As the commander, Chen Jing naturally saw the situation at the bottom of the pit and immediately ordered, "First wave of artillery strike ready! All units load the No. 4 explosive shells, three rounds of progressive barrage to perform blanket fire coverage across the pit bottom!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled barrage of "boom boom boom" was heard, with a dense swarm of shells launched, tracing graceful arcs in mid-air before landing in the pit.
The puppets quickly responded, weaving countless fibers to form a huge net, catching most of the shells raining down from above. Only a few shells managed to pass through the net, with over ninety percent not even triggering their fuses.
The Fungus Puppets feared flames, but just a few lucky shells couldn’t burn out all the Fungus Puppets at the pit bottom. Chen Jing frowned tightly and immediately said, "Cease fire! All units load, modify the explosive shell fuses to timed detonation based on the last wave’s flight time, set detonation time! Continue the second wave of bombardment in ninety seconds!"
The explosive shells produced by Bai’s Military Industry employed modular design, allowing the fuses at the front of the shells to be changed at any time—aside from regular shell usage, they could be modified into timed bombs and landmines, and even as warheads for ballistic missiles, making them extremely versatile ammunition.
For a skilled loader, switching fuses and setting detonation times only takes a minute. Apart from the Hunters, all who operated these heavy weapons in Bai Lingqiu’s second phase Hunter Corps were experienced retired veterans.
Once hired by the Bai Group, these retired veterans served as consultants, weapons testers, or members in the security department on normal days, but when the moment was critical, they would instantly become a private army with formidable combat ability once equipped.
After ninety seconds, the trails from the first wave of shells lingered in the spore fog, and already the second wave of shells followed these trails, falling into the pit once more.
Two seconds later, a blaze erupted inside the pit!
Hunters at the artillery base began to cheer—though the battle so far hadn’t involved them yet, who doesn’t enjoy watching modern heavy firepower in action against powerful mysterious entities?
To use Charles’s words, witnessing such a grand scene, even if you’re just on the sidelines, makes it worth it.
The blazing inferno and thick smoke lasted for over ten minutes until the incendiary agents in the explosive shells were entirely consumed.
Looking at the billowing smoke from the pit, Ya Qiaoxi couldn’t help but rub her nose and murmured, "I don’t know why, but I suddenly have a very bad feeling."
"That feeling is accurate." Sun Hang waved a tablet at her. On the screen, the densely packed dots hadn’t reduced much—the explosive shell had created quite an uproar, but the actual damage to the Fungus Puppets was unexpectedly low.
"Ugh... how is this possible? Aren’t these things supposed to be very afraid of fire?" Charles exclaimed in shock.
"Living organisms evolve adaptively according to environmental changes, and mysterious entities have similar mechanisms but even faster," Candle Dragon said indifferently. "In the last battle, many Fungus Puppets were burned to ash. The surviving ones took this information back to the pit... enough time has passed for mutations of their memes to occur."
Meanwhile, at the nearby Hunter Corps Command, Chen Jing and Bai Lingqiu reached the same conclusion.
"Since the explosive shells are not very effective, why not directly bomb with conventional shells!" Meng Yunfeng pointed at the screen with dots reduced by less than ten percent, saying that even if mysterious entities evolved fire resistance, pure kinetic energy could still effectively harm them. The heavy weapons we brought primarily aimed to eliminate these puppets and weaken the core entity’s defenses... Although those Free Hunters have many unpleasant habits, we didn’t pay such a high price to recruit them just to have them watch the show. My suggestion is to perform multiple waves of bombardment, and after tearing open a gap in the upper layer puppets, send the Hunters down..."
"Not enough time." Chen Jing shook his head, recalling the scene of the shattered puppet pieces regrouping during his first encounter with the Fungus Puppets. "As long as the Fungus Puppets aren’t burned to ashes, even blasted into fragments, they can fully recover. When those Hunters reach the pit bottom, they’ll face thousands of Fungus Puppets without any chance to access the core entity."
According to the original operation plan, they intended to use explosive shells to clear out the upper-layer Fungus Puppets, exposing the core entity to sight before deciding the next operational strategy—of course, if the fire caused by explosive shells forced the core entity out of the pit, it would be the best-case scenario.
But once the Fungus Puppets no longer feared fire, Hunters lost the means to completely eliminate them.
"I don’t believe they can always recover!" Meng Yunfeng frowned. "Blast them apart ten, twenty times until they’re smaller than a fingernail... recovery takes time, right? If we manage to get these Hunters to the core entity, our mission is considered complete."
"Saturation bombing might help, but we won’t have the chance to try it." Bai Lingqiu shook her head. "We don’t have enough ammunition."
"During our journey through the no-man’s land, we lost a truck that carried one-sixth of our ammunition reserves." A retired veteran in charge of ammunition management sighed, "The first wave of attacks has already consumed one-third of the remaining ammunition. The remaining two-thirds is far from enough for a saturation bombing."
"Over on the Dragon City side, it’s getting increasingly difficult to arrange a third wave of people to bring in more ammo." Chen Jing sighed, "The larger the convoy, the more apparent the target becomes, making it easier for the death sandstorm to pursue... Plus, most of the experienced hunters and guides are already here. Not to mention these puppets can adaptively evolve... No one knows what they’ll turn into by the time the ammo arrives."
"So what do you suggest we do now?" Meng Yunfeng crossed his arms and said irritably.
"Do what you just suggested." Chen Jing said.
"Huh?" Meng Yunfeng was momentarily stunned, "But didn’t you say we don’t have enough ammunition?"
"That’s why we need to concentrate all our firepower, rip open a gap in the upper puppets, create a temporary passage, and then send the hunters in." Chen Jing said, "I’ve just calculated with the computer; as long as we control the explosion range, we have at least a six-minute window — we can use drones to get the hunters directly above the pit, and immediately deploy them once the passage is blasted open... Six minutes is enough time for them to reach the bottom of the pit."
Upon hearing Chen Jing’s plan, Meng Yunfeng’s eyelids involuntarily twitched: "This plan... it sounds like sending those hunters to their deaths... And after six minutes, the passage will disappear, how will they get out?"
"Take down the anomaly’s main body, and those puppets will self-destruct." Chen Jing said.
"No, no, no... my point is, this plan is a gamble, life or death... If those hunters don’t take out the anomaly’s main body, they’re doomed. Compensation and the group’s reputation are future concerns I’m not even talking about. The very fact that you’re presenting this plan might make those hunters quit the corps even at the risk of breaching contracts... it could potentially trigger the worst-case scenario."
Meng Yunfeng trailed off halfway through.
"Mutiny." "Miss Shadow," standing behind Bai Lingqiu, filled in the two words he left unsaid.
"We need to form an assault team that’s not afraid of death. For those willing to join, the mission reward is tripled, and the compensation is quintupled, with additional bonuses." At Chen Jing’s gesture, a security guard from the Chen Group placed a small box on the table, containing several stacks of unmarked black stored-value cards.
"Each card has three million in cash pre-loaded. This is my personal property, and anyone joining the assault team can immediately receive a black card as an incentive for bravery." Chen Jing continued, "Since the Dubhe Tower can offer astronomical rewards to attract Free Hunters from everywhere, we can do the same... generous rewards never lack brave men."
Bai Lingqiu and Meng Yunfeng exchanged a glance, and the latter nodded, "I think we can give it a try."
"Moreover, we need a leader strong enough to head the team, leading others towards the pit bottom... Do you have anyone in mind?"
At this moment, Cheng Ming, who had been quietly listening without speaking, suddenly stood up and said, "I’ll go."
After saying those words, even he was taken aback. For a brief second, his mind went blank, as if someone had taken over his body and made him stand up and utter those words.
Now, after completing this task, the entity returned control back to Cheng Ming.
Everyone in the command tent now focused their attention on Cheng Ming. Even if he second-guessed his decision now, it was unlikely these people would easily accept a retraction.
"This is an opportunity," the voice of a mysterious girl whispered in his ear, "An excellent opportunity."
"Was that you just now?" Cheng Ming questioned in his mind.
"I merely helped you seize a fleeting opportunity." The mysterious girl replied, "Rest assured, you will be fine; I won’t let anything happen to you... until you fulfill our agreement."