185 EMP

Using the cover of night, they began their operations. The goal was to get as near as possible without detection. The 50 people quietly walked forwards towards the gate, led by Aida. Since they were still fairly far out, the guards and drones in the air had yet to be alerted of their presence.

The first obstacle was the barbed wire. This was largely meant to prevent random infected animals from entering, prior to when they had realized that no animals could be found. Since then, it was convenient to just leave the wire there as a deterrent. The metal elementals stepped forward and used their abilities to make clean cuts into the wire, moving them away. Half of them stayed behind to continue clearing out the area. Some of the stronger ones used it to create weapons for the upcoming fight.

Aida continued to lead the remaining squad forward to the next barrier, an electric fence. This would have posed a problem for many, but it was a piece of cake for Aida and Xiao Ai. Aida stepped up and patted Xiao Ai, who bounced around cheerfully. "Ready~" she whispered cheerfully as the two of them touched the electric fence at the same time.

Aida could feel a euphoric sensation welling up in her as the electricity coursed through her body. She had nearly forgotten this ability as normal food and gems were typically her source of energy. The amount of electricity her body could absorb had increased tenfold since she upgraded to level 2.

In her mind, Artie was also extremely happy with the extra energy he was given. Aida soon reached her limit and let go, while Xiao Ai continued to take in more and more electricity. Her secondary ability, gluttony, was kicking in. She was practically a black hole that could absorb as much as she was given.

Everyone's hair stood up not just because the amount of power Xiao Ai held was great but also the electromagnetic field she created. They were silently shocked as they watched the steam bun grow in size. Soon, she went from palm sized to 5 times the size of a basketball. Due to her size, she was no longer able to float, but instead rolled around on the ground instead.

Aida signalled to the distracted metal elementals to cut through the fence while she moved forward with Xiao Ai. Xiao Ai looked quite amusing as her bun-like figure that looked like a giant white inflatable ball continued to roll forward.

After reaching a distance, Xiao Ai called out, "Xiao Ai is OP!" That was her catch phrase as she released the electricity that she had shored up.

She released all the energy stored up in her like an EMP, blasting all electronics in the vicinity. Sparks could be seen flying all along City M's wall as the generators exploded. This was also the cue for the rest of the troops to begin charging in.

Most of the troops had remained in their cars several miles back to prevent their cars from getting hit by the EMP. A loud rumble sounded as a thousand people in vehicles charged towards the entrance. Even the prisoners who had been forced to come, joined in with great fervor. While they may have disagreements with Aida and her methods, they had an even larger feud with the government that had abandoned them.

The people at City M were startled by the sudden loss of power. It was the dead of night so most people had been sleeping. Woken up because of the unexpected events, they began to run around behind the wall, trying to get their system back up. Their critical communications infrastructure was currently down because of the EMP, but they expected that the backup power generator would kick in soon.

The guards atop the wall were gossiping in the dark and still hadn't noticed Aida and the others walking closer and closer to the wall. During their entire time as guards at this wall, there had never been a successful breach or anyone who even tried. It was a relaxing job with rather high requirements - they had to know how to wield a gun and have gone through police or military training. This wasn't one of those countries that conscripted people into the military, so the majority of the population didn't qualify for this cushy job.

"Hey Joe, when do you think they'll finish the repairs?" asked Guard 1. Without the internet or even a functional phone, all they could do was stargaze, snack and gossip.

"I have no idea man, they said something about all the circuits being fried or something. Maybe they won't be up for a while," replied Guard 2.

"That probably means over time for you and me. We better get overtime pay for this," grumbled Guard 1 as he spat out a sunflower seed. This job paid well and was easy, so he didn't mind doing it. The only problem was the cost of living had gone up significantly in the city so he could really use the extra cash.

They continued to dawdle, eating sunflower seeds while staring up at the night sky. It was then that they heard a large rumbling sound outside.

"Do you hear that?" asked Guard 2 tentatively.

"Are you on something again? Come o…." Guard 1's voice trailed off as he casually looked towards the forsaken land and noticed the many vehicles charging towards them.

"Sh*..... Enemy attack!!" Guard 1 jumped up from his seat and screamed into his non-functional radio. The sunflower seeds spilled across the chair and ground, but he didn't have time to care about that now.

Hearing Guard 1's scream, Guard 2 finally snapped out of it and attempted to report the attack through his radio as well. It took a while before they finally recalled that their communication devices were not functional.

"Stay here." ordered Guard 1 as he quickly ran down from the wall. They would have to get reinforcements the old fashion way. Guard 2 nodded as he anxiously stared over the wall and watched as the vehicles quickly made their approach. This same interaction happened at multiple watch points across the wall.