Chapter 737: Watch Closely, I'll Only Demonstrate Once!

Chapter 737: Watch Closely, I’ll Only Demonstrate Once!

At this very moment, the pioneer known as the "Beast King" had no idea that his opponent was indeed carefully deliberating over the next card to play.

Only, the card being played was somewhat different from what he had imagined...

At the tavern entrance.

Gazing at the chaotic haze inside the tavern and the card players, red-faced and shouting, the Spring Commander, who had just arrived at the front line, was utterly dumbfounded.

It took him a long moment to snap out of it, muttering in astonishment.

"Good heavens..."

So this was the real reason behind the Enterprise’s lackluster combat effectiveness.

So these slackers had all been playing cards in the rear?!

Kakarot craned his neck, scanning the crowd, and soon spotted the familiar culprit, his expression one of "I knew it."

"Ha, I guessed it was Brother Mosquito all along."

IAmTheBlackest: "Tzeentch!! It’s a spy sent by Tzeentch!"

Ten-Fist Superman: "Call in the tin cans of the Burning Legion!"

Ghost-HuntingAtTheGrave: "Drag this discipline-breaker out and have him ‘loyalized’."

Just as the group at the entrance was chattering away, Mosquito, who had just finished his sales pitch, slipped out from the center of the crowd and immediately spotted the bunch standing at the door.

"Spring?!"

His eyes lit up, and Mosquito swaggered over with a grin, slapping him on the arm.

"What brings you here? Weren’t you supposed to be waiting for orders in the rear?"

These were his big clients.

Compared to that, the cards he sold were just pocket change.

"Waiting for orders, yes, but the orders have come," Spring Commander said with a smile, then added, "The Administrator plans to come to the front line, so we’ve been transferred here as well."

"What? The Administrator is coming?"

Startled by the news, Mosquito quickly tossed the sack with a few remaining card packs to a nearby NPC.

Clearly, he realized he hadn’t been up to any good and swiftly distanced himself from the deal.

The young man beside him was quick on the uptake, catching the sack deftly and pretending not to know him.

The fellow didn’t look like he was from the River Valley Province—his hair was slightly curly, he was a bit short, and his dark, darting eyes gave him the air of a rat-man from the Brahmaputra Province.

"Not here yet, stop looking."

Seeing Mosquito peering out the door, Spring made a helpless face, then glanced back at the smoky chaos inside the tavern, unable to resist a jab.

"Now everyone’s saying you’re the one who ruined our allies’ combat effectiveness. How do you plan to explain yourself when the Administrator arrives?"

Caught off guard by the heavy accusation, Mosquito immediately cried out in protest.

"Damn, what’s that got to do with me? It’s not like I made them unable to push forward."

Hand on heart, he swore.

These guys were like this even before he came!

But the bastards wouldn’t listen to him, just kept shouting.

Kakarot: "Still saying it’s not you? Do these guys look like they can fight?"

IAmTheBlackest: "Exactly! Too weak!"

KevinTheBrokenLeg also shook his head.

"At this rate, you’ll never get over that mountain, even if you keep at it till next year!"

"What’s that got to do with me?" Mosquito said, half-laughing, half-crying. "If you’re so good, you go ahead!"

"Funny you should say that—we were just planning to."

Looking at Mosquito, Spring Commander chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Just wait. When the Administrator arrives tomorrow, I’ll show you a thing or two, let you see how a real battle is fought."

...

To be honest, it wasn’t entirely the Enterprise’s fault for slacking off.

The average altitude of the Ten Peaks Mountains was over a thousand meters, and the more treacherous peaks often soared to two or three thousand meters.

The terrain was far more perilous than the mere two- or three-hundred-meter hills one might compare to the Hengduan Mountains in reality.

In a place like Broken Blade Mountain, the tactical width was limited—only two or three hundred men could advance at a time, and those behind had to step over the bodies of those ahead.

On top of that, the enemy had built extensive fortifications, turning the entire mountain into a fortress.

Even with a hundred thousand troops standing by, they couldn’t do much.

Over two days and one night, the Enterprise launched three offensives. In the final assault, they even deployed two newly dragged-out bunker-busting missiles with five-hundred-kilogram warheads from the lab, yet they still couldn’t plant their flag on the summit.

The total number of mercenary casualties had exceeded three hundred, surpassing the non-clone losses the Legion had suffered on Black Cloud Mountain.

Considering the mercenaries would be needed for the battles ahead, the commander of the 100th Mechanized Mountain Division could only turn to their capable ally—the Alliance.

Back in Dawnlight City, Spring Commander, on behalf of the Storm Corps, had volunteered for this mission.

But neither Spring nor the Enterprise commanders expected that, while they were planning the next offensive, the Wilanters stationed on Black Cloud Mountain had grown impatient and reached out prematurely...

On the third night.

On Black Cloud Mountain.

Glancing at General Modlin, who was peering through night-vision goggles at the distant positions, the adjutant beside him couldn’t help but ask.

"Wouldn’t this be too rash?"

Though the Enterprise’s sluggish performance at the front was disappointing, he didn’t advise snatching the task of taking this mountain from them.

Not only would it drain their own strength, but it also squandered a perfect chance to gauge the true power of Elysium City.

Those mercenaries had attacked the mountain three times without any significant results. He felt that if they pushed a little harder, the Enterprise might be forced to deploy their regular troops.

Then they could observe just how formidable that mechanized, tooth-and-nail force really was.

After all, the Enterprise, as a fellow heir of the old era, was their true rival.

The Torch Church was just one of the more conspicuous grasshoppers among many.

But General Modlin, standing beside him, had a different view, speaking succinctly.

"...Haven’t you noticed? The first few mountain positions were relatively easy to take, but each subsequent one has been tougher than the last."

The adjutant: "So?"

General Modlin narrowed his eyes and continued. "So the sooner we finish the mission, the better for us. According to the pre-war agreement, we need to take at least two mountains. With Black Cloud Mountain already secured, once we take one more, we can sit in the observation stands and watch the show."

Then they could leave all the hard nuts for the rest of the coalition to crack.

And if anyone else wanted their help, they’d have to offer other concessions at the Cohesion Council’s negotiating table.

Completing the combat mission ahead of schedule was, in itself, a bargaining chip of sufficient weight.

He believed Lord Lyum held the same view, which was precisely why he had authorized tonight’s military operation.

Speaking up to this point, he glanced at the adjutant beside him and continued with an unruffled expression.

"Notify General Mecal that our subordinates have reached their combat positions; the Honorable Army under his command may now advance."

Before sending the Wielandians up, he needed those clone cannon fodders to go first to deplete the mutants’ stamina and ammunition.

The adjutant understood instantly, his expression turning solemn as he snapped a military salute.

"Yes, sir!"

…

At midnight that night, without any prior warning, the airship Loyalty unleashed a full ten 400mm barrel-launched rockets toward Broken Blade Mountain.

The boiling flames swallowed the entire peak like a mass of fiery clouds swooping down from the sky, instantly turning the vegetation on the mountain to ashes and scorching the stones on the ground until they were white-hot.

At the same time, the thousand-man detachment of the Honorable Army waiting at the foot of the mountain had already fixed bayonets to their rifle barrels.

A centurion with a high-bridged nose stood before the formation, drew his sidearm, fired a shot toward the mountain, and roared at the top of his lungs.

"For the Marshal!"

"For Loyalty!"

"Charge—!"

Pairs of pupils were filled with fanaticism as the clones let out deafening roars one after another, gripping their rifles and rushing up the mountain.

"Hurrah!"

"Kill!!"

Those two short phrases were among the few words of the Human League language that these clones could speak.

Developing at eight times the normal rate, they did not possess full human minds at all, and their brains could only process an eighth of the information an ordinary person could.

However, these two short phrases were already enough to encapsulate their entire lives.

From the very moment they were born, they had been preparing for today’s combustion.

"Roar!!"

An oversized green-skinned big guy hiding in the trench let out a roar, swinging his empty shotgun like a club to smash open the skull of a clone.

Yet before it could savor the snow-white brains, a bayonet flashed like a streak of white light, piercing up through its jaw from below!

Scalding blood sprayed onto the clone soldier’s fanatically distorted face, but the latter continued to charge without pausing his howling for a single second.

They were like mad dogs on drugs; if their legs were severed, they crawled forward with their hands, and if their arms were broken as well, they bit with their teeth, proving even more frenzied than those green-skinned big guys howling filth!

Aside from those who were numb to death, there were also some mentally broken clones curling up in the plasma and wailing.

Yet even so, not a single person retreated.

Under the command of the Wielandian decurions, they bit forward madly like wild beasts, perishing rapidly amidst the frenzy.

Encountering such ferocious "rations" for the first time, the mutants of the Rock Axe Clan were also somewhat dazed for a moment.

Although the combat capability of these lunatics was clearly inferior to that of the humans wearing exoskeletons they had encountered before, this desperate way of fighting truly brought considerable mental pressure to them.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Enterprise’s operational command headquarters was a scene of panic and commotion.

The airship Loyalty had suddenly opened fire, followed immediately by the abrupt deployment of the clone troops—this series of actions outside the operational plan caught everyone by surprise.

Arriving at the scene, Lin Shangwen stared fixatedly at the images on the holographic screen without uttering a single word.

The adjutant standing beside him swore under his breath, unable to help but growl in a low voice.

"What on earth do those big-noses want to do?! Have they taken the wrong medicine?"

Even if it was just to show off, there was no need to act without even giving a greeting, right?

Back when they were fighting Black Cloud Mountain, he had already wanted to criticize this bunch of arrogant fellows.

It was just that the commander of the Xilan Empire was relatively tolerant and didn't even care about his own compatriots who had been bombed by mistake, so as an outsider, it wasn't his place to say anything, which was why he hadn't made an issue out of it.

Chief of Staff Yun Song also stared silently at the holographic screen, suddenly catching sight of the movement of another group of people at the foot of the mountain, clarity instantly dawning in his heart as he said in a heavy voice.

"They most likely want to pluck the low-hanging fruit."

The adjutant froze upon hearing this, then came to his senses and cursed in a low voice.

"Those shameless bandits!"

They had already sacrificed a full three hundred mercenaries on the mountain peak, pouring out hundreds of rockets and over a thousand heavy howitzer shells!

The number of mutants killed or wounded had to be three thousand if not two thousand!

Just as the opposite defensive line was showing a hint of loosening, these guys actually jumped out to snatch the credit!

Lin Shangwen still did not speak, only silently staring at the screen, his mind pondering who knew what.

Just as he was intending to place a call to Lyum to demand what the man meant, he saw that the other party had actually called through first.

An ugly nose appeared in the center of the screen, backed by a smirk on a thoroughly disagreeable face.

Even late at night, this guy had a wooden stick clenched in his teeth, looking as if the thing had grown right out of his face.

"I see you're having too hard of a time fighting, so I'll fight this battle for you instead."

Hearing that brazen rhetoric, Lin Shangwen sneered, raising his chin slightly to look at the face on the screen.

"Do I have to thank you then?"

"Haha! You're welcome," Lyum laughed out loud, leaning back into his chair as he said with a tone laced with a fair amount of sarcasm, "I just feel bad that the young masters of Ideal City haven't seen blood and fear they might wet their pants on the battlefield... better to let them stay in the back and play cards."

Play cards?

Lin Shangwen furrowed his brows, and several officers behind him also exchanged bewildered glances, having no idea what this fellow was talking about.

Lyum offered no explanation, merely looking at this bunch of weak and powerless allied officers as he continued unhurriedly with an air of absolute composure.

"Watch closely, I will only demonstrate this once."

With that, he shut down the video window, vanishing from sight and leaving behind a room full of glaring officers in the command center...

…

It had to be said that the Legion’s calculations were very loud, so loud that even Fountain Commander, who had just arrived at the front line, could hear them.

On Broken Blade Mountain, gunfire resounded and artillery roared, the flashing flames illuminating the area into a semblance of broad daylight.

The intense gunfire, suffocating in its concentration, could be faintly smelled even standing on Mount Fu across a mountain ridge.

"Good grief... this time the brothers from Enterprise are going to get slapped in the face." Holding binoculars in his hands, Margin Paddler peered toward the southern direction and curled the corner of his mouth.

Restricted by his field of vision, he could only see a corner of the battlefield from his position.

But even so, that slaughter was brutal enough.

Brother Fountain standing beside him smiled, entirely disagreeing with this statement.

"I think that might not necessarily be the case."

Lowering the binoculars in his hand, Margin Paddler looked toward him and asked curiously.

"What do you mean by that?"

Commander Fountain said in a slow, deliberate drawl.

"If those mutants were really that easy to deal with, they wouldn't have been able to bog down the Enterprise for three whole days. To be honest, facing enemies that don't even die when their heads are blown off, along with all that never-before-seen black tech, it would be just as brutal no matter which army you brought in. Especially with such thick rock formations separating us—we don't even know how many of them are hiding inside."

Hard to Please had tried to slip in to gather intelligence, but that fat rat was a bit too obese.

The big green skins certainly didn't notice him, but those goblins treated him entirely as rations.

After dying three times without managing to mix into the cave, the guy stopped wasting his energy and turned to figure out other ways.

They weren't the only ones who had tried; the Enterprise's people were making all kinds of attempts as well, such as dispatching synth special forces equipped with optical camouflage plug-ins to infiltrate and map out the situation inside the caves.

Yet no one expected that the synth squad would be singled out by EMP weapons, and after a brief stall, they were beaten into scrap metal by a barrage of heavy blows.

Including the rice-grain-sized "beetle" drones they used afterward, all ended in failure.

This intelligence was not made public within the Alliance-Enterprise Coalition, but it was shared between the military systems of the Alliance and the Enterprise.

In short, the Enterprise had used every method they could think of, but the opposing side seemed prepared from the start, countering and dissolving every single move.

Seeing that trickery was useless, the Enterprise could only resort to the old-fashioned brute-force assault of infantry charging after artillery bombardment.

However, even though they used every available support weapon and washed the entire hilltop countless times, they still failed to seize that hilltop from the hands of the green skins.

Fountain estimated that the Wilantes were eighty percent likely to face the exact same thing, and they were bound to suffer some bitter losses tonight.

Those guys did have some skill, but they always made the same mistake: looking down on others while thinking far too highly of themselves.

"...The reason the Enterprise didn't stop them, I reckon, is because they wanted to use the Wilantes to grind down the effective strength on the mountain. Although no one knows how many mutants are left there, their numbers can't be infinite."

"Isn't that a coincidence," Edge Paddler grinned, tapping his fist against his breastplate. "We are infinite. Let us go up."

Commander Fountain glanced at him sideways.

"You guys better save it. This time, it should be our turn to go up no matter what."

Edge Paddler replied, "Damn! You guys just got here, aren't you going to take a break?"

Commander Fountain smiled and said.

"We've been resting ever since we came down from Jinhe City. We've had more than enough rest."

While the two were chatting, a new change occurred in the battle situation on the front line.

Just as General Maodelin expected, an entire cannon-fodder regiment of a thousand men was quickly wiped out.

The corpses covering the mountains and fields belonged to both mutants and clones, their flesh and blood mingled together. The entire rugged mountain terrain looked as though it had been rolled over by the blades of a meat grinder.

Without any hesitation, the airship Loyalty, as planned, fired another eight 400mm heavy mortar shells, cooperating with the 200mm cannons of the "Bison" to unleash tonight's second round of fire coverage upon the mutants on the mountain.

This round of fire coverage was even more ferocious than the last. Not only were the Wilantes at the front line shouting in sheer satisfaction, but even the allied forces in the rear stared wide-eyed.

Standing at the entrance of the barracks, General Babita stared with a face full of envy at the "Bison" walker standing tall on the wasteland, his eyes written with deep longing.

If only the Legion were willing to sell this thing to them.

If General Alaiyang had this thing, they would never have lost King Gallon Harbor.

Mosquito, who had just returned from Kun Town, was the same. Watching that spitfire-like firepower, his mouth was likewise agape in astonishment, muttering continuously.

"Holy cow... what material is that barrel made of to be so durable?"

If only he could figure out the material of this thing.

Compared to the No. 60 electromagnetic cannon, which was temporarily useless and completely incomprehensible in reality, the practical value of this thing was much higher!

Having once tasted the sweetness of that bottle of aviation kerosene, his gaze grew increasingly fervent, and he couldn't help but harbor wicked thoughts.

Perhaps...

He had to find a way to make those big-nosed fellows "lose" one.

At the exact same time the wastelanders were looking up at the boiling gunfire, the distant battlefield was as tragic and cruel as hell itself.

Some big green skins who didn't have time to retreat into the caves, tunnels, and bunkers were blown to pieces on the spot, and those goblins attempting to carry the wounded back into the tunnels also suffered heavy casualties. Many blasted into cripples could only crawl behind the rocks, wailing and howling miserably.

General Maodelin, wearing night-vision goggles, gazed out over the battlefield. Seeing that the time was ripe, he immediately issued the order to attack.

"Advance the Second Regiment under the 31st Division!"

"Yes, sir!"

The adjutant saluted in response and immediately transmitted the order to the regiment.

The Second Regiment, which had long been eager to try, began to launch an attack toward the mountain.

Some twenty heavy infantrymen, dressed like iron pagodas and carrying rotary machine guns in their hands, took the lead under the cover of a hundred-man squad, charging toward an unyielding cave entrance located halfway up the mountain.

The silence of the night was broken for the second time, and the combat once again entered a white-hot phase.

The well-trained Wilante soldiers exploded with a combat effectiveness that far surpassed those clone soldiers, beating the mutants on the mountain into a steady retreat for a time. Even Fountain, who originally didn't think highly of their chances to take the hilltop, couldn't help but reveal a surprised expression.

"It seems you miscalculated."

Edge Paddler looked at him with a smile and tossed the binoculars into his hands.

"One hour. Those Wilantes have already taken six cave entrances. The fighting outside the caves is basically over."

Just now, he had seen with his own eyes a heavy infantryman carrying a flamethrower step into a cave, and the smell of roasted meat must be filling the air inside right about now.

Compared to the flashy equipment the Enterprise brought out, this kind of simple and crude stuff was indeed more useful.

At least it suited his taste.

Fountain took the binoculars, refusing to give up hope as he took a couple of looks. Seeing that the battle situation was indeed as Brother Edge said, he still stubbornly muttered a few words.

"They've only just entered the dog holes; the real meat grinding has only just begun... How long they can last inside is still up in the air."

"That's true." Edge Paddler nodded in deep agreement.

Regarding the opponents they had once clashed with, his evaluation was still quite high.

The reason their military operations in Luoxia Province were able to achieve a clean and swift victory was actually largely due to strategic factors.

The combat literacy of these fellows was not bad. Under conditions where logistics, support, air superiority, and terrain factors were equal, winning against them on the frontal battlefield was no easy task.

If it were him, wanting to completely wipe out those green-skinned giants who held their ground to the death would probably cost a considerable price as well.

At the same time, in the airspace over a hundred kilometers away, a towering steel airship was slowly advancing toward the front line.

It wasn't just the players who were keeping a close eye on the front line's battle situation; Chu Guang's gaze had never moved away from the front line either.

As early as the moment the Legion launched its attack, Lin Shangwen, the commander of the 100th Mechanized Mountain Division, had called him regarding this matter and asked for their opinion.

Meanwhile, through the mission system, he contacted Hard to Please, commissioning the latter to act as a war correspondent, holding a camera to spy on the screen at the front line.

To be honest, the Wilantes pretending to be generous while playing these kinds of petty tricks was indeed a bit dishonest.

If they were truly allowed to capture that hilltop, the people the Enterprise had lost and the money they had poured during this period would amount to being thrown away for nothing, turning instead into the Legion's military achievements.

However, compared to the losses of his old friend, Chu Guang was more curious about how strong the Legion's regular army actually was.

So he reached some exchange conditions with Lin Shangwen, convincing the guy to take a step back and refrain from pressuring General Lium on this matter, instead letting those Wilantes rush up to consume a wave of the mutants' effective strength.

In the event that Broken Blade Mountain was taken by the Legion, he could go and bite off another position for the Enterprise as "compensation."

In any case, his players were dying for more opportunities to take the field, and he was more than happy to seek some win-win benefits for them.

Of course, as part of the exchange, the ammunition, equipment, and "compensation" consumed during the assault on the positions would have to be borne by the corporation.

Lin Shangwen naturally wouldn't refuse such a good deal, agreeing almost without hesitation.

The council didn't care how much money was spent, nor what people outside Ideal City thought; they only demanded that he achieve the greatest results with the smallest losses.

Thus, Chu Guang, who also served as the coalition's marshal, quickly reached an agreement with his "general" and, playing along, ceded the stage tonight to General Lium.

Weren't they eager to prove themselves?

Then let them go ahead.

Gazing at the vast sea of clouds beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows of the bridge, Chu Guang said with a faint smile.

"Vanus, do you think the 31st Myriad tonight can plant their flag atop Broken Blade Mountain?"

Though he rarely interfered directly in frontline command, with his strategic insight, he wasn't optimistic that the Valyrians could win this local battle with insufficient preparation.

Staring at the holographic display, Vanus, standing nearby, pondered for a moment and then suddenly spoke.

"I rather think General Lium might contact you."

"Oh?"

Chu Guang looked at him with interest, curious why he would make such a judgment.

Vanus steadied himself and continued thoughtfully.

"From my understanding of the Eastern Legion's organization... they've likely committed more than just a single cohort in this battle. And from what I know of General Lium, though talented, his temperament is more that of a gambler."

Hearing this, Chu Guang, who had a hint of a smile on his face, couldn't help but change his expression slightly.

"You mean... he's pulled the garrison from Black Cloud Mountain?"

Vanus nodded, his expression no longer merely grave but gradually showing visible concern.

"He has no reason to plan a third offensive against an opponent he despises; in other words, tonight on Black Cloud Mountain, there are likely only two units deployed—one garrison, one assault force. The mutants letting them into the cave may not be out of weakness, but rather because they've judged that we've committed 'unexpected' forces in this battle, thus deliberately showing weakness in a local engagement to increase our sunk costs if we abandon tonight's offensive."

"And if forced to choose between 'pushing harder' and 'bowing to allies,' General Lium's character would likely gamble for the dignity of the Valyrians, committing the frontline garrison..."

After a pause, he continued.

"Those greenskins..."

"They're probably about to counterattack."