Chapter 10

The people present, though often referred to as "militia grunts," were still regular troops of the community, and they had at least a basic level of competence. The soldiers, though full of resentment, still carried out the previous orders.

Yu Lian was relatively satisfied. Among all the military organizations he had seen, their quality was at least not the worst.

Thus, when Ina's warning came, everyone was in their designated tactical positions within a minute.

At this point, Yu Lian also climbed to a sentry gun on the outer wall and inspected the overly primitive operating system.

It was hand-cranked, with no fire control.

The intersection of the primitive and the future, the classical and the conservative, hidden beneath the vast expanse of the starry sea, was a world filled with dazzling and splendid wonders!

This is what a true space opera should be, right?

Yu Lian sighed as he loaded a box of steel nail shells into the magazine. At this moment, under the blazing sunlight, most people finally saw the black dots emerging from the hazy heat waves.

The soldiers made a brief commotion but were quickly silenced by Lieutenant Monteson and Ina.

"Indeed..." Yu Lian sighed, focusing intently on the approaching black dots, searching for smaller but more threatening targets.

"Sir, sir, will we survive?" Yu Lian heard a trembling voice behind him and glanced sideways to see a young private, about his age, holding a gun and tightly hugging an ammunition box, as if that could give him a bit of security.

He seemed to be the loader for this machine gun, a certain Bunaji.

"I'll do my best! You also protect yourself, don't forget what you learned in boot camp."

The other person seemed to tremble even more, like a stray puppy, showing a look of hope. Yu Lian knew what he wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to make irresponsible promises like "I will make sure everyone survives."

By this time, the black dots in the sky had grown tenfold in size. Everyone finally saw the shapes of those things.

They looked like giant legless centipedes with huge bat wings, with four spines on their heads, and a large mouth that took up more than half of their head. Their bodies were covered in rugged armor, even the supposedly vulnerable undersides were well-protected.

"Dragon bugs... tsk, as long as you haven't evolved, you're still the weakest! The real threat is the swarm of mosquitoes! Uh, fortunately... there shouldn't be any now."

Yu Lian knew that when those tiny things, like sparrows, swarmed like locusts, even the mighty Titan ships that roamed the starry seas would be at a loss.

The dragon bugs were getting closer, making a piercing "wulala" sound, like the screeching of harpies.

Yu Lian looked at the soldiers who had already raised their weapons, then glanced at the trembling private Bunaji still hugging the ammunition box, and finally signaled to Ina on the other tower. He was sure she would see it.

He then turned his attention to the approaching enemies. The sentry gun he operated had no fire control, no rangefinder, and was hand-cranked. If there was anything better than a Phalanx CIWS, it was the reliance on the shooter's skill, which was very individualistic and heroic, fitting the universe he was in.

At this moment, he could only use his eyes to judge the best time to fire. Fortunately, he had accumulated a lot of experience in this area in his previous life.

"2000... 1500... 1200..." Yu Lian silently judged the distance in his mind, while the enemies' roars grew louder. The four spines in the center of their mouths had opened, and the blade bugs inside were becoming visible, exuding a chilling pressure.

"Ahh... Mom, mom..." the loader cried out.

...Why did you join the military? Yu Lian wanted to sympathize with him but couldn't, and he forcefully pulled the crank.

The firepower was like a whip of light, slicing through a dragon bug's head and the blade bug that had already climbed to its mouth.

Almost simultaneously, Ina also opened fire. This time she didn't use a three-shot burst but pulled the crank, firing a dozen shells in an instant, sweeping away three dragon bugs.

...Well, Yu Lian had to admit that even with fire control radar, it would be hard to achieve such results. This was the most magical and charming aspect of this world.

"A natural sniper, and a natural gunner! She will eventually awaken 'Star Hunter,' which is only fitting. Or rather, there is no better path for her than Star Hunter."

The other sentry guns also opened fire, not as accurately, but at least they formed a curtain of fire to restrict the enemies' movements. Yu Lian was not entirely satisfied; a truly well-trained gunner could use a hand-cranked anti-aircraft gun to form a dense curtain of fire in space combat, even against high-level Awakened pilots in their emblem machines, forcing them into a narrow space until they were torn apart. The elite forces of the Empire and the Alliance could do it, and so could the unit he had served in during his younger days in his previous life.

Time flies, truly a cause for sighs!

Perhaps it was hard to go from luxury to simplicity. Yu Lian had served in the most elite units and fought the toughest enemies, so he naturally found his current teammates lacking, but the militia soldiers were still trying their best to shoot and prevent the flying monsters from getting closer.

The soldiers on the walls and in the trenches were also preparing to join the shooting but were stopped by their sergeants, as per Yu Lian's prior arrangements.

Lieutenant Monteson had also appeared in the trench outside the wall, holding his beloved chainsword and his rifle, quietly smoking a cigarette. He was considering how much of the loot he should give to the Lunar to get a good word from him in front of Commander Bonaparte.

"Sir, look ahead!" Sergeant Youyou shouted from the outer wall.

"I see, they're here," the lieutenant continued to smoke, watching the dust rise and grow larger in his line of sight until he could clearly see the monsters in the dust.

There were smaller monsters like clawed hyenas and armored cobras, and larger ones like eight-legged scorpions, which were likely more powerful.

"The New Jade Gate colony has been established for a few decades, and they didn't know about these things? What kind of geniuses are in the intelligence department? Uh, the higher-ups do seem to be useless. The only thing they've learned is to eat snacks with their d*cks!"

The lieutenant took a big puff of the remaining half of his cigarette, flicked the butt at the approaching insect swarm, and raised his rifle expressionlessly.

"Bang, bang, bang!" A nearly perfect three-shot burst. Lieutenant Monteson, though not well-educated, was eager to learn. If the Lunar kid could shoot like that, it must be a shooting technique mastered by elite units.

In an instant, the steel nail bullets crossed over 300 meters, shattering the central nervous system of a clawed bug.

The soldiers in the trench cheered for the lieutenant's marksmanship, and the lieutenant looked proud, though a bit embarrassed. He had actually aimed at the "cobra" next to it.

As a veteran (meow, for some reason, this also sounds harmonious), Mr. Monteson was quite self-aware and didn't think he could hit the "eight-legged spider" from that distance—uh, the Lunar had said the vital point was between the two large claws, which was smaller than a human head.

Regardless, the lieutenant's "marksmanship" boosted everyone's morale, and the soldiers started firing.

The sentry guns and the three-tiered firing positions formed an almost impenetrable curtain of fire, creating a barrier that the insects could not cross. The air was filled with flying bullets and dust, and the insects' limbs and fluids splattered everywhere, but none could cross the death line. Their cries were not of pain but of frustration.

...If it were a normal firepower configuration, they might have already reached us, the lieutenant thought. He felt his chainsword was thirsty, but he also thought it was better this way, no need to take any risks.

The Lunar, truly a Lunar!

In the sky, with Ina's marksmanship, the hand-cranked anti-aircraft guns achieved a high hit rate. The current dragon bugs were still the first batch of prototypes, far from the later versions that could withstand battleship particle cannons and hive missiles in space. Once hit by 20mm high-carbon steel nail shells, they lost their combat ability.

Soon, more than half of the insects on the ground and in the air were either killed or severely injured.

The young private Bunaji, hiding behind the turret, stopped crying for his mother and stared at Yu Lian's back with obvious admiration. He had seen the whole process and knew who had arranged the defenses.

"Load the shells!" Yu Lian shouted.

The young private took almost a second to react, then hurriedly opened the magazine below the turret, pulled out the empty box, and pushed in a new box of steel nails.

Others were getting more relaxed, but Yu Lian remained tense. He didn't think the enemy had only these tricks. If they were here to eliminate witnesses, they wouldn't stop until they achieved their goal. They might not have the swarm of mosquitoes' technology, but they had the dragon bugs. So, would they...

Thinking of this, Yu Lian felt a tightness in his chest, as if a dark cloud had covered his head. He then realized that it wasn't just a feeling; it was actually happening.

A massive creature, similar to the dragon bugs but over ten meters long, appeared from the sky, silently pouncing down, now only a hundred meters away.