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Chapter 73 Fighting for the Honor of the Best Red Flag! (Seeking First Subscription)

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"Two Taoist priests, this is what we have gained recently!"

Deng Dakang got out of the car and walked ahead with his hands behind his back, leading the way.

Behind him, Wang Hu was carrying several large boxes, which were full of the eating utensils brought by the two Taoist priests.

The group arrived at the otherworldly supernatural artifact containment warehouse.

This place was designated separately 2.5 kilometers away from the main camp, separated by a hillside. The location was also deliberately chosen to be a depression, just within the range of the artillery positions behind.

If anything goes wrong, the contents inside can be sent flying into the sky again by artillery fire.

The soldiers pulled open the iron door of the warehouse, and a cold, damp air mixed with stale dirt and a foul stench rushed out.

The chilling coldness made the two Taoist priests, Chen and Zhou, instinctively hold their breath.

The scene before them sent chills down their spines.

In the huge warehouse, crates made of rough wood were piled up like mountains, each with a number scrawled on it in red paint.

Through the cracks in the box, one could see the stark white bones.

How many dead have been killed?
The two Taoist priests exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

They had never seen anything like this on Earth.

"The people in the Otherworld Bioengineering Department are very interested in these things, especially those undead that freeze into 'giant forms' in winter. They say they're very valuable for research," Deng Dakang introduced casually, as if he were introducing the harvest of his own farm. "They've already made some progress. We can't fall behind!"

"Masters, don't be nervous." Wang Hu grinned, revealing his white teeth, when he saw that the two looked unwell. "When these things could still move, we dismantled them into parts. Now they're just a pile of bone fragments. What can they possibly do?"

The two Taoist priests gave an awkward smile.

His gaze then drifted to the heavy boxes Wang Hu was carrying.

"Your family heirlooms should still be usable, right?" Deng Dakang asked directly.

Master Chen, being the senior disciple and more composed, gave a slight smile in return: "Master Deng, you've gone to so much trouble. These things are very old, and many more authentic antiques are with the Island Warriors! We have no idea about them here!"

The younger Taoist priest, Zhou, swallowed hard and asked with feigned composure, "What...what kind of attack methods do these evil spirits have? I think it's more appropriate to treat the symptoms directly."

"Haha, that's great!" Deng Dakang clapped his hands. "Let's go, now that the two Taoist priests are ready, let's go and see them alive!"

He led the two to a prefab camp, where two squads of soldiers stood guard with their guns fully armed.

Inside the prefabricated house, everything they needed was prepared.

The living, barking pure black dog; several glossy, spotless roosters clucking in their cage; and a pile of black donkey hooves, glutinous rice, cinnabar, and yellow paper...

The most eye-catching thing is the cage made of special alloy in the center of the room.

Inside the cage, a complete skeleton stood quietly, two icy blue flames burning eerily in its empty eye sockets.

It has no muscles, no skin; it's just a moving skeleton.

Upon seeing this thing, Master Zhou's legs trembled slightly, and he subconsciously stopped in his tracks.

Master Chen's expression was also solemn. He cupped his hands towards Deng Dakang and said, "Layman Deng, as everyone knows, the place where my junior brother and I usually live has long since lost its spiritual energy. Our exorcism methods are fine for dealing with wandering ghosts, but we don't know if they will work against this kind of foreign evil. Um, does it really not know any evil magic?"

"Don't worry, Taoist priests!" Deng Dakang pointed to the heavy alloy door of the cage. "This cage is specially made. It can maintain its performance even in environments below minus 100 degrees Celsius. It would take half an hour of burning at a temperature of 2,000 degrees Celsius to break it."

The two Taoist priests finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Master Zhou turned his gaze to his senior brother.

Master Chen took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind: "Layman Deng, bring over the most magnificent rooster, along with the black dog's blood and cinnabar. Let's test whether the talisman can be used!"

Deng Dakang nodded and was about to arrange the action when suddenly the warrior guarding the spirits began to talk to someone.

"Okay, okay!"

"Professor Deng, Taoist priests, we're about to fire artillery to provide support again. Won't that interfere with your work?"
-
A few kilometers from the advance team's camp, at a heavily guarded artillery position...
"Test firing deflection... readjust parameters, sights 3-2-2, protractor 3-2-2, deflection one degree. Ten thermite shells directly! Ten high-explosive shells!"

Upon hearing the gunfire from the unit calling for artillery support, the soldiers of the artillery support battalion immediately replied: "Artillery received... Angle adjusted... Ten thermite shells and high-explosive shells are ready, commence firing!"

As the PCL-181 155mm vehicle-mounted howitzer was adjusted according to the design parameters, the thermite shells were launched.

The immense pressure from the 52-caliber barrel propelled the shell 19.32 kilometers away from the position requiring artillery support, as indicated on the density scale.

19.32 kilometers away!
Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
Shell after shell came crashing down in the dense snowstorm, then exploded violently 10 meters from the ground.

A powerful shockwave, accompanied by splashes of thermite, erupted across an area of ​​400 meters by 400 meters...

The blizzard, with visibility of less than 30 meters, came to an abrupt halt.

Then came the terrifying thermite reaction, accompanied by an inextinguishable flame.

More than 500 meters away,
As the blizzard began to rapidly subside, the specially customized electromagnetic detection device of the equipment team dropped six points, changing from an undead presence ahead to a suspected undead presence. Only then did Zhao Chong breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhao Chong took out a high-powered walkie-talkie and thanked his artillery comrades.

"Call us anytime if there are any problems, we're always ready! Also, record the damage data, the research department needs it. Over!"

"Received, over!" After ending the call, Zhao Chong nodded to the soldier next to him.

The fiber-optic linear reconnaissance drone, which had been waiting in advance, was launched swiftly with a hum.

In this region where electromagnetic signals are as chaotic as boiling water, the only way to ensure stable and efficient reconnaissance is through this clumsy method with its long tail.

The drone, towing a thin optical fiber, quickly took off and flew towards the depression ahead, which had been ravaged by artillery fire.

On the screen, the battlefield scene in the snow, the strength of electromagnetic interference, the changes in the concentration of elements in the air... data streams are clearly displayed.

Just then, the sensors beneath the drone detected several highly abnormal electromagnetic signal fluctuations.

Although faint, it is as dazzling as a firefly in the dark for an instrument that does not make mistakes.

Zhao Chong grinned, revealing a set of white teeth: "Comrades, it seems the artilleryman brothers left us a few survivors!"

He turned his head, his voice low but his command clear.

"Sun Dezhu, sniper grenade launcher, drone marker ahead, three rapid fire rounds!"

"Duan Junchi, your 'little darling' needs to go out for a spin. Equip it with a Type 59 anti-tank mine and send it on its way."

"Alright! Captain, just you wait and see!"

Sun Dezhu responded loudly without the slightest hesitation.

He quickly adjusted the scope of the QLU-11 35mm sniper grenade launcher, locked onto the coordinates transmitted back by the drone, and steadily pulled the trigger with his index finger.

Bang!Bang!Bang!
Three muffled thuds followed as three grenades traced precise parabolic trajectories and landed in the target area almost simultaneously.

Beneath the snow, several hidden skeletons were blown away by the shockwave of the explosion before they could react, torn into countless charred fragments of bone.

The method to eliminate these remaining skeletons is simple: completely tear them apart. Once they are 70% damaged, they will completely lose their ability to attack.

The skeleton, its body torn to pieces, struggled a few times in the snow before falling completely still.

"Pretty!"

Seeing the electromagnetic interference intensity ahead instantly drop to the "safe threshold," Duan Junchi chuckled and skillfully maneuvered a remote-controlled car with an extremely low chassis—a makeshift structure made from children's toy cars—out of nowhere.

This little thing, jokingly called the "cat car" by everyone, glided quickly on the snow, skillfully avoiding several bomb craters, and headed straight for the last signal point.

With a deafening roar, soil and snowflakes shot into the sky, forming a small mushroom cloud.

The last few skeletons who still wanted to be number six were reduced to nothing, not even a bone fragment remained.

"Hmph, utterly pathetic!"

"Are these skeletons out of their minds? They're only interested in ambushes, and we've taken them down so many times. They haven't improved at all!"

Xiao Zhou stood up, patted the snow off his clothes, and chuckled as he complained.

Zhao Chong didn't respond, but simply ordered: "Alright, stop joking. Same rules as before, everyone collect their equipment, including shell casings and drone fiber optic cables, nothing can be missing."

The soldiers, who had just been in high spirits, immediately looked dejected.

"No way, Captain, picking up trash again?"

"The cost of a meter of this fiber optic cable is less than one cent. If we take these few kilometers back, it won't even be enough to fill a tooth gap."

"Everything is for the sake of the red flag."

"Sigh, I'll just have to bear it!"

The soldiers complained, but their work continued without stopping; they skillfully began to organize the position.

They all understood that recycling these low-value supplies wasn't really about saving a little money, but about cultivating a mindset—that in a strange world where supplies could be cut off at any moment, everything has its value.

After all, magical elements are too mysterious, and no one can say for sure whether the portal to another dimension will suddenly close.

In that case, the ability to sustain combat operations will be the key to survival.

Xiao Zhou and several comrades formed a cleanup team, holding riot shields, and carefully walked towards the area that had been heavily targeted by artillery shells.

He held a modified riot gun in his hand, vigorously poking at the snow with the butt of the gun to make sure that no one, Skull Six, was hiding underneath.

Previously, some unlucky guys were caught off guard while cleaning up the battlefield and were tackled by skeleton soldiers that sprang out of the snow. If it weren't for the excellent stab resistance of their combat suits, which prevented the rusty weapons from the skeletons from piercing their defenses, they would probably have been posthumously awarded the title of martyr.

The rest of the group had clear roles: some were responsible for collecting scattered bone samples, while others held capture net launchers, keeping a watchful eye on any possible disturbances around them.

Once everything was confirmed to be safe, Zhao Chong called the non-combat personnel through the rear channel.

Soon, Ke Cheng arrived with his mining construction team.

　Daily New Book Recommendation —

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　　Reborn after filming mindless short dramas, Lü Rui returns to 01, carrying with him a [Ten-Item All-Round Director] system!
　　Goal: Reach the pinnacle of life!
　　

(End of this chapter)