Chapter 610: Chapter 610. Confining Steam Water City

Though Zee Min had the same thoughts, she was still disappointed at the number. She expected more civilians would answer the call, considering Shi Zhang’s reputation.

She wasn’t aware that it would be so if the invaders had entered the city, but they did not. There were significantly more reservations for civilians to participate in an offensive operation compared to staying inside the city to defend their homes. Furthermore, with so many refugees living among them, the civilians were even more unwilling to leave their families unattended.

Shi Zhang placed Zee Min as the leader of the gathered militia. He also lent her a portion of the city’s battle puppets. He had more battle puppets available, but needed them to maintain order and keep the city running. Three thousand was the most he could lend.

Somewhere around afternoon, everyone was finally ready to leave.

Shi Zhang ordered his people to open the Northern Gate. Zee Min led her soldiers and was the first to exit the city. She looked in the distance. Not an enemy was in sight. She supposed they had all gone to defend Tusha Valley. She gave the signal for everyone to move.

As she walked further away from the city, an explosion was heard in the distance. She watched three elemental balls fly past above her. It was too sudden, and she didn’t have the time to react. Those elemental balls landed just before the city gate. Their explosions took out many soldiers who crowded near the gate.

Zee Min looked toward where the first explosion was from. She saw the blaze of another explosion, but couldn’t perceive anything that produced the blaze. Three elemental balls flew from the direction where he saw the blaze.

“They are using an invisibility talisman to hide the Yuanxu Cannon!” Zee Min exclaimed.

The mechanical armor she wore released hot steam, giving her a power boost. She shot into the air with explosive speed. She managed to intercept one elemental ball but not the other two. The two elemental balls exploded and slew more soldiers.

Zee Min shouted at the soldiers who had exited the city gate and survived the explosion, “Charge forward! Take out the Yuanxu Cannon!”

Her soldiers immediately reacted to her command. They ran forward. It was not difficult to locate the Yuanxu Cannon even when it was invisible, because the blaze of another muzzle blast was seen.

Zee Min tried her best to intercept the shot again, but could only block one elemental ball. For a Yuanxu Cannon to fire three elemental balls with one shot, she knew that the invisible cannon was a Greater Yuanxu Cannon, one that was most likely stolen from them.

Before Zee Min’s soldiers could get far, they were surprised by many Echos’ soldiers appearing where they were heading. These Echos’ soldiers were hiding inside dugouts covered by cloth and dust. They went into hiding last night under the cover of darkness after Xin Wuming received Yong Baili’s message.

These hidden soldiers formed a long line, shoulder to shoulder. They numbered one thousand five hundred, situated in two rows. Each of them carried a rifle. Once they revealed themselves, they fired at Khode’s soldiers who were running or flying toward them. They targeted the fliers first since those were Martial Realm soldiers.

The first row fired while squatting, and the second row was standing. With all of them standing close to each other, the volley of their shots made it almost impossible to dodge.

None of Khode’s flying soldiers were Spirit Stage cultivators, so they all fell after getting hit by the blackstone bullets. Even those who reacted quickly and used defensive arts were still wounded by the shots.

As for the Human Realm soldiers, they had it even worse. The terrain around Water Steam City was dominated by flat land. There was no cover. Almost all the front-line soldiers fell when the next volley of gunshots was aimed at them.

Echos’ soldiers could fire the rifles five times before they had to change the talismans that triggered the shots. This rate of fire allowed them to wipe out Khode’s soldiers before they could close in on them.

The citizens who joined the militias refused to leave the city after seeing the explosions that killed many soldiers outside the gate.

Xuang Chao was still inside. He yelled at them. “Exit through the other gates! We will circle and get them from behind!”

As for his soldiers who hadn’t exited the gate, he ordered them to jump out from the wall. Crowding around the gate made them easy pickings. If they exited from the wall, the cannon wouldn’t hit all of them at once.

Sadly, the wall of Water Steam City was rather high. So, mostly Transformation Stage cultivators dared to jump from the wall.

To their horror, they heard explosions in the distance. Soon, the area they landed on was also hit by elemental explosions. It turned out there were two invisible Yuanxu Cannons located away from the Greater Yuanxu Cannons.

Since they were already outside, they decided to take the risk by charging forward. These other Yuanxu Cannons were, however, also behind the line formation of the rifle-carrying soldiers. They ran as fast as they could, but they all perished under the bombardment of the cannons and the volley shots from the riflemen.

The militias used the Western and Eastern gates to exit the city. Some even used the Southern gate, which was the furthest away from their destination, the Tusha Valley. Unfortunately for them, they met the same fate as those who exited from the Northern gate.

They saw nothing when they walked out the gates. Echos’ soldiers and cannons were hidden in the same way as those guarding the Northern gate. Amon spared six thousand soldiers for Xin Wuming to retain the siege of Steam Water City. He also left eight Yuanxu Cannons and three Greater Yuanxu Cannons.

The Northern, Western, and Eastern gates were each guarded by one thousand five hundred riflemen, two Yuanxu Cannons, and one Greater Yuanxu Cannon. The remaining soldiers and two Yuanxu Cannons watched over the Southern Gate.

Half the militias Shang Zhi had gathered died from the bombardments and volley fires. The rest refused to step out of the city after seeing the fate of their comrades.

Even if they grew a ball and risked it by charging out, they would still fail to reach Echos’ soldiers. Firearms were best used to hold a position, especially on flat terrain. They could defend against a force even ten times its size, providing they had enough ammunition.

“Damn you, Echos!!” Zee Min was enraged by the turn of events. She was especially mad to have to watch her subordinates die in droves while being helpless to prevent it. In her rage, she charged forward, determined to break through the line formation and destroy the Yuanxu Cannons by herself.

A barrage of bullets came at her. The words of power on her mechanical armor flared. The enchantment on her suit enhanced her defensive art. A thin barrier formed around her. This barrier stopped the bullets from hitting her.

Halfway to the riflemen, her Spirit Sense detected an incoming assault. She turned and saw a huge sword flying toward her.

The barrier around her might have shielded her from the bullets, but it failed to stop the giant sword. She swung her arm as the sword pierced through her barrier. Her armored gauntlet smashed into the blade’s side and broke it. The broken blade transformed into a man.

“Are you the leader of this army?” Zee Min asked.

“I am Xin Wuming, General Amon’s…”

“Fuck you!!” Zee Min didn’t bother to let Xin Wuming finish. All she cared about was taking down the enemy’s leader to alleviate her anger. If the opponent didn’t give her a straight answer, she would just consider him to be one.

Her twin mechanical gauntlets produced explosive shockwaves as she performed rapid punches. Xin Wuming used a gold-enhanced longsword to parry the blow, but the difference between them was too large. She was a Peak Spirit Stage, while he was only a Beginning Spirit Stage.

Xin Wuming crashed to the ground with a bloodied mouth from the force of her blow.

The riflemen used the chance to shoot at her. Because her barrier had been damaged, it couldn’t block all the bullets. Some hit her armor but failed to penetrate it. She swung with her arm, producing a powerful energy wave.

Luckily for the riflemen, her position was still a distance away. The wave weakened considerably from the travel. It hit them and caused them to fall back, but failed to hurt them.

Zee Min returned her attention to Xin Wuming. She still considered him the enemy leader even when he hadn’t admitted it. She was determined to finish him. When she was about to reach him, two battle puppets appeared in her path.

Zee Min punched at the battle puppets, which responded to her in kind. Their metallic fists crashed into each other. The two battle puppets were forced back by the impact, but Zee Min’s advance was also stopped. From the clash, she understood these two were mid-tier runic puppets.

The two battle puppets landed beside Xin Wuming, who had risen back. He wasn’t discouraged by losing the exchange. His eyes revealed a fiery determination. He brandished his golden sword, ready for another clash.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep