Upon receiving the order, over thirty assault team members from the Polaris immediately removed their heavy weapons. Then, flames erupted and explosions rumbled gently as shells and rockets were fired one after another into the engine room.
This was followed by several more rounds of grenades.
The guns in the soldiers' hands fired continuously, unleashing a torrent of bullets into the engine room.
Ling Xiao, robbed of the initiative, was furious. He vented all his resentment on the enemy, firing off the remaining shells until they were all expended.
After a full round of shelling, not a single Giant species was visible standing in the field of vision.
A drone moved forward to expand the reconnaissance, bringing the entire engine room into view. The result was no different; all Giant species had fallen.
However, the battle was not over. Xie Yu immediately issued new orders: "Ling Xiao, get the wounded out immediately; Squad One and Two, stay here, Ou Zhanpeng, you will command here; everyone else, support Squad Five in wiping out the remaining alien species!"
The soldiers responded with a resounding "Yes!" Their morale was sky-high, and they immediately sprang into action under Xie Yu's command.
The newly arrived reinforcements were unaware of the situation inside the ship. Xie Yu split up Squad Four and Five, with each member leading a few reinforcements to intercept the Giant species separately.
Ou Zhanpeng was the first to step into the engine room. With his gun pressed to the head of a Giant species, he shot each one again, saying, "Every Giant species must be shot again. Ensure they are killed."
His voice was colder than ever, devoid of any emotion.
This was not a war between humans; there were no prisoners and no humanitarian concerns. It was a fight for survival, one that meant either you die or I die.
Ou Zhanpeng's gaze swept across the area, and he suddenly noticed something was wrong.
Where were the hostages? And the power core was much more resilient than imagined. The barrage of bombing earlier had been ineffective; the thing was still running.
This was somewhat tricky. "Captain Xie, the power core is still running. Be careful!"
"Received!" Xie Yu replied, immediately relaying the information.
The soldiers were not worried at all; they were all full of confidence. Single-soldier shields were not as strong as they seemed. With a few more shots, the alien species could be killed. So, what was there to fear?
To put it bluntly, even if it meant tying explosives to oneself and perishing with the enemy to eliminate an alien species, their soldiers would never allow the alien species to run rampant in human territory.
This was the confidence and honor of a soldier.
If an alien species truly proved insurmountable for humans, they would have to advance over the corpses of fallen soldiers after every soldier had died.
This was the courage and determination of a soldier.
All of this was an indelible mark etched into the very core of an army. As long as there was a breath of life, it would be passed down through generations.
Indelible.
After a long time, Ou Zhanpeng learned that the aliens' single-soldier shields were actually quite formidable. However, they were typically designed with a peak in two areas: exceptionally strong defense against energy weapons, such as lasers, pulses, and particle beams. Shots hitting them felt like a tickle, rendering them useless.
But their defensive capabilities against shells and bullets were not as impressive.
It was only then that the military, from top to bottom, realized that the aliens' technology was so advanced that they had long abandoned projectile weapons. Therefore, their shields were not designed to consider such aspects.
Coincidentally, this time they encountered humans, a backward race. Although humans had developed several practical directed-energy weapons, projectile weapons still remained the mainstream.
By some strange twist of fate, this gave humans an opportunity to counter the alien species.
It had to be said that all of this was due to too many coincidences. If the alien species had been more astute at any single step, they could have completely reversed the situation and easily overwhelmed humanity.
Yet, it was precisely this unfortunate series of events that saw humanity's fate held in the aliens' grasp multiple times, only for the alien species to ultimately fumble it themselves.
If the alien species had known all this, they would have cried themselves to death from the sheer stupidity of their own counterproductive actions. Never place the hope of victory on the enemy's foolishness. Kuai Shu Ge.
Yet, the alien species had perfectly achieved this, almost handing victory to humanity on a silver platter.
It had to be said that there were quite a few "pig teammates" among the alien species.
Ou Zhanpeng's gaze suddenly fell on a small pile of Giant species corpses stacked in a corner of the engine room. However, that position was clearly an attack blind spot.
Not only was it a blind spot on his flank, but it was also a frontal blind spot. There were no bullet holes left by assault boats on the cabin wall. So, how did the Giant species corpses end up there?
"Hold—" Ou Zhanpeng roared, aiming his machine gun at the corner. "There's a problem. Fall back, everyone fall back!"
Whether or not the soldiers had spotted the problem, they all obeyed.
Although Ou Dashao was not their direct superior, the military had always been a world where the strong were respected.
During the assault on the derelict ship, many had been saved by Ou Zhanpeng. This time, many soldiers had also received his help, coupled with his extraordinary battlefield performance. It was only natural that he had earned the soldiers' admiration and respect.
Ou Zhanpeng took two steps forward, his gun almost touching the corpses. "Someone, drag these Giant species away!"
Several soldiers immediately hooked ropes around the Giant species' large feet. Several people worked together, dragging the corpses away one by one.
At first, there was no movement. But when they dragged the third corpse, a robot suddenly stood up from behind it, an arm clutching a human.
It swung its arm forcefully, pointing its wrist at the hostage's head, signaling the humans surrounding it to back off.
Ou Zhanpeng's expression darkened.
There were dozens of Giant species here, but only this single "brain fish." Whose status was higher, and who held more authority, was clear.
He was out of his mind to let this big fish escape.
Seeing that the humans did not move, the brain fish immediately grabbed a Giant species corpse to shield itself, revealing only one electronic eye that darted around erratically.
Ou Zhanpeng whispered a few instructions. After the soldiers confirmed the orders, he let out a soft breath. "Begin!"
A soldier standing to the side suddenly lunged to the side. This sudden, unexpected anomaly immediately drew the attention of the brain fish. Not only did its two electronic eyes shift, but its body also turned slightly.
Ou Zhanpeng's gaze sharpened. His machine gun roared to life, but as it was about to hit, it was deflected by the shield.
However, this was within his expectations. He immediately fired a long burst, first penetrating the brain fish's shield and then destroying the robot's shoulder. Each shot was carefully aimed around the hostage, but not a single one hit the hostage by mistake.
The mechanical arm fell, and the hostage slowly slumped down. The brain fish immediately realized the situation was bad and turned to flee.
Ou Zhanpeng would not give it a chance. With a few shots, he blasted its legs and other arm, and even stomped on its mechanical head, crushing it. Only the bare torso remained, which he handed over to the soldiers to guard.
The soldiers helped the fallen hostage up and found two more people in the corner.
One of them had been wounded by friendly fire, shot in the leg. The other two were unharmed. All three were in an inexplicable state of unconsciousness.
Ou Zhanpeng did not dare to delay and immediately called Ling Xiao to have the hostages sent out of the ship.
Before the enemy had broken in, both the combat units and the command center had ample reason to disregard the fate of the hostages. However, after capturing the engine room and successfully rescuing the hostages, the safety of the hostages had to be taken seriously.