Spring Thunder

New industrial zone. Goblin Technology's workshop. Inside the factory building piled with various spare parts sat a motorized tricycle with an undeniably punk aesthetic. Unlike ordinary motorcycles, this contraption not only possessed tires half a person tall, but the engine driving them was ridiculously massive. Because the engine rose higher than the seat, it had to be mounted on the side of the motorcycle and supported by an extra wheel, making it look from a distance like an hourglass-shaped three-wheeled jalopy. The engine's design was also quite distinctive, resembling a roasted sweet potato stove with a circular feed inlet at the top that could easily be mistaken for an outdoor trash can if left alone by the road. In fact, that overly spacious feed opening had been deliberately designed that way to make it easier for the driver to feed firewood inside. Walking beside the Administrator, Mosquito excitedly introduced his new invention to him. "This is a wood-burning engine we designed specifically for the terrain around Qingquan City, modeled after the Legion's standard light truck engines!" "After a few simple modifications, it's now much better adapted to bumpy environments than before. Even bouncing through mud pits, we can guarantee the engine won't stall. Our soldiers will never have to use their rifle butts to jam wood down the feed chute again!" "And this motorcycle is our Goblin Technology's masterpiece. I call it—'Breath of Death'!" "How about it? Looks pretty cool, doesn't it?" In a sense, it was indeed pretty cool. It was just that Chu Guang felt the name was somewhat ominous, as if whoever sat on it was destined never to return. Setting that aside, the contraption was actually quite interesting. The engine's operating principle was roughly similar to a locomobile engine. The trash-can-shaped feed inlet connected to iron drum-like devices and pipes. After wood was fed into the inlet, it dried as it slowly descended, was subsequently cracked by internal heat, and underwent incomplete combustion under limited oxygen. The carbon on the surface reacted with water and oxygen to produce a gas mixture containing hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide, which was finally routed into the engine after passing through metal condensing pipes. From there, the principle was similar to other natural gas engines, including the piston and cylinder structures. Three kilograms of wood was equivalent to one liter of gasoline, enough for this motorcycle to run twenty kilometers—amounting to fifteen kilograms of wood per hundred kilometers. It was not only practical, but cheap. After all, the one thing the wasteland never lacked was wood. In fact, this machine wasn't exactly Mosquito's latest invention; he had tinkered with wood gasification in the woodworking shed long ago. The Molotov cocktails the players used in the early days and the flamethrower he had used himself were both made using byproducts of wood gasification. After scrutinizing the uniquely styled motorcycle for a moment, Chu Guang looked at Mosquito and continued asking, "What's the top speed on this motorcycle?" Mosquito answered with certainty, "One hundred kilometers per hour is no problem! Though I wouldn't recommend driving that fast—with the road conditions out there, a single bump would probably send it flying." Chu Guang nodded to show he understood. Although he had never ridden a motorcycle, he had ridden an electric scooter; with a little imagination, he could easily picture the scene. "Not bad." "While there's still plenty of room for improvement, managing to build it to this level is already very good." "With this, our battlefield mobility will increase significantly. Thank you for your contribution to the revival of the Human Alliance." Mosquito hadn't expected his invention to receive such high praise from the faction leader, and a flattered, overwhelmed expression instantly appeared on his face. Restraining the excitement in his heart, he said in an agitated tone, "It is my honor to share your burdens!" Orders! Silver coins! Most importantly, his invention had been recognized! At the thought of his proud creation being listed in the NPC store and chosen by players from all over the server, Mosquito couldn't help but tear up with excitement. Who else dared to say his inventions were useless? Who else dared to say his creations were redundant? Huh? Just tell him who! Chu Guang cast an odd glance at Mosquito, who had suddenly grown emotional, but said nothing of it. Instead, he continued asking about production matters. "Is this engine troublesome to make? And that... er, 'Breath of Death' motorcycle—what kind of monthly output could we achieve?" Mosquito chuckled. "Not troublesome at all! As long as the material supply is sufficient and the steel mill can schedule the orders, assembling one every three days is no problem! If we're fast, even two days is doable!" Three days. A bit slow. It would probably miss the upcoming battle. However, Chu Guang also understood that there was no helping it. To achieve mass production required a massive expenditure of manpower and material resources. Currently, eighty percent of the new industrial zone's resources were focused on producing weapons, equipment, and ammunition. No matter how much they mobilized, they couldn't conjure things out of thin air. As for vehicles, they could only be relegated to secondary priority for the time being. Still, what comforted Chu Guang was that Mosquito seemed to have had a breakthrough recently. He was finally starting to abandon the small-workshop model, adapting to the demands of the "current patch" by hiring other players and wasteland natives, learning from No. 81 Mill to grow bigger and stronger. This was undeniably a good start. ... Placing an order with Goblin Technology via his VM. After leaving Goblin Technology, Chu Guang toured No. 81 Steel Mill before heading back to the outpost. However, shortly after returning to base, he saw Wrench walking toward him with a solemn expression. "My Lord! The patrol you deployed to the northeast sent word. They spotted traces of heavy marauder activity between the Mid-Continent Aerospace Ecological Experimental Base and Winter Willow Camp." "They probably came from the southern outskirts of TS City!" Have they finally come? For some reason, upon hearing the news, Chu Guang didn't feel a shred of nervousness; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. Black Snake choosing to attack now was better than dragging it out for another month, and both he and Vannus had anticipated that the enemy might strike early. It seemed those marauders wanted to spend the winter in prison cells. Splendid. Chu Guang looked at Wrench and calmly ordered, "Mobilize all soldiers." "Deploy according to the plan formulated the night before last!" Wrench straightened with a solemn look and took the order. "Yes, My Lord!" ... Northeast of Qingquan City. A convoy consisting of twenty light trucks, eight armored pickups, and one tank snaked crookedly across the vast, white snowfield, slowly crawling forward. Besides the vehicles, hundreds of marauders and nearly a thousand shackled slaves were flanked along both sides of the convoy. Because they had brought along all their worldly belongings, their marching pace was very slow. From time to time, trucks would get bogged down in the snow due to poor road conditions or stuck in the terrain, leaving them no choice but to have the slaves lift the vehicles out. As a result, the marauders marching alongside were forced to slow their pace and wait for these cumbersome monstrosities. Sitting in the back seat of an armored pickup, Black Snake wore an impatient expression and couldn't help urging the driver, "How much longer until we get there?" The driver gripping the steering wheel answered nervously, "We should arrive before dark, My Lord." Before dark... It looked like they would have to spend another night in the snow. Knowing that pushing wouldn't help, Black Snake cursed inwardly a few times and forced himself to wait patiently. The night before last, scouts he sent south had discovered fierce fighting breaking out in the direction of Changjiu Farm, during which a flare was seen rising into the night sky. Although they couldn't clearly see the battle's details, his scouts reported that judging by the gunfire, at least three hundred or more people were clashing. Two to three hundred-man squads. It seemed his old friend Lion Fang had seen through his thoughts and was dead set on beating them to the punch—advancing twenty kilometers south before the snow melted to swallow up the vast expanse of Qingquan City's northern outskirts. Black Snake knew he had to act. If he kept waiting until spring to strike, he probably wouldn't even get leftover broth to drink. Sitting beside Black Snake, Vides spoke with cautious phrasing. "Marching in heavy snow isn't a good idea. Our armored forces won't be able to utilize their mobility advantage in half-meter-deep snowdrifts." Whether it was the armored pickups, the tank, or the two 100mm howitzers towed by trucks. The slightest misstep with this heavy equipment could leave them mired in the snow, and once they broke down in an untimely position, they would likely become sitting ducks. Yet Black Snake didn't care—or rather, didn't take the warning to heart at all. From the strength the northern outskirts survivors demonstrated in the previous two battles, they amounted to two hundred-man squads at most. He had four such squads right beside him, and six more had already set out ahead, scouting the path in front of the main force. Unable to utilize mobility? What a joke. Did he even need that? In the face of absolute power, all he needed to do was shove cannon barrels into their faces, and they would naturally cast aside their weapons and surrender. "The blizzard has already stopped, and the hardest part is behind us. Our infantry will clear obstacles ahead, while our armored forces and supply train follow behind. If things look up, we'll be living in their houses and sleeping in their beds by tomorrow night." Vides asked, "And if things don't look up?" "Then the day after," Black Snake clapped Vides on the shoulder, a cheerful look surfacing on his face. "Relax, my friend. I know you like meticulous plans, but sometimes the ability to adapt on the fly is just as important." Vides shook his head. "This isn't waging war. This is gambling." "Gambling? I don't hate the word." Black Snake smiled and continued, "I know what you're worried about. If our frontline forces come under attack, our tank won't be able to rush forward, right?" Vides: "..." Without waiting for him to speak, Black Snake continued smugly, "That worry is completely superfluous. We aren't the only ones dealing with heavy snow; they are too. No matter how stretched my battle line is, it's still within artillery range. Without vehicles, they'll be like grasshoppers trapped in snow, crushed flat into the dirt by our guns!" "What if they choose to attack our rear?" Vides couldn't help saying. "If I were them, I would never foolishly charge straight into our front." A flicker of displeasure crossed Black Snake's face. Although this staff officer occasionally offered constructive suggestions, his words were grating at times. In particular, he didn't believe attacking their rear was a good idea at all. "Do you think I haven't considered that? Why else would I keep four hundred-man squads at the rear? Even in the worst-case scenario, if they miraculously bypass our frontal troops and appear in our rear, these four hundred-man squads will be enough to drown them." Besides, that was impossible. This bitter winter treated everyone equally. People couldn't just drop from the sky. To bypass six hundred-man squads advancing in a search formation, they could only circle around from the east, and they would have to make a massive detour. By conservative estimates, their march route would stretch to thirty kilometers, crossing vast snowfields and scattered forests and ruins along the way. By the time they went through the trouble of circling to the rear, who knew—his armored forces might have already rolled into Qingquan City's urban districts! And even if, in the worst-case scenario, they actually crept up behind them, it wouldn't matter. Even if the tank got stuck in the snow, at most its tracks would be jammed; that wouldn't affect its turret. Working in coordination with four hundred-man squads, dense barrages of bullets and shells would swat those damned vermin onto the snow like flies! He had waited over a month for this day! After listening to Black Snake, Vides chose silence, simply because he had no idea what else to say. Not sending everyone to the front merely proved he wasn't an idiot, but it was far from proving it was a clever decision. If this guy were made commander of the expeditionary force, they probably wouldn't last a single week—he'd throw away a million-man army in three days. Vides sighed inwardly. Now he could only pray the opposing side was a bunch of amateurs too. Yet for some reason... Whenever he thought that, an unsettling feeling crept into his heart. This was an instinct honed from fighting the people of the Great Rift Valley on the northern front, an instinct that had saved him from danger countless times. Would things really go so smoothly? ... At this moment, neither Vides nor Black Snake, nor the patrol marching alongside the convoy, noticed that on a snow-covered ridge three kilometers to the east, a pair of eyes was watching them unblinkingly. With gauze fitted over the front of his binoculars, Ye Shi lay prone in a snowdrift, suppressing the excitement in his chest. He reached out a frozen index finger and pressed it against his uniquely styled earphone. "Attention squad leaders! The target has passed designated Area A and is moving toward Area C on the map... Looks like they want to head for the interprovincial highway." "You definitely won't let this big fish slip by, right?" In a sleeping bag not far away lay Kuang Feng, currently offline playing dead; in a little while, Ye Shi would have to log off and call Kuang Feng back online. The two of them had been taking shifts on watch here for two days. Over these two days and two nights, neither of them had returned to base once. Ye Shi didn't even know how he had endured it! Voices of various squad leaders came over the comms channel. Mole on the Run from the Canyon: "Damn it! Why the hell isn't it coming through my area again?!" Midnight Chicken Slaughter: "Work's here, boys!" On the snowfield five kilometers from the target, Commander Spring, who was standing beside a truck, climbed back into the passenger seat and gave Battlefield Atmosphere Group in the driver's seat a shove. "Drive. We're heading to Area C. Later on, don't lose your damn head the second you see people. Park the truck before picking a fight." "They're here? Holy shit, this mission took forever... I was almost ready to disconnect." Battlefield Guy shook his head and started the engine. Commander Spring ignored him, pressing his index finger to his earphone. "Redeploying now, target Area C... Calling Edge Squad, they're heading straight for your position. Looks like you're spearheading again." Beside the interprovincial highway four kilometers from the target. A squad of players clad in white camouflage lay prone in the snow. Behind them was a patch of woods, and in front was a gentle slope. This was the closest route to the interprovincial highway. Edge Slacker reached up, pressed his earphone, and answered calmly, "Copy that." Ending the transmission, he looked back at his eager comrades-in-arms, took a slow, deep breath, and spoke solemnly: "Brothers, the enemy is advancing in a straight line toward us. Only four kilometers left." "This will be the very center of the battlefield." With that, he turned to Construction Site Youth and Brick. "...Brother Brick, aim for the tank's tracks later. Hit or miss, change positions immediately after firing a shot. Once its tracks are blown, leave it be and hand it over to Big Eye." With a "lance" nearly two meters long resting in front of him, Construction Site Youth and Brick said excitedly, "Leave it to me!" "+1," Indebted Big Eye pulled out a small robot from his backpack, verified that the explosives were securely fastened, and chuckled. "By the way, are we opening bets this time? I'm putting money on—" "Fuck off!" "Bet on your jinxing mouth! Always running your mouth—hurry up and go plant the robot out front!" Seeing that he had provoked public outrage, Indebted Big Eye gave a dry cough. "Just joking." This was going to be a tough battle. The enemies they faced would be several times greater than last time. However, no one was afraid. Edge Slacker could feel that the light flickering in every pair of eyes around him was excitement, combined with the courage to face death unflinchingly. They would stop every single one of those bandits right here. Want to pass? Then come try! Edge glanced down at the VM on his arm. A line of light blue text surfaced on the screen. [Mission: Operation Codename "Spring Thunder"] This thunderbolt... Would shatter all darkness!