Chu Xuan’s preceding words had cast an ill omen upon Zheng Zha. To be precise, Chu Xuan was unnervingly astute, almost bordering on demonic intelligence, and his nature precluded superfluous actions or utterances. If his words held a deeper meaning, it meant he was orchestrating a new maneuver, and the target of this scheme was Zheng Zha himself.

(No matter how I think about it, I worry. If Xiao Honglu were here, he could at least analyze exactly what Chu Xuan is planning… How are things going on Xiao Honglu’s end? Can the three of them really lure away the bulk of the Decepticon robots safely? And what will be the outcome of Xiao Honglu’s own arrangements? Is Chu Xuan truly oblivious to all this?) Zheng Zha racked his brain until it felt like a ball of sticky paste. Resigned, he ceased his frantic thinking and focused instead on the spectacle before him… the detonation of nuclear weapons, specifically, the most powerful kind: hydrogen bombs.

This truly could be considered a unique sight.

Within the span of one hour, two more Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles slammed into the ruins of St. Louis. Due to the immense mushroom clouds rising into the sky, coupled with the blinding flash of light and the shockwaves, this area had temporarily transformed into a searing, incandescent hell, rivaling the brilliance of the sun. It was utterly impossible to see the metallic base beneath the firelight. However, the destructive force of these three hydrogen bombs was immense. Where Zheng Zha and the others stood, a hurricane had already begun to rage, turning small pebbles into projectiles with the force of bullets. Consequently, everyone was forced to take shelter on the leeward side, waiting for the tempest to subside.

As time slowly wore on, the hurricane weakened significantly, yet the gusts blowing across them still carried a scorching heat. When even this residual warmth began to dissipate,

Suddenly, Zhan Lan whispered, "Something's not right, Zheng Zha. There are many American soldiers advancing from the west. And a massive column of tanks is also moving toward the epicenter of the nuclear blasts. Were these troops gathered west of the city all along?" "Troops?" Zheng Zha blinked, casting a confused look at Chu Xuan. "This isn't one of your setups, is it? Sending the army to attack the metal base immediately after a nuclear strike? Whether they secure the AllSpark or not, this is a massive advantage for us. If they get the AllSpark, snatching it from the military won't take much effort. Even if they fail, tying up a large number of Decepticons would be a huge help to us."

Chu Xuan shook his head. "Firstly, this is not my setup. Secondly, with the strength of this army contingent, a mere thousand regular robots would be enough to wipe them out completely. They cannot inflict the large-scale casualties you might imagine, so..." "So?" At this moment, on the other side of St. Louis, Xiao Honglu and his group were hidden in the shadows, watching the American forces advance continuously. Rows of soldiers clad in biohazard suits sprinted forward, accompanied by numerous tanks. Furthermore, there were endless military trucks, motorcycles, and armored vehicles. Although the US military had suffered heavy losses in its armored divisions during the previous cataclysm, a starving camel is still larger than a horse; some older, stockpiled armored vehicles could still be mobilized to arm several units.

"...Although they look formidable—at least, having hundreds of thousands of troops besieging one area creates an unparalleled display of force—but the power of their weaponry... and they lack air support. These hundreds of thousands might only manage to distract a large number of robots; eliminating a significant portion of them seems impossible," Xiao Honglu admitted with a troubled expression.

Bawang nodded in agreement. "The US military's quality is certainly not insignificant, but that was based on their high level of military training and world-class equipment. Now that their gear has deteriorated to this state, their combat effectiveness must be heavily impacted. Moreover, facing robots, a human wave tactic is utterly useless."

Xiao Honglu conceded. "Indeed. Relying on these US troops might not be safe at all... The three of us should follow them closely and enter as well. While they are embroiled in heavy combat with the robots, we can lure away even more machines from the metal base..." With that, he stood up, intending to leave their concealed position.

Suddenly, Zhao Yingkong grabbed Xiao Honglu’s arm. "No. We cannot leave this spot until every single US soldier has entered the metal base..." Xiao Honglu was momentarily stunned. "Oh? Why not? Can't we sneak in right behind them?" "Chu Xuan told me when he handed over the disc," Zhao Yingkong stated calmly. "If you take the disc and devise a plan to draw the US army into the metal base, then you must be prevented from following them in, unless all those US soldiers have entered first—only then are you exempt from obstruction."

Xiao Honglu was genuinely dumbfounded. He asked stupidly, "Y-why didn't you tell me what Chu Xuan said beforehand?" Zhao Yingkong glanced at him and replied, "I didn't tell Chu Xuan about your intentions either. We agreed to remain neutral."

Xiao Honglu, however, had no time to pay heed to the girl’s words. He crouched down, constantly raking his fingers through his hair, desperately trying to puzzle things out.

(So, he suspected from the very beginning that I would scheme against the US army? How could he be so confident? Setting that aside for a moment, why would he instruct Zhao Yingkong to stop me from tailing the army? If I were him, knowing full well that someone intended to manipulate the US army into attacking the metal base, and seeing that three hydrogen bombs had already detonated beforehand... The metal base, excluding the most central and powerful robots, must have suffered catastrophic damage under these conditions... The only thing I would possibly do is...) The moment this thought crystallized, Xiao Honglu’s expression shifted dramatically.

He jerked his head up to stare at the sky. Though it was empty, he frantically scanned his surroundings. After a long pause, he slumped back onto the ground and sighed. "Alas, though it hasn't happened yet, I suspect that the final attack will arrive the moment all the US troops reach that metal base... Damn it! I ended up being the one who helped him complete this last step, instantly burying hundreds of thousands of people. Doesn't he even feel the bloodstain on his hands?"

Bawang and Zhao Yingkong exchanged bewildered looks. Bawang asked curiously, "What exactly happened? Wasn't your plan quite good? Manipulating so many US troops to come here—even if their combat effectiveness has severely diminished, they should still be able to delay a large number of robots. Was there a flaw in the plan?"

Xiao Honglu replied with a tone of deep discouragement, "The biggest flaw is that the US military's strength is too low. They can delay the robots, perhaps, but eliminating a vast number is absolutely impossible, and the delay time is severely limited. If even the slightest unexpected event occurs, Zheng Zha’s raiding party could be caught in a pincer attack. This absolutely cannot be allowed to happen... Actually, this is a conjecture shared by both Chu Xuan and me. The Decepticon robots must possess shield technology. Could a hydrogen bomb shatter that shield? Even if it blasts through the outermost metal base, what about the central defense system? Nuclear weapons are potent, but humanity has underground fortifications to defend against them, let alone an alien machine race with technology superior to ours... To inflict massive damage on the robots, there is only one method that can fully achieve it... That is, when the robots deploy their defense systems and swarm out, during the chaotic entanglement with the human army..." BOOM!

Hearing this, Bawang and Zhao Yingkong’s faces changed drastically. Even the usually impassive Zhao Yingkong looked astonished. But after a moment's thought, they conceded that this certainly sounded like Chu Xuan’s method—ruthless to the extreme, a strategy only someone like him could devise.

As if to confirm Xiao Honglu's words, once the American forces had completely entered the ruins of St. Louis, the trio could already hear the sequential sounds of explosions emanating from the city center. The fighting intensified. After this engagement had been going on for barely ten minutes, a missile streaked in from the horizon once more—an intercontinental missile. This missile flew directly across the sky, diving toward the absolute center of the battlefield. The entire process took only a few minutes. This one differed from the previous three hydrogen bombs; it did not detonate high in the city atmosphere. Instead, this hydrogen bomb burrowed deep into the earth at the heart of the combat zone, and then, just as Xiao Honglu predicted, came a tremendous roar...

"That is essentially the situation. This hydrogen bomb detonated underground, primarily intended to destroy extremely robust permanent or semi-permanent military installations. The robot strength should now be diminished enough for us to withstand. We rest for three hours; once the temperature cools, we can attack."

Chu Xuan gazed at the dust plume soaring hundreds of meters into the air, muttering to himself, utterly unconcerned by Zheng Zha's murderous glare or the stunned expressions of the other team members. In that instant, hundreds of thousands of US soldiers were reduced to ash...

"To survive... must one dirty one's hands?" Zheng Zha had once asked himself. His answer was that he could dirty his hands, but not his soul. "Then, to survive... must one taint one's heart?" If one resorts to any means necessary just to live, is that person still oneself? Like abandoning comrades, surviving by stepping on others' bones, or perhaps like the 'farmed' rookies in the Reincarnation Squads, mercilessly exploiting newcomers to gain sufficient Reward Points and Sub-plots to fuel their own advancement—acquiring powerful weaponry, advanced skills purchasable from the 'God,' or constantly enhancing physical attributes. People like that... are they still him? Therefore, even for the sake of survival, one cannot corrupt the heart, because if the heart is utterly lost, what difference is there between that person and the dead?

But... for the sake of the people beside him, for them, could his heart be stained? Zheng Zha was initially furious, wanting nothing more than to beat Chu Xuan half to death. Under normal circumstances, it might be understandable—scheming, war inevitably involves death. But the thought that these hundreds of thousands of lives were used as bait and incinerated because of a small tactical ploy filled Zheng Zha with an indescribable gloom and guilt. It was a feeling hard to articulate.

Yet, Zheng Zha halted any useless actions, such as beating the pain-insensitive Chu Xuan, which would accomplish nothing. It was better to calm himself down and carefully consider the next steps. In truth, since entering this Reincarnation World, his hands had rarely been clean of blood. For the sake of missions, for survival, like slaughtering the accompanying soldiers in Starship Troopers. But at that time, he justified it by saying those soldiers would die on Klendathu anyway; it was better they died silently by his hand than by insects. Now, however, there was no excuse for a quiet end; the accountability fell squarely on his conscience...

"...What is done cannot be undone. Fundamentally, it is because my strength is insufficient. If I were strong enough to completely disregard the sheer number of robots, then you wouldn't need to engineer this scenario, using hundreds of thousands of US soldiers as bait... I still cannot approve of your methods, but I will fulfill my duty as captain: protect the team members and lead them... and ensure we all survive together." Zheng Zha spoke, his tone tinged with bitterness but firm.

Chu Xuan nodded silently, watching the dust plume in the distance. After a long while, he remarked, "It should take about another half hour before we can enter."

"...Though what has happened cannot be reversed, I have my personal principles... If next time involves implicating so many innocent lives, I will still stop you," Zheng Zha continued, then he too stood up and gazed into the distance.

America was finished... Despite the gnawing guilt over implicating hundreds of thousands of innocents, Zheng Zha knew that with Chu Xuan's maneuver, America truly was doomed.

"After the robot apocalypse, Earth's civilization might regress by a century. But for certain nations and peoples, this might be a good thing. When everyone starts from the same baseline, aware of each other's existence and the shame felt when they were weak, then the contest of which nation will triumph, which ethnicity will stand supreme, will depend entirely on diligence and courage," Zhan Lan whispered from behind Zheng Zha. It seemed that after Zheng Zha had taken the initiative to speak with her earlier, the girl had recovered some of her former spirit, though her manner remained somewhat cool.

Zheng Zha nodded. He gauged the time, then stood and addressed the others. "We will now proceed to assault the interior of the metal base. The current situation is extremely low visibility around the base, so Zhan Lan will use psychic scanning to transmit information to our respective minds. Zero Point must secure a high vantage point immediately upon entering the outer perimeter of the base and utilize the Mind Link to snipe mercilessly—any robot that survives and dares to show its head must be eliminated. Zhang Heng, you are responsible for protecting Zero Point; your archery skills will be hampered in tight spaces. Additionally, Qi Tengyi, Zhan Lan, Chu Xuan, and Cheng Xiao, the four of you should remain here. I, Wang Xia, and Luo Gandao—we three will conduct the main assault. The key to this operation is not massive robot annihilation, but relentless forward progress. We must secure the AllSpark, no matter what."

Chu Xuan abruptly interrupted Zheng Zha. "I will accompany you into the base as well. Having gained a small breakthrough in the power of belief and the use of λDrive, my combat strength should not be significantly inferior to yours..." Zheng Zha looked at Chu Xuan with surprise. Although he generally disapproved of non-combat personnel or those less skilled in fighting joining the direct fray, since Chu Xuan made this declaration, he must possess confidence in his own capabilities. The power of the λDrive was indeed formidable; even that single test shot in the 'God' space had left a deep impression on everyone. Thus, Zheng Zha did not stop Chu Xuan this time but nodded, taking the lead as he walked toward the nuclear blast epicenter.

Because the dust from the explosion was lofted hundreds or even thousands of meters into the sky, visibility had dropped to within a few dozen meters by the time the group entered the blast zone. As the radioactive fallout continued to settle, visibility decreased even further, until finally, everyone could only make out objects within ten meters; anything beyond that was a hazy gray expanse. However, having a psychic controller in the team meant this foggy condition would not pose a major hindrance. As the group pressed forward, large quantities of scrap metal began to appear on the ground, vaguely retaining the shape of their original forms—mostly detached robot limbs or torsos; there wasn't a single intact unit.

Advancing further, the ground seemed to have been smoothed over. Apart from traces of fracturing, neither the original ruined structures nor the metal construction of the base remained. The ground exhibited a reflective, glazed color—a result of instantaneous high temperatures vitrifying the earth. Even after cooling for so long, the surface still felt somewhat warm.

"We're here."

Through the psychic scan, they could see a massive depression stretching several thousand meters in radius and nearly a thousand meters deep. What was astonishing was that even deep underground, the faint, translucent special glow of a protective shield was still visible. This sight further confirmed Chu Xuan's earlier deduction: the robots did possess shield technology. Relying only on the hydrogen bombs might not have been enough to damage the base's interior, let alone their countless robot armies.

"Then... let's go!" What is done is done; what has passed cannot be recovered. Those hundreds of thousands of American soldiers had been vaporized by the hydrogen bombs, but their sacrifice had indeed pulverized the outer and middle layers of the entire metal base, leaving only the innermost core a thousand meters beneath the surface. Dwelling on their deaths and succumbing to guilt now would be overly sentimental. Thus, Zheng Zha did not mention the US soldiers again. He merely instructed Zero Point and the others to secure their sniping positions, reminded Zhan Lan about the psychic scanning procedures, and then, riding the Green Goblin Glider, he plunged downward with the group.

"Fight! Damn it, I'm boiling inside! I need a real fight!" Although Zheng Zha refused to speak of the American soldiers, his heart was undeniably restless, an angry fire brewing, demanding a battle where he could perhaps slay hundreds or thousands of Decepticons to feel satisfied. Especially once he drew the Tiger Soul Blade, the baleful energy of the White Tiger, combined with the internal fury, intensified his killing intent. Using the magic of the One Ring, his inner force condensed into True Essence energy to envelop the Tiger Soul Blade, slightly tempering the bloodlust. But at this moment, Zheng Zha was consumed by boundless killing intent and placed no restraint on the White Tiger's malevolent aura. When the Green Goblin Glider descended over a thousand meters, about twenty meters short of the translucent shield, Zheng Zha roared, abandoned the Glider, and leaped, bringing the blade down upon the shield. Vaguely, the image of a White Tiger materialized around his body, accompanied by a spectral roar, as a single strike cleaved straight through the translucent barrier.

The Green Goblin Glider followed its trajectory through the shield. Then, the other three heard Zheng Zha's fierce shout: "Damn it, all out! Chu Xuan, put away the Glider! Wang Xia, set up plasma bombs everywhere! Luo Gandao, unleash maximum destruction! Let's annihilate this robot base completely!"