The sun is scorching, the sand and dust are in the sky, and the murderous atmosphere is soaring.

Outside the city of Nocrates in the Nile Delta, 8,000 Ptolemaic troops and 4,000 Leoparda troops faced each other in the distance. The two sides are only separated by about four kilometers of wilderness and desert, but no matter which side they are, they don't seem to have any intention of taking the initiative for the time being.

It was the hottest time of the day, and under the scorching sun, the temperature was close to 40 degrees Celsius, and every piece of sand on the surface was hot enough to fry eggs. Playing in these conditions is a chore. Even if you wear a sun hat, it is not much better, and you will still sweat and sunburn and peel off your skin...... At most, it can prevent people from dying of heat stroke and dehydration.

Therefore, if either side of the two armies in the confrontation chooses to take the initiative to attack at this time, it will greatly consume the physical strength of the soldiers under the scorching sun, thus seriously weakening its own combat effectiveness and greatly reducing the chances of victory in this battle.

So, while Queen Cleopatra's army camped in distant villages, the 8,000 troops loyal to Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII also returned to their camps outside the city walls to rest and escape the heat. There weren't many ready-made houses, but at least there were pre-built haode tents and pergolas, and they had insulated mats underneath them, much cooler than the sun-soaked desert outside.

-- The environment in the desert is like this, because the humidity of the air is extremely low, and it is difficult to conduct heat, so the temperature difference between the shade and the outside can be more than 10 degrees Celsius. As soon as you step into the shadows, the desert heat will dissipate for the most part. Instead, it's a comfortably cool ...... Unlike some hot and humid places, indoors tend to be just as hot as outside, and can even feel more stuffy and uncomfortable.

Based on years of experience. They sought what they thought was the coolest place to sit and sharpen their weapons while enjoying the beer, bread, salted fish, beans, and onions brought from within the city. From time to time, some people cursed and disgusted that the beer was of poor quality, and others squinted at a few cartoon cat-headed balloons in the distance, arguing with each other whether it was a creation of a god or a devil, or some particularly wonderful new invention.

――In ancient times, shijie. The Greeks were one of the most scientific peoples. Moreover, Archimedes' invention of various machinery to repel the Roman army was only a little more than a century ago. Many Greeks had heard of this and were not intimidated by these strange things.

Under a makeshift pergola made of reed mats, canvases, and wooden poles, General Achilles also gulped down a refreshing wine with mint, while using wooden chess pieces to chart the rest of the formation. From time to time, he would discuss or argue with his subordinates.

All in all. At present, General Achilles has basically regained his calm and can play a normal level of command.

-- The fact that several huge cat-headed balloons, still floating in the distant sky, did shock him and his army at first, and some of them were even so frightened that they became deserters. But as time passed, seeing these big things floating in the sky, it didn't seem to show any special magical powers, so General Achilles and the Egyptian army under his command gradually calmed down and began to prepare for battle as usual.

“…… The topography of this battlefield on the outskirts of Port Nocratis. Almost all of them are dry and solid plains, with little natural terrain to take advantage of. Our fleet will not help in a land battle either. So, I decided to go with the traditional head-on tactics. ”

He pointed to the very rough diagram of the battlefield in Port Nokratis on the table, and said to several generals, "...... I am going to form three phalanxes with 5,000 men and press them down on the enemy and force them to attack. Eight hundred cavalry were used to protect the two wings, while the rest remained in the rear as reserves...... Please don't be too nervous, we have 8,000 regular troops, and the queen has only 4,000 men, half of whom are unusable Egyptians! Against such a rabble, we can crush them with just one charge! Next ......"

Then, before Achilles' confident words could be spoken, he was interrupted by a cacophony of hysterical exclamations outside the tent.

“…… Wow, ahhhh Monster! Terrible monsters are coming! ”

“…… Damn it! Is this some kind of evil god's mount? ”

……

Listening to the chaotic shouting outside, Achilles blackened his face and signaled for a temporary adjournment, and then put on his helmet and walked out, ready to reprimand these unscrupulous subordinates, so that they would understand that they were not ruffians who screamed all day long, but soldiers who should be strictly disciplined.

Then, the moment His Excellency walked out of the pergola, the dusty air, the dizzying sun, the stench of sweat of soldiers and livestock, and the disgusting shouts all came to his face...... But at the same time, another incredible thing also fell into his eyes:

――In the yellow sand, a blurry black object gradually emerged. Then, as the distance drew closer, the outline of the thing began to become clearer and clearer, and Achilles found that it seemed to be a black iron box, or a metal chariot without a horse pulling, but it was running faster than the most haode chariot - it was incredible!

In his eyes, this thing was like a legendary mythical monster, exuding a huge coercion, as if it was about to crush everything in front of it!

In short, just as he was stunned, this monstrous beast with a metallic and glass sheen was making a shrill cry of "drip-drip-", and galloped towards his camp with a speed that was as fast as a fiery horse!

Feeling the slight vibration of the ground, listening to the sharp roar of the metal monster in front of him, General Achilles was stunned for a moment, he could sense the danger of this thing in front of him, but he couldn't control his body to leave here - it was too shocking!

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“…… Archer! Where are the archers? Hurry up and shoot at that monster! And the javelinmen hurry up too! ”

“…… This thing is running so fast, how can we shoot it! The Giant Shieldmen should be able to mount their spears to stop them! ”

……

For this kind of thing that is completely beyond one's ability to understand. The Ptolemaic Greek soldiers were unsurprisingly panicked, and most of them were either stunned or screaming. Only a handful of sane veterans would try to fight back with bows and arrows and javelins.

It's a pity that neither javelins nor bows and arrows can hit objects that move at such an astonishing speed, and the fear of the unknown makes their accuracy drop greatly. Worst of all, only after the defenders had finished shooting a round of bows and arrows and javelins. The iron creature roared through the narrow trench, broke through the rudimentary wicker fence outside the camp, and burst into the crowded camp!

And then. The metal monster continued to rampage through the camp, flying tent after tent, running over poor bastards who didn't have time to run away, and staggering the shieldmen and cavalry who tried to intercept them. He even flew out screaming upside down......

“…… A sucker. Move the Horse Rejection Stake over and stop that guy! Feed! You! Do you hear my orders? ”

Stunned as the metal monster whizzed past him, General Achilles swooped down behind a haystack used to feed his livestock, roaring loudly in an attempt to give orders and organize a counterattack against his men running all over the ground.

Unfortunately, in the chaos of chaos and howling wolves, no one noticed his cry from behind the haystack.

This poor attitude of collective disregard for superiors made General Achilles very unhappy. Notice that the metal monster has rushed far away. There didn't seem to be any enemy soldiers behind him, so he shook the dust and straw off his cloak. Prepare to climb on the haystack and yell at the crowd.

However, in the next moment, General Achilles saw with his own eyes a sight that made him even more unbelievable.

- Shocks, flashes, explosions, earth-shattering explosions!

General Achilles suddenly felt a violent shaking from the soles of his feet, which made him almost unable to control his center of gravity, and he was so shocked that he jumped to his feet and fell off the haystack. All kinds of straw, soil and rocks fell like a torrential downpour.

He raised his head with difficulty, and saw that there was no one standing around him, and in the shaking just now, everyone was thrown out violently, staggering and looking like everything, even if a few barely fell, they were still walking and staggering, like drunks.

And not far in front of him, something even more unbelievable happened—in the midst of that messy camp, with the violent shaking of the ground, a huge fireball of extremely bright light suddenly soared, emitting a light even more dazzling than the sun!

“…… Boom-"

Then, the orange-red fireball flickered and expanded with great speed, exploding...... Stir up countless splatters of flesh and miserable screams!

In an instant, accompanied by a tragic momentum as if the sun was falling, a deafening and fierce explosion wave swept across the entire land unstoppably, making everyone's ears buzz and even bleed.

The earth turned pale, the sky lost all color, and even the golden sun became as white as paper at this moment.

All the tents and fences around the center of the explosion were also swept high by a shock wave visible to the naked eye!

A red-black orange-red flame rose up, and the dazzling white light stung the eyes of the soldiers in an instant, making them almost deaf and blind - the fierce wave of air generated by the explosion, with the flickering white light, had shattered the eardrums of everyone nearby!

What's even more terrifying is that all kinds of metal shavings, stones and even gravel are flying in the explosion of this fireball, shuttling through this crowded and crowded barracks! With a terrible scream, they tore through their robes and smashed through their armor, brutally piercing the thin bodies of the soldiers, leaving them knocked down by iron filings and earth and stone, or engulfed in flames. The body, which was full of life just now, was soon transformed into a corpse covered with blood and flames...... even turned directly into piles of scattered flesh and blood, flew high into the air, and then sprinkled down!

It was a terrible explosion far beyond the imagination of ordinary people, and all the surviving soldiers lost their souls. They watched in disbelief at the splattered stumps and severed arms, letting the sand and flesh drip down their heads. No one remembered what they were going to do, they just stood there until they were struck by an indescribable wave of deadly air. They fell to the ground with a limp.

- No other sound can be heard in the ears except the roar; Even though he opened his mouth wide, he couldn't shout any words; Even with all my might, my chest felt as if it was about to explode, and I couldn't breathe a breath of air; Despite his efforts to keep his eyes open, it was still pitch black.

Then the limbs of these people began to twitch and foam at the mouth. The pupils dilated unnaturally, and Zuihou ushered in a doomed death......

However, compared to those unlucky eggs who were beaten into a sieve by "home-made shotguns". These guys who were crushed by the wave of air could still keep at least one whole corpse.

Moreover, for the survivors of this explosion, the next round of blows, which is more deadly and more terrifying, is also imminent.

-- Outside a small mound about three kilometers from the barracks. Wearing a steel helmet and desert camouflage body armor. Ma Tong and Wang Qiu, who were holding binoculars in their hands, were also shocked to see that after a white flash that could not be seen directly, a brilliant and dazzling huge fireball rose in the center of the enemy camp, and continued to roll in the air, and Zuihou gradually turned into a mushroom cloud......

“…… Oh, my God! It's actually a mushroom cloud! It looks like an atomic bomb! Senior Sister Ma Tong stretched out her hand to cover her mouth, looking at the scene in front of her with an incredulous face, "...... Is the power of a mere car bomb so great? ”

“…… A whole two and a half tons of TNT explosives. Two large barrels full of gasoline mixed with sugar, plus four sacks of nails and iron filings...... If this is the case, it will not be able to blow up these ancient natives of the Cold Weapon Age. Then even if we, the 'future people', all lived in vain! ”

Commissar Sonia, who had just completed a suicide attack in the remote control of the bomb truck, pursed her lips with some disdain and replied disapprovingly, "...... If you live in a modern-day Shijie Middle Eastern country, you have to get used to this thing, where people are used to using bombs and guns to reason, and a dead person is no different from a dead ant. When I heard that the Americans were hit by a plane into a twin building, they cried to death, but they didn't know that the average number of people killed in terrorist bombings in Pakistan every quarter is usually at least thousands. ”

“…… That's right, the bombs that explode every day and the bullets that fly everywhere are all the romance of Shijie in the Middle East! ”

Wang Qiu also nodded approvingly, then got into another "armed pickup" equipped with bulletproof steel plates, held the steering wheel, and started the engine, "...... Now that the car bombs have gone off, will the bullets be far away? Alright, everybody, get in the car! Let's go to war! ”

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Billowing black smoke billowed out of Nocrates, where barracks made of canvas, reed mats, wicker and palm wood burned.

-- The iron filings and nails on the remote-controlled car bomb turned all the living people in a radius of several hundred meters around the center of the explosion into a sieve, and the two large barrels of improvised "Molotov cocktails" set Achilles' camp on fire.

Because the order of the army had completely collapsed in the sound of the explosion, it was not possible to organize the first time to put out the fire, and the barracks were full of dense flammable materials, the raging fire soon became uncontrollable, and the choking smoke was even more suffocating. The smell of blood, smoke, and sweat mingled into a strange smell that burrowed into everyone's body like death, making them stiff...... It's as if the heart has been captured by fear!

So, the surviving soldiers who fell to the ground and groaned frantically slapped their bodies, trying to regain consciousness in their limbs, and then ran out desperately. Their only thought is to escape from this hell on earth as soon as possible, which is ravaged by monsters and fire.

A little farther behind the haystack, Achilles staggered to his feet, rubbing his still-buzzing head, his eyes glaring in disbelief as he swept over the mess of the barracks...... Wailing, wailing, roaring, and all sorts of strange noises, like little worms, burrowed into his ears and pierced his eardrums with pain; The rough sand was blown into his helmet by the hot wind, and into the corners of his mouth and eyes, and it hurt as if someone was pricking his face with a needle; Knocked to the ground by the shaking and air currents at one point, he was now cloaked like a madman. But Achilles was oblivious to all this, just staring blankly at the tragic scene in front of him, while recalling in his mind the earth-shattering explosion that had just happened.

What the hell is going on?

What kind of liliang is this?

Unfortunately, the only answer his chaotic mind could give at this time was "I don't know".

And this devastating liliang, which is both mysterious and unknown, has been the greatest source of fear for mankind since ancient times.

The fear that swelled up in his heart began to irresistibly erode the heart of this battlefield veteran. The fear in the hearts of others only increased - the explosion not only consumed the lives of hundreds of soldiers in an instant, but also completely destroyed the will of the entire army.

Immediately afterwards, a straw that crushed the camel finally appeared in their field of vision through the diffuse sand.

“…… Monster! Monster! There's another monster coming over there! ”

In an instant, the whole army mutinied, and before Achilles could come to his senses, he was trampled to the ground by several pairs of big feet, and he never got up from the sand. (To be continued.) )