“MOVE! MOVE!”
It was impossible for a simple drill bit to drill through a 400-meter-thick granite layer, but the “Digging Warrior” that landed here was not the same as the one that landed on the surface of Mars. In order to adapt to the complicated battlefield environment of Mars, the Digging Warrior had gone through countless modifications in the hands of the colony engineers to clear out Devil Worm nests located deep inside the ground.
A thumb-thick groove pattern was added to the side of the original drill bit, which was connected to a corrosion-resistant material container filled with organic solution.
And the solution was Devil Acid!
The corrosion-resistant cobalt drill bit rotated at a high speed, spewed out Devil Acid, and seeped into the granite formation below. The granite and the steel protective belt were both easily penetrated by the drill under the corrosion of acid.
The speed of the downward advancement surprised everyone!
When the last layer of protection was drilled through, the Digging Warrior smashed into the tunnel in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, and the steel gate just happened to be not far from the drill. The Digging Warrior continued its advancement and easily drilled a hole in the large gate.
Soldiers in kinetic skeleton descended from the top of the mountain to the tunnel with ropes, as they followed closely behind the Digging Warrior with their rifle raised.
The drill bit rotating at a high speed ignored the bullets from the front. Instead, it directly rammed into the giant gate by the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The irritating friction sound reverberated inside the tunnel as the heavy steel plates on the door fell off along with the rivets that popped out.
In the desperate sight of the soldiers stationed in the military base, the two-meter-thick alloy gate that weighed 25 tons was penetrated, and a hole the size of two people was left behind.
“Protect the President!”
With a roar, the battle was instantly ignited.
However, the last layer of defense of the fort had been breached, and nothing could stop the Celestial Trade soldiers.
Tear gas was fired and smoke-filled every corner of the military base. Rows of soldiers in black kinetic skeleton passed through the gas-filled corridors. They used their rifle stock or short stick to put down the resisting soldiers and officers. Then, they kicked open the door to the multimedia room and surrounded the senior officials and officers, who had their mouth and nose covered…
This time, they had nowhere to escape to.
…
At the front line in C City.
A radio was placed on the sandbag.
The UA soldiers with rifles, heavy machine guns, and black camouflage painted on their faces huddled around the radio as they listened to the broadcast.
Suddenly, everyone fell silent.
They heard Mike Pence…the voice of their President.
Compared with when he gave the inaugural speech and called for war mobilization, his voice lost a lot of vitality. His tone was mixed with a feeling of defeat, and he sounded like he aged. With a sense of astonishment, the soldiers looked at each other, stopped their chatter, and listened carefully to every word on the radio.
But after they listened to the speech, the expressions on their faces were completely frozen…
Or in other words, completely devastated…
“Today is the darkest day in our history.”
“Our last fortress, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, was breached.”
“Hundreds of millions of people have been involved in this erroneous and avoidable war. We have lost more than 100,000 of our people in this war, and now, millions of citizens of C City are suffering from the siege. The efforts of several generations have now gone to waste, and our losses can no longer be measured by the gold in our reserve.”
“Not because of fear of the future, but because of the fact that this war should be over.”
“With regret and sadness, I’m reading out this agreement.”
“On behalf of the federal government, on behalf of the people of UA, I express my desire for peace, and…”
At this point, Mike Pence’s voice visibly trembled.
As if he had exhausted his last strength, he spoke with a heavy tone and slowly said.
“…and unconditionally surrender to Xin.”
Unconditional…surrender?
Surrender?!
It was not only the soldiers behind the sandbags on the front line but also the citizens that listened to this speech through TV or phone. Everyone looked petrified, stopped what they were doing, and froze in place.
Did they not say the Cheyenne Mountain Complex was unbreakable?
Did they not say that even in a global nuclear war, this doomsday fortress could preserve UA’s last hope until the end of the war? How come in just less than a month, the UA had lost everything and the so-called last fortress…
It was not just the people of UA who were shocked by this news.
All NATO member states.
No, the whole world was astonished…
Until three days ago, British parliamentarians still argued about the need to develop a space force at the Palace of Westminster. Until a week ago, Russia planned to deploy nuclear weapons to the border to prevent further warfare in Europe. Until half a month ago, ESA was still busy making a systematic assessment of the deadliness of space-based weapons. Until a month ago, the UA thought that a Trident missile would be enough to end Celestial Trade…
However, the fact surprised everyone.
This war, which was supposed to be dragged on and eventually lead to a global conflict, ended with the surrender of a superpower in less than a month. The majestic flag on the Statue of Freedom seemed to have only been raised yesterday, and today it would be captured in a historical frame.
In Silicon Valley of the CA State, where it had yet to be baptized by war and seemed to have been selectively forgotten by Celestial Trade, the IT workers who stood in front of the conscription point hugged each other and wept bitterly. They finally worked up the courage to step onto the battlefield, but the president who mobilized them to pick up their weapon to defend freedom read out the surrender agreement.
In T State’s, not far from CA State, red-necked citizens marched on the streets with rifles as they swore to resist till the final moment. They did not recognize the surrender agreement, or even the president of the country, as they claimed to shed the last drop of blood before they ever put down their weapons.
The citizens of W State and N State on the East Coast accepted this reality with mixed feelings, but they all breathed a sigh of relief.
For people who have lived in a civilized society for so long, the days when they were ruled by the Moro could be described as a living hell. The island had become a place everyone yearned for because at least the Celestial Trade soldiers stationed there were disciplined. They did not spit on people, nor would they smash people’s heads with their rifles if people stayed for a second too long.
The citizens of B City and other northern states also breathed a sigh of relief.
They did not know that Celestial Trade had signed a secret agreement with B City Consortium, nor did they know why Celestial Trade selectively ignored them. They were finally relieved that they no longer needed to be on constant alert, and the boys on the M State border could finally go home alive…
The war was over.
Although they lost.
The soldiers who fought on the front line felt betrayed, but it was no longer relevant.
Everyone did not understand why Mike Pence, the hawkish president, could not hold on for a moment longer.
Maybe only Mike Pence himself knew the bitterness and pain in his heart.
It was not because of his fear of death.
But because of a word from a person that forced him to make such a choice…
