Chapter 143 Black Hawk Down <TOC> Chapter 145 Burning Bridges
Translator: SumTLMan
Thanks to the province army’s ongoing operation to clean up the Soul Cult in Avonigarda City, a battalion B unit located about a kilometer east of the combat zone was alerted when the helicopter launched its ground attack.
The B company commander immediately assumed that the helicopter had discovered the Soul Cult followers in action.
He promptly used the high-powered radio to call the battalion headquarters, reporting the movement of the helicopter. The area was guarded by a squad from his second platoon, which should have been engaged in combat.
Unfortunately, radios capable of penetrating the interference from the radiation dust were expensive, and their communication range was limited. Only combat units at the company level and above were equipped with them.
The battalion headquarters said they had not received any news from the land aviation side, ordered them to provide support, and announced that A and C companies and a squad of power armor would come to assist, following the command of the power armor.
The company commander did not hesitate. The Governor’s forces had already gained an overwhelming advantage in Avonigarda City, and now was the time to earn merits.
He directly ordered his three platoons to advance along three streets, compressing the possible escape space for the Soul Cult followers.
Only about a hundred meters into the advance, the helicopter, which had just unleashed its firepower on the ground, wobbled and crashed.
All the soldiers of B company felt like they had fallen into an ice cellar, not knowing what had brought down the helicopter, but it was definitely something they couldn’t fight against. The originally fast-moving platoons immediately slowed down.
“Zombies! It’s zombies!”
A soldier at the forefront cried out in horror.
Upon hearing the news, the company commander’s heart skipped a beat.
Due to the ubiquitous radiation killing a large number of microorganisms, corpses decayed very slowly. During the tide of the Source Ocean, the source essence aggregates in the ocean would enter these corpses and revive them as zombies.
After each tide of the Source Ocean, a large number of zombies would appear. They were a disaster for settlements in the wilderness, as weakly defended settlements could hardly withstand the tide-like wave of zombies. However, for the powerful province army, cleaning them up was a simple task.
But for these low-intelligence zombies to appear silently in Avonigarda City, there was only one possibility: a powerful upper-level creature was commanding them from behind.
Soon, all three platoons engaged in a firefight with the surging zombies one after another. zombies that rushed out from the street corners were shot down one by one.
It was unknown how many zombies had infiltrated the city, but even though they faced far fewer zombies than the previous squad, they still chose to fight and retreat.
If they were not in Avonigarda City, with reinforcements on the way, they might have already fled.
This was a characteristic of the province army: they could only fight when the wind was in their favor. Furthermore, units below the battalion level lacked tactical flexibility and had weak wills, making it very easy for them to slack off during combat.
“Roar!”
A deep growl sounded as a colossal creature emerged from the tide of corpses. It was an adult swamp tiger. Its enormous, ferocious tiger head was in a semi-decayed state, with only a black hole remaining where its left eye had been, revealing the rotting flesh inside.
This was a zombie revived from a swamp tiger, with a body length of over five meters, well-developed muscles, and tough fur. Even though it had turned into a zombie, the terrifying predatory aura still made everyone present feel suffocated.
Even without turning into a mutant creature, a swamp tiger could still hunt low-level awakened beings with its formidable body.
Ordinary animals, due to their limited brain capacity, were unable to carry the source essence aggregate that had escaped from the Source Ocean, so there was no possibility of them turning into zombies, but the swamp tiger was obviously an exception.
In the next instant, the swamp tiger zombie turned into a mottled phantom.
“Boom!”
A heavy power armor was directly overturned, and the swamp tiger zombie bit into the body of the vehicle and tore it apart, killing all the soldiers inside and sucking the source essence from their brains.
The howling bullets hit its fur, only making a dull sound without causing any substantial damage. Soon, other zombies leaped onto other armored off-road vehicles, trying to crawl inside and tear apart the living.
Before long, the piercing screams began.
The weak-willed second platoon was on the verge of collapse. Just as they were about to flee in disarray, heavy footsteps came from behind.
Reinforcements had arrived!
The Avadi-8 power armor arrived at the battlefield with agility that belied its size, surpassing the disorganized soldiers and raising its machine gun.
A devastating long burst of fire. The howling 23mm shells cut down the rushing zombies like a scythe and opened several bloody holes in the body of the swamp tiger.
The foul-smelling pus and blood splattered, and the surging tide of zombies was instantly held back as if they had hit a dam.
“What’s your unit number?”
A cold voice came from inside the power armor.
“F-First Battalion B Company, Second Platoon.”
“Keep advancing and destroy these zombies thoroughly.”
One-third of those capable of driving power armor were awakened beings, with the lowest military rank being Second Lieutenant, capable of taking command of a regular platoon.
The entire city of Avonigarda was the governor’s private property. If these zombies were allowed to cause damage, everyone present would suffer the consequences.
The swamp tiger zombie rolled on the ground, letting out an angry roar. The machine gun shells pierced through its fur, causing significant damage.
Its powerful muscles contracted violently, unleashing tremendous strength.
With just two leaps, the swamp tiger zombie covered a distance of over sixty meters and pounced in front of the power armor.
The power armor driver calmly pulled the trigger, trying to hit the swamp tiger’s body with as many machine gun shells as possible in such a short time.
Just as the swamp tiger was about to pounce, the power armor discarded its machine gun and blocked it with its arm.
Under the terrifying bite force, the armor plate at the arm creaked, and the sharp tiger’s fangs even pierced into the armor plate.
The power armor directly pulled out the short combat knife from its waist, and the artificial muscles emitted a low hum under the electrified state.
In the next moment, the combat blade pierced the swamp tiger’s lower neck like lightning. This was where the muscles were the least and the defense was the weakest.
The power armor held the combat blade and circled around the swamp tiger’s head, cutting half a circle. Then, with one foot on the tiger’s shoulder and one arm around its head, it forcefully pulled, tearing off almost half of the tiger’s head along with its spine.
The terrifying swamp tiger zombie lay on the ground, its sharp teeth still holding armor fragments, making an unwilling roar.
The power armor picked up the machine gun, changed a magazine, and directly destroyed the tiger’s head on the ground, thoroughly annihilating the source essence aggregation within its skull. As the zombies continued to swarm, he held the machine gun, advancing and firing in short bursts.
“Keep moving, don’t stop.”
Chapter 143 Black Hawk Down <TOC> Chapter 145 Burning Bridges