Chapter 403.4: The Glory Obtained From Blood

Carrying a heavy machine gun, Piltover Paratrooper approached Midnight Pubg. "The surviving marines will arrive in 20 minutes. We expect a 1,000-man army!"

"Leave them to Brother Mosquito!" Looking up at the airship above, Midnight Pubg took off the silver-white metal cylinder shaped like an oxygen tank from his back, planting it firmly on the ground.

The sharp top aimed directly at the airship above.

Pulling a nylon buckle from the exoskeleton, he hung it on the metal cylinder as the others did the same.

Seeing everyone was ready for lift-off, Midnight Pubg gave a crisp command, "Release!"

With that, a burst of white smoke spread through the camp.

Slender arrows shot into the sky like spears, igniting after taking flight, dragging Devil’s Silk ropes and and slender white smoke towards the belly of the airship

Crossing 400 to 500 meters, those arrows close to the airship barely made it. Just as the arrows touched the airship, the tips exploded instantaneously, driving the steel hooks into the airship's armor.

Pulling the rope to ensure it was secure, Midnight Pubg looked up at the sky and roared. "Offer our hearts to the Administrator!"

"Charge!"

With his roar, the winch inside the canister began to turn, pulling him towards the sky.

He wasn’t alone. A series of figures clad in exoskeletons also took flight, pulled by the ropes towards the sky.

The soldiers on the airship were entangled with the Burning Corps, with no time to attend to those climbers.

Standing on the bridge, General McClennan, who was looking at the ground, went from anxious to shocked, and from shocked to dumbfounded.

These barbarians... They’ve gone mad!

Intense vibrations came from beneath the airship as General McClennan quickly grabbed a nearby handrail, nearly falling over.

The next second, an exoskeleton-clad sergeant rushed in from outside, stammering, “Report! Our landing craft has been occupied by the enemy!"

Before he could finish, another sergeant stumbled in from the corridor outside. "They've taken control of our vehicle storage unit! They've started up the two Scorpions parked there, using the 45mm guns to fire at us! We need reinforcements!"

General McClennan's face paled slightly.

First, their engines were destroyed, then the forward cannon bay was blown up. Their frontline marines also suffered a major defeat.

If seeing Richie's forces bombed had allowed him to maintain some composure, delegating authority to Richie's adjutant to take over command and retreat, that was the limit of what he could bear. Hearing that the enemy had occupied the airship's landing craft finally sparked a hint of panic in his heart that shouldn't be there.

“These barbarians...” His lips twitched, calling them barbarians again and again, as if he could grind those people to dust with his teeth. The adjutant beside him took a deep breath, looking towards the nearby staff officer.

The staff officer understood his look.

After a brief exchange of glances, the staff officer approached General McClennan, speaking softly. "For your safety, sir, I recommend you temporarily retreat."

"Retreat?" General McClennan stared incredulously at his staff officer, and after a struggle with himself, finally relaxed his tense shoulders.

The Heart of Steel may fall, but under no circumstances could the Army's general fall into the hands of those barbarians.

That would be a disgrace to the Army.

Biting his lip, he glanced one last time at the smoke-filled land outside the floor-to-ceiling windows before nodding. "... To the escape pod."

The adjutant breathed a sigh of relief before giving a crisp salute. "Sir!"

...

A long shuttle-shaped craft was launched from the tail of the airship, streaking towards the west like a shooting star.

It went unnoticed by everyone.

The Jungle Corps inside the airship split into two teams, one heading to the front to support their brothers in the Burning Corps, simultaneously flanking their Army’s marines.

The other team, led by Midnight Pubg, followed the covert route mapped out by Battlefield Cheerleader, cutting a swath to the airship's command area, storming into the bridge.

The floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Lucky Valley Municipality was within reach, but the officers there had vanished.

The 10-man squad stationed there was quickly wiped out and Midnight Pubg, carrying a heavy machine gun, walked forward and searched around the bridge while cursing to himself. "Damn, we let them get away..."

“Let them run. At least we've taken this airship." Approaching Midnight Pubg, Piltover Paratrooper took down the flag they had prepared earlier and chuckled, "Come on, let's decorate this big guy."

A nearly five-meter-long banner was hung outside the bridge's floor-to-ceiling window, flapping loudly in the wind. As the Heart of Steel was captured, the Goblin Corps' air force took off from the airport north of Dawn City, swooping towards the retreating marines.

Facing rocket fire and the constant diving of propeller planes, the Army’s marines, already on the brink of collapse, finally crumbled. They lay down their weapons in surrender.

Chu Guang, who was mounted on Neeko, looked up at the distant sky, a smile appearing on his face. "Looks like the rain is stopping..."

Neeko exhaled once, as if responding to him.

In the distance, in the center of the sky covered by dark clouds, a beam of light fell, like a holy sword piercing through the heavy curtain of rain and planting itself on the earth. Faint multicolored lines could be seen through it.

It seemed to be a rainbow.

At the same time, far away at the command post in the western district of Lucky Valley Municipality, Spring Water Commander raised his visor, also seeing that beam of light descending from the clouds.

Just a moment ago, he received reports from the various corps.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The Skeleton Corps, Death Corps, Storm Corps, and three 1,000-man teams composed of mercenaries had completely crushed the Army's remaining resistance and systematically captured members of the Army who had given up resistance.

The Jungle Corps and Burning Corps successfully controlled the Heart of Steel.

Even the mixed 1,000-man team that was made up of Lifestyle Profession players weren’t completely wiped out.

All corps perfectly achieved their final operational objectives.

Although the casualties were heavy, with T2 and T3 corps being wiped out completely, they still won, defeating an almost unbeatable strong opponent.

The land finally welcomed the dawn of peace.

Standing beside him, Kakarot cracked a smile. "The rain stopped just in time."

Spring Water Commander nodded lightly. "Yes..."

"Oh yeah, did we just skip the actual war?” Kakarot teased.

A sheepish smile appeared on Spring Water Commander’s face. "You caught me again... What’s the matter? Are you going to complain?"

"Hahaha, of course not, a win is a win! After all, it's not just the two of us who didn't get a chance to go to the frontline. Isn’t there someone else who didn’t get to go?”

Kakarot laughed heartily, patting his shoulder. "Anyway... Your strategy worked beautifully!"