Alien Relic Hunter

…

With plug-in equipment like the Blasphemer mecha, Ke Lan and the others quickly dug right under the ruins of the Ancient Bronze City. However, it was not until they arrived at their destination that they discovered that there were also a large number of copper alloy mechanical modules buried deep underground in the ruins of the Ancient Copper City - the average burial depth of these mechanical modules was about two hundred to three hundred meters. As for Although the maximum depth cannot be detected with the equipment of the special operations team, it is conservatively estimated to be at least one thousand meters.

The ruins of the ancient copper city above the surface are just "the tip of the iceberg exposed above the sea"...

The underground part occupies at least more than 80% of the entire ruins.

But thinking about it, if you want the various sectors on the surface to be able to change positions freely, you must need a huge mechanical system as support... Unfortunately, with the level of Layton and Valentina, they are completely unable to see this. What are the uses and principles of each mechanical module? As for the other people in the team, they know nothing about machinery.

On the contrary, Ze Luo made some discoveries - she told Ke Lan that these mechanical modules have a common feature, that is, there are a large number of "energy amplification devices" inside... This so-called energy amplification device is similar to Yaguna. The functional array in Thor's core power chamber has the same purpose. It uses the principle of "resonance" to amplify the energy released from the energy crystal.

This increase does not require additional "fuel" - similar physical experiments have been done many times by humans, and the experimental results without exception prove that the energy generated by "resonance" is "increased out of thin air" and does not come from the reaction process. of any substance.

Although scholars on the Ark have not yet figured out how "resonance" deceives the law of energy conservation, they have already applied it in practice... such as the crystal energy bombs configured by the Ark military, and those on large battleships All the "resonant reactors" it carries are applications of this "unknown principle".

This is like the ancients of thousands of years BC in the old era. They had no idea what changes would occur at the atomic level when different metal elements were fused, but they knew that adding tin to copper could smelt a substance called Bronze is a material that is not only easier to process, but also has more stable chemical properties and higher physical strength than copper.

Of course, ancient people did not know the concepts of chemical properties and physical strength. In their eyes, bronze was less likely to rust than copper, and it was also more wear-resistant, sharper, and not easy to break. Compared with copper, bronze is simply It is an excellent material for making weapons and tools.

Human history has since entered the famous "Bronze Age".

The current humans on the Ark are actually not much different from the ancient people thousands of years ago in their application of the technologies left behind by the Alpha Civilization.

…

The materials of these mechanical modules are the same as those on the surface of the ancient Bronze City ruins. They are very hard and extremely difficult to excavate. Fortunately, there are gaps between the modules. Ke Lan and the others followed these gaps and headed all the way. He dug into the center of the ruins.

They dug until they reached the junction of the outer ring and the middle ring, and were blocked by an underground metal wall whose thickness was completely undetectable.

The plan to directly enter the core control area from the underground went bankrupt in front of this metal wall. Ke Lan and the others could only choose to dig upward.

When the Blasphemer mecha lifted off a heavy copper alloy floor tile and climbed to the surface, it happened to hit the 10th Armored Division that was advancing towards the central ring.

Hundreds of guns and the 240mm twin main guns on the Mammoth tanks were all aimed at Ke Lan and the others, and several defensive mechas instantly activated their energy shields.

"No shooting! No one is allowed to shoot!" After seeing clearly the attire of Ke Lan and others, the officer immediately shouted, "They are one of our own."

"We are a special operations team responsible for infiltrating the core area, but the underground tunnel is blocked by a metal wall, so we have to come up." Ke Lan briefly explained to the other party.

"We are the first regiment of the 10th Armored Division, and we are marching towards the central ring of the ruins." The officer said, "The task we received is to attack the core control area of ​​the ruins while covering you... However, we encountered many obstacles along the way. The resistance was so weak that it was almost negligible..."

"I already know." Ke Lan sighed, "This ancient bronze city is probably a trap specially prepared for us."

When he heard Ke Lan mention the word "trap", the expressions of the surrounding soldiers more or less changed. Only the officer who spoke still maintained his original expression.

It seems that the officer should have guessed this.

"I originally thought that even if this ruins were a trap, the only ones who would be sacrificed would be my vanguard troops... But not long ago, even the main troops waiting outside the ruins were forced in by that monster. Now we There is no way out. The only way is to capture the core control area in the center of the ruins before the trap is launched." The officer said to Ke Lan.

The new order they received was basically the same solution as the intelligence dealer said.

"I was still wondering before...if the heretic sect wanted us to fall into a trap, why would they set up such a monster on the frontal battlefield? Now I understand." Layton said from the side, "It seems that they have expected the Ark. The commander will choose to divide his troops... That monster is not used to block the advance of the large army, but to drive all the troops staying outside the ruins into the inside of the ruins."

"If the old dog were here, he would definitely compliment you by saying, 'You have a bright mind.'" Ivan said casually.

"How can this be considered a compliment..." Leighton showed a wry smile and maneuvered Augustus to turn around in a small half circle, heading towards the core area in the center of the ruins, "It seems that we can only bite the bullet and go in. Rushed."

"No, taking the land route is too slow." Ke Lan suddenly said, "Since the air defense facilities at the Ancient Bronze City ruins have not been activated, can we have the warship directly send a few of us to the core control area?"

Although the air force fleet does not have the ability to bring all the troops out of the ruins, if they only want to send a few people in, there should be no problem.

"Are there just a few of you?" The officer was stunned for a moment. In his understanding, although the combat effectiveness of the infiltration team must be higher than that of ordinary soldiers, their number is too small. As a surprise force, they may still be able to Effective, but when they merged with the large army, they would be nothing more than a few "super soldiers" at best... He would never believe that a few "super soldiers" could change the direction of a war. .

"Our team has carried secret equipment, secret equipment that can seize control of the ruins." Time was running out. Ke Lan had no time to waste words with the other party, so he simply moved the undead crew members out. "This is an order from the superior... …I mean, the superior of the general headquarters, you should know that, right?”

The officer looked startled. With his rank, although he was not aware of the existence of the Undead Crew Association, the decision-making level above the general headquarters naturally refers to the military headquarters and the joint parliamentary group - in the eyes of ordinary people, They are the most powerful group of people in the entire Ark.

It is very rare for the military headquarters and the joint parliamentary group to directly bypass the general headquarters of this operation and issue orders to the combat troops. However, if what Ke Lan said is true, it only shows that the task they received is extremely important. ——It is so important that even the main force needs to take the initiative to cooperate with them to complete this task.

"I need to test..."

Before the word "certificate" of "verification" was uttered, the radio communication equipment carried by the officer rang. As soon as he pressed the answer button, he heard the voice of his immediate superior, the commander of the 10th Armored Division: "I just received the order to go up to the peak and unconditionally meet the requirements of the special operations team. No matter what they say, do as they say."

"yes!"

The officer couldn't help but look at Ke Lan and the others, and finally set his sights on the tall Blasphemer mecha - in his opinion, the "secret equipment" mentioned by Ke Lan and others was most likely the This strange machine he had never heard of.

He would never have thought that the so-called "secret equipment" was Ke Lan himself.

"Actually, the raid plan you mentioned was proposed as early as when we entered the ruins." The officer sighed, "However, the core control area is the only area in the entire Ancient Bronze City ruins where defense facilities have been activated - any aircraft entering The airspace in the core control area will be shot down by powerful laser beams. Even airdrop troops can only be airdropped in the peripheral areas of the core control area... In the previous half hour, there have been six batches, totaling about one thousand. Multiple marines were dropped on the outside of the core control area."

"Then have they penetrated the core control area?" Layton asked.

The officer nodded first, then shook his head: "These six batches of marines all lost contact shortly after entering the core control area."

"Are there any sounds of fighting in the core control area?" Thirty-three also asked, "For example, gunshots or explosions?"

The officer continued to shake his head: "There was no sound coming from inside, it was as if they had disappeared from the world..."

"Tsk... it sounds really scary." Leighton smacked his lips, "I was originally worried that the ruins' air defense system would suddenly activate and knock me down when I was airborne... But now it seems that after landing, This is hell.”

"If you insist on going." The officer pointed to a light frigate flying over their heads in the sky, "The 'Cross Pickaxe' will drop the seventh batch of mobile troops into the core control area in ten minutes. On the south side, you can move with them."

"Okay." Ke Lan nodded, "We will parachute down with this group of troops."

…

…

The seventh batch of airdrop mobile troops also came from the 10th Armored Division, but compared to the group of people Ke Lan and the others encountered on the ground, the equipment of this mobile unit was obviously much better. Not only were all members equipped with full-coverage Type of powered armor, tactical mechas account for more than 20% of the total number of members in the team - that is to say, every five-person team can be assigned at least one mecha.

The mobile force has a total of seventy-five people, including ten "Pusher" tactical mechas, four "Wolf Spiders", two "Shield Mountains" and one "Beidou", plus four high-mobility light armored vehicles and a A 175mm caliber self-propelled artillery - this level of firepower configuration is enough to wipe out a 2,000-person exile settlement within three minutes.

But according to the commander of this mobile force, the six airborne troops that had previously entered the core control area were almost all configured in this way... However, the people outside did not even hear a sound of artillery, and they lost it. connection.

The morale of the soldiers in the mobile unit was obviously a little low. Some of them closed down and fell asleep with their backs against their bodies, some were holding tablets and writing suicide notes, while those in the guard were clenching their hands tightly. The gun inside, bowed his head and said nothing.

For them, this is almost a fatal mission.

"Although it is unlucky to write a suicide note before a war..." The commander of the mobile unit glanced at the soldiers and shrugged helplessly at Ke Lan and the others.

"It's not a big problem. I write a suicide note before every mission..." Layton showed a somewhat silly smile, "Although I don't seem to have anyone or anything to entrust."

"If I die, Natasha will help me deal with the rest of the matter." Ivan said, "Actually, I have died once a long time ago, so there is nothing to care about."

"I haven't written anything like this since I retired." Thirty-three whispered, "When I was in the army... I wrote enough."

…

The "Cross Pickaxe" frigate maintained a stable cruising speed and slowly advanced. At this distance, Ke Lan and the others could already see the copper-colored tower standing in the distance through the portholes - that is, the The core tower in the center of the ruins is also where the core control hub of the ruins is located.

The tower is almost two thousand meters high, with a base diameter of about a hundred meters. Its general shape is a hexagonal cone. There are no windows or any decorative patterns on the tower. It is as smooth as a mirror - from a distance. Go, like a polished hexagonal copper column.

Judging from the appearance of the tower, the building materials used in this tower are the same as other parts of the Bronze City, but this is only limited to the appearance, and the inner structure is unknown.

Surrounding the tower are a large number of warships from the Ark Fleet. These warships continue to bombard the tower with various weapons... However, the attacks of energy weapons are absorbed by the shield covering the core tower. As for physical attacks such as missiles and artillery shells, they were intercepted and shot down by the high-power beam mentioned by the officer before as soon as they entered the airspace of the core control area.

Dozens of warships were firing on all cylinders, but they were unable to cause any damage to the tower.