New Event Live! Operation Firebreak!

Dusk slowly sank past the edge of the muddy, blackened wilderness, and inky night gradually enveloped the blood-soaked land. The roar of artillery and gunfire had ceased for some time. Yet the gray mist hanging over the surroundings still showed no sign of dispersing. Instead, it seemed to expand ever farther, creeping all the way from Lord Kong's estate into the woods north of Hope Town. By the south gate, where the barricades had only recently been cleared... Standing beside the muddy road, Ma Hechang kept his gaze fixed in the direction of Pinecone Wood Farm, his lips moving in another muttered prayer: "Holy Son above." In the past, he could occasionally hear the Holy Son's voice. Yet after the mist rose, for some reason he could hear it no longer. Apprehensive, he could not help recalling what Pastor Wei had said. Perhaps... The Holy Son truly was angry. While he was craning his neck and staring anxiously into the distance, three figures emerged at the end of the road. The one in the lead was none other than the master of the neighboring farm, Kong Lingkai. Seeing that it wasn't the hunter surnamed Liu, disappointment surfaced on Ma Hechang's face. Before he could exchange a couple of pleasantries, Lord Kong—who usually walked around with his nose pointed so high it might as well have been on top of his head—took the initiative to speak in a frantic rush. "What on earth is going on? Where did this massive fog come from?" Originally, he had stayed at home minding his own business, not wanting to meddle. But seeing that the mist still showed no sign of clearing by nightfall, a nagging unease settled in his chest. He had intended to visit the nearby town to consult Pastor Wei, only to run into Mayor Ma right here. Instinctively, he suspected these fellows were hiding something from him again. Normally, Ma Hechang would have indulged him with polite words, but having zero patience today, he said irritably, "How would I know? If the heavens want fog, that's not under my management." Kong Lingkai's face stiffened. He disliked the man's attitude, yet had no counterargument. Glancing aside, he ground his teeth and resentfully changed the subject. "There's definitely something fishy about this mist... I said long ago that we shouldn't get involved with those folks from the north. Ever since they showed up, strange things have been happening one after another!" Ma Hechang curled his lip in contempt. He thought to himself: *If we hadn't gotten involved with them, those greenskin monsters would have dragged your pretty wives back to breed long ago.* Naturally, the same went for himself. "Enough. There's no point in saying this now. I've already sent someone toward Pinecone Wood Farm to scout the situation. Wait until he gets back." As they were talking, a horse galloped over from the distance, carrying the town hunter, Liu Youxiong. The hunter had intended to ride straight into town, but seeing the mayor waiting by the gate gave him quite a start. He hastily yanked the reins and dismounted. "My lord!" Ma Hechang stared at him expressionlessly and cut straight to the chase. "What's the situation at Pinecone Wood Farm right now?!" "This lowly one didn't go inside, only looked from the outside. It felt—" Liu Youxiong started, but before he could finish, the mayor cut him off impatiently. "Felt like what? Stick to the important parts!" "Yes, yes!" Liu Youxiong said tremulously. "It's dead quiet over there. Not a soul was working outside the perimeter walls. I walked up to the gate and found no guards on duty, and the inn beside the entrance was completely deserted... It was like a ghost town. I didn't dare linger, and with darkness falling, I hurried back." Ma Hechang's heart gave a sudden lurch. Just as he was about to press for details, someone was even more anxious than him—Kong Lingkai grabbed the hunter and demanded, "The people are gone?! Where did they go?" "I—I don't know," Liu Youxiong answered with a bitter smile. Then, remembering something, he hastily added, "Oh, right! On my way there, I saw a gang of mutants—must have been about a thousand of them—clashing with people from the Alliance..." Kong Lingkai quickly asked, "How did you know they were from the Alliance?!" Liu Youxiong swallowed hard and whispered, "I recognized their exoskeletons at a glance." Ma Hechang frowned, looking at him. "Who won?" Liu Youxiong blurted out, "The Alliance, of course! There wasn't the slightest suspense... I saw that airship fire several shells right over the mutants' heads, and the entire plain looked as if it had been turned inside out. Any who were lucky enough to survive were wiped out in no time!" Hearing this, Ma Hechang drew in a sharp breath. Finally, he understood what the rolling thunder and the tremors beneath their feet earlier this afternoon had been. Standing nearby, Kong Lingkai exchanged glances with the two family guards beside him, their faces reflecting mutual uncertainty and bewilderment. Going purely by Liu Youxiong's description, the power displayed by this Alliance operated on a level completely beyond their league. Seeing that neither prominent figure spoke, Liu Youxiong did not dare utter another word, standing meekly to the side. Seemingly having reached a conclusion, Kong Lingkai looked toward Ma Hechang, coughed lightly, and said, "Right now, the Church is in danger... If we lend them a hand, that would be providing charcoal in snowy weather—a great merit. I suggest we hold a meeting to discuss how to deal with the threat from the north—" "Stop dreaming," Ma Hechang interrupted bluntly, rolling his eyes at the man's fanciful proposal. "The Church is finished. Even if we hold a meeting, what we should discuss is how to get along with the new master here." Kong Lingkai panicked at once, glaring at him in fury. "Y-You want to betray the Holy Son?!" Ma Hechang curled his lip dismissively. "Come off it. Do you actually believe that nonsense yourself? Let me tell you straight: this is business. We bought his security services, and in exchange, we worshiped him here. Since he doesn't have the ability to protect us, he shouldn't talk so big." With that, he cast a meaningful look at the farm owner. "I heard the Alliance forbids the slave trade. I advise you to make preparations sooner rather than later." Taking one glance at the ashen-faced Kong Lingkai, Ma Hechang turned back into town. However, instead of immediately going to the town hall to summon the notables, he headed toward the church first. Some things had to be cleared up. Pushing the door open, he called out for Pastor Wei. Getting no response, he made his way around to the backyard. Looking up, he saw a body hanging from the willow tree planted in the courtyard. The man was dressed neatly, his neck tilted, eyes closed, with a serene expression that showed not the slightest trace of pain. Ma Hechang froze at first, and then turned pale with horror. Stepping backward, his foot caught on a stone, and he lost his balance, tumbling backward onto the ground. "O-Old Wei?! Pastor Wei?!" He called out twice by instinct, but Wei Ming had clearly been gone for quite some time and naturally could not answer. Ma Hechang's lips trembled, unable to form words. For a long while, he couldn't bring himself to climb to his feet, simply sitting there in a daze. Dead... The pastor personally appointed by the bishop, the only man in the entire town who could contact that bishop... Had just died like this?! *** Official Website of *Wasteland Online*. [Event Announcement: "Operation Firebreak" Is Now Live!] [Event Briefing: Believers bearing torches are spreading a wicked faith. Death and plague spread across the land of Jinhe Province, and apocalyptic flames consume all in their path. A distance of eight hundred kilometers is no obstacle to us. This is not merely our crisis, but a crisis for the entire wasteland. Before confronting the threat of the Tide, there is a far more pressing danger that must be resolved!] [Event Objective: Raid the "Na Fruit Nest" located in the underground testing facility of the "Champion" Biopharmaceutical Research Institute! Board the transport airship to the Heart of Steel or the surface forward operating base to participate in the event! Every mutant killed awards at least 10 event points, while a cybernetic mutant awards at least 50 event points. During the event, points can be exchanged for event equipment, including bolters, K-10 "Iron Wall" exoskeletons, Boulder Military cybernetic augmentations, and more! They can also be used to call in support, including 155mm artillery strikes, "Blizzard" rocket barrages, helicopter pickups, and airdropped supply crates! Even 400mm heavy rockets and tactical nuclear strikes to clear the field!] [Registration Requirements: Players with a gene sequence level of Lv10 or higher may form a party. Players with a sequence level above Lv3 may apply to join a party. (Players who have accepted the "Passing the Torch" master-disciple quest will receive a 20% point bonus when in the same party as their disciple or master.)] [Rewards: At the end of the event, remaining points can be exchanged for mystery gift boxes, limited titles, and a special grand mystery prize!] [Shelter 404 reserves all rights of final interpretation for this event!] Tail: "???" Jieyan: "Holy shit?!" Stop Bullshitting: "Brothers! Work has dropped!! *(voice cracking)*" Makabazi: "You're a fisherman, what the hell are you shouting for?" Scavenger Lv99: "Clock in, clock in—spit, log in, log in!" Silver Dad: "Recruiting! Silver Corps is recruiting online! Any newbies want to link a master-disciple quest? An experienced veteran will drive you to the front line! Farm heads like crazy!" Elven King Fugui: "Any newbies looking to party up? Gun proficiency preferred! *(smug)*" Shrimp Stuffed Pig Heart: "Me me me, I know how!" Shuke Driving a Toy Car: "Do pistols count?" Beita Flying a Helicopter: "Does knowing how to drive an armored vehicle count?" Canyon Mole: "DM me!!!" Shuke Driving a Toy Car: "Sent you a DM, bro!" Canyon Mole: "Piss off! I meant the guy below you who knows how to drive!" Shuke Driving a Toy Car: "Damn it! I really know how! QAQ" Ye Shi: "Holy shit! How did our quest turn into a server-wide event?!" Less than a minute after the event announcement was posted, the forum—which had previously been full of casual boasting, meme spam, and banter—instantly boiled over! *** For creatures like mutants, the concept of family simply did not exist. Even in large mutant tribes like the Qi Tribe, which retained some human habits, few individuals remembered which female had birthed them. After all, at birth, usually only the midwife priest was present. Not to mention a father, they didn't even get to see the face of the mother who bore them—the priests typically kept the mothers' faces veiled, and shortly after delivery, quickly decided whether to send them to the pens or the kitchen. Because they possessed no concept of family and had no inheritance to claim, most mutants naturally lacked names before receiving one bestowed by their chieftain. Nevertheless, even though most mutants were nameless, they still had ways of distinguishing each other. For instance, the most common method was "nicknames." These were typically the loudest sound they had made at birth. The midwife priest who delivered them would tell them what they had yelled, whether it was made up on the spot or genuinely memorable. For example, some were called "Ah," some were called "Awoo," or things like "Wawu" and "Eee-eee." These were among the most common nicknames. Forget the whole tribe; a single tent could have over a dozen individuals sharing the same name. Calling out a nickname and having the wrong guy respond was by no means uncommon, but in ordinary times, calling the wrong person didn't matter at all. For instance, if a chieftain bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Hengchi, Awoo, come hunting with me!", dozens or even a hundred underlings would immediately step forward to rally. If there were too many, he would kick out a few of the scrawniest wimps. If there weren't enough, he would bark, "Ah, you come along too!", and the headcount would promptly be met. To humans, this was known as chaotic management, but for mutants, it was far more convenient. They were all seasoned hands at slaughter and arson. As long as the required bodies were gathered, what did it matter who went? No matter who went, it never stopped them from sitting atop a mountain of enemy corpses to feast and tear into chunks of meat! A long night passed. The next morning, before the sun had risen... Mist hung thick over the dilapidated, abandoned urban district. The air was saturated with a putrid stench, like a moldy burlap cloth pressed over one's nose and mouth. Anyone ordinary would have felt physical revulsion. Yet the mutants of the Qi Tribe felt only blood-pumping excitement from it. At that moment, a coarse roar came from outside the human-skin tent, followed by the sound of gunshots fired into the air. "Humans! They're here! Hengchi, Ah-Ah, all of you follow me!" Before the roar even faded, a turbulent wave of shouts answered. "Kill! Kill!" "Hmph—!" "Ahhh!" Woken by the clamor, the still-groggy Hengchi sneezed, shook his heavy head, and rolled over to climb up. Grabbing the blunt blade and pipe rifle propped against his sleeping bag, he didn't wait for his blood pressure to catch up before heading out to assemble on the open ground outside the tent. He bared his fangs and roared toward the damp, dark concrete ceiling. This was his way of displaying martial vigor. Only the fiercest warriors could catch the chieftain's eye and be taken out to hunt those frail two-legged cattle. Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the emaciated human creatures trapped in the cages at the corner of the wall, a cruel grin touched the corners of Hengchi's mouth. For such pathetic vermin to dare come knocking on their door! He would teach them the meaning of cruelty! Seemingly well-pleased with the morale of his subordinates, the hulking brute standing at the front of the assembly nodded approvingly, then swung his palm, broad as a cattail fan, with great force. With a booming, guttural voice, he bellowed, "Follow Delu! Go lop off the heads of those bugs!" Like the other mutant brothers beside him, Hengchi brandished his weapon and answered the chief's call with an excited roar. "Awoooo—!" While the mutants were shouting in excitement, thunderous cannon fire erupted against the ceiling overhead. Dense clouds of dust and gravel were shaken loose by the deafening blasts, showering down over their heads and chests. Yet among the mutants gathered here, not a single one showed fear. Instead, they grew even more frenzied! Sturdy concrete bunkers were everywhere in this city! With the protection of this reinforced concrete, that iron airship floating in the sky couldn't do a thing to them! And once the fighting moved into the ruins— That was their home turf! "Go slaughter them!" "Roar—!" At Delu's command, Hengchi shouldered his weapon, following behind a pack of sinewy greenskin brethren as they surged up the gloomy stairwells and spilled onto the surface ruins, waiting for the Alliance's bombardment to cease. The thunderous barrage lasted only about five or six minutes. Immediately afterward, battle cries and the staccato rattle of gunfire erupted in the nearby city blocks. The brothers from the neighboring nest had already clashed with Alliance soldiers along the edge of the district. Though the heavy smog obscured the battlefield, the sound alone made it clear these intruders had arrived in formidable force. Hengchi gripped his rifle tight, parting his chapped lips to reveal bloodthirsty fangs, snorting heavily through his nose. "Hmph..." Looks like this banquet would be one to gorge on! *** Beneath an abandoned office building, the air rang not only with popping gunshots, but also with the raucous yelling of newbies. "Cover me!" "Flank their firing line, bro!" "What flank in fog this thick?! Just charge!" "Awoo!" While the veteran players were still steadily advancing their frontline step by step, a batch of second-hand newbies was already leading fresh, warm first-hand recruits in headlong rushes toward the mutants' positions. Every sort of bizarre, flashy stunt was on full display. Thanks to an old Alliance tradition of handing out explosive satchels to every player for "denials," a newbie named Explosives Prodigy had a brainwave. He pooled all the "free gift packs" of his four-man fireteam onto himself, stringing them into an enormous payload with staggering equivalent yield, and then charged toward the densest cluster of mutants carrying the hopes of his entire squad. In the end, before he even reached the mutants' faces, stray bullets snapped his leg. Unable to bear seeing the explosives go to waste, his three teammates had no choice but to bite the bullet and rush in to retrieve them, staging a tragicomic relay where each rescuer fell one after another. That was an unsuccessful stunt. Naturally, there were plenty of successful stunts as well. For example, a few crafty rookies managed to wipe out an entire room of mutants using a dozen homemade Molotovs, instantly amassing enough points to trade for a bolter. Another newbie, who had clearly practiced before, wielded an RPG and directly totaled a welded-steel off-road vehicle barreling straight toward the Alliance lines. Rather than describing the battlefield as tragic, it was more like a boisterous carnival, festive as a holiday. Both sides churned out all manner of wild, reckless tactics, doing whatever was most outrageous and inhumane, to the point where it was hard to tell who resembled mutants more. Watching the chaotic urban district ahead, Kuang Feng rubbed his temples after standing dumbfounded for a long while, unable to resist complaining, "Does anyone here still remember that this was supposed to be our quest?" Seeing the rookies' chaotic playstyle gave him the surreal feeling of having rolled back several game versions. Lao Bai coughed softly. "Nobody expected it to be this troublesome..." Trying to take down a mutant tribe tens of thousands strong relying solely on the combat strength of the Burning Corps wouldn't have been easy. Every single one of those green-skinned beasts was a natural-born warrior, the kind where just a few gathered together could massacre an entire village. If they were truly that easy to deal with, they would have mowed them all down on their first night here. Jieyan chuckled. "Though to be honest, having more rookies join in is pretty fun too." Corner Camper also chimed in with a grin. "Haha! I think so too! The fights against the Legion in Sunset Province earlier were way too serious. It's a rare opportunity, so letting the rookies practice a bit isn't bad." Fang Chang felt the same way. Their own combat experience had been forged on the battlefield. Some things couldn't be taught; dying once made everything crystal clear. Fang Chang couldn't help recalling that time long, long ago when they first encountered the mutants of 76th Street, and Mosquito built a rocket firecracker that nearly sent him to the grave. Who could have guessed that guy was now practically a wasteland arms dealer! Shaking his head, Fang Chang chambered a round into the bolter he had purchased with silver coins, looking toward the distant mutant positions that were currently contracting their defensive lines, and smiled. "We should get moving too. Wait any longer, and there won't even be soup left for us." "Yeah." Snapping down the visor of his power armor helmet, Lao Bai grinned. "Dilly-dally any longer, and those greenhorns are gonna look down on us." *** In the urban district about a kilometer from the engagement zone, standing atop a high-rise, Qi Gahn watched the flashes of fire flickering in the distant gray mist without expression. At around eight in the morning, the Alliance's general offensive had suddenly begun. First came a ferocious carpet bombardment of artillery fire, followed by infantry charging into the ruins in swarms. He had to admit, the northern Alliance truly possessed real skill. They were entirely different from the two-legged sheep around Jinhe City, so it was no wonder several valiant warriors under his command had suffered severe setbacks at their hands. Those fighters had towering morale, a fearless combat style, and aggressive momentum. Right from the start, they fought with an unyielding, fight-to-the-death stance. Yet Gahn was not intimidated by their momentum. In fact, after reviewing the front-line reports, he breathed a sigh of relief instead. Fierce as the Alliance's assault was, they had made little headway, sacrificing nearly a millurion's worth of corpses just to secure a single street. And that was merely the outermost perimeter of the Qi Tribe. Even if ceded to the Alliance, it mattered little. All they lost were two to three hundred brothers, some twenty light and heavy machine guns, two lightly stocked ammunition depots, and some reserve grain. Evidently, not every Alliance soldier possessed the prowess to take on ten men at once. Most of them fought like complete amateurs. Moreover, the artillery of the Heart of Steel proved to be of limited effectiveness within the urban district, just as he had anticipated. The shells looked imposing, roared loudly, and packed fierce firepower, but even a single concrete wall was enough to effectively dampen the blast wave and shrapnel lethality. Yet unlike Gahn's optimism, a faint gloom hung over Gomo's face. "Continuing like this is not a solution... The Alliance's industrial capacity is superior to ours. I heard that Boulder City joined them recently as well. If this battle of attrition drags on, we will be worn down sooner or later." Gahn gave a cold sneer, unconcerned. "No matter how strong their industrial capacity is, they still need men to wield the tools they produce. I hear the entire Alliance has fewer than a million people. I'd like to see how long they can slug it out with us on turf eight hundred kilometers away." Gomo said nothing. In his heart, he actually agreed with those words. Yet that was an Alliance that had defeated the Legion after all. As an elder who had lived through that era, he understood intimately what kind of entity the Legion was. To defeat the Legion on an open battlefield... Would such people truly fight such a mindless war? Seeing that Gomo still wore a troubled expression, Gahn said impassively, "You don't need to fret over matters of the battlefield. Just see to completing the final ritual... If we truly can't contact Luo Qian, then we will take over this parish ourselves." Gomo nodded slightly. "Understood."