The first beings to appear, whether humanoid or animal, were at best cannon fodder, expendable troops likely forced to scout ahead.
Those that appeared later, their bodies covered in root-like growths, were clearly the regular forces, wielding weapons of wild, crude design, be they swords or axes.
Yet, even as regular troops, they retained their characteristics of rage and madness, launching frenzied attacks on all living things save their own kind the moment they emerged from the Gate of Destruction.
More importantly, compared to the expendable fodder, these colossal external beings possessed more tenacious vitality. Even with their flesh torn apart by bullets or half their bodies blown off by artillery shells, as long as they had a breath left, these monsters would continue to advance, and advance.
"Hmph, it's all for naught," Savage scoffed contemptuously as he watched the relentless tide of external beings on the screen. "All the walls are built from special alloys. With those crude weapons in their hands, breaking through is nothing but a pipe dream."
There was no faulting Savage's confidence. The weapons used by these external beings were of exceptionally poor quality. Even if some managed to brave the artillery barrages and reach the walls, desperately striking at them with their weapons, the walls, constructed from special alloys, would remain unmarked, not even a scratch appearing, no matter how many weapons they broke.
However, Savage was soon proven wrong.
Less than a minute after Savage spoke, an external being suddenly halted its advance. It coiled its body, and after a few seconds of charging, unleashed several energy blasts, a mixture of gold and black, from within.
As the energy blasts left its body, the external being's form visibly shriveled. Its abundant fat burned away, and it lost its life force.
The power of the energy blasts, unleashed at the cost of the external being's life, was undeniably immense. Two blasts struck the alloy wall, gouging out two considerable craters. The remaining blasts converged, directly obliterating an automatic turret on the wall.
This was merely the beginning. With one leading the charge, more and more external beings began launching fierce assaults on the walls using suicide attacks.
The alloy walls were indeed exceptionally sturdy, but they could not withstand such intensity and density of bombardment. First, the turrets atop the walls were dislodged one by one, and then, a breach began to tear open in the wall at a visible rate.
"This... this is impossible..."
The old clan leader trembled, his face filled with disbelief as he watched the frenzied external beings. The other five elders shared his astonishment.
"There's no more time," Bai Qi interrupted their shock, pressing the broadcast button and calling out, "Soldiers, it's time to show your courage! Take up your weapons and kill all the enemies!"
Compared to the old clan leader and the others, Bai Qi and Savage showed little reaction to the breach in the wall. After all, they had never placed much hope in the walls; they were merely intended to buy time and expand initial gains.
Withstanding the initial tide of cannon fodder and subsequently depleting a portion of the regular forces, the walls had already exceeded their mission objective.
At Bai Qi's command, tanks and soldiers moved to reinforce the breach, and distant artillery swiveled their muzzles, unleashing saturation fire to eliminate all external beings attempting to emerge from the gap.
Facing such intense artillery fire, it was a pipe dream for the external beings to break through the gap. It was like trying to fill an bottomless pit.
*Ding-a-ling...*
Amidst the continuous roar of explosions, no one noticed a faint bell sound coming from behind the Gate of Destruction.
Upon hearing the bell, all the external beings perked up, and their attack rhythm changed.
The earlier uncoordinated charge transformed. The external beings emerging from the Gate of Destruction automatically divided into three teams. One team continued to charge towards the breach, disregarding their lives. Another team also charged towards the breach, but their intent was not to break through. At a distance from the gap, this team of external beings detonated themselves, using their lives to widen the breach. The third team moved in the opposite direction of the other two, seemingly intending to tear open a new gap.
Bai Qi's sharp eyes did not miss the movements of the external beings.
In response, Bai Qi immediately issued an order for helicopters and fighter jets to take off and intercept the third team of external beings, thereby reducing the pressure on the frontline.
As time wore on, three hours passed. The entire battlefield's tempo was entirely in Bai Qi's favor. Rear supplies and casualty treatment were also timely. If the battle continued this way, Bai Qi was confident he could handle any number of external beings that emerged from the Gate of Destruction.
However, this rhythm was soon broken.
"Roar!"
A deep, resonant roar emanated from behind the Gate of Destruction.
Soon after, a colossal head emerged from the Gate of Destruction. This head alone was as large as three trucks stacked on top of each other. Then came its forelimbs and body.
"What... what kind of monster is this!"
This time, even the experienced Savage was unsettled.
The monster had a head resembling a rhinoceros, and its sheer size was comparable to a small football field. Its back and sides were covered in grayish-white exoskeletons resembling bone. A casual flick of its massive tail could send over a dozen external beings flying more than ten meters.
The ground shook with every step it took. Many external beings that failed to dodge were crushed to death on the spot by this rhino-like monster.
The moment the rhino-like monster appeared, it became the focal point of the entire battlefield.
Over fifty percent of the firepower was concentrated on it. Helicopters and fighter jets ceaselessly unleashed their firepower from the air, but this output caused little damage to the rhino-like monster. It didn't even manage to break through the exoskeleton on its body.
Conversely, the rhino-like monster charged forward with a mighty push.
The previously impenetrable and incredibly sturdy walls, which had been blocking a large number of external beings, were like paper in front of the rhino-like monster, being directly smashed into a vast expanse of rubble.
With the appearance of the rhino-like monster, Bai Qi's side's rhythm was completely disrupted, and the frontline was forced to retreat again and again.
Of course, Bai Qi's side was not entirely without solutions for the thick-skinned rhino-like monster.
For instance, the cold weapons obtained by the Gatekeeper clan warriors from Roundball possessed sufficient sharpness to inflict effective damage on the rhino-like monster. Sudan Novel Network.
However, the efficiency was simply too low. The inherent drawbacks of cold weapons forced the Gatekeeper clan warriors wielding them into close-quarters combat with the rhino-like monster. The monster's colossal size and the tonnage that shook the earth with every step allowed it to easily crush any Gatekeeper warrior in front of it, not to mention the harassment from the surrounding swarms of external beings.