The tremor encompassed the entirety of Huawang City and beyond. Everyone within a hundred-kilometer radius could feel the earth shaking. The closer one got to the northern suburbs' wilderness, the more intense the sensation became.

From the air, Yang Ying could clearly observe twelve mounds erupting from the ground, followed immediately by their explosive breach!

Twelve distinct ripples appeared in the air. A violent shockwave radiated outwards, hurling billions of tons of soil skyward, instantly altering the heavens and earth. A world-shattering roar deafened the ears, and a fierce light emanated from beneath the ground, as if numerous small suns had been buried below, radiating intense heat wantonly into the surroundings, engulfing the wilderness in a sea of fire. As the brilliance gradually faded, all that remained was dust blotting out the sky, creating a curtain of grey so thick one could not see one's hand before one's face, with plumes of thick smoke rising like mushroom caps.

The surrounding environment had completely transformed into an apocalyptic scene. Gazing at the shattered earth before him, Yang Ying thought, "Only a nuclear detonation could create such a heaven-and-earth-shattering spectacle. I wonder what it looks like when the Cycro people fire their star-annihilating cannon; perhaps it's exponentially more shocking."

This time, Yang Ying had only employed low-yield tactical nuclear warheads; their effective range was limited, and all the destruction was concentrated in the northern wilderness. Huawang City, standing close by, only felt a faint tremor and a minor shockwave—nothing more, resulting in no casualties.

Furthermore, these hydrogen bombs were detonated by lasers, meaning they produced virtually no harmful radiation. They were considered "clean" nuclear weapons, allowing Yang Ying to use them without much hesitation.

Twelve large craters, forty to fifty meters deep, now scarred the wilderness. Thick smoke billowed out of them, but Yang Ying’s sharp eyes pierced through the haze, vaguely discerning the outlines of underground bunkers at the bottom of the pits.

The kill zones for the nuclear warheads had been calculated precisely beforehand to ensure they would not affect the advancing robot forces. As the billowing dust began to settle slightly, Yang Ying commanded the robots to continue their advance.

The robots had briefly reformed their ranks during the explosions. Upon receiving Yang Ying's order, they moved forward in synchronized steps. The previous tremors had triggered some landmines while disabling others, significantly increasing the robots' safety margin; the frequency of stepping on mines was reduced to about one-fifth of what it was before the nuclear blasts.

The robots advanced towards the scorched earth, stepping over it without hesitation amidst sporadic explosions. Yang Ying’s main force followed behind them, the vanguard positioned about a kilometer back.

The unexploded, highly intelligent landmines had previously caused significant trouble for the main force. These mines had initially deemed the robot cannon fodder unworthy of detonation, letting them pass. Now, spotting Yang Ying’s main force, they considered them worthy targets and advanced relentlessly against them.

The destructive power of these mines was extraordinary; otherwise, they wouldn't have been endowed with such high intelligence. Upon detonation, they erupted into a ball of green fire covering a radius of one hundred meters, reaching temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees. This heat could melt the armor of siege tanks; infantry, with their lower defenses, were doomed the moment the green fire engulfed them—ten deaths for every one involved.

The main force had been extremely cautious during their march, but with so many personnel, accidents were inevitable. One such mine still exploded within the vanguard, destroying a formation of tanks. Fortunately, the crew members were saved by emergency life support systems, sustaining only injuries of varying severity before being transported to medical transports in the rear for treatment.

Those following behind proceeded with even greater care. Observers increased their scanning precision to the maximum, striving to detect mines in advance so that the Marines could eliminate them with Gauss rifles, either destroying them outright or triggering premature detonations. The private army of the major capitalists still had not counterattacked at all, allowing the robot units to approach the twelve craters unimpeded.

Beep-beep...

A sound came from the aircraft communicator. Yang Ying accepted the connection, and a holographic screen automatically activated, displaying Howard's image.

"Sir, it seems they don't intend to come out."

"They have no choice, do they? Their soldiers have suffered heavy losses. They have neither air superiority nor space superiority. What recourse do they have other than hiding?"

Howard chuckled, "The main body of the underground fortress has already been crippled by us. They won't cause much more trouble. I believe you’ll resolve this quickly, Sir. Also, Master Cinidy sent a communication to this vessel earlier, hoping to speak with you. However, upon learning we were in the midst of combat, she withdrew, saying she would request contact after the battle concludes."

"Did you ask her what it was about?"

"She said she wishes to meet with you in person."

"I understand."

Yang Ying closed the communication. He surmised that Cinidy’s purpose was most likely related to the newly arrived shipment. He would need to contact her after the battle to learn the specifics.

By the time the robots reached the crater zone, much of the dense smoke had dissipated. Yang Ying divided the robots into twelve squads, sending each into one of the twelve large pits. Since the nuclear explosions had obliterated all defensive measures, the robots breached the underground fortress with little effort.

The images relayed from the robots showed visibility inside the fortress remained poor. Everywhere visible was silent, with lingering pockets of fire. Many walls were collapsed, and structures were fragmented. Near the epicenter of the blast, the area was utterly blank—not a single figure, not even a corpse remained; they had been instantly vaporized into the air by the super-high temperatures. However, in areas slightly further out, many bodies were strewn about at odd angles.

The underground fortress consisted of multiple levels. Some were breached by the nuclear explosion, while others were buried. Yang Ying transmitted the latest perspective scan data from the Observers into the robots' database. The map highlighted detected life signs. Yang Ying directed the robots to locate these signs, authorizing them to eliminate any hostiles if they attempted to attack.

Most of the private army's robots had been destroyed in the nuclear blasts, and the remainder had entered a shutdown state after the control core located within the underground fortress was destroyed.

The surviving private soldiers were mostly hidden in bomb shelters; the thick walls had shielded them from the nuclear crisis. Once the external shaking stopped, they began to emerge from the shelters in succession. A small contingent was sent out first to reconnoiter, followed by organized platoons charging out. Seeing the utterly devastated state of the underground fortress elicited varied reactions on their faces.

Soon, the robots found them. Some immediately surrendered. The power of the nuclear weapons had left a profound impression; knowing the enemy possessed and was willing to use weapons of mass destruction against them caused their morale to plummet drastically, leaving them with little will to resist.

Of course, some resisted fiercely for various reasons—honor, revenge, rage, and so on. They rearmed themselves with whatever light or heavy weaponry they could find and engaged the robots in fierce combat.

Roughly half of these individuals were suppressed quickly, but the remainder occupied defensible terrain, making it difficult for the robots to defeat them in a short time. This was when Yang Ying’s main force was needed. The Marines used their high-penetration Gauss weapons to blast through thick walls, riddling the private soldiers hiding behind them with holes. Flamethrower units incinerated those hiding in rooms, turning them to charcoal, while Ghost operatives silently closed in on the enemy, harvesting lives with a single dagger.

After several hours of intense gunfire, the remaining private forces dwindled, consolidating into a few heavily fortified, difficult-to-assault strongholds for their final stand.

Yang Ying continued to patrol the skies with his Ghost fighter squadron but dispatched twelve avatars to descend into the twelve pits to oversee the mopping-up operation against the remaining private soldiers.

In the ruins of one underground bunker, Blade walked across the rubble-strewn corridor, gripping his lightsaber in one hand, followed by a mixed unit of massive robots and breach vehicles, arriving at the last holdout of the private army remnants within that bunker.

Within the friendly lines, Blade found the highest-ranking commander here, a Marine Colonel, and asked, "What's the situation?"

One hundred meters ahead of the main defense line, a colored barrier floated, resembling a thin film—immaterial yet incredibly tough. This barrier encased a three-story building, from every window of which protruded a weapon—be it a drilling gun, a plasma cannon, or a neutron beam rifle—all firing towards the defense line.

At the very front of the defense line, over twenty massive robots were counterattacking at maximum power, launching Gauss cannon shells. However, when these shells struck the thin barrier, they only produced ripples before instantly losing momentum, as if all kinetic energy had been absorbed by the film, causing the projectiles to fall harmlessly.

The robots' Uranium Beam weapons yielded the same result: only ripples on the film, after which the beams seemed to vanish into thin air, their energy expended.

According to the Marine Colonel, he had tested every type of weapon—Gauss, Uranium Beam, explosives—and none could penetrate the barrier. Yet, the enemy's fire easily passed through to their position, resulting in a stalemate.

"I see. Allow me to handle this."

After understanding the situation, Blade ordered the massive robots in front to fall back. He first tested the barrier with his mental energy, finding that it blocked psychic attacks as well. He mused, "If mental energy can't pass through, then a Psychic Storm won't work either. I’ll have to use the lightsaber." With a flash, he appeared before the barrier and thrust his sword into it.

The moment the pure energy blade pierced the barrier, the entire structure began to boil, like sizzling metal plunged into cold water. The intersection of the blade and the barrier emitted bright flashes and crackling sounds.

The private soldiers inside the building recognized that a master had arrived, roaring and pouring all their firepower onto Blade.

"Open up!" Blade gave a sharp flick of his blade and pressed further in. Body and sword merged as he surged towards the barrier. The blade cut a slit, which immediately began to mend, but Blade exploited that brief window and burst through.

He then flashed again, leaving the private army's beams and plasma shots behind him, and with a single stride, he was inside the building. The soldiers outside the perimeter only saw flashes of golden blade light, followed immediately by the heads of private soldiers falling one by one.