Steel torrents pioneering a different world.

Chapter 289 Shock and a Repeat of the Same Tactics? Strategic Opportunity? (Please Subscribe)

As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war, and strategic deterrence also requires this.

After confirming that the battle for Pangula Fortress was nearing its end and that key areas had been disinfected, as well as the first round of disinfection of frequently used passages, the humans began working with the dwarven artisans and the artisan slaves who had been rescued from Pangula Fortress to repair the communication network.

People underestimated the technology of the dwarves.

It must be said that the dwarves from another world have been rooted in these mountains for many years, and their infrastructure is far beyond human imagination.

Remember this website's domain name: ??????????.??????

Well, how should I put it!

If humans are a race that combines farming and warfare, then dwarves are the masters of survival in the mountains.

The dwarves have built sophisticated living facilities in the mountains, and the older the place, the more complete and dense the cave structures. Moreover, the dwarven caves are not the kind of caves that humans believe could suffocate the dwarves by simply sealing off the ventilation openings.

The world with magical energy particles is home to many amazing plants and animals.

For example, there's a delicious moss cultivated by dwarves, a variety of abundant light-averse mushrooms, and tuberous crops containing large amounts of starch, similar to sweet potatoes.

Many plants can produce large amounts of oxygen even under low sunlight.

While some mosses and photophobic plants cannot be eaten directly by humans, they can be eaten by the dwarven Gru beasts, some otherworldly rats, otherworldly cave rabbits, and many other animals.

The dwarves eat these small animals directly, thus completing the overall ecological cycle.

Even things like dwarf excrement can be processed.

Because of insufficient manpower and internal corruption among the dwarves, Pangulet Fortress secretly purchases slaves, seafood, and meat from outside every year for killing and sacrifice.

This has resulted in the interior of Pomgrelle Fortress being quite filthy. More thorough cleaning is needed.

After completing the cleaning of the interior of the fortress, the humans followed the dwarves to begin repairing the communication network.

When the human communications soldier of the pioneering team saw the unearthed cable, which was clearly hammered together, he fell into deep thought.

Not only them, but also some engineers on the other end of the camera who wanted to analyze the dwarf technology, as well as many experts, remained silent.

Well, the thing the communications soldier was holding was less of an electrical wire and more of a wire hammered together from brass, wrapped in some unknown latex-like insulating sheath. It was a communications cable that he had painstakingly DIYed bit by bit.

Most importantly, the exposed parts of these copper wires that were removed were surprisingly well-made.

Sturdy and reliable, durable and long-lasting.

The communications soldier suddenly remembered the products that the alliance that had never disintegrated in the last world had produced.

Even after half a century, it can still be used as essential equipment for cannon fodder in a hot-button conflict zone.

Another communications soldier gestured to the thick wire in his hand.

With such thick copper wire, aren't you worried about signal attenuation?

It's not a superconducting material!

Furthermore, the copper wires used by these dwarves could power an air conditioner of at least five kilowatts. Using something so thick as a simple communication cable is such a waste of copper.

"It seems the dwarves control some large copper mines? Just like the large quantity of high-quality iron ore we found here?"

Ironically, there is an abandoned, high-quality iron mine near Pangula Fortress.

Moreover, it is almost an open-pit iron ore mine with an average density of 52 percent.

Those iron mines ceased mining for unknown reasons, but with careful development, they could definitely produce steel similar to some high-quality iron ore from Australia in another world.

Most importantly, the pioneering teams in those areas also discovered many rare metallic elements.

Anyway, the pioneering team has become numb to the natural resources here.

The fact that a place like the Dwarven Mountain Kingdom is considered a barren land in this other world shows just how amazing the rich mineral resources of the Sacred Star are.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen such good things before?" The old dwarf's voice, which sounded particularly strong after he had eaten and drunk his fill, rang out from behind.

It was the dwarf who had been rescued earlier, the highly respected old man Potterling.

Although not the type to suddenly find a way to "save the world" by siding with humans, after a period of internal struggle, Botlin quickly began collaborating with them on numerous occasions. He even shared almost everything he knew about Pomgr Fortress with them.

Of course, if Potterlin hadn't only cooperated after the humans produced the detailed topographical map of the captured Pangula Fortress, the humans' impression of Potterlin and Northon would definitely have been above 90.

Unfortunately, Portlin only began to cooperate after discovering that the humans had produced a topographical map of the Pomgrand Fortress and a large number of architectural plans.

Therefore, humans only rate the old dwarf, Portlin, at sixty.

Passed. Be careful of some dangerous things!

"Mr. Portlin, I must say the nobles' communication lines are very well built!" The communications soldier didn't say anything superfluous, just picked out the nice things to say.

"Haha~" Portlin grinned, exhaling a puff of hot air from his nostrils. "You have excellent taste!"

He took out the tools commonly used by dwarves and skillfully hammered and twisted the broken copper core together, muttering to himself, "Impressive, isn't it? Our ancestors were very thoughtful. These lines can be used for hundreds of years. Once built, they don't need maintenance for many years! Look—this line should be the last point of damage from the bombing. Soon other places will be able to communicate with Pangul."

The human technician, who was overhearing this, suppressed his urge to communicate.

These old-fashioned telephone lines are indeed essential emergency equipment in some areas.

However, in the civilian sector, it has long faced the predicament of being phased out for various reasons.

grown ups!

Why is magical communication so widespread in your world?

Forget it, these are military-grade! Military-grade! They're not civilian-grade, and neither are the civilian ones!

Although dwarves have outdated telephone communication technology, many of them possess advanced magical communication techniques and are more resistant to interference in other worlds, making them worthy of human learning and emulation.

These seemingly cumbersome physical circuits, while wasting a lot of copper, are highly efficient for communication within the fortress, and can even handle medium- to long-distance communication.

Dwarfs possess many technologies that would make any human drool.

This explains why, even when repairing outdated communication lines, there are some highly educated communications personnel, and even experts assisting them behind the scenes.

To put it bluntly, this is called stealing someone else's skills!

Of course, the pioneers all considered this slander.

They prefer to call it a technical exchange.

Humans are willing to share their technology with each other.

The dwarves only need to teach humans their magical communication technology and magical electromagnetic interference resistance technology.

After they left this place.

More good news has arrived.

They found some precious magical communication devices in the collapsed communications center in Rice.

The crowd gathered here.

An elderly dwarf craftsman carefully assembled some freshly filed parts.

Then he took out a blue crystal the size of a thumb.

He looked at it with a pained expression, then put the blue crystal into the box and muttered a spell.

Then the crystal hummed and emitted a soft light, and the runes on the outside of the ordinary box began to light up, with energy patterns flowing within them.

The cameras worn by the people nearby silently recorded everything.

Norsen smiled. "Ha, not bad, it still works!"

"Can this allow free communication with all the major clans in the kingdom?" Professor Yu Qiwen asked from the side.

"I don't know. This isn't the main communication device; it can only connect to a limited number of channels. It's a pity we don't have many complete communication runestones left in the warehouse, otherwise we could make some adjustments and try to make it communicate with more people!"

"I see. This communication technology is quite impressive. How far can it communicate?"

"This is one of my clan's emergency magical communication devices. It's extremely advanced." Portlin glanced at it, a hint of pride in his voice. "As long as there's a pre-existing integrated magical device, it can easily pair up within an 800-kilometer radius. As long as the magical energy isn't excessive, it can almost completely ignore terrain interference and communicate instantly."

"This thing is amazing—can they mass-produce it? What about its energy consumption?" Yu Qiwen couldn't help but ask.

"Mass production? You think we're producing Grumon?" Botlin rolled his eyes. "We dwarves have lost the technology to produce high-grade communication magic stones! Most of our energy stones are now bought from outside at high prices! They're practically expendable with each use, and this is the basic model. As for energy consumption—well, let's not even talk about it! These specially made ones are too precious!"

He paused, as if remembering something, and his beard twitched.

"Your human technology is not bad. But it still can't compare to ours, because your technology can't withstand magical interference. Our top-of-the-line communication rune equipment can bring images and sounds of people thousands of kilometers away right in front of you, just like real people!"

"Yes, those things are just too expensive to make. We once sold some of our technology to the Southern Humans, but unfortunately, due to the devastating war at the Crossing of the Heavens, much of our heritage was lost. Now, only the wealthy and powerful humans can afford to make these things."

Yu Qiwen's lips twitched slightly.

Doesn't this mean they once possessed incredibly advanced communication technology that resisted magical interference, but for various reasons became human?

Pooh!

They really know how to pat themselves on the back.

What if those things were all invented by humans from another world?

Yu Qiwen was thinking about these things, while the technician ignored the fact that the other party was selling technology to humans and instead listened to other things implied in the other party's words!

Holographic communication!

No, it should be called an otherworldly magical version of holographic video communication!

The technician was greatly shocked.

The pioneering team possesses holographic projection technology, along with its theoretical basis and development strategy. However, human technology is incomplete, and they can only produce reasonably good images in specific environments such as darkness.

Due to limitations in technology and materials, those things have significant restrictions in their use!

But it seems that the other world has already mastered this technology.

Unfortunately, these technologies are too expensive to be widely used by civilians.

"Mr. Porterling, can you confirm now who this device can contact?"

The dwarf Portlin looked embarrassed: "Um, I need to contact them first! Let's see who answered!"

"Well—maybe we should leave it for now. I suspect this communication device is probably connected to the higher-ups of the Mithril Clan. You know about the connection between Pangulet Fortress and the Mithril Clan's leadership."

Potter and Northumbers' faces immediately darkened.

"At this moment, what we need is to spread the news about Pangula Fortress to more people. We still recommend that you contact other regions first."

What they said is true, it's very ironic, and they have no choice but to listen!

Because they needed to ensure that more of the lower-class dwarves survived and were not used as sacrifices.

"Okay!" Portlin nodded dejectedly.

Norsen had nothing to say in rebuttal.

Without the involvement of the dwarven high command, the corruption problem on Pangula's side would never have been concealed for so long.

At this moment, these dwarves who had escaped death were naturally at odds with the Mithril Clan.

Contacting them rashly, revealing the complete fall of Pangula Fortress, might incite them to take actions detrimental to them.

For example, the other party turns the tables and accuses you!

Everyone began to wait for the limited communication adjustment test.

This happened very quickly; the basic debugging and integration were completed rapidly.

"The wire-locked gold communication device can now make calls to other places."

With a joyful roar, the dwarf began to crank the repaired hand-cranked telephone.

A moment later, a crisp sound rang out.

Then—

"Hey?! Pomgrelle Fortress? You've been out of contact for so long? Finally, we can get back in touch?"

Did you defeat the enemy?

Everyone present fell silent.

The other elderly dwarves gathered around, their eyes a mixture of grief, anger, and a glimmer of hope.

They are survivors and witnesses.

They need to save more innocent compatriots who have not been corrupted.

Botlin took a deep breath and, with trembling hands, grasped the heavy receiver.

"I am Portlin Mithril Pangule Ironhammer. I am a retired member of the Holy Blood Guard of Pangule Fortress. I have important news to report!"

The old dwarf's voice wasn't loud, but it prompted a question from the voice on the other end of the receiver: "Botterin Mithril Pangolo Ironhammer! I've never heard of that name before. Wasn't the previous communicator Salit?"

"Salit is the Corruptor! I am a veteran, a noble veteran of the Mithril Clan, a veteran who guarded Panguler Fortress!" Portlin repeated his identity. "Listen, immediately notify all the tribes you can contact—"

He paused for a moment, as if he had used up all his strength.

"Energy is leaking from the spacetime rift at Pangolier Fortress. Rais and a large number of dwarven guards have been corrupted by high-dimensional evil! Rais has gone mad; he has captured and deceived countless descendants of the surrounding guards—he has sacrificed countless of his own people to evil."

"Listen, this is no joke! Tens of thousands of dwarven brethren from a dozen or so villages surrounding the Mithril Clan were sacrificed as offerings by Rais!"

"Rice—that bastard, he and all the guards have been corrupted! He has sacrificed our people, our children!"

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the phone.

A few seconds later, a deafening roar, accompanied by the loud crash of something being smashed, erupted from the receiver.

"Botterin, stop talking nonsense! The Mithril Clan never betrays! Elder Rais certainly never betrays! You dare slander the Elder, you bastard—you—haha, you fallen dwarf! You're going to die! You disgrace to our ancestors!"

After saying that, the other party hung up the phone immediately.

Botterling leaned against the cold wall, looking at the faces around him and the humans beside him!

"It's a Mithril Clan operator; the voice is quite young, but I don't know who it is!"

"Mr. Portlin, is it still possible to contact the other clans in the capital?"

Potterlin shook his head: "I haven't been here for many years. My experience as a repairman is completely out of touch with what it's like here. The wiring has changed a lot over the years, and I don't know how to contact them!"

Technician: "————"

"Since the king doesn't believe Pangule Fortress has fallen, then contact those you know well first. Tell them what's going on here."

"good!"

Botlin thought for a moment, then grabbed the joystick and shook it again.

"Ningjing Harbor Tax Office! Is this the Ningjing Harbor Tax Office?"

The piercing sound of electricity rang out again, and soon, a new line was connected.

"Wright? Is that you? Are you still alive? How's the battle going over there?"

"Is that Vincent?!"

"Uh, who are you? You're not Wright?"

"You idiot with your ears stuffed with sparks! It's me, your great-uncle! Three years have passed, don't you recognize me?" Potter questioned into the microphone.

After a moment of silence, a hesitant voice came from the other end: "Grandpa Potterling? What are you doing here?"

"I was tricked into coming here by the fortress guards! Damn it, we were almost sacrificed! That bastard Rice, he's corrupted!" Portlin was so angry his beard bristled. "You bastard who spent 100 gold dragons to get a position in Tranquil Harbor and enjoy yourself, has your brain been corrupted like those bastards'?"

"No! Of course I haven't been corrupted—my ancestors can attest to my loyalty! But Grandpa, why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"Here's what happened—"

Portlin quickly told the other party.

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"Vincent, you think I'm lying to you? You idiot, when your own grandmother lived in the same cave as me, your own grandfather was just a little brat working for a blacksmith! Now you don't believe me, but you believe that bastard Rice?"

"Grandpa Potter, don't try to intimidate me with your seniority. My grandmother and you were close, but my relationship with you is just so-so."

A dwarf stepped forward: "Vincent, I'm Larry. That guy Rice has indeed been corrupted. Many of us were almost sacrificed. I can vouch for him!"

Vincent on the other end of the phone stopped talking.

Larry, who snatched the phone, was his uncle.

"Grandpa, Uncle Larry, Elder Mazast just said that some powerful beings are using evil magic to attack us, so—I can't trust you!"

The human communications soldier listening nearby twitched his eyes. He had a feeling that this communication was likely to fail.

"Ancestors above! I swear on your grandmother and mother's honor, it's all true!" Pottery roared hoarsely. "Pangulle Fortress was indeed taken down by humans! The ancestors have appeared! They rescued us all!"

"Gazelle appears—"

"Do your ancestors also appear to you?"

At Tranquil Harbor, Vincent, microphone in hand, looked around. "Grandpa Portlin, and Uncle Larry, there was a big commotion at Tranquil Harbor a couple of days ago. There were indeed some dwarven rebels fighting our soldiers at the Tranquil Military Base! Because our superiors said this rebellion is unusual, they've ordered us to monitor all incoming information at all times. Uncle, I don't have much time. What do you want me to do?"

"Vincent, the ancestor has truly appeared! More real than any dwarven hammer you've ever seen!" Potterlin, too lazy to explain, went straight to the point. "Now, immediately, right now! Contact all the village warriors who are still of sound mind and trustworthy, those who haven't served more than three years. Expose the corrupt ones! There are definitely still staunch believers in Tranquil Harbor and the military base. With enough people, we can take them back!"

"But—but Lord Mazast is mobilizing armed civilians, and many people have been sent to help them. Elder Mazast says it's to resist the human invasion—"

Potterlin's voice stopped abruptly.

"What did he say? Mobilize civilians?"

"Yes—he said that in order to protect everyone, everyone should gather at the central square of the port—"

"Protect—" The color drained from Botlin's face instantly. He muttered to himself, "Protect again—that bastard Rice, he said the same thing back then—"

"Vincent, find a safe place. I need your intelligence. I have a feeling that Mazast is about to do something crazy again. Listen, this is no joke! For the sake of our people, you have to move!"

Then, Pottering ended the call, turned around, and grabbed the arm of Yu Qiwen, who had remained silent the whole time.

His chapped lips trembled, and the anger in his eyes was replaced by a deeper fear.

"Human friends! The dwarves need your help! They are about to commit atrocities again! We need to rescue them quickly."

"Peaceful Harbor! That fellow Mazast—he might be corrupted too. He's using the guise of protection to gather all the civilians in the port! I suspect he's going to use those people—all our compatriots—as sacrifices!"

Yu Qiwen's originally calm expression instantly turned serious, and his brows furrowed tightly.

According to records of Tranquil Harbor, there are hundreds of thousands of dwarves there.

If they were really slaughtered and sacrificed, something terrible is likely to happen.

The pioneering team absolutely needs to help with this site!

Besides this, Yu Qiwen also remembered that the mysterious person seemed to have sent them some information about many sensitive areas in Ningjing Port.

perhaps----

He took a breath, mentally prepared his response, and then helped the agitated old dwarf up, his voice steady: "Mr. Portlin, as you know, we have just gone through a great battle, and the warriors have reached their limit."

The light in Portlin's eyes dimmed visibly. He released his grip and took a step back in despair: "So—we can only watch them get killed? They—they were so innocent!"

Yu Qiwen did not answer.

His gaze swept over the desperate old dwarf before him, and his eyes flickered slightly.

"We cannot send a large army immediately."

"but----"

He looked at Potterlin, whose hope had been rekindled, and said, word by word, "Since your ancestors have entrusted you with the trust of us, for the sake of future peace and the eradication of evil, we can let our rapid response forces give it a try!"

"It's a pity that the allocation of some of our powerful military supplies takes a lot of time; otherwise, we could provide long-range support and annihilate those damned corruptors."

Yu Qiwen's voice was calm and unhurried, carrying a soothing power.

"However, as you know, powerful magical weapons are difficult to produce, and they need to be transported urgently, so there's no time to prepare them."

So, is this an attempt to shirk responsibility?

The thought flashed through Portlin's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

He thought that since they were not of the same race, it was only right not to help, and that being willing to lend a helping hand was already a great favor.

"We can help you transport weapons and ammunition!"

"Humanity, so many innocent fellow human beings, they need support. If too many are sacrificed, and the evil ritual is completed, it will be bad for the whole world!"

"Don't worry, we said we would help," Yu Qiwen promised, then asked them to wait a while.

A few minutes later, Yu Qiwen arrived again: "The higher-ups have approved it. In 10 hours, at most 10 hours, we will have our weapons and ammunition ready to assist you in rescuing those innocent people."

Portlin's pupils dilated sharply in that instant, almost shrinking to the size of two pinpoints.

Norsen, standing next to him, couldn't help but gasp, letting out a clearly audible gasp.

They originally thought that even if humans agreed, it would take several days, and the innocent people of the Mithril Clan would suffer heavy losses before they could make military preparations.

They never imagined that humanity possessed such power!

"Mr. Portling, we will mobilize the weapons as soon as possible."

"Of course, do you have a way to contact your ancestor, the great Gezur?"

Upon hearing this, Potter was stunned, his eyes suddenly lighting up as if he had witnessed a miracle.

But the light lasted only a moment before quickly dimming.

"No! We have temples of our ancestors and gods in many places, but our ancestors and gods rarely descend."

The image of that mysterious person quietly surfaced in Yu Qiwen's mind.

"Mr. Portlin, we can try to contact your ancestors through our friends."

Upon hearing that humans had a way to contact the great Gezur, a tremendous wave of emotion surged within Botlin.

"Thanks for humanity's help. Oh, and please let me and those old bones from Northon go too!"

"We are all clan warriors, the steadfast shield protecting the kingdom."

"We dwarves are quite hostile towards humans! So if we were to intervene in Tranquil Harbor, it would reduce a lot of misunderstandings."

"For justice, for a world of order, we have an inescapable duty!" Yu Qiwen solemnly extended his hand.

Humanity is willing to help you solve the problem of corruption!

Old dwarf Portlin also extended his calloused hand and shook it tightly.

"Thank you for humanity's help, we will never forget!"

At the same time that Yu Qiwen was communicating with the dwarf, these conversations and messages had already been transmitted in their entirety to the command center at the rear via the communication channel.

"That mysterious Space Marine is truly shrewd; he knew all along that problems were also arising at Tranquil Harbor."

"The intelligence he provided is very useful to us! We need to accelerate simulated combat, mobilize more offensive weapons, various special munitions, and a large number of robot troops."

Under normal circumstances, the pioneering team can take action immediately.

But isn't this to reduce casualties among team members?

For safety reasons, the pioneering teams always choose to plan their actions carefully.

Moreover, the only troops they could mobilize this time were air combat units, which is why they were given ten hours.

If the Time Cube is in a cooldown state, they can easily use the Dragon Rush tactic again.

Unfortunately, the Time Cube has a one-month cooldown period after each use. To continuously open the time portal, the cube can only be moved after one month.

Otherwise, there will be a cooldown period!

"The message has been received. We've also sent a message to the mysterious figure, but since he previously provided us with a detailed map of the encirclement of Tranquil Harbor, I suspect the dwarven ancestors might not be involved when we move out!"

"Then we must prepare to attack without reinforcements! Help these dwarf friends!"

"receive!"

Subsequently, the command center began issuing combat orders to the troops to be deployed.

Meanwhile, the plan, which had been used in war games multiple times before, was once again used on Earth, employing supercomputers and Operation I, combined with the experience gained from the previous battle against the Pangula Fortress, as well as various collected and organized data, to conduct a more intensive simulated military calculation.

Although computer-simulated data does not represent real combat, this data can certainly enhance human capabilities in responding to various unforeseen events during an offensive.

By the way, the previous unmanned mechanical units have also undergone more comprehensive software upgrades.

Learn war through war, evolve through war.

Although humans have added a lot of functions to unmanned equipment and conducted various simulations and calculations, there are still many problems during combat.

For example, the areas defended by dwarves are often internally sealed off, and some passages that can accommodate people walking together are usually uneven.

In these areas, human movement is difficult, and robots move even slower, resulting in significant damage.

The troops absorbed previous combat experience and upgraded their operations to ensure that similar problems could be resolved in the next operation.

Su Mingjin watched as Brigade Commander Man issued various orders before returning to her position.

She used a military communications terminal to send a message to the mysterious person who had created a separate communications channel for Lin Li.

【Hello, mysterious powerful figure, the situation is urgent.】

We have received intelligence that the corrupters of Tranquil Harbor are gathering civilians in preparation for a large-scale, evil sacrificial ritual. The lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people are in imminent danger.

The message was sent successfully.

However, on the other end of the channel, the message status indicator remained gray and unread.

One minute, five minutes, ten minutes passed —

The gray icon is still unread.

Su Mingjin rubbed her temples, a hint of doubt involuntarily creeping into her mind.

Given the other party's almost omniscient intelligence capabilities, how could they not know what happened in Tranquil Harbor?

Or is the mysterious person currently preoccupied with something more important?

Oh dear, I shouldn't have asked the mysterious person for help!

Humanity owes this mysterious person countless favors.

Since the other party has not responded, it means that the pioneering team must resolve this crisis on its own.

Su Mingjin's gaze hardened once more.

If this battle is fought well, those hundreds of thousands of dwarves can be saved.

Therefore, the relationship between the future pioneering team and the Dwarf Kingdom will enter a completely new stage.

She glanced one last time at the lone unread mark, and a thought popped into her head that she found absurd.

"Could it be that this mysterious big shot is deliberately testing us?"

Once the thought arose, it could never be dispelled.

The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

"This time, we must fight spectacularly and save as many lives as possible!!!"