Chapter 151.1: [Mission: A debt of blood must be paid in blood!]

All right.

After listening to Lu Yang's explanation, Chu Guang realized that it was a false alarm.

Those 2,000 people were clones, and they were mass-produced products.

According to Lu Yang, the technology mastered by the Army could produce a clone with a development speed that was eight times faster than a normal human. This clone was not only cheap to maintain but also quick to produce; after leaving the nurturing cabin, it would only take 2 years for them to obtain combat capability.

They were unlike other clones that would either stay in a nurturing cabin for a year before coming out after reaching the desired biological age, or clones that would develop like normal babies.

The Army's clones were perfect as cannon fodder, and their morale was much stronger than that of ordinary marauders. With the support of the Army, their equipment was not too shabby either. At the very least, they had much better equipment than marauders.

The only flaw was that two years was not enough time for their mind to form completely, and those clones were usually driven by fear and pain; they relied on the instinct of a beast to fight.

The vast majority could only be used as light infantry, and only a few veterans could operate slightly more complex equipment. Of course, their accuracy was a problem.

Therefore, the Army usually required a large number of junior officers to command those clones, and would occasionally enslave ordinary survivors to serve as workers to build complex fortifications.

The real backbone of the Army was the huge number of junior officers. They were squad leaders on the battlefield and small-time slave owners outside the battlefield.

A light infantry squad of ten to twenty clones would require the command of a squad leader. Only a few command groups that believed in the way of Mass Assault, which relied on a huge number and just sufficient weapons to overwhelm the opponent's defense line, could command a squad of 50 to 100 people.

There was also no doubt about it... 1000 clones were cheaper than a single exoframe.

According to Lu Yang, even in the utopian society before the war, there was no technology that could allow clones to have complete and mature minds in a short period of time.

And when Chu Guang asked if there was a clone that could be cultivated in just a month and a perfect mind, Lu Yang looked at him in confusion.

"Impossible! To produce a clone with a complete mind in just a month? If there is, wouldn't it be more convenient than using a conscious robot? I've traveled here all the way from the East Coast, and I've heard a lot of weird things, but I've never heard of anyone mentioning something like that.

"Humans are the cells of society. You cannot create a person who can adapt to society while being completely isolated from it. Even we need to let employees receive basic education and induction training before selecting talented low-level employees, or even refugees to serve through rigorous examinations.”

"As for technology... At most, it will be able to speed up the process and shorten it from the original 10 to 20 years needed by half... The mind had to be built little by little during the stage of brain development. It is not as simple as inserting a memory into the computer.”

"If someone told you that there is a technology that can give clones with complete minds in just a month, they are either a lunatic or a liar."

After listening to Lu Yang's explanation, Chu Guang couldn't help but fall silent. He didn’t know what to say for some time.

I understand the logic.

But what are my players then?

...

Before leaving, Lu Yang solemnly promised Chu Guang that he would compensate the injured workers and the families of the deceased and that he would attack those marauders who call themselves the Army at 8:00 at night.

The First Pioneering Corps would not tolerate anyone who dared to provoke them and harm their allies!

Perhaps to appease their allies, Lu Yang even told Chu Guang the exact time of the action.

To be honest, he had done Chu Guang a big favor.

2,000 men... There was no way they would be fighting with sticks anyway. Also... No matter how trashy their equipment and how many of them died, they could be thrown into the Active Matter Extractor when they were done!

After Lu Yang left, Chu Guang turned around and returned to the center of the camp.

The dead and wounded had been sent away.

Luca, who handled the corpses for Chu Guang, knew some secrets about those players, so he calmly covered the faces of the dead and the seriously wounded. He did not let the people from the First Pioneering Corps see their faces clearly while telling the guards to carry them back.

The players were very sensible and knew that they had successfully abused the bug when they were moved onto the stretchers. So they all acted as if they were dying, and stayed motionless.

Some even logged out in order to prevent themselves from making any mistakes.

On the other hand, the players who didn't die stomped angrily and cursed.

"What the fuck?! How did two pieces of shrapnel shot in the stomach deal him a fatal injury?! He can still speak normally, right? It's not like they were shot into his head!"

Of the 11 injured, 3 died of serious injuries. And 2 of them died on the spot. The round of bombardment actually resulted in several deaths!

It was not just a number, behind them were 5 families, and everyone who knew them well...

The nearby medical staff from the logistics department were silent. They all thought that the player who was stomping angrily and cursing was venting his grief, treating the stones on the ground as the abominable enemies ten kilometers away.

They felt that it would be best to leave the grieving players alone.

As for the other 8 injured, after their treatment, the wounds had basically healed.

Looking at Chu Guang coming from the entrance of the camp, Wei Te took the initiative to mention how the captain had contacted them and that the compensation would arrive later in the day.

At the same time, he also brought a piece of bad news. The afternoon scavenging session was canceled.

"The scavenging plan was canceled? Why?" Seeing Wei Te's dumbfounded expression, Chu Guang immediately regained his senses and asked, "I mean, aren't those marauders who call themselves the Army in the northwest? I heard that our scavenging site is in the north."

The more they needed to fight in the war, the more they couldn't stop production!

Each time your men empty a magazine, you would consume almost half a kilogram of materials. Don't you guys have any idea about your material consumption rate?

When they fought mutant humans earlier, Chu Guang had people retrieve their fired bullets and calculate their consumption rate. The bullets they fired were made of tungsten steel, each with a mass of 9 grams.

If there were 30 bullets in a magazine, it would almost be a quarter of a kilogram!

Wei Te hesitated. "Although that's the case, the straight-line distance between Elm District and our resource collection point is only 5 kilometers, so it's hard not to attract their attention... In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, our division chief suggested that you should withdraw temporarily to avoid accidental injuries during the battle."

Wei Te also had a complicated mood when he said that.

They certainly wanted to keep the production line running.

But they couldn't let their allies risk their lives to help them pick up garbage after what just happened, right?

At least, they should give Chu Guang and his men some time to grieve and deal with the funeral affairs.

Even their stingy division chief didn't have the heart to urge them to continue the operation after some of their friends and family just died.

Chu Guang didn't have any objection to the compensation, but when he heard that the scavenging plan in the afternoon was actually canceled and his people had to retreat, his mood instantly fell.

Motherfucker!

Do they think it is easy for him to earn money at the moment?

Without money, how was he going to improve his players' gaming experience? He couldn't just let his players move bricks and produce cement for the rest of their lives, right?

If his men were to withdraw, the light industry plan he had finally laid out would also be affected. This was only a small matter. The key was that his players would not be able to experience the content of the expansion!

Screw the Army!

I'm not afraid of them, so why are you afraid?

Wouldn’t it be perfect if the enemy exited the forest?

Once they were baited into the city to fight in the streets, no one knew what would happen. Their force might even be wrecked by his players.

However, Wei Te misunderstood the expression on Chu Guang's face. Believing that he was feeling sad for the shelter residents who died, he could not help but show a trace of remorse.

"We're sorry that this happened, no one thought... No one thought that they would have two howitzers."

"It's not your fault, you don't have to apologize. It's the shameless people who suddenly fired at us who should pay the price." Chu Guang suddenly had an idea. His heavy expression remained unchanged as he shook his head lightly before walking away from Wei Te.

Under Wei Te’s surprised gaze, he came to the players, raised his voice, and declared loudly, "A group of marauders, calling themselves 'The Army,' has come from the north and invaded our homeland. They declared war on us and tried to bring us to their knees with artillery shells. This is a shameless sneak attack!"

The players quieted down and looked in the direction of their administrator.

Did we just trigger a plot mission?

Mission incoming?!

Responding to the pair of expectant eyes, Chu Guang continued with a loud and determined voice, "The residents of Shelter 404 will not yield, and the blood of our compatriots will not be shed in vain.

"We'll let them know the price of angering us!"

Almost simultaneously, all players on the scene who had VM each received a mission pop-up window.

[Mission:

A debt of blood must be paid in blood!

]

...

The south gate of the operation camp.

Watching the blue coats retreating southbound, two employees of the logistics department exchanged in a low voice.

"The blue coats are leaving?"

"Probably. I heard that in order to avoid casualties, our division chief asked them to retreat first."

"Damn it... Then won't we be able to eat steamed buns tomorrow?"

"All you know is how to eat..."

"You didn't eat any less than me! But speaking of which... Why do some of them have VMs and some don't?"

"I don't know, but not all blue coats carry a VM."

"Well, I just thought it was a little weird, because the ones who left were the ones with the VMs. The ones without the VMs stayed in the camp."

"Huh? that you mentioned, it is really strange."

The employees of the two logistics departments were puzzled, but after thinking about it, they didn't think it was something that needed to be reported, so they didn't care too much.

Actually, they were right. All players with VMs left.

But it was not a retreat.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Instead, they were going back to take their weapons before they prepared to fight their enemy!