Chapter 381: The Weakness of the Heart of Steel

  Chapter 381 The Weakness of the Iron Heart

  At the top of the mountain.

  Next to a raised mound of earth, Rourou stuck a crooked wooden sign into the ground.

  On it was written this line of words.

  It was written in the language of this world.

  [He stood up for his companions and wrote a legend about courage with his life]

  [——Teddy]

  In addition to this name, there were also signatures of all members of the White Bear Knights. There

  were many memories about it, but she couldn’t write too many gorgeous words, and couldn’t summarize it in a few words.

  ”I hope you can go to our world in the next life…”

  ”By the way, if you can choose, try to choose the one with dark circles under the eyes… They live the most comfortable lives.” Rourou

  stretched out her bear paw and gently touched the raised mound of earth. She muttered a few words and slowly stood up from the tombstone with her heavy body.

  The wind blew gently, swaying her white hair and the grass on the ground next to her.

  The morning sun in the distance had risen, casting a sparkling golden color in the forest.

  She wanted to sing a song before leaving, but she couldn’t remember which one to sing.

  Staring at the epitaph on the wooden sign, Wei Tail, who was stroking his chin, pondered for a while and suddenly found a blind spot.

  ”Wait.”

  ”Write our names on it, will it make others misunderstand that we are buried there too?”

  ”Hey, don’t tell ghost stories at this time.” Rou Rou, who was still sad and upset just now, said with a smile.

  ”Well… it does feel a bit weird.” Zhima Paste’s expression was also a little subtle, with his index finger against his lips, “It’s like… setting a big flag.”

  Wei Tail suddenly had a gloomy expression on his face, lowered his voice and said stealthily.

  ”Speaking of ghost stories, I don’t know if you have heard of that one… One day a girl attended a friend’s funeral and suddenly found that her name was written on the tombstone-” ”

  Okay, okay, please stop talking!”

  Rou Rou covered Wei Tail’s mouth, and the latter made a strange noise.

  The cheerful sound diluted some of the sadness.

  Looking back at the sloppy tombstone, Zhima Paste squatted down gently and planted a small flower brought from the foot of the mountain next to it.

  Since it is a completely real virtual reality game.

  I guess in a few years, colorful flowers will bloom all over the hillside.

  As long as the server doesn’t regress…

  Standing up from the ground, she looked at her companions and smiled.

  ”It’s time to set off.”

  As if always full of energy, Tail broke free from Rourou’s arms and waved his fist vigorously.

  ”Oh! Go!”

  …

  Because of a newspaper, the whole Boulder City was in a panic.

  And Hal, the initiator of all this, was in high spirits at the moment – or complacent.

  ”Print more! Print 20,000 more copies of yesterday’s issue! Now our readers are not only the idlers in the tavern, the unemployed wandering on the street, but also the well-dressed citizens and the nobles living in the inner city!”

  He sat by the window of the newspaper office, holding a bottle of champagne in his hand. He was slightly drunk early in the morning and gave orders to the editors in the editorial department.

  Yes, a bottle.

  And it was a big bottle.

  But it was all worth it.

  Just the day before yesterday, the number of copies of the Daily Survivor was still hovering around 6,000, but as soon as the headlines came out yesterday, the newspapers on the market were instantly sold out.

  Not only that, the number of subscriptions has doubled, and now people in the whole city are listening to what he says.

  As for House?

  He is just a loser who can only be sarcastic on the radio, and he doesn’t take him seriously at all!

  Taking his eyes off the employees, Hal looked at Fang Chang standing in the editorial office with a bright smile on his face.

  ”My dear friend, the two photos you brought are simply perfect! Why don’t you just come to our newspaper to be a reporter! Based on my many years of experience in the industry, you are simply a genius!” It’s okay to

  work for many years…

  Fang Chang remembered that a month ago, this guy was still a polite member of the royal family. In

  just a few weeks, he was corrupted into this careless and nonsense

  person. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to complain about the newspaper or this city full of the smell of money.

  Fang Chang said with a slight cough.

  ”Why don’t you thank our administrator… I can only be regarded as a tool for carrying things.”

  ”Haha, of course I have to thank that person too – please allow me to pay the highest respect to the administrator, second only to the spirit of the sea of ​​sand!”

  While saying this, Hal blew into the bottle again.

  Fang Chang felt that he did not respect from the bottom of his heart, but just found an excuse to drink.

  However…

  he did not seem to have the position to ridicule him.

  Just like there are always people talking about Thunder Bluff, but there are not many players who really like Tauren.

  He was the first person to call the game “Respected Administrator”, and now this has become a habit for players to increase their sense of immersion.

  As for respect?

  Maybe there is indeed a little admiration. After all, if you want to find such an upright, selfless, and dedicated person in reality, I am afraid you can only open the history book and look for it in the “Chu Shi Biao”.

  But if you want to say that you respect from the bottom of your heart, it seems that it is really not the case for a character in the game.

  ”Salute to the Administrator!”

  Fang Chang said briefly, clinked the wine glass in his hand with his bottle with a smile, took a sip, and put it aside.

  ”Is it really okay for you to drink so early in the morning?” Dolly complained softly with her arms folded.

  Everyone in the editorial department was working hard.

  It was okay for Fang Chang, he was not originally a newspaper man, he just came to “do tasks” occasionally.

  But this Hal…

  he is the president after all, right?

  ”It doesn’t matter! Even if I’m drunk, I can write exquisite words in 12 different arrangements… hiccups.” Hal burped, staggered to find a chair and sat down, “I’ve thought about it, this war will be an opportunity! The future “Survivor Daily” will not only be the newspaper of Boulder City, it will become the best-selling newspaper in the entire River Valley Province, and even the entire wasteland!”

  Fang Chang joked.

  ”Make it bigger and stronger, and create more glory, right?”

  Hal’s glasses lit up, and he freed his right hand and snapped his fingers.

  ”That’s what I mean!”

  ”I’m afraid it’s a bit difficult. There’s not even a unified currency in this wasteland.”

  Hal said with a smile: “Haha, these problems will always be solved by someone, I believe they will.”

  Looking at his nonsense, Fang Chang smiled and shook his head, and was about to leave here with Dolly.

  At this moment, Hal suddenly spoke.

  ”Actually, I don’t understand.”

  ”What do you not understand?”

  Looking at Fang Chang who stopped, Hal continued.

  ”That Shuyu told me… This is very important for us to defeat the legion.”

  ”He is indeed right. Is there any problem?”

  ”It’s a big problem. Why do the respected administrators think that a newspaper can solve the problem? Here, what ordinary survivors say is actually not important at all. They can’t even eat.” Hal expressed his doubts.

  This place is actually very similar to his hometown.

  In the kingdom of Luoxia Province, all rights belong only to the supreme king.

  And all rights here belong to the city lord who never appears in public.

  Even if the Legion’s airship scared the people of this city, so what?

  Even if everyone trembled in front of the 400mm main gun, the city lord didn’t say a word, right?

  ”Yes.” Fang Chang did not deny it.

  Hal asked curiously.

  ”Then what’s the point of propaganda to them? Of course, this is just my personal curiosity… Anyway, they like to watch the excitement. Even without the instructions of the managers, I will continue to do the follow-up reports.”

  ”The meaning lies in mobilization.”

  ”Mobilization?”

  ”Yes, we will fight another war of life and death, and it is not only about our life and death. Although we can’t influence the decision of the city lord, we can let those who want to survive do something while it’s not too late.”

  ”Whether they are stevedores at the trading station, workers on the assembly line, mercenaries who work for money, or factory owners, bankers or anything else… Boulder City certainly has its owners, but it is still made up of these people after all.”

  Looking at the drunken president of the newspaper, Fang Chang paused for a moment and continued.

  ”This city is like a rusty machine. We need to make it move, move it a little bit, wake it up a little bit…”

  ”And this is the meaning of mobilization.”

  Hal thought for a moment, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his drunken face.

  ”I see…”

  ”I seem to understand what you are going to do.”

  Coming out of the newspaper office.

  Fang Chang noticed Dolly walking by the side, looking at him curiously.

  ”What’s wrong?”

  ”How do you know so much ?”

  When she said this, it was hard to tell whether her tone was surprise or admiration, or maybe a little bit of both.

  ”Maybe because I come from the shelter?” Fang Chang said in a half-joking tone.

  ”Shelter…” With her arms folded behind her head, Dolly looked at the sky and wondered what she was thinking.

  At this time, she suddenly seemed to have thought of something, looked at him and asked.

  ”Then you know so much, don’t you think we outside the shelter are stupid?”

  Fang Chang was stunned and said with a smile.

  ”How is that possible.”

  It’s better to say that he admires these wastelanders for being able to live tenaciously and optimistically until 200 years after the decline of civilization.

  It’s okay to walk around with a filter on, but if he really lives in this world…

  he thinks he will probably go crazy.

  It’s not that his psychological endurance is not good, but he has a clear understanding of his own abilities.

  There is no need for war, apocalypse, or wasteland. Just because he has money but can’t buy things, his SAN value will probably drop wildly.

  Dolly stared at his eyes for a while, and the corners of her mouth suddenly curled up slightly.

  ”Oh, that’s good.”

  Her emerald green hair shook slightly, and she threw down a meaningless sentence, and walked in front with brisk steps.

  ”?”

  Looking at the girl who was suddenly in a good mood, Fang Chang couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

  Is it so happy to be praised for being smart?

  This is too easy to coax.

  …

  Shuguang City, Army Command.

  On the wooden command table, there was a front-line battle report that Xiaoqi helped to sort out.

  Since a stable communication network has not been built yet, Chu Guang can only learn about the dynamics of the front line through the official website forum.

  The “communication network” established based on the morphogenetic field runs completely in another unrelated parallel world, and can ensure smooth connection under any circumstances.

  ”… More than 30 consecutive hours of forced marching, breaking up into small groups to infiltrate the defense zone, and carrying out five consecutive raids across 15 kilometers, killing nearly a full-strength 100-man team… Are you sure this is a troop of only 20 people?”

  The most important thing is that only a few people were non-fatally injured, and no one was killed!

  Vanus’s face was full of surprise.

  To be honest, he didn’t quite believe it.

  Diluting the battle report can be said to be the basic operation of the front-line troops, and he has a deep understanding of this.

  However, this is also understandable.

  After all, the battle situation changes rapidly. If no one takes away a person who falls to the ground for three minutes, it is considered a kill, and if someone takes him away, it is considered an injury. It is impossible for someone to hold a telescope and a watch to count how many seconds a certain enemy unit has been lying on the ground.

  As an excellent commander, the first quality he needs to have is to distinguish the truth from the falsehood of the intelligence sent by the front line, and judge the general battle situation based on the vague intelligence, command those who “may still be alive”, and execute the order that “may be completed”.

  If his subordinates sent such a battle report, or said such words to him on the radio, his first reaction would definitely be that the guy was farting.

  However,

  this battle report was brought by the manager himself.

  This man was not an amateur who knew nothing about war. It was said that earlier, he not only carried a nitrogen-powered hammer to kill the enemy, but also took the lead in blowing the charge whistle.

  Later, as more and more talents came to the alliance, he gradually moved from the front line to the backstage after leaving behind a bunch of miraculous legends.

  If Vanus were to evaluate him, if he was born in the legion, he would be at least at the level of General Kraus and Griffin.

  As for why he is not a higher-level legion commander or a supreme marshal, it is simply because ordinary people can only reach the position of general with their abilities.

  Vanus was not the only one who was surprised.

  Including the officers in the command center, after seeing the ridiculously beautiful battle report, everyone’s face showed an expression of disbelief.

  ”… To be precise, there are only more than 20 people who have arrived so far, and more than 100 people and logistics are on the way. It is expected to arrive within three days.”

  At this point, Chu Guang’s face could not help but show a trace of emotion.

  ”Don’t say you can’t believe it. I was also very surprised when I first got this battle report… But I can be sure that its authenticity is beyond doubt.”

  Players who exchange battle situations on the forum will “verify” each other, and the battle report that Xiaoqi helped him sort out is the final result after verification.

  It is also the result closest to the truth.

  Seeing that the manager said so, the officers no longer questioned the battle report sent from the front line.

  Instead, they discussed the response strategy.

  ”…According to the news from the front, the engine of the Iron Heart seems to have failed. The obvious suspension brackets and construction workers who are repairing the ship can be seen on the outside of the hull.”

  ”At the same time, they have also increased the scale of ground deployment and sent about a thousand troops. It seems that they are planning to use Ruigu City as a base for long-term garrison.”

  ”However, their methods are not very clever. They still use the old trick of threatening with force. They send soldiers to extort the nearby survivor settlements and require them to contribute food, livestock and labor to the airship. At the same time, they use dinars to bribe those mercenaries and predators as extra-official troops… The local survivors are quite resentful about this.”

  Looking at the map hanging on the shelf, Chu Guang continued.

  ”I have communicated with the commander on the front line, and his ideas are basically the same as mine.”

  ”In the first stage of the battle, we must unite the local survivors strategically and consume the enemy’s manpower through guerrilla warfare tactically.”

  ”As long as we can reduce the enemy’s personnel by more than 20% in the first stage, it is possible to force them to withdraw from this area… or adopt a more radical strategy!”

  At this point, Chu Guang paused and glanced at the officers present in the command room.

  ”If it is the latter case, the battlefield will probably not be limited to 150 kilometers away. We need to prepare for the worst. At the same time, before the final battle, we must find a way to effectively shoot down the airship!”

  Chu Guang suddenly looked at Vanus who was thinking.

  ”Are you familiar with that Captain McLen?”

  Vanus was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly.

  ”I am just a thousand-man captain… and, a thousand-man captain of the Clone Corps.”

  ”To be able to sit in the position of captain before the age of 40, that person has a bright future in the Corps… There is no need to pay attention to a small person like me.”

  Although the Corps is famous in the wasteland for its large number of clone troops, the status of officers commanding cannon fodder troops can only be said to be average.

  Especially for air fortresses such as the “Heart of Steel”, which belong to a completely different system from the army.

  Even if they met, McLen probably wouldn’t even look at him.

  Chu Guang nodded and said nothing more.

  ”Well, it seems that the option of negotiation can be abandoned.”

  Although he had never had this fantasy.

  ”The key is that troublesome deflector shield,” said Wrench, the commander of the First Corps, frowning. “If we get a very low-speed bomb and throw it at them…”

  Vanus shook his head.

  ”Is it really as simple as you say? Not to mention flying from the West Coast to here, they can’t even fly out of their homes.”

  ”The anti-aircraft machine guns all over the fuselage are enough to intercept any target approaching at a low speed, not to mention the armor-piercing effect of explosives in open areas… I’m afraid it can only deal with its engine.”

  Those long rows of propellers in parallel are not very technical things, and it is not difficult to break a few of them.

  However, even if the thing is destroyed, it is at most equivalent to a bicycle tire bursting or a tank track breaking, and it can’t cause any substantial damage.

  ”Doesn’t this guy have any weaknesses?” Wrench couldn’t help asking.

  Vanus said after a moment of silence.

  ”Of course there are weaknesses.”

  Chu Guang asked immediately.

  ”Where are they?”

  ”The abdomen.”

  Vanus pointed to the bottom of the airship in the photo.

  ”…This is the bomb bay. Compared to other parts, the firepower density in this area is the lowest. I heard someone say that the survivors had caused them a lot of trouble with dense balloon arrays. Although in the end, the survivor settlement was razed to the ground.” The

  headquarters fell into silence.

  An officer from the staff department said after thinking for a moment.

  ”The weak point is in the abdomen… If we put the anti-aircraft guns directly under them and fire, can we cause effective damage to the airship?”

  Vanus shook his head.

  ”Then I don’t know, but I think their ground forces and the observers on the airship should not be blind.”

  The officer of the First Corps clenched his fists.

  ”Let’s find a way to get a vertical launch landing craft! We will ambush under them first, and then poke at them like digging out a bird’s nest! We have the strongest light infantry. As long as we rush into that fortress, we can beat that thing down in minutes!”

  Vanus sighed and said nothing.

  This time he didn’t even need to refute, even the wrench standing next to him couldn’t help but complain.

  ”What if they drop bombs down?”

  ”That’s right! And what are landing craft launched into the sky? I’ve never heard of them!”

  Looking at the officers who were discussing at once, Chu Guang also fell into deep thought.

  At this moment, a phone call suddenly came to him.

  ”I’ll take a call.”

  After leaving this sentence, Chu Guang turned and walked out the door, leaving the discussion time temporarily to the officers in the headquarters.

  The call was from Luca.

  As soon as his upper body appeared on the VM screen, he couldn’t wait to speak.

  ”Sir, the City Hall of Boulder City summoned the head of our resident office this morning!”

  ”That Duron?”

  ”Yes!”

  ”What did he say?”

  Facing the manager’s question, Luca said with an intriguing look.

  ”He said a lot… For example, he asked if we needed help. And he also mentioned that since we helped them share part of the wave at the beginning of the year, they had a lot of arms left in their inventory to deal with the wave… If we are interested, they are willing to sell it to us at a 50% discount.”

  Although this is undoubtedly a good thing, the conditions offered by the other party are so generous that he can’t make up his mind whether there is any big pit hidden in it.

  Therefore, after receiving the news, he immediately called Chu Guang.

  After hearing this, Chu Guang was also stunned and asked subconsciously.

  ”Is it 50% off the market price or 50% off the cost price?”

  ”50% off the purchase cost… And that Du Long also said that if we don’t have enough money, he can lend us another loan specifically for arms procurement.”

  What the hell?

  There is such a good thing?

  Chu Guang’s face was full of surprise.

  Although it was his idea to pull the Giant Stone City onto the Alliance’s chariot, this speed… is it too fast?

  It seems that the 400mm main gun has brought a great shock to the “civilized people” living in the giant wall, and they can’t even think about making money.

  Without any hesitation, Chu Guang immediately said.

  ”Tell them to send it over quickly! I want as many as you can, the sooner the better!”

  ”Also, remember to tell them that weapons to deal with the waves alone are not enough. We can make rifles and artillery ourselves. What we need are weapons that can really cause damage to the airship!”

  At this time, Chu Guang suddenly remembered what the officers had just discussed, and added a sentence at the end without any politeness.

  ”Especially high-altitude landing equipment!”

  ”It would be even better if it can help our people get on the airship!”

  (End of this chapter)