Eye of the Storm
Rumble—!
Cutting through the dust of the harsh wasteland, a massive armored procession was advancing toward the southeast.
It was Ark 86’s main armored unit, composed of the ARX-12 Grendel armored vehicles and Three-Guard multi-purpose vehicles.
Their majesty was truly imposing, but the air inside the command armored vehicle at the center of the procession was suffocatingly heavy.
"Fleet Commander, why is your expression so stiff?"
The seat of honor in the back.
It was because of the old man lounging in a high-end leather seat, leisurely sipping tea.
With thinning white hair and dressed in a luxurious formal uniform, he was Lin Zhentian, one of the Great Elders of the Lin family and the real power behind Ark 86.
"...It is nothing, Elder."
Lin Xiaolin, sitting in the fleet commander's seat, replied shortly, forcing down her emotions.
However, the leather of the armrest she was gripping was already twisted and nearly torn by her nails.
"Ho ho, don't be so harsh. When a man of ambition ventures out, it's only natural for him to desire achievement. Is that not simply the vigor of youth?"
"Vigor...?"
Lin Xiaolin's eyebrow twitched.
"Platoon Leader Lin Ao ignored my stand-by order. Furthermore, he deviated from the reported route and moved troops independently. This is a clear violation of military law and an act of insubordination."
"Aish, tsk. That's your problem. You lack flexibility."
Lin Zhentian clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively.
"He is a direct descendant of our Lin family. An heir to the great bloodline. Will it really be a disaster if a talent destined to be the next fleet commander ignores a few petty regulations?"
"……."
Lin Xiaolin bit her lip so hard that blood began to bead at the spot.
She should have found a way to shake that damn old man off from the moment he said he was coming along on the expedition.
Direct bloodline—she couldn't understand why he placed such importance on that cursed lineage, which provided absolutely no help in surviving this ruthless world.
Parasites who crave only power despite their incompetence.
What was the point of her operating the Ark and raising troops with a heart that felt like it was vomiting blood?
The incompetent direct descendants and the Council of Elders at the peak of power were clinging like leeches, sucking the lifeblood out of the Ark.
Just as she was suppressing the urge to stop the vehicle right now and dump the old man in the middle of the wasteland...
Crackle. Crackle-crackle!
The communicator rang.
[Reporting, Fleet Commander.]
"...What is it?"
[At a point 2km ahead, friendly ECHO identification signals have been detected. It is the Pathfinder squad, Zero and Bait.]
"……The Pathfinder? Attempt contact immediately."
Lin Xiaolin's brow furrowed deeply at her subordinate's report.
The Pathfinder squad was the reconnaissance squad sent to Hongwei-7 to find the whereabouts of the Hachishakusama.
According to the plan, they should have linked up with Lin Ao's vanguard and moving together right now.
Then why were they separated?
Could it be—?!
An ominous premonition shot down her spine.
A moment later, the screen connected, and upon seeing the state of the two ECHOs, Lin Xiaolin slammed her fist onto the dashboard with a loud bang!
The appearance of Zero and Bait on the screen was disastrous.
Zero's arm was so damaged it was practically dangling from the socket, and one of Bait's optical sensors was shattered, making her half blind.
It seemed they had fought consecutive battles after being severely beaten by someone.
"What happened?! Weren't you supposed to have linked up with Platoon Leader Lin Ao? Why do you look like that!!"
[…We are sorry.]
Lin Xiaolin's eyes sharpened as she watched the two ECHOs bow their heads. Even without hearing it, she could picture exactly how the situation had unfolded in her mind.
"Where is the Platoon Leader?"
[Upon hearing that the Hachishakusama existed in Hongwei-7, he headed in that direction.]
"Ha... Of course he did."
Lin Xiaolin rubbed her face with her hand, looking exhausted.
According to the Black Crow guild's information, a Named-grade Anomaly truly existed. And Lin Ao, blinded by his desire for accomplishments, seemed to have rushed there without a second thought.
"So, did you encounter the Named-grade?"
[We did not have a direct encounter.]
Zero continued the report in a trembling voice.
"Why?"
[Uh… as we already reported to Platoon Leader Lin Ao, Hongwei-7 was an area occupied by either Wanderers or an unidentified group.]
"An unidentified group...?"
[Yes. When we arrived, they had already shot down a Troller-class Mobile Aircraft Carrier.]
"What?"
Lin Xiaolin's pupils shook.
A Troller-class Mobile Aircraft Carrier.
If they were capable of shooting down something that was practically an aerial fortress of the Astral, it meant a significant level of force was stationed in Hongwei.
However… there were no remaining Arks in Hongwei-7.
The closest Ark to Hongwei is Ark 69. But that Ark was completely destroyed by the Crawler Queen.
A mere group of Wanderers couldn't possibly handle an Astral Troller-class Mobile Aircraft Carrier, so it had to be a regular army.
"What was the scale of their force?"
[We couldn't determine the exact size. However, Bastions were deployed, and a squad that appeared to be an Original Squad was guarding the area.]
"An Original Squad…."
With the following report, Lin Xiaolin became certain that the forces in Hongwei-7 were the highly armed regular army of an Ark.
Though the exact situation was unknown, it seemed there was a surviving Ark in the vicinity.
The problem was that Lin Ao had led his troops and crawled right into the city occupied by that Ark of his own volition.
"That stupid piece of shit…"
Lin Xiaolin clenched her fist tight once more.
Looking at it, he probably moved his troops, thinking it would be like the incident with Ark 74…
The bastard had moved troops independently without even reporting such critical information. This was nothing less than a disregard and challenge to her authority.
"Ho ho—! The boy certainly has guts!"
In the midst of this, Lin Zhentian, who failed to grasp the gravity of the situation, let out a hearty laugh and chimed in, pushing Lin Xiaolin's patience to its limit.
She glared at the driver with cold, frozen eyes.
"All units, maximum engine output."
Murderous intent dripped from her voice.
"Increase speed and head for Hongwei."
Rumble—!!
The armored force raced forward, kicking up clouds of dust.
How many hours had they driven in that reckless charge? Finally, the traces of a gruesome battlefield came into view.
"...What is this?"
They were in the middle of the wasteland, still far from arriving at Hongwei.
However, the ground was overturned, and giant explosion craters were gouged out everywhere. And at the center of that carnage… debris engraved with the emblem of Ark 86 lay scattered.
"Stop."
At Lin Xiaolin's command, the armored procession came to a halt.
Lin Xiaolin immediately opened the hatch and stepped out, staring at the devastation with trembling eyes.
"W-What on earth is this……."
About a dozen armored vehicles, trampled and torn apart by something, were rolling around as lumps of scrap metal.
But the armored vehicles weren't the problem. The colorful fragments scattered across the ground. They were fragments of ECHOs.
"N-No friendly identification signals detected!"
"No signs of survival!!"
Screaming reports echoed from all directions.
Having fully disembarked and scanned the destroyed ECHOs, Lin Xiaolin's gaze fixed on a specific piece of wreckage.
A red upper body, torn in half and buried in a pile of dirt.
And a few dozen meters away, the remains of a cannon.
"Lingbo… Weilin…."
The Lotus, the elite Original Squad of Ark 86 that followed her rather than the direct bloodline or the Council of Elders, had been left here as miserable scrap metal.
"E-Enemy confirmed! Leviathan! These are traces of a Leviathan!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, ma’am. A Leviathan's front leg has been discovered."
"The casualties?"
"…The Lotus squad has been annihilated. Five mass-produced squads lost… twelve armored vehicles completely destroyed."
Lin Xiaolin closed her eyes shut.
Her vision went dark. It all made sense now.
Lin Ao, that piece of shit coward, must have thrown Lotus and his subordinates as bait to save his own skin when he was chased by the Leviathan, and then fled alone.
Nearly 30% of the Ark's total force….
It had essentially evaporated into thin air as the price for that vermin's life.
Slam!
"T-This… dogshit bastard…!"
Unable to contain herself, Lin Xiaolin slammed her fist into the ground. But there was something else that made her even angrier.
"W-What?! Annihilated! Then what about our Ao!? Is Lin Ao safe?!"
Even in a situation where 30% of the Ark's power had vanished in vain, Lin Zhentian was only worried about the direct bloodline.
Without even glancing at the wreckage of the Lotus squad, he grabbed Lin Xiaolin's shoulder and shook her back and forth.
"What are you doing, Fleet Commander! Why aren't you rushing to save Ao?! It's a Leviathan! That terrifying monster is targeting the future of our Ark!"
Lin Xiaolin slowly raised her head and glared at the old man.
Her eyes had already lost their reason and had turned ice-cold. Even Lin Zhentian flinched and shut his mouth at that chilling murderous intent.
"…Understood."
Lin Xiaolin growled lowly.
"The Leviathan's movement path?"
"Southeast."
"Southeast…. It seems it headed for Hongwei. And our units too…. Fine, all units move to Hongwei."
Along with the order, Lin Xiaolin pulled the slide of her pistol with a clack.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Gulp, gulp.
A heavy, thick liquid sliding down my throat.
It was on a completely different level from the sterilized milk or the milk powder from the world I lived in. It was nutty without a hint of fishiness, with a subtle sweetness lingering on the tip of my tongue and a smooth finish that made it easy to swallow.
It was such amazing milk that it wouldn't be strange to call it special premium milk.
"Phew..."
As I set the empty glass on the table with a satisfied sigh, Noah, who was beside me, asked in a soft voice.
"Is it to your taste, Commander?"
"Yeah, it was the best. It's really amazing. How on earth do you get such fresh milk in this wasteland?"
"Hehehe. That is a secret, Commander."
Noah brushed off the question with a smile.
Actually, it wasn't that I didn't know. What other way would there be to get milk like that here?
However, there was one puzzling point.
Clearly, when I was mixing bodies with Noah, caressing and sucking her large breasts, this kind of breast milk hadn't come out.
Is there some special condition...?
I nodded and sank into the sofa of the command room.
Languor washed over me, but my mind became complicated when I thought about the tasks ahead.
"Commander."
At that moment, Noah slid down and knelt between my legs.
In the eyes of Noah looking up at me, devotion and eroticism coexisted.
"You look very tired… would it be alright if I served you?"
"Hmm… shall I ask for a favor for the first time in a while then?"
"Yes. I will serve you with my mouth with all my heart."
With skillful hands, Noah undid my belt buckle and lowered the zipper.
Then, as if handling a precious treasure, she wrapped her two hands around my member and extended her red tongue, slowly licking up from the tip.
"Chuuup, chululup."
"Mmm…."
The wet tongue stimulated the glans, and soon, a warm and soft mouth swallowed me whole.
Following that, Noah began to deepthroat, moving her head up and down. It was a violent act that pierced deep into her throat, but her expression was as peaceful and devoted as a saintess's.
Chuuup, chup, keuk, chululup.
Squelching sounds began to fill the command room.
While stroking Noah's hair, I forced myself to hold onto my consciousness, which was becoming drenched in pleasure, and began to organize the current situation.
First, the immediate fire is out, but….
I still couldn't believe how I had caught that monstrous creature, the real Leviathan.
But just because I had defeated it didn't mean everything was over.
The Astral's Named-grade entity, the Harvester, was still intact, and now an uncertain neutral force called Ark 86 had intervened.
I've roughly dealt with that piece of trash called Lin Ao. There won't be any problems for now.
But if I chewed over the words that bastard spat out, he was clearly a big shot in Ark 86.
Even considering the future of Ark 14 that I knew, his background and significance checked out.
Since I had turned such a guy into a half-cripple and welded him shut inside an armored vehicle, it was common sense that Ark 86 wouldn't just stay still.
Of course, they wouldn't do something stupid like leading a large-scale force to attack us immediately.
Still, a clash was a scenario that could be fully expected.
Dealing with the armored power of Ark 86 is… a bit burdensome.
No matter how many Original ECHOs I had, it wasn't as if the opponent lacked ECHOs themselves.
Still, he was the one who attacked first, and we were the ones holding him here.
Feeling my member expanding in Noah's mouth, I coldly crunched the numbers.
For now, I had to sit at the negotiation table using Lin Ao's life as collateral and bringing up the things he had done.
And I had to strip away every single resource, piece of information, and bit of technology I could possibly extort.
"Phew… ngh!"
At that moment, Noah began to suck my member strongly, tightening her throat.
An intense pleasure that made it difficult to maintain a proper train of thought. I gripped Noah's head tightly.
"No, Noah—! I'm cumming!!"
"Mmmph!!"
Instead of pulling away, Noah pushed her head in even deeper.
As if she wouldn't miss a single drop, she opened her throat and accepted everything I had.
"Haaa—!"
Only after pouring it out for a long time did I lean back, breathing heavily.
Noah licked up every last drop that flowed at the corner of her mouth with her tongue, and only after clearing her mouth did she lift her head.
"You are very healthy, Commander. Your essence was even thicker today."
"…Is that a good thing?"
"Of course."
At my question, Noah smiled seductively and smacked her lips.
Knock, knock.
Just then, the sound of a knock broke the silence.