Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 187 Energy Shield (Tenth Update)
On the outer perimeter of the abandoned town, the soldiers who had just finished fighting had not yet had time to fully relax when the piercing air raid siren shattered the brief tranquility.

"Air threat! Radar has detected a large number of high-speed targets approaching! It's Arasaka's carrier-based aircraft!" came the urgent warning from the Ghosthound air defense unit over the communication channel.

All personnel immediately went into air defense mode, seeking cover or operating the limited number of portable anti-aircraft missiles, anxiously looking up at the sky.

The Lhasa Road mercenaries also lowered their power armor, preparing to withstand possible bombing.

The military technology envoy and the members of the Kangtao CN team also concealed themselves, looking up at the black dot appearing on the distant horizon.

Soon, the roar of engines grew louder as they approached, like a concerto of death.

The Arasaka aircraft group rapidly magnified in the field of vision, entering the attack path with a well-trained posture.

"Missile launch! Take evasive action!" The observer's voice almost changed.

Dozens of fighter jets lit up with fire almost simultaneously, and air-to-ground missiles, trailing conspicuous plumes of smoke, swooped down on the abandoned town and its outer defenses like a swarm of bees.

At that moment, time seemed to slow down, and many soldiers on the ground wore expressions of despair—under such a saturation attack, the existing point air defense systems were practically useless.

However, just as the first wave of missiles was about to hit the ruined town, a sudden change occurred.

A faint, almost transparent blue halo originated from a point in the center of the abandoned town and instantly expanded outwards, like an inverted bowl, enveloping the entire abandoned town and its surrounding key defensive areas.

After expanding to its limit, the halo stabilized, forming a visible, rippling, azure energy barrier.

The next second, the missile swarm launched by Arasaka crashed violently into the barrier.

There was no deafening explosion, only a series of dull "thump-thump" sounds, like heavy hammers striking tough leather.

The missile's warhead failed to detonate as expected the moment it hit the barrier.

Instead, it was as if they had crashed into an extremely viscous and tough invisible force field. The kinetic energy was rapidly absorbed and dispersed, ultimately only causing violently spreading energy ripples on the surface of the barrier, as well as a brief burst of dazzling electric sparks.

The missile body then twisted and deformed under the erosion of energy, eventually turning into a burst of ineffective smoke mixed with metal fragments and unexploded fuel, which fell down in a flurry.

Subsequent missiles, as well as cannon fire from fighter jets during dive-strikes, met the same fate.

No matter how the Arasaka pilot adjusted his attack angle or how he unleashed his ammunition, the azure barrier remained unmoved, like an absolute barrier in mythology that separated the mortal world, blocking all attacks from the air.

The bombardment lasted for several minutes, but the abandoned town felt no tremor whatsoever, as if the scene unfolding above was merely a holographic light show unrelated to them.

After exhausting their ground-attack ammunition, the Arasaka aircraft group could only circle futilely outside the barrier. Finally, under the reluctant command of the lead aircraft, they turned around and returned to base in frustration.

As the engine of the last enemy plane faded into the distance, silence returned over the ruined town, leaving only the azure energy shield still steadily emitting a faint glow, silently proclaiming its existence.

The defense line was deathly silent.

Then, a torrent of exclamations and discussions erupted.

The soldiers of the Ghost Hounds peeked out from behind their bunkers, touching the seemingly thin yet indestructible energy barrier in disbelief, their faces filled with bewilderment and shock at surviving such a catastrophe.

They were used to bullets and explosions, but never imagined that war could be defended in this way.

"My God... what the hell is that?" A Lhasa mercenary exclaimed through the external speaker of his power armor. His steel body looked tiny against the barrier. The miniaturized kinetic energy shields they had recently been equipped with, hastily produced using military technology, were like fireflies compared to the gigantic shield that enveloped the sky and earth.

The special envoy from the military technology department was currently staring intently at the monitoring data on his personal terminal regarding the shield's energy readings. Although he did not have access to most of the critical data, the basic fluctuation index was already alarming enough.

He knew all too well how much resources the company's technical department had invested in research and reverse engineering after obtaining the shield technology provided by the "Sage".

However, the results were disappointing. At best, they could only replicate the drawings strictly. Any attempt to optimize, reduce the size, or increase the coverage encountered insurmountable technical barriers.

Either energy consumption skyrockets exponentially, causing the system to overload instantly, or the shield field itself becomes extremely unstable, resulting in a sharp drop in defensive effectiveness.

The expansion of the energy shield is by no means a simple matter of stacking energy and connecting equipment in parallel.

How to keep such a massive energy field stable, how to balance defense strength with energy consumption, and how to handle potential energy leakage and interference in different regions...

These extremely complex systemic problems are so complex that even military engineers have not yet fully established theoretical models for them.

The shield system before them, which had easily withstood a full-force attack from Arasaka's Standard Air Wing, was technologically far beyond their current understanding.

This is not just "having", it is "an overwhelming presence".

The special envoy felt his mouth go dry. He had to report this situation to headquarters immediately. The importance of this report even exceeded that of the Arasaka Power Armor Unit's movements.

The members of the Kangtao CN team, who also stayed in the abandoned town for follow-up contact, stood at the door of their temporary residence, looking up at the dreamlike blue light curtain in the sky.

Although Captain Li Wei maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, his slightly constricted pupils betrayed the intense turmoil within him.

Kanto also has extensive experience in energy weapons and defense technologies, but he is certain that the company could not possibly manufacture a regional shield of such scale and with such stable performance.

This is no longer just "advanced," it's practically "cutting-edge technology."

He recalled the headquarters' instruction to "establish friendly relations" and now felt that there might be a deeper meaning behind this instruction than he had initially imagined.

The technical expertise possessed by this "sage" is unfathomable.

Inside the abandoned town's central workshop, Chen Yu's crimson optical lens calmly watched the real-time images transmitted from the external monitoring system. The various parameters of the shield generator flowed smoothly in his processing core, everything within the expected range.

What is a technological marvel that is incomprehensible to the powers of this world is, to him, nothing more than a standardized regional defense deployment based on tens of thousands of years of technological accumulation in another universe.

He didn't care about the shock this shield caused to the outside world; he only cared about the data and what follow-up measures Arasaka would take after his first air strike failed.

The war has only just begun.

This blue barrier stretching across the sky undoubtedly adds a huge, unpredictable element to the impending all-out conflict, one that leaves the attacker feeling powerless.

Arakasaka Yoriyuki stood on the bridge of the White Whale, watching the transmitted images of the attack being completely ineffective. His face was expressionless, but deep inside, a ripple of something unexpected was quietly rising.

This shield not only blocked Arasaka's missiles, but may also, to some extent, change his original plan.

(End of this chapter)