Dark Moon Era

Chapter 188: Saddest Battle (3.5 in 1)

Fwoosh!

All six tactical movements disk buckles were thrown to Tang Ling one by one. Tang Ling fixed the buckles in the holes that he had dug into the wall.

His action was considered a small effort to compensate for the situation. Using the tactical movement disk for the first time, even Tang Ling barely had any idea where to set the safety point. Setting the safety points at the top of the wall was certainly a desperate move due to the limited distance and confined space.

This was not the way to start the mission. With limited space around them, if any one of them made the slightest mistake, the strings in the disks would tangle together, causing a disastrous outcome.

However, time was not on their side, and Tang Ling could not find a better place. All he could do was utilize his Precise Instinct to its full extent to command everyone in the battle to avoid the disastrous end.

Otherwise, this whole scheme just to trap him would drag the others down with him. The walls that played a part in trapping him were not entirely useless as well. At least, it could provide a minute of breathing time to the Fierce Dragon Squad during the most critical situation.

It was only a minute, but it would be enough.

The target was him after all, not the others. If it was not necessary, both Andrew or Aber would not want the others in the Fierce Dragon Squad to die, especially Orston and Yu.

Their family should have barely compromised with the outcome and allowed Safety Sector No. 17 to be run over. If anything would happen to either Orston or Yu, it was not good news that would stabilize the situation back in the safety sector.

Therefore, Tang Ling had to seize the crucial one minute for his friends.

Next, they had to hold on until the show ended. The crucial minute would be very important then because that one-minute window would allow the others to free themselves up and save everyone in the Fierce Dragon Squad along the way.

Maybe they would not even have to hold on for that long, but in order to assure his friends’ safety, Tang Ling was willing to endure it because it would be...

After locking all the tactical movement disk buckles in place, Tang Ling jumped down from the stone wall. A thin, nearly invisible line trailed him from his disk as he jumped down.

The wind whistled in Tang Ling’s ears as he moved. After he landed on the ground, without further ado, he sprinted towards the underground river beside where their defense point was. He jumped into the icy cold river from the hot cave. That huge difference in temperature suffocated Tang Ling, choking him fiercely.

He dove into the water with a single thought in his mind: ‘This will be my parting gift.’

“Tang Ling, what are you doing?” Andy realized he had lost Tang Ling a while ago. Starting from digging holes in the stone wall to locking the disks on the wall and diving into the river, every move Tang Ling made was confusing and strange.

Were the stone walls not the best barrier? Was the tactical movement disk necessary while fighting in this kind of terrain? Andy felt the disk was more of a symbol of encouragement than of actual use. Why did Tang Ling dive into the river? Was he taking a bath before the battle?

All kinds of thoughts filled his head as he looked at Tang Ling, but a moment later, a terrifying scene happened right before his eyes. The Prosthetics hanging at the caves came alive!

They really came alive! Their limbs were moving stiffly, but the majority of their body parts were activated. They unplugged the tubes behind them and jumped down.

There were other enemies in the cave!

Again, countless thoughts flashed in Andy’s mind, most of them the bloody scenes of the battlefield.

All the Undergrounds with their steaming hot Prosthetics were swinging their giant stone hammer over the warriors, crushing them into meat paste without mercy. No one could get near as the sizzling burns and painful wails were ringing loudly in everyone’s ear.

Lastly, there were the fires in the giant cave and eerie bones around them.

S-Shouldn’t I be brave? S-Shouldn’t I be resolute enough to fight these monsters?

Andy could not hold back the urge to cry, but he did not want to be scared either. He assumed that there were not many enemies who could escape the Purple Moon Warriors, so the most they would have to fight would be one to two, or even three. Then, all seven of them could easily take them down.

However, in front of him were 30 to 40 Underground creatures in Prosthetics coming at them. The noises from the first and third passages were getting closer, reminding Andy that there would only be more enemies coming their way.

What should we do? What should we do?! There are only a hundred plus New Moon Warriors in the cave. Can we win?

However, the New Moon Warriors were divided into 12 squadrons and sent towards two different defense lines. According to the deployment, the squads on the frontline could not leave their defense point. Otherwise, the whole deployment would be in chaos.

The second defense line had a lot more freedom. They could provide more help according to the situation, but the cave was huge and they were quite far away from each other. Even if all five squadrons from the second defense line came over to help them, it would still take some time. Moreover, there were numerous enemies in the cave. Could six squadrons of New Moon Warriors really defeat the enemies?

On a one-on-one basis, after equipping the Prosthetics, the Underground race was far stronger than an elite warrior. It would take five elite warriors to barely defeat one Underground creature with Prosthetics.

Even if the New Moon Warriors were stronger than elite warriors, the best they could do was fight two to one. Furthermore, if the enemy broke through the tactical passages, not all the squadrons on the second defense line would be able to come over to help them either.

Andy panicked. The situation was critical, and somehow, his mind which was not good at analyzing the situation became clear and nimble. He instantly examined all the possible outcomes of the Fierce Dragon Squad. He failed to understand why there were 30 to 40 more enemies in Prosthetics left in the cave. Why were the enemies so close to them and why were they charging towards them?

“Ugh...Mm-hmm...” Meaningless whimpers came from Andy’s throat as strong fear tightened his heart and stomach. He had the overwhelming urge to throw up.

He thought he had seen it all like the sea of zombies back at the garage area, but...the zombies had won only by numbers, not strength. They were incomparable to the powerful Underground race!

The Underground race was charging towards them. Their distorted facial features made them look more like monsters than humans. Each and every one of them swung giant stone hammers as they ran at an astonishing speed, causing the cave to tremble with every step they took.

Right after Andy spotted the enemies, the rest of the squad followed.

Everyone shared a similar thought with Andy in the next two to three seconds, but only he was terrified. The others were also afraid, but they did not panic or had the urge to cry. They stood there blankly looking at their enemies. Their hands gripped their swords tightly despite their palms sweating.

This would be a life and death battle. If they were to die underground, it would be best for them to die in the name of protection and earn the final glory to their name.

Orston gripped his sword tighter as he thought of the scene back at the garage where they closed the door. The insult still haunted him until today. Even though it was in the past, he was still uneasy and afraid.

It was then that a loud splash was heard.

Tang Ling jumped out from the water. He was soaking as water dripped from all over his body, but he sounded calm as he said, “We will engage the enemies in 37 seconds. Don’t use the retraction to pull yourself back to the safety point. It’s not safe up there. Even if you get up to the wall, the enemies can ram it down in a minute if they concentrate.

“Get into the river. Wet yourself as soon as possible. After that, get back to the wall and be on standby at the four holes. Amir, Orston, you guys take the front left hole. Andy, Yu, the front right. Vian, take the back left, and Christina, the back right. I’ll be in the middle.”

“I will take command of the battle. Be quick, guys. Move out! All we can do is fight!”

Tang Ling spewed his commands in less than three seconds. The squad seized the time and wet themselves in the river which also somehow calmed them down a bit.

The guys thought of the moment when Tang Ling shouted at them to close the door in the garage area. The girls thought of the scene back on top of the garage roof where Tang Ling stood strong like a monolith with the sword in his hand. It was calming to them.

Why should they be scared? They still had Tang Ling!

******

“Yu, step back 4.3 meters.”

The stone hammer swung down and hit the spot where Yu was at, whipping a dust cloud upon impact.

Yu perfectly dodged the hammer strike. He retreated exactly 4.3 meters, allowing him to keep a safe distance from the hammer and avoid tangling the strings of the disk.

“Vian, up. Amir, back for a 30-second rest. Remember to stay within a meter with each other. Orston, ram to your left.

“Vian, bend over and attack the enemy’s right leg. Then, step back three meters. Orston, elbow the enemy on your right.”

It was an astounding display of perfect teamwork. The slightly exhausted Amir quickly retreated to catch his breath and Vian stepped up as ordered, taking Amir’s place to fight the enemies.

At the same time, Orston stepped forward and rammed over the enemy who tried to attack Tang Ling from the left. The enemy faltered backward from the blow, and Vian bent over, slicing the enemy’s right knee with her longsword perfectly.

Orston steadied his body right away and elbowed his right, pushing the enemy away from Vian.

“Andy, retract 5 meters and don’t stop. Charge towards the enemy’s right shoulder and cut it.

“Retract 5 meters.”

Andy was panicked at first, but with Tang Ling’s command, he was a different person. He pulled himself back by 5 meters to the wall. Without pause or looking, he jumped down and landed on an enemy’s shoulder, slashing it mercilessly.

“Christina, charge towards your upper right. Ram your target and then duck. Aim for the legs with your sword and then get back 5.1 meters.”

Christina jumped forward without a second thought after the command. With the momentum from the jump, she charged towards her upper right.

The enemy that Andy slashed on the right shoulder slanted towards the right after impact, providing sufficient space for Christina to ram through. The strong impact caught the enemy off guard, tipping it off balance. It faltered backwards and toppled over several more behind it.

Christine did not even look at the damage she inflicted. She ducked to the ground and swung her sword towards the enemy’s legs as Tang Ling ordered.

“Retreat 5.1 meters!” Christina shouted. The powerful drag force from the tactical movement disk pulled her to safety. Another enemy jumped towards her from her left and due to her immediate retreat, the enemy missed.

This was the pinnacle of the battle. As a group effort that worked together with one another to the limit, it was art. Only once, Tang Ling was able to perform such an artistic battle flawlessly, and now, with the addition of the tactical movement disk, the whole squad was able to move as he wished.

The three other squads that came over to help were overwhelmed. They failed to understand how the squad that occupied the last few spots on the ranking could fight so artistically.

The Fierce Dragon Squad held its line in between the two stone walls. The distance between the two stone walls was no longer than a hundred meters, meaning that there would be a limit to the enemies they faced. The enemies had large torso and arms, so they had to maintain a certain distance from one another to be able to effectively fight.

Given the advantage, the Fierce Dragon Squad used the high mobility of the tactical movement disk to further aid themselves as they held the defense line tightly. They would step back at times and move through the four holes that they opened in the wall to wet themselves at the river.

They did so to fight better so that they were no longer afraid of getting burned, at least, not before the water on them evaporated. The steaming hot Prosthetics of the Underground race could no longer burn holes in their uniform and their skin.

It gave them the courage to ram the Prosthetics with their bodies, and if they were not strong enough, they could utilize the mobility from the tactical movement disk to give themselves an extra boost.

The way the Fierce Dragon Squad fought inspired the other squads who came to help. They also knew how to wet themselves before the battle and utilize the disk to increase their mobility, but regardless of what they did, they were not as effective as the Fierce Dragon Squad.

Firstly, the Fierce Dragon Squad seemed to be rich in resources. Everyone was equipped with grade C alloy longswords, effectively inflicting damage on the enemies. They even had internal armor under their uniforms, granting them the ability to ram into the giant monsters.

Secondly, the whole squad was very powerful. Their strength and speed were above any other squad in the First Reserved Camp. Why was that? Were they really only New Moon Warriors?

Thirdly, there was Tang Ling. The other squads would never have such a guy on their squad. Despite Tang Ling being the last on the ranking, he possessed godlike command skills in battle and was not weak at all when engaging the enemies in a fight.

The perfect teamwork was made possible because of Tang Ling’s precise command. At least 90% of it was his credit. Tang Ling was seemingly the most powerful out of the whole squad as he single-handedly blocked half of the defense line. Who would be stronger, Hank or Tang Ling?

All the squads that came to assist inevitably watched the perfect scene. They would never expect that the grade C alloy longsword to also be part of Tang Ling’s wealth. They also never expected the whole Fierce Dragon Squad to be so strong this quickly because they did not know that after the Fierce Dragon Squad started their cultivation, they were fed with constant vicious beast meat soup and quality wood core.

The biggest mystery to them was Tang Ling’s true strength since they only know him as the Harsheen boar, the big glutton, and the last place on the ranking. Something was not right, but no one would ponder upon such trivial questions on the battlefield.

The pressure was huge.

The squads that came over to assist realized that the enemies were only targeting the Fierce Dragon Squad. The enemies treated the other squads like goons. If they could swat the squads like flies, they would and they continued forward to the Fierce Dragon Squad. None of them wanted to be tangled up with the insignificant squads.

Even so, the pressure remained huge. Somehow, even though the battle at the second passage was fierce, barely any enemies escaped.

On the other hand, the enemies from the first and third passages were relentless. The first defense line was on the losing side.

Fortunately, all the enemies seemed to have a common goal, which was the Fierce Dragon Squad. Each and every one of them charged towards the U-shaped defense point. The other First Reserved Camp New Moon Warriors could escape if they stayed away from the enemies. No enemies would even chase them down.

Why was this? No one seemed to get the answer! Nonetheless, with previous experience as reference, even if they were not the enemies’ target, the number of enemies would exhaust them to death.

To retreat or not? All the squads that came over to assist shared the same thought. There was no ground for them to retreat either.

Tang Ling slashed an enemy in front of him and kicked another one away. His breath was getting heavier and more violent. He was forced to shorten his words in order to save his breath. “Yu, back, 45.”

“Orston, up, ram, slash.”

Even with the shortened words, the efficiency remained.

The onslaught had been going on for a full 27 minutes. Everyone was getting better and better with their tacit teamwork coupled with Tang Ling’s precise orders. All they needed was a glance or a move. Tang Ling could even skip his command at times and the others would cover each other’s backs perfectly. All Tang Ling needed to do was tell them when and how far to retreat.

As the leader of the squad, Tang Ling performed outstandingly in commanding the squad. He had become the absolute heart of the Fierce Dragon Squad. With him around, this endless and despair fight seemed a little more hopeful.

No one would question how Tang Ling did it or what kind of ability he possessed. In order to protect Tang Ling, the Fierce Dragon Squad had formed a tacit agreement with one another.

So what if Tang Ling is the son of God? What does it matter? He is still the Tang Ling of the Fierce Dragon Squad!

Everyone was proud of him, except for Tang Ling himself. The anxiety in his heart remained unclear as a sense of sorrow started to spread.

No matter how tired his body was, how painfully his head swelled or how much blood was flowing from his nose, he could not stop the emotions within him.

No one knew better than him that the enemies were endless. There was no end to this. Even after 27 minutes of continuous battle and the Fierce Dragon Squad stopping more than a hundred enemies, killing a total of 21 Undergrounds with their Prosthetics on, the battle was not getting better.

All matters should be within a reasonable range, so there must be a reasonable range for the number of enemies too. According to Tang Ling’s calculation, there were probably around 200 enemies in the area. That was a reasonable range.

Why? There was a strong reason behind his calculation. The enemies felt pressured in the second passage and they had started to divert their forces there!

This was the reason!

If the enemies diverted their forces and there were around 80 to 100 enemies coming from the first passage, was it reasonable? It was.

If the enemies diverted their forces and there were around 50 to 60 enemies coming from the third passage, was it reasonable then? It was too.

Plus, with the 41 enemies that ambushed them in the cave, having 200 in the area was within a reasonable and acceptable range.

Unfortunately, 200 enemies would be a number that would crush the Fierce Dragon Squad! The Fierce Dragon Squad’s limit was at most 120 enemies. Everyone would reach their limit in another ten minutes.

Therefore, the battle was hopeless. The only hope would be the forceful end to the show before they were drowned by the numbers.

The Underground race was working with the Agnes family after all, and the Agnes family would not want to suffer that many losses in terms of warriors.

Tang Ling did not understand the underground civilization, but he theorized that the population would be their weakness. Otherwise, with what Safety Sector No.17 had, achieving a subtle balance was not possible.

Was it made possible just because the safety sector manage to defend all three tactical passages? No! The enemies were not pushing the three passages hard enough. Otherwise, all the warriors would be overrun.

So, kill he had to! The more enemies he killed, the quicker the hope would arrive, and it was the only way out of this desperate situation.

Tang Ling never doubted that Andrew and Aber knew what happened to the squad firsthand, regardless of the methods they used.

With that thought in mind, a vicious smile appeared on Tang Ling’s face as he slashed another enemy. He simply wiped the blood off his nose. Even if the steaming hope Prosthetic was touching him, burning his uniform and potentially his skin with astonishing temperature, he cared about nothing. He stabbed the Wolf Crunch into the eye of the ugly Underground creature that jumped out from the Prosthetic and twisted the dagger. He was like the God of Slaughter, his face covered in blood, but none of it mattered.

This whole scheme was a mind game. The only way Tang Ling had to break out from this was to kill.

How was the scheme a mind game? It was because the squads in Sector R would never expect an ambush from the enemy. The fierce battle that happened back on the surface would mislead them to think that Sector R was temporarily emptied out.

With such a biased thought in mind plus the intense battle in the second passage, it was normal for the squads not to search the area first.

If the vanguard troops did not face any hindrance when passing through Sector R, the other squads that arrived later would assume that the place was safe.

As for the First Reserved Camp? The places that the Purple Moon Warriors walked through were obviously safe. It had been many years, and people tended to have a natural reliance on the Purple Moon warriors. This was the scheme that played out like a mind game. Everything was connected closely just to cover up the ambush in Sector R.

If not for that heat generator, which was the only flaw, even Tang Ling might not have seen through this mind game. Why did the Purple Moon Warriors not destroy the heat generator on the way? It should have been a convenient task for them.

Of course, it would also make sense for the Purple Moon Warriors to not destroy it, but with that as the first suspicious point and when Tang Ling noticed the Prosthetics blinking because they were charging up their energy, he realized all the Prosthetics were lined up in a messy way.

Still, every single one of them charged towards the Fierce Dragon Squad’s defense point and surrounded them.

“Was it perfect? It is probably the most perfect plan! Why did Aber or Andrew look so highly of myself? Did they have to arrange 200 Undergrounds to drown me and potentially kill me? Did they notice anything?” Tang Ling chuckled because he actually failed to notice what caused all this to happen.

Was it his Precise Instinct or his little seed? Or was it him as someone who once lived in the settlement and had a deep hatred for the safety sector?

After combing through all the information, none of them were worthwhile for Aber to set up such a tightly connected scheme. The only answer would be Su Yao or something he had.

Tang Ling clenched his teeth as he had fallen into complete madness. He disregarded his life just so he could kill more enemies.

Should he summon his little seed? He asked himself countless times in the past 27 minutes, but the anxiety stopped him from doing so. He was not afraid of exposing himself in front of the other squads, but he believed he had to trust his feelings. That ominous night was the strongest lesson to him in his whole life.

156, 161...Tang Ling was counting the enemies that surrounded them.

27, 29...He was also counting how many enemies he had killed and when he would cross the Underground race’s bottom line.

Be it the 200 enemies or crossing the bottom line, as long as either one of the conditions was met, it would mean the ending of this farce of the century, would it not?

Tang Ling’s arm was burned, but he felt nothing. The vicious smile remained on his face as he stabbed the Wolf Crunch into the Underground race’s Prosthetics and plunged his arm into the body.

The process felt like a layer of skin on his arm being ripped away, but it did not matter. Tang Ling twisted his wrist, keeping the Wolf Crunch into his sleeve and widening his palm to grab the rat-like man inside the Prosthetic.

“Aaaaaaarh!” Tang Ling shouted. He ripped the rat-like man from the Prosthetic with brute force. The rat-like man was flung into the air as Tang Ling’s other hand curled into a fist and punched its head like a watermelon.

Had Tang Ling lost his mind? Everyone in the Fierce Dragon Squad started to worry.

It was quite the opposite as Tang Ling was calm. Before he punched the rat-like man’s head into bits, he was still giving commands to his friends as if he would never fall and could not feel exhaustion.

However, the scene was somewhat tear-jerking. What made Tang Ling...him? Was it the disgusting scheme of this battle?

Even Orston, the slowest of the group, spotted the problem. All the enemies attacked only them and even though everyone could not come up with an answer, they instinctively believed that Tang Ling knew the answer, hence it drove him mad.

Did Tang Ling really know about it? Of course. He even knew Aber would find a perfect excuse to explain this disgusting battle such as their defense point coincidentally holding some item of interest for the Underground race, hence luring them over. There might be a heat generator design blueprint buried in the ground somewhere around here.

It was a ridiculous thought, but he was in the correct direction. Still, none of it mattered anymore. The number of enemies surrounding them were almost 200.

As bait, he almost lured all the enemies to his position. So, the show must be nearing its end, or was it not?

Shouts and screams were also coming from the second passage as something was roaring. Further away, Andrew’s squad came into sight.

Tang Ling turned around to take a glance at his friends. Then, he turned back in a resolute manner. Time was running out, and his stalling tactic was nearing its end. Tang Ling believed he still could hold on, but the others, his friends, were hurt.

Why not spare them from suffering?