Chapter 55: Close-In Grenade Artillery

After Lu Xiao and the others got out of the van, the middle-aged man gave them a military salute.

"I am Liu Guoliang. May I ask which military sub-district you gentlemen are from?"

Dante stepped forward at this moment.

"We are an independent operations team under the Ninth Army, codenamed Prison Guard!"

"We are here on a mission!"

"Due to the emergency, the official mission orders have not yet been issued!"

Liu Guoliang looked at Dante with a hint of suspicion.

"Why did you drive here in a van?"

Clearly, the van seemed rather out of place.

Dante maintained a completely serious expression.

"Due to the special nature of the mission, we must avoid drawing public attention. Higher-ups instructed us to use a more low-profile means of transportation!"

This explanation sounded reasonable enough, especially since Liu Guoliang knew what they were guarding.

"Please show me your identification!"

However, he still needed to perform this final verification step.

Dante nodded and pulled his identification documents from his pocket.

Liu Guoliang took the documents and walked aside to make a phone call.

Before long, he trotted back.

"Apologies, Commander! Verification complete. Your documents are in order!"

He hesitated for a moment before adding,

"Higher-ups have ordered me to provide full assistance for your operations!"

Dante thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Go help us prepare some tactical gear!"

"We came in a rush and didn't bring any equipment!"

Liu Guoliang saluted and then trotted away.

"I couldn't tell, but your rank is actually quite high," Lu Xiao said softly.

Dante sighed.

"No choice! The missions we Martyrs undertake are extremely dangerous!"

"We often need assistance from military personnel, and you can't command these regular troops without a high rank!"

"This is the result of negotiations between the higher-ups and the authorities!"

Slicker was a little excited.

"Report, Demon! What rank will we get after officially joining the Martyrs?"

Dante pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"All Martyrs are Brigadier Generals!"

Hearing that they would be Brigadier Generals, Slicker was so excited he almost fainted.

At this moment, he felt immensely grateful for his choice to join the Martyrs.

"Mom! Your son has made something of himself!"

Slicker seemed to have already envisioned his bright future.

Dante poured a cold bucket of water over him without hesitation.

"Of course! Your salary will remain exactly the same as it is now!"

Hearing this, Slicker's head instantly drooped.

Liuguang patted Slicker on the shoulder.

"Alright, you didn't join the Prison Guards for that meager salary in the first place."

Slicker said with utmost seriousness,

"But I *did* join the Prison Guards for the salary!"

Liuguang: "???"

On the other side, Xiaoyu finally memorized the entire airplane blueprint.

She took a deep breath.

"Now I just need to find the larvae of the ghost-face moth, and I can transform my ride into that airplane!"

Hearing this, Lu Xiao gave a thumbs-up.

"What a reliable girl!"

Hearing this, Xiaoyu's face flushed slightly.

Soon, Liu Guoliang returned.

"Commander! The armory has been opened for you all! Please follow me!"

Before long, the group arrived in front of a warehouse.

"Commander, you may freely use any ordnance inside."

Lu Xiao glanced around.

The arsenal's reserves were still quite plentiful.

Infantry weaponry was available in complete sets.

He casually picked up a shoulder-fired rocket launcher.

Dante said from the side,

"Though this thing packs a punch, the reload time is too long!"

"And you can't carry much ammunition for it either. You'd better look at something else!"

Lu Xiao nodded.

Aside from slight differences in appearance making them look somewhat more advanced, these weapons were similar to the ones he had seen in military magazines before falling into the Dark Abyss.

After putting down the rocket launcher, his gaze drifted toward a corner.

There stood an exaggerated heavy weapon with an unusual design.

Dante followed Lu Xiao's gaze.

"Buddy! You aren't actually eyeing *that* thing, are you?"

Lu Xiao grinned.

"That thing looks quite formidable!"

Dante rolled his eyes.

"That's a close-in rapid-fire grenade launcher mounted on tanks!"

"Not to mention how heavy the launcher itself is, a single shell weighs twenty kilograms!"

"And the launching apparatus alone exceeds five hundred kilograms!"

He smacked his lips.

"Though the firepower is certainly massive! One shell, and if someone accidentally gets grazed by it..."

"Forget a corpse, not even ashes will be left behind!"

Lu Xiao nodded, quite satisfied with this level of destructive power.

"Is the blast radius large?"

Dante pondered for a moment before replying,

"Roughly the size of half a football field!"

"Wait! You aren't actually planning to use this, are you?"

Amidst Dante's astonished gaze, Lu Xiao had already hoisted the launcher, which stood taller than half his height.

"Give me a hundred rounds of shells!"

Lu Xiao said offhandedly.

The others had finished their preparations as well.

Even the driver had put on tactical gear.

"Hey! If my lovely wife sees me dressed like this, she'll carry an airplane across the night just to find me and reconcile!"

Nearby, Slicker patted him on the shoulder.

"If your lovely wife saw *his* outfit, she'd probably carry a train across the night just to throw herself into his arms!"

The driver looked in the direction Slicker was pointing.

Upon looking, the driver's jaw nearly hit the floor in shock.

He saw Lu Xiao carrying a grenade launcher taller than half a man, with an ammunition crate strapped to his back that was twice the size of his own torso.

Lu Xiao wore a slightly regretful expression.

That was simply all the inventory shells left; otherwise, Lu Xiao would have loved to carry all of them away.

In the office.

Liu Guoliang was reporting to his superiors.

At that moment, a soldier rushed in.

Liu Guoliang hurriedly hung up the phone and glared at the soldier with displeasure.

"Commander! They... they came out of the armory!"

Liu Guoliang's expression turned impatient.

"So they came out, what are you making such a fuss about?"

"Haven't the corresponding weapons requisition paperwork already been issued?"

The soldier's expression was rather urgent.

"But... but they... they took...!"

Liu Guoliang put down the phone, his tone icy cold.

"Xiao Li! The paperwork is very clear; they are authorized to requisition any weaponry from the armory!"

"Besides, how much could they possibly take?"

Xiao Li panicked instantly.

"Commander! You'd better go see for yourself!"

Unconvinced, Liu Guoliang said,

"I'll go take a look then. I refuse to believe they could possibly cart the entire armory away!"

With that, he strode out of the office.

Inside the armory.

Liu Guoliang pointed at the empty corner.

"Dammit! Where the hell is my close-in grenade launcher?!"

Elsewhere, Lu Xiao and his group were already driving the van deeper into the town.