Chapter 175: They Died Early Under the Feet of Man-Made Monsters
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Lin Xu grabbed a steel rebar and cleared the small Zerg around the church. Then he retreated into the ruined walls of the Whispering Church. He stepped over the rubble pile to the side door and knocked. Silence stretched around him; not a sound.
Thinking he might have knocked too lightly, Lin Xu hit the bulletproof door harder, making it bang loudly. After five knocks, he stepped back and waited. After a moment, a narrow crack appeared in the door, and a cautious eye peeked out.
Seeing Lin Xu covered head to toe in dust, the eye drew a breath, rolled to confirm there was no other threat behind Lin Xu, then the door opened a little wider.
“Dr. Lin, come in quickly!” the mathematician beckoned. Lin Xu squeezed through the gap into the safe room. The mathematician closed the door again, locking it securely, sealing out all the smoke and explosions.
Inside the safe room, silence reigned. About a dozen Whispering Church followers sat on benches, all shepherded in by Brumer after the Zerg attack. They all turned their heads simultaneously toward the battle-worn Lin Xu, eyes filled with awe, their throats tight with words they couldn’t say.
These followers were all scientists working on Haven. They wore neat suits and tidy hair, but the recent scramble had left them looking disheveled. Lin Xu stood out among them.
His pure black spacesuit and boots were coated with ash and mud, even bearing holes corroded by Zerg bodily fluids—battle scars all over. He rolled up his sleeves to move more freely and stepped forward. “Any water?” he asked.
A computer scientist carefully handed him a bottle of purified water. Lin Xu took it and drank deeply. The scientist glanced at Lin Xu’s bulging forearm muscles, then down at his own thin arms and quietly tugged at his sleeve in shame.
After finishing the whole bottle, Lin Xu finally eased his thirst. He closed the cap and hadn’t yet found a place to toss the empty bottle when the same computer scientist silently reached for it and got up to throw it away. Lin Xu looked toward Brumer. “Any concrete news? Why did the Zerg attack Haven?”
“The Zerg must have come from the Ent Nebula,” Brumer said, still calm. “The signal is limited here; I can’t contact the outside. All I know is Haven’s defenses aren’t enough to handle a large Zerg invasion.”
“The First Legion’s Florence defense line stands before the Ent Nebula. If the Zerg want to come through, they’d have to break the Florence line first,” Lin Xu’s gaze grew serious. “But no related news has appeared in the Imperial records. The Zerg might have slipped through a loophole in the Florence defense.”
“That’s possible. But there are still Imperial troops stationed around Haven on the Sword of Michael defense line. I need to contact them,” Brumer paused. “Dr. Lin, can you take me to the Council Building? They have special equipment there that can communicate directly with the Sword of Michael commanders.”
“I can’t bring people into a spatial-temporal rift.”
“What about flying there?”
“Zerg can fly, too.”
“But this…” Brumer’s forced composure cracked, revealing his anxiety. “I’m the Council Chairman. Many things need my leadership. I can’t stay hiding here all the time.”
“What I mean is,” Lin Xu lowered his voice, “I can take you on foot through the surface. It’s safer. But are you mentally prepared?”
“Of course.” Brumer didn’t hesitate.
“Follow me.”
Lin Xu took another bottle of purified water from the computer scientist and drank it down. The scientist stared blankly as the two prepared to rush into the Zerg-infested area and left the safe room.
“Be careful!” the mathematician and the scientist called after their backs in unison. Brumer waved back as they turned away, but Lin Xu only slightly tilted his face, saying nothing more.
Stepping outside, Brumer almost tripped the moment his foot landed on the rubble. Lin Xu grabbed his arm and helped him up. “I cleared the nearby area once. No Zerg for now.”
Brumer’s heart raced with lingering fear, but despite it, he forced himself to stand and followed Lin Xu forward. Some things had to be done. They couldn’t run away. Besides, when the nest falls, no egg remains intact.
They found the flyer. Lin Xu took the pilot seat and switched to ground mode. At Brumer’s direction, he hit the throttle and sped toward the Council Building in the city center.
Brumer’s route skirted the burning, chaotic tech park. Small Zerg blocking the way could be rammed aside, but most of the time Lin Xu swerved to reduce damage to the flyer’s hull. Brumer buckled his seatbelt but still felt dizzy from the jolts. Lin Xu kept his eyes locked on the road ahead, his gaze sharp as an eagle’s.
Suddenly, he grabbed Brumer’s suit shoulder pad and yanked him toward himself. “Get under the seat!” he shouted. The next moment, a Zerg limb pierced through the roof, appearing right where Brumer had just been.
Brumer held his breath, terrified. The Zerg appendage writhed mere inches above his head, its sharp tip stained with someone’s blood, oxidized black. The Zerg stomped loudly, leaving several dents in the roof.
Lin Xu looked down and shouted, “Reach out! Hold the steering wheel steady.” Brumer instinctively obeyed, only to watch in horror as Lin Xu released the wheel, stood up in the driver’s seat, and extended his fingers into razor-sharp claws, slashing through the Zerg limb in one strike.
Half the limb fell onto the seat, the dripping fluid burning a scorch mark into the leather. The Zerg crouched on the roof roared in pain. Lin Xu immediately punched upward, claws piercing the Zerg’s chest and abdomen, then twisted his wrist, flinging the corpse away.
The Zerg body tumbled and spun on the road, quickly falling behind the flyer until it disappeared from view. Blood dripped from the roof, and the seat bore the corpse’s weight. Lin Xu glanced at Brumer, curled up under the seat hugging his knees. “Stay right there. It’s safer.”
Brumer was still frozen, staring at the Zerg limb. Lin Xu resumed driving. He could already see the spire of the Council Building and no longer needed Brumer’s directions.
As they entered the city, the once-beautiful scenery lay ruined by the massive forms of Zerg. Rubble mixed with the bodies of those who had dedicated their lives to human scientific progress—now dead prematurely beneath the feet of monsters humans had created.
Lin Xu pressed his lips tight and pulled back his gaze, focusing on maneuvering the ground-mode flyer through the eight long legs of a B-Class arthropod Zerg. He didn’t dare disembark to fight. His most urgent mission was to get Brumer to the Council and contact the military to clear the Zerg.
Lin Xu’s strength was enough to keep himself safe from Zerg but not to save the whole planet. In the distance, a skyscraper toppled as an A-Class Zerg pushed it over. Thick clouds of dust rose like a massive fog, accompanied by thunderous crashes — the earth shaking as if during an earthquake.
Human industrial creations were no match for biological weapons. After weaving through several blocks, a building flying Haven’s blue flag came into view. Lin Xu didn’t stop. He slammed the accelerator, crashing through the glass on the first floor and charging inside.
Brumer felt dazed from the jolt. When Lin Xu pulled him from the passenger seat, he was still bewildered, unsure how he had ended up inside the building.
“Where’s the communication equipment?” Lin Xu grabbed his shoulder, trying to rouse him. The question seemed to spark something in Brumer. He scrambled up in a flash. “Top floor—seventh floor!”
His hands and legs still trembled, but he wasted no time rushing upstairs. Lin Xu noticed a gutted security guard’s body in a corner. He stepped around it and pulled a police energy pistol from the guard’s holster.
Near the corpse, chaotic footprints led toward the locked door of the underground shelter. Those were left by people fleeing into the bomb shelter.
Haven had many evacuation facilities. The bodies Lin Xu had seen so far were mostly people who hadn’t escaped in time. A large number had taken refuge in the shelters underground.
The shelters had supplies but wouldn’t last long. They had to clear the Zerg from Haven quickly. Otherwise, disaster would come to humanity itself.
Lin Xu grabbed the pistol and hurried after Brumer, knowing better than to use the elevator during such an emergency.
The climb left Brumer breathless. When Lin Xu caught up, he hoisted him onto his shoulder and dashed up the stairs to the seventh floor. With one kick, Lin Xu burst open the only door on that floor.
“Ahhh!” Screams echoed out. There were still people in the room. Lin Xu’s kick against the door made them think Zerg had broken in, and they scattered behind obstacles. Brumer flipped off Lin Xu’s back and hurriedly said, “It’s me, Brumer!”
The panicked people slowly stood up from behind tables. When they saw Brumer’s face, they sighed in relief. A woman stepped forward and dragged Brumer toward the communication equipment. “Thank God you’re here. We almost thought you died halfway. We were about to initiate emergency succession procedures.”
“I’m alive, I’m alive, Rita,” Brumer said. “I need to contact the Sword of Michael defense line. Let’s get the connection through quickly.”
Everyone in the room now was a Council member trying to use the last working equipment to contact the outside world. But only the chairman had the authority to activate it—and fortunately, Brumer had arrived just in time.
Zerg tore through the city in the distance. They had already destroyed the climate control systems on Haven. A fierce wind swept in from the horizon, carrying ash from toppled skyscrapers into the streets.
The people inside closed all the windows to avoid inhaling harmful dust. The communication link was established three minutes later. Brumer’s expression relaxed for only two seconds.
“The Sword of Michael is under Zerg attack too?”
“What do you mean we can only wait for Imperial support? The First Legion is thousands of light-years away. By the time they get here, everyone on Haven will be dead!”
“The entire Long Whale Region… you have no weapons and can’t fight back yourselves? You…”
An explosion suddenly erupted from the other side. The officer on the line spoke urgently to Brumer, said a hurried goodbye, and hung up. Those overhearing the fragments of conversation turned grim. Rita asked, “No one’s coming to save us?”
“There is, but it will take a long time. Michael’s Sword itself can barely hold. They’re waiting for help too.”
Silence fell over the room. Leaning on the table, Brumer rubbed his face tiredly, trying to calm himself. He asked the other two Council members, “What’s the situation in other cities?”
Rita glanced at Lin Xu. She didn’t remember when such a young man had appeared beside Brumer. Judging by their situation, it seemed this young man had crossed the Zerg horde to bring Brumer here. During the call, Brumer hadn’t asked him to stay out of sight.
So Rita didn’t bother with it and answered Brumer, “The Zerg seem very sensitive to the frequencies emitted by signal bases. Seventy percent of the usual signal bases have been destroyed. We’ve activated backup bases that can restore about fifty percent of communications, but the power grid is heavily damaged. Many AI control centers are destroyed, so we have little computing power left.
“The attacks are concentrated in the Southern and Western continents. The Zerg rarely land on oceanic islands. The Southern and Western Autonomous Committees have reported they’re moving survivors into underground shelters.
“Exact casualty figures aren’t available yet. Satellite images show most cities have over 40% destruction. The chemical lab in Casido City was hit by the Zerg, causing an explosion that affected the entire urban area.
“The Northern Hemisphere is relatively safe. They’re trying to contact the Imperial, but if it drags on, the Zerg will spread there as well.”
“What about the security forces?” Brumer asked.
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