Chapter 227: The Weight of a Five-Star General!
The voice outside faded, but the building remained silent.
As soldiers, the members of the Peregrine Squad were disciplined professionals.
Even the timid Fiolina would never betray her comrades, let alone after Qin Ming had just saved her life during the train crash, shielding her with his own body.
Of course, that was mostly because Kasamoto Eri had dragged her into Qin Ming's protective grasp.
With such a debt of gratitude, Fiolina was even less likely to sell Qin Ming out.
Seeing that the building remained completely quiet, and understanding that his offer had been thoroughly rejected, the man outside shook his head, though he didn't seem angry.
Instead, he smirked, looking up at the building with amusement.
Behind him, a large number of soldiers were busy preparing their weapons, gearing up for the assault on the building.
With both his troops and the allied adventurers ready to attack, the man didn't immediately give the order to storm the building. Instead, he raised his megaphone again, intending to pile on the psychological pressure and drive the defenders to despair—especially Qin Ming, the adventurer who had inflicted such heavy losses on them.
"Major Hyena! Esteemed Frontline Commander! Surely, you're not still pinning your hopes on your little coordinated assault plan, are you? Waiting for your reinforcements to launch an attack? I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you!"
Grinning brightly, the man stared at the building, his expression radiating smugness.
"I've already reinforced our defenses. Whether by air or land, this city is now an impenetrable fortress! Oh, and I even sent a team to launch a preemptive strike on your camp. By now, they're probably already fighting, so I wouldn't count on them coming to rescue you anytime soon. Your plan is finished!"
Hearing this, Kasamoto Eri and the others widened their eyes in shock.
Inside the building, Qin Ming, leaning against a wall near a window, felt his eye twitch ever so slightly.
Silent until now, he finally spoke up, engaging the man outside in conversation for the first time.
"There are traitors in our army?"
"Do you even need to ask? Or, rather, wouldn't it be stranger if there weren't any?"
"They leaked my operational plans?"
"There's no such thing as a wall that doesn't let wind through. You know as well as I do how many tricks we adventurers have up our sleeves. Even if you used some special detection ability to root out all the adventurers in your army and avoid infiltration, with our means, how hard do you think it is to make a regular soldier spill some intel?"
"Not hard. It's definitely not hard."
Recalling the adventurers' bizarre skills, strange abilities, and all manner of ridiculous talents, Qin Ming's brow furrowed slightly.
Hearing his response, the man outside grinned and raised the megaphone again.
"So, you still refuse to surrender? Honestly, I admire you. To single-handedly disrupt our plans this much—you truly are a capable man. But one person's strength has its limits. A lone wolf doesn't get far. So, here's one last chance: join us, or die."
As his words echoed, a silence fell over the battlefield.
Several seconds passed before Qin Ming, leaning against the wall, suddenly lowered his head and chuckled.
Hearing his laugh, the man outside frowned in confusion. Before he could figure out what was so funny, Qin Ming spoke again.
"Tell me, who told you that ground troops were my main force?"
"What?!"
"That's enough chit-chat. Old Deng! Now!"
Pulling a large, old-fashioned satellite phone from his belt, Qin Ming shouted into it.
The next second, the rebel soldiers surrounding the building suddenly noticed the sky darkening above them.
Confused, they instinctively looked up—and the sight made their eyes widen in shock.
It wasn't just them. Even the adventurers and the smirking man with the megaphone stared upward in disbelief, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
Above them, descending slowly from the sky, was a massive, ancient Japanese warship.
Its colossal size rivaled that of a small island, yet its deck bristled with countless modern weapons.
As the ship's side panels opened, squadrons of fighter jets and bombers poured out, diving toward the city below.
Even worse, waves of soldiers, clutching weapons, began leaping from the ship like raindrops. At a certain altitude, their parachutes deployed in unison, slowing their descent.
Paratroopers descend! Aircraft engage!
The long-awaited aerial support for Qin Ming had finally arrived!
And as for that massive aerial carrier in the sky? It was none other than the KOF team's prized treasure that had been seized earlier—the Sky Fortress!
Ground troops? What ground troops? Qin Ming never had a substantial ground force to begin with!
The core of his military power had always been his light infantry corps!
As for tanks, armored vehicles, and fighter jets? Those were just extras!
Infantry was the true backbone of his forces!
Since attacking head-on would result in significant casualties, Qin Ming couldn't bear to waste his resources like that.
Thus, his plan for the assault was simple: deploy paratroopers and air-drop his entire Hound Corps into the city!
Equipped with top-notch weapons, once armed with light and heavy machine guns, small squads of Hound soldiers could unleash terrifying firepower.
Urban combat was where the Hound Corps truly excelled!
And to prevent any mishaps—such as planes being unable to enter the area—Qin Ming had specifically requested the deployment of the Sky Fortress through General Jamie Foss.
Normally, a colossal vehicle that had just been captured wouldn't be approved for immediate use on the front lines.
But Jamie Foss was, after all, a five-star general with significant influence in the federal government.
Additionally, he justified the request by framing it as a test of new weapons, leaving the higher-ups with no reason to reject the proposal.
As a result, the Sky Fortress—freshly retrofitted—armed with new weapons and loaded with a large contingent of aerial fighters and Hound Corps soldiers, had soared through the skies to join the fray.
What's that? City air defenses?
They couldn't even take down this behemoth of a fortress during the entire frontline battle! And now, faced with nothing more than the hastily reinforced air defenses of a mere town? Sure, they might manage to shoot down a few planes, but dreaming of taking down the Sky Fortress was pure fantasy!
From the skies above, the massive fortress loomed like a dark cloud over the city, unleashing a relentless barrage of firepower onto the ground below.
Bombers and fighter jets swarmed in the air, engaging in intense dogfights with the enemy's aerial units.
Meanwhile, countless soldiers parachuted from the fortress, landing with weapons in hand and charging toward the enemy with loud battle cries.
In an instant, the entire city was engulfed in the chaos of war.
Listening to the gunfire erupting from every direction, the man sitting atop a tank was completely stunned.
From the mouths of his fellow adventurers embedded within the regular army, he had only learned that Qin Ming planned to launch an assault on the city.
At most, they had managed to coerce a few junior officers into revealing that Qin Ming had applied to the high command for aerial reinforcements.
But how could he have anticipated that someone would abandon tanks, armored vehicles, and other heavy weapons entirely, opting instead to airdrop their infantry into the city and dive headfirst into the bloodiest kind of urban combat? Was this guy insane?!
Even more unbelievable was the fact that Qin Ming—who had only recently been promoted to the rank of major—had somehow convinced the high command to deploy the Sky Fortress, which had been captured less than a week ago!
How could someone like him have that kind of pull?!
Staring at the paratroopers descending from the fortress and the modified Sky Fortress raining firepower down on the city, the man was left completely speechless.
Meanwhile, aboard the Sky Fortress, General Jamie Foss, who had personally led the reinforcements, stood with his hands behind his back, gazing solemnly at the city below.
Did Qin Ming have enough influence to call him into action? Who could say? But Fiolina was, after all, his only daughter.
Knowing she was in danger, with her life hanging by a thread, there was no way Jamie Foss could remain indifferent.
Since Qin Ming had filed a request for reinforcements, Jamie Foss had naturally seized the opportunity to provide full support.
Not only had he brought the air force and the Sky Fortress, but he had also brought an entire contingent of Metal Slug tanks!
Twenty-four Type 4 tanks!
Eight Type 3 tanks!
Four Type 2 tanks!
And even one of the regular army's most prized possessions—the experimental Metal Slug tank, also known as Metal Slug Type 1 or the Prototype Model!
In other words, a dim gold-grade vehicle!
Do you think the authority of the federal army's five-star generals is just for show?!
Jamie Foss hadn't been exaggerating before—his word carried real weight in the military, and no one dared to defy him!