In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 139 Eight People

I'll kill your mother.

Zhao De almost cursed out loud.

If the other party hadn't been from the Legion Headquarters, and hadn't been of a higher rank, he would have already started cursing.

Being respectable doesn't mean not swearing. On the contrary, many leaders like to swear, and each one swears more harshly than the last.

Zhao De often verbally abused his subordinates who were incompetent. He hated people who just sat there and did nothing, so naturally he wouldn't tolerate his subordinates being useless.

He suppressed his anger and said, "Comrades at the Legion Headquarters, we agreed to provide at least one regiment of support, but now there's not even a trace of them."

The person on the other end of the phone replied, "If the city cannot send enough personnel, we can understand and make an exception."

Zhao De said, "I'm not asking for exceptions, but for support! Our city has just successfully discharged the floodwaters, and now there are hundreds of soldiers at the outposts who are isolated and helpless."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Mayor, the Wude Hall has already issued an order that everything should be prioritized for the Tuen Mun military town, and all our combat troops have been dispatched."

"What about people from other cities?"

“Other areas also need to support Tuen Mun Military Town.”

"Surely we can pick them up through other routes?"

"Currently, all legions are carrying out missions. If you need support from other cities, you can contact the Bureau of Political Affairs for coordination. This is not within our jurisdiction."

"Do you have any questions?"

"..."

Zhao De hung up the phone and loudly revealed his true feelings.

"grass!"

After a while, he calmed himself down and then contacted the authorities in the capital.

The situation on the Tuen Mun battlefield is estimated to be extremely tense right now, so it's impossible for him to contact Wu Hou.

Why not try going to the Martial Virtue Hall, even if it's a higher level? You might be able to find some help. Although the chances are very slim, it's never a bad thing to try.

The Bodong region has been at war for the past three years. The ancient god circle outside Beishan has been active, posing a constant threat to the Federation's important oil-producing areas.

For this reason, many legions were sent there to garrison.

Originally, the Chishui Army was required to guard the south and had remained inactive. However, a year ago, due to the strain on the front lines, they had no choice but to send their main force out.

The situation wasn't too bad at first, but then something happened in Tuen Mun military town.

As a result, it will be difficult for the city to receive timely assistance.

Half an hour later, Zhao De withdrew all his disrespect towards the Federation.

At this moment, anyone who dares to say even a bad word about the Federation is his enemy!

The Federal Martial Virtue Hall has just allocated an emergency 1 billion gold coins to the city for flood relief and disaster recovery. With money, everything will be much easier. This is crucial for both compensating the fallen and rewarding frontline flood relief workers.

Zhao De also believed that material things were more important than spiritual things. People like Lu Zhao exist in the world, but most people are just ordinary folks.

He immediately took the following measures.

First, requisition and hire all the city's engineering equipment, including the operators.

Legally, under a state of emergency, the city government has the right to temporarily conscript anyone. However, forcing things rarely works, and workers' enthusiasm for their jobs will be very low.

Second, they spent money to hire the people.

Unlike the young and middle-aged Chinese, the local people are not motivated to work unless they are paid, and their enthusiasm for being forcibly conscripted is not high.

Logistics are already difficult on the front lines of disaster relief; you can't just send a bunch of incompetent people. On the contrary, as long as the money is right, the people will work their hardest.

They also have an advantage: if they die while on duty, they only need to pay a one-time compensation.

Conversely, if a member of the Chinese community dies during disaster relief efforts, their family members will be registered as preferential households, receiving annual rations of basic necessities such as rice and oil, and funding for their children's higher education, etc.

These funds were all provided by local government finances.

At Zhao De's level, he rarely views issues from a racial narrative perspective. If the benefits of equal treatment for Chinese and non-Chinese people outweigh the drawbacks, then he would also support reform.

However, Zhao De is currently opposed to it.

The thought of not being able to use corporal punishment, yet still having to obey a group of people with a literacy rate of less than 15%, made Zhao De's scalp tingle.

When assigning tasks, Zhao De specifically instructed his secretary: "The disaster area is chaotic, and the only ethnic group in the Indian region is Sikhs. I don't want any sexual crimes to occur."

"Yes."

Zhao De was somewhat relieved as the heavy rain subsided. As long as it wasn't as torrential as it had been recently, the situation wouldn't be too serious.

Maybe the heavy rain will stop tomorrow.

Once the flood recedes, the losses will only be some houses and fields on Ant Ridge, which can be rebuilt as long as the people are still alive.

At 15:00 PM, the sky began to darken slightly.

An urgent call came from the Ant Ridge Border Station; a special operations soldier had relayed a message back to the front lines.

The frontline outpost is in dire need of assistance, facing an invasion by a horde of tens of thousands of beasts.

Meanwhile, the outpost's ammunition was also running out.

These messages were like another downpour, casting a shadow over an already precarious situation.

Zhao De urgently handed over the work to his trusted confidants and mobilized helicopters available throughout the city to drop supplies to the outposts.

Half an hour later, Zhao De, alone, waded through the raging floodwaters and transformed into a golden light that pierced into the mountains.
-
13:00
Outpost.

Following the rock thorn sea urchin, the second wave is a fire-type monster called the boiling barnacle.

Resembling barnacles in appearance, they carry enormous coral shells on their backs, from which multiple tentacles extend, capable of spewing out high-temperature gases.

The monsters in the Ancient God Circle did not appear out of thin air; they evolved from some kind of creature and occupied different ecological niches due to different environments.

It also follows the five elements' mutual generation and restraint, giving rise to different abilities.

Boiling barnacles are natural enemies of rock urchins, attracting them with large numbers of dead rock urchins.

The charred remains of the rock urchin still floated on the river, with countless tentacles carrying coral shells devouring the corpses and relentlessly pressing closer to the outpost.

At the very back, a small hill slowly climbs up, estimated to be at least ten meters high.

Third-tier monster.

Wang Tong held the binoculars, his lips twitching slightly as fear spread uncontrollably.

Everyone held their breath.

"What are you all standing there for! Bring up all the rockets from the warehouse!"

Lu Zhao's stern rebuke brought everyone back to their senses, and the squad responsible for moving the ammunition sprang into action.

"Fire! Don't let them get close. Rifle bullets shorter than three meters can penetrate them directly; for those longer than three meters, aim for the unshelled areas." The soldier controlling the heavy machine gun received the order and began firing at the swarm of barnacles below.

Others followed suit, unleashing a barrage of bullets that covered the river, piercing through each barnacle.

The bodily fluids from the dead barnacles vaporized, turning the entire valley gray.

From within the mist, the mountain-sized leader of the boiling barnacles extended twelve tentacles, six streams of overpressured gas twisting into incandescent jets that shot across two kilometers toward the outpost's heavy machine gun position.
Lu Zhao, possessing mental power to probe, reacted quickly and shouted, "Lie down!"

Everyone lay down, and then the scorching heat swept across the concrete retaining wall, melting the barrels of two heavy machine guns.

"Holy crap... how the hell am I supposed to fight this?"

Everyone was stunned.

For a machine gun to melt, the temperature would have to be at least 2,000 degrees Celsius.

If this gets sprayed on a person, would they even survive?
Lu Zhao was also shaken, but he quickly suppressed his fear and ordered, "Continue firing. The squad machine guns will replace the damaged heavy machine guns."

"Don't be afraid, I can predict its attack."

The soldiers received the order, and their fear had not yet subsided when their bodies reacted.

Lu Zhao then picked up a sniper rifle and attempted to shoot the tentacles of the third-tier Boiling Barnacle.

After several attempts, the bullets found it difficult to injure the enemy.

Lu Zhao grabbed a rocket launcher, aimed it, and fired. The warhead was shattered by the tentacles before it even reached the target.

The power gap between the three tiers was too great, and a sense of despair began to spread.

Wang Tong has already sent people to ask for help and has even considered retreating.

Lu Zhao felt no fear; he had forgotten fear. He simply stared intently, observing and probing.

The jet of incandescent liquid cools down in ten minutes, and only two of the twelve tentacles can still jet.

He observed that the exploding rocket warheads left marks on the tentacles. They were effective against bullets, but not immune to blast damage.

As long as the explosives are buried under the enemy, effective damage can be caused.

Boiling barnacle larvae are not dangerous; at most, they spray out some hot water and are not poisonous themselves.

Just wait until the barnacles get close enough.

Lu Zhao told Wang Tong about the plan, and the latter exclaimed, "Are you fucking crazy?! If that tentacle comes down with a whip, no one will survive!"

Lu Zhao said noncommittally, "But it's not without a chance of winning. We have 150 people, and it has to pause for a few seconds after each lash."

Just as a person needs to build up power when punching, a soft structure like this will only take longer with each strike.

"Many of us will die."

Wang Tong emphasized, looking into those calm phoenix eyes, he felt that the other person had gone mad.

The wall wasn't large, and the rain was very soft, so Lu Zhao's voice reached everyone's ears.

They all thought Lu Zhao had gone mad.

"During the Great Cataclysm, when I was in the orphanage, I asked an elder who had been seriously wounded on the front lines how to kill a third-tier demon beast."

"We need eight second-tier individuals, eighty first-tier individuals, and eight hundred ordinary people."

As Lu Zhao stood up and fired, he spoke calmly.

Under the influence of mental energy, everyone heard it very clearly.

“A battalion might not be able to exchange for a third-tier demon beast, and a regiment might not be able to exchange for a fourth-tier one. But in the end, we still won. We held off the ancient god, relying on countless eight people, eighty people, and eight hundred people.”

His first teacher was Colonel Li Shaoqing.

The other party taught him how to use his mental power and also told him about the cruelty of the battlefield.

In a world where individual power is paramount, human survival is not determined by the strength of those who wield that power.

The land of China faces the entire world's ancient god circle, and its high-level combat power is extremely scarce.

In order to preserve their strength, ordinary people often have to face third-tier or even fourth-tier monsters.

Like ants devouring an elephant, they nibble away bit by bit. An elephant, however, can kill a large number of them with a single stomp.

Just like in their previous lives, their fathers never imagined they could win a one-on-one battle against the Western iron birds.

China is weak in the face of the ancient gods, and this remains true to this day.

Perhaps some people are still hoping for aid, but Lu Zhao knows that if they still haven't received aid by the third day after the disaster, then aid will not come.

Because other places need assistance more.

Lu Zhao emptied the magazine, turned to face everyone, and raised his voice:

"Comrades, I will be the first to carry the explosives, because the country and the people need me to do this, and they need you to do this too."

"Today we will be one of those eighty people. We may lose eighty people, but victory will undoubtedly be ours."

The continuation of China is built on sacrifice.

People have sacrificed themselves for those who are alive now; it is simply their turn.

Everyone fell silent. After a moment, Wang Tong, the frontline commander, saluted Lu Zhao.

"Yes!"

Lu Zhao looked at the others, and wherever his gaze fell, they all saluted.

"Yes!!!"

Some people are born leaders, something Wang Tong initially didn't quite believe.

He witnessed it today.

This man always seemed to remain calm, his gaze always fixed ahead, and he moved forward with unwavering determination.

And the crowd will subconsciously follow him.

14: 00.

When the three-tiered boiling barnacles arrived at the foot of the mountain, a squad at the outpost used machine gun fire to draw attention.

On both sides of the valley, the soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle.

They were unsure whether the third-order boiling barnacle could detect it, or in what form it observed the outside world—whether by touch, smell, or mental power.
Much of the information is opaque, so they have no choice but to gamble.

Lu Zhao, carrying a 50-kilogram explosive pack, squatted in the spot closest to the river.

They kept their eyes fixed on the small hill as it slowly approached.

One thousand meters, five hundred meters, two hundred meters...

(End of this chapter)