great-warnovel Chapter 288 The Military Bugle Calls from Underground Kunlun
Chapter 288 The Military Bugle Calls from Underground Kunlun
A 100-kilometer-long rift valley collapsed on the north side of the mountain range, and the old road, outpost, and three ley towers all fell into the valley.
Green miasma flowed along the rock strata, its teeth-like edges appearing on the stone walls it passed through, and scales rising from the surface of the gravel.
The teeth gripped the weathered rock, producing a dense grinding sound.
Zhao Leiguang stared through the porthole for a long time.
"This place is starting to eat itself."
Wen Yue fastened the World-Destroying Thunder Crossbow to its back frame.
"Go down and try to break up the fight."
"I'm a knight, not a mediator."
The transport plane landed on the engineering platform on the east side of the rift valley.
Six rows of earth vein anchors were driven into the ground below the platform, and the engineering corps used steel cables to lock the mountain and the temporary base together.
The warning lights illuminate in a row every nine minutes.
The once-shiny anchor bolts immediately became ineffective, and the internal components were filled with green crystals.
An engineering battalion major presented the dissected parts to Lu Yan.
"The fourth batch, with a lifespan of eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds."
"Even with a new model, it wouldn't last more than nine minutes; the mountain is still collapsing inwards."
Lu Yan took out one of the conductive sheets.
The Void Disk disassembles the crystal structure, revealing spiral codes hidden within the metal lattice, which are rewriting the anchor parameters along a fixed period.
This program accurately calculated the construction speed of the engineering corps.
When a batch of anchor bolts failed, the mountain sank by half a meter, forcing the personnel to retreat to a new platform to rebuild the foundation.
At this rate, the Beast Cave will emerge from the ground within six hours.
Lu Yan sent the analysis results to the engineering team.
"Don't repair any parts, disconnect the main control."
The major looked at the rows of anchors.
"After disconnection, calibration can only be performed manually."
"The program consumes network data."
Lu Yan crushed the conductive sheet.
"If each set of anchors works independently, it won't be able to obtain the next batch of coordinates."
The major turned and ordered the engineers to disconnect the data bus and use a mechanical ruler to calibrate the depth.
Nine minutes after the fifth batch of anchors was completed, 40% of them were still in operation.
Zhao Lei patted the nearest steel pillar.
"Even high-dimensional technology is afraid of having its network cable unplugged?"
"It's also afraid of not being able to pay its bills."
Wen Yue inspected the radiation boundaries on both sides of the rift valley.
Yang Jian stood at the edge of the platform, and his third eye on his forehead opened.
Golden light pierced through the miasma and rock layers, projecting the structure inside the rift valley onto the tactical screen.
Nine lotus-patterned fire paths extend from the old array of Jade Void Palace underground.
The eight strands broke off halfway, the broken ends filled with animal bones and silver crystal layers.
The last path runs along the edge of the Beast Cave, ending at the Ash Sea Sky Well.
Yang Jian raised his hand to mark the path.
"This is the only way we can go."
"Width?" Lu Yan asked.
"The narrowest point is three feet."
Zhao Leiguang looked down at the double shields.
"Should I go in sideways?"
"You can leave your belly outside," Wen Yue said.
"That's armor."
"The logistics sheet says it's a record of extra meals."
Nezha squatted by the edge of the ravine and took out a bronze whistle from his armor.
The whistle is engraved with the Jade Void Army pattern, and teeth marks are left on the edges.
Zhao Lei pointed to the teeth marks.
"Who bit me?"
"I tried it when I was seven years old."
"How does it taste?"
"Go down and ask one of them."
The copper whistle was brought to his lips, and the three long and two short bugle calls fell into the ravine.
The sound of the rock strata colliding echoed from the bottom of the valley, followed by the roars of the beasts.
Three sounds at the front, six sounds in the middle, and nine sounds in the depths.
The roars of the beasts came one after another in sequence, with no one trying to interrupt the others.
Nezha put down the bronze whistle.
"The vanguard has three hundred men, the central army has at least a thousand, and the rear guard is still under report."
"They are still guarding the old battle formations."
Lu Yan had the Void Disc read the echo.
The beast's roar concealed two sets of military orders.
The first set comes from Jade Void Palace, and its content is about guarding the Cave of Ten Thousand Beasts, and not being allowed to leave the battlefield without obtaining the military token.
The second set is placed at the end of the echo, reusing the military order format of the Qinling Terracotta Warriors.
Heading south.
To attack a city.
Qin Wuyi spread the landscape map on the ground.
The marching route of the Beast Cave passes through three cities in the northern border and ends at the northern base of the Chang'an Military Depot.
"The silver-masked man copied the Qinling Remnant Order."
He pressed the copper coins down the path.
"When the ferocious beasts rush into the city, the northern ley lines will be devoured first, and the seventh gate will also lose its Qian position."
Lu Yan has completed the task sorting.
The engineers withdrew first, leaving the entrance to Qin Wuyi to seal off.
The first team entered the underground along the lotus-patterned fire path; the Nine Lotus Lanterns must be brought back within eleven hours.
If the beast horde attacks prematurely, Nezha will be responsible for changing the order, and Yang Jian will be responsible for clearing the passage.
The rest of the people do only one thing.
Clear the road.
When the first group of people entered the rift valley, the rock strata on the east side collapsed another 20 meters.
Zhao Lei raised his double shields, and the pulse core pushed against the tilting rock slab.
Shen Xinglin modified his lance into a six-section support, nailing the butt of the lance into the mountain walls on both sides to support the falling rock layers.
The engineers bent down and moved between the two men, and the stretchers and equipment boxes were arranged in two rows.
Zhao Lei's shoulder armor was embedded in the stone.
"Old Shen, is this gun under warranty?"
Shen Xinglin looked at the deforming gun barrel.
"Human rights are not guaranteed."
"Does the collapse of the mountain count as part of my story?"
"You stand down there."
A swarm of parasitic animal eggs crawled out of the side cave.
The eggshells cracked upon landing, and the four-legged cubs burrowed into the retreating group.
Wen Yue raised her crossbow and laid out scattering grenades, sealing off the three side holes in sections.
The high-explosive arrow landed in the middle section, and the fire line pushed the cub back into the cave.
Lin Chuxue's Blood Explosion Magic Array advanced along the cave entrance, shattering the eggshells in pieces and leaving green juice in the cracks of the rocks.
New eggs swell up from the fluid.
"It will be re-run."
Lin Chuxue changed her landing point, pressing the magic array down beneath the rock layer.
"Warm Moon, capped."
Wen Yue fired two more grenades, burying the side entrance and the egg bed together in the rubble.
"This time we saved on tickets."
Su Yunqing raised the Gift of Yao Guang, and the healing beam fell on the two wounded engineers.
The beam of light passed through the miasma, and its color immediately turned green.
The slender filaments climbed back along the beam of light, wrapped around the tip of the staff, and continued to extend toward her wristband.
Lu Yan sidestepped and cut between the two, the Black Lotus Pure Land severing the crystal thread.
The fallen crystal threads drilled into the rock crevices, and the surrounding miasma expanded more than ten meters.
Su Yunqing put away her staff and used tourniquets and injections instead when examining the wounded.
"It's taking the therapeutic dose."
"It also devours divinity."
Lu Yan read the data remaining on the crystal wire.
"The more treatments it receives, the faster it spreads."
Nezha pulled the Universe Ring back half a foot.
Yang Jian also suppressed the output of the Heavenly Eye and switched to interval testing.
This miasma awaits the intervention of the gods.
It eats more when given more.
Lu Yan had originally planned to cover the entrance with the Black Lotus Pure Land, but he has now withdrawn from this plan.
The Black Lotus can sever connections; if the range is too large, it will send its own laws into the miasma.
The enemy laid out this path precisely to secure his territory.
He switched to the shortest cut, only processing the filaments closest to the team members.
"Qin Wuyi, lock the entrance."
Thirty-six array plates fell along the mouth of the rift valley.
The boundary was fixed, suppressing the rock layers on both sides and fixing the flow rate, diffusion coordinates, and gravity direction of the miasma within a range of 100 meters.
A layer of green fog remained below the engineering platform.
The last two teams of engineers crossed the line and took away the wounded and the offline controllers.
Qin Wuyi stood guard in front of the main table, his palm pressing down on Qin Zheng's military tag.
Animal patterns gradually grew on the surface of the array plate, and fine teeth also emerged from the edges.
He didn't use any magic, he just reduced the range to eighty meters.
Lu Yan's earlier restraint gave him the answer.
It's enough to suppress it; sending in more force will only fuel the miasma.
He began to understand why Lu Yan was always able to stop first.
While others were busy proving their moves were strong enough, Lu Yan first calculated the cost and also looked for what the enemy truly wanted to take.
"How much longer?" Qin Wuyi asked.
The engineering battalion major crossed the last line.
"Evacuate everyone in three minutes."
"You have five minutes. When you get back, treat me to dinner."
The major glanced back at the teeth on the main plate.
"If you can come back, you can have any of the cafeteria food you want."
Qin Wuyi turned the military tag to the side with Qin Zheng's name on it.
"Then prepare to go bankrupt."
After the evacuation was completed, he withdrew the array plate.
With the boundary between heaven and earth lifted, the accumulated miasma rushed onto the platform, dragging the remaining equipment into the rift valley.
The first squad has already embarked on the Lotus Pattern Fire Path.
Yang Jian walked ahead, activating his Heavenly Eye every hundred meters to correct the position of the fire path.
Nezha held back the rear guard, and the bronze whistle was hung back inside the armor.
Zhao Lei squeezed through the narrowest part with his double shields sideways, scraping off a layer of coating from his armor.
"Wen Yue, stop filming."
Wen Yue put down the tactical terminal.
"The logistics department has already been notified."
"Delete it."
"A repair application requires evidence."
After the group walked three kilometers, the mountains behind them closed in.
The entrance, the front line, and external signals were all cut off by the rock strata.
The communication channel was silent for two seconds, then an old recording played automatically.
Yang Jian stopped in his tracks.
The recording came from the old man who guarded Yuxu Palace, and the number matches the rubbing archive.
The old man neither reported the fire nor mentioned the Nine Lotus Lantern.
He began to announce his name.
"Lu Yan".
"Zhao Leiguang".
"Xiao Qianyu".
"Wen Yue."
"Lin Chuxue".
"Su Yunqing".
"Shen Xinglin".
"Qin Wuyi".
After all eight names were read out, the recording continued.
"The ninth person."
"Mirror Seven".
"Damn it...it's happening again."
Qin Wuyi looked down at the end of the team's line.
The personnel statistics column has been rewritten.
The current number of people in the first squad is nine.
At the end of the lotus-patterned fire path, a string of footprints appeared.
The trail of footprints extended from the direction of the Jinhai Skylight and stopped in front of Lu Yan.