CHAPTER 1076: CHAPTER 85: BRIGHT STAR

The Sonicon Blade concealed in Protector Shi’s leg is a very short blade, resembling a dagger.

In certain situations, the Sonicon Blade is extremely effective against crystal materials. This effectiveness does not stem from the kinetic energy carried by the blade itself, so the weapon’s length and balance contribute negligibly to its power. The "advantage in attack range" offered by extending the Sonicon Blade becomes meaningless in the face of firearms. Consequently, in discussions about the development of martial studies within the Protector faction, there are often calls to shorten the Sonicon Blade.

The Sonicon Blade on Protector Shi’s leg is only a few centimeters long. It might be considered a slightly longer dagger in the hands of Homo sapiens, but on a First Heavenly Layer prosthetic body, it appears insignificant, resembling the spurs on cavalry boots from ancient times.

However, Protector Shi only needs to lift his foot to strike.

And as the Sonicon Blade on his foot sweeps through, it creates a fissure.

He moves again along the continuously extending blade scar. This time, another specially made external device directly injects a pale yellow opaque gel into the fissure. Protector Shi flicks his finger, and an ignition device resembling a needle pierces into the gel.

Within this needle is a substance that can generate a huge voltage in an extremely short time, detonating the gel explosive. This highly flexible detonation method is very popular among modern martial artists. Smearing gel explosives on the enemy’s external armor and then detonating them is also a thriving category of external strength. Some martial artists excel at using special techniques to apply or adhere special explosives to specific parts of the enemy’s external armor during a struggle, either achieving armor penetration or disrupting the enemy’s stance, gaining a significant advantage in hand-to-hand combat.

It’s said that ancient martial artists also used pickpocketing techniques to steal weapons drawn by the enemy. This method is considered a result of the evolution of that type of tactics.

In attacks on large warships and buildings, external equipment developed for this type of martial studies serves another purpose: breaking armor.

Cutting gaps into the battleship’s outer armor through various means, filling them with explosives, and then detonating them.

—Thus, it’s accomplished!

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The commander of the Third Artillery Battalion of Chaldea’s Defense Forces received two completely contradictory commands. The first, from the highest level, instructed their forces to hold their ground at all costs, forbidding them from leaving the position without permission, regardless of what happened. In contrast, the second command, from Guardian Li Like, urged them to evacuate as soon as possible.

According to intelligence from the higher-ups, an object moving at extremely high speed had traversed the Asteroid Belt, heading straight for Chaldea. It was so small and fast that it had just been detected by the observatory. Currently, no observation post has successfully confirmed the true nature of that high-speed object.

But one thing is certain, that creature must be man-made.

Natural small celestial bodies wouldn’t travel at such a high speed.

The artillerymen stationed at the outer positions are responsible for dealing with such threats: clearing small approaching celestial bodies, including comets, and defending against potential intruders.

This is the time when they were needed. If the high-speed object moving within the Asteroid Belt is an enemy, engaging it in combat through long-range artillery fire would be Chaldea’s only chance of victory.

However, Guardian Li Like’s warning cannot be ignored.

After weighing the situation, the commander decided to have the reserve forces evacuate early, while retaining the minimum combat personnel on the artillery positions.

He did not know that this decision would lead to a devastating blow to the unit.

When the event occurred, he was surveying the starry sky through binoculars, maintaining high vigilance against the cosmos.

Then, he felt a terrifying force rise from beneath his feet. Before he could react, he and half of the artillery position were thrown away from the wall, suspended in space.

Following that came a fierce wind. The "ground" beneath them cracked open, and the polluted air within the city erupted into a storm, further aggravating the situation. The displaced team members were swept away by the wind, moving even further from the wall.

About half of the team members quickly activated their vector injectors, attempting to return to the wall. But they soon had to face another problem.

A black figure burst out from the fissure.

It was a figure highly inconsistent between top and bottom, with the lower and upper body not matching in size or style.

As soon as he emerged from the windstorm, he immediately started destroying equipment. Small missiles mixed with the debris from the city, pinpoint sniping targets that looked like officers. A chain of explosions followed one after another, and that guy ejected a box directly from his body—he emptied four ammo crates in one go.

This instant assault delivered a devastating blow to the artillery battalion.

A First Heavenly Layer Guardian charged out, attempting to lock down Protector Shi again. But in the midst of the struggle, Protector Shi recklessly sprayed attacks all around him.

For Protector Shi, everything around him now was a target for attack.

But for the Chaldea Guardians, everything around them was an object to protect.

Protector Shi transformed into a frenzied killer, his steps nimble, dancing with the Chaldea Guardian as if in a waltz with a gun in hand, frantically shooting at the surroundings.

Countless soldiers’ bodies exploded into space. More scattered fragments of pure debris flew and joined the storm’s revelry.

The aftermath of explosions and the vibrations caused by Space City’s own weight caused the fissure to continue "growing." The situation further deteriorated.

Before the second guardian arrived, Protector Shi left this artillery post, heading to a second one.

At this moment, the second Chaldea Guardian also rushed forward, the three of them transformed into three streaks of light, like fireflies circling a house, embroiled in space combat.

Tumor Xiang Shan finally received a proper pair of legs. Li Like shared his spare prosthetic legs with Tumor Xiang Shan. Together, they hurriedly raced to the combat site.

Yet in Xiang Shan’s heart, he felt himself sinking.

It was too late.

From the continuous updates from Li Like, it seemed the Six Dragons Sect martial artist was persistently trying to destroy artillery positions from a certain angle, having already cleared several points. The remaining artillery positions were hard-pressed to find ideal attack angles.

Meanwhile, the escape route of the Six Dragons Sect protector led into a densely packed region of material. At his speed, it would only take a few minutes to enter that dense material area. In that region, there were numerous smaller celestial bodies with a diameter under a meter, as well as countless unrecovered war debris from a century ago. Concealing supply points and trick mines in such a locale was incredibly easy.

That was a prepared battlefield.

Li Like knew it was dire. Yet, he could only accelerate his journey.

Along the way, Xiang Shan saw Chaldea dropping gates and extending high molecular material membranes, using them to partition areas and prevent air from escaping. The air here was extracted from comets and icy celestial bodies. This air was personally obtained by the city-builders themselves. Unlike the nearly free atmosphere on terrestrial planets, the air here was precious.

Upon glimpsing the sky, Tumor Xiang Shan blurted out, "What is that thing?"

Xiang Shan saw a white light in the starry sky. Using relative magnitude (known as "visual magnitude" in Homo sapiens times), its brightness exceeded that of a negative fifteen magnitude star—even a full moon was only minus thirteen.

This could not be a natural celestial body.

"What is that?"