"Wait here for a moment and don't move," Zhong Yun cautioned Weiwei. Seeing her nod, he left with a measure of relief.

"Wait." Weiwei called him back, biting her lower lip. "You have to come back."

Zhong Yun gave her a reassuring smile, dipped his head, and vanished into the woods. Weiwei watched the direction he disappeared for a very long time.

After walking some distance and sensing he wasn't being followed, he donned his Cloak of Invisibility, his form instantly dissolving into the air. It wasn't a matter of not trusting Weiwei; it was simply a long-ingrained instinct for self-preservation. He wouldn't reveal his secrets easily, not even to his parents.

It had nothing to do with trust.

By this time, the battle was escalating fiercely. About thirty mechs from the rioters' side had joined the fray, immediately turning the tide. The small-scale mechs of the Keton Family were utterly defenseless against these true killing machines, being swept away with destructive ease.

After annihilating the toy-like mechs, the thirty mechs remained unsatisfied. Braving a hail of fire, they charged toward the perimeter wall. The Keton Family's particle guns lacked sufficient energy; the blasts struck the mechs' hardened metal surfaces with dull thuds before deflecting away.

A distance of dozens of meters was only a few steps for the towering mechs. The thirty machines rapidly closed in on the wall, their massive mechanical feet kicking against it, producing a grating, bone-jarring impact. The dozens of mechanical feet simultaneously elicited a sound of unbearable strain from the wall, causing it to shudder a few times.

Over ten meters high and weighing several dozen tons, these metal behemoths possessed astonishing strength, especially thirty of them. No matter how solid the wall was, under the assault of thirty giants, it began to totter precariously.

With a deafening CRASH, a corner of the wall finally collapsed. The mechs surged through the breach.

Hiding nearby, Zhong Yun found it strange. They could have flown directly over the wall. Why choose the long way around, destroying the structure before entering?

Could it be... He glanced up at the airspace just above the wall. Was something peculiar there? The last time he snuck in that way, everything had been normal, and he hadn't taken fire.

He quickly dismissed his confusion. The Keton Family was finally launching a counterattack.

After the thirty mechs breached the wall, they truly behaved like tigers among sheep. The Keton Family gunners hiding behind the wall suffered devastating casualties. Just then, the ground in the open area before the base began to writhe.

Through the gap created by the ruined wall, Zhong Yun clearly saw rows of dark, menacing cannon muzzles emerging from the earth. A faint, eerie blue light began to gather within the muzzles.

Immediately following this, countless blue beams shot skyward, resembling the brilliant fireworks of a festival. The density was staggering—there must have been over a thousand streaks. Even in daylight, the eerie blue glow was intensely dazzling in the air.

"Rumble..." Then came a series of rapid explosions. One followed another. Zhong Yun watched firsthand as the thirty mechs dissolved into roaring fireballs. The concussive sound rattled his ears, leaving him somewhat shaken.

In the vastness of space, mechs seemed insignificant, like a drop of water in the ocean; even when destroyed, they were but a small ripple, incapable of causing a significant wave.

But in the localized wars on a planet, mechs truly lived up to their title as the kings of combat. Their destructive power was immense, often the deciding factor in victory or defeat.

Although the rioters had lost thirty mechs due to the Keton Family's mutually destructive tactics, the remaining seventy mechs could still scour the base clean.

Unless the Keton Family still held other trump cards.

Zhong Yun felt the situation was perilous. In destroying those thirty mechs, the Keton Family had also paid a huge price; at least two hundred gunners had been vaporized by those cannons.

If the Keton Family wasn't driven to absolute desperation, why resort to such a brutal method of eliminating the enemy?

He needed to find an opportunity to slip inside quickly. If the rioters gained control of the base, getting in later would be far more difficult. However, the open ground surrounding the base was densely packed with cannon emplacements. He couldn't advance. Zhong Yun waited patiently, awaiting the perfect moment.

The destruction of thirty mechs hadn't caused panic among the rioters. Zhong Yun felt this keenly. He recalled the frantic, death-defying manner in which they had charged when he swept the crowds with his rapid-fire gun—like a pack of cold-blooded creatures utterly devoid of fear.

The aerial mechs dispersed, and their built-in weaponry unleashed its might. Beams of multi-colored light scoured the open area before the base with a density matching that of the Keton Family's earlier barrage.

Zhong Yun lay prone on the ground, feeling the constant earth tremor, as if riding a bus on a rugged mountain road, his body incessantly swaying. The continuous, deafening roar of the explosions seemed endless. Occasionally, chunks of dirt and metal fragments rained down around him like a shower. Several long objects, resembling cannon barrels, crashed less than a meter from him, splashing mud across his face.

After an unknown period, the bombardment finally ceased. A cloud of dust billowed up, creating a yellow fog that obscured the surroundings.

Zhong Yun was nearly buried under the earth. Fortunately, no large stones or pieces of metal had struck him, or his invisibility might have been compromised.

He cautiously lifted his head. The visor of his protective suit possessed X-ray capabilities. Despite the dust blocking direct sight, he could still make out the situation at the base.

The external walls of the entire base were largely intact. To withstand such an intense barrage without destruction spoke volumes of its formidable defenses.

The open area inside the perimeter was less fortunate. The ground was riddled with craters, some still showing bits of metallic debris within. The only part inside the wall that remained undamaged was the main entrance at the very center. The ground within half a meter of the gate remained pristine, a stark contrast to the crater-pocked earth outside.

A realization dawned on Zhong Yun: these people shared his objective—they were after whatever was underground in this facility.

Then, a question resurfaced: Who exactly were these people? What was their goal in initiating this unrest? Was their strength truly sufficient to challenge the military forces of a civilization at the third stage of an intermediate civilization?

By orchestrating such widespread riots across the planet, they must aim to seize control of the planet's government. But was that feasible? Without strong backing from a major power, even gaining temporary control would ultimately lead to failure.

Setting aside other planets belonging to King Mings, if the forces stationed at the space jump points outside the planet hadn't defected, dealing with these rioters would be a matter of minutes.

Would those forces defect? Zhong Yun found that unlikely. Given the rioters' methods, anyone with a modicum of sense wouldn't bet on them. The officers stationed near the space jump points had bright futures; only someone utterly insane would indulge in the antics of a rebellion destined to fail.

From every angle, the mastermind behind this revolt seemed to be a hostile nation, seeking to destabilize the Mings Kingdom.

Zhong Yun surmised that, unless something unexpected occurred, the forces sent to suppress the rebellion would arrive soon, and the rioters' doom would be sealed. No matter how fierce these rebels were, they were just a disorganized mob without professional military training; they stood no chance against an organized army.

Everything done must have a motive. What troubled him was why these people would exert such massive effort for a riot clearly destined to fail.

Another burst of explosions interrupted his thoughts. He looked up; the omnipresent "yellow mist" was gradually dissipating. The surroundings became clearer. Near the base entrance, a dozen cannon muzzles, significantly larger than the previous ones, were firing at the mechs in the sky.

These cannons were powerful. Each hit inflicted damage on the mechs, and their rate of fire was astonishing—nearly thirty shots per minute, comparable to some large-caliber particle guns. Zhong Yun felt a touch of awe; the technology of the Mings Kingdom was indeed somewhat superior.

The mechs returned fire, but they were constrained, hesitant to deploy their heavy-caliber weapons. Temporarily, they were at a disadvantage.

On the ground, some rioters began their assault. They swarmed the breach in the wall and poured into the base. At that moment, the main gate of the base suddenly opened, and several armored vehicles rolled out, opening fire on the advancing enemies.

The battle raged. Zhong Yun silently approached the base, maneuvering to the rear of the conflict zone where neither side engaged in the fight could spot him. He activated his small cutter and bored a hole beneath the wall, slipping into the base unnoticed, then skillfully plugging the opening, leaving no surface evidence of a breach.

He then strode confidently toward the main gate, concealed by his Cloak of Invisibility. No one noticed him.

Cannon fire crisscrossed in front of the gate. Zhong Yun heightened his sensory perception to the maximum; those light beams were no joke—a direct hit would likely be fatal or severely incapacitating.

The base gate stood wide open, blocked by several armored vehicles, with people constantly moving in and out. The gate's alarm system must have been deactivated. This was the optimal moment to enter. The only viable path was over the top of the gate. The armored vehicles nearly sealed the entire entrance, leaving only a narrow gap just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

Yet, he dared not act rashly. The area was saturated with fire, and he wasn't certain he could fly through without being struck by a stray beam.

Zhong Yun, lying in wait, finally found a window. In a brief lull in the bombardment, he launched himself into the air, darted through the gap between the light beams, and slipped directly over the armored vehicles into the facility.

Before he could celebrate entering the gate, an irresistible, massive force slammed into him from behind, throwing him off balance. He tumbled several times before finally coming to rest.

He quickly checked his body—unharmed. A wave of relief washed over him. Looking down, he saw a man staring up at him with wide, dead-fish eyes, an expression of utter disbelief on his face.

Zhong Yun instinctively touched his head; his hat had fallen off. He quickly replaced it. Watching the man's shocked, then bewildered eyes gradually fade, he whispered internally, Thanks, buddy.

He stood up, oriented himself. He was in a large hall, littered with bodies. Like him, they had been thrown by the shockwave of the recent impact. Several doors led off the hall, some ajar, others closed.

Just as he was about to move toward a door, a sudden impulse made him turn back. He began searching the body of the man beneath him.

"Buddy, since you're already doing me this huge favor, see it through to the end," he muttered under his breath while his hands efficiently searched the corpse's waist, retrieving a small electronic card. Aside from that, there was nothing else of note. Waving a hand dismissively toward the corpse, he rushed toward the innermost open door.

Behind the door was an elevator. Four people were inside. Zhong Yun moved to a corner, scanning his surroundings. He needed a layout map of the base.

The occupants of the elevator remained silent. They appeared to be medical staff, judging by their attire—robots, actually. Zhong Yun scrutinized their expressions: solemn, tinged with sorrow, but lacking any hint of dejection or despair.

Soon, a group of people pushing stretchers flooded in from outside the base, crowding the elevator. The previously spacious car instantly became packed. Most of the new arrivals were wounded, and the thick stench of blood permeated the confined space.

Zhong Yun's gaze swept across the crowd, finally settling on a middle-aged man surrounded by numerous medical personnel. He lay on a gurney, eyes tightly shut, his face ashen, breathing shallow and faint. It was clear he was near death. Not only were many medics tending to him, but even in the cramped elevator, everyone instinctively gave him space, indicating his high status.

The elevator moved.

After about a minute, the elevator stopped, and a group of people were taken out. Seeing that the gravely wounded man remained, Zhong Yun stayed put.

The elevator continued downward. The medical staff tirelessly administered emergency care to the man. There was a large wound on his left chest, apparently from some sort of projectile, which had bled profusely. After the efforts of the medics, the bleeding finally stopped, but his breathing remained shallow. By instinct, the man possessed remarkable vitality, perhaps not inferior to a young Su [a placeholder for a proper name or term not to be translated], suggesting a chance of survival.

The elevator finally stopped again. The medical staff quickly wheeled the middle-aged man out. Zhong Yun quietly followed them, staying vigilant.

It was a wide corridor, its walls entirely metal, reflecting a cold, eerie glow. The footsteps of the leading medics were clearly audible ahead.

After about three minutes, Zhong Yun activated his detector, and a topographical map of the underground facility appeared. When he entered the elevator, he had placed a decoder near the smart recognition system at the door, allowing him to hack into parts of the base's core programming.

He cross-referenced his current location and found himself deep within the base. The direction the medical team was heading was precisely toward the facility's deepest point. He hastened his pace to follow.

P: I suddenly received notice of a business trip, which has sent me into a frenzy. I was supposed to be gone for two days, but an issue delayed me another day. I've only just returned home today. I have nothing more to say, I've let you down. Still, I managed to write four thousand words. Get a good rest tonight, and I'll try to write more tomorrow to make up for it. (To be continued. For future developments, please log onto .**.m for more chapters.)