Chapter 56: Into the Belly of the Beast

The captains assembled quickly following Victoria’s order.

“This could be a problem indeed…” Michael mumbled, looking at the holographic projection of the thing blocking their path.

A massive alien spaceship that had crashed into the ground obstructed their view. Even worse, with its length being 50 kilometers, it would take time to go around.

“Is it possible there are still aliens inside it, waiting for a chance to catch unfortunate soldiers off guard?” Bryce asked.

Victoria nodded somberly. “This is indeed what I was worried about. Even if we were to go around it, there could be waiting aliens that come out of it and attack our rear when we least expect it.”

Even if their army of over 100,000 soldiers was relatively small by today’s standards, it didn’t change the fact that keeping the whole perimeter safe was a challenge.

Bryce could only sigh. If Claire had been here, she could have helped them by observing the perimeter from high up in the sky. But with the command alien ship being such a threat, she couldn’t have stayed by his side. Once the threat had been dealt with, she didn’t hesitate to go back.

Michael remained silent, his gaze moving to one of his two active quests.

[Quest: Slaughtering Machine]

[Difficulty: Insane]

[Task: With so many hidden forces, the aliens threaten the safety of humanity. Slaughter at least 20% of their forces!]

[Reward: Legendary cybernetic, 500 Skill Points]

[Current slain forces: 2,012/20,000]

’The fact that the quest is still active is a welcome surprise. It seems that it’s still possible to complete it… Now whatever, I just have to kill any aliens or the ones that were about to ambush us specifically is another matter.’

Whatever the case, he was glad that the quest was still up. Technically he hadn’t failed it. He just had delayed it.

“Maybe we could enter the ship and clear it of any threat?” Enzo asked, cracking his knuckles.

“That won’t work. The thing is 50 kilometers! It will take us weeks if not months to make sure there is nothing hidden.” Ava sighed.

“It looks like we would have to go the long way around it…” Roy shook his head in displeasure. He wasn’t willing to risk his troops.

However, before the order could be delivered, the terminal began to blink red.

Victoria frowned, accepting the transmission.

Instantly an image of a woman in a damaged battlesuit appeared. This was the general of base #1 that was busy dealing with the command alien ship.

“This is a message to every force still functioning in Triton. We are in dire need of reinforcements! Some kind of monster has joined the alien side. We are not sure what its capability is yet, but it’s tearing through our forces like butter! Without a doubt it’s a tier above an Elite! I repeat, we are in a dire—”

Abruptly the call ended, leading to a deadly silence.

“Stronger than E—Elite? But the next tier is a General, and for us to fight an alien General is…” One of the captains mumbled, feeling their knees going weak.

It was an understandable reaction. Since only Grandmasters would have a chance against such creatures, not to mention that even if several were to team up against the alien General, the thousands of Elites that were still ravaging the lands would be a severe problem.

“If even base #1 is struggling with the help of the factions. What can we even do?”

“Even our generals who are of the Master realm won’t be able to do much. What is the point of us even entering the fight?”

“Does the tier of the alien matter?” Michael’s voice echoed in the silence.

“Whatever the power of the invader, they still dared to challenge humanity and threaten our existence. There is only one thing awaiting those foolish enough to go against us… Death.”

The people near him looked at him, wondering if he was insane.

“D—Do you even know what kind of monster an alien General is? Haven’t you seen what kind of havoc these beings wreaked on Neptune? They are the reason we have been having such a hard time in the war! They are not only powerful but also more cunning than most humans!”

Michael looked at the terrified captain that had spoken and shrugged. “Makes no difference to me. All will end up dead anyway.”

’The more I look at him, the more I feel like I am looking at a person that has lived through hundreds of battles.’ Victoria noted inwardly before clearing her throat.

“Captain Michael is right. At the end of the day they all will fall before humanity’s rule. Not to mention that you captains won’t be fighting the General but the Elites.”

Snapping out of his daze, Roy nodded. “Naturally only us leaders will face the strongest force of the alien invaders.”

Even if the captains were terrified, they couldn’t exactly go against their superiors, leaving them with no choice but to comply.

“But that doesn’t solve the problem with the crashed alien ship obstructing our path. Going around it will cost us too much time and would open our rear for an ambush.” Roy rubbed his temple.

“Actually I suggest we go with Captain Enzo’s idea. But rather than sending teams to check if the perimeter is safe, we enter with the whole army. Even if there are beings waiting to ambush us, they shouldn’t pose too much trouble with our numbers.” Victoria suggested.

It was clearly a daring idea, but with no better alternative and with time quickly running out, the order was given. The army began to march toward the alien ship before entering it.

“This will be the first time I witness the inside of an alien ship.” Ava exclaimed with gleaming eyes.

Her gaze shifted to Michael, wondering if he was also excited. But to her surprise, rather than looking at the interior, he was staring at one of the provided tablets.

When the call for help had come from base #1, a video of the General alien had been attached.

His pupils reflected the video of the monster as it tore through the human’s ranks easily, his brain processing every movement the creature made.

The captains hadn’t dared to look at it, fearing their morale would fall even lower, yet Michael didn’t seem affected by the superior strength the alien displayed.

’I know that he is reckless by nature, but there is no way he is planning to join the fight against the General… right?’ Ava gulped audibly.

Since she didn’t want to break his concentration, she kept her thoughts to herself.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep