Chapter 217.1: Ninth Floor of the Greenhouse Ruins

"Our enemies are not going to wait until winter is over and then swagger over to our trenches."

"They are marauders, and they are the best at sneak attacks. If they are quick, maybe when this snowstorm is over, their army will come to the northern suburbs of Clearspring City."

"My guess is... in early January, maybe even on New Year's Day."

After reviewing the guards' new recruits, Chu Guang returned to the guard's station in Longevity Town with Liu Ding, Wrench, and Vanus.

There was a temporary bunker-like command post, thickly covered with snow, and only a tunnel was accessible.

The last batch of supplies seized from the marauders contained a hundred 100mm high explosive shells.

Each shell weighed 11 kilograms in total, contained a 2 kilogram warhead, and had a mix of TNT and Cyclonite charges.

As long as it hit something, the damage would probably be quite astonishing.

Although it was not known how many howitzers they had in their hands, those shells alone were enough to make Chu Guang alert.

The marauders he would be facing were not easy to deal with!

At present, Shelter 404 was relying on the information obtained by those on the forum. The continuous research of 30 Lifestyle Profession players with chemical-related experience could count as him unlocking the production process of Cyclonite, but unfortunately, the output was not very high.

It was still too difficult to develop reliable heavy support firepower before New Year's Day. What needed to be solved was not only the problem with the barrel, but also many other problems including ballistics. That relied more on the experience in actual combat than theoretical knowledge.

It might be more practical to count on Mosquito’s damned rockets in the war with the Bonechewer Clan than to count on the current imperfect heavy artillery they were working on.

Wrench and Liu Ding looked at each other subconsciously, their expressions slightly dazed.

What's New Year's Day?

Although Vanus also didn't understand what New Year's Day was, his focus was not on such trivial matters, but on Chu Guang's prediction of the next round of marauder's offensive.

Staring at the paper map hanging on the wall of the temporary command post, Vanus said after pondering for a long time. "If it were me, I would choose to go on the offensive in mid January."

Chu Guang looked at him and asked, "Why?"

Vanus quickly explained, "This is out of careful consideration. The snow on the road will make it difficult for trucks to move, and the logistical pressure will be greater than expected. As the commander of the front line, I first have to assume that you have evacuated all the survivor settlements in the northern suburbs that can be plundered in advance, and built enough fortifications to fight us to the end with the determination to fight to the death.”

"At that time, our troops will not be able to obtain any resources locally, and can only rely on our own supplies to fight a tough battle that may be dragged on for a long time."

Eyes fixed on an abandoned city in the northeast, Vanus continued, "I will first establish an operational base, deploy artillery, then send mobile troops to harass your positions using the advantages of vehicles, direct artillery bombardment, weaken your defenses with multiple raids, and finally concentrate forces from multiple directions to launch an attack at the same time."

Liu Ding and Wrench held their breaths involuntarily.

If those marauders used the same approach, the battle would undoubtedly be tougher than imagined.

Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like a good idea."

He certainly didn't expect the Bonechewer Clan to be like Bloodhand Clan, foolishly launching a suicide charge towards his position, and then being harvested like wheat with automatic weapons by the players crouching in the trenches.

Those goblin-like creatures were very cunning, especially now that they had acquired the tactics of the Army... Even if only a small part of it.

But...

Too bad they ran into Shelter 404!

Attrition method of continuous attack like that may be useful against others, but it was simply useless to players who could respawn in three days.

He only needed to defend the new industrial area located in the abandoned city and ensure the supply of weapons and equipment, and then those marauders would soon experience the nightmare of being dominated by the undead.

When necessary, he could even abandon the big factory, dismantle the production equipment into pieces, and withdraw into the endless ruins. Then, the players could take advantage of their individual combat power and start to fight in the streets with the marauders in the city.

Noticing an expression of calm on Chu Guang's face, Vanus raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. "Looks like you already have a plan."

"That's right."

"I'm a little curious. If you don't mind, can you tell me what the plan is?" Vanus asked.

Chu Guang smiled lightly. "You will know in the next few days."

He had thought of many plans, but the situation on the battlefield would always change rapidly, and he was not sure which plan would be used in the end.

After all, it also depended on which tactic the enemy used.

Vanus didn't continue to ask, but just shrugged and no longer bothered with him. After all, he was just a prisoner of war.

If Chu Guang asked for his opinion, he would speak his mind and offer suggestions for reference. But if Chu Guang didn't intend to let him know, in his position, he really shouldn't keep asking for sensitive information.

It was just that Vanus was still curious.

What is this man going to do?

The other party had 100mm howitzers, and the specific number was not known.

In addition, the number of marauders was more than 1,000, and the number of vehicles was unknown. Whether it was equipment or troops, they had an absolute advantage.

They were not ordinary marauders. After the two previous battles, the man in front of him was obviously clear about this.

The odds of them winning were not really high, but the expression of calm on the administrator’s face was really incomprehensible.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the temporary command post.

After getting permission, a security guard in a black coat walked in from the door and performed a military salute with his right fist on his chest. "I’m here to make a report!"

Chu Guang said concisely, "Speak."

The guard immediately replied, "The sentries we sent out to patrol the north found a group of marauders in Remote Creek Town, just north of Longevity Town. We suspected them to be people from the Bonechewer Clan!"

After hearing the report, Chu Guang looked slightly surprised, and immediately looked at the map on the wall.

Remote Creek Town was about 20 kilometers away from Longevity Town, adjacent to the north side of Elm District. In terms of administrative division, it belonged to the southernmost township under the jurisdiction of West Continent City, close to Heavenly Water City's West District.

This distance was not very close, but it was definitely not far.

However, what puzzled Chu Guang was why those marauders would appear in Remote Creek Town.

According to the marching route of those marauders, it was obvious that their station should be northeast of Clearspring City and south of Heavenly Water City.

Did they relocate?

Vanus stared at the map, the expression on his face gradually became solemn. "Administrator, although I don't want to say it... But I'm afraid we have to prepare for the worst."

Inside the temporary command post, four pairs of eyes looked at him in unison.

Chu Guang had vaguely guessed something, but he did not speak and waited for him to continue.

Vanus paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and slowly let out a cold breath. "The troop due north of us is obviously not the same group as the marauders in the southern suburbs of Heavenly Water City. You will probably face more than just a brigade... You might be facing 2 of them..."

...

[Wartime Regulations Day 14]

Confirming the information on the VM, Old White wiped off the slimy liquid stuck to the steel arm guards and the cilia dropped from the moth's wings. "The difficulty of the raid on level B9 is surprisingly small."

"After all, this is where the reactor is placed, there is no incubator, and the area is not very large." Ample Time put away the mechanical compound bow on his hand and said casually.

Four days ago, his level reached LV10, and he became the first agility type ability user on the entire server.

As Old White guessed, his primary attribute increased by 5 attribute points, and the remaining 4 secondary attributes increased by 1 point each.

Agility of up to 17 points allowed him to have almost three times the reaction speed of ordinary people, and he also gained the ability of dynamic vision.

And the skill he acquired was also very satisfying to him. It was similar to

bullet time

in

Max Payne

!

That did not mean that he could become faster, but based on the bonus of agility attributes, everything around him would be shown in slow motion when he was highly focused.

Maybe as long as the agility attribute was high enough, maybe one day he could see the trajectory of the bullet clearly.

In any case, this could be called a magical skill for a shooter.

Praise for the developers!

Since unlocking the bullet time, although his teammates didn't feel that he had any obvious improvement, Ample Time felt that he had almost become invincible.

The mission had entered the final stage.

Carefully searching every corner on level B9, Old White used a melee knife to clear the remaining Devil Moths that went into hiding.

Night Ten, who was walking behind, said in a chatty tone after discovering there was no chance for him to fire his gun. "What do you guys think will be on level B10?"

Gale, who was walking aside, thought for a while and said. "I don't know, but what is certain is that the Devil Moth's hive is there."

Night Ten frowned. "Will there be a moth the size of a mutant human?"

Gale thought for some time before replying, "It's not very realistic from an evolutionary point of view, the oversized body is not suitable for arthropods to survive... At least, that’s considering the oxygen content and gravity of the earth. However, this is not absolute. After all, the wasteland is not a normal natural selection environment, let alone a game."

At this moment, Gale suddenly paused and looked up to the front. "But... This game is too realistic."

The group stopped, and in front of them was a closed gate.

Judging from the sign on the gate that was similar to the power room on level B3, and from the mark on the VM map, they should be at the the reactor.

Through a long, transparent window, Gale could see the cylindrical reactor inside the room.

A working reactor after two centuries of operation... Even in a game, it was still pretty unbelievable.

It seemed that it wasn't the type of reactor that required water.

"Is this a Tokamak or a Stellarator?" Night Ten asked curiously.

Gale thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It doesn't look like either... It looks unremarkable from the outside, even smaller than a nuclear fission reactor."

It is much smaller!

Night Ten chuckled. "Maybe it's just that the game company simply ran out of creativity... I thought it would be something a bit cooler."

"This design actually makes sense. After all, in the pre-war society depicted in the game's background, the prevalence of controlled nuclear fusion continues to replace fossil fuels, and in some areas even replace chemical batteries. Their understanding of energy technology is completely unknown to us, and it is more reasonable to present it in a more concise way than we imagine."

Gale was curious about the design of the reactor that the game company had come up with. After all, it involved a field he was familiar with.

However, he was a sane person, and it was impossible for him to risk the lives of his teammates.

Moreover, he didn't have the ability to break it apart...

If he wanted to destroy the first wall that could block neutron rays, at least several hundred kilograms of explosives were required. That stuff wasn't made of tofu after all.

Just the alloy door leading to the reaction chamber was at least half a meter thick, not to mention the wall, which was probably made into part of the entire load-bearing structure.

Even if they blew up the entire level, they might not be able to scrape off a layer from the reactor.