Volume 4 Chapter 37: The Assault

Bang! With a harsh twisting sound from the door bolt and hinges, the carriage door burst open violently, slamming into the doorway like a cannonball.

Fire! Following a tense command, the crisp, rapid-fire sound of Thompson submachine guns, like typewriters, echoed through the carriage.

The Gentlemen Alliance’s surprise attack on the armored military train was successful, but the Hydra Corps’ boarding assault encountered difficulties. Although Joey and Madame Monica had cleared the gunners from the two machine guns on the roof, thanks to Doctor Jones’ warning, the Allied soldiers inside the train had prepared their defenses.

There weren’t many Allied soldiers in the front and rear carriages, but the middle carriage held two full platoons of Allied special forces. After receiving the warning, these Allied special forces reacted quickly. They rapidly dispersed into the three middle carriages, creating layers of protection around the scientists.

Any enemy appearing from either end of the train or through the carriage windows became their targets. The Hydra Corps’ attempt to board the train from the middle failed. Only Red Skull and Baron Stark, along with a few special forces soldiers, managed to climb onto the front of the train.

At this point, the number of superpowered beings on the armored train was seven for the Allies versus fifteen for the Germans. The Germans had powerful elemental users like the Queen of Sandstorm, Monica, while the Allies had David, the King of Vectors. For elite special forces, it was about 30 versus 100, so the Allies still held the advantage in numbers.

However, this wasn’t the underground network of Casablanca. The purpose of the Gentlemen Alliance’s train hijacking wasn’t for intelligence or data, but pure destruction. They didn’t even need to enter the central carriages to kill the Allied scientists. Just causing the train to derail and overturn would kill most of the ordinary Allied scientists.

Under this battle plan, the Gentlemen Alliance could attack with all their might without restraint. But the fifteen Allied superpowered beings had to split their forces to protect the scientists.

The agile Fairy Tale Girls Team was placed in the scientists’ carriage. Their task was not only to intercept any German special forces or superpowered beings that might appear, but mainly to rescue key figures among the scientists in case of a derailment. For example, Dr. Oppenheimer, the main leader of the Manhattan Project.

The Gentlemen Alliance knew this too. So, until the last moment, they wouldn’t let the boarding Hydra special forces plant explosives to destroy the train. The best time for derailing the train was on the railway bridge, but they didn’t have enough time to set up there. Once the train exited the mountain at the right end of the railway bridge, the surroundings became a forested area with gentler slopes.

Blowing up the train in such conditions would leave the Justice League with no choice but to protect a portion of the important scientists with all their strength. The Gentlemen Alliance could achieve some results, but in the gentler, forested terrain, the difference in strength would be amplified, making it unlikely for them to kill key figures among the Allied scientists.

Actually, the so-called success or failure here was from the perspective of the plot characters. The death of any scientist on the train was a failure for the Justice League and a victory for the Gentlemen Alliance.

However, the branch plot mission for the Apostles, “Heracles’ Hydra,” clearly stated the completion of the Manhattan Project. It subtly mentioned an important person (Dr. Oppenheimer) and an important item (that large thermos containing Uranium-235).

Therefore, all the Apostles understood that “without killing Oppenheimer and obtaining the Uranium-235,” no matter how many Allied scientists the Gentlemen Alliance killed, this mission would be considered a complete failure.

Because this branch plot was extremely difficult, and the temporary team had already completed one main branch earlier, the mission reward was based only on completion percentage. It didn’t require fully completing this hidden branch. This loose requirement was the main reason Lin Feng, Little Lian, and Lili were willing to stay.

After the Gentlemen Alliance and the Hydra special forces boarded the train one after another, Grant, who controlled the locomotive, actually increased the train’s speed. This was to prevent the Allies from making a desperate move, having important figures and items jump from the train alone to escape.

Now, this armored train was a prison without walls. Both sides fought a battle for survival in this confined space. The Allies wanted to regain control of the train, while the Gentlemen Alliance and the Hydra Corps aimed to break through the Allied defenses and reach the carriages with the Allied scientists.

The wide carriage door panel could block most of the submachine gun bullets from the front for Joey. But in Joey’s perception, he still keenly sensed several powerful threats rushing towards him. It felt like a bed of nails was pressed against his face, a prickling, needle-like pain.

The Allied special forces in the carriage naturally knew the strength of superpowered beings. Submachine guns and pistols couldn’t stop superhumans. Grenades and mortars couldn’t be used inside the train. They relied on another king of the battlefield—the heavy machine gun.

At the rear of the carriage, two Allied special forces soldiers lay prone on the ground, firmly holding a Browning M2HB heavy machine gun, firing wildly at Joey.

The Browning M2HB heavy machine gun had a caliber of 12.2mm. With its tripod, it weighed nearly 60 kilograms. This wasn’t an individual weapon but a vehicle-mounted heavy gun, usually used as a coaxial machine gun on armored vehicles and tanks.

Under the attack of this king of the battlefield, even superpowered beings with strong vitality had to keep their distance. It was the Allied special forces’ greatest reliance for guarding the carriage.

Feeling the lethal threat, Joey felt everything slow down, unfolding before his eyes like a slow-motion scene.

The M2HB’s armor-piercing tracer bullets dragged brilliant streaks of light through the carriage. Small bumps, the size of broad beans, slowly bulged on the thick carriage door panel. After bulging to their limit, the fronts of the bumps slowly cracked. The tungsten-cored bullets wrapped in copper broke out like locusts emerging from cocoons, carrying fragments of wood towards his face.

Joey’s crimson pupils contracted to the size of pinpricks. As naturally as eating or drinking, the serial killer lifted the unconscious Dr. Keller in his arms, using him as a human shield in front of himself.

Thump, thump, thump! Several beautiful blood flowers bloomed on Keller’s body. The intense pain woke the beautiful doctor from her unconsciousness. She opened her eyes, her raised face staring blankly at the serial killer whose face was covered in her blood.

Even in such a critical moment, Joey still noticed Keller waking up. The serial killer’s eyeballs slowly rolled down to the bottom of his eye sockets. His crimson pupils looked down emotionlessly at the beautiful doctor. The corners of his lips lifted, his mouth slowly split open, like a true demon from hell, silently grinning fiercely.

Joey’s slow-motion perception flashed by in an instant. Everything in the carriage seemed to return to its normal speed. The machine gun bullets that had pierced the carriage door panel and then Dr. Keller’s body could no longer pose a lethal threat to Joey.

Move! After charging into the carriage doorway, Joey rolled on the ground, threw away Dr. Keller’s body like a ragged sack, and pounced towards the nearest Allied special forces soldier. At the same time, he let out a loud roar that left all the Allied soldiers somewhat confused.

As if to clear up everyone’s confusion, following Joey’s roar, two figures leaped up from the rear of the carriage, pouncing on the two machine gunners of the M2HB heavy machine gun. At the same time, a window in the middle of the carriage shattered with a crash! A dark shadow nimbly jumped into the carriage from outside.

You… gurgle… The Allied machine gunner on the left only managed a startled cry before clutching his throat and collapsing onto the machine gun. Pshhh! Blood gushing from between his fingers created a cloud of red mist on the hot gun barrel.

A medic is also a soldier. You shouldn’t have forgotten that! Lili wiped the blood from her face, giggled softly, pushed aside the dead machine gunner, bent down, turned the gun barrel around, and aimed it at the Allied special forces in the carriage.

Bang! Little Lian’s medical kit, smeared with red and white matter, fell onto the floor. Looking at the other Allied machine gunner, whose head looked like a smashed watermelon, the young beauty, who was originally a nurse, turned pale and then green. Finally, she couldn’t hold back the churning in her stomach. Ugh! She bent over and vomited violently.

Actually, this machine gunner wasn’t the first ‘person’ Little Lian had killed. Back at the District 91 Base, she had also killed a Federation soldier who had turned into a zombie using medical equipment. But at that time, she didn’t feel like she was killing a person. Now was her first real ‘blooding’.

As one of the last survivors of the Oranienburg Special Forces Soldier, Lin Feng had been operating with the Hydra special forces. Compared to the highly disciplined Hydra special forces, he had much more freedom. The Hydra officers basically ignored him.

When boarding the train, the clever playboy hid behind the Hydra special forces and climbed onto a carriage at the front. However, he didn’t cooperate with the Hydra special forces. Instead, he climbed alone from under the carriages towards the carriage where Lili and Little Lian were, waiting for the right moment to attack.

His risk paid off. Acting alone and ahead of time allowed him to avoid the attention of the Allied superhumans. The Hydra special forces that came after him, because the Allied superhumans had finished setting up their defenses, basically had no chance of passing over the roof or under the carriages without being noticed by the Allied superhumans.

At this moment, Lin Feng was fighting an Allied special forces soldier. Both their sidearms had been knocked away by the other, and they were now fighting with daggers.

Even though he had undergone intense combat training in the Moonlight Forest, Lin Feng was still no match for this Allied special forces soldier. He was quickly stabbed several times by the enemy. If not for the special nature of his Law Body, he would probably have collapsed on the ground, unable to move.

Rat-a-tat-tat! Fortunately, the roar of the M2HB sounded again in the carriage. The Allied special forces soldier fighting Lin Feng had several blood flowers burst open on his body. With a look of anger in his eyes, he fell limp to the ground.

Hey, Lili, be careful! Looking at the deep wound on his arm grazed by a machine gun bullet, Lin Feng dodged awkwardly to the side and shouted angrily towards the rear.

Even though the playboy didn’t manage to kill any enemies, he still successfully disrupted the formation of the Allied special forces, allowing Joey at the front to break through smoothly.

In less than a minute, all thirty-plus Allied special forces soldiers in this carriage died under the combined attack of the machine gun and Joey.