Chapter 275: ch

The over 92 Marines of the Delta Squad, currently being led by Alex and Ryan, had been staying hidden at this coordinate for over a minute, perfectly poised to take down the two Minotaur patrol teams in one fell swoop.

Only their heads were extended slightly out of the corridor walls, the rest of their bodies remaining shielded within the metal structure. They were fully prepared: many held cold energy weapons for silent takedowns, while others had their rifles and even pistols at the ready. All that was left was the final signal to begin the slaughter.

They listened to the Minotaur patrol leaders speculate and share their mounting paranoia over the communications failure. The Delta Marines couldn’t help but be amused.

While the Minotaurs’ questions did make sense from their limited perspective, the Marines themselves harbored no doubts. Grand Admiral Elria had her own strategic considerations—considerations they trusted implicitly and would never attempt to guess.

Just then, a familiar voice rang through the comms of all 92 Marines: it was Alex. “Get ready! We’re nearing there! On my mark, the operation would commence!” With that, his voice cut off—a deliberate action.

The slightly relaxed Marines instantly snapped into their combat mode. This was a self-developed state, honed through countless near-death battles in the Universal Domain, where their minds, bodies, and souls achieved total control (to an extent). This mode gave them acute awareness of their environment, allowing them to move faster and stay ahead of their enemies. They were all ready to jump at any moment and cut down the Minotaurs.

Meanwhile, Alex and Ryan were rapidly advancing. With a slight turn ahead, they would be just behind the Minotaur 3A group. Alex stopped right in front of the wall and hit the comms one last time: “Now!”

He immediately proceeded to jump into the fray along with five other Marines. Taking a powerful leap, he landed precisely in the gap between the second and third Minotaur columns. Alex immediately moved toward the Minotaurs who had their backs facing him, joined by two of the five who had followed him.

The remaining three Marines launched themselves at the Minotaurs that made up the third column.

Simultaneously, Ryan and her seven others took aim with their rifles. Ryan herself had two cool-looking pistols in her hands. She activated the jet thrusters mounted on her combat suit, lifting her slightly off the corridor floor. This elevation gave her a clear field of fire over all the Minotaurs in the third, second, and first columns.

Without hesitation, Ryan began firing. It appeared as though she was shooting highly destructive plasma shots at random, but she wasn’t. Every single round found its mark, striking perfectly dead center into the chest of a Minotaur.

The dark red plasma rounds drilled through their thick armor as if it were butter, melting the alloy with intense heat. The Minotaurs had a stunned, confused expression on their faces. Only moments ago, they were chatting calmly; now, suddenly appearing black-armored figures were slicing their comrades in half, while others were simply struck and disintegrated.

Before a Minotaur could feel pain or fully process the situation, the impact of the plasma round caused its body and armor to disintegrate atom by atom until nothing was left.

The same terrifying scene unfolded across the entire patrol team. In just a couple of seconds, over 200 Minotaurs were reduced to just a few individuals. The only things left were a few bodies of their comrades, haphazardly cut from countless angles, while the rest had vanished into thin air.

The last two standing were, somehow, the captains of the two patrolling teams. They were utterly stunned by the sudden appearance of the unknown people in black combat armor, but the swift carnage made them feel an overwhelming sense of dread atop their confusion.

Moments ago, their entire force had been annihilated in two different ways, both horrifying: one group was brutally cut in half; the other simply disappeared into thin air. They could rationalize the slicing—they had weapons capable of that—but the other weapon was dreadful, an ultimate horror.

That thought became their last before they, too, were pulled into the abyss by the huge arms made up of darkness that existed there.

The slaughter was complete. The Delta Squad had come out on top exactly as planned, and another checkpoint was cleared, bringing them one step closer to their final goal.

Everyone, get yourselves cleaned, and let’s get moving!” Alex commanded, his excitement barely contained. “Meanwhile, Anna, Olson, Clark, Josh, and Nolan—you all should handle the cleanup here before joining us.”

“Rest of you, follow me to clear out the Minotaurs’ third group ahead before we proceed to the fourth intersection and join with Noel and the others!”

And see if they need our help… if they don’t, we will still lend them a hand… Alex thought internally, quickly adding the line he didn’t say aloud: “and get a slice of their merit points as well, hehehe!”

The entire squad mentally screamed: Why are we practically hearing you announce that you want to steal merit points belonging to the other group?

They felt it was inappropriate but quickly decided to embrace their leader’s shamelessness. After all, they, too, wanted more merit points to purchase high-value items from the exchange board—like Law Stones and Tier 6 small-scale pocket shield systems. They gave Alex a collective, internal look that said: Okay, since you’re so thick-skinned, we’ll wear thick skin, too, and just go for it!

With a shared, unspoken agreement, they immediately activated the cleaning option on their combat suits, causing all blood and residue to be evaporated or destroyed at the atomic level.

Alex, noticing the silent compliance of the now spotless Marines, gave a nod to a speechless Ryan and led the charge. He was filled with high anticipation, mentally calculating how much he stood to gain if he “helped” Noel’s group.

“Everyone, get yourselves cleaned, and let’s get moving!” Alex commanded, his excitement barely contained. “Meanwhile, Anna, Olson, Clark, Josh, and Nolan—you all should handle the cleanup here before joining us.”

“Rest of you, follow me to clear out the Minotaurs’ third group ahead before we proceed to the fourth intersection and join with Noel and the others!”

And see if they need our help… if they don’t, we will still lend them a hand… Alex thought internally, quickly adding the line he didn’t say aloud: “and get a slice of their merit points as well, hehehe!”

The entire squad mentally screamed: Why are we practically hearing you announce that you want to steal merit points belonging to the other group?

They felt it was inappropriate but quickly decided to embrace their leader’s shamelessness. After all, they, too, wanted more merit points to purchase high-value items from the exchange board—like Law Stones and Tier 6 small-scale pocket shield systems. They gave Alex a collective, internal look that said: Okay, since you’re so thick-skinned, we’ll wear thick skin, too, and just go for it!

With a shared, unspoken agreement, they immediately activated the cleaning option on their combat suits, causing all blood and residue to be evaporated or destroyed at the atomic level.

Alex, noticing the silent compliance of the now spotless Marines, gave a nod to a speechless Ryan and led the charge. He was filled with high anticipation, mentally calculating how much he stood to gain if he “helped” Noel’s group.

Just as Alex and the main group departed, Anna, Olson, Clark, Josh, and Nolan hurriedly took out the Molecular Disassemblers and threw them onto the corpses. They waited for the devices to complete their work and the white fog to vanish.

With the evidence erased, they ran like hounds toward where Alex and the team had gone, hopeful that they hadn’t been left behind and could still lend a hand—and secure some kills—at the next junction.

Seconds passed before they finally caught sight of Alex, Ryan, and the others, who were just about to enter the fourth intersection. Anna’s team looked around the corridor, finding no trace of the recently eliminated Minotaurs. Looks like they managed to clean up this team of Minotaurs as well, and rather quickly, they thought.

A bit of disappointment crossed the faces of Anna, Olson, Clark, Josh, and Nolan. Though they had expected this and prepared for it, they were still slightly crestfallen that there was nothing left for them to gain here.

They quickly energized themselves, their eyes fixed on the fourth intersection. They could still gain something there! Yes, they need to put in more effort now! they resolved, clenching their hands as they moved ahead.

They quickly cut the line, reaching the forefront by claiming they had urgent reports to make about the cleanup. Alex and Ryan, focused on the mission ahead, let them pass.

Anna’s team simply informed Alex and Ryan that the Minotaur bodies had been dealt with. Both leaders nodded and immediately focused ahead, while Anna’s team fell in behind them, now perfectly positioned for the final push.

(There will be updates starting tomorrow. Thank you all for your continuous support. Beginning next month, I promise to update regularly—with two Chapters at a time. The pacing will speed up, and the main arc will begin to take shape in fewer than 40 Chapters. By my calculations, in about 20 days something exciting will happen. Please look forward to it.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep