CHAPTER 290: CHAPTER 290 RUSTED FORTRESS

Not far from the Rusted Fortress.

As soon as Lin Yi returned, Lira jumped up and asked.

"How does the situation look?"

"There is a battle outside the city; the defenders are still holding on, but how do we get into the city?"

"We have an underground tunnel." Zack seemed very worried about his city.

"Then lead the way."

Following the guidance of the half-mechanical person, Lin Yi drove south for a kilometer and arrived in front of an ancient stone building.

Each of these stones weighs tens of tons and looks like a pyramid.

The left part is about a hundred meters high, the right part over one hundred and fifty meters.

"This is the tomb where our ancient king was buried thousands of years ago. It’s said to have been built by aliens.

Because people of that era didn’t even have the technology to move a single stone."

Lira spoke while stroking a huge stone block of the pyramid with her hand.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi mumbled.

"We don’t have time for a history lesson; I just destroyed an ancient temple recently. Where is the entrance?"

"Inside. Follow me." Zack replied, activating the light on his helmet.

They entered a massive passage, large enough to accommodate a dump truck.

After wandering through the intricate corridors for about two minutes, the half-mechanical person stopped in front of a wall.

"It’s here!"

"A secret passage? I don’t see any panel, lever, or anything else."

"Just wait a moment." Zack walked to the wall... and knocked on it in a specific rhythm.

A voice came from the other side of the wall.

"Who is it?!"

"Messengers to Jelad Fortress, we’re back with news!"

"You’re finally back?!" The voice on the other side of the wall sounded really excited.

The wall immediately rumbled.

A mecha moved the stone aside, letting the team enter a spacious cavern.

"I remember you two, but weren’t there eight of you?" One of the guards of the passage said and then fell silent: "Sorry, I spoke out of turn..."

"Alas..." Zack felt a little sad, remembering the faces of his fallen comrades.

But he quickly pulled himself together; there would be time to mourn the deceased later.

For now, they must save the living.

"We need to speak with the Archbishop immediately, we have good news... and reinforcements."

"They really sent reinforcements?!"

"Yes!" Lira shouted.

Their words lifted the spirits of the dozen soldiers guarding the passage.

They were taken to an all-terrain vehicle and drove along a long tunnel for half an hour, stopping at the fifth checkpoint.

This is a direct route into the city; if the zombies break through here, the fortress will fall.

However, if the zombies did enter the tunnel, the Tilian people would blow it up, even though it meant blocking the only safe passage out of the city.

After passing the last checkpoint, the vehicle didn’t head towards the fortress’s central stronghold but drove directly to the city walls.

The escort explained that the Archbishop was personally involved in the fortress’s defense and was currently having a meeting there.

The city walls of the Rusted Fortress are about fifty meters high and twenty meters wide.

Lin Yi and his party took a small elevator designed for infantry and light cargo to the top of the wall.

Nearby was another elevator, but it was for mechas, large enough to hold twenty tanks.

Along the entire length of the city wall, there were towers equipped with defensive equipment and observation devices.

One of the towers housed the military command center, where the Archbishop and the generals were meeting.

Lin Yi hadn’t even entered when he heard voices.

A loud-mouthed general was shouting over there.

"I suggest converting some refugees, that could buy us a few more days!"

He was tall, slamming his fist on the table.

His body had been modified, making him very fit for close combat, even his face was partially covered by armor, leaving only his mouth and chin exposed.

"Archbishop! Our survival is precarious. We’re running low on fuel; the power core is nearly depleted, and the ammunition is almost exhausted...

You must realize we’re about to lose this war, we’re on the brink of destruction!"

"We can’t do that!"

A young-looking woman in high-tech armor shouted.

"Our messengers... the reinforcements may already be on the way, we must hold on!"

"Maybe on the way, maybe not! Out of the three hundred sixty zones, only a quarter are not requesting ammunition and backup!

We’re about to be wiped out, it’s time to take decisive action, Archbishop! Make a decision!"

Everyone’s eyes turned to their leader — the Archbishop.

The Archbishop carefully examined each person present; with his many pupils,

Even a quick glance was enough for him to see that most people were in favor of taking radical measures.

"I understand. Since that’s the case, I..." The Archbishop hadn’t finished speaking when his female assistant rushed into the room.

"Archbishop! The messengers are back! They brought reinforcements!" The woman, with tears in her eyes, shocked everyone in the room.

The Archbishop yelled, "Who has returned? What reinforcements? Where are they?"

"The team you sent to Jelad Fortress, they’ve come back! Not everyone returned...

But they returned! Jelad has sent reinforcements; the messengers say they’ve also brought some people who can help us hold on until the reinforcements arrive!"

"Hahaha! Excellent! Bring them in at once!" The Archbishop was overjoyed.

He felt as if he had been reborn.

The door opened again, and four people walked into the room.

The young woman shouted happily, "Zack! Lira! You’re back safely!"

"Ms. Hala."

"Ahem! Sorry to interrupt." Lin Yi interjected.

"I’m starving and want to get back to eat, so can we get straight to the point?"

"Who are you? Are you the one who can help us hold out until the reinforcements arrive?" the Archbishop asked.

Lin Yi tossed a device that looked like an access card to the Archbishop.

"Yes, I’m Lin Yi. Let’s just say I’m a mercenary, and this is from Jelat for you."

The Archbishop caught the device but hadn’t had a chance to examine it before the other person spoke again.

"I’ll be back in twenty minutes, and I hope you’ve come to some sort of agreement by then."

Before anyone could respond, the two strangers vanished into thin air.

"What is this... invisibility? How did they do that?!" a General exclaimed in surprise.

He voiced what everyone else was thinking, except for the two Half-Mechanical messenger people.

Lira smirked smugly, "This isn’t invisibility... it’s teleportation."

"Impossible!" Half the people in the room, including the Archbishop, exclaimed in unison.

Zack explained, "I think Jelat’s Archbishop explained it all in his letter."

While emotions were running high on the Tilian side, Lin Yi took a shower and tidied up.

Just as Lin Yi sat down at the dining table, he was reprimanded for his reckless actions when encountering Titans.

Even the kind-hearted Chen Youyou had some words to say.

Solomon was also criticized.

If he had dodged that attack and not lost control of the motorcycle, none of this would have happened.

"Alright, I get it, can we eat now?"

"But boss!"

The one who led the criticism, Annie, complained while glaring at him.

But when she saw Lin Yi drooling over the food, she instinctively softened and closed her mouth...

Halfway through the meal, news came from Tilian.

"Solomon, get the brothers ready. I need to go talk to our new ’partners.’"

Reluctantly, Lin Yi stood up from the table and went home to change into his gear.

"Melanie, how are things over there?"

"Saying they’re shocked is an understatement."

Melanie hadn’t had lunch, having spent her time observing the Archbishop and others.

"Ha, that’s not surprising."

Lin Yi finished dressing and teleported to Tilian’s temporary military command post.

Everyone at the table was talking at once, but they all fell silent upon seeing Lin Yi.

They stared at the alien visitor before them, who was holding a chicken wing, unsure where to start.

Lin Yi swallowed the meat in his mouth.

"Have you made up your minds?"

"Are you really an alien?"

"Time is tight, maybe you should ask more important questions, okay? I am an alien, but I’m not in the mood to prove it to you now."

"Hala, if you have nothing meaningful to say, please keep quiet."

The Archbishop was quietly displeased; he was the boss, after all,

He focused all eight of his pupils on scrutinizing the alien visitor.

"My sensors confirm he is a bio-organic being... that’s all the proof we need.

Can you really provide us fuel, Lin Yi? And... do you have Power Cores?"

"Of course, and the fuel production is still gradually increasing, enough to supply you all."

Lin Yi said frankly.

"As for the Power Cores... I have them and can recharge your existing Power Cores!"

"Recharge them? What do you mean?"

"Literally."

"Recharging... how long does it take?"

"A day."

"That’s too long... we could lose control of the city walls in a day.

Can you lend us some of your Power Cores? You could recharge them afterward, right?"

"Hmm... you’re smart, but I hope you understand that every Power Core must be returned," Lin Yi said, tossing a Second Level Power Core to the Archbishop.

The Archbishop inhaled sharply as he read the core’s specifications: "This is... a Blue Core? Capacity... 200 Magic Value?! You just loaned this to me?"

"Impossible!" a machine that looked like a school teacher exclaimed.

He jumped up and walked to the Archbishop’s side.

The Archbishop carefully handed him the core.

"Amazing! We don’t have cores like this on our planet! How many of these can you loan us?"

"Well... four thousand such Second Level cores, and two hundred of a higher level, the Third Level cores."

"Two hundred?!" the Archbishop shouted in surprise.

Third Level Power Cores are extremely precious and hard to come by, yet someone was willing to lend him two hundred, albeit temporarily.

They could use these cores to charge many devices, enough to activate at least a third of the defense turrets, not to mention less important equipment.

"That’s the most I can give you; I need to keep the rest as a reserve."

"That’s enough; these cores will last us several days," the Archbishop said, "Shall we talk price?"

"Sounds good..."