ebookslot Chapter 172 Operation Success
Chapter 172 Operation Success
Chapter 172 Operation Success
The dark purple halo in the direction of the target suddenly shook violently and expanded, then dimmed considerably, like a candle that had been extinguished!
At the same time, a muffled rumbling sound, as if coming from the depths of the earth, could be faintly heard. Even 30 kilometers away, one could feel the faint tremors of the ground beneath one's feet!
Almost simultaneously, the Santa headquarters laboratory and the Imperial forward base's remote energy monitoring station both detected a small-scale, unnatural ley line energy eruption signal in the southern region of the Burning Mountains.
The eruption's epicenter is located in the valley where the Ash Ring stronghold is situated!
"It's a success!" Duden couldn't help but exclaim softly, his face full of excitement.
Cassan breathed a sigh of relief, her pale golden soul flame flickering slightly: "The interference worked, and it seems to have triggered a chain reaction."
Roland leaned against the broken wall of the wreckage and let out a long sigh of relief.
The initial goals of the plan have been achieved.
The construction of the magic circle in the Ring of Ashes will definitely be severely disrupted or even destroyed, and the interior of the stronghold will probably be in chaos.
Just then, Commander Hector's voice came through the communication crystal, carrying a hint of surprise and admiration: "Team A reports that the target base is in obvious disarray, the energy shield is fluctuating violently, and multiple energy flashes and smoke have been observed rising from within, suspected to be a backlash from the magic circle or an energy leak."
"No signs of a large-scale evacuation have been found."
"Well done, Harmonic Action Team."
Shortly after, Wizard Horn also sent a message: "Remote observation confirms that the energy disturbance in the target area's ley lines will continue for some time."
"Santa has ordered nearby rapid reaction forces to be on standby and ready to provide long-range fire support should the Empire launch an attack."
The next thing is up to Commander Hector and Wizard Horn to worry about.
The joint commando team will take advantage of the chaos to launch an attack, aiming to destroy the stronghold to the greatest extent possible.
Rowling and his team successfully completed their mission.
After resting for about an hour, and waiting for the debris loop and conduction array to cool down, the group began to carefully dismantle the equipment and erase any traces of the temporary activity.
Then, escorted by Ella's team, they quietly withdrew from the area, returned to the secret outpost, and then went back to the Holy Tower headquarters via the teleportation array.
When Rowling stepped into the analysis department's research lab again, it felt like he had experienced a long and strange dream.
My body and mind were exhausted to the extreme, but deep inside, I felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and certainty.
He submitted the technical task report to Duden for compilation, then returned to his residence and went straight to sleep.
He slept very soundly.
When I woke up, it was already noon the next day.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting warm dappled patterns inside.
Luo Lin felt much better.
He got up, washed up, and changed into clean clothes.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Ella waiting outside, carrying a food box.
"Mr. Rowling, you're awake?" Ella asked with a smile.
"Master Veranica has sent over some specially made energy-restoring potions and meals, saying that you should get some rest."
"The initial battle report from Researcher Duden has also come back. The joint assault went smoothly. The Ash Ring outpost has been basically destroyed, and some supplies and fragmented documents have been seized and are currently being analyzed."
Luo Lin nodded and took the food box.
"You've worked hard, you should go and rest too."
Ella responded, but didn't leave immediately. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, "Um—Mr. Rowling, I had someone check on Blackrock Town, and everything is fine."
"Miss Ellie's magic plant garden has several new seedlings growing well. She also asked someone to bring over some of her sun-dried magic plant tea, saying that you can try it when you have time."
Upon hearing this simple yet heartwarming news, a faint smile unconsciously appeared on Luo Lin's lips.
"Okay, I understand."
Watching Ella leave, Rowling went back inside and opened the food box. Inside were delicate pastries and a small bottle of potion with a pale green sheen.
He ate slowly, feeling his strength returning, but his thoughts drifted away.
The success of Operation Harmonic demonstrated his enormous potential to translate ancient knowledge into practical tactical capabilities.
The study of the Civilization Stele is still awaiting further exploration.
The battle against the Ring of Ashes is far from over, and the next low point in the energy tide is approaching.
The road ahead is still long, and the challenges will only increase.
But at least for now, after another intense confrontation, he can sit here, quietly enjoy a meal, and feel the insignificant yet real concern from afar.
On the other hand, Operation Harmonic successfully destroyed an important stronghold of the Ash Ring. Although the seized documents were fragmented, they pieced together some unsettling clues.
The Ash Ring's understanding and preparation for the tidal lows and weak points are deeper than expected.
They seem to have obtained fairly detailed ancient star maps and data from some unknown source, with a very clear goal: to exploit weaknesses during the next downturn and complete some kind of large-scale guiding ritual.
In the following months, the joint operations between Shadowraven Tower and the Molten Empire became more frequent and in-depth.
Both sides jointly formed several elite hunting squads to launch attacks throughout the Fragment World, clearing out known or suspected strongholds of the Ash Ring and disrupting their resource reserves and intelligence networks.
Luo Lin's tidal observation team also continuously optimized the model, narrowing down and refining the predicted weak points.
However, the Ring of Ashes is like a venomous snake in the shadows, exceptionally cunning and tenacious.
They abandoned most of their fixed strongholds and shifted to more covert guerrilla warfare and infiltration, making their operations more secretive and unpredictable.
Although the joint operation achieved many results, it was never able to deliver a fatal blow or stop them from secretly preparing for the ritual.
As time went by, the predicted tidal low point drew ever closer.
Three months later, the tidal observation team released its final prediction:
The next significant energy trough will begin in 47 days and last for about 22 days.
The two most likely primary weak points are located deep within the Ash Plains and in an active volcanic area called the Throat of Eternal Flame in the core region of the Burning Mountains.
The Holy Tower and the Empire immediately mobilized heavy forces to lay a tight net around the two areas, while also strengthening their monitoring of the overall energy fluctuations of the fragmented world, preparing to strike with lightning speed once the Ring of Ashes appeared.
During this period, in addition to participating in monitoring work, Luo Lin devoted most of his energy to the research of the Civilization Stele and the improvement of his own abilities.
His experience with Harmonic Operation made him realize that while precise energy manipulation is powerful, in the face of complex and ever-changing combat environments, especially against the unpredictable methods of wizards in the Ash Ring, the existing attack spells do seem somewhat limited and insufficient.
[Corrosion Orb] has decent power but is slow; [Starflow Hydrophilic Field] is mainly for defense and adaptation; [Star Force Ray] is accurate but has limited single-target damage.
He needs more effective one-piece attack spells to deal with different situations.
He combined the principles of energy structure he gleaned from the stone tablet with his deep understanding of the essence of stellar power, and began to attempt improvements and innovations.
The first direction is to enhance the power and variability of the [Star Force Ray].
He was no longer satisfied with simple energy beams, but instead tried to construct miniature energy spiral structures inside the rays to increase penetration and disrupt stability.
After numerous failures and adjustments, he successfully created the [Spiral Star Arrow], which has a faster firing speed and whose energy spreads in a spiral upon impact, making it more effective at destroying energy shields and physical defenses.
The second direction is to develop attack variants based on the fluid manipulation characteristics of the [Starflow Hydrophilic Field].
He attempted to condense highly compressed stellar energy into countless tiny, high-speed rotating stardust particles, and then propel them with the power of the field to form a covering cutting storm.
This move is named "Stardust Turbulence," and it is suitable for dealing with densely packed weak enemies or disrupting the opponent's formation. However, it is not very effective against single strong enemies and consumes a lot of resources.
The third direction is even more difficult.
The attempt was to briefly and controllably bring the Order Star Force into contact with the chaotic energy commonly found in the environment, utilizing their mutual annihilation properties to generate a violent energy burst.
This inspiration comes partly from research on the energy transformation of the Purple Plague Stone, and also draws on the description of the opposition between order and chaos in the Civilization Stele.
He cautiously conducted theoretical deductions and small-scale experiments, progressing slowly and with high risks, which he temporarily named "Disruption of Order".
Just as Rolin was immersed in the research and improvement of magic, there were less than ten days left until the predicted low tide period.