Outside the shelter, Hawkins’s expression turned grim.

He could, of course, hear the dense gunfire from within.

He had been hoping the shelter’s defensive robots were already disabled, which would have made this operation a cakewalk.

But now, it seemed that was just wishful thinking.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his frustration.

There was no turning back now. Once a shelter was opened by illegal means, they had two choices: gain access to the control system within 24 hours or leave within 24 hours.

They only had a scrambler that could brute-force the door, not a supercomputer with enough processing power. Gaining control in such a short time was basically impossible.

This meant that if they couldn’t complete their mission within 24 hours, the entire trip would be for nothing.

Qiaodun, who was standing guard outside, walked over to Hawkins and asked in a low voice:

"Mr. Hawkins, according to Captain Li’s report, both teams have been attacked."

"Current casualties are 5 dead, 8 lightly wounded, and 3 seriously wounded."

Hearing the casualty numbers, the corner of Hawkins’s mouth twitched.

They had only been inside for a few minutes, yet nearly a quarter of them were dead. The number of those who had lost the ability to fight was actually over a quarter.

He rubbed his temples in frustration. ’The combat capabilities of this trash are even worse than I imagined.’

’I originally planned to use them as cannon fodder, but I didn’t expect they wouldn’t even qualify for that.’

Seeing Hawkins’s expression, Qiaodun asked tentatively:

"Sir Hawkins, should I go in and provide support?"

Hawkins frowned at the suggestion. After a moment’s thought, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Alright. Be careful."

"Go help Deng Yu get the hard drive from the archives first."

"Above all, watch out for your own safety. If it’s impossible, forget the hard drive. Your survival is the most important thing."

Qiaodun nodded.

"Understood."

「...」

「On a hill two kilometers away.」

Scarface watched through his military-grade binoculars. For some unknown reason, one of the figures in power armor suddenly shed his suit, switched to an exoskeleton, and then went straight into the shelter.

Seeing only one person left at the camp, his face lit up with wild joy.

He hurried over to Black Wind, who was resting against a wall with his eyes closed.

"Boss, our chance is here!"

"There’s only one suit of power armor left on guard. Should we make our move now?"

Black Wind opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.

He snatched the military binoculars from Scarface’s hands and aimed them at the temporary camp.

When he confirmed there was indeed only one suit of power armor left, a delighted smile spread across his face.

"Excellent!"

Black Wind clapped his hands lightly, and everyone’s attention immediately turned to their boss.

"Our chance is here. There’s only one suit of power armor outside now. Our current firepower should be enough to take it out."

"All Fox Hunt rocket launchers, aim for that tin can."

"I want that power armor taken down in one go, you hear me?"

"It’d be best to take it down completely. But even if we don’t, we should still be able to catch him by surprise."

"That guy in the blue exoskeleton must be their leader."

"Scarface, Long Hair, you two each take ten men. You’ll rush in from the left and right and capture that guy as fast as you can."

"Even if we fail to blow up the power armor, if we have a hostage, we should be able to get something out of it."

Scarface and a black man with dreadlocks standing next to him, who was Long Hair, nodded simultaneously when their names were called:

"Understood, Boss."

"Understood, Boss."

Black Wind looked at the others, who all had eager expressions on their faces.

"Everyone else, you’re with me. Look sharp."

"We only get one chance. If the power armor has time to react, we’re all finished."

"Is that clear?"

"Clear!"

"Understood!"

Everyone roared in agreement, and a satisfied look appeared on Black Wind’s face.

He took a deep breath, then swung his arm down forcefully.

"Move out!" At Black Wind’s command, the entire Black Wind Raiding Group sprang into action.

A few members of the raiding group had already quietly retrieved the Fox Hunt rocket launchers from an ammo box. They didn’t have many of these high-powered man-portable weapons—only six in total.

They normally saved these for ambushing convoys and were reluctant to use them.

However, faced with the temptation of power armor and an exoskeleton, Black Wind didn’t hesitate to bring out these last-resort weapons.

As they picked up the rocket launchers, they each draped a piece of brownish-yellow camouflage cloth over themselves.

The cloth was double-layered. The camouflage on the surface provided effective visual concealment, while the inner layer was designed to block thermal imaging locks.

After all, while thermal imaging was rare in the wasteland, it wasn’t nonexistent.

Besides, they were facing high-tech gear like power armor. It was perfectly normal for it to be equipped with thermal imaging. Being a little cautious would definitely do no harm.

Six burly men, draped in camouflage cloth, were the first to approach the camp.

Staring at the power armor 300 meters away, all six of their hearts began to beat faster.

At this distance, facing power armor that likely had a fire-control system, failure to win on the first strike would mean facing a frenzied counterattack.

The six men didn’t attack rashly. Although the Fox Hunt rocket launcher had a range of 600 meters, like most rocket launchers, it lacked a fire-control system. It relied entirely on physical sights for aiming, and its accuracy dropped sharply beyond 200 meters.

Therefore, their predetermined target range was 150 meters.

meters...

meters...

meters...

The six men breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. The power armor opposite them hadn’t noticed them, which meant they were already halfway to success.

’Don’t be fooled by all that high-tech gear. A direct hit from our rocket launchers will still blow that power armor sky-high.’

The six men slowly pushed the Fox Hunt rocket launchers from their backs, inching them out from under the camouflage cloths.

Meanwhile, Scarface and Long Hair led their respective teams, stealthily creeping toward the camp from the left and right flanks.

Black Wind himself followed behind Scarface and Long Hair with the remaining men.

Everyone held their breath, waiting only for the rocket launchers to fire. Then they would swarm in and catch their target completely off guard.

「...」

「Eight hours earlier.」

Inside the shelter, Ye Yun looked at the information on his wristband, a brow slightly raised.

The message had been sent by Xisuo to Number 1, who then forwarded it to him.

Power armor, an exoskeleton, Xisuo and his brothers, an academy from far away, an unopened shelter.

’Damn, aren’t there a few too many moving parts here?’

Without hesitation, he immediately opened his wristband and began composing a new command.