Murderous Intent in the Dark

"M-My lord... I'm just a traveling merchant doing business. Is there some kind of misunderstanding between us?" Staring into the dark, gaping muzzle of the gun, Jep slumped on the ground, terrified to take a single deep breath as he trembled and pleaded. Yet the cold-faced man standing before him remained entirely unmoved. Tinkering with the scavenged Pu-9 submachine gun in his hands, the man spoke in an interrogative tone. "Where did this gun come from?" Hearing that question, Jep's heart sank with bitterness. Not daring to hide anything, he could only honestly speak the truth. He had already guessed who these people were. Just like the men in black this morning, they all hailed from that ridiculously massive airship—they were all from that damned Legion! "I—I picked it up." "Where?" "To the east, about five or six kilometers out, along the edge of the forest... at a place called Kating Post... This morning, a bunch of people dressed pretty much like you guys ran into conflict with some folks and a fight broke out... Oh, right! I heard other mercenaries say they seemed to be with the Alliance." As Jep stammered in terror, the face of the grim man standing before him gradually darkened. "...The Alliance." Having newly arrived in River Valley Province, he had never heard of this name. It was most likely a regional power that had risen in the surrounding area over recent years. Such things were not uncommon. Humans were inherently creatures that huddled together for warmth. However, whatever that Alliance was, they had now not only provoked the Legion, but had also killed crew members from the *Heart of Iron*. At the last survivor settlement that dared to do such a thing, not only was the settlement leader strung up on the *Heart of Iron*’s airspeed tube, but every man, woman, child, and elder was dragged aboard the airship as slaves. When the airship finally docked at port, less than one in ten survived to be sold to the mines; most of the rest died along the way from a colorful variety of causes. Perhaps there were officers who restrained their subordinates and treated captives humanely, but their revered General Macklen was definitely not one of them. The barbarians standing in their path faced only two outcomes: submit, or perish. A cruel smirk tugged across Vito's cold face. He did not care about Herrick. A weakling who couldn't even defeat a few natives was unworthy of pity. What delighted him was that there was fresh sport to be had. Terrified by that perverse expression, Jep shivered and stammered, "I—I don't know those people! I was just passing through..." "How many were there?" "Th-Three..." "Three?" "A-And a talking bear! Plus another bear that couldn't talk... They were driving an armored truck and looked like they were heading for Sunset Province. But after that happened, they didn't keep going west—they turned back... Yes! I remember! They headed east! If you follow the forest edge eastward, you'll definitely find them!" As if clinging to a lifesaving straw, Jep rambled incoherently, spilling everything he knew in a desperate rush. Vito pondered in silence. A talking bear... He had never heard of such a bizarre thing, but this was the wasteland, after all; anything could happen. Presumably, it was that bear who had wiped out Herrick and his men. Standing behind Vito, a burly man with knotty muscles took half a step forward and rumbled in a gruff voice, "Could be those bastards who laid the trap that damaged our airship." Two bloodstained hand axes hung from his waist, and a sawed-off shotgun was slung across his back. Though he could easily end an opponent's life with a bullet, he much preferred the exhilarating pleasure of splitting open a skull with an axe. "We can't rule out the possibility," Vito mused calmly for a moment, his voice slow and quiet. "We must make them pay." Another gaunt man chimed in, "What's the plan?" "First, report the news to Lord Rachel, then continue tracking eastward... The Enterprise wounded might be in their hands as well." Pausing briefly, Vito continued, "If we can capture both the culprits who damaged our airship and the Enterprise employees, General Macklen might even commend us in person." While the three cloaked Legionnaires discussed their plans, Jep glanced at the goods strewn across the ground and his bleeding two-headed ox, his heart aching with grief. He had run into utter bloody misfortune today. First, a bunch of crooked-nosed Legionnaires had kicked him out of his own tent, and right after that, two groups had engaged in a vicious shootout right next to his cargo. Before he could even wrap his head around what was happening, a truck mounted with a machine gun had come barreling through, bulldozing his tent into oblivion. At least those people had been somewhat reasonable, compensating him with three dinars. Although the sum fell far short of covering his losses, it gave him some small comfort. Years of roaming the wasteland told him it was unwise to linger. Without overthinking, he had packed up his belongings immediately to leave that den of trouble. Yet, what he never should have done was scavenge weapons and personal effects from those corpses along the way. It was precisely those items that brought fatal disaster upon him. Three cloaked men in black had caught up to him. First, a shot had blown off the head of the mercenary captain he had hired, and then that muscular freak had charged in, hacking down the remaining two guards with two brutal swings of his axes. He even had the feeling that the three men before him were fiercer than all twenty-odd men he had seen back at the post combined. Not only were these people Awakened, but they had most likely undergone flesh-modification surgeries or something similar. He distinctly remembered that the muscular brute had taken a bullet, yet now acted completely unfazed, without even bothering to bandage it! The three seemed to reach an agreement and prepared to depart. Jep breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was finally saved. Yet right as that thought crossed his mind, the cold-faced man leveled the scavenged Pu-9 submachine gun straight at him. "M-My lord?" Jep's heart leaped into his throat. He opened his mouth in sheer terror to plead for mercy, but before he could finish a sentence, a burst of gunfire riddled him into a sieve. Looking at the wasteland wanderer collapsed in a pool of blood, Vito casually tossed the scavenged submachine gun aside. The muscular brute glanced at the scattered merchandise and the fallen two-headed ox, clicking his tongue with a hint of regret. "What a waste." "Don't waste time. The mission takes priority." Without another word, Vito led his squad and hurried eastward at full speed. *** "A deflector shield?!" At Camp 101. Looking at the photograph displayed on the screen and listening to Chu Guang's description, Pai's small mouth dropped open in shock, blurting out a term rather unfamiliar to Chu Guang. After taking a long while to digest her astonishment, she whispered, "How on earth did you provoke a monster like that..." Chu Guang sighed, feeling a pounding headache. "It's not that we provoked them; they came straight for us. This is the wasteland. Even if we do nothing, trouble comes knocking on our door." Thirty W-2 attack planes. Not a single survivor! Those fifteen rockets had been the pilots' last act of defiance. Although they hadn't dealt any actual damage to the airship, the players' sacrifice had secured invaluable intelligence for the shelter. If they had waited until all their chips were laid on the table only to find their weapons couldn't breach the enemy's defenses, that would have meant true doom. At least now, he had time to devise countermeasures. Still, despite that, the concept of an energy shield was beyond Chu Guang's understanding and far outside the players' realm of knowledge. Even now, Mosquito was howling on the forums about how unscientific it was, furiously pinging him and demanding a nerf for the new patch's boss. Chu Guang certainly wished he could. Unfortunately, he wasn't an actual game developer, and this world was no real video game—there was no console command line at his disposal. Most of the prizes drawn from the shelter were non-lethal weapons. The occasional piece of seemingly powerful gear was only suited for personal self-defense; in large-scale warfare, it was even less effective than the weapons the players crafted themselves. After thinking back and forth, his only choice was to turn to his friends at Camp 101 for help. Hearing Pai use the word "monster," Chu Guang's expression grew solemn. "Is that deflector shield very difficult to deal with?" "Mmm... where should I start?" Pai pondered seriously for a moment before continuing, "During the People's Federation era, deflector shields were standard equipment on every starship, mainly used to defend against meteorite impacts, as well as kinetic weapons and chemical-propellant missiles fired by illegally modified armed transport vessels. The principle relies on gravitational field effects, and the deflection efficiency mainly depends on the momentum and direction of the incoming object." "...Meaning what, exactly?" Chu Guang asked, rubbing his temples. Pai elaborated, "Put simply, the faster the speed and the shallower the angle of incidence, the greater the deflecting force exerted across the shield's plane, and the more pronounced the shift in the trajectory vector." Chu Guang cut straight to the chase. "Is there a way to break it?" Pai nodded on the screen. "Of course. Deflector shields aren't omnipotent! For instance, against particle weapons, a deflector shield does almost nothing—including, but not limited to, neutron bombs or optical energy weapons! "Another example is high-mass, low-velocity projectiles, which can also penetrate the shield's defense effectively... but the practical combat results of such weapons are usually terrible. After all, most ships are equipped with at least one point-defense cannon or railgun to complement the shield system. "However, the simplest and crudest method is still kinetic weapons." "Kinetic weapons?" Chu Guang paused, hesitating. "Didn't you just say... the shield exerts a huge deflection effect on high-speed objects?" Pai blinked, taking it for granted as she continued, "Yes, but energy is conserved! "A deflector shield consumes a massive amount of energy to interfere with incoming projectiles. Firing a mass round with an electromagnetic accelerator costs far less than deflecting one. "Sustaining concentrated, dense firepower over a short window can not only drain the shield's capacitors, but also overheat the shield generator, physically overwhelming the defense... Ah, right, this approach probably has zero reference value for you." As if suddenly remembering something, her tone shifted. "If that airship is powered by a fusion reactor, your shells will probably run dry long before their shield capacitors do... If I remember correctly, you're still using chemical-propellant artillery shells, right?" Chu Guang: "..." *Then why the hell bring it up in the first place?* Taking a deep breath, Chu Guang looked at Pai on the screen. "Thank you for the intel. At least now we know what we're up against." Pai seemed to enjoy the gratitude, her lips curling into a proud smile as she generously replied, "You're very welcome! If there's anything else you don't understand, feel free to ask me anytime!" Seeing Pai so happy to have helped, Chu Guang couldn't help but be infected by her cheerful optimism, a faint smile gracing his face. "I will." After ending the call, Chu Guang pondered for a moment, then dialed Shuyu far away in Boulder City, speaking without preamble. "In tomorrow's *Survivor Daily*, I want to see the Legion's airship take up the entire front page." Hearing the Administrator's order, Shuyu went blank, his eyes filled with bewilderment. "The... The Legion's airship?" Although photos of the *Heart of Iron* were spreading like wildfire on the official *Wasteland OL* website, few residents of the New Alliance knew about it. After all, "NPCs" couldn't access the website; the only one who could log into the site from within the game was Chu Guang himself. Therefore, hearing this from the Administrator left him more thoroughly confused than shocked. Knowing Shuyu likely hadn't grasped the situation, Chu Guang didn't wait for him to ask and pressed on directly. "I will explain the details to you shortly, including photos of the airship, its armament, and so forth... "However, none of that is the crux. "The crux is that we must make the survivors of Boulder City realize that a savagery far more dangerous than the Bone Chewer tribe is marching toward Qingquan City. The Great Wall can hold back the Tide, but it certainly cannot stop a 400mm mortar. "If they don't plan to do something, they might as well wash their necks and wait to die once that airship parks at their doorstep. "And of course, most importantly, we need their City Hall, banks, factories... as well as the inner city nobles and the city lord, to understand one thing: "Their neighbor, the one who borrowed two hundred million chips from them and is making their lives prosperous, is in trouble!" *** Late at night. In the eastern outskirts of Ruigu City, in a valley roughly twenty kilometers away from the *Heart of Iron*, an Electric Mule loaded with cargo was parked. From here, the airship was practically invisible, which naturally meant they couldn't be spotted from it either—making it an exceptional campsite. The relatively rugged terrain and dense vegetation also concealed their campfire well. The White Bear Knights had chosen to camp here, while Kariman and his guards pushed on ahead toward Qingquan City to seek assistance. Sisi had ultimately declined his request to travel together. After all, she had no way to verify his identity, and more importantly, they had no intention of returning to the northern outskirts. They had to wait here to rendezvous with the Storm Corps, establish a forward operating base, and then decide their next move—whether to deal with the ambush from the Legion first, or find a way into Vault 79. Sisi actually leaned toward the latter. What if some secret weapon capable of countering the airship was hidden inside? Though the odds were slim, one could always hope. As a professional developer, Ah Guang wouldn't throw two completely unrelated elements into the same patch update. No matter how realistic it felt, this was still a game, after all. Sitting beside the rock-ringed campfire, Sesame Paste fiddled with the silver card in her hand, the firelight illuminating the clear confusion on her face. "What on earth is this thing used for?" After handing her the card, Luo Hua had promptly passed out again, giving her no time to ask for details. "Could it be a key or something?" Sitting before the campfire, Rourou tilted her head, mumbling in her honest, deep voice. "I remember... the *Pioneer* was supposedly heading into the desert to find Vault 0. That's what the lore compilation on the official website said." "Then why would he give something so valuable to us?" Sesame Paste asked, perplexed. "Maybe because we're their friends?" Rourou offered in an uncertain tone. "Leaving it with us is definitely better than letting the Legion get their hands on it." "...I have a different view on that." Flipping through the notebook in her hands as she organized her notes, Sisi suddenly chimed in. "Maybe the Enterprise just wants to drag us into their conflict with the Legion. Even if the key is in our hands, we won't have a chance to use it anyway. And if they ask for it back later, our Administrator will definitely return it to them, right?" The campfire let out a soft crackle. Sesame Paste and Rourou exchanged glances, the former whispering, "I don't think it's that complicated... He probably just had no one else to rely on, so he chose us as the only ones he could trust." She preferred to believe things weren't so convoluted. Sitting beside her, Rourou nodded her furry head in deep agreement. "I think so too... Those people felt pretty nice to me." As for Teddy, having no idea what his handlers were discussing, he simply licked his paws with an aloof, dopey expression. Sisi didn't dispute her teammates' perspectives, her gaze never straying from the notebook in her hands. "Mmm... maybe. I'm just putting forward a hypothesis." Humans were inherently complex creatures with many layered motives; truly simple-minded people were the rare exception. Besides, whether that card was even a key remained uncertain. The only lead they possessed was that the *Pioneer* had uncovered something extraordinary in the desert—quite possibly the legendary Vault 0, said to possess the power to end all suffering and reboot the era of prosperity. However, she remained skeptical. Not about whether they had truly found it, but about whether such a convenient thing truly existed at all. Even in a game... Glancing at the notebook in Sisi's hands, Rourou asked curiously, "By the way, what have you been writing in that notebook?" She often saw Sisi jotting things down. "Some gathered intel." "Including lore details about Sunset Province mentioned by that guy claiming to be a prince, as well as rumors I picked up from mercenaries and traveling merchants... I'll compile them into a forum post later." Such information was far more sensational than a few screenshots of an airship. Perhaps it might even get archived into the official website's lore compilation, just like the guides written by veteran players. "I really admire pros who can write detailed guides. I can't even put together a travel itinerary..." Sesame Paste looked at Sisi with envy. Rourou nodded vigorously in agreement, sighing, "Plus one. Sisi must be super reliable in real life." Feeling a bit embarrassed by the praise, Sisi cleared her throat. "Not at all. In real life, I'm actually quite a handful." Sesame Paste looked at her in surprise. "Eh? Really?" Rourou wore an equally astonished expression. "I totally can't picture that!" "It's quite normal. Take Tail, for example. Don't let her goofy persona in the game fool you; in reality, she's actually..." At that point, Sisi trailed off. Catching the subtle change in her expression, Rourou smelled gossip and immediately pressed on, "What is she like in reality?" Sisi unconsciously averted her gaze. "Uh... She's not particularly bright in real life either, but at least she's pretty quiet and demure." Sesame Paste couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter, while Rourou scratched her head in confusion. She could easily imagine the not-so-bright part. But quiet and demure... She couldn't picture that at all. Casually turning a page in her notebook, Sisi thought it over and continued, "Actually, in my opinion, an avatar in a virtual world isn't so much a projection of one's real-life personality as it is an image of the person one wishes to become... Maybe precisely because I'm not that dependable in real life, I wanted to try living differently in a 'second life.'" "Mm, now that you mention it, I feel like I'm a bit like that too. In real life... I'm actually a little socially anxious, but in the game, it's pretty okay." With a slightly bashful smile, her cat ears twitching contentedly atop her head, Sesame Paste pulled her knees to her chest under the tree and shyly buried her chin in her arms. Talking about real-life matters always made her feel embarrassed, so she swiftly changed the subject. "Right, speaking of which... where's Tail? Why isn't she back yet?" "She went to retrieve the VM dropped by the pilot. She should be back soon..." Closing her notebook, Sisi pulled up her VM screen, intending to check how far away Tail was. Yet right at that moment, an overwhelming premonition of danger surged into her heart. The sensation was as if they were being stalked by some lethal predator. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who noticed. The previously relaxed cat ears snapped straight up. Across the campfire, Sesame Paste had already gripped the Pu-9 submachine gun and dagger resting beside her. "I think I just heard something..." she whispered, her pupils constricting as she scanned the pitch-black forest. Without a second's hesitation, Sisi slammed an iron pot over the fire, instantly smothering the flames. At the same time— Six magnetically suspended steel balls hovered around her hands, on high alert against the encroaching killing intent. "Be confident..." "You can drop the 'think.'"