Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 176 Technological Gap (Tenth Update)

Badlands, the remnants of a long-abandoned highway.

Li Wei and his special operations squad were using the wreckage of several rusted trucks half-buried in the sand to mount a tactical resistance.

This small team of only six is ​​well-equipped with the latest smart firearms from Contau.

The firearms' miniature sensors are perfectly synchronized with the team members' enhanced neural connections, giving them unparalleled shooting accuracy.

At this moment, several intelligent bullets are tracing tiny arcs, precisely bypassing the edge of cover, tracking and locking onto the enemy attempting to flank them.

However, even with such advanced equipment, it was difficult to completely reverse the absolute disadvantage in numbers when faced with more than fifteen experienced and heavily armed mercenaries suppressing them from the front and flanking them from the side.

"Captain! Enemies are flanking on the right flank!" a team member shouted, his smart ammunition firing a precise plume of dust into the sand, forcing two approaching enemies to hastily retreat.

"Xiao Zhang, cover the right flank with fire! Lao Wang, prepare smoke grenades, we're moving to the scree slope behind!" Li Wei's voice was as calm as ever.

As soon as he finished speaking, the smart bullet fired from his rifle drew a slight arc in the air and accurately hit a mercenary who had just picked up a grenade launcher in the distance.

He had a bloody gash on his forehead from a flying pebble, but his gaze remained sharp as a knife.

He knew perfectly well that if the stalemate continued, even if they weren't completely wiped out, there would inevitably be casualties, leading to the complete failure of the mission.

The interception orchestrated by the NC division was despicable, yet remarkably effective.

Just as he took a deep breath, preparing to order the throwing of smoke grenades for a highly risky forced breakout, the battlefield situation suddenly changed.

A blurry figure suddenly cut into the flank of the battlefield at a speed that was difficult for human vision to detect—the area where the mercenaries' firepower was most concentrated.

Her figure moved with superhuman speed, like a phantom tearing through reality, so much so that most of the mercenaries didn't even notice her arrival.

until--

"Ugh!"

"what?!"

"My arm!"

The piercing screams and cries of terror erupted almost simultaneously. Before anyone could react, the arms of the three mercenaries on the flanks, which were holding guns, had been severed at the shoulder.

The cut was incredibly smooth; before the blood could even spurt, the figure had already swept past.

They only had time to feel a gentle breeze before being gripped by excruciating pain.

"Enemy attack! It's a high-speed cybernetic body!" The mercenary leader finally realized what was happening, shouting hoarsely as he frantically turned his gun around.

But it was too late.

Mowell's figure flickered through the crowd. Her Sianwistan system wasn't even running at full power, only maintaining a level sufficient to completely suppress the reaction speed of these mercenaries.

The low-frequency hum emitted when the sonic blade is drawn is almost inaudible, yet it carries a deadly precision.

Every move she makes is calculated to be optimal: sometimes she precisely cuts off the enemy's weapon feed lines, sometimes she damages the key joints of the exoskeleton, and sometimes she stuns the target with just the right amount of force.

There were no unnecessary movements, no wasted energy; every strike ensured the target was instantly incapacitated. This was not a battle, but a meticulously planned demolition operation.

“It’s…it’s her! The one who appeared at Arasaka Tower…” A member of Kangtao CN recognized the signature fighting style, his voice filled with undisguised shock.

Li Wei immediately made a decision: "Cease fire! Everyone remain on alert to avoid friendly fire!"

The battlefield situation was completely reversed in just ten seconds.

The mercenaries, who originally held an absolute advantage, have been reduced to less than half in the blink of an eye.

The survivors were completely terrified by this inhuman fighting style, and they all huddled behind cover, losing even the courage to peek out.

Mowell stopped in the center of the battlefield, his crimson optical lens calmly scanning the entire area to confirm that the remaining threats had been eliminated.

She turned towards Li Wei's team, her synthesized voice calm and even: "By order of my master, I will guide you to the abandoned town. Please follow me."

Without any explanation or extra movement, she turned and walked towards the abandoned town, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than routine cleaning.

Li Wei took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and quickly gave tactical hand signals: "Everyone, follow up and maintain formation!"

The squad members immediately regrouped and followed closely behind.

As they passed the mercenaries lying on the ground, groaning in pain, everyone involuntarily held their breath—was this the power capable of destroying Arasaka Tower? One person alone, in an instant, a seemingly inescapable defeat was averted?

The stench of blood and gunpowder in the air contrasted sharply with the calm, almost cold, back view before them, leaving an indelible mark on their hearts.
-
Outside the abandoned town's perimeter, members of the Ghost Hound advance team witnessed the entire brief but chilling battle through high-powered binoculars and motion sensors.

An eerie silence fell over the communication channel, broken only by the faint hum of the equipment running.

"My God... this speed..." a young soldier muttered unconsciously, his fingers gripping the observation equipment slightly tighter.

"Maintain channel discipline!" the captain immediately hissed, but his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

He quickly connected to the encrypted dedicated line with Dogtown command.

“Colonel Hansen, this is the advance team. We just witnessed a…demonstration.” The captain carefully chose his words, his voice still trembling with shock. “A high-speed combat unit appeared in the target area and dismantled a fifteen-man mercenary squad in ten seconds.”

He took a deep breath and continued his report, his tone becoming even more serious: "According to our observations, this unit's speed performance completely exceeds known parameters. It's at least 30% faster than the most advanced S.A.W.S. system in military technology, and the key point is—"

The captain paused, as if confirming his conclusion: "The key is its sustained combat time. From the initial assault to the clearing, the system maintained peak output throughout, showing absolutely no signs of overload like a conventional S.A.W.S. system. It looks... like it's completely unburdened."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the channel before Hansen's voice rang out again, tinged with obvious seriousness: "Confirm the observation results?"

"Confirmed, Colonel. Sensor data has been uploaded. This is not any of the prosthetic body's capabilities we are familiar with." The captain's gaze unconsciously drifted back to the now-still figure in the distance. "Now I completely understand why New America chose to cooperate with them."

After ending the communication, the team leader looked around at the team members beside him.

Everyone was still reeling from the shock they had just experienced.

They finally came to a direct understanding of what kind of entity they were about to cooperate with—or rather, what kind of entity they would be providing perimeter security services for.

That's not just a simple technological advantage, but a fundamental generational gap.

(End of this chapter)