TCPUAAV Chapter 72

 

 

After the artificial satellite’s day-night cycle was adjusted, there was no more night on Planet B3024.

 

Everyone took turns resting in shifts, fighting ceaselessly against the Zergs.

 

On the fifth hour of the Zerg invasion, humanity launched a counterattack.

 

By the tenth hour, most of the outer city’s residents had been rescued. Among those who were saved, anyone with the strength to fight voluntarily joined the battle to defend their home.

 

At the eighteenth hour, the inner city’s protective shield was completely breached and could not be repaired in the short term. Everyone began retreating toward the outer city’s munitions factory. Only Ruan Shiqing and a small team remained to hold the line at the satellite control center. Meanwhile, the few remaining residents of the inner city, whether by choice or necessity, also joined the defense.

 

The war against the Zergs was grueling, but the production lines in the munitions factory never stopped running. Coupled with the weapons stockpile that had yet to be transported out, the difficult battlefront advances at least significantly reduced casualties.

 

Aside from the cub school, which remained under heavy attack, the Zerg presence in other areas had greatly diminished.

 

After fighting continuously for two full days and nights, Ruan Shiqing, still holding firm at the control center, finally received a communication request from Dares.

 

The young colonel stood in his immaculate uniform, his usual playful expression subdued. Pressing two fingers to his temple in salute, he said, “Everyone, you’ve fought bravely. Reinforcements have arrived. Requesting permission to enter Planet B3024.”

 

The tense atmosphere in the control center erupted into cheers. The stress that had kept Ruan Shiqing on edge for days finally eased. “Understood. In one hour, we will deactivate the shield.”

 

After ending the communication, Ruan Shiqing broadcasted the news to the entire city.

 

Reinforcements had arrived. Planet B3024 was no longer fighting alone.

 

At the same time, this also meant that the Zergs, which had been kept at bay outside, would soon surge in once more.

 

Before deactivating the shield, they needed to make all necessary preparations.

 

During this critical hour, everyone retreated to the munitions factory to rest and recover—replenishing their strength, tending to injuries, and taking inventory of weapons, medicine, energy supplements, and other vital supplies.

 

Most importantly, they had to activate the shield emitters they had worked tirelessly to deploy over the past two days.

 

These shield emitters were a simplified, portable version of the repair station’s defense system. By arranging multiple emitters into an array, they could generate a temporary protective barrier to hold off the Zerg assault—an extra line of defense that Ruan Shiqing had specially prepared for the moment the main shield was lifted.

 

Once everything was in place, Ruan Shiqing took a steady breath and deactivated the planetary shield enveloping B3024.

 

The colossal barrier faded away. The Zergs, which had been relentlessly attacking it, suddenly found themselves striking empty air. After a brief moment of confusion, they reacted and surged toward B3024 like a tidal wave.

 

But just then, several massive battleships formed a defensive formation in front of them, unleashing a relentless barrage of artillery fire. At the same time, hundreds of interceptors carrying elite frontline soldiers pierced through B3024’s atmosphere, preparing for landing.

 

In midair, as the incoming Zergs clashed with the interceptors, fierce aerial combat erupted.

 

The well-trained pilots swiftly maneuvered their ships, encircling swarms of Zergs before unleashing devastating barrages of cannon fire.

 

Countless charred Zerg carcasses plummeted from the sky, explosions painting the battlefield in smoke and flame—a baptism of blood and fire.

 

Those resting at the munitions factory looked up at the sky, watching the tide turn, and erupted into ecstatic cheers.

 

In the cub school, the ancient beasts of the old bloodlines lifted their heads and let out invigorated roars.

 

Rong Heng, Hector, Lansing, and the three younglings who had stepped onto the battlefield for the first time had managed to hold their ground through rotation shifts, securing the school and protecting the dozens of hatchlings in the basement.

 

The moment he saw the reinforcements, Hector couldn’t help but let out an excited dragon’s roar and shouted at Rong Heng, “For fuck’s sake, get someone to take over already!”

 

It was embarrassing to admit, but he was utterly exhausted and starving—the kind of exhaustion that would take three days of sleep to recover from, and the kind of hunger that would require eating a whole ton of food.

 

Rong Heng snorted, looking at him with disdain.

 

As the reinforcements landed one after another, they quickly organized and launched a counteroffensive.

 

Meanwhile, Dares led his team to the munitions factory, where he rendezvoused with Mo Li.

 

Merrell, who had come along, gave Mo Li a surprised look, then glanced at the completely intact munitions factory. She sighed with genuine astonishment, “To be honest, on the way here, I had already mentally prepared myself to be collecting your corpses.”

 

Just a few days ago, the Crown Prince had sent word that there were signs of Zerg activity on Planet B3024. As a precaution, he ordered Dares to bring an elite force to station there. At the time, none of them had expected a full-scale Zerg tide to actually hit the Central District.

 

Merrell had only tagged along out of curiosity about Master Ruan and the newly completed munitions factory. To secure a spot on the mission, she had even beaten the crap out of Shoy and Jasper.

 

When they departed from Yanji, she had even packed her finest collection of vintage wines, thinking she would be enjoying a long-overdue reunion celebration upon arrival.

 

Then, halfway through the journey, they received the Crown Prince’s emergency distress signal.

 

She would never forget that video transmission—an overwhelming sea of Zergs, swarming in from every direction. Even on the front lines, it wasn’t often that they encountered a swarm of this magnitude.

 

Dares had described Planet B3024 as a backward, garbage-tier planet, one that wouldn’t stand a chance against such a monstrous Zerg tide.

 

Though no one voiced it aloud, during those two days of rushed travel, the entire fleet carried a heavy air of dread.

 

But now that they had arrived, things were looking far better than they had expected.

 

Merrell slung an arm around Mo Li’s shoulders, using her height advantage to pat him on the back. “Damn, it’s good to see you all still alive.”

 

Mo Li wordlessly shoved her arm off. He really didn’t want to stand next to a nearly two-meter-tall Colonel Merrell—it was just too much of a blow to his pride.

 

Dares glanced around but didn’t see the people he was looking for. “Where’s Master Ruan? And the Crown Prince? Hector isn’t here either?”

 

Mo Li’s expression turned serious at the mention of them. “Master Ruan is still at the satellite control center in the inner city. As for the Crown Prince and Brigadier General Hector, they’re trapped in the cub school. The Zergs are attacking it like lunatics, and we haven’t figured out why yet.”

 

“Then let’s go pay them a visit.”

 

Merrell hoisted two laser cannon barrels onto her shoulder. Beneath her leather jacket, a sleek black belt wrapped around her waist, lined with an assortment of knives—short and long, big and small.

 

Dares smacked her palm in a high-five, then turned to Mo Li. “You guys can rest now. We’ll take it from here.”

 

With that, Dares and Merrell commandeered three second-generation armored walkers, leading an elite squad straight toward the hatchling school.

 

Compared to the relatively inexperienced B3024 residents, their efficiency in slaughtering Zergs was on a whole different level. They swept through the battlefield, rapidly clearing a path forward.

 

From a distance, Hector caught sight of them and immediately shouted, “Move your asses! Faster!”

 

Merrell blasted three Zerg heads off with a single shot, then spotted the black dragon, drenched from head to toe in Zerg blood. She instinctively leaned back in a tactical recoil. “Brigadier General Hector, long time no see! Funny enough, just a few months ago, I attended your memorial service on the holo-net.”

 

What the actual fuck.

 

Rong Heng’s subordinates were all bastards. Every single one of them.

 

Hector was done. Absolutely done.

 

With a powerful flap of his bat-like wings, he sent a massive wave of Zerg hurtling straight toward Merrell’s side and then, without hesitation, picked up a tiny dragon hatchling in his jaws and retreated from the battle.

 

Merrell didn’t seem fazed. Holding a cannon in one hand—firing off an occasional blast—and wielding a one-meter-long Damascus sword in the other, she efficiently beheaded the incoming Zergs.

 

Her swordsmanship was fast and ruthless. The heavy blade moved with ease in her hands, slicing through the Zerg as effortlessly as if she were cutting tofu.

 

“Brigadier General Hector, you’re as ungentlemanly as ever.” She flicked the blood off her blade and muttered loudly enough for him to hear, “Maybe that’s why you’ve been single for over a hundred years?”

 

Back in the day, she had actually considered hooking up with Hector—after all, he looked decent enough in human form.

 

But after spending a mere thirty minutes in close proximity with him, she had lost all interest and promptly blacklisted him from her dating pool.

 

“……”

 

Hector’s lips twitched. He was deeply offended.

Was it really necessary to hold a grudge just because, at some military banquet years ago, Merrell had asked him how her makeup looked that day, and he had bluntly replied, “I almost didn’t recognize you”?

 

Seriously, was that worth remembering for this long?

 

How petty.

 

And besides—where the hell did she get the idea that he had been single for over a hundred years?! He did have a partner—they were just in the middle of a fight and hadn’t made up yet!

 

The more Hector thought about it, the more indignant he became. He pointed at the little dragon hatchling sitting beside him and said proudly, “Colonel Merrell, allow me to introduce my son, Heli. Looks just like me, doesn’t he?”

 

“??????”

 

Merrell nearly fumbled her blade, whipping her head around in disbelief. “You gave birth to this yourself? When the hell did dragonkind evolve so fast that even males can lay eggs now?!”

 

Hector: “…????”

 

What the fuck.

 

He took a deep breath.

 

Not gonna argue with an idiot. Not worth it.

 

 

---

 

 

Finally help is here!!!

 

Merrell is a queen and I don’t make the rules lmao

 

(If you forgot, Merrell, Shoy and Jasper are those colonels who were in discussions with Ruan Shiqing when he sent that first batch of weapons to be tested on the frontlines, and they all wanted to come meet him, just like Dares, but of course it didn’t happen at that time!)

 

Thanks for reading!

For every three ko-fis, I will upload a bonus chapter~