In the final half-hour before the dungeon’s official opening, two more Mobile Cities arrived in the area one after another.
Upon realizing they were the only lone wolves on the field, they tacitly moved closer to each other, forming a temporary two-person alliance.
Not long after, through Jiang Zhixu’s binoculars, this duo was seen lowering their elevator platforms with the earlier trio, connecting their vehicle convoys.
Moments later, the five cities began to converge, clearly forming another five-city alliance!
“In terms of overall strength,”
The movements of the five distant Mobile Cities were naturally observed by Jiang Zhixu’s group of five. Zhou Yi commented, “The strongest among them is that fortress-type city that arrived last, equipped with a Tier-1 cannon.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the Mobile City Zhou Yi mentioned.
It boasted heavy armor, six standard cannons, and one Tier-1 cannon shimmering with white energy light—seven cannons total. Its firepower configuration was top-tier among Tier-1 cities.
Even compared to them, it wasn’t much inferior.
—Of course, this excluded Lei Qing’s “Iron Guard” and Jiang Zhixu’s “Singularity.”
The former was combat-specialized within Rust Town, possessing the strongest combat power: six standard cannons plus two Tier-1 Magma Cannons.
The latter, Jiang Zhixu, had seven standard cannons and one Tier-1 Thunder Cannon.
Only these two had all eight cannon slots filled.
For an ordinary Tier-1 city, supplying ammunition for just four cannons was already a stretch.
“It’s just a false sense of security from numbers. Not worth worrying about, as long as they don’t provoke us.”
Lei Qing only uttered this brief remark.
In his eyes, their strongest member could barely match their weakest, Shadow Mistress. Moreover, one was a hastily formed group, while the other was a true alliance of long-term collaborators who knew each other well—their trust and execution were worlds apart.
If a real fight broke out, they could annihilate the other side within ten minutes!
The group stopped paying attention to the small fry, refocusing all their attention on the silent gray rift hovering above the broken G7 National Highway bridge.
“Seven minutes left.” Shadow Mistress’s voice sounded in the channel, precisely announcing the time.
Time ticked by, second by second.
The moment the countdown reached zero, the stationary gray rift suddenly throbbed violently like a heart!
*Rip—!*
A massive, scythe-like limb gleaming with metallic coldness pierced through the rift’s boundary from within, then viciously tore it open to both sides!
The spatial rift was instantly ripped open into a gaping breach dozens of meters wide!
Immediately after, a ferocious, spider-like colossal head emerged from the rift.
Covered in densely packed crimson compound eyes, it raised its head and let out a deafening roar!
*ROAR—!*
A terrifying sonic wave spread out like a shockwave. The small, wriggling larvae on the ground around the rift actually exploded into bloody pulp in waves under this roar.
At that very moment, identical system panels appeared before all City Lords.
[Dungeon Activated]
[Dungeon Brief: The Zerg’s march of conquest never ceases. “We do seek peace, but in a different way,” It said.]
[BOSS Brief: Tier-2 Elite Lifeform, Arachnid, “The Founder.”]
[Dungeon Objective: Kill The Founder to halt the Creep Conversion Ritual.]
“The Founder?”
Jiang Zhixu stared at the “Founder” in the distance, which was at least over ten meters tall, resembling a moving fortress, his pupils slightly dilating.
But he immediately thought of something, his gaze swiftly turning to the vast sea of insects in the riverbed.
Those insects were indeed taking new action!
They stopped attacking and began frantically swarming up the banks of the riverbed, then started self-destructing!
From their exploded corpses, patches of fleshy carpet began to spawn.
“They’re laying down the Creep!”
Jiang Zhixu finally understood their purpose!
One after another, the insects self-destructed. With each burst of flesh and blood, the surrounding meter of land was covered with a still faintly pulsating dark purple fleshy carpet!
In the blink of an eye, the entire dried-up riverbed was completely enveloped by this bizarre living surface!
“Fight or retreat?”
“Prepare for battle!”
Two statements came over the communicator almost simultaneously.
The first was Qian Wansan’s question; the second was Lei Qing’s command.
Without the slightest hesitation, everyone immediately prepared to disperse.
“Our target is the boss. We must kill The Founder at the fastest speed possible!”
“Everyone, if forced to separate and lose contact, communicate via signal flags. Always be aware of teammates’ positions. Do not exceed artillery support range!”
As Lei Qing’s words fell, Zhou Yi and the other two, accustomed to working with him, immediately sprang into action.
Jiang Zhixu’s reaction was a beat slower. His Mobile City was already positioned further back, and now he fell to the very rear.
Lei Qing sent a final message before the comms cut out: “City Lord Jiang, cover our rear, please. Watch our flank for the insect… *static*… swarms!”
“Understood.”
Jiang Zhixu replied, unsure if the other party heard.
He took one last look at the pile of Thunder Ore, then ordered his chief helmsman, Wei Ran, to closely follow Zhou Yi and the others ahead.
All eight cannons on the “Singularity” were preheated and ready!
On one side of the open riverbed, the five Mobile Cities maintained a formation allowing mutual support at any time, charging towards The Founder.
On the other side, seeing the orderly Rust Town alliance, the hastily assembled alliance grew restless.
“Let’s charge too! We must secure the boss! We’ll discuss loot distribution later!”
The five Mobile Cities started up one after another.
They had no formation to speak of, directly going full throttle. Clearly, they all wanted to seize the initiative and claim the main contribution for the boss!
*ROAR!*
The Founder immediately noticed the “tin cans” charging towards it from afar.
The next moment, the fleshy Creep beneath it violently erupted. Dozens of “Ambushers,” each about three meters in size with backs covered in bone spikes, burst from the ground!
It pointed its two limbs at the two alliances respectively. The “Ambushers” automatically split into two groups and burrowed back underground.
Dozens of mounds of earth bulged up, rushing towards all the Mobile Cities at high speed.
When about one kilometer away from their targets, they erupted from the soil again, opening their massive maws and spewing a torrent of acid towards the fortress Mobile City at the forefront!
The fortress city panicked, slamming on the brakes so hard the entire city nearly tipped over.
But a lot of acid still landed on its armor.
*Sizzle—*
Its proud alloy armor, under the corrosion of the acid rain, melted away rapidly like snow under hot soup!
“Idiots. Charging to the front without any real backing?”
On the Rust Town alliance side, Lei Qing cursed under his breath.
As for their thick armor, he didn’t consider that real backing.
Simultaneously.
On their side, dozens of “Ambushers” also burst from the ground, spewing acid!
The acid rain covered too wide an area. The “Iron Guard” at the forefront bore the brunt, difficult to evade.
However, the “Iron Guard” had no intention of evading at all.
*Sizzle—*
Like the fortress city’s fate, all areas on the “Iron Guard” covered by the acid rain began to melt.
But the difference was, the “Elegy,” protected in the center of their formation, suddenly accelerated, pulling up alongside the “Iron Guard”!
It extended seven mechanical arms. In a blur of motion, the corroded sections on the “Iron Guard” were completely repaired!