Chapter 72: 072 Side Quest - Air Raid Precautions
Less than half a second after Bai E issued a warning, Daya immediately followed Bai E\'s action and jumped out of the vehicle urgently, rolling several times upon landing to get as far away from the not-so-agile infantry vehicle as possible.
The next moment, a spherical spore mine smashed onto the top of the infantry vehicle, acid exploded outward, and green toxic gas spread.
The relieved Daya, who had just survived the disaster, looked at the infantry vehicle engulfed in toxic gas and exclaimed with some admiration, "How did you know it was aimed at us?"
Bai E didn\'t know how to explain and simply replied calmly, "Can\'t you figure it out?"
"..." Daya felt a tightness in his chest.
Can\'t figure it out, really embarrassed for you...
The frontline battlefield was tense; the war with the Bug Race had no frills, starting with a fight to the death.
Drones filmed the entire scene, so that the generals inside the command vehicles in the rear could stay updated on the battlefield in real time.
From time to time, the screen would turn into a blizzard of static due to the drones being shot down by the Bug Race\'s long-range weapons, but soon there would be a new drone feed coming online.
"Miss Yueying, rest assured, through hundreds of battles big and small, we have come to understand this bug nest quite thoroughly. Today, we will surely take it down in one fell swoop!"
Through reasonable tactical arrangements, Weslin, overseeing the whole situation, could see that the overall casualties were still within an acceptable range.
The stern-faced Yueying didn\'t make a sound.
Right at the forefront... deep within the territory of the bug nest... an immense and terrifying will seemed to be watching them quietly.
The dreadful radiation of Spiritual Energy...
Humans, are they really prepared?
Moreover, the losses on this front didn\'t seem small; with each artillery strike from the Bug Race, there were casualties among the soldiers.
This was just the beginning of the battle...
The humans were able to endure such a level of loss to their own kind, something unimaginable for her Elf Race.
In the chaotic frontline, the Bug Race\'s artillery fire covered the invasion of the lower-class bugs. Following the chaos caused by the first wave of worker bugs and bee bugs, larger mantis bugs emerged from the surging waves of bugs and joined the battle.
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They were the squad leaders of the bugs, with a limited range of control. Only by joining the front lines could they direct the lower-class bugs to launch sufficiently threatening attacks.
She felt her blade humming softly...
But what then? Even if she were to go into battle, she would only manage to kill a few artillery bugs deep in enemy territory, which would have almost no significant impact on the grand scheme of the battle.
It was those seemingly inconspicuous ordinary soldiers who were the real force capable of resisting this biochemical storm!
No... there seemed to be noticeable ones as well.
Yueying\'s brow twitched.
It was difficult to focus on any specific area in the aerial footage of the battlefield; however, the little black dots that managed to repeatedly escape the green toxic gas bombs stood out conspicuously, even in the overall view.
The aerial footage was not clear, only faintly visible...
A spore mine that had not even landed yet exploded mid-air; apart from the sparsely falling acid, the released toxic gas ineffectually floated in the air...
"Watch out for falling mines!"
Bai E, who had received prior notification from the "mole," suddenly looked about a hundred meters away, where members of another special forces squad accidentally neared their own area while scrambling to put out fires around them.
And the target of this spore mine attack was precisely that special forces member who had previously spoken sarcastically...
On the chaotic battlefield, Bai E\'s warning was obviously hard to be heard in time by the other side, and all Bai E could do in the moment was to shouldered his rifle as a last-ditch effort.
[Successful interception of a fast-moving aerial target; Light Firearms Proficiency experience +3.]
Watching the spore mine explode in mid-air, Daya was full of doubt about himself.
"He said he calculated it..." One shouldn\'t be so dazed on the battlefield, but the scene before him was too fantastical.
"Could you calculate that, Song?"
"..." Song Ying looked up at the spherical artillery shells that were being lobbed over from the rear of the Bug Race.
"..."
Having seen such a large volley of incoming shells, he immediately calculated the approximate trajectory of each shell, ascertaining whether they posed a nearby threat, and accurately predicted the impact points. He then quickly alerted others or intercepted them in midair...
Although military training also included moving target shooting practice, nobody practiced like this, wow.
This was a job for antiaircraft artillery with radar assistance.
"You don\'t have to do anything else; the air defense task in this area is all yours!"
Tiger didn\'t care about the difficulty involved. If Bai E had the ability, he would press the task upon him.
[Triggered side quest—Defend Against Air Raid.]
[Defend Against Air Raid: The Bug Race\'s artillery shells are dangerous and lethal. Preventing them from landing near your teammates is your greatest responsibility at this moment. Quest requirements: Intercept at least 0/10 spore mines before the war ends. Quest completion reward: +200 Light Firearms Mastery Experience.]
Better than nothing.
"Yes!" Bai E accepted the task immediately.
Human antiaircraft gun—Model 95B27 online!
In the distance, a special forces soldier who belatedly realized he had escaped a falling spore mine thanks to a comrade\'s warning, found Bai E who had saved him from certain death.
He waved from afar and shouted, "Awesome! Thanks!"
Another teammate specifically drove an infantry vehicle over to ingratiate himself, "Bro, look out for us more, I\'ll buy you a drink when we get back!"
["Lucky Strike" energy +3.]
...
An overly conspicuous performance, even in the eyes of generals overseeing the entire battle, was too attention-grabbing.
While everyone else was struggling for survival under the Bug Race\'s artillery fire, the soldiers in this area seemed to be able to ignore the spore mines entirely.
What blessing of not dying under artillery fire?
"Do we have antiaircraft artillery emplacements on the front line?" a two-star general asked, somewhat confused.
"How could that thing move?"
Antiaircraft gun emplacements were huge and had to be connected to a radar scanning system; they could only be set up near the camp as a defensive force.
They were fighting on enemy territory; it was impossible for them to bring such equipment.
"Then this..."
"It\'s man-made..." Yue Ying whispered, unable to see the specific situation from the distant footage, but this was certain, "someone is intercepting the shells."
"That skilled?"
"Is Carlos there?"
Carlos: "?"
Weslin turned to his aide, "Check which special forces squads are responsible for that combat zone; it must be the work of our elite special forces soldiers."
"Trouble!" A general watching the frontline footage uttered a worried exclamation.
Three mantis-like bugs, clearly different from the lower-tier bugs, changed their direction of attack...
What humans could observe on the battlefield, the bugs knew as well.
They wouldn\'t abandon the overall situation to target a specific point on the battlefield, yet reallocating troops to eliminate the biggest threat within a small range was effortless for them.
Together with the original two mantis bugs attacking in that direction... five in total!
They were heading towards that miraculous combat zone!