"Guys, I'm about to launch a tactical nuclear bomb!" shouted Zhou Yuan, as he loaded the bomb into the launcher and set the detonation to trigger on impact.
"Be careful not to blow us up too!"
"Throw the bomb outside, the valley will shield us from the blast!"
The teammates responded, agreeing to launch the tactical nuclear bomb but also reminding Zhou Yuan of the potential danger of detonating it on the ground. It could potentially harm them as well.
"Don't worry, I've calculated the distance!" Zhou Yuan reassured them, aiming the bomb at the top of the valley entrance.
"Swoosh!"
Three seconds later, the tactical nuclear bomb soared into the sky, leaving behind a trail of smoke as it swiftly descended outside the valley.
"The tactical nuclear bomb has been launched!"
"Prepare for the incoming shockwave, go!"
Zhou Yuan immediately put down the launcher and gestured for everyone to take cover. He himself took refuge behind the corpse of a soldier insect.
"Boom!"
Approximately three seconds later, the bomb landed and detonated, triggering a mushroom cloud that illuminated the dark night.
Although the mushroom cloud was relatively small, it still lit up the surroundings. Along with the disappearing darkness came a wave of soldier insects.
Looking out from the valley entrance, all the soldier insects within their line of sight had vanished, leaving only those that had already entered the valley.
"Whoosh!"
At that moment, the shockwave rushed into the valley. While most of it was blocked by the valley entrance, a small portion remained powerful enough to break through.
Like a Category 10 typhoon, it unleashed its force as soon as it entered the valley, overturning all soldier insects in its path.
With these soldier insects acting as obstacles, the impact of the shockwave on the team was significantly reduced. Zhou Yuan only stumbled, and the others had minor injuries, rolling around like a bunch of donkeys.
"Guys, get up quickly!"
"There are still bugs on our flanks, I'm going for a second launch!"
Zhou Yuan called out to his teammates, not wasting any time as he picked up another launcher and loaded the second tactical nuclear bomb.
Three on the ground, one more behind him.
On this mission, the team brought a total of fourteen tactical nuclear bombs.
Just one bomb?
No way!
The darkness had already enveloped the land; they needed light!
"Let's do it! We'll handle the inside, and you take care of the outside!"
"Use the nuclear bomb to obliterate these damn pests!"
Upon hearing that Zhou Yuan was going to launch another tactical nuclear bomb, the teammates roared with excitement, their morale boosted.
The insect tide was formidable, but they had a good defensive position, the firepower of fifteen defense soldiers, reserves of ammunition from the research center, and tactical nuclear bombs.
They had no fear at all!
Of course, they can't continue to be deadlocked like this. They need to act quickly.
They must evacuate from here before all the ammunition is used up, or it will be game over.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
While teammates were clearing out the bugs in the valley, Zhou Yuan launched the second tactical nuclear bomb, followed closely by the third one.
The targets were the left and right flanks.
He planned to obliterate all the bugs on the periphery of the valley in one go.
This time, he couldn't see the situation outside because the high slopes on both sides were two to three hundred meters high, and he could only see the mushroom cloud rising in the distance.
"Shit!"
At this moment, a furious shout came from behind Zhou Yuan.
He turned around to see that Buck had already brought the research personnel up, carrying Morgan on his back, nearly being overturned by the shockwave from the valley.
Except for a few injured research personnel, everyone else had picked up quite a few firearms on the way and chose to join the defense line.
They had all received shooting training, and while their marksmanship and experience might not be top-notch, the combined firepower could still be helpful.
"Steve, where are you?"
After putting down Morgan, Buck immediately contacted the transport plane pilot.
"Behind you, landing in five seconds!"
While Zhou Yuan and the others were holding off the swarm of bugs, Steve had already found a relatively flat landing point right behind the entrance to the research center.
If it weren't for the impact of the tactical nuclear bomb and its effect on the transport plane, he would have landed by now.
"Very good!"
"Contract the defense line, prepare to evacuate!"
Buck finally breathed a sigh of relief, gesturing for everyone to come closer to him to protect the research personnel.
After giving the order, he also pointed at Zhou Yuan with a serious expression, "Launch a few more tactical nuclear bombs outside. I don't want any single bug to charge in front of General Morgan!"
"Leave it to me!"
Zhou Yuan replied loudly, feeling ecstatic inside.
He thought they would have to leave right away, but he didn't expect to be able to launch a few more tactical nuclear bombs.
Well, since it's the captain's order, he had to execute it!
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
After the transport plane successfully landed, Zhou Yuan launched three more tactical nuclear bombs outside the valley.
Considering that the transport plane would soon take off, he increased the altitude and targeted an area even farther away than before.
The team still had enough ammunition to deal with the visible bugs in front of them; he just needed to cut off the enemy's forces.
"Guys, it's time to retreat!"
At this point, Buck had already sent all the research personnel onto the transport plane.
He turned up the volume on his earpiece and shouted to call the members still fighting the bugs and the defenders.
"Hurry up!"
"Go!"
"You go first!"
The voices of Zhou Yuan, Storm, and Salvage all sounded at the same time, urging everyone to retreat while they themselves chose to cover the rear.
"Bang!"
Hearing the words of Zhou Yuan and the others, the rest of the people turned and ran.
But they hadn't run a few steps before abruptly stopping.
In the space between them and the transport plane, the ground began to shake violently as if it had been hit by a pile driver, and the shaking didn't stop.
"The Giant Beetle is attacking!"
Zhou Yuan shouted almost in a roar, and everyone present clearly knew what the Giant Beetle was. They quickly moved away from the shaking ground, not daring to approach that area.
"Bang!"
They had barely moved for two seconds when the ground suddenly exploded.
The ice and rock that were originally as hard as steel were now shattered as if someone had flicked them from beneath the ground.
Fragments of rocks and ice flew everywhere, and replacing them on the ground was an incredibly massive black shadow.
It was the back of the tank beetle!