Chapter 251: Red and Yellow Thunder

The engine of the transport truck roared to life inside the lower staging bay, its deep mechanical rumble echoing off the concrete walls. Exhaust fumes mingled with the crisp, damp air spilling through the partially open door.

Near the side hatch of the vehicle, Lin Qing stood with her rifle slung across her chest, her clear eyes fixed on Han Zheng as he checked the secondary harness of his tactical vest.

"I should be on this run, Han Zheng," Lin Qing said, her voice laced with quiet insistence. "If Apex’s heavy pursuit teams are involved, you’ll need high-angle sniper coverage in that valley."

Han Zheng turned to face her, his shoulders casting a heavy shadow in the amber lighting of the staging bay. He reached out, resting a firm, reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I know you can handle the valley, Lin Qing," Han Zheng said, his deep voice calm and resonant. "But with Apex hovering above us, our base perimeter is vulnerable. Su Yun is still recovering, and the children are inside. I need you here to command the wall defense with Old Wang and Sun Hao. I can handle Ye Lin."

Lin Qing looked into his steady eyes, feeling the absolute certainty in his words. She gave him a single, firm nod. "Bring them back alive."

"We will," Han Zheng replied.

Joining Han Zheng on the rescue run were Ah Hua, Lu Feng, Song Yan and Zhou Ming.

"Mount up!" Han Zheng ordered.

The five men boarded the heavy armored transport, and Zhou Ming slammed the heavy side hatch shut. With a grinding hydraulic roar, the primary blast gates opened just wide enough for the vehicle to plow through, rolling out into the bright, damp glare of the thaw.

Outside, the mountain pass was undergoing a violent, chaotic transformation. The winter snows were melting rapidly under a humid spring breeze, turning the steep slopes into rushing torrents of muddy water, slush, and loose gravel.

The narrow mountain trail was a treacherous nightmare of deep, brown clay and shifting rockslides, but the heavy transport’s reinforced six-wheel drive churned through the mud with relentless power.

In the passenger compartment, Ah Hua opened the weapons case Dr. Zhou had provided. Inside rested the sleek Power Core Rifles, their carbon-fiber bodies gleaming with internal energy channels.

"Remember what Dr. Zhou explained," Lu Feng said, handing one of the rifles to Song Yan while taking one for himself. "These weapons have two distinct output tiers based on the energy fragment calibration."

Ah Hua adjusted the digital charge selector on his rifle’s receiver, watching the small LED indicator glow bright red. "Red bolts are Tier One—standard charges for clearing infantry and light cover."

Han Zheng picked up the primary squad rifle, toggling the selector switch past the red notch until a brilliant, humming gold indicator lit up along the barrel housing. "And the yellow bolts are Tier Two. Maximum core output. They draw twice the fragment charge to deliver concentrated, armor-melting kinetic strikes. Save yellow for heavy plating."

Up in the driver’s cab, Zhou Ming leaned forward over the steering wheel, his eyes strained as he navigated the slick, muddy curves. "Commander! We’re entering the southwest gorge! Telemetry signal from Ye Lin is directly ahead, four hundred meters!"

Through the windshield, the squad saw the scene unfold in the distance.

The narrow, water-logged ravine was choked with thick mud and falling rocks. A battered, bullet-riddled Apex utility jeep was fishtailing wildly through deep slush, its rear bumper dragging against the ground.

Inside, Ye Lin was desperately hauling on the steering wheel with one hand while firing his sidearm out the driver’s window. In the passenger seat, his frail.mother was slouched low, clutching a blood-stained blanket around her shoulders.

Directly behind Ye Lin’s smoking vehicle, two high-speed Apex scout buggies and a towering, six-wheeled medium troop carrier were closing in fast. The Apex vehicles were tearing through the slush, their mounted heavy machine guns spraying a relentless stream of lead into the back of Ye Lin’s jeep.

"He’s not going to make the river bend!" Zhou Ming yelled, stomping on the accelerator. "His rear axle is snapped!"

"Zhou Ming, pull us parallel to the trail!" Han Zheng barked, stepping toward the upper roof hatch. "Ah Hua, Lu Feng, with me on top! Song Yan, prepare to anchor the transport if the mud gives way!"

"On it!" Song Yan replied, placing his palms against the interior steel frame to stabilize the vehicle’s gravity center against the sliding mud.

Han Zheng pushed open the roof hatch, stepping out into the cold, rushing wind alongside Ah Hua and Lu Feng. The three men locked their boots into the roof railings, raising their Rifles into firing position as the transport surged past Ye Lin’s sliding jeep.

"Apex scouts on the left!" Lu Feng shouted, sighting down his rifle’s optical scope. He squeezed the trigger.

PFT-THUM!

A brilliant, ruby-red bolt of superheated plasma erupted from Lu Feng’s barrel, streaking across the water-logged ravine with a sharp, crackling roar. The red bolt slammed directly into the hood of the lead Apex scout buggy, instantly melting through the engine block and detonating its fuel tank in a towering geyser of orange fire and black mud.

"Ha! Look at that firepower!" Ah Hua laughed fiercely, switching his selector to red as well. He fired three rapid bursts into the second buggy.

PFT-THUM! PFT-THUM! PFT-THUM!

Three bright red energy rounds punched through the buggy’s side armor, sending the vehicle spinning out of control into a roaring, mud-filled creek bed.

However, the main threat was far from neutralized. The six-wheeled Apex troop carrier ignored the destroyed buggies, its driver surging forward through the slush to slam directly into the side of Ye Lin’s disabled jeep, pinning it against a crumbling granite cliff face.

"Hold your fire on the jeep!" Han Zheng commanded, his voice cold and steady amidst the roar of the engines. He flipped his rifle’s selector switch to the yellow notch. The weapon let out a low, high-pitched whine as internal capacitors surged with intense energy.

Han Zheng aimed straight for the heavy armored front cab of the Apex troop carrier.

BOOM-CRACK!

A blinding, sun-yellow beam of concentrated energy exploded from Han Zheng’s rifle. The yellow bolt slammed into the carrier’s reinforced front plate with terrifying force. The raw energy didn’t just penetrate the armor—it melted a hole the size of a dinner plate straight through the vehicle’s engine block and chassis, throwing the multi-ton troop carrier backward into the mud in a spray of white-hot sparks and molten iron.

"Get Ye Lin and his mother inside, now!" Han Zheng shouted.

Zhou Ming slammed the truck into a hard turn, locking the vehicle sideways across the narrow trail to block the falling rock debris.

Ah Hua dropped down through the side hatch, lunging into the freezing slush. With his dark steel mechanical arm exerting effortless hydraulic power, he ripped open the crumpled passenger door of Ye Lin’s jeep, carefully scooping up Ye Lin’s shivering, pale mother into his arms.

"I got her! Move, move!" Ah Hua roared, carrying her back into the warm interior of the transport where Song Yan immediately wrapped her in heavy thermal blankets.

Ye Lin scrambled out of the driver’s seat, his face covered in dark mud and dried blood, his tactical jacket torn to shreds. He clutched a sealed, waterproof data drive tightly in his fist as Lu Feng hauled him up through the side hatch.

"Han Zheng..." Ye Lin gasped, his chest heaving as he collapsed onto the metal floor of the transport. "The intelligence... I got it... Apex’s master grid..."

"Save your breath, Ye Lin," Han Zheng said, stepping down from the roof hatch and securing the iron latch above. "Zhou Ming, turn us around! Back to the Research Center at full speed!"

Zhou Ming slammed the heavy transmission into reverse, churning the six massive tires through the deep, melting mud as he spun the transport around in the narrow gorge, heading back toward the mountain pass.

Inside the transport, the atmosphere lightened for a single, fleeting second. Ah Hua set his rifle down, wiping a smear of dark clay from his forehead. "That was clean. Those new power core rifles make short work of Apex armor."

"Your mother is stable, Ye Lin," Song Yan reported softly, checking the elderly woman’s pulse. "She’s suffering from extreme exhaustion and cold exposure, but Dr. Zhou can treat her back at the base."

Ye Lin let out a shaky, raspy breath, looking up at Han Zheng with raw gratitude. "Thank you... I thought we were finished in that ravine."

Han Zheng stood near the rear observation window, his hand resting on the handguard of his rifle. He looked down at the sealed data drive in Ye Lin’s hand, feeling the immense weight of what they had just accomplished. They had saved Ye Lin, retrieved his mother, tested their powerful new energy weapons, and secured the vital intelligence needed to strike.

The mission appeared to be a resounding success.

Suddenly, a violent, deep-frequency thrumming vibration rattled through the floorboards of the armored transport. It wasn’t the sound of the transport’s diesel engine, nor was it the sound of melting slush sliding down the cliffs.

It was a heavy, rhythmic thud that made the water droplets on the glass jump in unison.

THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...

"Commander!" Zhou Ming’s panicked voice screamed over the cab intercom. "Sensors are flaring! Multiple high-mass signatures just cleared the lower river ridge behind us!"

Han Zheng turned around sharply, stepping up to the heavy rear armored glass viewport.

Down the long, muddy canyon trail they had just traversed, the melting fog was being torn apart by high-speed force.