Chapter Seventy: Encounter with the King of Hades Machine! Crisis?

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"The Nine Provinces belong to all of us! Every one of us must swear to defend our homeland to the death. We will never allow the Dark King to set foot on even an inch of our land!"

At that moment, the air around them seemed to fall silent, then suddenly erupted with passionate shouts.

"Swear to defend the Nine Provinces to the death! Never let the Dark King take a single step!" Ji Kaicheng suddenly shouted in a loud voice.

That shout completely ignited everyone's fervor.

"Swear to defend the Nine Provinces to the death! Never let the Dark King take a single step!"

They shouted again and again, their voices powerful enough to drown out all other sounds.

America, Europia, and North Sahara—the three superpowers—had not suffered attacks from those sonic machines, only ordinary weapons. Clearly, the Dark King had shifted his assault onto the Nine Provinces.

It was their underestimation of the other three superpowers that led to the Dark King's heavy losses in those nations.

When the three nations learned the Dark King had deployed such machines in the Nine Provinces, they couldn't help but feel a chill of fear.

They grew to admire the Nine Provinces as well.

The Nine Provinces were truly formidable!

That night, Chu Xiao lay in bed gazing at the starry sky through the skylight. The stars crowded the night in a chaotic, unpatterned tapestry, each shining with its own light.

Wasn't the Nine Provinces just like this? All its people, countless as the stars, each unique, yet united by a single purpose: striving to defend their homeland.

Suddenly, Chu Xiao seemed to fall into the void, and in his dream he saw someone he hadn't seen in so long.

Wang Lulu, have you been thinking of me?

At that moment, on the other side, Wang Lulu was also gazing up at the same stretch of stars, yearning for her distant lover.

At dawn, Chu Xiao awoke, washed up, and prepared to make a trip to Western Mountain Province. The main purpose was to transport supplies, as yesterday a convoy carrying military goods had been ambushed.

Today, they were delivering weapons. If the Dark King got hold of them, it would pose a grave threat to the Nine Provinces.

So Chu Xiao decided to personally escort every shipment, to prevent any mishaps. Once Western Mountain Province was done, tomorrow they'd head to Yan Capital City.

Chu Xiao lay in the car, rubbing his forehead. He realized he needed to devise a reliable plan for transporting weapons; this makeshift approach wouldn't do.

"Something's wrong! Something's wrong! I think there are robotic dogs ahead! And possibly a tower cannon!" The driver, Little Wang, suddenly cried out in panic.

At his shout, all the vehicles ground to a halt. Everyone tensed in nervous anticipation.

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No one was unaware of yesterday's casualties, but none wished to dwell on it—the losses were simply too great.

That sonic machine of the Dark King had caused five times more casualties than last time!

This trip to Western Mountain Province was not only for transporting supplies, but also to mobilize some troops.

The current situation was perilous. If they encountered the Dark King's sonic machine again, where would they find a loudspeaker big enough? Wouldn't the whole team perish here?

The thought made everyone shudder.

Chu Xiao was startled by the news, but quickly regained his composure. If he panicked, what would the team do?

"Don't panic, everyone! Follow my orders!" Chu Xiao picked up his binoculars and surveyed the area.

The landscape was barren, and more disturbingly, he saw the machines had a human leg in their mouths.

Were these machines eating people?

Suppressing a surge of nausea, Chu Xiao continued his observation.

There were three robotic dogs, five humanoid machines, and a thirty-meter tower cannon—likely a mobile patrol, searching for any surviving humans.

Chu Xiao had encountered them in his previous life as well. It was because of them that he met Wang Lulu, and it was they who caused her death.

This time, the machines were even more monstrous. They not only killed humans, but ate them as well.

Utterly revolting!

Flames of fury burned in Chu Xiao's eyes, directed at these abominable machines.

"It's fine! Not too many machines—three dogs, five humanoids, and one tower cannon. Let's find some cover first. Once the fighting starts, we must protect these weapons," Chu Xiao said in a low voice.

When the team realized there were no sonic machines like before, they breathed a sigh of relief. But then, remembering they no longer had the fortress's protection, their hearts chilled.

"Everyone, split up and hide. Attack the machines from multiple directions. Watch for my signals! Don't reveal yourselves ahead of time!"

"Yes, sir!"

The team carefully retreated in their vehicles, trying not to alert the enemy. In over a dozen positions, they set up their 'Solar Fire' weapons.

Chu Xiao signaled for silence.

No one dared utter a word.

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Suddenly, one of the humanoid machines seemed to sense something and turned toward the position of one of the soldiers.

Terrified, the soldier fired his weapon—missing the machine and exposing his location.

Chu Xiao saw this and could no longer wait. He shouted, "Fire! All units, fire!"

At his command, beams of light rained down toward the enemy.

It almost seemed they would succeed in their surprise attack, but the exposed position gave the machines time to react, resulting in tragedy.

The tower cannon responded instantly, firing a shell that obliterated the ruins.

The soldier who had revealed himself was blown to pieces.

The machines fell to the ground in an instant.

The team searched for the soldier's remains, finding only some fragments.

"Bury him here," Chu Xiao ordered. "Let this serve as a warning to everyone: you must obey my commands! Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Within five minutes, they had buried the soldier.

"Let's move! The rest of the Dark King's robotic army must be coming!" At these words, the team hurried away.

The last to leave, a man in a yellow shirt, embraced the gravestone. "Rest in peace, brother!"

The team departed, successfully reaching Western Mountain Province.

Qin Lihua and Zhang Fengli came out in person to greet Chu Xiao and the others.

"Major General Chu, what brings you here in person?" Zhang Fengli rushed over.

"I had no choice. There are more machines these days, and I can't trust anyone else to transport these weapons," Chu Xiao replied calmly. "Hurry and bring the weapons inside. They're newly developed, and I've brought the blueprints as well—start producing them yourselves."

"Yes, sir! Thank you for your care, Major General!" Zhang Fengli replied formally.

"Good," said Chu Xiao. "Have there been any machines lurking around Western Mountain Province lately?"