Chapter 59: The Mine Assault

The four airships of the Red Scorpion Legion swiftly came into view, among which two were high-speed troop carriers, capable of transporting two battalions of Red Scorpions. This indicated a combat power surpassing that of an entire main division of the Empire.

Zhang Zixing, upon seeing this, furrowed his brow once more. The considerable scale of the Red Scorpion force meant the mission was of significant difficulty. With a group of noble young ladies by his side, if the Red Scorpions had a combat operation nearby, it could very well affect Blackstream City.

The Red Scorpion warship directly flew to the airship landing field above Blackstream City without descending. Instead, it opened its doors in mid-air at a hundred meters, and Red Scorpion warriors leapt out, clutching descent ropes.

They fell almost like free-falling objects, only pulling on the ropes slightly to decelerate as they approached the ground. In a moment, over two hundred Red Scorpion warriors landed. Many senior soldiers even carried large weapons and supply crates, some of which were taller than the soldiers themselves.

With just this one action, the Red Scorpion Legion showcased their elite status.

Though Zhang Zixing felt uncomfortable, he had to admit that his own Third Legion soldiers were far inferior compared to the Red Scorpions. Such an elite force, when deployed in full, would become a game-changer on the battlefield.

The two battalions of Red Scorpion warriors dispersed and swiftly secured control of the airship field and the key points facing Blackstream City. The last man to exit the ship did not use a descent rope; he stood suspended in the air. His shoulder insignia glittered with stars, revealing him to be a brigadier general!

Once everything was ready on the ground, the hovering high-speed transport ship opened its doors, and a huge metal box, over ten meters long, was slowly lowered to the ground by several hoisting cables.

Zhang Zixing’s eyes narrowed. Could it be that the two battalions of Red Scorpions were here to protect this object?

Song Zining suddenly said, “Hey, Your Highness, aren’t you a Fallen Angel? Why don’t you go find out which battalion they belong to?”

To Song Zining’s unceremonious order, Wei Po Tian, unusually, did not mock or sneer. He simply asked, “Which battalion was Qian Ye from?”

“How should I know?” Before Wei Po Tian could retort, Song Zining added, “These are trivial details. There’s nothing we can do. I’m just passing on the message.”

Wei Po Tian fell silent, his face solemn. Song Zining, too, did not speak, merely watching the busy Red Scorpion soldiers outside the city. The insignia of the special elite legion was easily recognizable: on the black uniforms of the Empire, the collar and lapels were trimmed in crimson, and a prominent red scorpion emblem adorned the upper arms.

The situation in the Blackstream region was beginning to simmer.

Qian Ye sat on a rock, overlooking the valley below.

In the valley, artificially excavated, there were layers of winding roads for heavy trucks. At the bottom, several towering metal monsters spewed steam, using massive, multi-story shovels to dig into the ground. Each shovel pushed out tons of black stone.

This was a large open-pit blackstone mine, ranking among the top three in terms of production in the Count’s territory. Its greatest value lay in its convenient location and accessibility, allowing for the easy use of large steam machinery. Despite the mine’s size, there were few slave miners; most were technicians responsible for operating and maintaining the mining equipment.

Such an important mine was dear to Count Stuka. Though it was within his direct jurisdiction, Stuka still dispatched his nephew, a third-class spider demon viscount, to guard it.

Qian Ye observed silently for a while, memorizing the terrain and the distribution of the garrison, before turning and disappearing into the rolling hills.

Dozens of kilometers away from the mine, Darkflame had established a secret camp in a valley. Over a hundred elite soldiers were resting or training.

Qian Ye returned to the camp and ordered, “Eat in four hours, then set out. The attack will begin at exactly noon.”

During the brief daylight on the Evernight continent, it was said that the power of dawn reached its peak at noon, and it was also the time when many dark races, especially those not fully transformed from their beastly forms, rested.

At noon, the previously bustling mine grew quieter, with only a few slaves performing odd jobs. The mining vehicles had stopped. Driving these steel behemoths required at least a third-level warrior.

Outside the mine, the guards had become lazy, and many servant spiders lay motionless at the center of their webs, actually sleeping.

The mine had been peaceful for over a decade, so much so that the guards had almost forgotten what war was.

A servant spider, over two meters tall, lay folded between two railroad tracks, surrounded by its web, covering hundreds of meters in all directions. It was the master of this sector, controlling every area where its web extended, guarding the key passages to the mine.

At the top of a nearby hill, Qian Ye appeared. He weighed an origin grenade in his hand, took a deep breath, and hurled it.

The grenade arced through the sky, traveling hundreds of meters to land in front of the servant spider. The spider’s compound eyes reflected the incoming grenade, but it reacted sluggishly. It had just woken from a deep sleep and was still dazed.

The grenade fell, piercing the web and hitting the rock below.

The impact-activated origin grenade exploded, hurling the giant servant spider into the air. The explosion was followed by a wave of fire spreading in all directions.

It was a incendiary grenade, fueled by compressed origin power, making the flames extremely hot and difficult to extinguish. The web, brittle under the flames, quickly snapped, and the flaming strands spread the fire rapidly.

Dozens of Darkflame elites appeared behind Qian Ye. Under his command, some rushed forward, while others began setting up heavy machine guns and other heavy firepower.

Once everything was set, Qian Ye did not rush, instead giving command authority to each combat unit. He himself lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and felt instantly invigorated.

This was pure military-grade stimulant, and though it was of moderate quality, Qian Ye missed the taste of his homemade imitations. He resolved to make some more when he returned.

Halfway through the cigarette, Qian Ye suddenly raised his Eagle Strike, aimed, and fired. Hundreds of meters away, a spider demon just emerging from its nest was struck, its head instantly blown off.

Qian Ye threw the unfinished cigarette to the ground, picked up his Eagle Strike, and strode towards the mine.

Only then did the alarm finally sound, revealing how lax the mine’s defenses were.

Despite the guards pouring out from various caves and countless servant spiders crawling from all directions, the hundred Darkflame warriors steadily advanced, pushing back the defenders.

Qian Ye led the elite, their firepower intense. Incendiary grenades were thrown like there was no cost, and the heavy machine guns never ceased their roaring.

While such conventional firepower had little effect on high-level warriors, it was highly effective against the numerous, yet fragile, cannon fodder.

A deafening roar echoed from the mine, and a spider demon burst out of its nest. It was half-human, half-spider, but at least half again as tall as the others, resembling a spider tank.

Roaring, the spider demon charged through the hail of bullets. The large-caliber machine gun rounds bounced off its thick armor, and even the heavy machine guns had no effect.

A Darkflame major threw an origin grenade, landing perfectly in the path of the spider demon. The explosion sent the terrifying creature flying a meter into the air before it landed, seemingly unscathed, and continued its charge.

The spider demon held a long-handled battle axe and an origin rifle, but it seemed inexperienced with the latter, only firing a few inaccurate shots before charging.

Now less than a hundred meters from the frontline, the spider demon swung its four-meter-long battle axe, sending arcs of black-green origin power across the ground, rippling the earth.

The senior Darkflame officers quickly raised their origin shields, and the weaker soldiers hurriedly dodged, but the colorful protective barriers shattered on contact. Fortunately, the distance saved the frontline soldiers from injury, though they were forced to retreat.

This was the spider demon viscount guarding the mine. Though he was only a third-class viscount, he was still a viscount, far beyond the capabilities of ordinary human troops.

Qian Ye whistled twice, signaling the Darkflame warriors to fall back, and handed his Eagle Strike to a bodyguard. Drawing Dongyue, he charged straight at the spider demon viscount.

He ran faster, each step causing the earth to tremble. Judging by the sheer force, Qian Ye’s slender frame seemed heavier than the spider demon viscount.

In a flash, the two met in the middle. Qian Ye roared, leaped, and swung Dongyue, aiming for the waist!

The spider demon roared, holding the battle axe vertically, blocking Dongyue with its thick, bowl-thick shaft. Compared to the axe, Qian Ye and his sword were only half as long, seemingly at a disadvantage.

Yet, as the sword and axe met, the spider demon viscount shook violently, lifted off the ground. The force from the axe was overwhelming, and the shaft bent before his eyes. Only then did the spider demon hear the crunching of bones in his arms.

Qian Ye’s face flushed, surprised that he hadn’t broken the axe. With a “heh,” he exhaled a puff of white vapor, and, with both hands, made Dongyue bounce again, cutting diagonally.

With newly injured arms, the spider demon’s axe was deflected, and he could only watch as the heavy sword sliced through his waist. The humanoid upper body and spider lower body separated, the pieces flying high into the air, falling into the mine.