Chapter 594: A Stray Dog, Worthy of Being the Administrator's Opponent?

Chapter 594: A stray dog, worthy of being the Administrator's opponent?

Although the exact location of that mutant unit was uncertain, for the Steel Heart, whose support gun batteries had been fully refitted with 155mm cannons, a rough coordinate was more than enough.

The moment Chu Guang issued the command, the airship deck sounded the alarm to avoid the shockwave, and the entire crew immediately sprang into action.

The hydraulic support of the loader in the main gun bay lifted, pushing an orange-yellow 400mm rocket-assisted projectile into the breech.

At that moment, on the deck above.

The massive short-barreled cannon emitted a clanking sound, slowly rotating under the pull of motors, aiming far off to the due west of Pinecone Farm.

The automatic fire control system was entirely operated by Xiao Qi.

Based on the charge of this rocket-assisted projectile, the quantum computer had already analyzed various ballistic trajectories under different air densities, wind speeds, and humidity conditions.

The players all paused their activities, gazing curiously at the towering cannon, their eyes full of anticipation.

And as if to answer that anticipation, at the third second after the alarm ceased, a tongue of fire as thick as a dragon shot out from the massive barrel.

The displaced shockwave and dust swept across the steel deck hundreds of meters long, hurled into the sky in turbulent currents, and a flash of white light momentarily blinded.

Although the Steel Heart had participated in many battles, not all players had truly seen this industrial beast lift its head and roar.

Witnessing the earth-shattering power, many newcomers on their first voyage let out exclamations of awe, and some even whistled in excitement.

"Awesome!"

"You call that a shell?! That's a bore-launched missile, dammit!"

"The shockwave from that shot is insane!"

Seeing those ignorant newbies, Guigui, hands on her hips, spoke in the tone of a veteran player, teasing with a smirk.

"Hey, this is nothing. If you were on the ground, you'd know the explosion's shockwave is way more badass than this!"

The newbie swallowed.

"How badass?"

"About this much!" Guigui tried to spread her arms wide to gesture, but found it indescribable, so she clicked her tongue and scratched her head. "Anyway, enough to blow Lajijun flying from a kilometer away!"

Newbie: "Awesome!!"

The newbie's worshipful expression pleased Guigui greatly.

Though she had only been playing this game for a few months, as a regular on this deck, she had long considered it her home.

Smirking proudly, she continued.

"Anyway, pray for those green-skinned beasts. This isn't something carbon-based life can withstand. They'll be vaporized in an instant, ho ho ho."

Fengqing put on her goggles, lay by the edge of the deck, said nothing, but gripped her binoculars excitedly, staring at the ground.

GKD!

She wanted to see the explosion!

......

Meanwhile, in the wilderness tens of kilometers from the Steel Heart, a slightly rugged slope held an abandoned wooden cabin.

Beside the cabin lay two motorcycles with their engines off.

Li Jinrong and Xiao Yue, lying on the reverse slope, exchanged glances, looking oddly at the Alliance soldier dozing against the motorcycle.

The main mutant force was advancing less than three kilometers away, and a patrol of about ten had just scouted their vicinity.

Yet at this critical moment, this guy was actually able to sleep!

"...Should we wake him?" Xiao Yue asked quietly.

Li Jinrong gave a wry smile.

"If you can wake him."

Xiao Yue gave an awkward laugh and fell silent.

When the mutant scouts had checked this area earlier, he had indeed thought of waking the guy, but no matter what he did, there was no response.

Honestly, he had never seen anyone sleep so soundly.

And so close to those man-eating things—how could anyone normally sleep?

"I think we should at least send someone back to notify the others at the settlement. With this thick fog, even if that airship flies high, it probably can't see anything."

"And that number... even if we notify them, what then?" Li Jinrong glanced at the distant commotion, squinting. "He said to leave it to him, so let's leave it to him."

Perhaps...

The Alliance warriors really did have the special ability to communicate through dreams?

This was the Wasteland.

As everyone knew, anything strange could happen in the Wasteland. If you told survivors elsewhere that the mutants in Jinhe City were numerous enough to form a kingdom and strong enough to install mechanical prosthetics, probably few would believe it.

After all, in most other places, those green-skinned beasts were impressive enough just making thumbtack mines. If their numbers grew a bit, they might even start fighting among themselves over food or females.

As for why they were here, it started with the tough guy from the Burning Corps lying beside them, named Fang Chang.

Probably when the fog first set in, Li Jinrong, resting at the farm, was alert to his surroundings when this fellow suddenly approached them, saying mutants were coming from the city and asking to borrow their motorcycles for reconnaissance nearby.

Li Jinrong had no objection, but found it odd why they, with their convenient VTOL aircraft, would need to borrow his motorcycle.

So he proposed to go along, and the guy readily agreed.

Thus, the three left Pinecone Farm and headed west to search, and sure enough, as he said, they found traces of a large-scale mutant movement in this area.

The hazy fog made it impossible to see clearly how many green heads there were, or even judge the approximate position of the column.

But one thing was certain: it was at least a force of a thousand!

Moreover, these mutants were acting with great caution, completely unlike the previous noisy mobs that rushed in all at once.

They not only sent out scouts to spread out along the march route but also carefully divided their forces into several waves.

Though this was basic for human troops, it was extremely rare for mutants.

They despised cowardice and timidity more than death, and in their eyes, using fancy tactics was a sign of weakness.

The strong they worshipped were those who crushed opponents with absolute power!

Now they were willing to learn human tactics, showing that the previous battles had truly hurt these green-skinned bastards.

But this was not good news for the Alliance.

Feeling the murderous intent and bloodlust through the gray-green fog, Li Jinrong couldn't help but feel a chill on his scalp, sensing trouble.

Just then, Fang Chang, who had been sleeping for a long time, suddenly twitched and sprang up from the ground without warning.

Xiao Yue, lying nearby, was startled by the sudden movement. He looked around and, seeing no mutant scouts, covered his embarrassment with a teasing remark.

"Bro, you slept long enough..."

Fang Chang, just awake, nodded, brushed the grass clippings and dust off his arm, and said casually.

"Yeah, I was shooting the breeze with the others for a bit."

Xiao Yue: "?"

Li Jinrong: "...?"

What the hell?

Both of them were stunned.

So you really can send dreams?!

"...That's not the point," Fang Chang said, looking at their astonished expressions as he cleared his throat lightly, glossing over the topic that was inconvenient to explain. "Besides... it's already done."

The reason he had taken so long to return wasn't entirely because he was lurking on the forum; it was mainly to wait for other players to bring the news back to the official website and confirm when the bombardment would begin.

Fortunately, the NPCs of the Steel Heart were quite reliable and trusted them.

Almost at the same moment Feng Qing brought the coordinate report into the game, the cannon preparation in the airship's gun bay began.

To be honest, with that reaction speed, Fang Chang couldn't help but suspect that it wasn't just players exploiting game bugs—the Alliance's NPCs were browsing their official website too.

But he didn't report this bug to Brother Guang.

A bug that could enhance the gaming experience would be a shame to fix; everyone could just tacitly keep using it.

Li Jinrong stared blankly at this calm guy, completely clueless about what he was talking about.

How could it be done after just one nap?

What could possibly be done!

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he finally couldn't help voicing his confusion.

"...What do you mean? How is it done?"

Fully aware of his bewilderment, Fang Chang didn't bother explaining in detail. Instead, he looked toward the direction the mutant troops were marching and said succinctly.

"The Alliance's reinforcements will arrive soon. We just need to stand here and watch. Of course, it's best not to get ahead of those green-skinned guys."

As he spoke, he briefly checked his equipment, especially the VM on his arm, confirming it hadn't been tampered with, and gave the two NPCs an extra glance.

He had come out alone with these two partly to borrow their motorcycle and partly to test them.

Last night, Old Bai had talked with that Li Jinrong, expressing that the Alliance would support the Iron Tower's guerrilla activities in the south, but that didn't mean they fully trusted these people yet.

The Sanctuary could be hiding in any NPC's head.

So when he went offline, he turned on the VM's recording and camera functions to see what they would do.

Anyway, the coordinates of those mutants had already been reported. Even if he got killed, it would only be a three-day setback. Using one life to assess two NPCs was totally worth it.

But from the looks of it, they hadn't done anything unnecessary.

While this didn't mean the two were absolutely trustworthy, cooperation to a certain extent was still fine.

Xiao Yue couldn't wait any longer and asked.

"How much longer?"

Fang Chang didn't speak; he just said softly.

"Listen carefully... Do you hear something?"

Li Jinrong frowned.

"Sound?"

What the hell was this guy talking about—

Just as he thought that, he faintly heard a slight noise, like the buzzing of autumn cicadas, carried by the vibration of air from far, far away.

Before he could discern what the sound was, a shocking scene imprinted itself on his pupils.

A thick, long plume of smoke pierced through the heavy fog, and then a thunderous roar, like a mountain avalanche and a tidal wave, swept across the entire wilderness.

Orange-red flames bloomed like a mandala flower. In the moment of its blossoming, trees were uprooted, earth mounds were leveled to the ground, and gravel and wood chips flew like shrapnel, carried into the sky by the scorching air currents.

The solid ground seemed like boiling lake water, rippling and wrinkling under the scorching shockwave...

Li Jinrong and Xiao Yue stood dumbfounded, staring at the all-consuming fire rising in the distance, unable to open their eyes against the suffocating hot wind.

Before that world-destroying power, every organism seemed so insignificant.

He had imagined what trump card the Alliance would use to fight those absurdly strong mutants and the Church, but he never expected to witness such terrifying and pure force.

At that moment, he finally understood.

How the Alliance's order had come to be.

And what amazed him even more was recalling a rumor he had once heard—that invincible steel beast hadn't belonged to the Alliance from the start.

It was their trophy, seized by the Burning Legion from the Legion!

He simply couldn't imagine what kind of strength it would take to defeat that unmatched steel giant.

And even more unimaginable was that if such a monster could be tamed, what kind of even greater monster could be worthy of being their opponent...

Half a day ago, he had hesitated about the answer to that question, but now he could say without a doubt.

At least the mutants—

Could never be their match!

After a long while, Li Jinrong swallowed his saliva and, as if to verify his own conjecture, spoke in a trembling voice.

"That was..."

"The main cannon of the Steel Heart."

Fang Chang, gazing at the distant explosion center, smiled lightly. The bangs blown by the hot wind finally settled softly back onto his brow.

After a pause, he continued softly.

"Well? Isn't it spectacular?"

Li Jinrong didn't answer.

Because at that moment, he couldn't put the shock in his heart into words.

Then, rain began to fall from the sky.

Charred black mud fell like raindrops from the air, pattering onto the ground like machine-gun bullets, drifting with the wind across this battlefield scorched by gunpowder.

But even this world-destroying power couldn't destroy the hive nest entrenched in the center of Clear Spring City.

Those slime molds had long since grown together with the concrete ruins. No matter how many shells were poured in, they couldn't shake the "giant tree" formed by spore clouds connecting the sky and ground.

But for dealing with those guys, it was absolutely enough.

Xiao Yue's Adam's apple bobbed as he forced out a sentence.

"Is it over?"

Fang Chang looked into the distance and smiled.

"Over? This is just the beginning."

Before the other could speak, he continued in a casual tone.

"Watch closely."

"The real show is about to begin!"

……

The first round of artillery fire was merely a prelude.

The 400mm rocket-assisted shells not only etched the starting point of the barrage onto the earth's surface but also shattered the entire fog bank, churning the soil and exposing the mutant troops marching through the forest and open ground to the gunners' sight.

After the main guns completed their bombardment, each battery quickly confirmed the impact points and strike coordinates, and based on the firing data calculated by the computer, began the first round of fire adjustment.

"Firing data set!"

"High-explosive rounds loaded!"

"Loading complete!"

"Ready—"

"Fire!"

The gunners inside the gun bay yanked the lanyards back with force, and a dozen cannon blasts rang out in unison, flashes of lightning flickering along the side of the airship's gun bay.

Streaks of orange tracer rounds plunged toward the ground, exploding into bursts of flame on that battlefield where the mist had been blown away.

The mutant soldiers marching across the open ground had barely recovered from the earlier earth-shattering explosions; many were still stuck in mud pits, unable to climb out, when the following wave of artillery fire swept in and swallowed them whole.

"Scatter!"

"Hit the deck—!"

Struggling to rise from the mire, Kulu let out a furious roar, his bloodthirsty eyes filled with panic.

What the hell...

was this?

He hadn't even seen where the enemy was when the sound of explosions suddenly erupted.

Then a scorching blast wave slammed into his back like a hammer, engulfing all the mutant soldiers across the open ground.

Fortunately, the shell's impact point was still far from them, hundreds of meters from the edge of the formation.

Yet even so, the cataclysmic force sent a bone-deep fear and trembling through countless grunts.

That was no power of the mortal world.

They had never seen such terrifying artillery!

Kulu's roar had barely died down when a series of whistling sounds tore through the silence of the battlefield.

The flashes of explosions and billowing smoke swept across from behind them like a merciless plow, tilling the earth.

Even though lying prone was a disgrace for mutant warriors who revered strength and savagery, Kulu knew this was no time for pride, and he could only humbly lower his arrogant head.

The slowly advancing barrage crept closer; the gray-green mist, just beginning to close, was brutally torn open, revealing the muddy battlefield.

Shells were sown across the open ground like they cost nothing, planting blooming sparks, vowing to spare not a single inch of soil.

Kulu, clutching the back of his head, began to feel a creeping dread.

Especially when the boiling flames erupted just ten meters from him, especially when the hot shrapnel sliced into his flesh—he, who had never feared anything, found himself involuntarily praying to the Saint.

This was completely different from last night's air raid; the sky and earth seemed shattered by this might, and what terrified him most was that he had no idea how to fight such power.

When the bombardment finally ended—

it was impossible to tell how long had passed.

Propping himself up from the mud, almost buried, he gazed blankly at the chaotic battlefield around him, feeling no joy of survival.

Instead, an unprecedented despair etched itself into his heart.

The battlefield, several kilometers wide, looked as if it had been turned over; charred black mud was strewn with severed limbs and broken bodies.

He didn't know how many shells had fallen here, nor how many of his soldiers were still alive.

What...

kind of enemy were they fighting?!

He looked up blankly at the sky, toward the north of Jinhe City, toward where the steel airship floated, searching for answers, but his view was blocked by the mist slowly closing again.

This gave him a flicker of glee, but it was followed by a deep sense of humiliation and powerless frustration.

To vent his fear and prove to his men he was no coward, he raised his head and let out a defiant roar.

"Cowards!"

"You spineless bastards!"

"Hiding in the mist—what kind of skill is that!"

"If you've got the guts, come out and face Kulu blade to blade!"

He knew those two-legged beasts didn't have the nerve.

They only dared to fire from those buzzing flies, never standing before a mutant's might!

While he strutted and blustered, they could only cower in the distance, glaring helplessly!

Thinking this, a smug grin curled at the corner of Kulu's mouth.

Just as he was about to rise and regroup his forces, figures clad in heavy armor appeared at the edge of the fog, marching straight toward them from the north.

Long, thick gun barrels gleamed with a cold light; each man carried a felling axe, their breastplates painted with emerald camouflage, and on their shoulder plates, insignias of indistinct shapes.

The one at the front was even more imposing.

Standing on the open ground like a black iron tower, steel covered nearly every inch of his skin, from toe to head, and a gun barrel as thick as a python was welded directly onto his arm.

Even without seeing the man's eyes,

Kulu could feel the palpable hunger for battle.

His pupils narrowed slightly, and his cracked lips twisted with contorted muscles into a savage, bloodthirsty sneer.

So this was the Warden of the Alliance?

He'd heard of him.

The chieftain of the Alliance tribe to the north was an iron-clad hunk of metal, said to be a powerful Awakened.

But Kulu didn't care—whether power armor or tank, before his sheer brute strength, they were all like paper.

Even in armor, two-legged beasts were still beasts, and he would prove it with his fists and teeth.

Hoisting the axe-spear from the ground, Kulu threw back his head and let out a deafening roar, like a standing beast, glaring furiously at the man.

"Come on!"

"Chieftain of the Alliance—"

"Let me see what you're made of!"

The guttural roar swept across the open ground.

The muddy battlefield fell silent for a moment.

The man like a black iron tower at the front seemed to finally realize that the upright beast was speaking to him.

Ignoring the arrogant taunt, the corner of his mouth beneath the helmet curled slightly.

"A stray dog, worthy of being the Administrator's opponent?"

Ridiculous!

You haven't even destroyed a single tower and you want to go to the fountain?

What the hell are you dreaming of!

Lifting his chin, Midnight Slaughter Chicken stared expressionlessly at the green-skinned beast, the bolter in his hand already aimed at its chest.

"Open your dog eyes wide."

"Your opponent is me!"