Could it be that this was a hidden expert who had been seen through by the logistics officer? Everyone glanced at the man, but how come they had never heard of him being an exceptional judge of character? The reason this officer had gotten this position was largely because he was a distant relative of the Su family.
The logistics officer himself wasn’t quite sure why he had brought out the Vasuki; it was probably on a whim. This sniper looked ordinary, but in fact, it was a weapon that had been left behind by a powerful deceased expert. The masterpiece of an expert craftsman, its firepower was at grade-eight back in the year and its attribute was extremely balanced. It was on a whole different level compared to the firepower-focused weapon in Qianye’s hands.
After the death of that expert, however, the gun fell in grade—its firepower was sharply reduced, and all of its other functions saw a noticeable decline. Yet, the requirements for using it remained the same. This meant that only those capable of firing a grade-eight weapon could use it.
There were rumors circulating in the land that the gun had sealed its own strength because it was unwilling to be controlled by a mediocre person. Such hearsay couldn’t be trusted, but the rifle had indeed remained silent since the day it had entered the armory.
An expert capable of using a grade-eight firearm had to be rank-fifteen at the very least—even then, he would be drained after a single shot. It wasn’t hard for such an expert to procure a good grade-seven weapon, so who would want to use this one?
As a grade seven weapon whose requirements exceeded grade seven, its value became much lower. It would sell for the price of a premium grade-six weapon at best.
The Su family"s younger generation like Su Yueyuan had never lacked resources. He already possessed a grade seven weapon and simply wasn’t interested in this famous but useless thing. As such, the sniper rifle could only sit there to collect dust until today. The logistics officer had brought it out after Su Dingqian decided to open the city’s armory and outfit the citizens.
As Nighteye placed a hand on the sniper rifle, the weapon let out a distinct, phoenix-like cry, and the origin arrays on the body lit up without exception.
After seeing this, even ignorant people would know that Nighteye had completely mastered this weapon. Everyone in the supply area was shocked! What followed their astonishment was respect—they no longer dared to size up Nighteye so recklessly. An expert capable of controlling a grade-eight weapon could wipe them out with a wave of their hand.
“Not a bad gun. Thanks then.” Nighteye’s words were always quite short to the point.
“Wait a minute!” The officer was nervous.
“Mm? Changed your mind?”
The officer waved his hands. “No, of course not! It’s just that there have always been some problems with this gun. I’ve seen several powerful people try it out before, but the sound it makes when activated is forceful and crude, almost like a dragon’s growl. It’s not this kind of sound.”
Nighteye smiled faintly. “Well, in my hands, this is how it must cry.”
The officer was still contemplating Nighteye’s words even after her departure.
The battle arrived as expected. That odd and terrifying army arrived outside of the city just after midnight. They only stopped to rest for a couple of hours before launching the a.s.sault. It was as though they were completely immune to fatigue.
Those four-legged warriors wearing heavy armor made up the vanguard. They raised their giant s.h.i.+elds and pushed toward Port City step by step.
Flames lit up from within the city, followed by a peculiar whistle and an earth-shattering explosion!
The heavy cannon-turrets of Port City had opened fire at the vanguard unit.
Qianye was half-kneeling on the wall, observing the battle situation. This wall gave him no sense of security at all as it did little more than to hide his figure. The walls of Port City should be called a stockade, instead, because it was made up of wooden poles. This kind of wooden wall would be hacked apart by any rank-five soldier, not to mention those powerful steel-armored warriors.
The explosion hadn’t even dispersed when Qianye’s heart sank. The seemingly fierce cannon was quite loud, but the number of steel-clad soldiers it had sent flying was quite pitiful. Only a couple of unfortunate blokes at the center of the explosion were blasted away. The rest merely staggered from the impact.
The first wave of explosions was followed by a brief lull on the battlefield. Port City’s cannons were superior to the empire’s in terms of firepower, but the price for that was similar to Qianye’s current handheld cannon—it was lacking in accuracy and slow to reload.
A series of gasps emerged from atop the walls as the smoke dispersed. The first volley had only mowed down a hundred or so soldiers out of nearly one thousand, and even those struck down were still struggling to clamber up. The real death-toll was no more than a couple dozen.
Seeing how even the cannons were so ineffective, the guards glanced at their origin guns and felt them to be rather flimsy.
One minute later, the heavy cannons rumbled once more. Cannon fire rained down like a storm and smashed into the formation of armored soldiers, shrouding the area in smoke once again. This time, however, no one had high expectations for the cannons. As expected, the second volley only killed a dozen or so armored soldiers. In one more barrage, at most, these soldiers would reach the city walls.
Bang! The glow of an origin bullet tore through the dark night and blasted the head of an armored warrior. One of the city guards had lost control and opened fire in advance. This person’s marksmans.h.i.+p was indeed quite good, and add to that the fact that these soldiers were quite slow, the shot landed squarely on its mark.
However, the results stopped people from rejoicing. The steel soldier fell on his back but managed to clamber back up after a while! There was a big depression on his helmet and blood flowing out through the cracks in his armor. Even in such a state, the soldier caught up to the group and entered the formation once more.
Now, this was fairly terrifying—the march of the orderly army shook the earth and exerted a pressure that stifled everyone. The guards on the wall began breathing heavily as their heart-rates increased.
Qianye had partic.i.p.ated in countless battles of life and death. He immediately realized that things weren’t looking good because the will of the defensive forces was wavering. If the enemy were to reveal another unexpected accomplishment during their a.s.sault, the morale of the entire army would crumble instantly.
Frowning, Qianye gripped the origin gun in his hand. Only then did he recall that it wasn’t the Thunderbolt he was used to firing, nor was it the Carol of Shadows—Cui Yuanhai’s gun wasn’t particularly accurate from hundreds of meters away.
The enemy had also noticed the wavering morale of the defenders. Another mournful bugle echoed through the air!
Anggggg! Several resounding cries rang out on the battlefield that caused the ears of the defenders to ring.
Three ma.s.sive warbeasts raised their heads and began trotting toward Port City.
The speed at which such giant beasts jogged was faster than a swift shadow panther. Neither the city walls nor the buildings within could deter their charge. Qianye had no doubt that the three beasts could easily plow three giant paths through the city if no one were to stop them.
A series of gunshots emerged and quickly turned into a continuous stream. The guards on the walls fired with all their might, pouring all the ammunition they had onto the steel warriors. The heavy cannons were also rumbling, firing into the enemy formation and at the moving warbeasts.
One accurate cannon sh.e.l.l struck a giant beast’s chest, sending its chest plate flying and revealing the yellow skin underneath. However, the beast was uninjured except for some black marks. It didn’t stop, either, and kept up its steady forward momentum.
A direct hit from the heavy cannon was no more than a mosquito bite to the warbeast. The army’s morale fell once more as this direct hit dealt them a worse blow than if it hadn’t hit.
Sighing in his heart, Qianye pushed a fist-sized bullet into the gun. He knew that this battle was going to be hard, but he hadn’t expected it to be this hard.
At this point, the warbeasts were closing in on Port City and the small forts on their backs were starting to fire. The soldiers within fired from high ground and effectively suppressed the city guard on the walls. Within moments, the defending army had been pinned to the wall with heavy casualties.
The airs.h.i.+ps in the sky began to stir as the enemy commander noticed their advantage. These vessels weren’t battles.h.i.+ps—one could well imagine how dominant the enemy side was when even old cargo s.h.i.+ps were joining in on the suppression.
Just as the situation was about to fall apart, a draconic cry echoed through the night sky and shook the land hundreds of kilometers out. Even the roars of the three warbeasts were drowned out!
Su Dingqian’s silhouette suddenly appeared in the sky above Port City. With his fiery sword in hand, he looked much like a divine soldier from the purgatory. The entire battlefield fell silent at the moment of his appearance.
The city lord raised his left hand and pointed at the foremost warbeast. Knowing that it had met its nemesis, the giant creature roared with its head raised and its large body came to a screeching halt. It was actually trying to turn tail and run.
Su Dingqian had already unleashed a slash from afar.
A beam of fiery red sword radiance traversed thousands of meters and brushed past the giant beast’s neck.
The creature erupted in a hysterical cry and started shaking off the soldiers on its back. This movement opened up the laceration on his neck in a gush of fresh blood that rained down on the battlefield.
This wound was extremely large and deep—although it hadn’t managed to decapitate the creature, the strike had slashed through half its neck. This wasn’t an injury the warbeast could take despite its ma.s.sive build.
Su Dingqian had established his might with a single strike!
Thunderous cheers erupted both in and outside the city. The surging morale urged the defense forces to fight with greater ferocity, momentarily stabilizing the situation.
The death of a warbeast clearly shook the enemy higher-ups. Following the call of a bugle, the other two creatures also halted their charge and turned back in succession. Su Dingqian knew very well when he had to stop. He did not give chase to the warbeasts and merely returned to the city.