North of the interstate highway interchange lay a relatively gentle snowfield.
At this moment, the thousand-man force under Black Snake's command was marching slowly across this expanse of snow.
Although he had failed to persuade Black Snake to take a more prudent strategic approach, they were in the same boat after all, so Vides had still carefully mapped out their march route.
He chose to head due south, bypassing the dense forest and steep slopes to the west, enter the interstate highway, and then push west all the way to sever the connection between Changjiu Farm and the northern suburbs of Qingquan City.
The actual distance of this route was slightly longer.
Yet it was also considerably more practical.
In the back seat of an armored pickup truck.
A map lay spread across Vides's lap. His index finger moved across the paper, tracing an arc directly ahead of their route of advance.
"...Due west of us is the forest where Winter Willow Camp is located. If all went as expected, the survivors there evacuated over a month ago."
"Our objective is the interstate highway due south. Once we push through to it, the path ahead will be smooth and level."
"If our intel is accurate, there should be a survivor settlement there."
"Even though they've most likely fled, we can still scavenge some useful supplies."
"It will be dark in about two hours. We can rest there for the night before continuing west. If all goes well, we should reach Changjiu Farm by noon tomorrow. Provided they haven't blown it up, we'll secure a fortress in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City—and beat your allies to it, just as you wished."
Black Snake stroked his chin, a satisfied expression on his face.
He trusted his staff officer's professional competence.
However, he still had a few questions about the plan.
While Vides explained his strategy, Black Snake's gaze had remained fixed on a red marking on the map.
That was Mid-Continent Aerospace's ecological experimental base, a high ground easily defended and difficult to assault. Not only did it feature intact perimeter walls to serve as cover, but it also offered undamaged buildings to provide shelter from the elements.
Black Snake remembered clearly that over a month ago, Vides had strongly recommended using that place as a springboard to attack the northern suburbs of Qingquan City.
Yet for some reason, this time his staff officer completely ignored that prime location, not uttering a single word about it since the operation began.
As if he had completely forgotten it existed.
"Why don't we garrison directly at Mid-Continent Aerospace's ecological experimental base? It's on high ground, perfect for deploying our artillery."
Vides shook his head.
"It is a good position, but the terrain from there to Changjiu Farm is too flat."
Black Snake asked, puzzled, "Isn't that a good thing?"
Vides replied, "For them, of course it's a good thing. They would reach it faster than us, seize the high ground, and wait for us to walk right into their crosshairs."
That sounded somewhat reasonable.
Black Snake nodded thoughtfully, shifting his eyes to the highway cutting east-west across the map, and pressed on, "Then what if they ambush us along both sides of the highway?"
Vides sighed, patiently answering, "The interstate highway sits on higher ground relative to both flanks. No one is stupid enough to ambush people on a ridge from the foot of a slope. All we need to do is detach a squad ahead to sweep for explosives and traps, and send two more squads forward along the gentle slopes on either side of the road to reconnoiter. That will guarantee nothing goes wrong."
This fellow always asked questions that left one at a loss for words.
Vides felt a throbbing headache coming on.
Yet unlike Vides's vexation, having received a satisfactory answer, Black Snake wore a cheerful expression and remarked lightly, "Looks like victory is within sight."
"Yes, assuming everything goes as smoothly as planned."
Vides folded the map in his hands and gazed out the window at the vast expanse of white snow.
His brow knitted slightly.
The uneasy foreboding in his heart grew stronger.
If the survivors of Qingquan City's northern suburbs intended to stop them, right now was probably their last and only chance.
Once their convoy rolled off the wilderness and onto the highway, the enemy would lose all advantage, with no remaining possibility of halting their advance.
And yet...
Ambushing them here would be no easy feat either.
He had intentionally chosen a highway entrance further away from Changjiu Farm.
Even if the enemy spotted them and responded immediately upon receiving the early warning, they were unlikely to beat the convoy to this spot.
Should he send a few scouts ahead to check?
Just as Vides was pondering this, a loud bang suddenly echoed from far to the southeast of the convoy.
Immediately followed by a piercing screech through the air—a shell seemed to slam right into the center of the column.
Right where the tank was positioned.
Vides's face shifted slightly.
Black Snake, seated beside him, reacted quickly enough; he had already snatched the walkie-talkie and roared in fury: "Motherfucker! Who dares ambush my convoy?! Blast them!"
...
Bang—!
A thick tongue of flame erupted from the muzzle, its thunderous crack reverberating across the snowfield.
A 20mm steel-core armor-piercing round drew an amber trajectory through the air and, like a streak of lightning, slammed viciously into the tank five hundred meters away.
Sparks sprayed.
With a sharp snap, the heavy tread ruptured and slid out of control from the road wheels. The advancing tank instantly lost traction and stalled in the snow.
The surrounding marauders were dumbfounded.
Evidently, they had never imagined anyone would dare attack them.
Much less strike at that invincible steel beast!
Pulling his eye away from the scope, Construction Site Youth and Bricks, lying prone in the snow, pumped his fist excitedly and cheered, unable to contain his thrill: "Hahaha! De-tracked the tank! I hit it!"
Looking closer, that tank appeared quite menacing.
With a hull nearly eight meters long, a thick cannon barrel, and angular armor plating, it crouched in the snow like a colossal iron beast.
However, the thing hadn't proved as tough as expected; a single shot had blown off its track, astonishing even Construction Site Youth and Bricks himself.
He had thought it would take at least several shots...
Too bad there was no teammate nearby to high-five.
Before the marauders could figure out what was happening, he quickly ejected the smoking casing, shoved another armor-piercing round into the chamber, and fired a follow-up shot right at the tank's turret.
If he could disable the turret, this thing would become complete scrap iron!
His intentions were good.
Unfortunately, a 20mm caliber was simply too small.
The second round struck the turret like a toothpick hitting a brick wall, glancing off without suspense and ricocheting skyward.
"Fuck me!"
"Should've switched to HE to blast infantry!"
With that second shot, the marauders finally spotted him and began shouting jabbering curses, opening fire toward his position.
From five hundred meters away, bullets came whizzing past.
Unflinchingly folding up the Lance's bipod, Construction Site Youth and Bricks relocated swiftly before the tank's main gun could swing his way.
Almost the exact instant he abandoned his firing position, a high-explosive shell slammed into the spot.
Snow blasted over a dozen meters into the air, and two nearby pine trees were snapped clean in half, crashing onto the snowy slope and rolling downward.
Watching the towering plume of snow and debris from a distance, the players lying in ambush nearby showed expressions of astonishment.
"Holy crap! That caliber has to be over 80mm."
"Be confident—drop the 'has to be.'"
"Mama mia... you think Site Bro is still alive?"
"He's an Awakened after all, and a Strength-type at that. He won't croak that easily." Edge Slacker glanced at Big Eye beside him and continued, "The tank is on you. Steady now—we only have one robot, only one shot."
Wearing the interface headset, Big Eye kept his eyes shut tight.
His consciousness was linked to the Crawler deployed up front. Its four mechanical legs moved rapidly, carrying its chassis through the snow.
The target was just ahead!
Though he couldn't see it directly, he could feel it clearly!
With his hand gripping the detonator, Indebted Big Eye exhaled a breath of white mist.
"Relax."
"Solid as a rock!"
...
An ambush out of nowhere.
The marauders' column fell into total chaos.
Clearly lacking experience dealing with such situations, their bloated column twisted like a centipede, huddling into a messy tangle on the snow.
Even so, their combat discipline was respectable, and their reactions were fairly prompt.
Once the incoming direction was confirmed, the de-tracked tank pivoted its turret and fired a round toward the shooter's vantage point, followed immediately by its coaxial machine gun raking the area with rapid bursts.
Bullets kicked up plumes of powder along the snowy ridge.
Had anyone still been lying there, they would have been shredded beyond dead!
"Boys, charge!"
"Root out that rat who sniped us!"
"Son of a bitch, I'll skin the bastard and turn him into a sofa!"
To the roar of a marauder centurion, four ten-man squads moved out immediately, advancing rapidly toward the snowy ridge five hundred meters away.
Seeing the distant fire cease, a crew member climbed out of the tank's top hatch carrying a toolbox, taking out implements to repair the snapped track.
Sitting in the armored pickup, Black Snake wore an expression dripping with irritation.
Half a minute ago, he received word from the tank crew: the tread was broken and would take some time to fix.
Just because of a single attacker, the entire column had been forced to halt.
"I suggest spreading out the infantry to thoroughly search the area," Vides cautioned, looking at him. "It's very likely there's more than one attacker."
Black Snake snapped impatiently, "Once I hunt that guy down, I'll know how many flies there are."
The track repair progressed smoothly.
The tank would soon be running again.
Wiping engine grease from his brow with his arm, the marauder crewman who had climbed down prepared to bolt on the final part.
Yet right then, he suddenly noticed something moving in the snow nearby.
A rat?
In the brief moment he hesitated, the little creature slipped under the tank's chassis beneath the cover of snow.
"What's that?"
Alerted, he drew the pistol from his belt, squatted down with his cheek pressed near the snow, and peered underneath to see what had scurried under the tank.
Yet the snow was too thick.
Once beneath the hull, the object made no further sound, as if it had vanished into thin air, leaving him wondering if his eyes had played tricks on him.
Just then, the commander's urge came down from the roof: "Is it fixed yet or what?"
He called back, "Almost! Just another second!"
The commander urged again, a hint of warning in his voice: "You'd better hurry. If you keep Lord Black Snake waiting, you know what will happen."
He answered perfunctorily, "Yeah, yeah, on it."
Was it just an illusion?
Suspicious though he was, the marauder didn't have time to crawl under and check.
He stood up from the ground.
Yet just as he picked his tools back up to finish the job, a burst of flame erupted from beneath the tank's hull.
Like a gas stove flaring to life.
In an instant, far too quickly for any reaction, the explosive shockwave slammed into his chest and sent him flying!
BOOM—!
Fire and dense smoke engulfed the entire tank, while a ferocious shockwave tossed it right off the ground.
Twisted steel ruptured inch by inch. Leaking fuel tanks ignited under the blistering heat, detonating the ammo rack in a catastrophic secondary explosion.
The devastation was ghastly.
Caught completely off guard, a centurion was killed instantly, and roughly twenty marauders around him were swallowed whole by the blooming inferno.
Severed limbs flew in every direction.
Screams and wails filled the air.
It was an absolute purgatory!
"Awesome!!!"
Observing the carnage through his binoculars from the snowy slope, Edge Slacker punched the snow beside him in sheer excitement.
Not far off, Indebted Big Eye's head drooped as he got disconnected on the spot. But he reconnected almost immediately, shaking his heavy head and grumbling: "Fuck... how did I get dropped again?"
At the same moment, inside the armored pickup, Black Snake's eyes went bloodshot in an instant.
Staring out the window with veins bulging at his temples, he felt as if daggers were tearing through his heart, bleeding with every twist!
That was the tank bestowed upon him by the chieftain!
His greatest reliance!
The reason his thousand-man force had conquered territory after territory, tearing from central River Valley Province to the south and sweeping across the entire region like a hurricane, was at least half credited to that machine!
And now, that tank had been reduced to scrap iron...
How dare they!
How dare they!
"I will butcher them!"
"I'll chop them to pieces! Grind them into paste!"
Listening to Black Snake's rabid roar, the driver in front shivered uncontrollably, not daring to take a loud breath for fear of being made the scapegoat.
Vides, sitting beside Black Snake, was utterly stunned.
"...What the hell was that?"
He muttered under his breath, eyes filled with disbelief.
There had been zero warning.
All he saw was a pillar of fire erupting skyward, and immediately after, the Legion's pride—the Conqueror—was blasted into junk.
That power...
At least ten kilograms of TNT.
Maybe even more!
A drop of cold sweat slipped down his brow. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Vides snapped back to his senses.
He immediately turned to Black Snake beside him and yelled, ignoring the tyrant's incandescent fury: "Quick! Recall all six centuries you sent out earlier!"
Before he could finish his sentence, dense gunfire erupted in a fan shape ahead.
Bullets swept in like a tempestuous squall. At least ten light machine guns—and even more automatic weapons—unleashed a ferocious barrage upon them.
The greatest threat had been neutralized!
There was no longer any need to hide.
Lying prone in the snow and steadying the light machine gun mounted on the snowbank, Edge Slacker clamped down on the trigger and roared: "Brothers! Hit them hard!"
The muzzle flashes illuminated Indebted Big Eye's face red. His index finger seemed welded to the trigger as he hollered in thrill: "Awoooo!"
Rounds whistled everywhere across the formation; several even pinged against the armored pickup's steel plating, clattering violently on the hood!
Before recovering from the earlier blast, they were hit head-on by this punishing strike, throwing the entire convoy into utter disarray.
Stretched out across the snow, the head and tail of the column could not support one another. Bogged down in deep drifts, they could neither retreat nor advance, trapped in a disastrous dilemma.
Fortunately, Vides was an experienced staff officer after all. Though caught off guard by the sudden attack, he did not lose his head.
Snatching the walkie-talkie from Black Snake's hand and seizing command, Vides issued a string of rapid orders, barely reigning in the chaotic situation.
The marauders gradually realized it as well: the enemy made a terrifying racket, but in reality, there weren't that many of them.
Four armored pickups, their tires churning through the snow, finally crawled to the head of the convoy. Four vehicle-mounted machine guns shielded behind steel plates sprayed furiously toward the snow ridge five hundred meters away, quickly suppressing the ambushers.
Led by a centurion, one hundred and twenty marauders fanned out into twelve squads and began encircling the position ahead.
Bayonets glinted brightly against the snow, gleaming like the fangs of wild beasts.
Their eyes shone with bloodthirsty ferocity, like a wolf pack closing in on prey.
"Tear them apart!"
"Chop off their heads! Butcher them in the most agonizing way possible!"
"Teach those gutter rats what happens when they cross Lord Black Snake!"
The centurion bellowed, driving his men forward.
Yet right at that moment, an ear-splitting shriek tore overhead.
The centurion looked up instinctively. His eyes went wide, and the bloodlust in his gaze was instantly replaced by naked terror.
Rocket after rocket, trailing thick tails of flame, streaked across the sky like a rain of fire falling from above, crashing the dying glow of sunset onto the earth below.
He screamed in horror, diving into the snow and howling with all the strength in his lungs: "Take cover—!"
The rockets did not strike directly overhead.
Instead, they plunged into the ground behind him, slamming heavily into the rear positions.
The explosions merged into an unbroken sheet of flame. Shrapnel tore wildly across the clearing, and boiling shockwaves seemed to ignite the snow itself, incinerating the marauders' psychological defenses.
Staring at the sea of fire behind him, the centurion prone in the snow felt his fear turn to despair, draining away his very last shred of courage to press forward.
Just then, shrill whistles rose from every direction, sweeping across the snowfield. Through the swirling smoke, he saw his men turn their backs on the enemy to flee, only to be gunned down in the snow.
An assault had struck the rear.
The armored pickups covering their advance seemed to want to pull back and help, but the snow had nearly drifted up to their hoods.
Steering tires mired deep in snow proved far harder than they had imagined.
From the distance came the rhythmic thud-thud-thud of autocannon fire. One armored pickup had its fuel tank punctured by incendiary rounds, followed quickly by a second, then a third...
Burying his head in the snow, the centurion faintly heard battle cries rolling across the field like ocean waves.
He couldn't understand what those people were yelling.
Much less how many of them there were.
He only knew that this battle might conclude far faster than Lord Black Snake had ever imagined.
Perhaps it wouldn't even take until tomorrow.
Perhaps tonight, they would already be spending the night inside those survivors' houses...
Chapter 230