"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Led by Sergeant Jones, the five "Reinforced Sentinel" interfaces charged toward the "Wailing Aggregation," which emanated endless malice, like divine soldiers descending from the heavens.
This time, their attacks were not the futile, itch-scratching ones Ryan had mounted before.
The assault rifles held by the Worker Bee Six members were directly linked to their interfaces' energy systems. They were enhanced and equipped with heavy firepower modules, such as plasma projectors and small missile launchers. After their "synchronized transformation," their power increased several dozen times over. Dense beams of high-energy light and screaming plasma clusters shot with unerring precision at the Wailing Aggregation's massive, constantly writhing and churning body.
A series of explosions, infinitely more violent than any before, erupted on the monster's hideous body, composed of countless corpses. Foul, pitch-black fluids and scorched pieces of flesh flew everywhere.
This sudden, professional, and incredibly brutal battle scene left the three rookies of the "Pathfinder" squad, who had just been on the brink of death, dumbfounded. They temporarily forgot their fear.
"So, this is the true, battle-hardened frontline elite of the Pan-Abyssal Federation?"
"Is this the world-shattering power that a 'Forced Resonance Interface' can unleash in the hands of experienced Synchronizers?"
Ryan's mouth hung open, and he subconsciously stopped firing his overheated rifle. He watched the agile figures of Jones's squad weave through the battlefield like phantoms; each attack tore off large chunks of flesh. His heart filled with indescribable admiration and yearning, as well as a deep sense of shame.
Compared to these Federation soldiers who had truly crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, his so-called "valour," his smug satisfaction from achieving a few high scores in simulated training, seemed like a ridiculous children's game.
Nadeshiko had also temporarily forgotten to cry. She gripped the cold medical scanner tightly, her eyes fixed on the battlefield, which was as brutal and magnificent as an apocalyptic movie. Their ability to move nimbly, shoot accurately, and achieve perfect, unspoken coordination amidst a hail of bullets and the monster's terrifying roars left her deeply shocked.
However, Shen Kai's attention was not solely focused on the battle's intensity and brutality.
His unique "Colorless Core" perception allowed him to "see" and "feel" the deeper things hidden beneath the battlefield, beneath the torrent of energy and clash of steel.
He could see that the colors emanating from the seemingly powerful interfaces of Jones's squad, though bright, were unstable at their core and showed faint, web-like, ominous cracks. These were the marks of irreversible energy erosion left from long-term combat in the deep zone and frequent use of their cores' power.
Beneath Sergeant Jones's rough and boisterous roars, he could keenly perceive a deeply hidden sense of profound helplessness, exhaustion, and resolve. It was as if Jones had long foreseen some unavoidable, tragic conclusion.
What are these Federation veterans carrying on their shoulders as they fight?
Shen Kai noticed that Captain Gestalt, who had kept a tactical distance from Jones's squad to provide support, suddenly engaged in a rapid, silent exchange with Sergeant Jones via an encrypted, private communication channel during an extremely brief lull in the fighting.
Shen Kai couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could clearly see that the lead-gray energy aura around Captain Gestalt had grown gloomier, angrier, and more frigid during the conversation.
Something was wrong.
Some deeper conspiracy—something they, as rookies, knew nothing about—was churning silently beneath this bloody battlefield.
The very instant this thought occurred to him, the situation on the battlefield took a sudden turn that no one could have anticipated. The "Wailing Aggregation," which had seemed completely suppressed and was passively taking a beating under Worker Bee Six's stormy assault, suddenly let out a terrifying roar—one more shrill, furious, and venomous than any before.