Chapter 290 - 284: A Crazy Plan
Chapter 290: Chapter 284: A Crazy Plan
Inside the control room, blinding red lights flashed manically, and piercing alarms blared in a continuous shriek.
On the light screen, the blue dots representing friendly units were extinguishing in droves, like a waterfall.
At the front lines, steel and flesh ground against each other, and wreckage piled up into mountains.
The twelve PX-1B primary Golems that Allen had just deployed were like fragile toys before the massive tide of modified Magical Beasts.
A giant crocodile clamped its jaws around a PX-1B’s waist. Its metal teeth vibrated at high speed, and with a grating tear of metal, the Golem was bitten in half. Its Energy Storage exploded in a burst of blinding blue fire.
The defensive line was riddled with holes.
The immense Beast Tide poured through the gaps. Under the command of the Black Wizard, the seven thousand modified Magical Beasts split into two streams, like a black mudslide.
One stream rushed up the terrain toward the volcanic crater, while the other fanned out in a flanking maneuver, heading straight for the lava lake at the foot of the mountain.
"It’s over..." Victor couldn’t help but shout over the comms channel. "Allen! The line won’t hold! Do you have any other plans?! Use them, now!"
Allen’s gaze passed over the chaotic battle on the holographic map, settling on the southern volcanic cluster.
The lava lake was the energy heart of Zone 18, home to nine volcanic Magic Furnaces and vast underground mines of Fire Elemental Crystal Stones. Victor’s twelve volcanic Magic Furnaces were set up in the craters of the volcanic cluster.
The enemy was heading straight for this location.
With conventional methods, there was no longer any chance of turning the tables.
"A plan? Of course, there is one." Allen’s voice was frighteningly calm, as if he were a detached observer.
"What is it? Tell me!" Victor pressed urgently.
"Abandon the outer positions and detonate the Magic Furnaces," Allen said succinctly.
The comms channel fell deathly silent.
"Are... Are you kidding me?!"
Victor’s voice was distorted with shock. "Detonate the Magic Furnaces? Isn’t the whole point of falling back to protect our Energy Cores? That’s our lifeline! If we detonate them, even if we kill some of the Magical Beasts, our Magic Furnaces will be gone! All the Golems will lose power and become scrap metal! What will we use to fight off the enemies that follow?!"
"The battlefield is constantly changing. It’s obvious the defensive line can’t be held, so we have to adapt to the situation and find a way to survive from within death’s grasp!"
Allen’s voice remained steady. "Seventy percent of our forces have already been committed to the front lines and will soon be wiped out. If the enemy reaches the workshop area, what’s the point of these Golems and Magic Furnaces then?"
"How do we survive from within death’s grasp? Even if the Magic Furnaces explode simultaneously, the blast won’t be powerful enough to repel the enemy army." Victor had calmed down by now.
"See this diagram?" Allen pulled up a 3D structural map of the volcanic cluster’s base and the lava lake.
On the light screen, magma churned deep within the volcanic cluster, rich with Fire Elemental Magic Power. The bottom of the lava lake connected with the mountain’s interior, forming a vast underground network.
"My volcanic Magic Furnaces were designed from the very beginning with the worst-case scenario in mind."
Allen pointed to several key nodes on the map. "They are massive Energy Cores in their own right. Once overloaded, they become incredibly powerful bombs. Detonating them is just the first step. The self-destruct sequence I designed can use the energy from the furnaces’ explosions to leverage the Fire Elemental Crystal Stone veins at the bottom of the lava lake."
"Even deeper is the Fire Elemental Magic Power at the base of the entire volcanic cluster."
Allen continued, his voice laced with cold resolve, "As long as we detonate enough Magic Furnaces and Crystal Stone mines, we can create a chain reaction and fully unleash the energy deep within the cluster. When that happens, the entire volcanic cluster will become a Purgatory."
Allen stared at the red dots advancing frantically on the light screen, a vicious glint in his eyes.
"Repel the enemy? I want them annihilated! If the Magic Furnaces can’t kill them, then we’ll blow the entire volcanic cluster sky-high!"
"Detonate the entire volcanic cluster..." Victor’s breathing grew ragged.
"There’s no time to waste!"
Allen cut him off. "Lure them deep into the volcanic cluster. Pull back the elite Golems. The remaining damaged units will self-destruct on the spot to buy time."
"Listen, after the eruption, my main workshop is far enough away to withstand it. But your workshop is too close to the cluster. You need to activate all defensive facilities and drag that crippled ’Tieyan Judicator’ back to use as cover!"
Victor stared intently at the battle damage data on the screen.
The education he’d received since childhood was all about calculating cost-benefit ratios, protecting family assets, and making steady, calculated moves. And now, he was being forced into this corner.
After a brief, deathly silence, Victor’s voice came out very softly. "Do you have any idea how many Magic Stones I’ve invested in this volcanic cluster?"
"I don’t, but I’m sure it’s less than the price of your life."
A short, choked sound came over the comms channel.
Then, laughter. It started small and low, squeezed from the depths of his throat, then slowly grew louder.
"A brilliant idea! Ha... HAHAHAHA!" On the other end of the comms, Victor suddenly erupted into a fit of maniacal laughter.
The laughter carried the madness of someone who had completely cast off their shackles.
"Allen Wesren, you’re crazier than a goddamn Black Wizard from the Abyss!"
Victor gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. "Fine! Let’s blow it all to hell! Blow every last one of them sky-high!"
"Jarvis, take over command of the front line. Commit all seven of my sub-threads to battlefield coordination," Allen ordered, ignoring Victor’s emotional outburst.
"Command confirmed. Commencing tactical deception."
The situation on the battlefield changed in an instant.
The Golem Legion, which had been fighting to the death without retreating, suddenly began a large-scale rout.
The perimeter guard Golems no longer maintained a coordinated defense. Instead, they fought individually, their formations chaotic, and huge gaps appeared in their web of fire.
The Black Wizard hiding in the shadows keenly observed this change.
’Can’t hold on any longer...?’ the black-robed figure let out a low, cold laugh from his underground lair.
Through the eyes of his modified Magical Beasts, he clearly saw the Freedom Gundam making a desperate retreat deeper into the workshop area.
"Full assault! Destroy their Magic Furnaces!"
Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. This was the Black Wizards’ code of survival!
The Black Wizard gave the order for an all-out attack.
In the face of absolute numerical superiority, all tactics were futile. He intended to devour the entire foundation of these two zones.
Nearly ten thousand modified Magical Beasts let out earth-shattering roars and swarmed into the volcanic region like sharks that had scented blood.
At this moment, Allen’s seven sub-threads began micromanaging the battlefield.
Every last drop of value was squeezed from each Golem left behind. One Golem was pounced on by three Crystal Shell Giant Scorpions. The instant its armor was torn to shreds, it detonated with a ROAR, taking the three scorpions with it.
In mid-air, a powerless Storm Falcon adjusted its trajectory and turned itself into a kinetic bomb, crashing into a dense pack of beasts.
The steel wreckage brutally paved a road of death on the mountain path, a mixture of flesh, blood, and metal.
Thirty kilometers.
Ten kilometers.
The vanguard of the modified Magical Beasts had already reached the shores of the lava lake, where they could even see the roiling, incandescent magma.
Right there on the shore, nine enormous volcanic Magic Furnaces were emitting a low hum, endlessly producing pure Magic Power.
High above in the volcanic crater, Victor’s twelve Magic Furnaces were also now exposed to the other Beast Tide’s line of sight.
The colossal Mechanical Tyrannosaurus Beast took heavy steps, entering the heart of the volcanic cluster.
The mechanical heart in its chest began to beat faster again, preparing to unleash its Breath of the End upon Victor’s fortifications.
’Let’s see where you can run.’
The Black Wizard hiding in the shadows gave a sinister smile, his eyes glinting with cold light.
"Victor, I’m detonating in ten minutes!" Allen issued his final order from the workshop.
The prey had all entered the trap. The Grim Reaper was about to toll the death knell.
Victor’s eyes were venomous. "Allen, I’m betting my fucking pants on this one! Give ’em a blast they’ll never forget!"
The call ended.
Allen stood up and walked toward the Meditation Room behind the control room.
"Jarvis, lock down all workshop entrances and exits. Divert all power to defenses."
"As you wish, sir. Detonation countdown initiated. 600 seconds."
The heavy doors boomed shut behind Allen, sealing themselves.
Inside the Meditation Room, absolute silence completely shut out the chaos from the outside world.
The potency of the Astral Spring surged through his veins, and the Deep Sea Echo Conch emanated a faint blue halo.
Allen sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
’Real men don’t look back at explosions.’
’The rougher the storm, the more invigorating the cultivation!’
The seven thousand Magical Beasts outside, the half-step Morning Star, the impending, world-destroying volcanic eruption—he stripped them all from his mind.
His primary consciousness sank into his Sea of Spirit, transforming into the sharpest, purest carving knife.
Fifth Core Matrix, thirty-fifth Will Rune.
The knife fell.