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Sky-cracking Rider-Chapter 358: Section 354 - Still Need to Fire a Few Shots
In front of the true behemoth, the mobile base vehicle seemed as miniscule as a toy.
The waves of vibrations that transmitted into the carriage grew from weak to strong, then from strong to weak, until they finally disappeared. The tense people, who dared not even breathe heavily, looked at each other and eventually let out a long sigh of relief, each collapsing onto the ground.
From the restroom, the sound of flushing and the light, cheerful humming of the tall, dark Apu could be heard.
Ruan Tiankai, a Ninth Rank Earth Mage, curiously asked, "Hey, Apu, what are you doing in there?"
"I was so scared, I pooped myself. It feels great!"
Apu turned on the faucet and began to wash his hands.
The people outside shook their heads; this guy really adapted to the situation.
First Rank Fire Mage Adrian Benjamin scratched his buzz-cut, still shaken, and said, "It’s finally gone!"
He plopped down and continued, "Now all we can do is wait for the sandstorm to pass."
In the intensifying sandstorm, the nearly 80-ton vehicle stood unyieldingly still.
"How terrifying!"
Mouri Misono pressed against the window, her eyes widened as she desperately peered outside.
Fortunately, the heavy outer armor of the vehicle was robust enough to block radiation; otherwise, they would likely be in big trouble.
Outside the mobile base vehicle, it wasn’t just the howling winds and flying sand—it was also occasionally sweeping up mutants and carrying lethal levels of nuclear radiation.
Even without the radiation, venturing out at such a time was perilous; not to mention driving away those mutants, even approaching the nearby dead volcano would be extremely difficult. One could easily end up like those unlucky mutants, swept up into the sky or buried in the sand.
When the wind was at its most fearsome, it wasn’t just sand and stones filling the air; even entire sand dunes would slowly move like waves.
Fortunately, the mobile base vehicle was parked on the top of a dune. Had it been at the bottom or in a depression, it could easily have been buried beneath the sand.
At the peak moments of the sandstorm, it was not only the sand and stones that flew; entire sand dunes moved like waves,
"Chen Fei, you had the foresight!"
A-level Metal Ability User Kiterley came to the driver’s seat and patted Chen Fei on the shoulder.
Chen Fei left his seat, the cable automatically disconnecting from his waist.
"I have a suggestion!"
The vehicle’s two-ton lithium iron phosphate battery pack took over the power supply, ensuring 24-hour normal operation of lighting and various electrical appliances within the vehicle, and possibly even longer.
"Don’t chase after that big fellow we just saw!"
Captain Adrian thought Chen Fei had a wild idea to lure back the mountainous behemoth and flatten the entire volcano crater, anticipating a situation where two competing forces would provide an opportunity for a third to benefit.
"No!"
Chen Fei shook his head, took out a tablet, pulled up a two-dimensional electronic map, located the dead volcano on it, and while gesturing with his finger, he said, "We can use 152-caliber demolition bombs to bombard the dead volcano, using the shockwave to annihilate the mutants hiding inside."
A single 152 could level a standard football field, so covering the area of the dead volcano would require only a few shells.
The demolition bombs Chen Fei had ordered were an integrated type of shell with the projectile and propellant together, which the same caliber railgun could also use without obstruction, adding to its power by launching the propellant as well.
Otherwise, this youngster wouldn’t have been bold enough to consider targeting that super giant mutant we just saw.
"With the wind blowing so fiercely outside, can you aim accurately?"
After hearing Chen Fei’s plan, Adrian looked at the electronic map on the tablet screen, his brow slightly furrowed.
It was different from his initial guess, but it was still a suitable tactic.
Since they could use artillery, there was no need to foolishly rush up and fight directly.
It’s a pity there were no aircrafts for bombing; otherwise, dropping a few tons of ground-penetrating thermobaric bombs could solve all problems at once.
"Does 152 even need accuracy!"
Chen Fei smiled, one shot with an error of a few dozen meters, does it make any difference?
Absolutely not!
It was an entire map cannon; running was useless, and why need precision at all?
If one were bold enough, with a high-yield cloud bomb, going deep into the dead volcano crater, finding the mutant nest, and dropping it before fleeing—the power of the Cloud Bomb in a semi-enclosed space would completely surpass the large-caliber demolition bombs.
Of course, the risk was also greater, but its benefits were directly proportional to it. Either way, it wouldn’t be a loss.
"How about we test one first?"
Adrian was fretting about how to deal with the temperamental liaison officer Rossi, making his job as captain quite challenging.
It seemed that once the sandstorm stopped and communications were restored, the other party would likely urge him to submit a tactical plan, or else he would face a barrage of criticism.
If Chen Fei’s suggestion worked, it could indeed be a ready solution.
After all, it was just one 152 demolition bomb. With the quantity they carried this time, if used properly, it could eliminate a significant number of mutants.
"Then prepare to load the shells!"
Chen Fei opened the ammunition bay inside the carriage, lifted out a nearly one-meter-long 152 pre-assembled demolition bomb, removed the plastic cap, twisted the top fuse, and set it to standby mode. With sufficient impact, the fuse could instantly detonate the entire warhead.
Just one fifty-kilogram pre-assembled shell could completely blow up the interior of the carriage, guaranteeing no survivors.
Chen Fei pulled down the railgun’s magazine from the roof, continuously loaded five shells, and then pushed one forward, one shell entering the rail, completing the automatic chambering.
The ammunition loaded in the carriage was only a small part of what they carried this time, convenient for immediate use, while most of it was stored in Captain Fire Mage Adrian’s personal Space System Alchemy Storage Device.
The mobile base vehicle’s top was not only equipped with a railgun but also a laser cannon.
Chen Fei’s two offensive evolution abilities were all applied to this mobile base vehicle.
"Position the target, correct the calculation, lock on!"
"Adam" handled the complex calculations, and Chen Fei only needed to pull the trigger.
If he missed, no worries—he would just delete this version of "Adam" and replace it with the next version to do the job, insanely ruthless!
The mobile base vehicle, fully loaded, weighing nearly 80 tons was an outstanding artillery chassis.
Sitting back in the driver’s seat, Chen Fei with the cable pressed against his back, said, "Fire!"
The vehicle slightly shook, and the projectile shot through the flying dust and stones, heading straight for its target.
Although the recoil of the railgun was much smaller than that of a gunpowder-fired cannon, it still caused the heavy mobile base vehicle to rock slightly.
"Done!"
Adrian looked puzzled as no feedback had come back after waiting quite a while.
"Done, a direct hit!"
Chen Fei nodded, the first shell was a test shot, but it unexpectedly hit the dead volcano dead on.
Despite significant interference, the synthetic aperture radar still managed to scan the impact of the projectile, which blasted a large pit in the volcanic mouth’s rock formation, probably causing echoes inside the lava cave and fissures like ringing a bell.
The surface of the volcano’s mouth had no soil and vegetation to absorb the massive shock spreading within the mountain.
The sandstorm was so intense that the massive explosion noise from the demolition bomb could not be carried by the wind and got lost on the way.
Susanna, a Grade B Ice Ability User, asked with curiosity, "Hey? What if the volcano is awakened by the blast?"
Ruan Tiankai, an Earth Mage, slapped his forehead and said, "Right! That’s our assessment point!"
If the dead volcano awakened and became active, the situation would get really interesting.
"No, if that happens, it would be easier!" Chen Fei waved his hand and continued, "At least we eliminated the mutants there, didn’t we?"
Wasn’t the first assessment upon reaching the checkpoint to eliminate or drive away those mutants?
As long as the predetermined result was achieved, why bother about the process.
Then the railgun was charged again, and he fired another shot!
The third, fourth, fifth—all five shells consecutively hit the dead volcano.
It seemed that "Adam" was quite reliable in cannon firing, not wasting a single projectile, though it was a pity, the volcano did not awaken.
Due to the sandstorm, it was temporarily impossible to determine the actual damage effect on the scorpion mutant SS-0792 hiding inside the dead volcano.
After reloading the ammunition, Chen Fei did not rush to launch a second round of artillery fire.
The flying sand and stones lasted a full ten hours before they gradually disappeared or moved elsewhere.
Once the sandstorm ceased, the radiation level outside the mobile base vehicle slowly decreased, expected to drop below the safety threshold before long.
It was a moonlit, starry night, deep into the wee hours.
Once communications were restored, Liaison Officer Rossi did not make another call, probably thinking that the team he was responsible for, Team 04, had been wiped out too!
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"Adam" suddenly spoke.
"Mutant detected, identified as SS-0792, quantity 17."
The infrared thermal imaging system captured some biological responses near the mouth of the dead volcano, likely from the scorpion-like SS-0792.
Presumably rattled by several cannon shots, they came out to check the situation shortly after the sandstorm had ended.
"Is that so? Aim, fire!"
Chen Fei, who was taking a short break, rolled out of bed, ran a few steps, and jumped into the driver’s seat.
It was a combat pilot’s professional habit as combat opportunities often come and go in a flash, so not a second could be delayed.
"Charged, fire complete!"
The mobile base vehicle slightly quivered, and the projectile whistled out.
With the weather conditions improved, targeting calculations became much easier, still a matter of tens of milliseconds for "Adam".
In the darkness, a flash of fire illuminated nearly half the sky, briefly revealing countless sand dunes in relief.
Half a minute later, a belated dull boom reached inside the vehicle.
"Direct hit!"
Adrian, who was on night watch, stared intently into the distance.
Approximately ten kilometers away from the dead volcano, the projectile explosion’s firelight and the fleeting blast of white light from the shockwave were enough to clearly reveal the point of impact.
"Targets annihilated!"
Chen Fei glanced at the infrared thermal imaging image and made a determination.
All the mutants were motionless, and their bodies were mostly torn apart, truly delivering an area of destruction the size of a soccer field per shell, and that’s no exaggeration, especially since the launched projectiles still carried explosives!
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