Chapter 593: Civilization War Begins, Discovery of the Mechanical Vanguard Society, The Meeting

[Player ID 'Fire-Spouting Lei' 'Highway Vehicle' has launched a Civilization War, the war trajectory has deviated]

[Player ID 'Fire-Spouting Lei' 'Highway Vehicle' VS Player ID 'The Forger' 'Cavern', Civilization War has been initiated]

[Information Camouflage is taking effect, Player ID 'Yu Yuan Shelter' status has changed, current status is 'War Cannot Be Declared']

Yu Yuan stared at the three consecutive alert messages flashing across the virtual light screen.

The corners of his eyes curved into crescents.

A sly, villainous grin—like someone whose "evil scheme had succeeded"—spread across his face.

He was just one "hehehe" laugh short of the whole effect.

This made Alpha, who had been watching him closely from not too far away, show a look of shock and confusion.

"Hiss—What's going on?"

The Leader had been frowning just a moment ago, his face full of worry.

But now, suddenly, it was all bright sunshine.

He couldn't figure it out.

Still, looking at that sinister smile on the Leader's face.

Alpha couldn't help but shiver, knowing full well that some unlucky bastard was about to get royally screwed.

Alpha shook his head inwardly.

As one of the veterans who had followed Yu Yuan from the very beginning.

The [Jackal] squad knew all too well how their Leader handled his enemies.

"Of all people to mess with, they had to pick the Leader... sigh..."

Alpha checked the time.

"Still nine hours to go..."

-

Just as Yu Yuan was tearing across the wasteland, launching a surprise assault on Merry City.

In the Green Forest World, the headquarters of the Mechanical Vanguard Society on the Terra Continent received an urgent message.

A half-cyborg hurried through several mechanical doors, entering a room.

"Report, Lord Philly. Our Naxi Port stronghold on the Naxi Continent lost contact today. The incident level is [Follow-up]. It requires your personal review, my lord. The incident information has been sent to you."

"Hmm? Naxi Port?"

The chair, which had been facing away from the door, swiveled around, revealing a mechanical face only half-illuminated by the dimness of the room.

Two red dots of light, emanating from a mechanical eye, flickered slightly.

He quickly located the incident information and began reviewing the relevant intelligence.

He finished reading the report in no time.

"Strange. Naxi Port is on the Naxi Continent. It should have been safe, logically speaking!"

Because the Mechanical Vanguard Society's position on the Terra Continent was relatively close to the Naxi Continent, they had established port bases at the border zone between the Naxi and Terra Continents.

Losing contact with a port was no small matter.

Naxi Port was located behind the Mechanical Vanguard Society. With EDEN and that inexplicable Orthodox Church already giving them headaches, if problems emerged in their own rear lines, the Mechanical Vanguard Society's situation would become extremely difficult.

In the worst-case scenario, they would face the risk of being caught in a pincer attack from both sides.

At that point, he, as the Deputy Commander in charge of intelligence, would bear the greatest responsibility.

So, this unknown threat had to be investigated.

Philly immediately activated his Deputy Commander authority.

——[Scout Squad 3, proceed immediately to Naxi Port for aerial reconnaissance.]

The orders were issued.

Inside the airborne base of the Mechanical Vanguard Society's headquarters.

Two reconnaissance planes and a supply plane flew off towards Naxi Port.

A few hours later, Philly received the reconnaissance report sent back by Scout Squad 3.

Among it were aerial photographs. But the moment he saw that photo, he froze.

In the picture, the frozen, snow-covered land where the Naxi Port base used to be was entirely covered by some kind of black liquid. This black liquid gushed from the ground like a fountain, spurting continuously...

"What the hell is that stuff?"

-

Thirty kilometers outside Merry City.

The Pioneering Group convoy shut off all their headlights, driving along the wilderness highway.

"Enemy reconnaissance posts have been eliminated. Roadblocks are clear."

"Roger!"

Alpha marked an [X] on the map over the sentry point.

"So, a few days ago, the Dawn Consortium took all those nuclear weapons scientists back to their headquarters, and they haven't left since."

"Yes, Chief! Our earlier move to take down the Reyes Legion might have spooked them. Even though we captured their special operations squad, our transportation of supplies from Reyes Town wasn't exactly subtle..."

Yu Yuan nodded slightly. Alpha continued.

"We're now within fifty kilometers of Merry City. The electronic warfare vehicles have fully detected the Dawn Consortium's electronic network and communication signals. But they clearly have some talent in electronics too; their electronic defenses are quite solid.

Although we've completely severed the communication signals between them and their reconnaissance posts.

And have enacted electronic stealth on ourselves to keep them from detecting our tracks.

We still risk exposure before we fully take control of their electronic network system.

'Ghost' is working on cracking it now. Might need some more time."

"About how much longer..." Yu Yuan looked at the screen.

"At best, half an hour. At worst, one to two hours. Cracking it without waking the enemy up is pretty difficult, after all."

An hour passed.

Yu Yuan was asking Greenfield about the state of the Civilization War.

Suddenly, an excited voice came through the radio.

"Commander Alpha! We've successfully cracked the Dawn Consortium's electronic network firewall. We have top-level admin privileges."

Yu Yuan's head snapped up.

"Finally done."

Alpha had been waiting for this moment as well.

"Immediately lock down and modify the electronic keys for all their tactical nukes, cruise missiles, anti-air missiles, and other long-range strike systems."

"Immediately take control of the Dawn Consortium's databases and surveillance facilities. Lock down the positions of key personnel, including core executives and scientists."

"Immediately assume management authority over all of the Dawn Consortium's defense systems. Complete identity authentication and permission takeover."

One order after another was issued.

On the operational smart screen inside the command vehicle.

A 3D map of Merry City appeared. Then, dots of different colors lit up across it.

Red dots representing defense systems, armored vehicles, and missile launchers.

Blue dots representing armed patrol personnel.

And green dots representing the Dawn Consortium's core executives and key scientists.

Of course, the locations of important facilities like warehouses, ammunition depots, and command centers were also displayed.

One could say that, from this moment on, the Dawn Consortium held no secrets from the Pioneering Group's eyes.

The ten 'Ghost' electronic warfare armored vehicles had produced an effect as fitting as their name.

Like "electronic phantoms," silent and unnoticed.

But soon, Yu Yuan and Alpha sensed something was wrong.

According to the display on the screen, the Dawn Consortium's high-ranking officials and those scientists were all gathered together at this moment, seemingly holding a meeting.

Before Yu Yuan could even speak, Alpha had already said.

"I want to see the meeting footage."

The moment the words left his mouth, the meeting room's feed appeared on the screen. Over twenty people were seated around a conference table.

The audio from the meeting came through simultaneously.

"Angris, Old Jin, don't you want to avenge Maguire?"

"Dead Mine Town has become a serious threat to our survival. Their reconnaissance systems are even more advanced than ours."

Angris, Old Jin, and a few others showed obvious signs of fatigue on their faces.

"I know. But the calibration data for the 'Aurora Strategic Nuclear Warhead' is still unstable. There's a high chance of flight malfunctions or anomalies. If it explodes mid-flight, that's one thing. But if it blows up right here in the base..."

The entire room fell silent. The implication of those words was clear.

After a long pause, the man sitting at the head of the table spoke.

"Everyone, I know you've all been working hard lately. But Dead Mine Town has become a severe threat to the Consortium's safety.

We've lost two convoys and several [Dawn Tactical Nuclear Warheads] in a row. You all should be clear on what that means!

I'm giving you a maximum of half a month. Within that half month, the 'Aurora Strategic Nuclear Warhead' must complete its final calibration. If it can't be done..."

"Heh heh... Naturally, I won't touch you all. But you should also think about your families!"

"Old Jin, you're still vigorous despite your age. I heard your child is about to be born, isn't that right? That's another mouth to feed!"

"Chief, you..." Old Jin looked up sharply.

The Dawn Consortium's leader clasped his hands together in front of him, a faint smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

He swept his gaze across the few of them.

"Remember, you have only half a month..."