Chapter 558.1: Battle of Faiths

Outside the Boulder Town Arms Industry Tower.

Staring up at the sky, Peepo stood upright like a baboon and said with a pained expression, "Dammit! Why can’t I ride on the plane?!"

Standing beside him, Dog Good Names glanced at Peepo’s massive hands and said with a grin, "Those two lumps of scrap metal you're lugging around weigh as much as two people. One scratch to the roof and the plane’s dismantled. Do us all a favor and skip the ride, bro."

Kidney Warrior patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, don’t come."

Peepo looked miserable. "I swear I wanna tear these things off."

Finally, he understood the pain of mutant genetic sequence players. Ugly or not aside, just the fact they couldn’t use standard weapons was agony enough.

If he had known earlier, he should’ve copied Mosquito and installed a spinal slot with more sockets, keeping the big fists as auxiliary prosthetics instead of fully replacing his arms.

That would’ve made a lot more sense.

"Rich bastard..."

"You really know how to waste money."

Kidney Warrior and Good Names looked at him with undisguised envy. Upgrading custom made prosthetics wasn't cheap, depending on the modification, it could easily take up a third to half the total cost.

Peepo scratched his head sheepishly. "No rush, I can always sell them secondhand. Heh."

Kidney Warrior rolled his eyes and shot down the delusion. "Like hell anyone's buying that junk!"

Not wanting to dwell on this regretful decision, Peepo changed the subject. "Anyway, why aren’t you flying either?"

Kidney Warrior sighed, "Sigh, I'm sticking with you, aren’t I?"

"Bro!" Peepo raised his arm, moved to clap him on the shoulder, and nearly scared Kidney Warrior to death as he dodged in panic.

"Holy shit! You trying to kill me?!"

"Hahahaha!"

Once preparations were complete, 12 trucks rumbled out of Boulder City’s east gate, following the highway beneath the overpass and heading out of the urban area.

Meanwhile, two Viper transport planes lifted off from the rooftop helipad, their belly engines spewing plumes of plasma, flying south like a pair of dragonflies.

Sitting by the cabin window, Chen Yutong stared at the shrinking city wall and the jungle of ruined high-rises beyond. Her eyes were full of quiet contemplation.

A few goofballs on the same aircraft eyed her back and started making jokes on their official communication channel.

"Spring is here!"

"All things awaken..."

"It’s the season for animals to mate."

"A male sea turtle climbs onto..."

"Shut up." With no defense, Old White simply muted the most talkative offenders from their corps communication channel.

Everyone quieted down for a bit.

But it didn’t take long for a few bored guys to start whispering again in private channels.

"Heh heh, didn’t expect it, Old White, the loyal righteous dude, couldn’t resist the loneliness either." Night Ten clicked his tongue and smirked.

Gale gave him a helpless glance. "Why are you so hyped about someone else’s relationship?"

"I'm just happy for a brother!" Night Ten chuckled and turned toward Ample Time. "By the way, where's your Dori? Why didn’t she see you off?"

Ample Time coughed. "I told her the gate was far enough. Anyway, if you’re so nosy, maybe worry about yourself first."

Night Ten paused, then laughed loudly, "What’s there to worry about? I don’t do romance in games!"

Seeing how confidently he spoke, Ample Time chuckled and raised a brow with intent. "Nothing wrong with that. But hey, these days, having a partner isn’t anything strange."

Catching Ample Time's look, Gale blinked, then smiled knowingly and nodded. "True enough."

Before Night Ten could speak again, Ample Time continued, "Take Wasteland Online for example, plenty of players date NPCs now. Most folks just value their privacy and don’t talk about it."

Like himself. He never showed affection in public. It was just that his brothers were too enthusiastic, enough that the whole official site knew about it.

Night Ten scratched his head. "It’s not that common, though... First of all, there’s the language barrier. Then there’s culture and habits too."

He didn’t know what others thought, but he always felt it was weird dating an NPC.

It might be fine in a single-player game, but they were playing an MMORPG!

Especially one in testing! The development team was theoretically collecting player data 24/7. For all he knew, his in-game flirting could be streaming live on a big screen in some meeting room.

Just imagining himself in the middle of a moment while dozens of developers watched on monitors made his toes curl. He couldn't help but feel a newfound admiration for his brothers.

How did that guy even stand under those conditions?!

Impossible!

"That’s where you’re wrong," Ample Time said, smiling as he looked at Night Ten’s baffled face. "When it comes to emotions, none of that stuff matters."

Night Ten whispered, "Even if it’s livestreamed?"

"

Ahem

! The development team doesn’t spy on players' private lives... I asked Light and he told me so," Ample Time cut him off hastily before the sentence finished.

Damn. After all that buildup, he nearly walked himself into a trap.

Seeing Ample Time’s flustered expression, Night Ten instantly caught on and chuckled, "I believe you!"

Ignoring the smug grin, Ample Time cleared his throat and returned to his calm tone. "Anyway, dating NPCs isn’t weird. Especially residents of Shelters, Wastelanders already have a natural charisma buff, and wastelanders tend to be passionate, so it’s totally normal for some lower-profile players to suddenly have a partner."

Night Ten frowned. "Where are you going with this...?"

Gale suddenly cut in. "I heard Teng Teng has a lot of admirers."

Night Ten froze.

In less than a second, his face turned red like an apple. "Wait, what’s that got to do with Teng Teng?! Why the sudden topic shift...?!"

"Not only is she pretty, she’s also rich." Ignoring his sputtering, Ample Time shot Gale a look of amusement and smiled slyly. "Even if she suddenly got married someday, it wouldn’t be surprising."

Gale couldn’t hold back a laugh. "HAHAHA! Why do you keep making fun of him?"

Ample Time winked at him. "You're no better."

Quit Smoking also roared with alughter. "Hahaha!"

The cabin was filled with cheerful energy.

Just moments ago, Night Ten had been running his mouth nonstop. Now he sat silently, staring wistfully out at the wasteland.

Watching Night Ten go quiet, Quit Smoking coughed and turned back around. "Man, you guys love bullying Night Ten. Even I can’t stand watching it!"

Ample Time and Gale looked away awkwardly. "We’re just burning our boredom..."

"Yeah! That kid’s made plenty of jokes at my expense too..."

But honestly, Ample Time was kind of surprised. He didn’t expect that guy was actually a virgin...

For the Vipers, an 800 kilometer flight only took about two hours. With friends chatting and laughing, the ride was far from boring.

Around 2:00 in the afternoon.

Through the misty horizon, the outline of Brocade Lake Municipality appeared.

Concrete buildings stood scattered across lush plains, the edges tapering into rolling hills and dense forest.

Brocade Lake Municipality wasn’t as densely packed as Clearspring City. Only a few districts had towering skyscrapers, while the rest resembled a typical modern urban sprawl, a tall central hub surrounded by unremarkable cement boxes.

"What a huge city..."

"Feels even bigger than real-life cities!"

"No surprise. There was a whole Prosperity Era before the Wasteland Era. According to the official lore, even Earth never saw prosperity like that."

Gazing toward Brocade Lake Municipality, Ample Time opened the VM map and cross-referenced it with what he was looking at to locate the mission markers.

At that moment, the NPC pilot in the co-pilot seat suddenly spoke. "Looks like something’s going on near the landing zone."

Sensing action ahead, everyone immediately stopped joking and became alert.

"Let me check." Moving to the left side of the cabin, Old White looked toward Dust Town and tapped his helmet.

The exoframe's helmet had a built-in zoom function. Even without binoculars, the view from this distance was crystal clear.

He stared toward Dust Town for a long while before finally frowning. "Spotted armed individuals near Dust Town. Roughly a 100-man team... There are too many obstructions to confirm the exact number."

Gale frowned. "Should we launch a drone?"

Old White nodded. "To be safe, send a scout drone first."

Without a word, Gale opened the drone pack and pulled out a foldable Y-1 Firefly drone. He flung it out the cabin like a paper plane.

The drone glided on momentum briefly, then unfolded its two pairs of rotors and sped toward the target area.

As Gale piloted the drone, Old White issued the next set of orders in a firm voice. "There’s an abandoned logging yard two kilometers north of Dust Town. Team 1 will land on the open ground south of the yard and approach Dust Town on foot."

"Team 2 remains on standby in the air. There’s no need to keep your safeties on. Be ready to assist at any time."

From the cockpit, the pilot flashed a hand signal. "Copy that!"

Both Vipers split paths mid-air, one lowered altitude and descended toward the ground, while the other continued flying in the direction of Dust Town.

At the same time, several kilometers away, Dust Town was bustling with noise. Outside the two meter tall fence gates stood a dense crowd of people.

They were highly agitated, some carrying farming tools, others shouldering rifles, shouting something unintelligible at the people behind the gate.

A robed preacher stood at the front of the crowd, looking arrogantly at the survivors behind the wall.

After brewing his emotions for a moment, he raised his hand to signal those behind him to stop shouting, then turned toward the tightly closed gate and spoke in a solemn voice. "Surrender."

"Kneel to the Apostle and beg the Heavenly Flames for forgiveness. This is your last chance."

"Otherwise, all of you will be reduced to slaves, your children and grandchildren laboring under the scorching sun, and even death will not release you from servitude."

"I’ll give you only two minutes to consider."

After dropping his threat, he quickly turned and retreated into the crowd, letting the believers beside him continue banging on the gate.

His grand performance was complete, and clearly, he didn’t intend to stay exposed under enemy gunfire for long.

Staring at the menacing mob outside the fence, fear appeared on the faces of the townspeople almost in unison.

Fear was one thing. Thinking of the three gods residing in the town, most people calmed down, gripping their weapons tightly and taking defensive positions behind the low wall deeper in their town.