The sound of glass shattering and metal crashing clamor at the same time, drowning the shocked cry from the driver in the front and deafening screeches from outside the car.
The car instantly went out of control and skidded to the right, catching Keiko, who was sitting in the back row on the right side, off guard and slamming her body directly onto Lanny's.
The car spun around and slid into the grass on the right side of the road. After god knows how many rotations, it gradually slowed down and finally stopped.
Keiko's hand immediately reached out to her waist, going to grab her weapon, only to find that she was not equipped with any weapon at the moment, nor was she equipped with an exosuit.
She quickly moved away from her position to avoid crushing Jeanne, and then vigilantly looked at the roof while paying attention to the two windows, not daring to make a rash move.
"Xiao Wang, what's happened?!" After Keiko moved away, Jeanne quickly got up, reached out, took off the walkie-talkie, and shouted to the front seat, "Xiao Wang! Answer me!"
There was no answer from the front, only silence. Jeanne threw away the walkie-talkie in her hand and cursed in a low voice.
"Fuck!!"
Suddenly, a dull "thud" was coming from the top of the car's roof, followed by a scratching sound.
Keiko and Jeanne almost simultaneously grabbed the helmets beside their feet, quickly put them on, and then activated the oxygen supply system.
The front driver's seat had been damaged, and so had the airtight oxygen supply system in the car. Despite the fact that the rear seats are separated by a separator, it won't be long before the oxygen level in the car drops.
"Major, I'll count to three and we'll jump out of the car together. Once outside, you should run as quickly as possible in the direction of the city wall, and I will try to divert that monster, buying some time for you," Keiko suggested with a solemn expression.
"No way, you don't have any equipment on your body right now, it's too dangerous!" Jeanne rejected her proposal reflexively.
"This is the best way, Major. Listen to me, I'm sure!" Keiko insisted.
"But..."
"We don't have any other options!" Keiko reminded Jeanne.
Jeanne gritted her teeth and said, after a moment of hesitation, "Be careful, you must come back alive!" And then, she rolled up her sleeves, and Keiko saw a gun holster tied to her arm, and inside it was a pocket-sized and exquisite gun. She took off the gun and stuffed it into Keiko's hands.
Keiko clutched the gun in her hand with a bitter smile, thinking in her heart, 'Well, it's better than nothing.'
"One, two, jump!" Keiko's voice rang through the intercom headset.
Jeanne pushed the car door hard, jumped out quickly, and rolled forward, she got up and took big strides, and ran without even looking back.
Behind her came the furious roars of the monsters and the whistling of a split wind. At first, Lanny seemed to feel that the monster was coming after her, but at the same time, she heard Keiko's booming voice in the headset.
"Hey! You ugly son of a bug! Where are you going?! Your enemy is me!"
And the banging of the gunshots and the monster's wailing filled the air, while Jeanne was getting further and further away.
Jeanne never looked back once. She sprinted towards the city wall with all her strength, and via the radar on her helmet's visor, she saw some red dots representing a group of monsters chasing Keiko's green dot away.
At the same time, she also noticed that their car wasn't the only one being attacked. The four armored vehicles in front, as well as the logistic car and the medic car, were also under the assault of five monsters.
Jeanne could see that their situation wasn't much better off than Keiko's and hers, and one of the armored vehicles and also the medic car were even flipped upside down by the monster.
Jeanne recognized in a single glance that their ambushers were the Mantis-type first-class predators, Devil Mantis, known for their speed and agility. They are wielding sharp and hard scythes to attack the vehicles, looking to tear the six vehicles to pieces.
Inside the four armored vehicles were all reserve mecha soldiers, each with 11 people, including the driver, so there was a total of 44 soldiers that could be utilized.
The medical car was the one that transported Bailey and the surviving adventurers, but the two directors of Sistine and the Academy of Sciences, who were supposed to be in the car, were not there at the moment.
Just before Keiko woke up, they had entered the city by helicopter. Now, only Dr. Leah and the two nurses were in the car, accompanying Bailey and the adventurer. However, now that the vehicle was overturned, Jeanne didn't know their situation.
Jeanne halted, squatted down quickly, and hid behind the grass.
The situation has changed. The city gate was blocked by the convoy, and she didn't have the confidence to be able to enter the city in such a brief window of opportunity.
She was currently unarmed and unable to fight; furthermore, she didn't think Keiko could hold the monster for so long, so she had to ask for support.
Jeanne directly dialed the highest-authority rescue channel, and the call went directly to Major General Frode's ID, the highest commander of Trudheim City. When the line connected, Jeanne sighed in relief and quickly reported their situation.
"Major General, I'm Jeanne. When the third squadron entered the city, the seven vehicles at the tail were suddenly attacked by six Devil Mantis, and the city gate was blocked. Now we are trapped outside the city, so please send mecha immediately to kill the monster."
"I've received the news that the rescue team will be here within two minutes. Please hang on there!" Major General Frode's voice sounded calm and not panicked.
After hanging up the call, Jeanne bit her lip and began to think quickly. Why did these six mantis-type predators suddenly appear and attack the incoming troops at the gate of the city?
Although she was curious about this question, she didn't have the time to ponder about this matter for the time being.
The biggest problem at present was how to delay the time.
With the personnel she had here, their chance of survival was actually pretty slim. The attack power and evasion ability of the Devil Mantis was horrifying. One monster was enough to slaughter a team of 50 people, but at the moment, they were besieged by six such creatures. Since they only have a 40-ish man right now, how should she handle it?
Beep, beep, beep—
A warning alarm suddenly beeped on the helmet screen. Jeanne clicked on the three-dimensional map of the city wall in the whole territory, and then her expression suddenly darkened, and her fist clenched so hard that blood was dripping from her palm.
Instead of seeing their reinforcements coming from the city, she actually saw the city gate was slowly closing down!