Chapter 371: Putting a Hole in the Citadel

Kai’s eyes remained fixed on the enormous barrier surrounding the Citadel.

"Is there a way to bypass it..."

[ Negative. ]

Kai knew as much and nodded.

"How negative is it, Chamber?"

[ The barrier does not rely on an external authorization system that can be imitated or manipulated. Its energy structure is directly integrated with the Citadel’s defensive core.]

"So you can’t hack it?"

[ Correct. ]

Kai stared at the barrier for several seconds.

He had originally thought that Chamber might be able to find some way around it, especially since the Citadel’s technology shared similarities with the systems Chamber had already analyzed.

But if even Chamber couldn’t bypass it, then there was only one option left.

Kai opened his inventory...

His eyes moved through the items stored inside until he found what he was looking for.

Aetherium Cannon Balls.

His eyes immediately lit up.

These weren’t ordinary ammunition. They were powerful, destructive weapons that he had obtained some time ago in Citadel-09 and had kept inside his inventory because he hadn’t found a suitable opportunity to use them.

He currently had thirty of them in his inventory as he sent the others away...

Kai then looked at the barrier again.

"Chamber, what do you think?"

[ The barrier’s energy density is extremely high. Conventional attacks will have little effect. ]

Kai smiled.

"I wasn’t planning to use conventional attacks."

He immediately took out ten Aetherium Cannon Balls.

The strange spheres appeared around him, each one surrounded by a faint layer of energy.

Kai looked at them for a moment before directing them toward the same section of the barrier.

"Let’s see if ten are enough."

The Aetherium Cannon Balls were soon thrown forward after triggering their fuse...

Boom!

The first explosion shook the entire area.

The enormous barrier rippled, but it wasn’t enough...

Still, even if the barrier hadn’t broken, its energy field had visibly weakened.

The second Aetherium Cannon Ball exploded.

Boom!

The energy spreading across the barrier became even more unstable.

Then the third... fourth... fifth.

The explosions began overlapping with one another, and the section of the barrier in front of Kai started showing visible cracks of energy.

The Citadel immediately reacted.

Kai ignored the Impulse chasing him as he continued throwing...

Sixth. Seventh. Eighth.

The barrier began trembling violently.

Kai could already see the energy flowing through it becoming unstable as the Aetherium explosions continued tearing apart the defensive field.

The ninth cannonball exploded.

Boom!

The entire barrier shook and Kai’s eyes lit up...

"One more."

He triggered the final Aetherium Cannon Ball.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then—

BOOM!

A massive explosion occurred across the barrier.

The energy field in front of Kai shattered like glass, and the enormous dome surrounding the Citadel suddenly developed a huge opening.

Of course, this move gathered so much attention that even the Survivors in Cameron City saw it.

Kai’s eyes widened slightly, and he was also shocked... "It worked."

[ The defensive barrier has been breached. But it’s recovering... ]

Indeed, several alarms suddenly echoed from the Citadel.

Red lights began flashing across the fortress, while countless mechanical structures emerged from its exterior.

The Citadel had clearly detected the destruction of its barrier.

"Looks like they didn’t appreciate that."

[ Multiple defensive units are being deployed. ]

Kai looked at the enormous opening in the barrier.

The path was finally clear, so he immediately accelerated the Dragoon.

"Then I better get inside before they close it."

The Dragoon shot forward through the opening...

Behind him, the damaged barrier began rapidly rebuilding itself.

Of course, Kai didn’t slow down after passing through the barrier.

Kai knew that he couldn’t afford to waste even a few seconds. His eyes remained fixed on the fortress ahead as he pushed the Dragoon toward its outer hull.

Several defensive machines immediately changed direction and moved toward him.

"Chamber, find me the weakest point on the outer hull."

[ Searching for structural weaknesses. ]

Several markers appeared on the Dragoon’s display, highlighting different sections of the Citadel’s exterior. Kai quickly glanced over them before pointing toward one of the marked areas.

"That one."

[ Confirmed. The selected location contains an internal maintenance section. The armor is thinner than the surrounding areas. ]

Kai nodded.

"Good enough."

The Dragoon accelerated again as the enormous Citadel continued growing larger in front of him until it almost filled his entire vision.

From this distance, Kai could clearly see the massive mechanical structures connected to different sections of the fortress. It was difficult to even imagine how many machines were stored inside something this large.

Soon, Several aerial units moved into his path and immediately opened fire.

Kai didn’t bother fighting them.

He activated Shadow Dash...

His body and the Dragoon disappeared from their original position, causing the incoming attacks to pass through empty air before exploding behind him.

"Haha! This is perfect!"

A moment later, they reappeared directly in front of the section Chamber had identified.

Kai immediately reached into his inventory.

He still had twenty Aetherium Cannon Balls remaining after using ten to destroy the barrier.

He took out one of them and looked at the armored section ahead.

"Let’s make a door."

Kai threw the Aetherium Cannon Ball toward the Citadel.

The strange sphere struck the outer hull and began emitting a faint glow.

Kai immediately activated Shadow Dash again.

His body and the Dragoon disappeared just as the Aetherium Cannon Ball detonated.

BOOM!

A large section of the outer armor was blown apart, sending pieces of metal flying in different directions.

Kai and the Dragoon reappeared several dozen meters away and he immediately looked toward the damaged section.

A large hole had been created in the Citadel’s outer hull.

It wasn’t particularly wide, but after seeing the opening, Kai smiled.

"Perfect... Let’s go in!"

Just like that, he entered what appeared to be a narrow maintenance corridor as he stored his Dragoon inside his Inventory.

The walls were made entirely of dark metal, with countless cables and mechanical components running through them.

"Chamber, can you connect to the Citadel from here? Do you need some kind of terminal to plug in?"