Chapter 557.2: To The South!

In the open plaza in front of Boulder Town Arms Industry Tower...

12 light trucks were lined up in a row. Workers in KV-1 exoskeletons were loading crates onto them.

The cargo included weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies, as well as electronics like radios, clone cabins, and some personal belongings of the players.

Not far from the convoy, 120 players had already assembled.

Among the standard Type-5 and Type-6 exoskeletons worn by most players stood five gleaming sets of Dragon Cavalry exoframes!

Coincidentally, Elf Wang, who had come here to buy a prosthetic, spotted someone in a set of Dragon Cavalry and yelped in shock, "Holy crap, Quit Smoking, did you sell your ass?!"

Quit Smoking rolled his eyes. "Screw you! You’re the one who sold your ass!"

Staring enviously at the sleek exoframe, Elf Wang couldn’t help but reach out and touch its sharply defined chest plate. "A million silver coins?! Damn it, even if you sold me, I wouldn’t be worth that much!"

Feeling awkward under that intense gaze, Quit Smoking gave a dry cough and explained. "Ahem... This exoframe isn’t actually mine. It belongs to the corps."

Elf Wang paused at that. "Wasn’t it impossible to redeem exoframes through logistics points?"

If he remembered correctly, the logistics point system only allowed exchanges for mass-produced items from the New Alliance's military factories, and didn’t even support custom-made bioprosthetics.

Seeing his confusion, Quit Smoking gave an embarrassed smile. "... I ranked up to Knight in contribution level, so Old White and the others pooled together a million silver coins and used my slot to buy it. The exoframe is bound to my account, but technically it belongs to the corps. Others can use it if needed."

Old White’s reasoning was simple. The shop only had a limited stock of exoframes, and the Dragon Cavalry was a rare pre-war model. Once sold out, who knew when new stock would come.

By the time they saved enough, it might already be gone. So better to buy it now and treat it as their shared equipment.

At first, Quit Smoking felt guilty. It was a million silver coins, after all. But after wearing it once, that guilt vanished.

Besides him, two other main tanks in the corps also benefited from it, since their contribution points had also reached Knight level.

As for why they only bought five units... There were only fifteen listed in the store. Buying all of them would’ve drawn criticism.

Early players already had a huge advantage. They had to leave something for others to enjoy.

Plus, expensive gear like this wasn’t something you could just casually bind to someone they hadn’t bled with in the trenches.

The game didn’t officially recognize trades of bound equipment, though it didn’t prohibit lending among players. If someone really decided to keep gear bound to their account, the person who paid for it could only curse silently.

Which was exactly why Elf Wang looked utterly stunned after hearing Quit Smoking’s explanation. "Holy crap! You can do that?!"

Nearby newbies from the Skeleton Corps all looked on with envy.

"I’m crying with jealousy!"

"Ugh, that stingy bastard Escaping Mole never gives us anything!"

"Right?! Doesn’t even give us welfare! He just borrows money from us!"

Even though Escaping Mole hadn’t borrowed money from the real newbies, that didn’t stop them from empathizing with the veterans who did lend him some.

Watching the whimpering rookies, Ample Time chuckled, "Chill out. Brother Mole’s still in the startup phase. Once the Skeleton Studio in Ideal City takes off, things will change."

Lost Newbie swallowed hard at that tempting promise.

"It will change..."

Ample Time smiled. "And then you’ll make even more money."

Lost Newbie could only curse.

All jokes aside, Escaping Mole was indeed pretty loyal, with a good reputation and network on the server. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had so many players sticking with him, let alone gathering that much silver coins to fund his startup.

Ample Time firmly believed that once his Skeleton Studio really took off, Escaping Mole wouldn’t forget his brothers in the corps.

"Say, why didn’t you get an exoframe?" Night Ten glanced at Ample Time’s exoskeleton and asked curiously.

Patting the mechanical bow, Daybreaker, on his back, Ample Time replied calmly. "This is all I need."

Exoframes weren’t always the optimal choice.

Even the lightweight Dragon Cavalry affected mobility to some extent. For him, the Type-5 Light Cavalry exoskeleton was more than sufficient.

Combined with his upgraded ballistic padding and optical camouflage plugin, it could handle nearly any combat scenario. He didn’t even need a bionic limb.

Gale glanced at Night Ten and teased, "Look at that mindset. You, a backline sniper, wearing an exoframe? What do you even need it for? Better save up for an exoskeleton with optical camouflage..."

He hadn’t equipped an exoframe either.

For Intelligence types, customized prosthesis and drones were the real path forward.

Night Ten rolled his eyes. "

Tsk

! So what?! I just want to!"

"Hahaha! It’s fine. Who says snipers can’t wear heavy armor?" Ample Time laughed and slapped Night Ten on the shoulder. "I believe in you, brother!"

Most of the group had assembled by now.

Walking to the front of the formation, Old White tapped his visor, activated the speaker, and yelled, "The mission briefing has been updated to your VMs. Our destination is Dust Town, a settlement north of Brocade Lake Municipality in the Brocade River Province."

"Brother Garbage has already scouted ahead. We’ll be setting up an operations base there, then recovering 127 tons of nuclear fuel from a research facility in the city center."

"The round trip is nearly 800 kilometers, with over half the route being mountainous terrain. Estimated travel time will be a week. Our total mission duration is about two weeks."

"The convoy will depart from the eastern gate at noon sharp! The advance team will board the aircraft with me shortly, we’ll fly over with the logistics engineers on the Viper!"

Their mission wasn’t just about recovering nuclear fuel. It also included recon on local survivor factions and Mutant Human tribes around Brocade Lake Municipality.

The advance team would reach the settlement first and set up key infrastructure like communication towers and save points, while gathering intelligence on the city.

The rest of the players would escort the convoy to deliver supplies and building materials to Dust Town and assist the logistics team in constructing the base.

They had completed all their preparations.

Just as Old White, clad in his exoframe, walked over to the elevator intending to head to the rooftop helipad, he unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure.

Wearing a uniform from the Scientific Expedition Team, Chen Yutong was pulling a suitcase as she walked toward them.

As their eyes met, she smiled and greeted him. "Hey."

That one word, rich with implications, drew at least a dozen pairs of eyes onto Old White’s back.

"Hey, what a coincidence." Mimicking her with a mischievous grin, Night Ten nudged Old White’s shoulder and then followed Ample Time and Gale into the elevator.

From inside, Ample Time joined in with a playful quip. "Elevator’s full, commander. Catch the next one."

Before he even finished, Gale silently pressed the close button and shut the elevator on him.

Those damn bastards...

Shaking his head at the rising elevator, Old White turned to look at Chen Yutong approaching with a smile.

He cleared his throat and asked, "What brings you here?"

Stopping by the elevator, Chen Yutong smiled. "Can’t I come see you off?"

Old White glanced at her suitcase. "You bring luggage just to say goodbye?"

"Busted." She gave a wry grin and pressed the elevator button with one finger. She explained casually, "Due to reasons I can’t disclose, the New Alliance has raised the threat level of Na Fruit. The Biological Research Institution wants more samples to speed up analysis, and the Scientific Expedition Teams also has tasks to carry out locally. I’m responsible for this one, so I’ll be hitching a ride with you."

Old White glanced at the holo-screen inside his helmet. Sure enough, a new side quest had appeared in his VM. Clearly, she wasn’t joking.

Looking back at her, he instinctively examined her gear and frowned. "It’s too dangerous there. Are you sure you want to come with us?"

Clearspring City had already been mostly cleared by players. Unless one ventured into the inner ring, there wasn’t much threat, but Brocade River Province was different.

Before they arrived, only three players had ever operated there, and only in a small part at that.

Outside that zone lay Mutant Human tribes numbering in the tens of thousands, and the Torch Church were eying the territory.

It was easy to imagine how dangerous the region was.

"Leaving those things unchecked is even more dangerous." Flipping her bangs off her nose, she teased, "Besides, aren’t you going?"

Old White stared into her eyes for a moment, confirming she was fully prepared to return to the front line. "Once we board the aircraft, no, from the moment we do, you follow my orders. Report in before every deployment. Also, give me your luggage."

"Thanks." Passing over the suitcase, Chen Yutong smiled playfully as he took it from her. "I know I’m technically someone who’s already died once, but... it’s nice to be cared for."

Died once?

That counted as dying?

Watching her enter the elevator, Old White shook his head in exasperation, unsure what to say about her carefree attitude.

He himself had died more times than he cared, and still couldn’t guarantee he would survive every mission.

All he could do now was be extra careful.