Chapter 475 Rescue and Fall (1/2)

The engines on both sides of the wings emitted faint blue arcs of light, slowly lifting the huge "Orca" transport aircraft into the sky.

Under the envious gazes of all the players, the transport plane switched to horizontal flight mode and sped towards the north.

"Gan, I'll start a fight when I get rich." The outlaw maniac glanced at the receding meteor with envy, then pushed the three-wheeler to gather.

The Thousand-Man Team under the First Corps took over Camp 330 to guard the surrendered prisoners of war.

As the main force of the alliance's offensive, they will soon follow the Honey Badger Kingdom's Restoration Army and continue to march towards the hinterland of Oasis No. 3.

On the other side, on Highland 330.

Wu Kaian, a reporter from "Zhiyuan News", was walking through the messy battlefield accompanied by an alliance resident named "Bai Gide Sniper".

Although the battlefield had been simply cleaned and the corpses and limbs were thrown into the trenches and buried, there were still a large number of wreckage left on the battlefield that was too late to deal with.

For example, the sandbags soaked in blood and the sand stuck to the plasma...

Due to the temperature and the scorching sun, the air here is filled with a lingering smell of blood, and occasionally you can step on the arms and legs of dead people.

Wu Kaian swallowed.

He had followed the company's commando team deep into the mutant camp and had seen many strange and bloody scenes, but they all paled in comparison to this place.

This is the real battlefield...

"This is……"

Bai Geidai sniped and explained with a smile.

"Highland 330, where a thousand-man regiment of a legion and a hundred-man anti-aircraft team were stationed here. The battle was fierce at that time. Gunfire rang out all night. The three thousand brothers of the Death Corps finally took out the weapon before dawn. Get off here."

There was a hint of heaviness in the relaxed speech, and Wu Kaian nodded silently.

More than 3,000 people fought against more than 1,000 people, and it took a whole night of fighting to win, and these 3,000 people seemed to be the alliance's first-line troops.

It seems that this legion is more difficult to deal with than imagined...

"Speaking of which, didn't the Council support you with a batch of high-tech equipment? That ornithopter, the 'Seagull' drone, the 'Cerberus' unmanned vehicle... why don't you use it?"

"The quantity is too small, and it is too expensive," Bai gave the sniper a helpless expression, "The total assistance given to us by the council is only 2 billion Cr."

"Only two billion?! Isn't two billion enough?" Wu Kaian looked at the soldier in surprise.

His monthly salary is only just over 10,000 yuan.

And this includes attendance allowance and reimbursement of various expenses.

"It's not enough. It's not just for one person." Bai Gewei shook his head, "I'll tell you the difference. It costs about 100,000 yuan to build a kilometer of road. A tactical missile is about the same price, which is equivalent to one The missile will disappear as soon as it goes down the road."

Wu Kaian said blankly.

"That... doesn't sound like much."

Bai continued to lead the sniper.

"Ammunition consumption is only one aspect. The money spent on the war is not only to buy ammunition, not to mention improving the tractor production line. It is simply a bottomless pit. There is also the food, drink, litter, fuel and energy consumption of frontline soldiers... these are all It’s a direct expense.”

Wu Kaian swallowed.

"Is there any indirect one?"

"That must be there!" Bai Bai led the sniper as a matter of course. "The alliance only has a total of about 100,000 people, and one-tenth of the population has been mobilized to the front line. It will be difficult to find people to replace the vacant positions in the rear in a short time, right? Production? If you can't make it, you can only import it. Sigh... our managers are too proud to tell you that we are so poor that we can hardly afford to eat, and we have to take care of the food of these prisoners. ,Headache."

As he talked, the little player believed it himself and kept shaking his head.

Wu Kaian's scalp was numb when he heard it, and he nodded and said.

"...Well, I will reflect on your situation during the interview."

This is indeed a question worth discussing.

But then again...

How could an ordinary soldier know so much?

He always felt like he was being tricked.

"Yeah, thanks." Looking at the [Mission Completed] prompt on the VM, a happy smile appeared on Bai's face, and he ended this "heavy" topic at the right time.

Fortunately, Awakening gave me some intelligence attributes.

He was exhausted from memorizing these lines.

First mission completed.

The manager has one last task left.

On the way to the small black room where Soft was imprisoned, Bai took a slight detour and led the reporter from the ideal city through a mountain col.

Looking at the dark crowd of heads under the col, Wu Kaian had a surprised expression on his face. Just as he was about to ask about the identities of these people, Bai Geidai, who acted as a "tour guide", continued.

"Those are clones...the Legion produced them through cloning technology, and they will age at eight times the rate of normal people."

Wu Kaian looked at him and asked.

"What are you going to do with them?"

Bai Geidai replied skillfully.

"Generally, they are captured and buried directly in survivor settlements. They can't do any work and they like to fight and waste food. However, the manager said that they are just a group of poor people who are being used... so they will probably be kept. Go ahead, if conditions permit."

Wu Kaian nodded.

"Can I take a picture?"

Bai Geidai nodded curtly.

"Okay, let's shoot."

The drone flew over the mountain col, took a few photos of these clones, and then returned to Wu Kaian's side.

Wu Kaian didn't say another word for the rest of the journey, but fell into long thought.

The white sniper who was following him didn't speak again, because just now, his mission had been completed...

…

Inside the dark barracks.

Hearing the footsteps coming from the door and a beam of light leaking through the crack of the door, Soft slowly raised his head.

A strange man stood at the door.

The reason why I say it is strange is because there is nothing about him that looks like a soldier, no matter what he is wearing or his temperament.

A trace of confusion appeared in Soft's eyes, and he frowned and said.

"Is there a problem?"

"Hello, my name is Wu Kaian, and I am a reporter for Zhiyuan News." Wu Kaian introduced himself skillfully and sat on the chair opposite Soft with a smile.

Soft glanced at the drone behind him.

""Zhiyuan Newspaper"... what is it."

Wu Kaian said with a smile.

"It is the media of Ideal City and has a history of two hundred years. In addition to paper newspapers, we operate our own clients and even virtual spaces on the end point cloud, which is a window for Ideal City residents to understand the world outside Ideal City. one……"

"oh."

It sounds similar to Triumph.

Soft suddenly seemed to think of something, and then smiled coldly.

"Are you here to ridicule me?"

Wu Kaian explained with a smile.

"How could it be? We are just one of the participants in the war, and we want to know what you, the enemy, think about this war and your opponents."

Soft leaned back on his chair and said coldly.

"I don't have any opinion."

As a professional reporter, Wu Kaian, who traveled nearly 10,000 kilometers to come here, would certainly not give up just because of this guy's words.

Seeing a hint of unwillingness behind those eyes, he said in a persuasive tone.

"Aren't you a little bit unwilling?"

Perhaps because he hit the mark, the effect of this sentence was even better than expected.

Soft snorted as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm not willing to give in... Haha, I'm really not willing to give in. I shouldn't believe that skunk Griffin's nonsense."

"So you think the cause of the failure was a command error?" Wu Kaian stared into his eyes and asked with piercing eyes.

Soft said calmly.

"On the one hand."

"What about the other hand? Is it because of the weapons provided by the company to the alliance?" Wu Kaian continued to ask with interest, unabashedly revealing his purpose.

However, after hearing what he said, Soft did not become as furious as McClun. Instead, he opened his mouth with a self-deprecating smile.

"You mean those weapons? Haha, maybe they are of some use...but it wasn't the weapons that defeated me."

This answer was beyond Wu Kaian's expectation.

After being stunned for a few seconds, he continued to ask.

"Then...what do you think it is."

"What is it? An infantryman who dares to abandon his baggage and march for twelve hours, across a 150-kilometer mountainous area cross-country, and storm the highlands without fire support. It is an infantryman who dares to abandon the baggage and march for twelve hours, without fire support, without any reinforcements, and without even knowing the strength of the ground forces. The paratroopers who still dare to jump down despite being deployed...these are life-threatening lunatics. If I knew these guys were so difficult to deal with, I would definitely deploy in a different way."

Soft cursed lowly.

However, there was a hint of admiration in his fearful eyes.

Those guys are real tough guys.

Not only are they ruthless in terms of ability, but almost everyone in the entire army, from soldiers to officers, has developed their potential to the limit.

Their fighting will has reached a state of unity, and they will do whatever it takes to win. Whether it is tactics or strategy, they have achieved miracles that are almost impossible for humans.

Soft knew very well that he did not lose to command, let alone to some awakened person or powered armor. Those things were indeed strong, but not so powerful that they were invulnerable, like the Conqueror tanks they were so proud of.

Both he and Griffin made the most correct judgment based on the intelligence at the time, and also took into account the situation where the plan did not meet expectations.

Even if he were to do it over again, he might not be able to do better.

His real dissatisfaction with Griffin and the dead MacLun was the lies they told in the Triumph.

There are no military achievements and treasures everywhere here at all. Their opponents are not a group of indigenous people who are willing to kill at any time, but a real fighting race. They are bleeding for no reason in a war with no end in sight.

Many promising young men died, including Simond, whom he single-handedly promoted, and Yot from the air defense team...

He should never have brought them here in the first place!

There was a trace of disappointment in Wu Kaian's eyes.

He didn't hear what he wanted to hear.

But it doesn’t matter.

Before coming here, he had already taken enough impactful photos and collected more material worthy of reporting.

Compared with the bravery, strength and strength of their allies in the war, the residents of Ideal City are more inclined to understand their tragedy, sacrifice and other parts worthy of sympathy, followed by those who were born in the ruins, are novel enough and inhuman to humans and animals. harmful cultural phenomenon.

As for the image of the light of civilization, the big brother, or the head of the family, it should be an honor that belongs to the Supreme Council.

Having been in the media for so many years, he knows his customers better than anyone. What most people need for information is not essentially information, but the satisfaction that information brings. As a good media person, he should let his clients see the part they want to see.

Wu Kaian silently made a decision in his mind to appropriately shorten the footage of Soft in the interview...

"Thank you for your cooperation... Is there anything else you would like to add?" Wu Kaian, who had lost interest in the prisoner of war, simply ended the interview with one sentence.

Soft said with a cold smile.

"I'm not cooperating with you... By the way, if you have any news about ceasefire negotiations, can you tell me if it's convenient?"

Wu Kaian recalled it carefully and said.

"There is no news about that yet... but diplomats from the alliance seem to have promised in other ideal city media that this war will be ended before the end of the year."

Before the end of the year?

Soft was slightly stunned.

Although he didn't think so, he nodded slowly to show his understanding.

This sounds like bragging...

However, it does not rule out the possibility that the alliance does not want to continue the fight.

In any case, this is a good thing for him.

If it’s quick, he’ll be able to return to the manor on the banks of the Sorat River before next spring…

…

The northern part of Luoxia Province, the wasteland north of the mountains.

Several vultures pounced on the mutated hyena's body and bit it. Suddenly they heard a noise along the ground, and they flapped their wings alertly and flew into the sky.

Not long after, a heavy-duty crawler vehicle, wide enough to fill two lanes, appeared behind the misty wasteland.

The swamp soil hanging on the tracks showed where it came from.

The man sitting in the passenger seat has been staring at the tablet in his hand. He is wearing a yellow-gray camouflage coat, has a short crew cut, his slovenly chin is covered with stubble, and an index finger-long tattoo is carved on his right cheek. scar.

If it weren't for the words [D-Class Prospector] written on the name tag on his chest, no one would probably mistake him for a member of the academy, but would be more likely to misunderstand him as a mercenary active in this area.

But in fact, this is not a misunderstanding.

Although he is a staff member of the college, he does not stay in the college for long in a year.

Like other hapless D-class prospectors, he and his "Beacon" team were basically either exploring ruins or on their way to them.

His name is Zheng Hao, and he belongs to the Containment Planning Team of the Investigation Department of the college. His position is as a prospector as written on his name tag, and he is a combatant.

More than 20 of his team members are in this car, half of them are bionic people and half of them are more than 50% prosthetic people.

"Boss, how long do we have?" Sitting in the back row of him, a young man who looked young looked out the window and asked boredly.

His name is Zhao Xiao, and he is an E-class prospector of the containment planning team.

They were originally exploring a biological research facility from the United Nations era seventy kilometers away, but they suddenly received an order from their superiors to go to the wasteland outside the swamp and recover a special research institute material at the map coordinates.

The photo provided by the superior is of a propeller aircraft, modeled as an "Eagle" fighter jet serving in the Falcon Kingdom.

To be honest, he had no interest in that kind of antique at all. If it weren't for the orders from his superiors, he wouldn't want to come here at all.

"It's right in front." Zheng Haoyan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, replied briefly and concisely, not wanting to pay attention to this energetic young man.

Compared to those E-class personnel, he knows a little more about the inside story.

According to the description of colleagues from the Foreign Affairs Department, they discovered the fruiting bodies of mutant slime mold in the cabin of a crashed "Eagle" fighter jet on their way to Luoxia Province.

As we all know, slime mold fruiting bodies cannot exist in isolation, and there must be a mobile mother body or mother nest nearby.

Recovering the propeller plane was only part of the mission.

Their real mission is to search for that weird matrix.

According to the researcher who reported the situation, it may be a life form they have never seen before, and in-depth research may lead to important discoveries.

At this moment, a blue arc of light suddenly flashed in the distant sky. Zheng Hao suddenly raised his head, looked forward and squinted his eyes slightly.

The driver who had been silent until now suddenly spoke.

"It's the plasma engine plume."

"Well," Zheng Hao nodded and said cautiously, "80% of them are from the company."

Although he rarely interacted with those people on the east coast, his intuition told him that where those people were, there would be no good.

The captain wasn't the only one who was wary.

As soon as they heard the word "enterprise", the expressions of everyone in the carriage suddenly became serious. The young man who couldn't sit still before showed an expression of eagerness to try.

After turning off the screen, Zheng Hao stuffed the tablet into the mezzanine above his head, picked up the tactical helmet lying aside and put it on, then took out the tactical backpack placed next to the seat, and looked back at the waiting teammates behind him.

"Xiao Jiang, release the drone and search the ten-kilometer sector ahead... Mark all exposed suspected threat targets."

"OK."

The short-haired woman sitting in the back row of the carriage nodded slightly, raised her index finger and touched the right side of her temple, and then closed her eyes.

Thin light golden lines blended into the tips of her black hair.

At the same time, three triangular small drones deployed on the top of the tracked vehicle ejected short bursts of flame from their swallow-shaped tails, and ejected into the air one after another, turning into afterimages and speeding towards the south.

Her name is Jiang Xuezhou, and she is an E-class personnel like the young man named Zhao Xiao.

However, her position is not a prospector, but a slightly higher-level researcher. She serves as the team's technical advisor and drone operator. She is also the highest-ranking person besides the captain and deputy captain.

Everyone is waiting quietly for news about her.

At this time, Jiang Xuezhou, who had his eyes tightly closed, suddenly raised his head and quickly reported the report in a smooth voice.

"A slime mold lifeform suspected to be the mother's body was found! The target is 3.7 kilometers due north of us. It has an approximate human shape. Next to it is a... human?"

A surprised expression appeared on her face, but she still didn't open her eyes.

Zhao Xiao, who was sitting next to him, also had an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Human?! Are you sure?"

The predatory instinct for other organisms is almost written into the DNA of mutant slime molds.

They themselves are weapons designed to clean up other organisms, especially the fragile mother body. How can it be possible to allow living creatures to exist around itself.

Zheng Hao frowned.

"Are you sure it's a human? Not a slime mold fruiting body disguised as a human?"

"Eighty percent sure... He is wearing clothes. There are no obvious damaged wounds on the clothes, and there are no traces of slime mold erosion on the exposed parts." When he said this, Jiang Xuezhou's expression suddenly paused slightly. , "The man lit the lighting stick."

"What does he want to do?" Zhao Xiao asked immediately.

Jiang Xuezhou continued speaking quickly: "He waved it in his hand, as if he was trying to attract something's attention... Wait, the company's transport plane is approaching them! That person is an employee of the company! They are in a group !”

Zheng Hao looked slightly stern.

He didn't know why the people in the company were focusing on that mother body, just like he didn't know why the mother body of the mutant slime mold appeared near the Wandering Swamp.

He only understands one thing.

That's his prey.

We must not let those thieves on the east coast stop us!

"Shoot it down!" Zheng Hao ordered immediately.

"Ah..." Jiang Xuezhou was slightly stunned, with a confused look on his face, "But... I operate a reconnaissance drone."

"Fly directly over! Aim at its engine nozzle and crash into it!"

His embroidered eyebrows twitched slightly, and Jiang Xuezhou's heart ached. However, he knew that now was not the time to worry about the equipment, so he still listened to the captain's instructions.

After a moment, she took a deep breath, opened her thin lips and continued.

"The target was hit...the left engine of the aircraft was on fire and it was making an emergency landing."

After hearing these words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the stones hanging in their hearts finally fell.

Zheng Hao stared at her and continued to order.

"Continue to track the location of the mother body! In addition, mark the location of the crash point and nearby survivors."

Jiang Xuezhou closed his eyes and nodded, expressing his understanding. His frowned eyebrows seemed to be still worried about the burning funds, so he did not speak.

Zheng Hao didn't care and continued to look at the driver.

"Old Song, continue moving in the current direction, arrive at the map point and stand by! Xiao Zhao, take your observer to find a suitable sniper point near the mission coordinates."

"receive!"

Old Song, who was holding the steering wheel, nodded. Zhao Xiao, who was sitting behind, responded excitedly, and then he couldn't wait to take out a sniper rifle that was one meter and a half long from the suitcase. accessories on.

Zheng Hao then looked at the other team members.

"Attention all units, we are facing an enterprise, so don't be polite to those bandits. Check your equipment and be prepared for a firefight... Group C will stay in the car on standby and follow Lao Song's command. Group A and Group B will follow. I!"

A uniform answer sounded in the carriage.

"Yes! Captain!"

After looking around at his teammates, Zheng Hao nodded with satisfaction, then opened the car door and gave an order with a wave of his hand.

"action!"

at the same time.

The Orca transport plane that was spinning and falling was in chaos, the alarm bells were blaring loudly, and the red alarm light was flashing in the cabin.

Ye Shi, who had not fastened his seat belt, was thrown to the ceiling. Fortunately, Kuang Fengyan quickly grabbed his collar and pulled him back with the power of his exoskeleton, preventing him from being in the cabin. The nose was bruised and the face was swollen.

After tying himself to the seat again, Ye Shi cursed with a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Oh my god! I knew that the dog plan must be - woo woo woo!"

Kuang Feng, who was sitting aside, stretched out his right hand and quickly covered the guy's mouth with quick eyes and hands.

"Say less and you will die!"

The pilot's screams came from the cockpit.

"The left engine is on fire! Damn it! Something hit us!"

Lao Bai couldn't help but curse.

“Damn it, don’t your planes have radar?!”

The pilot was sweating profusely, holding on to the rudder with both hands, trying to control the balance with the only remaining engine.

"I don't know! The radar is obviously on. Logically speaking, even a sparrow cannot escape my eyes... Damn it! What happened?!"

I don’t know, it’s okay.

Gained a new understanding of the unreliability of corporate non-combatants.

Looking at the busy pilot, Lao Bai gritted his teeth and completely gave up his last fantasy about this guy.

Looking at the messed up teammates in the cabin behind him, he shouted loudly.

"We were attacked by anti-aircraft missiles. The number of enemies and the type of targets are uncertain! All units checked their equipment and prepared for forced landing! After landing, they immediately dispersed outside the cabin to find bunkers to hide!"

The sound of creaking metal friction was like the clenched teeth of everyone, and the roar of boiling fighting spirit came from the trembling cabin in the airflow.

"yes!"

J.

They will make this guy pay the price for his sneak attack without martial ethics!

An open area not far away.

Luo Yu, who was waving a lighting rod, stared blankly at the circling and falling killer whale transport plane, and a joyful smile instantly solidified on his face.

Not to mention how miserable he had been these past two days.

The surrounding wild mountains and ridges are full of dangerous alien species, not to mention that there is a clingy little guy following him who is also dishonest.

He barely slept in the past two days, and only dared to sneak in a short nap when Xiaoyu wasn't paying attention.

I thought I could finally go back to the shelter to have a big meal and sleep peacefully.

Why did the plane that was so good suddenly fall down? !

"Blank!"

Angrily, he threw the lighting rod to the ground. Luo Yu couldn't help but cursed and took out the 9mm pistol on his waist.

Don't know what happened though.

But the way the plane crashed looked like it was no ordinary flight accident. The engine must have been hit by a missile or something else.

If the Legion shot down that plane, he would probably be used as a bait by those people to gather reinforcements.

The top priority now is to move away from this area immediately before those big noses close their nets.

"Xiaoyu, it's time for us to go!"

Xiaoyu, who was being pulled by his arm and ran away, tilted his head for no apparent reason. He didn't know what was going on, but he just followed the example and yelled to show his understanding.

"Blank!"