Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 280: New Plan for the New Threats

Unlike almost anyone else who would be paralysed by the sight of three simultaneous army-scale mobilisations heading their way, John remained unnervingly collected.

He even found the breath to crack a dry joke. However, beneath the wit, his mind was operating at maximum capacity, stripping away the emotion to evaluate the grim reality.

The swarm had most likely begun its march the moment darkness fell, roughly half an hour ago. By observing the map for a few minutes, he could already estimate the enemy’s arrival sequence.

The Metallic Wasps were the fastest, leading the vanguard, followed closely by the thruster S-1000s. The giant D-1000 juggernauts bring up the rear, then lastly the standard S-1000s and D-1000s.

The most immediate threats were the hordes coming from the west, then the machines from the south. The latter being the force currently bypassing Ricky and Elena, which would face lots of obstacles, and they were formed of the slowest of the entire red tide.

"Ricky and Elena did a great job building those two strongholds in the fog and clearing all the flying drones before night fell," John analysed, his eyes tracing the lines of the pincer movement on the map.

"The incoming machine swarm from their side will likely get choked in the crossfire between their two fortresses. That will thin their numbers and significantly slow their advance. So, the imminent, unobstructed threat... It comes from the west..."

John calmly contemplated the upcoming battle with a heart and mind of cold steel. "Even if they have evolved, they are still machines," he whispered to the wind. "That means the fog is still their primary soft spot. The den can upgrade their armour and their weapons, but it can’t upgrade the weakness of the sensors."

He instantly checked the layout of his current territory, finding it covered with decent defences. Luckily, he had originally intended to turn this specific area into a grinding zone for any machines attempting to migrate from the southern territories toward the Hiveminds’ new base up north.

He had wanted to prevent them from ever reaching their allies. Even if the game changed and the enemy shifted their priorities, his setup still stood viable and useful in such times.

"Is there anything wrong?!"

The shout came from Blakar. The Bulltors had been resting around dozens of roaring fire pits, enjoying a rare moment of peace, when John suddenly burst into their midst at full speed. Every single time Blakar saw John running like this, his heart skipped a beat in terror.

"I need you to move, now," John said, not slowing down. He began taking out heaps upon heaps of activated yellow cores from his inventory. He moved fast, spreading them one by one across the ground, covering a massive area in a matter of minutes. The glowing cores looked like fallen stars against the black earth.

"Take these, stick two together to trigger the detonation, and spread the yellow fire across the perimeter."

"Around the den?!" Blakar was still visibly confused, his mind oblivious to the red tide John had seen on the map.

"A huge machine swarm is coming our way... A wave like nothing we’ve seen before." John briefly described the current situation, the evacuation of the western territories, the evolution of the various machine units, and the arrival of the enemies from different directions.

As he spoke, an eerie, heavy silence descended over the camp. The crackling of the fire pits was the only sound as the Bulltors stopped what they were doing. One by one, the giant warriors stood up, their shadows stretching long and jagged across the ground. The atmosphere shifted from one of rest to one of impending doom.

"So, I’ll need you to fill the entire ground of this territory with yellow fire!" John finished, while pointing at the tens of thousands of yellow cores he just took out.

For a few long moments, Blakar lost his tongue. He stood paralysed, unable to process the sudden and terrifying information John had shared. He looked at the peaceful dark night sky, then back at the glowing cores.

"Then what?" Blakar finally asked, his voice cracking. He looked around at the fortifications John had already built. "Will these defences hold them? Even if we do all this..." He turned toward his one thousand Bulltors, their faces grim. "Will we be able to hold them?"

"I will move to the western border to prepare a grand welcome party for them in the fog," John said, an evil smirk playing on his lips. Before he turned to leave, a sudden, nagging thought struck him. "I’d appreciate it if you sent a few scouts north to check on Lilith."

"Lilith?! You don’t mean... the Hiveminds are going to move too?!!" Blakar instantly jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

But John had another suspicion. "Just send a few to check on her. I’ll keep an eye on them," John replied. He had checked on her earlier; she had been surrounding the Hiveminds base for an entire day, trying to breach the fortress but failing to make significant progress.

The Hiveminds were masters in defence and attrition warfare; they covered their base with complex layers of traps that were still was hallway cleared after all this time.

However, recalling how Mark had successfully fooled the map, the idea of a sixth hidden den appearing at the Hiveminds’ base made perfect sense. If Mark had placed John at the top of his hit list, and if he had successfully concealed the activation of the western dens, it stood to reason the final den would appear where the Hiveminds were.

That would mean Mark had fulfilled his alliance with the Hiveminds, while simultaneously preparing a hidden, poisonous dagger to backstab John when he was busy handling the triple threat.

"What about us then?" Blakar asked, placing his huge hand in John’s way, stopping him before he would vanish into a blur of speed like usual. "What shall we do after we spread the fire?"

"Come to the fog and fight with me, of course," John said, rolling his eyes as if the answer were easy to grab. "See you later."