Chapter Sixty-Two: Multi-Angle Laser Cannon Deployment
Ren Boyuan and Hua Bo worked in perfect coordination, supported by other highly skilled scientific researchers. After a day and night of relentless effort, they finally succeeded in developing the second generation of the multidirectional laser cannon.
“Ah! Incredible! We’ve finally done it!”
“This is amazing! Let’s test it right away! Be sure to put on your protective suits!”
“Yes, yes!”
Not a single person from Jiuzhou shrank back after the previous explosion; instead, they ordered everyone to don their protective suits. After all, Jiuzhou’s protective suits were the toughest available—nothing would happen even if there was another explosion. But now, what weighed most heavily on Ren Boyuan and the others was the fear of another failure, for time was truly running out.
According to Chu Xiao’s calculations, the arrival of the King of the Underworld was, at most, three days away. This meant that within three days, they had to manufacture many more related components, modify them, and distribute them to the other two provinces. Moreover, there remained much uncertainty about the King of the Underworld’s target this time. There was no way he didn’t know about Yanjing, yet he was attacking Mingzhu alone, which was puzzling.
“Load!”
“Aim!”
“Fire!”
At the command, the laser cannon blazed forth, beams shooting out from eight different directions and striking the ground, gouging massive craters into the earth.
They had succeeded!
Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene before them, then erupted into jubilant cheers.
“We did it! It’s a success! Fantastic!”
“Ah! We did it!”
“Jiuzhou is the best! I love Jiuzhou!”
“Ren Boyuan, Hua Bo, I love you both!”
In this thrilling moment, every soul in Jiuzhou felt a surge of pride for their homeland. Jiuzhou was truly extraordinary.
---
Hearing the news, Chu Xiao and Number One hurried over. At last, success—there was still time!
“Everyone, conduct a second round of testing, then a third! Only after confirming there are no issues can we proceed to production and installation! Understood?” Chu Xiao commanded in a ringing voice.
The scene moved him as well, but the imminent threat of the King of the Underworld’s army left no room for emotion.
“Yes, General Chu!” the crowd responded in unison.
Ren Boyuan suppressed his excitement and calmly directed the second and third tests—no issues arose. The statistics showed everything was normal.
Everyone present restrained their elation, working in orderly fashion. In just one day, a thousand multidirectional firing components were produced and quickly transported to the other two cities. The researchers kept working, for the parts were far from sufficient and other weapons needed repairs and resupply.
“Bad news! The King of the Underworld has arrived!” a scout shouted at the fortress gate.
Ji Kaicheng, who was on patrol, rushed over. “What happened? Speak slowly!”
Instinct told him something was terribly wrong.
The scout swallowed, caught his breath, and shouted, “It’s bad! The King of the Underworld’s army is here! Everyone, prepare for battle!”
With that, no one paid him any more heed. All returned to their posts—some to test weapons, others to observe with binoculars. The scout was left standing alone.
“No, I’ll report to the Chief and General Chu!” he thought. Better to do something than just sit around.
Chu Xiao and Number One were together, discussing strategy for the Underworld King’s next assault.
“Chief, General, bad news! Something terrible has happened!” Burst in the scout.
Both men leapt to their feet. “What’s happened?” they asked in unison.
The scout hesitated, gulped, and blurted, “The King of the Underworld is here! His army is upon us!”
Startled, Chu Xiao and Number One shoved the scout aside and hurried to the gate.
Atop the fortress, their commanding figures stood tall and conspicuous. Chu Xiao raised his binoculars and scanned the approaching force—indeed, the Underworld King’s army was here, and they had brought a new weapon.
“The King of the Underworld has a new weapon,” Chu Xiao announced, lowering the binoculars, troubled.
Events were moving far faster than he had anticipated. The King of the Underworld was much stronger than in Chu Xiao’s previous life.
Number One felt a growing sense of dread. “A turret?”
Chu Xiao nodded gravely. “Yes. It won’t be easy to deal with. With a single shot, it could blast a huge crater in our fortress.”
“We must take it out before it fires—even if it means a headshot.”
---
Number One quickly took the binoculars and saw the towering thirty-meter war turret. Though turmoil roiled within, he maintained a calm exterior.
“You’re right. Deploy every stored laser cannon we have. Assign several soldiers to target the turret—fire until it’s reduced to fragments if you must. It will work eventually!” Number One commanded coolly.
His aides, hearing this, hurried to relay the orders.
“The machine army is only three thousand meters away!”
“Two thousand meters!”
“One thousand meters!”
“They’ve halted—preparing to attack!”
At 4:22 p.m., the third battle between the Underworld King and Jiuzhou began.
Chu Xiao, holding a loudspeaker, shouted hoarsely, “Don’t panic! They have heavy weapons, but our fortress will shield us. All you need to do is fire! Forget everything else!”
“Remember, aim carefully—target the turret’s head! That is its weakest point, the artificial intelligence control center. Destroy that, and it’s nothing but scrap metal!”
These were lessons hard-won from a previous life.
“Aim!”
“Fire!”
The order rang out—the battle began.
Chu Xiao personally aimed the laser cannon at the turret’s head and fired, striking dead center.
But something strange happened. Even after the head was pierced, the turret kept fighting—its attacks purposeful and precise.
Clearly, someone had betrayed Jiuzhou to the King of the Underworld.
No matter who the traitor was, the immediate threat had to be dealt with first.
Forcing himself to remain calm, Chu Xiao picked up his binoculars and muttered silently, “There must be a weakness.”
As a machine, it could not be without flaws—the central control was the key.
Chu Xiao searched patiently for the break, while Number One worked to calm and encourage everyone to stand firm.
At last, Chu Xiao found the weakness.