Chapter 406.1: New Expansion Pack, Free Stuff From The East Coast?

"Watching two marines charging at me, it happened so fast, I slid tackled and swiped my claws at the same time. With two snaps, that man was cleaved in two, along with his armor!"

Beside the campfire and sitting on the ground, Garbage was vividly recounting his heroic exploits on the battlefield. Around him sat a circle of fresh recruits from the Death Corps, all of whom were listening with eyes wide and glowing.

Although the exoskeleton he ordered hadn't arrived yet, it didn't seem to hinder Garbage's ability to talk all the shit he wanted.

"Damn!"

"Big boss is awesome!"

"Awesome indeed, big boss! Can I ride you as a mount next time?"

Garbage brushed his nose with his paw and laughed airily. "Definitely! We’ll go next time!"

Due to various factors including weight, body shape, and his innate debuff, Garbage did not participate in the air raid but joined the frontal charge with the Death Corps.

He was even used as a mount by an old comrade.

Though Garbage initially refused, seeing other Death Claws obediently lying down, he became curious about what it felt like to be ridden and thus complied.

However, even though his body in the game was that of a lizard, his mind was still human, so his combat style continued as if he were human, making his role as a mount rather awkward.

For example, the posture of leaning forward with limbs and tail raised suited his body, but he always resisted straightening up and curling his tail.

It also made it awkward for those riding on his back, forcing them to lie down on him as if they were climbing a rock.

After listening to him brag for a while, Sideline Slacker couldn't help but mock, "You doing a slide tackle was fun, then I got thrown to the ground."

Sitting by, Eye Owe Money laughed and teased, "Speaking of which, why does Garbage always like to slide tackle?"

Irena chimed in with a snide smirk, "Maybe he's envious of what other people has down there and has to slide to see it."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Laughter erupted all around.

Garbage's face flushed, though it wasn't very noticeable.

"It's just... it’s just that I don’t have it due to the game setting! If I did, mine would definitely be bigger than yours!" Garbage eventually choked.

Construction Boy’s eyes lit up. "Yeah, yeah, of course you would. After all, I’ve seen that thing modded in other games before.”

Eye Owe Money gasped. "Bro, what game is it? Lend me the modded version!"

Awakened by the laughter, Neeko, who was napping on the ground, opened one eye and snorted a laugh at the noisy little one.

Too weak.

You don’t even have cool armor like me.

Curling her robust tail, she nestled next to a set of exoskeletons that smelled faintly of blood and shifted her position to continue sleeping.

Having had enough fun, Sideline Slacking sighed, "Sigh... I guess I should still ride my own mount. It feels weird otherwise. Although this guy is a eunuch, at least underneath the skin he's still a guy... Damn it, this is the last time. Next time, you charge on your own."

Garbage couldn't help but retort, "Who the hell insisted on riding me?"

More laughter erupted beside the campfire.

Nearby, at another campfire, Yaya held her stomach and laughed. Teng Teng who sat beside her couldn't help but curl her lips, poking at the fire with a stick.

Dinner was beef stewed with potatoes, both of which were army rations seized from the Army.

The Army and marauders were different; The Army didn’t eat people. At most, they would be made into soap... As such, all the meat in storage could be trusted.

That point was guaranteed by a veteran soldier. The meat was butchered from double-headed cattle seized from merchants and locals.

The next moment, Night Ten staggered over from the airship while carrying a styrofoam box.

His exoskeleton had been replaced with bandages, and his whole state was like a mummy in the middle of construction.

Being able to walk without a cane was a miracle.

"The administrator said this is for us!"

"The administrator's food?!" Yaya dusted off his hands and stood up expectantly, "What is it, what is it?"

Often acting as a taste tester, she was always fed. No one knew better than her what goodies were hidden at the administrator's place.

"Hehe, ice cream! We seized it from the airship!" Night Ten opened the box, handed her one, and then looked at Teng Teng a bit sheepishly, giving her the biggest one he could find.

"Thanks." Teng Teng took it casually.

Although she was only 1.5 meters tall in the game, she wasn’t that short in real life.

Night Ten struggled to find a topic, so he spoke out of nowhere. "Um... Right, where’s my sister? You know... Where’s Jiujiu?"

Teng Teng thought about how to describe what happened, but before she could speak, Yaya blurted, "She's dead... Ah! It was so sudden. I just felt something was off, and a rocket flew over, blowing up the entire wall... Well... She blew up too.”

Biting her ice cream, Teng Teng pressed her temples, muttering softly, "You didn't need to describe it in such detail to her family!”

Night Ten was indeed stunned for a moment, but he didn't seem too sad, just a bit embarrassed as he waved his hands. "No worries, no worries. Sorry for the trouble with the little one."

"No, she's actually very capable and brave, you can trust her more. And speaking of getting Beta access, she must be at least 18 years old, right? Since she's an adult, don't always treat her like a kid." Although she was teasing Night Ten, Teng Teng couldn't help but add a bit more.

Night Ten didn't find her to be naggy, but scratched the back of his head, looking like a student punished to stand in the corner. He looked completely unlike his usual self.

Realizing she was preaching again, Teng Teng stopped and changed the subject. "Speaking of Old White, how come I haven't seen them?"

Night Ten sighed and made a helpless gesture. "They're dead."

Teng Teng and Yaya were both surprised.

"Dead?"

"Old White... I remember he was a professional, right?"

The game had players of all professions, but usually, no one would emphasize it daily; she just vaguely remembered hearing that Old White had been a soldier.

Though he had already changed careers...

"Hey... After playing this game for a few months, who can say they're amateurs?" Night Ten chuckled helplessly, sitting down by the campfire. "And don't underestimate those in black robes. Whether it's their equipment, training, or physique, fighting them is still a bit tricky."

In peacetime, even with maximum training time, they wouldn’t be able to see death looming over their head like in game.

He still remembered Old White telling him not to overestimate their skills or be too confident in it. After all, having the skills to fight was a relative concept.

Throw someone who couldn’t swim into a wild river and they would be considered swimmers if they could flail around a few times and not get swept away.

And even a professionally trained swimming athlete wouldn't dare to boast that no river could kill them.

Such life-and-death battles... It was worth boasting if they lived, but if they didn’t, it wasn’t surprising.

Night Ten felt that it was a miracle that he survived at all.

After reaching LV20, they would have gone through their second awakening. Their genetic sequence would be considered to be of the third stage and since he was a perception type, his combat skills often lagged behind those of the strength, agility, and constitution type.

In the airship, they were fighting in close combat. There was no time to react even if he could feel someone aiming at him! As Yaya said, even with her high perception, she might not be able to avoid the danger she detected.

Before parachuting, Night Ten had never thought he could walk off the airship, especially since his specialty was mid-to-long range sniping.

Sitting in front of the campfire, everyone talked about what happened during the battle, lamenting what should have been done so that their teammates wouldn't have died.

However, no one was too sad about it.

Since they could return to life anyway, for the players, death was not a taboo topic. After all, they would meet again in three days, maybe even faster than going back to base on foot.

Of course...

Everyone tacitly avoided talking about NPCs.

War would inevitably lead to casualties.

Unlike them, those people, once dead, really wouldn’t appear again...

Sitting beside the styrofoam box brought by Night Ten, Eye Owe Money held an ice cream bar in his mouth, his eyes widening in surprise. "Damn, this thing is pretty good! Can I have another one?"

Night Ten made a shooing gesture and snapped at him, "Scram, scram, fuck off! Go offline and order some takeout, this damn thing is a spoil of war! One per person! I still have to distribute it to others."

Standing nearby, also biting an ice cream, Spring Water Commander couldn’t help but sigh, "Damn, they even have ice cream. These big noses live too comfortably..."

Construction Boy chuckled, "What's so special about that? It's in our hands now."

...

The night grew deeper.

Besides the players assigned to patrol, the players lying down in the camp gradually went offline.

And as these players took the battle reports back to another world, the forums were hella lively.

The allocation of battle rewards would be delayed until after the loot had been tallied, but taking down such a large airship, everyone knew it would surely be a significant figure.

The rewards had never disappointed them.

All of them hoped that when the flood of coins came, the value of silver coins wouldn’t drop too hard.

Although the rewards hadn't been credited yet, the battle scores had already been announced.

Naturally, the Burning Corps scored the highest team score.

Their role in destroying the gun bays and capturing the 400mm main cannon was crucial to the outcome of the battle, and with the enemy's long-range firepower completely lost, the New Alliance's artillery managed to support their troops till the end.

As for the title of ‘best pilot’, it belonged to Falling Feather. There was no contest at all. Whether in terms of flying difficulty or mission difficulty, his performance in the campaign was witnessed by all players.

Especially his last extreme deceleration Cobra maneuver to take out the propellers so the Burning Corps could land on the ship... The players weren’t the only ones who were stunned. NPCs on both sides were taken aback.

Of course, along with Unprofessional Retort and the other transport pilots, all of them had honorable mentions. Without their smoky cover, the Burning Corps might have been completely wiped out before they could even open their parachutes.

As for the best commander, there was no suspense. There wasn’t even a contest.

While formulating detailed battle plans along with any unexpected scenario and their countermeasures, completing integrated air and ground command, and maximizing the efficiency of support artillery, Spring Water Commander basically soloed the entire battle plan.

Due to the scale of the battle exceeding 10,000 people, each person performing different tasks and taking different combat positions, the game officials no longer gave out the title of an overall MVP.

Instead, each corps would select their own MVP based on their part of the battle and task completion efficiency to receive extra reward bonuses.

It was similar to the previous battle at Pinewood Forest Valley.

As for the mixed 1,000-man army consisting of Lifestyle Profession players and the NPC corps, it would be determined by the game officials based on their battle score.

Tail: Wow! It’s finally over! The battle was really tough! Although I didn't get the MVP, it's still nice! (*｀)

Roshan: Hey, I was the one working hard, okay! QAQ

Sisi: Oh, Roro, you worked hard, you carried Tail so far... Next time, please remember not to run so fast, we couldn't keep up.

Sesame Paste: Hahaha... Roro was scared, but she’s much better than before.

Since the commander of their corps was acting as the overall commander of the war, it was difficult for him to pay attention to them. Their most capable veteran went to the enemy’s side to play the spy gamemode, and the Storm Corps became a guard company. Their performance was not as prominent as the other corps.

But the results were still remarkable.

Of course, the most dazzling record was undoubtedly held by the Burning Corps.

Landing safely with less than 200 people, facing an enemy 10 times their number who knew the terrain well, managing to kill at least three times their numbers was quite fierce.

Especially when they fought down to the last man.

Their high morale and fighting spirit completely baffled the opponent, and it was exactly for that reason the Jungle Corps was able to complete the rapid assault on the lower cabins of the airship.

After viewing the official battle report and Night Ten's uploaded combat footage, the forum spectators were bubbling in excitement.

Wasn't that much more exciting than a Hollywood blockbuster?!

Of course, there was no avoiding the nitpicking.

This_lord_is_arrogant_what_can_you_do: 500 people only killed 751? Haha, you dare call that an elite army? My uncle was on a mission in the Golden Triangle. They only had four people in a squad and directly took down a village! They killed nearly a thousand and the whole Southeast Asia was terrified! Afterward, the bodies were unclaimed, no one mentioned it again. Those who know, know.

Night Ten: Is your uncle Iron Man or Batman? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Irena: Good thing your uncle went to the Golden Triangle and not Kuwa. Don't say special forces, even Buddha would lose a relic there. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Elf Wang: Tyson would've been turned into a teddy bear. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Mosquito: Brother Light, please, just give Lord Arrogant a qualification, the reservation for players has been hanging for a year! T.T

Old White: What do you want to do with our forum pet? (sidelong smile)

Gale: Brother Light says that little kids shouldn't play this game, wait a bit longer.

Quit Smoking : Hahahahaha.

The forum was filled with a lively atmosphere, unfortunately, This_lord_is_arrogant_what_can_you_do was the same as before. He showed off and disappeared, not giving people a chance to retort.