92: Chapter 92 Nightmare...
"Here it comes again..."
The wind whistled as Li Ming lay on a pile of rubble, silently observing his surroundings.
The sky was gloomy, and even this rugged, desolate place felt full of foreboding.
He sat up. "Zheng-chan?"
"I'm here," Logic's feminine voice replied. "Commander, take note: I wasn't the one who pulled you in this time."
Li Ming immediately sat up. "You mean something went wrong?"
"Yes. However, the good news is that your bracelet still works, and this area is still within the range of your conscious control."
Li Ming looked around. "So? What exactly is this place?"
"It's unclear for now; I need to investigate further. But without a doubt, while there's no overt hostility in this area, there are clear sources of danger. Notably, I haven't detected any moisture here."
"I guess I should be thankful I don't get thirsty in dreams..." Li Ming remarked with a sigh.
"Regardless, it seems we can't escape the dream through death or pain this time," Logic said. "Commander, please be extremely careful and start gathering information for my analysis."
"I understand."
Li Ming closed his eyes and focused his senses.
The bracelet wasn't on his wrist, but because he was in a dream, its functions were still accessible.
As he felt the bracelet's power activate, his senses gradually shifted.
A sense of power returned to his surroundings—it was a body of steel.
The T-34-85 Modified, an improved T-34 from the East. It was refitted with an IS-2 engine and featured an upgraded Commander's cupola and anti-aircraft machine gun, giving it superior overall performance.
"Tank, advance," he whispered to himself.
Somehow, his vision was a third-person view from behind the hull, which could rotate with the turret and even peek around corners in certain situations.
Isn't this just War Thunder?
Though, judging by the situation, it didn't exactly feel like a game.
The engine roared. The IS-2's motor provided surging power, making uphill climbs effortless for the tank.
This area was incredibly... strange, to the point where it didn't seem like a terrain that should exist in reality.
"This area looks like the result of a dried-up seabed," Logic noted. "But I'm not yet sure what could have sucked all the seawater dry."
"If even you don't know, how could I?" Li Ming quipped.
"It's fine, Commander. Continue forward if you can; I'll keep helping you observe the surroundings."
The T-34 continued its advance.
The engine noise often drowned out ambient sounds, so Li Ming occasionally had to stop and kill the engine to check his surroundings.
The Commander's machine gun on the roof swayed left and right as if by magic. Normally, it would require a crewman, but now, one could only say that War Thunder technology was mind-blowing—the gun was operated by thought (in reality, it just followed Li Ming's line of sight).
Finally, Li Ming spotted something new.
Wrecks. Shipwrecks.
As he moved forward, Li Ming saw that it wasn't just one ship, but many of all sizes and types. They lay rusted on the ground, some still covered in the withered remains of dead aquatic plants or organisms.
"Holy... what the hell happened here? Damn it..."
He recognized these things; they were the giant warships that had existed in Earth's history.
"Yamato-class, Bismarck-class, King George V-class... so many ships? This is way beyond a normal naval scale, and..."
The tank wove through the cluster of wrecks. There were not just battleships, but also Destroyers, cruisers... and even some submarines.
Warships from Europe, Asia, and America were all gathered here in this moment.
"Zheng-chan..."
"I'm still here, Commander. I find it hard to imagine what happened, but considering other fictional settings, could this be a united human fleet formed to fight against something?"
"If you put it that way, I feel like I'm in deep trouble," Li Ming remarked.
"This is war, Commander. But this time, I will do my best to help you find a way to wake up... I have already notified Ms. Fujian to put all armed forces on Level Zero combat readiness."
"Thanks, Zheng-chan. But I still feel like something is off..." Stopping in front of a North Carolina-class ship and turning right, Li Ming spotted something strange on a rock.
"Is that... a rigging?"
"It looks like it. Based on its features, it seems to be... Agano-class?"
"The Observer wouldn't have given me false intel, would she? They wouldn't..."
"Calm down, Commander. This is a dream, or at most a parallel dimension."
"Sorry, Zheng-chan..."
"Don't be nervous, Commander. Even if there are enemies, I'll put a highlight box around them for you. Just shoot there."
"666, so a 'little hack' doesn't count as hacking?"
"If I have the talent to cheat, why shouldn't I?"
"In a real game, you'd go through ten sets of parents with that kind of behavior..."
The tank passed the rigging, and then Li Ming felt a change in the wind direction.
Quicksand.
Li Ming braked just in time and steered in a different direction. Suddenly, Logic's warning system began to blare.
"Target, seven o'clock, five hundred!"
The tank's left track locked instantly while the right track surged forward to pivot. Simultaneously, the turret rotated, aiming for the target as fast as possible.
What on earth was that? It looked like a bloated, colossal insect, but it had a metallic shell.
What is this thing?
The barrel was loaded with a Type 56 APCBC shell. Li Ming looked at the creature with a headache, unsure for a moment whether he should fire.
"Wah!"
The creature suddenly opened its mouth and spat something unknown toward the tank.
Clang!
A ringing sound.
Li Ming felt a sting on his face; it must have hit the high-angle slope of the turret side.
"Commander!"
"I know."
Boom!
Amidst fire and dust, an armor-piercing shell shot out from the tank's barrel.
The 85mm shell struck the insect. Its seemingly hard body was instantly pierced, and a large hole exploded out the back, splashing gray, unknown liquid everywhere.
"Damn, that's disgusting." Li Ming didn't have time to worry about his aching face—after all, he didn't have hands right now. "What was that thing?"
"Likely some kind of apocalyptic creature? Undoubtedly, it's related to this area... After such a loud shot, there might be others around. Commander, keep moving. We shouldn't stay here long."
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