Chapter 209: Disparity
The members of the other squads and the soldiers were stunned into absolute silence. Those who had been entrenched in their own battles subconsciously stopped and stared at Kevin Keane.
Someone’s gun nearly slipped from their grasp as they muttered, "Is that really something a human can pull off?! That’s a literal human weapon paired with an Aberrant Beast turret!"
"Damn! Is the Third Rank really this fierce?!"
"How is the gap between people this huge?!"
Those who previously thought the Sunset Squad was just all hype were completely won over by this display, their eyes now brimming with awe.
Standing on the roof of the command vehicle, Francis Grant dropped his binoculars. They hit the chassis with a loud CLANG. He stared at the Thunder Frog, his expression instantly shifting from solemn to completely and utterly devastated. Usually calm and composed, his features were now twisted into a knot.
He cursed himself internally, "What is wrong with my brain! I must have had my head scratched by a zombie back then! What’s wrong with a hug?! So what if I hugged it?!"
He groaned inwardly. He hadn’t just missed out on an Aberrant Beast; he had missed out on a mobile lightning cannon! The more he thought about it, the more his heart bled. He couldn’t even control the downward twitch of his lips. Looking as though he had just lost ten crates of Crystal Cores, his facial muscles visibly spasmed.
Meanwhile, Luna Dawson scanned the still-dense swarm of bats in the sky, her eyes gradually tinged with fanaticism. "This firepower just isn’t packing enough punch. It’s not satisfying enough."
As soon as she finished speaking, Luna summoned a Gatling gun from her spatial dimension with a thought. She steadily caught the heavy weapon. With her physique enhanced by the spirit spring water, the massive recoil would be like child’s play to her.
"Holy crap! You were hiding this big boy, sis?!" Miles Dawson’s eyes widened, completely forgetting to fire the rifle in his hands.
"I specifically asked Francis Grant for this. I’m going to make a fortune on this wave!" Luna hefted the Gatling gun and glanced at the RV parked nearby. Pushing off the ground, she leaped onto the roof of the vehicle, her eyes practically shining with a thirst for Crystal Cores.
Kevin Keane looked up at Luna on the roof, his brow furrowing slightly with a hint of concern. "Don’t just focus on the thrill. Pay attention to your safety."
"I know, I know!" Luna waved him off, gripping the handles of the Gatling gun tightly and aiming it at the swarm of bats. "Crystal Core Harvester, online!"
The next second, a deafening RAT-A-TAT-TAT erupted. Blinding flames spat from the Gatling gun’s barrels as a dense storm of bullets poured into the bat colony like torrential rain.
Luna kept the heavy weapon perfectly steady, her wrists flexing nimbly. Wherever the barrels pointed, bats dropped from the sky like flies, filling the air with black blood and shredded wings.
"Holy shit, that’s badass! Luna looks way too cool!" Aaron Palmer’s blood boiled with excitement. His momentary distraction cost him, however, as a bat ambushed him, clawing his arm. "ARGH, that hurts like hell!"
Miles smacked the bat away and scolded, "That’s what you get for getting distracted! Focus on the fight!" With that, he hurled a Fireball into the sky, supplementing Luna’s barrage to clear out any stragglers.
Luna fought with increasing ferocity on the roof. The mutant bats below the Third Rank were continuously mowed down by the heavy weaponry. Her eyes curved into a brilliant smile, yet they carried a hint of bloodthirsty frenzy. Her high ponytail whipped wildly in the wind, and her gaze shone with an intimidating intensity.
Little Sweet Potato and Purple Bean swayed their bodies, whipping their vines in a frenzy. Countless purple vines snapped with blinding speed, lashing out like a torrential downpour against the diving bats. Through sheer force, they carved out two vacuum zones on either side of the Sunset Squad. While they assisted in slaughtering the bats, they also accurately gathered the Crystal Cores dropped by their teammates’ kills into neat little piles, never missing a single one.
Luna’s spiritual power instantly blanketed a fifty-meter radius. As soon as Little Sweet Potato and Purple Bean gathered a pile of Crystal Cores, she swept them into her spatial dimension with a mere thought. Even the dense layer of bat carcasses littering the ground was relocated fifty meters away in massive batches, ensuring the mountains of mangled bat remains wouldn’t hinder the team’s combat.
On the other side, Little Tiger nestled on Pinky’s back. Its darkness superpower remained completely invisible against the night sky. Eerie black holes, one or two meters in diameter, continuously opened and closed within a ten-meter radius of the squad. Any incoming elemental attacks from the bats were silently devoured by the black holes without so much as a ripple.
Miles, Aaron, and Wayne Dawson unleashed their fire superpowers in perfect unison. Three streams of flame merged into the howling wind.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Several deafening explosions erupted in quick succession. Massive flaming tornadoes, four to five meters thick, roared up from the earth, spiraling straight into the heavens. The surrounding air grew unbearably scorching, and the shockwaves of heat sent gravel dancing across the ground.
Rollo continuously pumped out fierce gusts of wind, while Evan Olson expertly controlled the currents to direct their path. The flaming tornadoes moved like giant pythons clad in fiery armor, twisting and weaving to drag entire flocks of descending bats into their swirling depths.
Trapped within the infernos, the bats were ruthlessly shredded and incinerated, emitting agonizing screeches and the foul stench of burning flesh. Blackened husks and ash drifted down with the wind. Wherever the flaming tornadoes passed, vast swathes of the bat colony were utterly eradicated. Even the bats circling high above didn’t dare approach.
"Holy hell! This combo is insane!" Aaron stared at the towering pillars of fire, jumping with excitement. He casually tossed another Fireball to finish off a straggler. "This feels incredible! I’m completely blown away by my own awesomeness!"
Watching his own flames magnified several times over by the gale, Miles couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. "Haha! Rollo’s wind is awesome! My fire’s power just multiplied by ten. Now this tornado really packs a punch!"
Wayne’s blood was also pumping. Continuously channeling his fire superpower, his eyes gleamed. "Exhilarating! Let’s hit them with two more and burn these bastards to a crisp!"
Even as he unleashed his power, he didn’t forget to glance over at Hector and Rhonda Dawson to ensure the two children were safe.
Beads of sweat formed on Evan’s forehead, but he maintained tight control over the wind. "Don’t get greedy! Three flaming tornadoes are enough to hold the front line. Save your strength to guard against ambushes!"
Rollo chimed in with a cooperative WOOF, adjusting the airflow to keep the vortexes stable. Occasionally, it diverted small blasts of wind to blow any bats nearing its teammates straight into the flames.
The members of the surrounding squads watched in sheer disbelief. The soldiers who had just been nervously defending the perimeter couldn’t help but pause and marvel. "This wind-and-fire combo is off the charts! The Sunset Squad truly lives up to its reputation!"
Having just finished deploying the defensive line, Francis Grant clicked his tongue at the spectacle. "If I had known they were this capable, I would have handed the entire southeastern line over to them!"
The entire squad fought fluidly, their coordination absolutely flawless.
The front line of mutant bats was absurdly thick, but the main damage dealers stood firm at the vanguard. Occasionally, a dozen or two bats would slip through the cracks—each one boasting a half-meter wingspan. The support members gripped guns or wielded their preferred melee weapons to rack up kills. Mrs. Dawson stood beside Hector and Rhonda with a massive battleaxe. A single swing of her axe was enough to cleave a bat in two, fully displaying the overwhelming advantage of her strength-type mutation.
Little Hector mimicked his grandfather and mother, holding an automatic rifle and accurately picking off targets from within the safe zone. Every now and then, he would cheer, "Go, Mom! Go, Grandpa! Go, Grandpa Wayne!"
The colossal flaming tornadoes were still wreaking havoc in midair. The sight of the Sunset Squad utterly dominating the battlefield instantly ignited the fighting spirit of everyone present.
The soldiers and Superpower Users from other squads, who had been fighting a steady but conservative battle, suddenly acted as if they’d been hit with a shot of adrenaline. Roaring like men possessed, they launched a frenzied assault against the mutant bats in the sky, more than doubling their previous firepower.