth and, as he approached the ground, made sure the remaining few meters of height wouldn't cause serious injury, then decisively released the rope.

"Oh!"

The heavy armor thudded against the ground. Ignoring the pain, Attila immediately shouted towards the dwarven position, "Down! All of you, down! The human magic cannons are coming! Take cover!"

After shouting a few times, he quickly found cover on the spot.

Those triangular-winged iron birds that made terrifying noises crashed heavily to the ground, landing in scattered locations, but right near the dwarf's position.

Instead of the expected deadly explosion and shockwave, they were met with flames.

"Paji..."

After several drones crashed to the ground, the contents inside the drones exploded instantly, scattering like a startled swarm of bees.

"It didn't explode?" Attila was slightly taken aback, as this was completely different from the previous missile bombardment.

Before he could think further, he saw thick, rapidly spreading smoke billowing from the shattered and scattered small metal boxes and cans. The smoke was an unsettling dark yellow mixed with red.

"Oh no, it's that strange smell Bellegas mentioned! Everyone, be on guard!"

Attila shouted a warning, and at the same time quickly pulled out a piece of cloth from his waist, trying to cover his mouth and nose.

But the rate at which the smoke evaporated and its diffusion far exceeded his expectations.

A thick cloud of smoke seeped in, and Attila felt a burning pain in his eyes, as if they were being assaulted by scalding sand, making it impossible for him to open them.

"Well--"

He felt that he couldn't open his eyelids and his vision was almost completely taken away.

At the same time, rough clothing cannot block these gases at all.

Attila, who was trying to stuff the cloth into his mouth and nose, then felt a pungent, spicy smell mixed with irritating gas rushing into his lungs through his mouth and nose.

The next moment, Attila's body reacted instinctively with the strongest force.

vomit……

The violent retching caused him to vomit almost everything in his stomach, and he squatted on the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face.

He felt as if his very soul was about to be vomited out.

“Contract…vomit…contract…retract quickly!” he shouted hoarsely, his voice interrupted by violent coughing.

His senses were completely overwhelmed at that moment—his eyes were too painful to open, his respiratory tract was spasming from the stimulation, and every breath was accompanied by a burning sensation.

He could only rely on his remaining memories to half-crawl and half-feel his way toward the nearby pit. He heard his dwarf brothers around him also beginning to cough and vomit in pain.

However, his voice was soon taken away.

As he crawled, he heard piercing, sharp sound waves again.

The sound wave was so strong that it almost instantly deafened him, and he could no longer hear his companions' shouts.

Before the dwarves even made contact with the enemy, half of their defensive line had already collapsed because of these things.

"Damn scum, filthy weapons..."

Attila endured the discomfort in his vision, hearing, and breathing, and struggled to move forward.

He was so angry that his whole body was trembling.

These people are despicable!

Just as the dwarven defenses were in disarray, the mixed forces that had surrounded the enemy began their advance to a reverse slope 800 meters away.

Subsequently, the wireless signal booster was set up by human soldiers!
Here, you won't be subjected to direct enemy fire, you're very close to enemy positions, and you can provide immediate fire support.

Subsequently, mechanical war dogs, military combat robots resembling R1, and armed robotic dogs that had previously landed from drones, were controlled by operators at headquarters to charge towards the dwarves' positions.

Small unmanned helicopters hovering nearby were either dropping flares, illuminating the narrow area where the dwarves were located as if it were daytime, or releasing infrasound waves to disrupt enemy communication.

In addition to sound waves, there were also grenades and smoke bombs that made it difficult for people to open their eyes, falling to guard against the dwarves' counterattack.

Attila struggled to open his eyes, looking at the human alchemical golems that were gradually approaching, as well as some four-legged wolfhound golems, and felt a chill run down his spine.

"Holy crap! A motley crew! Quick... retreat! Retreat underground and defend using the fortifications!"

Attila roared hoarsely, not caring whether his companions could hear him.

Boom...

It's unclear which dwarf fired the cannon, but a terrifying explosion resounded nearby.

Unfortunately, due to the interference of the irritating gas, the solid shot crashed hard into a tree several hundred meters away.

The shell was very powerful, snapping a tree as thick as a person's waist in half.

After the solid cannonball landed, the fuse of the magical explosive shell inside the dwarf costume ignited, and then exploded, creating a strong shockwave mixed with dust, snow, and tree fragments.

However, although the shell made quite a commotion, it did not cause any human casualties.

"Aim and fire... ugh..."

Attila saw his own cannonballs explode, then spoke a few words, and then felt a strong burning sensation in his lungs.

Under such intense, strange odors, piercing sound waves, and almost invisible dense fog, they were completely unable to organize an effective defense.

The only way to survive is to go underground.

He was anxiously thinking this, and despite his discomfort, he pushed his dwarf brothers back underground.

Although those underground passages have not been maintained by the dwarves for a long time, their core air filtration and circulation systems are still the pinnacle of dwarven craftsmanship.

That was their last bastion against this strange aura.

He was the most active, and because of this, his vigorous movements caused him to inhale more highly irritating air.

My lungs are feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

Accompanied by violent coughing, Attila had to stop again and squat down to vomit violently.

My stomach was completely empty, filled only with bitter tastes and a burning pain.

Attila barely managed to lift his head, trying to observe his surroundings through a slit in his eyelids.

"Damn it, I should have listened to the elders!"

More than a dozen figures rushed forward rapidly through the smoke.

Attila's pupils contracted; he confirmed that it was not a human soldier, but a mechanical alchemical golem.

They are much shorter than humans, similar in stature to dwarfs, but appear very slender.

These mechanical alchemical golems carry weapons resembling magical muskets, and their movements are slightly clumsy.

In addition to these, the humanoid puppets were accompanied by even smaller quadrupedal canine puppets, which moved through the smoke with strange little steps, like hunting wild beasts.

"Oh no!!!"

Alarm bells rang in Attila's mind.

The enemy has actually broken through their defenses!

He endured the pain of being almost deprived of his sight and his respiratory tract spasming, and pulled out the heavy dwarf musket from his waist.

This weapon, unique to dwarves, is loaded with high-explosive projectiles and is specifically designed to deal with heavily armored targets and behemoths.

Aim, pull the trigger!
Boom!

Blinding flames tore through the thick smoke, accompanied by a deafening roar.

A lead bullet, carrying powerful kinetic energy, accurately struck a humanoid steel golem directly in front of it.

The puppet was sent flying by the impact, crashing heavily into the ground behind it, its defenses breached!
"That's it?"

Attila felt a brief surge of elation, thinking that these human magical puppets seemed more for show than practical use.

Before I could even take a breath, a strong sense of crisis surged into my heart from the side.

A small, canine-like, four-legged puppet rushed toward him, its cold, red eyes seemingly locking onto his location.

Attila hastily raised his musket, attempting to launch another attack, but he was no match for the machine.

A black, net-like object, accompanied by a low-frequency buzzing sound, flew in from the side and precisely ensnared his short, stocky, and sturdy body.

Before he could even struggle, a strong tingling sensation instantly spread throughout his body.

"Ugh... Damn it!"

This tingling sensation was not a simple numbness, but rather a violent electrical signal directly impacting his nervous system.

Attila's body and muscles suddenly convulsed violently and uncontrollably, and a faint "crackling" sound came from his entire suit of armor.

The intense electric current caused him to completely lose control of his body, and he even let go of the musket that he considered his lifeline.

In just a few seconds, his muscles continued to spasm, and even his thinking became sluggish.

When his body recovered slightly and his trembling subsided a little, two humanoid steel golems appeared in his field of vision, carrying weapons, and walked up to him.

The weapons in their hands had sharp mechanical probes extending from their tips, which plunged straight into his neck.

Attila felt a slight stinging pain in his neck, like being bitten by a giant poisonous mosquito, followed by a stream of cold liquid flowing into his veins.

In just two breaths, his violently shaking head completely lost its balance, and the world before his eyes began to spin. All sounds, light and shadow, and pain quickly faded away.

"People...people...mixed...don't know martial ethics..."

Attila's angry curses were stuck in his throat, and the dwarf commander, clad in heavy armor, was completely paralyzed!

His dwarf brothers were still struggling and resisting, but their leader had completely lost his ability to resist under an inconspicuous electric net and a tranquilizer dart.

The ear-piercing sound waves, the weapons that blinded people, the fearless steel mechanical dogs and robots, and the flares turned this chaotic dwarf territory into an easy capture ground.

Without trenches, the dwarves were repeatedly attacked and captured by humans...

(End of this chapter)