Chapter 153: Lucky Survivors of Clearspring City

The distant sound of thunder disturbed the tranquility of Clearspring City.

Behind the ruins buried by the snow curtain, and in Boulder Town on the edge of the third ring, people walking through the corner alleys raised their heads one after another.

"What's... That sound?"

"It's quite rare to hear thunder on a snowy day."

"That's not thunder... It sounds like something just blew up!"

"Is it from the north? I've heard that the war over there has been going on for quite a while."

"Is it going to spread to Clearspring City? There's nothing good here for those hillbillies to covet."

"You said they were hillbillies, yet you are expecting them not to want something from you?"

"What if the war really spreads here? Mr. Fang will definitely have a solution!"

This place was far away, so people didn't know what happened.

The citizens who could survive in the city would never go outside. The poor who lived at the foot of concrete walls did go out to scavenge, but they wouldn’t venture too far away.

In the bar on the corner of a street, a few experienced mercenaries were able to figure out some information from the explosion, but they only shook their heads and continued to drink the beer that had been diluted with water, showing no interest in talking about it.

Whatever happened there was not something they should care about. Even if there were a lot of job opportunities, it was unrealistic to go to the northern suburbs of Clearspring City from the third ring in the horrible weather.

After all, those poor bastards wouldn't have a chance to go there by plane...

At the center of the inner city, at the top floor of the pitch-black building.

A man in a neat formal suit stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with a meticulous look.

Of course, the northern suburb of Clearspring City couldn't be seen from where they were. After all, Boulder Town was surrounded by high-rise buildings. No matter which direction people looked, they would only be able to see gray ruins.

However...

The man wasn't looking at anything outside the window.

Staring at the reflection on the floor-to-ceiling window, he whispered to himself, "Even the nuclear bomb was used."

A response came from his ear. "Yes, sir."

"What happened then? Who won."

"It looks like the Enterprise, sir."

The man nodded.

The Army's combat effectiveness was very strong, but after all, it was held back by the people from the Great Rift Valley. There were only a few people from the Enterprise, but their equipment and logistics were superior.

The probability of the Army’s victory was originally 4:6, but the moment the tactical nuclear bomb dropped, it became 3:7. If the Army did not have a stronger trump card, it would be reasonable for them to lose.

Of course, that was from the perspective of a spectator. After all, there was still a big difference between taking part in the battle and watching it from the sidelines. Even if the odds of winning were 1:10, there would still be a possibility to win.

However... It looked like the casino would be very lively.

Those who bet on the Army would probably lose a lot.

"Do you want to intervene?" The voice beside his ear asked.

"If the commander of the Army is still alive, then capture him and wait for the Army's messenger to come to do them a favor."

The voice continued to ask: "What if he's dead?"

"Then meet with the people from the Enterprise and remind them to use less radioactive weapons. That shit is really troublesome to deal with.”

Whether it was the Army or the Enterprise, it was best not to get involved in their conflicts. That was the River Valley Province, and the region was far from either of them.

"It's best for us not to get involved with their conflicts. Offending anyone will be very troublesome, and pleasing anyone won't do any good for us.

"But it happened on our land after all.

"Send someone to mediate."

...

Brown Farm.

Looking at the light of the fire rising in the distance, the farm owner hiding here shivered and kept murmuring, "Nuclear bomb... Tactical nuclear bomb..."

The young daughter looked at her father in confusion.

"Dad?"

"Don't worry, my dear," his wife said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder, "it's far away from us."

"Go away!" The man swung his arm angrily, and the back of his hand accidentally hit the face of his little daughter, knocking out the little girl's head.

Sparks of electricity jumped around the neck of the headless little girl.

The wife was stunned for a moment, sighed softly, and walked to the dropped head silently.

Looking at the head that rolled on the ground, the man was stunned for a moment, then quickly calmed down, but he still couldn't help but mutter, "Damn it... Is the war going to break out again?”

"We've spent enough money this year! Give me a break!"

...

Back on Baker Street.

A group of survivors looked at the sky not far away. From there, they could only see a small beam of light in the direction of Linghu Lake.

Many people came out of their shacks, looking at the light in the distance and whispering to each other.

Yu Hu glanced at his elder brother and asked in a muffled voice, "Brother, what is that?"

Yu Xiong frowned.

"I don't know. It doesn't look like it's from Linghu. It seems to be further away... It seems to have come from the Elm District?"

To the survivors of Baker Street, it was a rather unfamiliar name, only occasionally heard from the northern scavengers. It was said to be an old town covered in forest. In that place, not to mention usable garbage, not even a complete brick could be picked up.

Yu Xiong had only been there once in the past, and it was when he was tracking the footsteps of deers. When he came back at that time, in order to avoid the people of the Bloodhand Clan, he took a long detour.

Yu Hu was stunned. "Is it far from Big Brother Chu and his people?"

Yu Xiong nodded. "It's quite far, maybe 20 kilometers."

"Oh, that's a relief," Yu Hu said with a sigh of relief, scratching the back of his head, "I'll go see Xiaoyu tomorrow, she's been away from home for a while."

Yu Xiong also missed her little sister a little. "Go, I hope she's doing well there."

Yu Hu couldn’t help but ask, "Why don't we go together?"

"Next time. The guards still have training tasks, and we have patrol missions every day." Yu Xiong patted his younger brother's head. "You should go to the castle to learn if you have time. Anyway, there is a lot of free time in winter."

The school that Old Charlie opened?

Isn't that a school for kids?

Yu Hu remembered that there seemed to be children under the age of 16 in that school. Many families sent their children there to learn to write and count in order to save money for a few meals.

"Why do I need to learn that...?" Yu Hu said blankly.

Yu Xiong didn't know how to explain it. After all, he was illiterate himself, and he only learned how to write his name when he went to night school recently, so he could only vaguely say something, "Anyway, this is something that Big Brother Chu told us to do. You just need to learn it, it will definitely be useful."

In the outpost several kilometers away.

Hearing the blast, Xia Yan walked out of the weapon store with a cane, looked at the flashing light in the north, and said in a low voice, "... Tactical nuclear bombs? These people are crazy."

Tactical nuclear bombs with a yield of less than 1 ton could be bought with chips in Boulder Town, but only few people would actually buy them.

One of the reasons was that it was expensive.

The other reason was that it was dangerous.

Many mutants were very keen to settle in radioactive areas. Crackleclaw Crabs, Night Demons, Death Scorpions, and other extremely dangerous mutants especially liked it. The radioactive energy was like drugs to them and would make them excited and violent.

If it was in an urban area, it would usually be a hotbed for Crunchers and Creepers. If it was in the suburbs, it was difficult to say what strange species would be attracted.

At this time, Xia Yan suddenly noticed that there was a small figure at the door of the nursing home, looking at the north sky just like her.

The light of the torches flickered at the door.

Even at a distance, she could see those big black eyes, full of fear and worry.

Sighing, she walked over and put her hand on Xiaoyu's head.

"What is that?" Xiaoyu asked in a low voice.

Xia Yan comforted softly, "It's not a good thing... But it's okay, they are all strong and nothing will happen. Let's go back. It's getting late."

...

Because a tactical nuclear bomb suddenly detonated, the survivors in the northern suburb of Clearspring City were in a state of panic.

Although some idiots would occasionally throw a nuclear bomb on mutants, the power of those bombs was much smaller than what was detonated. It would only be a yield of a few hundred kilograms or a ton, and the sound would not be so loud.

Some people said that the Army was coming after them.

But no one could explain why the Army came to their out-of-the-way place.

Some people also said that a super mutant human appeared, and local survivors detonated a tactical nuclear bomb in order to survive.

But no one knew which survivor settlement in the northern suburbs was capable of handling the super mutant human.

In contrast, the official website of Wasteland Online was lively at the moment, as if a festival was in place.

In fact, in-game activities were really no different from festivals to the players.

On the forum.

Quit Smoking: Are you fucking kidding me?! I'm going crazy right now! I walked 10 kilometers and didn't even get to see the construction site, but they just sent me away with a bomb? (Crying)

Irene: Fight for two minutes, run for two hours, Squad 2.0 confirmed. ( ?° ?? ?°)

Night Ten: Hey, Elaina, are you dead again?

Irene: My ID is not Elaina! (`Д′*)9

Garbage: It's so exciting! I'm so fucking buying this game! Hahahaha! I rushed into the trench with a slide, and my claws were shredding those NPCs mercilessly! It's just that these little monsters were so shameless, they actually bombed me with a bundle of grenades!

Mosquito: Next time you'll have to pay for the boiler. It's not expensive, I'll just charge you the material cost price, which is 100 silver coins. (Squint)

Garbage: What?! That's so damn expensive!

Night Ten: So many familiar IDs, say, how many people have died in this wave?

Irene: At least 20. Anyway, when I died, there was already a row of dead players in front of me... Sigh, that automatic rifle was pretty satisfying to fire, but unfortunately, there were still two magazines that I didn't get to use. It's such a shame. ( ?° ?? ?°)

Book Worm: There must be more than 20, this time maybe it will break 100! Let's wait for another dead player.

Makka Pakka: Hahahahaha! Are you still able to laugh at me now? All of you need to wait for the respawn CD like me!

Night Ten: Don't be silly. We all died in a teamfight. Soon after the spoils are calculated, we will get some money. Anyway, I think it's worth it. ( ?° ?? ?°)

Irene: Indeed. Also that scene was really spectacular. It was really shocking, especially when we charged with the exoframes, I think it was worth it anyway. ( ?° ?? ?°)

Makka Pakka: Motherfuc...!

Even Garbage managed to join in the fun, so Makka Pakka felt thoroughly defeated.

The forum was full of joy again, and everyone was speculating about the final rewards of this battle.

Buying an exoframe would be unrealistic. That thing would be at least level 30 equipment in other games. So basically, they wouldn't be able to get it in the early stages.

But they would definitely be able to buy a gun, right?

After waiting for a long time, when it was almost noon in the real world, someone finally brought the battle report from the front line.

Elf Wang: Brothers, I was finally finished off by my teammate! A total of 117 people died in this battle. That's more than half of us! It was too tragic! But the enemy's losses were even worse. I heard that there were more than 2000 corpses that were dragged out of the trenches, and none of them had a complete body! But this time, we probably made a fortune. We seized 5 light trucks, and we still don't know how many supplies are there in their fortifications! Now let's see how the spoils will be divided!

Night Ten: Heh heh, my requirements are not high, I just hope that I can buy an automatic rifle. If I really can't, a red dot sight is not that bad too. A gun with a sight and a gun without a sight are two completely different weapons.

Mosquito: Agreed!

Garbage: You agree my ass! You are the most shameless player here. All the guns you have bought are stored in the warehouse and you never took them out!

Mosquito: What are you talking about?! Am I not waiting for the respawning CD here with you?

Garbage: Don't pretend that I didn't see it, you were blown up by the handmade grenades made by yourself!

Night Ten: Pfft.

Makka Pakka: Hahahahaha!

Mosquito: Screw you!

In any case, the battle had been a good one.

As for the loot, even if they were worried about it, they couldn't do anything about it. That would be decided by the game program.

Everyone expressed that they only hoped the developers would be kind. For the sake of many players who didn't know when they could get back into the game again, they hoped that they could get a more generous compensation for their deaths.

They wouldn't ask for much, 200 silver coins would be quite reasonable. If they could get 300 silver coins, that would be even better.

The topics on the forum were gradually dominated by the

Paradox Interactive

fans and the fans of strategy games. From the topic of whether it was better to move the machine gunners five meters forward or five meters back, to the topic of who was stronger between the Army and the Enterprise in the game setting.

One was the force in the extreme west, and the other was the power in the extreme east. The two usually did not interact with each other, but they may not have thought that their men would actually fight in the River Valley Province in the center of the continent.

According to the information published on the official website, the Army seemed to be going for the Mass Assault route combined with other Land Doctrines. For example, the troop they encountered was the most common clone light infantry which used trench fortifications, while the two artillery pieces were probably the embodiment of the Superior Firepower Doctrine.

The advantages were low logistical pressure and they wouldn’t suffer from lost morale. Their clone soldiers were like people who had been brainwashed. They were not fully human at all. They would rather be killed than to surrender.

As for Enterprise, they were probably using the Mobile Warfare Land Doctrine. All its members were high-tech troops armed to the teeth, with high mobility and strong armor. Not only did they have night combat equipment, but they also had aerial fire support... Although it was only one lightweight fixed wing drone, it was better than nothing.

On the surface, the advantage of the latter seemed to be greater with their more expensive equipment, but their performance on the battlefield did not seem to be as invincible as what the panel data showed.

When the exoframes cut through the Army's first line of defense, they quickly faced an embarrassing problem.

There was no one behind them.

Spring Water Commander: ... The Pioneer can only be regarded as a scientific expedition team at most. Their soldiers are not professional soldiers, but more like adventurers. It is already pretty good they were able to fight like this. If the two forces really faced each other, this kind of problem would not exist at all. Would the Enterprise's headquarters not have any light infantry? I don't believe it.

Lightning Professor: Hehe, if they really met each other on the battlefield, what they would face would be hundreds or even tens of thousands of command groups of the same size as today. If they could build artillery, would it be difficult to make an engine? You don’t even need very advanced technology, a World War II level tank chassis and an electromagnetic gun are definitely cheaper than an exoframe.

Lin Dengwan: I doubt there would be an all-out war. How long would the supply line have to be so it could stretch across the continent? Besides, the terrain on the wasteland is full of mutants ambushes along the way. The non-combat losses would be directly maxed out.

Canned Seafood Merchant: Why don't they take the sea route? The sea route is obviously better than the land route, right?

Duke of Venice: Maybe there is a sea threat at sea.

Ghost Scarer: Yeah, that makes sense... In case a Cthulhu-level sea monster suddenly appears, they might not be able to deal with a force that has ten times the strength of the Pioneers.

Elf Wang: Ahem, let's stop arguing. Whether they are strong or not, it also depends on how the developers set it up.

Elf Wang had a point, but no one paid him any attention.

The game was still in the testing stage, and they were still in the closed alpha. Each version was like a new game, so who knew what the game would look like in the end?