Chapter 374.3: Heart Of Steel

A gunshot interrupted him. Herrick clutched his left ear in pain, curling up on the ground.

Putting away the smoking pistol, Sisi adjusted her headset and took a photo of the sky.

But just as she opened her VM and was about to sync the photo to her official account, she discovered the network was down.

Signal lost?

Just then, Tail, also craning his neck to look north, twisted her face in anger and roared, "AH! My balloon!"

Looking at the disappearing signal on her VM, Sesame Paste said with a wry smile, "I told you not to set it so far away, but you insisted on climbing to the top of the mountain."

"I, I was just thinking the signal would be better," Tail said sheepishly, "The manual said to find a higher place."

"But that's too high!"

"Don't worry. The administrator will definitely drop another one," Tail patted Sesame Paste's shoulder, but her guilty tone sounded more like she was comforting himself than her teammates.

Will they make me pay?!

Probably... not?

"Ah... just when we could have hit the headlines..." Roshan sighed and sat down on the ground.

"

Wuwuwuwuuuu

... Damn, it hurts."

Unlike those who feared the Army, they weren't afraid of the Army.

Whether it was marauders, the Army, mutants, or other non-human beings, they were just higher-level monsters.

Compared to dying to higher-level mobs, they would rather appear on the headlines.

The damn developers are really up to something else again!

Too bad...

The photo would have to be uploaded later.

In the Heart of Steel.

Suspended below the airship, the man in lavish attire slightly raised his chin, looking down through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the hills, city ruins, vast forests, and plains below. He also looked at the handsome face reflected on the window.

His name was McClennan, captain of the Heart of Steel airship. He was part of the Eastern Army and he bore the rank of General.

Although a General in the Army didn't necessarily command 10,000 people, he was undoubtedly an existence above everyone present.

The core part of the airship was an incomplete frigate, containing a fusion reactor power room and a deflection shield generator unit targeted against kinetic weapons.

Although most of the technology couldn’t be learned and even if deciphered, difficult to reproduce, that didn’t stop them from using the frigate, even if in another form.

In short, the airship was a crystal of pre-war civilization technology, representing the pinnacle of the Army's achievements in the field of mechanics.

Not only could it serve as an airship, but it could also appear on the front lines after the enemy lost air supremacy, pouring tons of explosives on the enemy's heads.

There are very few forces on the wasteland that could stop them.

Aside from those rats hiding in the swamps, the dung beetles under the Divine Shield, and the cockroaches crouching on the East Coast, other ants wouldn't even dare to look up at them, even if they had the capability to shoot down the airship.

No one knew how many airships the Army had, nor did anyone know how much of the two-century-old military arsenal was left.

Only the marshal knew.

"Respected General, you are now above Lucky Valley Municipality! The plains ahead are the southern corridor of the River Valley Province, its western gate wide open to you!" Standing beside General McClennan, the aide spoke with utmost respect.

However, his flattery seemed to hit the wrong note.

"I don't need you to educate me about the history of this tiny place; you just need to tell me where those cockroaches crawling over from the East Coast have reached." General McClennan spoke slowly, his tone noticeably impatient.

He should have been enjoying the services of the servants in Oasis No. 2, but due to a piece of intelligence from the Bugra Free State, he was sent to intercept reinforcements sent by the Enterprise from the East Coast.

Speaking of which, he was ordered to set off by his superior. However, to call Griffin his superior was a bit of an overstatement. He felt that the old fox was only half a rank above him, with another star on his General's insignia.

But there was no helping it; even half a rank meant that he had to listen to orders.

Moreover, that man was also the General of the Eastern Army. He was appointed as the front-line commander!

Not to mention driving an airship... McClennan would have to obey even if he was sent to board a starship!

Every time he thought of it, General McClennan felt a surge of anger ripping through him.

The Pioneer was already taken, the remaining crew cornered in a pre-war relic without logistical support. Surrender was a matter of time.

He was about to share the spoils, yet he was sent to the godforsaken place.

Is a god damned Enterprise employee really that important?!

"Griffin's ambition is not small. He probably wants to use this opportunity to bring the Below Clouds Municipality under the Eastern Army's control," the staff officer said quietly, sounding almost like a dreamy thought.

Below Clouds Municipality was separated from the core territories of the Army by a vast desert.

The so-called great desert wasn't just some place that got its name from nothing. It spanned thousands of kilometers and it was a dead zone.

The Army couldn't possibly govern the Below Clouds Municipality, far removed from their core interests.

If not for the desire to seize the Great Rift Valley, they wouldn't even bother keeping a vassal state there.

Although the Falcons contributed vast wealth to them annually, every general in the Eastern Army was acutely aware that compared to their investment in that vassal state, the dinars and slaves offered by that honest king were utterly trivial.

However...

The disastrous defeat of the expeditionary force and the death of General Klaas finally made some high-ranking Army generals realize that expecting to take the Great Rift Valley, which had once caused significant losses to the Enterprise, in a few months, was naive.

They needed to deploy more forces, build better logistics, perfect the supply lines, and mobilize more manpower to shine shoes for the captains they sent there whether their own or from the vassal states.

In the end, they needed to strengthen control over the East.

There were many ways to do that... For example, they could prop up that honest king they took under their wing.

"So he specifically sidelined us, wanting to monopolize this achievement?" Thinking of Griffin's arrogant face, General McClennan narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind racing.

Looking towards the southeast, where the wilderness stretched, his lips curled into a cruel smile.

"Letting these blood-drinking barbarians skulk around here is simply a desecration of our ancestors' heritage. In my view, the Army's frontier should expand another 500 kilometers to the east."

"We are more than capable of that!"

His aide and staff officers simultaneously revealed surprised expressions.

"... Splitting off to attack more fronts isn't a good idea, I think we should quickly crush the reinforcements of the Enterprise and then return to Oasis No. 2." One of his aides advised.

General McClennan spoke expressionlessly, "What's the point of going back? That old fox will surely find another reason to send us away. Once we break through the southern corridor, the south gate of the Great Rift Valley will be open to us. Not even the Army Commander, let alone the Marshal, ignore out contributions.”

"But..."

“No buts!” Cutting off his staff officer's words, General McClennan looked forward through the floor-to-ceiling window, a pleasant smile spreading across his face. "Let's bring real order and civilization to these savages!"

Almost at the moment his words fell, the airship moving forward suddenly tilted 2 degrees to the right as it creaked all the way.

It was just a slight swing, but General McClennan's attention was entirely on his handsome reflection in the glass.

Caught off guard, he nearly didn't stand firm. He nearly smashed into the nearby handrail.

Fortunately, his quick-reacting aide supported him from falling. "Sir, are you alright?"

Picking up his hat from the ground, General McClennan burst into curses. "What was that just now? Which idiot is steering the ship?!"

"Maybe it was just turbulence..." Facing McClennan's roar, the aide stammered.

However, before he could finish, a soldier hurried into the bridge, reporting anxiously, "General, it seems something got tangled in our right turbine!"

"Send someone to fix it immediately!" McClennan barked.

"Yes, sir!" The soldier snapped to attention and hurried away.

McClennan continued to swear as he returned to his position.

His fellow officers glanced at each other, shutting their mouths tightly, afraid to draw his ire.

No deflection shields were triggered, indicating the impact was low. It was probably just a bird... The issues shouldn’t be too serious, but to be fair, it wasn’t a good sign they could be thrown around so easily as well.

"The guy I sent over in the ground forces... What's his name? Was he called Herrick or something? Any news from him?”

Hearing the captain's question, the nearby office quickly replied, "Not yet, but his last report said he had locked down that merchant convoy... We should hear something soon."

General McClennan's mood slightly improved.

Capturing the employee of the Enterprise and dealing with the reinforcements they sent would solve the problems one by one, and he could finally find time for his own affairs.

As the Heart of Steel was busy checking for faults, 150 kilometers away, Chu Guang stared bewilderedly at the VM he was wearing.

Heeh? What the hell?

It had full signal before as he was peeking at whatever scene was playing out in Katin Station...

Why is it gone now?!