On the battlefield.
The shock wave of the explosion dispersed the spore cloud that filled the sea of corpses and bones, and a tank nearly ten meters long and three to five meters wide stood tall on the street made of concrete fragments and twisted steel bars!
[Garbage Picker Level 99] squatting behind the explosion-proof shelter widened his eyes in disbelief, rubbing his amber eyes repeatedly with the back of his hands covered with scales.
"Fuck?!"
It was not only him who was shocked, but also Quitting and Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes who were squatting not far away.
"Slime mold tank?!"
"What the hell is this?!"
It was a tank in the literal sense.
It had no turret or tracks, and its all-black, angular body looked quite sci-fi, but the dark red slime mold crawling all over its body and the fat tentacles dragging on the ground made it look like a centipede carrying a turtle shell.
Chu Guang, who was standing upstairs, frowned and stared at the monster that appeared in the drone screen. The officers standing around him also showed surprised expressions on their faces.
"...Is that a human tank?" Vanus swallowed his saliva.
Chu Guang, who was wearing power armor, took off the Gauss rifle on his back and asked casually.
"Have you seen it?"
"...I haven't seen it, but it obviously came from the city center."
Chu Guang didn't say anything, silently aimed, and then pulled the trigger.
The flashing arc flashed in the tuning fork-shaped barrel for a moment, and the "spike" blasted out like lightning, hitting the front armor of the tank.
However——
The armor was intact, but the concrete wall next to it was blasted to pieces, revealing the steel skeleton inside.
Failed to penetrate!
Chu Guang frowned.
This bizarre hit effect gave him a feeling that the "spike" that hit the tank at five times the speed of sound did not leave even a scratch.
It was as if it was bounced off by something the moment it touched the armor!
The reaction of the "tank" also confirmed Chu Guang's guess. The tentacles under the chassis slowly crawled, dragging the fusion of flesh and steel forward.
Only two hundred meters away from the front line!
Chu Guang made a prompt decision and gave an order.
"Anti-aircraft gun position!"
"20mm armor-piercing shells, target enemy tanks--"
"Fire!"
At the same time, the two quadruple anti-aircraft guns deployed in the building on one side quickly lowered their muzzles and fired a round of salvos.
80 20mm armor-piercing incendiary shells formed two orange-yellow fire rains in the air, and the fierce and intertwined firepower instantly pounced on the tank!
The sound of banging came from the dense armor in front and on the upper side. The speed of the "slime mold tank" was obviously slowed down. However, the dense attack like raindrops still failed to work. The shells were all bounced off by the heavy armor and flew randomly on the battlefield.
One of the unfolded shells whizzed into the front of the concrete explosion-proof bunker, and the neck of the garbage man squatting behind the bunker shrank suddenly.
"Oh my god..."
"Isn't the armor of this monster too outrageous?!"
Quit smoking squatting next to it
"It's probably a tank from the pre-war era!" Kuangfeng said solemnly not far away.
Ye Shi swallowed his saliva.
"The peak of combat power in the background board..."
Although it has been exposed to wind and rain for two hundred years and the surface of the armor has slightly weathered, it still does not affect its absolute advantage over modern weapons.
Not to mention the 20mm machine gun.
Even if it was replaced with a modern tank main gun with a penetration depth of 1000m, it would probably be difficult, not to mention the RPG on his back.
No.
It should be said that it must be difficult!
Ye Shi suddenly realized that if we refer to the background setting of "Wasteland OL", the big guy in front is the "modern tank", right?
Like M1 and Leopard 2, in front of it, they are probably not even antiques like the Panzer IV and T-34, at most they are coffin boards like "Renault" and Mark.
Although it has no turret and shield, it does not affect its performance.
The slime mold hidden inside seems to have regarded it as a mobile shelter, using the hard protection of the armor itself to advance towards the player's position.
Although he didn't know what would happen if it approached, Ye Shi didn't want to try it at all.
The fat tentacles dragging under the chassis made him feel physically uncomfortable after reading a lot of learning materials.
"Armor-piercing is useless, we need high-explosive bombs," Old Bai, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, staring at the front of the position, "Look at its chassis!"
Ye Shi subconsciously looked at the slime mold tank, and saw that although the armor was intact, the tentacles under the armor were obviously injured.
Even if it was thrown forward, the speed was not as fast as before.
Obviously, the commander also discovered this. The two quadruple anti-aircraft guns replaced the magazines and quickly fired the second round of salvos!
Dense rain of fire splashed on the side of the slime mold tank, and the flames exploded.
Although the flying shrapnel could not scrape the armor, it scraped off most of the slime mold on the surface and also scratched the flesh and blood hidden under the armor!
The tentacles under the chassis were severely damaged, and many tentacles that did not have time to retract were even directly blown into two pieces.
Losing balance, the slime mold tank suddenly lowered on the left side and lay on the battlefield full of gravel, unable to move.
Leaning out of the explosion-proof shelter and looking ahead, Ye Shi excitedly punched the air and couldn't help cheering.
"Well done!"
It seems that the mother nest that dominates the slime mold is smart, but not completely smart.
Although the heavy "turtle shell" can defend against artillery shells, once it loses power, it can only stare at the unreachable distance.
However, the tank covered with fungus carpet did not sit still and wait for death. A worm-like red fungus block emerged from the alley and crawled towards the armored chassis with black blood flowing, as if it was trying to repair the tentacles that were broken and destroyed.
They are trying to "repair the tracks"!
At the same time, in order to cover the stranded "node creatures", the wave launched a new round of offensive without stopping.
Alien species poured out from the intersections, alleys, and storefronts along the street like a tide, and rushed towards the players' positions.
The beginning of a new round of offensive.
The machine gunners, who had already resupplied, held the water-cooled Maxim guns steady and pulled the trigger.
Tut tut tut——!
The machine guns spewed flames, and the whizzing bullets shot wildly at the surging waves.
Sensing the intention of the worm-like fruiting bodies to repair the slime mold tanks, the anti-aircraft guns continued to use 20mm high-explosive shells to light the ground around the tanks.
Mortar shells fell one after another.
Every flash of fire took away countless alien species.
Under the dense firepower network formed by the players' cooperation, the aggressive alien clusters fell one after another like rice in front of the joint production harvester.
In the face of absolute firepower, the power of an individual is as small as a grain of sand.
Whether it is a crawler or a gnawer, they have become rolling pieces of meat and tofu dregs.
A few Tyrants covered with keratin armor can withstand the 7mm bullets, but when facing the larger caliber 20mm cavalry rifles, or even the concentrated fire of 37mm heavy cavalry rifles, the final outcome is only one - being crushed into pieces by boiling steel.
Crouching behind the explosion-proof bunker, Garbage Jun looked at it with envy for a while.
His claws can't be coordinated like human hands. Others are shooting at targets, but he can only watch from the side.
"Damn it!"
"I want to delete my account and start over!"
Changing the magazine, Ye Shi took the time to tease him.
"Don't, your attributes are so awesome, it's a pity to delete your account and start over."
Besides, there is no way to open a new account.
Some people have consulted Brother Guang before, including "Can I make clones in advance to save resurrection time?" "Can I open a small account?" and a series of questions, but the replies I got were all just two sentences without exception - [Technical conditions do not allow], [I tried, but unfortunately it didn't work].
For such a huge game, the operation team obviously went through a series of careful and rigorous deductions, and after considering various situations, they finally chose to adopt the current settings.
Judging from Brother Guang's activeness in the forum, he should still have a lot of say in the planning team. Even he said it's not okay, then it must be not okay.
Seeing Ye Shi standing and talking without feeling any pain in his waist, Trash rolled his eyes.
"What's the use of the light attribute? You think it's awesome, I'll trade with you!"
Ye Shi said with a grin.
"No, it looks too ugly, and you don't have a little brother, I'll trade with you."
"Get lost!"
You have a little brother.
I don't see you playing a role?
Trash was about to say something back, but at this moment, something strange happened!
I saw a series of black shadows suddenly whizzing over the street in front of me, accompanied by a buzzing sound, passing over the collapsed reinforced concrete wreckage and the overpass, and crashing into the floor where the quadruple anti-aircraft gun was located.
Explosions came one after another from above everyone's heads.
The anti-aircraft gun that was still venting firepower a second ago suddenly stopped.
Junji looked up suddenly, and his amber pupils shrank slightly.
"Sacrifice?!"
No——
It doesn't look like a sacrifice!
Those are lantern-sized fungi, thrown by something unknown. Some fell on the anti-aircraft gun position, and some fell near the front line.
They fell to the ground without saying a word, their bodies first shrank half a circle, and then their bellies swelled rapidly as if a chemical reaction had occurred, and then they suddenly exploded into a gray-green spore cloud.
Although they are not as powerful as sacrifices, they are hard to defend against!
Caught off guard, many players were injured or even killed on the spot!
"Fuck!"
Lao Bai immediately raised his gun and fired a burst of bullets at the top of his head.
Shot by the rifle, several mushroom blocks fell to the ground. Quitting Smoking, who was standing next to him, immediately fell to the ground, but after waiting for a while, he didn't wait for the mushroom block to explode, so he stood up again.
"What is this thing again?!"
"I don't know..." Fang Chang looked solemnly at the mushroom block dripping with black mucus on the ground.
Looking closely, the lantern-shaped mushroom block actually had two half-meter-long flesh wings on both sides, which kept shaking like the wings of a dragonfly.
These two thin wings were obviously not enough to support its two or three kilograms of body, but they were enough to allow it to fine-tune the direction of flight during inertial flight.
Realizing this, Fang Chang's face was moved.
This thing can also correct the trajectory? !
At the same time, in the headquarters, shouts from the anti-aircraft position came from the communication channel.
"We encountered enemy artillery counterattack!"
Chu Guang said calmly.
"How many people are left?"
"Three... No, that one is gone, only me and another teammate are left."
One or two explosions can be heard from time to time in the communication channel. The player who spoke kept panting, and it seemed that he was seriously injured.
The same was true for the anti-aircraft position on the other side.
The unexpected long-range firepower caught the players who were operating the anti-aircraft guns to suppress the slime mold tanks off guard.
The mother nest actually pointed out the "fire support doctrine"?
After listening to their report, Chu Guang immediately sent reinforcements to the anti-aircraft gun position.
At the same time, one of the two hummingbird drones remotely controlled by Xiao Qi was also separated and followed the source of the long-range firepower.
The camera on the screen moved quickly.
Very quickly.
The source of the enemy's firepower was exposed to the people in the command post!
About 800 meters away from the front-line position, there were four trucks parked next to a half-collapsed overpass.
Like the previous tank, the four trucks were also covered with dark red fungal blankets, and the degree of erosion was even more exaggerated than that of the tank. The cargo box that was lifted up was filled with wriggling pieces of meat!
Those lantern-shaped "flying insects" were launched from the cargo box!
Chu Guang noticed that there were constantly gnawers and flesh-red worms crawling into the truck compartment, providing it with organic matter and energy needed for synthesizing organisms in a self-sacrificing way.
As the meat in the compartment squirmed, a long hiccup-like sound was heard, and soon more than 20 "self-destructing flying insects" were shot into the sky, drawing parabolas and hitting the players' positions.
Those flying insects vibrated their wings in the air, looking for their targets.
Chu Guang's eyes were filled with surprise.
Wow.
A suicide drone that automatically corrects its trajectory? !
And it can be produced and launched at the same time!
Looking at the four trucks that kept spewing out aliens, everyone in the command post showed solemn expressions.
"This..."
"Aliens actually have artillery!?"
Even Vanus, who had seen some of the world, was equally surprised at this moment.
Apparently, it was the first time he had seen such an outrageous and strange thing.
"That truck... should be a mobile drone base station in the prosperous era. I remember it seemed to be used in the logistics and distribution industry."
When Vanus was studying at the military academy, he learned a little about the prosperous era, but for an officer, it was not a compulsory course, and he had only heard about it.
Chu Guang stared at the screen with a frown on his face.
"The mutant slime molds dominated by the mother nest have extremely strong 'mimicry' ability. They will imitate us... or other people's fighting methods."
Heya's previous research has confirmed this.
But what surprised him was that those slime molds not only imitated, but even "absorbed" the relics of pre-war civilization in an unexpected way.
From "Plague Knight" to "Plague Tank", without exception, they are the products of this kind of "fusion concept".
What is chilling is that those mutant slime molds not only formed a highly concentrated hive society, but also mastered the ability to discover and solve problems.
Even if these methods seem a little immature!
"Attention, artillery group A, coordinates..., five rounds of artillery fire, dense barrage."
Half of the twelve 88mm mortars were separated and fired at the artillery coordinates set by Chu Guang.
Some shells were intercepted by buildings and hit the building or the viaduct, but many shells fell near the target area.
The sudden artillery attack did not cause substantial damage to the four trucks, but it could not kill the gnawers and flesh-red worms waiting in line to be killed.
The projection speed of the self-destructing flying insects slowed down, and the suppressed anti-aircraft artillery positions restored their firepower.
The other four players carried two machine guns and rushed to the anti-aircraft positions to establish new firepower points. The task changed from suppressing enemy ground units to suppressing self-destructing flying units.
But this alone was not enough.
Under the suppression of artillery fire, a large number of gnawers still rushed to the trucks fearlessly, turning their flesh and blood into artillery shells.
Chu Guang made a decision immediately.
"Artillery A and B groups, correct the artillery coordinates..., Xu Jin's barrage to the southwest, five rounds of artillery fire, clear the obstacles for the ground troops!"
As the order was issued, Chu Guang immediately edited a task and sent it to the front-line position.
Not far below the building.
Lao Bai, who was lying behind the explosion-proof bunker fighting with the aliens, had the VM on his arm vibrating slightly.
A line of light blue pop-up windows appeared.
[Task: Advance under the cover of the barrage and destroy the enemy's artillery position! ]
"New task!"
"Team members! Follow me!"
Lao Bai shouted at the top of his voice, grabbed a few magazines from the ammunition box and inserted them into the exoskeleton, then continued to fire while rushing towards the flank of the position.
Fang Chang, Garbage Jun and other players followed closely, and soon a team of ten came up from behind to take over their defense zone.
Leaving the center of the battlefield, the temperature of the surrounding air dropped by several degrees.
Ye Shi, who had changed to a submachine gun, caught up with Lao Bai.
"What is the new mission?"
Lao Bai said concisely.
"Destroy the enemy artillery position!"
Quiet Smoking, who was following closely with several RPGs on his back, was stunned.
"Artillery?!"
"There are such things among alien species!?"
Fang Chang, Kuang Feng and other old players were not too surprised. After all, they had seen many strange things, so there was nothing to be surprised about.
There are a large number of slime mold alien species, and there are many types. Even the gnawers can distinguish several varieties according to their size, speed, and whether they are luminous.
According to the description of the mutant slime mold in the official setting of "Wasteland OL", it is not strange to have a fruiting body with remote support capabilities.
Lao Bai did not answer Quit Smoking's confusion, but skillfully opened the mission briefing in the VM and shared several pictures taken by drones with the members of the team.
Looking at the four trucks covered with fungus blankets on the screen, Quitting Smoking couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a word.
"Fuck..."
Junk Jun was not nervous at all. When he saw the BOSS appear, his face showed an eager expression.
His claws and muscles were useless in the frontal battlefield, but sneak attacks were different.
BOSS battle!
It was time for him to show his skills!
"How do we get there?"
Lao Bai: "Take the path we found before!"
These days, they have been doing the tasks of the hunter team, and they have already figured out the passages that can be traversed in the surrounding urban area.
Almost at the same time as the voice fell, dozens of shells fell on the street 80 meters away to their right front.
The splashed stones flew into the windows of the buildings on both sides and even fell at the feet of everyone.
Lao Bai's face became serious, and he quickened his pace, gesturing to the team members to follow.
"Fire support is coming!"
"Hurry up!"
Including Garbage, there are a total of ten players, and the cattle and horse team led by Lao Bai almost represents the strongest combat power of the server.
Starting from the flank of the position, the group quickly penetrated to the back of the wave under the cover of the barrage, and rushed towards the enemy's artillery position!
At this moment, fierce gunfire continued on the front of the battlefield.
The aliens rushed up wave after wave, as if they were determined to tear the players' positions into pieces tonight.
The players naturally would not do as these beasts wished. With the support of strong logistics, the fierce firepower did not decrease at all.
Staring at the tank that was anchored in the center of the battlefield for a long time, he lay on the edge behind the explosion-proof bunker and paddled with his brows furrowed.
Suddenly, he had an idea and spoke.
"That tank is probably a node creature! We have to find a way to take it down!"
The gunfire around was like firecrackers.
The construction site boy and the brick, who could barely hear the captain's voice, shouted loudly.
"What? What is a node creature?!"
Debt Big Eyes: "Similar to the 'Decay Knight'! A special evolution that can dominate other nearby fruiting bodies! I saw people discussing it on the official website."
The canyon escaped mole on the same front also shouted.
"Is your information reliable?!"
The edge paddling water shouted: "Unreliable! But these alien species are endless! If we don't get rid of it... I'm afraid we will have to fight them until dawn!"
The mole gave the elf king Fugui next to him a look.
The latter set up the RPG, took a deep breath, turned on the thermal vision, and aimed at the flashing red light in the gray-green fog.
The trigger was pulled.
With a whoosh, the armor-piercing bullet rushed away with a trail of white smoke and hit the armor of the tank!
Sparks exploded!
Large pieces of fungal blankets peeled off!
However, the metal jet of the armor-piercing shell did not penetrate the armor!
The commander of the fountain shouted loudly not far away.
"Don't waste ammunition, I tried it, it doesn't work at all!"
The battlefield guy squatting next to him cursed and added.
"This armor is too damn outrageous!"
Five RPGs didn't smoke!
Even the T-72 is not so hard! ?
He couldn't tell for a moment whether the tank was cheating or the armor-piercing shell was mixed with water.
The battlefield fell into a stalemate.
Just when everyone was at a loss, a piercing scream suddenly came from above.
The sound was like an air defense alarm, and it was approaching rapidly, just like the buzzer hanging on the "Death Scream".
A bad premonition came to my mind, and the edge paddling water suddenly raised his head, his face turned green in an instant, and he blurted out "Fuck".
I saw a propeller plane with a wingspan of nearly ten meters, falling straight down from the roof of a building not far away towards his position.
Irena swallowed her saliva.
"Is that... Mosquito?"
The buzzer was clearly the same model as the "Death Scream" rocket!
He also noticed the situation above his head, and his eyes widened.
Especially when he saw the two thick and large bombs hanging under the belly of the plane, he was instantly shocked.
"What does he want to do?!"
In the harsh noise, the unbridled laughter was faintly heard.
"Hahaha!"
"Your Mosquito Grandpa is here!"
"Fuck - get up!"
The plane rushed down steeply, and the joystick had been pulled to the root of his thigh.
Mosquito, who was sitting in the cabin, held the joystick with both hands, clenched his teeth, and prayed with all his strength.
Perhaps the "Soul of the Machine" heard his piety.
The fuselage and wings shook violently, and the nose of the plane that was falling faster and faster was lifted up miraculously.
Mosquito was delighted, and felt that the blood in his body was boiling.
Not just because of the overload!
But also because of the cheers from the bottom of his heart!
He conquered the sky!
Suppressing the crazy shaking fuselage and the bloodshot eyes, Mosquito used all his strength to keep his consciousness clear. He held the joystick with both hands, looked at the crosshairs painted on the windshield, and approached the outline in the thick fog little by little.
"Head——"
"It's mine!"
At the moment when the crosshairs were aligned, he suddenly pressed the bomb button.
Two 100-kilogram bombs filled with explosives fell from the sky and hit the stranded tank like thunder!
The flames and smoke of the explosion rushed into the sky, dispersing the thick fog and even lifting his plane up a few meters.
Finally, the fuselage was stabilized, and the feeling of overload gradually disappeared.
Taking a moment to glance at the street in flames in the rearview mirror, Mosquito, who was holding the joystick, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"... Fortunately, I chose Agility!"
The propeller began to increase power.
Flying his glider towards a wider airspace.
On the front line.
Hot stones fell like raindrops behind the explosion-proof shelter, and the shock wave of the explosion blew up stones, sand and even corpses, almost burying everyone on the front line.
The mole in the canyon climbed up from the ground with a dry cough, picked up the rifle buried by cement slag, and shook off the dust on it.
"Fuck..."
He paddled on the edge and spit out the sand in his mouth, shaking his dizzy head.
"I thought I was sacrificed."
Outside the explosion-proof shelter, there was a billowing smoke.
In the face of pure power and absolute equivalent, no matter how advanced the armor is, it is useless - not to mention that the center of the explosion occurred at its most vulnerable top.
The shock wave of the explosion blew the slime mold in the armor into pieces, along with the aliens on half a street, and even if the remaining aliens were still alive, they were obviously slow to move because they lost the command of the "node creature".
Looking at the messy battlefield and the aliens who had lost their organization, I swallowed unconsciously.
"... It's over?"
The battlefield guy nodded woodenly.
"It should be..."
Even if the armor can withstand it.
No creature can survive that kind of explosion...
Not far away, there was an explosion in the gray-green fog. Judging from the direction, it should be the enemy's "artillery position".
The "self-destructing flying insects" that continued to harass the front line and the anti-aircraft artillery position finally stopped. I think it was Lao Bai and his team who infiltrated the back of the wave that played a role.
Edgewater could feel that the mother nest probably thought the same as them and set the day of the decisive battle today, so from the beginning they took out their best skills and the momentum of a decisive battle.
But it was obvious that the intensity of the players' resistance exceeded their expectations...
The wave was receding.
It seemed that the offensive tonight would end hastily.
However——
Will the manager let them go just like that?
The whistle of the charge sounded as expected. Edgewater glanced at the VM on his arm and looked at the flashing task pop-up window, feeling happy.
Here it comes!
The final decisive battle!
[Task: Decisive moment! ]
[Objective: Destroy the mother nest on Street 65! ]