A few seconds after the screen went dark, a barking sound was heard from the game.
"Ah! SAR dogs! So, they are our teammates here?"
With the sound of barking dogs pawing at the rubble, the German SAR dog I'd seen earlier rescued Emil, who was stuck within.
After being rescued by the dog, Emil saved another German soldier. From him, Emil learned that Karl had taken an airship in which Byron Vondorf fled.
At this point, We were trying to survive.
The gameplay wasn't different from before.
A large spoon is in Emil's hand.
"Like a flash in the dark, it stood out!" Liu thought.
Using the spoon she controlled the character to dig through the tunnel, she couldn't help but admire its utility.
The SAR dogs like a radar helped out by pointing to places where items can be collected. These items, however, don't affect the storyline. They unlock simple achievements.
As I moved forward, I was hit twice no thrice by hidden shells. Although they were clearly visible. But the narrow subsurface passage makes it tricky. These shells are extremely sensitive—barely a touch is enough to trigger them.
Aside from using the spoon to interact with circuits, the controls in this section of the game felt somewhat clunky, which made it more challenging.
After some attempts, We managed to clear a pathway with the spoon.
At that point, the dog beside me got excited.
A cutscene played. It shows two German soldiers fixing a truck in the distance on their toolbox were two sausages and a piece of Pretzel lye bread.
The dog, driven by hunger, bolted past me towards the sausages but got tangled in barbed wire along the way.
Seeing this, Emil rushed over to free the dog from the barbed wire, but by that moment, the truck the German soldiers were repairing began to roll down the hill.
"Oh no, is the dog going to die? He couldn't resist the food, and now he's in danger!" I thought, feeling the tension rise.
This scene reminded me of Underground earlier. I'd seen a flashing cross, and without thinking, tried to dig it up with the spoon, only to get myself killed.
Though I knew the dog was probably safe, I still felt nervous. What if the game didn't follow the usual script?
As the vehicle was about to crash into the dog, the screen went black, and a line of subtitles appeared: "Meanwhile, on the other side..."
The scene shifted to a new location, new time, where the British were preparing to attack Neuve Chappelle, and Freddy was among them.
Due to being understaffed, the British had no choice but to recruit soldiers from the colonies. So, I rushed to the front lines with troops consisting of colonial soldiers.
Although things weren't different from my previous experience, I could sense that the difficulty had increased slightly.
Ultimately, I managed to rescue Emil and a German SAR dog. I cut through the barbed wire and freed Emil from his shackles with pliers. We gripped each other's hands tightly. Who would have thought that, in the chaos of war, we'd have the chance to reunite?
After a brief conversation, Emil told me about Carl.
I realized that Emil and I shared the same goal: stopping Baron von Dorf's army. So, I decided to join him.
When we reached Ypres, we found traces of von Dorf's forces, and it was there that the Germans unleashed chlorine gas on the battlefield for the first time.
Only small dogs can reach the valve to turn off the gas here.
This level was a bit more challenging than the previous one. But compared to other puzzle games, it was still manageable with some thought.
And even if I got stuck, I could always press the prompt button to receive a helpful hint, making the gameplay quite user-friendly.
With Emil and the dog, we easily disabled the machine underground.
Now we were no longer threatened by the gas. Then we followed the soldiers to attack.
But that's when Baron von Dorf's Zeppelin appeared overhead, raining down poison gas bombs.
In the ensuing chaos, Emil and the dog took cover underground, but I was still up top.
Just as I had saved Emil and the dog earlier. Now it was their turn to rescue me.
Using a bone as a lever, they activated the elevator mechanism, allowing me to jump down.
As I looked at Emil and the dog beside me, I saluted and uttered a rare line of dialogue.
"Thank you, my friend."
"You're welcome, we're all good friends here."
Seeing this scene brought a smile to my face, but there wasn't much time to linger.
The chlorine gas continued to spread, and I had to quickly dig a tunnel using Emil's spoon.
Finally, we emerged from the tunnel and began running frantically, the poison gas closing in.
Then, out of nowhere, the sound of a car horn broke through the tension. A blonde woman driving toward us shouted urgently.
The next moment, the game cuts to a cinematic.
[My name is Anna, a Belgian student living in Paris, determined to find my missing father.]
[Finally, one day fate smiled at me: we were heading in the same direction.]
[But near Neville St. Vastor, we were spotted by the German army.]
All the main characters of the game had already appeared.
The French soldiers were captured, including Emil, the German soldier Karl, Freddie who sought revenge, myself (Anna) searching for my father, and a search and rescue dog.
Three men, one woman, and one dog—these are the four main characters in this game.
"Ah! This game even has a driving level! I feel so much like Anna right now!"
In front of the computer, my eyes lit up when I saw this level.
Driving? Now that's something I'm familiar with!
With the background music of Hungarian Dance No. 5, a taxi under the moonlight was racing wildly, adding a humorous twist to the game.
Even more thrilling, cannonballs and planes were strafing the road, making the entire journey chaotic yet exciting.
Although I kept hitting obstacles, the game stayed fun, even when it felt like I was barely dodging bombs.
The car was pristine at first, but after enduring a barrage of artillery, the roof was wrecked, the engine was smoking, and the license plate was bent.
Fortunately, I made it through the level unscathed in the end.
"Who says women can't drive? I passed my driving test's second stage just two days ago! The coaches even said I have talent!"
I joked, smiling at the camera as the barrage of comments filled my livestream.
By far, this was the funniest scene in the game.
Everyone in the livestream was laughing and joining in on the fun:
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"Coach: I definitely didn't say that!"
"To be fair, you're pretty talented at driving; you passed the second test after six attempts!"
"Imagine if you swapped Hungarian Dance No. 5 with Flight of the Bumblebee—how chaotic would that be?"
"You're evil!"
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But the laughter didn't last long.
In the last moments, a shell hit the car, blasting Freddie out.