In the eastern district, at a small shelter, the owner of the shelter, lying in a pool of blood, endured immense pain as he woke his phone. With the last of his strength, he issued a command to destroy the security system in the vault. A vial of cobalt-blue glass, stored at low temperature, was violently smashed. The deadly virus silently spread through the air, contaminating the entire shelter. Dozens of invaders, unaware of the danger, continued their actions—some even removed their exoskeleton helmets, casually rummaging through cabinets, chatting and laughing with their comrades.
At the same time, several kilometers away, an armored convoy neared the Zhou Xiwang Shelter's exit.
"Engineers, move forward," the convoy commander, seated in the armored vehicle, said without looking up from the map.
"Place seven times the usual amount of explosives."
The engineers were skilled and efficient, easily approaching the shelter's heavy metal door.
However, just as they were about to break it open, the heavy metal door suddenly creaked open by itself.
Ten large spider-like robots, with bodies around three to four meters long and towering over humans, emerged from deep inside the shelter. Before the stunned engineers could react, more spider robots, smaller in size but similar in appearance, poured out from behind. These smaller robots ran out while some began to rotate the barrels of their 7.6mm electromagnetic guns, pointing them at the engineers. The barrels sparked with arcs of electricity. Within milliseconds, the robots fired, and the engineers who were not wearing exoskeleton armor were instantly shot in the head, one after the other.
"Open fire! Open fire!"
Seeing their comrades fall, soldiers in the convoy rushed to react. Some raised their automatic rifles and fired wildly, while others turned the turret of their armored vehicles, trying to lock onto the robots and fire back. But it was already too late.
Dozens of rockets shot out from the spider robot swarm, obliterating the convoy in a barrage of explosions and fire.
Ten heavy assault spider robots entered roller mode, speeding across the battlefield and flanking the convoy. They stretched the frontlines, encircling the enemy.
"Detected enemy heavy armor units."
"Initiating attack mode."
"Electromagnetic cannon firing."
A robotic female voice relayed the information as the view from the heavy assault spider robots was transmitted to the central control of the Farm Shelter, then to all the affiliated shelters.
Now, everyone in the affiliated shelters could watch this battle unfold on public projection TVs or their own phones. However, only the 1.5 million residents authorized to watch by Su Wu could access it. All others remained oblivious, with any attempts to record or discuss being silently blocked.
Su Wu, sitting in the control center, also watched the broadcast. He viewed the small-scale skirmish as more of a test. He wanted to see the real combat power difference between his mechanical army and the Federation's regular military. The preliminary results were satisfactory.
On screen, a heavy assault spider robot locked onto an enemy tank. The robot fired its electromagnetic cannon, launching a projectile weighing several kilograms. The projectile pierced through the rain at a speed of several kilometers per second, striking the tank's side armor. The impact distorted and tore apart the armor, and the internal explosives ignited, creating a massive fireball that engulfed the tank.
"Detecting life signs inside the enemy."
"Target armor not destroyed."
"Initiating second shot."
The robot's life detection radar identified that nearly half of the tank's crew was still alive. A second shot was fired, destroying the tank completely.
During this time, the robots took some damage from the enemy's retaliatory fire. Several computer-controlled machine guns fired a barrage of bullets at the spider robots, leaving noticeable dents on their bodies. Fortunately, the bullets did not damage critical components. After the second shot, the robot successfully retreated to a safer location.
This battle, while only a small skirmish, showcased the mechanical army's effectiveness. Despite some vulnerabilities due to their weak armor and limited mobility, the spider robots still managed to maintain an advantage. Hundreds of them, under artificial intelligence control, circled around the enemy's armored convoy like wolves, slowly but surely picking off their forces.
As the battle raged on, with the enemy using heavier weaponry and more elite exoskeleton soldiers, the spider robot army's advantage grew. Eventually, when the enemy used an electromagnetic pulse bomb, the battlefield was temporarily disabled. However, the spider robots were equipped to handle this and continued their assault, using pre-established communication devices to direct the battle.
Meanwhile, the enemy's forces, hindered by the heavy rain and darkness, were blinded, unable to fight back effectively, and were forced into a losing position. The outcome of the b
attle was sealed.
(End of Chapter)