"...What was that sound?"
"You heard it too?"
"Sounds like something blew up."
"And more than one, too!"
Nearly twenty kilometers away.
Iron Tooth, having just led five hundred reinforcements he had secured out of the Xizhou urban district, was hurrying toward Qingshi County. Yet before the group had gotten far, a faint rumbling rolled in from the south.
The noise echoed through the valleys like rolling thunder, shaking heaven and earth. Even the dirt beneath his feet seemed to tremble under the thunderous might.
The marauders behind Iron Tooth began muttering to one another in hushed whispers, speculating on what could have made such a racket.
Iron Tooth's expression shifted slightly. Sensing something amiss, he dropped to his stomach and pressed his ear to the dirt. As he listened, his face darkened steadily.
Artillery!
Fighting must have broken out ahead!
Iron Tooth was both astonished and incredulous. He could hardly believe those survivors from the northern outskirts of Qingquan City had actually dared to venture out from behind their perimeter walls and come looking for trouble in Qingshi County.
Yet now was not the time to dwell on that. He had to rush back immediately to lend the boss a hand!
With that in mind, Iron Tooth kept quiet as he pushed himself up from the ground without betraying his panic. Facing the marauders bristling with rifles and rocket launchers behind him, he barked an order.
"Pick up the pace, everyone!"
"We need to reach Qingshi County before noon!"
"Run! Double time!"
...
North of Qingshi County.
Barricades and walls were charred pitch-black. With nothing left to consume, the blaze was steadily subsiding.
Marauders fleeing the southern defensive line retreated north in blind panic, completely unaware that the Burning Corps had long since slipped around their rear. A hundred players had been waiting for them.
As the fleeing marauders stumbled into view, nearly a hundred players lying in wait on either side of the street opened fire simultaneously. Interlocking volleys swept across the road in a deadly storm of lead.
There was nowhere to hide. Within just a few breaths, over a hundred corpses littered the pavement.
Seeing that resistance was futile, the remaining marauders lost all will to fight. They either threw down their weapons and surrendered or turned and vanished into the shadows beneath the ruins.
Naturally, they had nowhere to run. Waiting in the alley behind them was a lizard grinding its steel claws...
The battle ended.
Fang Chang grabbed a captive and interrogated him briefly in broken Human Alliance language, learning they had cut off two entire hundred-man units. Of those, however, only around twenty remained alive...
Ordering the prisoners to line up against a wall with their hands behind their heads, Fang Chang unlatched his exoskeleton helmet's faceplate and walked over to Lao Bai, speaking as he approached.
"...Twenty-three in total. Some escaped into the urban apartment blocks. Their exact locations are unclear—they might be trying to wage guerrilla warfare, or just waiting for a chance to slip away."
Lao Bai grinned. "They can't hide. Leave them to the Perception-type brothers to root out."
Resting his sniper rifle on his shoulder, Ye Shi grumbled, "I've realized that's pretty much the only time I'm ever useful."
The assault from the friendly units on the main front had been so ferocious that the fleeing marauders had practically blundered straight into their firing line. His sniper rifle had barely gotten a chance to shine, leaving him with fewer kills this battle than even Wind, an Intelligence-type.
"Don't say that," Lao Bai said with a chuckle, patting Ye Shi's shoulder. "We've got a major task coming up that'll need your help."
Ye Shi perked up immediately. "What is it?"
Lao Bai said, "Brother Mosquito is still alive, though he's probably buried under rubble. The Administrator told us to check if he can still be dug out."
If not, they would just put him out of his misery. The sooner he died, the sooner his cooldown would reset.
Hearing Mosquito was still breathing, Ye Shi was shocked. "Holy shit?! That guy's life is that tough?"
The lizard fellow standing nearby chuckled and tapped his arm. "Come on, let's go see for ourselves."
He could already picture how miserable Brother Mosquito looked right now. He couldn't wait to see the sorry sight.
...
During a campaign, the VM displayed the positions of friendly forces. Even in areas with poor reception, a player's last known coordinates before losing signal would remain marked on the map. With a general location established, the rest was straightforward.
As the player with the highest Perception stat on the entire server, Ye Shi used his keen senses to quickly pinpoint where Mosquito was buried.
Two human-height concrete slabs had fortuitously collapsed into a triangle, shielding him from the falling debris.
One had to admit, the guy was outrageously lucky. Almost none of the walls flanking the alley were left standing, yet huddled in that narrow lane, he had survived.
Lao Bai in his Heavy Cavalry exoskeleton and Scavenger clad in steel plating stepped forward. Grasping the multi-ton slab of concrete, they heaved with all their might to pry it open a crack.
A cascade of loose rubble tumbled through the gap. Reaching in with his free hand, Lao Bai grabbed Mosquito from the wreckage and hauled him out before the falling stones could bury him alive.
"Holy crap... You guys finally made it. I spent ages pinging people on the forum, but not a single soul showed up." Leaning against the wall with his right hand, the surviving Mosquito paid no heed to the mud and grime covering him, greedily gulping in fresh air. Before long, though, he choked on the grit in his mouth.
Listening to his complaints, Lao Bai patted him on the back with a laugh. "Come off it, just be glad you're alive. Calling for help on the forum right now? It really would take a ghost to show up for you!"
Ye Shi wandered over from the alley entrance. Catching sight of Mosquito's sorry state, he couldn't help teasing, "Didn't you brag about how sick your flying skills were? How'd you fall out of the sky?"
Mosquito sighed. "Sigh, what can I say? Even the best horse stumbles. Your dog nose is sharp, though, sniffing me out from under all this."
Hearing that Brother Mosquito had not only failed to thank him for saving a resurrection coin, but had turned around to mock his savior instead, Ye Shi retorted with a cheeky grin:
"Damn right! This dog nose of mine is legendary when it comes to sniffing out pieces of dog shit."
Scavenger couldn't hold it in, snorting with laughter and clutching his belly, though his raspy cackle sounded worse than someone weeping.
Fang Chang averted his eyes from the cringe, while Wind coughed dryly from behind.
"...Maybe you two should stop hurting each other."
"Fuck, your mouth is lethal." Mosquito grimaced for a moment, then turned to Lao Bai. "How's the battle going?"
Lao Bai smiled. "It's over. Skeleton Corps took the printing factory first, Death Corps cleared the second defense line, and Jungle Corps and Storm Corps linked up right in front of the enemy command post. Lion Fang and the rest of the marauder chieftains were captured alive. Only a few scattered stragglers are still hiding in the town ruins, and they won't last long. The NPC corps have already entered the field, probably taking inventory of the spoils right about now."
As they were talking, an indicator light inside his helmet blinked. Lao Bai raised his arm to check his VM and saw a new mission updated on the screen.
[Mission: Rendezvous with friendly forces at the highway exit (Distance: 271 m). Proceed to the southern slope highlands of Pine Valley (Distance: 9.7 km) north of Qingshi County to establish defensive positions and intercept Bone Chewer reinforcements.]
[Available Reinforcements: 2 light trucks, ammunition...]
Straightening with a serious expression, Lao Bai opened the comms channel and hailed the warriors of the Burning Corps.
"Attention all members! The mission has been updated in your task log. Everyone assemble at the waypoint on your map. We move out in three minutes!"
Hearing this, Mosquito instantly perked up. "Got work?"
Ye Shi rolled his eyes. "What's that got to do with you? You're not even in our corps."
Mosquito said with a grinning face, "Don't put it like that. As the saying goes, a father for a day... I mean, I've spent time in your corps, so I'm one of you! Help a bro out and carry me. Can't I come along as an embedded reporter?"
Lao Bai didn't waste words, tossing him a scavenged Ripper rifle. "We leave in three minutes. Grab your own ammo from next door. When you're done, return it to the supply station yourself."
Catching the rifle, Mosquito racked the bolt and checked the receiver. Finding it in working order, he said excitedly, "Awesome!"
Although he wasn't on the corps roster and couldn't receive the mission, Brother Mosquito clearly didn't mind. It was just a game—having a blast was all that mattered.
The unit assigned to link up with the Burning Corps was a small Level 3 corps named Silver Corps. Its member cap was thirty, but they had only recruited twenty so far.
Stepping up before Lao Bai, Silver Sword offered an exaggerated salute. "Twenty privates of the Silver Corps reporting for duty!"
Mosquito glanced at them, surprised. "Oh, it's you guys?"
Standing to the side, Silver Hand laughed sheepishly. "Heheh, meeting again."
Looking at their IDs on his VM, Fang Chang couldn't help commenting, "...Are you guys really that obsessed with 'Silver'?"
Silver Dad sighed. "No choice. We actually wanted to be called the Daddy Corps at first... but the name didn't pass censorship."
Fang Chang: "..."
Wind: "..."
Good grief. If they really called themselves that, half their casualties would probably come from friendly fire.
Mosquito laughed heartily, patting the newcomer on the shoulder. "Not bad, not bad! Ambitious! I'll look out for you guys from now on!"
"Alright, cut the chatter. Since everyone's here, let's head out," Lao Bai said, turning to Silver Sword. "According to HQ's mission parameters, we need to head ten kilometers out to establish a defensive line and intercept enemy forces. When it comes to digging trenches... will you guys have any trouble?"
"Rest easy, bro." Silver Sword drew an entrenching shovel, his face beaming. "Leeching exp—er, digging holes is our specialty!"
Lao Bai: "..."
...
Elsewhere.
Near the Qingshi County department store.
With the fighting concluded, most players had relaxed, apart from those assigned to patrol duties or checking in at checkpoints.
Midnight Chicken Slayer fiddled with a double-barreled shotgun snatched from a marauder, pondering whether to buy it during the loot settlement as a collector's piece.
Battlefield Atmosphere Group struck poses beside the captives, getting I'm the Darkest to take photos. The latter had clearly run out of patience, eyes rolling repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Brother Spring, commander of the Storm Corps, went around asking his teammates how much ammo they had left, tallying expenditure and muttering calculations for their score.
Aside from score-obsessed grinders, ordinary people would find it hard to understand the joy in this, but Brother Spring never tired of crunching the numbers.
As for Tail?
She was currently curled up in Sisi's embrace.
"Wuuu, Sisi! It's ignoring me!"
Gently stroking Tail's head, Sisi comforted her in a tone used for soothing a child. "Well... it likes Rou Rou after all."
"What the hell! Hey, get away from me, don't nudge me with your nose!" Rou Rou shoved the brown bear's snout away with her paws, trying to shoo it off.
Rebuffed, the brown bear crawled aside with an aggrieved expression. Yet within seconds, it tiptoed right back.
It looked just like a devoted simp.
Or rather, a simp bear!
Unable to watch any longer, Sisi sighed. "Seriously, Rou Rou, look how pitiful it is. Why not... just adopt it?"
Rou Rou crossed her front paws and shook her head furiously. "NO! I refuse!"
Her cat ears twitching atop her head, Sesame Paste, who was stroking Rou Rou's fur, suddenly had a thought, her eyes lighting up. "Speaking of which, we haven't named it yet."
Hearing about naming, Tail popped out of Sisi's arms immediately and raised her hand in excitement. "How about Little Black?"
Sisi gave her a subtle look. "It's a brown bear... It's not black at all, alright?"
It only looked black because it had been caged up for ages without bathing. After a rinse by the river, it might actually look pretty decent.
Sesame Paste tilted her head. "Then... Big Brown?"
Sisi sighed. "That sounds even weirder."
Sure enough, expecting her adorable teammates to come up with a normal, decent name was asking too much. Too bad the game didn't even have a random name generator.
"How about... Teddy?"
In the end, everyone unanimously approved of Sisi's choice. A teddy bear was brown, too, and while this one was slightly "larger," it still fit well enough.
Rou Rou also hoped the name would make it a bit more gentlemanly, so it wouldn't lick her fur at every opportunity.
To prevent it from hurting others—especially non-respawning NPCs—Tail planned to buy a mind-interference collar for it once they got back.
Although the NPC shop was out of stock, there were bound to be some among the captured spoils. If all else failed, she could buy one from another player who had purchased one earlier. The only snag was that establishing a mental link required the Intelligence stat, and their corps had no Intelligence-types. Taming this fellow would likely require help from Teng Teng or Brother Spring.
"I'm so jealous," I'm the Darkest said enviously, watching the brown bear being petted by the girls in turn.
Damn it! He wanted to get cuddly with girls too.
Battlefield Atmosphere Group hooked an arm around his shoulder with a chuckle. "What, you want to find yourself a bear too? Bro's got your back."
"Piss off!"
Not far away, by the entrance of the department store, two muscular Jungle Corps members in KV-1 exoskeletons emerged from the building, flanking a tightly bound Lion Fang.
With a height of two meters and a solid hundred-kilogram frame, he was as burly as a bear, yet now he was being hauled along like a dead dog.
He had two bullet wounds in his chest, a strip of gauze wrapped around his head, and a vicious, expressionless face. Even pinned down, he remained restless, eyes darting left and right in search of an escape.
Yet with two Strength-type players watching him, his chances of finding an opening were nonexistent. Centurion and Awakened though he was, at the end of the day, he was nothing more than a bandit chief.
When an azure suit of power armor appeared before him, a flicker of despair crossed Lion Fang's eyes. Having guessed his coming fate, his expression actually relaxed into calm acceptance.
Chu Guang looked at him. "You are Lion Fang."
Lion Fang narrowed his eyes. "And you are Chu Guang."
Seeing his arrogant yet powerless defiance, Lyu Bei gripped his rifle tightly beside Chu Guang, but Chu Guang raised a hand to stop him.
Looking at Lion Fang, Chu Guang said calmly, "You will stand trial, and then you will receive the punishment you deserve."
A trial? A cold sneer touched the corner of Lion Fang's lips. These self-proclaimed civilized folks merely wanted to haul him before some so-called court to humiliate him; he knew survivors' tricks all too well. "Do whatever you want. I've lived the good life for half my years—it was worth it."
Chu Guang nodded.
Very well. In that case, when he was hung from the city gates, he wouldn't have any complaints.
Surrender before battle spares your life; obstinate resistance meets no mercy. That was the rule he had established after founding the New Alliance, though it applied only to the insignificant pawns. After all, those underlings could claim hardship or coercion as an excuse, and the New Alliance needed POWs for labor to take on dirty, grueling chores ordinary citizens avoided. But for a centurion like Lion Fang, no excuse could wash away his guilt.
As a bandit chieftain of the marauders, he had only one path to survival: to repent before the battle began and surrender with his troops.
As for now? Anything he said was too late.
Chu Guang turned to an exoskeleton-clad guard beside him and ordered, "Take him away."
The guard pressed his right fist to his chest in salute. "Yes, sir!"
Lion Fang clearly knew how this ended. He threw his head back and laughed aloud, though after taking a few punches, he quickly quieted down.
Settling the quest rewards for the two Strength-type players, Chu Guang led Lyu Bei and the remaining thirty guards toward the waypoint marked with shackles on his VM map.
Before the war, that site had been a middle school, equipped with a two-thousand-square-meter underground emergency shelter. Now, it had become the dungeon where the Lion Fang Tribe kept their slaves.
To the Bone Chewers, slaves were both emergency rations and manual labor. They kept the strong and fertile alive, leaving the rest to the whim of their moods.
Gripping the lock with his heavy gauntlet, Chu Guang exerted slight force. The lock twisted like a fried dough twist and snapped into several pieces.
Tossing the broken lock aside, Chu Guang pushed open the rusted iron door. Before he even stepped inside, a foul stench of rot and decay hit him in the face.
In the darkness, pairs of lifeless eyes stared up at him at the entrance. Behind the rows of iron bars were men, women, and even children, though no elderly could be seen... Presumably, they had already been disposed of.
Most had no clothes, many wearing only tattered rags. Centipede-like scars crawled across their exposed skin. Some had even been stripped of arms and legs, lying motionless on the ground, indistinguishable from the dead.
It was unimaginable what inhuman torture they had endured.
Confronted by these unexpected intruders stepping into the dungeon, the slaves' faces showed neither panic nor joy, only numbness and bewilderment.
Chu Guang scanned the room, his eyes finally coming to rest on one individual. The man showed no whip marks, but sported numerous bizarre tattoos.
Panic flickered in the man's eyes. Under the direct gaze of the power armor, his nerve broke. Pulling a grenade from beneath a pile of straw, he screamed and charged, intending to take everyone down with him.
"Aaaah! I'll take you bastards with me!"
Yet fast as he was, he could never outpace the Guards Corps handpicked by Chu Guang. The instant he stood up, a series of bloody holes erupted across his forehead and chest, and the primed grenade slipped from his fingers.
"Sir, watch out!"
Startled, Lyu Bei leaped forward to shield the Administrator, only to see him move faster, reaching down to scoop up the grenade.
Then he squeezed.
The soda-can-sized grenade crushed in his powerful steel palm like an open plastic bottle.
Crushed into a mangled clump, the grenade went off with a muffled pop, like a dud firecracker.
Glancing at the spark that puffed between his fingers, Chu Guang flicked his hand casually, brushing away the debris and scrap metal like dust.
Silence fell over the dungeon.
The guards, Lyu Bei included, were stunned by the display. Aside from a few who had followed Chu Guang from the beginning, most of the guards were witnessing the Administrator's personal prowess for the first time.
Even accounting for the gear, picking up a live grenade and casually snuffing it out demanded a brand of courage and audacity far beyond ordinary men...
Chu Guang paid no mind to the reverent stares and gave his instructions.
"...That man was likely a dungeon guard. Keep an eye out for anyone without injuries and have the others identify them."
Trying to blend into the slave pens to escape? Heh. Did they think he was blind?
"Yes, sir!"
Scanning the slaves in the dungeon, Lyu Bei's eyes burned with fury. His fists clenched involuntarily, and he gritted his teeth. "These beasts..."
The inhumane spectacle before him dredged up memories of his own time in the Bloodhand Clan's dungeon. That memory was pure hell...
Chu Guang glanced at the youth, though he offered no words of comfort.
The war between the New Alliance and the Bone Chewers had only just begun, and the maggots feeding on the corpse of the Human Alliance were far from limited to the Bone Chewers. The tragedies playing out on the mother planet were merely the tip of the iceberg. Far crueler things awaited him in the future.
Pausing briefly, Chu Guang continued in a measured tone.
"Furthermore, I need you to tally the rescued: headcounts, names, and where they came from... if they still remember. If they can't answer, don't force them—use serial numbers for now."
"Shortly, I will allocate fifty trucks to you. You will oversee transporting these people to northern Dawn City. The rest will be left to Old Luka, who will arrange their resettlement."
"Once that's done, I need you to haul fifty truckloads of building materials back from the warehouse. A detailed list will be sent to your VM, and Logistics staff will be waiting for you at the northern city warehouse."
"The war has only just begun. We must reconstruct a defense line north of Qingshi County to prepare for the Bone Chewers' counteroffensive."
They had wiped out only a single thousand-man unit. The marauders stationed in Xizhou City still numbered in the tens of thousands, armed with machine guns and artillery, and potentially other high-grade assets acquired from the Legion. Only stout defensive lines and dependable logistics could carry the New Alliance through this war. When it came to attrition and endurance, no one could match the "players."
Pressing his right fist to his chest, Lyu Bei accepted the order solemnly. "Yes, sir!"
Entrusting the site to the Guards Corps, Chu Guang contacted Heya—who was busy studying broodmother samples in the Medical Lab—via Xiao Qi. He instructed her to lead a medical team immediately from southern Dawn City to the Refugee Home in the north, establishing a makeshift disease-control center there.
Though reluctant to leave her lab, Heya knew how to prioritize. Rolling her eyes under Repeating Qi's badgering, she left the shelter.
Sanitation in the dungeon was abysmal. At least five hundred people were crammed into a two-thousand-square-meter space. Given their physical condition, mishandling could easily trigger an outbreak of influenza or even deadlier plagues. Fortunately, Dawn City's medical reserves were relatively ample, and with a polymath biologist like Heya on the case, mere disease control posed little challenge.
Twelve noon.
The Second Corps, led by Liu Ding, arrived near Qingshi County No. 1 Middle School alongside fifty trucks loaded with ammunition, supplies, and mining equipment. Copper mining operations were slated to begin within two days.
A lifestyle player with background in geological prospecting had already set out on a quest from the Scientific Expedition, escorting two NPC soldiers to conduct field surveys at the nearby Human Alliance Geological Park.
Because the mine had already been partially excavated and the geological park had preserved early Human Alliance mining equipment, identifying the exact vein would not be difficult. As machinery and manpower fell into place, production could resume shortly.
With the aid of fifty Strength-type newcomers, the 120 soldiers of the Second Corps quickly unloaded the supplies from the trucks. The vehicles and drivers were then handed over to the Guards Corps, where Lyu Bei led twenty guards to escort the 671 rescued survivors back to northern Dawn City.
Considering that more survivors would inevitably be liberated as the war dragged on, Chu Guang pondered the matter and, following Luka's advice, decided to set up a temporary resettlement depot on the front lines in Qingshi County.
He tentatively selected the department store where Lion Fang had been garrisoned. The building's lobby was spacious enough, and its walls, reinforced with heavy rebar, had withstood the bombardment of one-hundred-kilogram aerial bombs, proving its structural reliability. The second and third floors could be converted into temporary save points, making it convenient for combat players to log in, log out, and save.
In an underground garage not far from the department store, captured equipment and supplies were stockpiled. After completing the inventory, Liu Ding stepped up to Chu Guang, saluted, and reported in a booming voice:
"Inventory of captured supplies complete! Small arms include 811 bolt-action rifles, 312 automatic rifles, 377 submachine guns, 27 light and heavy machine guns, 37 tons of ammunition, and assorted grenades and mortar shells."
"Regarding vehicles, the corps captured a combined total of 12 transport trucks, 5 machine-gun pickups, and 1,200 liters of fuel."
"As for provisions, we secured nearly a thousand tons of green wheat and ram horn potatoes, 300 cubic meters of nutrient paste, and large quantities of dried meat of unknown composition."
"Additionally, there are nearly 300 cubic meters of cement, 400 cubic meters of sand, and a substantial quantity of rebar. Judging by its condition, it was produced relatively recently."
Hearing the final report, a touch of surprise crossed Chu Guang's face.
Well, well. They really intended to build a turtle shell all the way through.
Still, fairness demanded acknowledging that given marauders' crude building standards, completing fortifications to this degree was already quite an achievement.
According to the intel Qiangren Suonan had gathered, water tanks and wells were distributed across Qingshi County. Clear routes connected the ammo depots without interfering with defensive works or obstacles set up to hinder attackers. Ordinary marauders only ever dug shallow pits and piled mud walls, paying no attention to where or how they dug. If a few battered deserters could whip marauders into this kind of shape, it was no wonder the Legion reigned supreme over the western regions of the Mid-Continent.
Chu Guang noted this mentally and turned to Liu Ding.
"I'm leaving the construction of front-line fortifications to your Second Corps. I will assign another two hundred laborers to you. Ensure the northern defensive sector is completed within forty-eight hours."
"Yes, sir!" Liu Ding saluted, then quickly rallied his subordinates to work.
It was already one in the afternoon.
Chu Guang estimated that no matter how dull-witted the Bone Chewer marauders might be, they should have caught on by now. With their poor organization and discipline, an army numbering in the tens of thousands could hardly muster within a single day. Even with weapons and ammunition readily available, hauling them out of warehouses and distributing them to the troops took time.
Box-selecting every unit and issuing an attack-move command without preparation was called a rush in video games; in reality, it was called queuing up to commit suicide.
Chu Guang could even make an educated guess that the Fang Clan stationed in Xizhou City had never expected the New Alliance to launch a regiment-scale offensive in early April—a season meant for spring plowing—let alone capture the southern gateway to Xizhou City in under a single morning.
"We have at least seventy-two hours..."
Staring at the holographic map projected inside his helmet, Chu Guang pondered as he fixed his gaze on Pine Valley, roughly ten kilometers north of Qingshi County. Half an hour ago, the markers for the two corps—one large, one small—had reached the designated coordinates and were likely digging trenches along the contour lines by now.
That spot sat right midway between Qingshi County and urban Xizhou City, flanked by layered ridges and dense vegetation. The narrow valley squeezed between the mountains was like a gateway to hell. If an artillery position were established there, the 100mm artillery would have the southern districts of Xizhou City squarely within range.
"...As long as we pin the Bone Chewers down at Pine Valley for three days, we can cement the front line north of Qingshi County."
"If we hold until the seventh day, we can shove our artillery right in the Fang Clan's face!"
Just then, the icons for both corps on the map began to flash a faint red, both simultaneously displaying an [Engaging Enemy] alert.
Immediately after, an enemy force of unknown size was marked on the map.
The Burning Corps, still entrenching at the front, had spotted them. No shots had been fired yet, suggesting the enemy had not detected their presence.
Chu Guang's brows knit slightly, surprise flickering in his eyes.
Fang Clan reinforcements?
"That fast?"
Chapter 309