284: Chapter 284 Aren't you going to do anything about it?

The middle-aged military officer led the group to continue their journey.

Armor crushed the mangled remains of the enemy, but just as their footsteps crossed the scorched earth ahead, a sudden change occurred.

The ground vibrated, and the intact hill on the left suddenly burst apart. Rubble flew as a black behemoth, resembling a cross between a crocodile and a dragon, broke through the wall; it was over 260 meters long.

As if only just noticing this group of tiny humans, a flicker of playful surprise flashed in its vertical pupils, and its massive body came to a nimble halt.

“There's a bunch of little bugs here too. Where are you going?”

As soon as it spoke, Venom, having learned its lesson, moved to prevent them from firing the kind of weapons that could cause it pain.

Venom gave no one a chance to react. A giant claw slammed down from the air with extreme speed, carrying a terrifying wind pressure capable of splitting mountains. More than thirty soldiers beneath it died horribly on the spot before they could even scream.

Then, as if playing Whac-A-Mole, Venom used its two front claws with lightning-fast hand speed to smash them all into pulp. After rummaging around a few times to confirm there were no survivors, it left with satisfaction.

Looking at the Verland aerospace fleet hovering in the sky ahead and the main battlefield below where artillery fire filled the air, the crocodile-dragon-like black behemoth did not hesitate for a second. A deafening roar erupted from its throat, and it kicked off the ground, charging forward like a bolt of black lightning.

“My little brothers, follow me!”

Behind it, the earth trembled continuously as roars rose and fell one after another; these were over a thousand giant monsters of various forms.

This was the Kaiju Legion that Lin Fang had asked the Kaminax Tribe to dispatch.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

The roars of over a thousand ferocious beasts converged, shaking the world until the sky changed color and dust filled the air. Wherever they passed, not a blade of grass remained, and soil and stone melted away.

On the main battlefield,

The area was already charred and devastated. Countless giant craters blasted by powerful weapons covered the earth, and the wreckage of weapons and armor from both sides could be seen everywhere.

Verland's main force was advancing step by step, utilizing the momentum of the Fifth Aerospace Fleet's fire. Watching the Third-Party defense line crumble under the repeated plowing of Orbital Kinetic Cannons, the faces of many soldiers finally showed the smiles of survivors, and their tense nerves relaxed slightly.

Someone wiped the dust and blood from their face and panted heavily: “This company is fucking terrifying. Their missiles are like they have eyes, chasing us down to blow us up. Thank god the fleet arrived!”

Cruel as the evil Third-Party Technology was, it finally showed signs of retreat in the face of Verland's aerospace fleet.

Victory seemed truly within reach.

Everyone thought this hard-fought battle would finally end under the fleet's bombardment.

But at that moment, the earth suddenly began to shake violently.

First, a world-shaking roar pierced through the boom of artillery, followed by the roars of over a thousand beasts, layering upon each other to form a primal sound wave that swept across the entire battlefield.

In the next second, that torrent of giant beasts appeared at the front of the battlefield.

What is that?

Verland's legion was stunned. The soldiers' pupils shrank, and the smiles inside their armor completely froze.

At this time, many Kaminax Kaiju with giant bone wings or wings growing from their ribs had already taken flight, lunging toward the aerospace fleet.

On the ground, the 260-meter-tall Level 6 Black Kaiju led the charge like a moving black mountain. It galloped with incredible speed, and the other giant beasts followed closely behind.

Terrifyingly, that evil company's long-range firepower roared back to life, with dazzling exhaust trails chasing the warships in the sky.

The war was far from over...

Several legion commanders were livid, roaring frantically into the communication channel: “All personnel on alert! Construct a defensive line! We have no retreat, only a fight to the death!”

“Fight for Verland!!”

The roars of the giant beasts shook the heavens, the boom of artillery never ceased, and the smoke of the two great companies continued to drift over the scorched earth.

—

The commotion on the Osialia continent had long since crossed the boundaries of the battlefield, sweeping through every corner of the Pokémon World.

Mysteriously, the military headquarters of various countries were brightly lit, yet they took no action.

Countless natives watched in stunned silence as these two factions engaged in a frenzied war.

One they knew was the previously notorious Third-Party Technology; the other they still knew nothing about.

On the internet, topics regarding Osialia had already seized the top spots on the trending lists of all social platforms. The volume of discussion was growing geometrically, and a vast number of people expressed extreme concern for the safety of their world. They desperately tagged the official accounts of various governments and the Earth Alliance, leaving comment sections filled with anxiety and anger.

The collective demand of everyone could be summarized in one sentence.

“Two madmen are fighting in our world, aren't you going to do something?”

—

One week later, in the real world.

At eight in the morning, the city streets had already begun to grow noisy, with the honking of cars and the chatter of pedestrians intertwining.

In a residential building, a scruffy man typed the final question mark with his fingertips, his eyes bloodshot.

After he hit the enter key, a message saying "It's the eighth day, when will the server be fixed? I'm begging you, hurry up" immediately appeared on the official website of the game “journey”.

Meanwhile, the comment section below the official website was already completely filled with dense text, spanning over a dozen pages without reaching the bottom. With every refresh, hundreds of new questions and pleas appeared in various languages.

“【Happy Little Elf】: It's been eight days! Do you people even have a heart! Do you know how I've spent these eight days? Watching the website every day for news—are you ever going to restore the server?”

“【Waiting for the Wind】: I've been waiting from midnight until dawn. It's the eighth day, and there isn't even a word on maintenance progress. Even if you just lie to us, it would be better!”

“【James's Dog】: I'm going to sue you! I bought a human body and a customized armored vehicle, and I was forced offline before I even started playing! You must compensate me for my losses!”

“【Great Han Empire】: As long as you open the server, I'll do anything! I can't live without ‘journey’ anymore. Other virtual reality games are like shit—blurry graphics, sluggish controls, there's no comparison at all!”

“【A Du Doesn't Eat Fish】: Please, open the server! I don't ask for anything, no compensation, no benefits, I just need to log in and see my character. I really can't hold out much longer. If it doesn't open, I'm going to go crazy!”

“【I Have a Little Windmill】: Great! This game company with no bottom line is finally going bankrupt! It should have died long ago. Look at the garbage game you made; you don't know how to do anything but grab money!”

“...”

During this past week, these players initially thought the server would be maintained quickly. But who knew that after a week, Third-Party Technology would show no movement at all? In the center of the official website, there was still that unchanging line of cold, small text:

“journey” server under maintenance, please stay tuned.

Stay tuned my ass!

We just want to play the game, countless players roared.

Browsing through information online, besides those chaotic messes, the world was the same as before. Third-Party Technology seemed to have settled down. After confirming no announcement about the game had been released, the scruffy man sighed heavily. What was wrong with this game company?

During this week, he had tried playing other games—virtual reality games uploaded by other companies to the Journey Consciousness Helmet platform—but these games felt like they were behind a layer of frosted glass. The graphics were fake, and even the feedback from killing monsters felt flimsy...

They couldn't compare to a single hair of “journey”.

The scruffy man swiped the air, attempting to call up his character panel from “journey,” but naturally, nothing happened.

“I'm doomed, I'm going crazy from not being able to play...”

The scruffy man wiped his face and muttered to himself. After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone and sent a few messages to someone. This was his close friend in the game who had previously joined Third-Party Technology; maybe he had some inside information.

“Eternity Boss, you there? Do you know when ‘journey’ will open? I really can't take it anymore. These eight days have felt like eight years!”

“As long as you can tell me the exact time, I'll do anything...”

“Begging you!”

The other party replied quickly with only a helpless shrug emoji and a sentence:

“Ji Ba, I'm not sure either. Just wait a bit longer. Don't worry, it will definitely open.”

On the other side, far away in the underground Black Watch Base, Chen Feiyu put down his phone after replying, thinking with conviction.

How could his company lose this war...

Because the Mars Plan was suspended, he had returned to his original post. Chen Feiyu could not forget the shocking sight he saw when passing by: on Titan, the areas occupied by the company seemed to have been fully activated. Countless cloning centers, munitions factories, industrial centers...

They formed one torrent of steel after another. The entire company was operating at high speed, and although he was just a small fry, he was also contributing his part.

Stop thinking about it.

Chen Feiyu perked up and hurried along, continuing his work.

—

Location: Verland Company Earth Third Legion Station.

On the large screen of the outer wall at the entrance, a scarlet recruitment notice scrolled repeatedly. The plaza in front was packed with a dense crowd of people; it was noisy yet filled with a sense of suppressed solemnity.

The plaza in front of the screen was packed with a dense crowd, at least ten thousand people.

When word got out that Verland Company was actually starting a large-scale recruitment of soldiers, the entire Earth was in an uproar, with discussions everywhere.

What kind of existence was Verland?

It was a behemoth that could make the Earth government tremble with a single stomp, a super company that controlled interstellar technology and the secrets of longevity. Normally, even wanting to be a janitor for this company required passing through layers of screening—education, background, and physical fitness were all essential. The level of competition was comparable to top-tier universities of the old era.

And now, it had actually opened its doors wide to recruit soldiers in large numbers, and the threshold didn't seem high.

The most widely accepted theory was that Verland Company was conducting a war in the Mist zone in central Australia, a mysterious place that had just appeared.

This was because people had seen Verland Company's aerospace fleets entering that Mist more than once.

The L-Vax Vaccine could extend a human's natural lifespan to five hundred years; it was a miracle drug that countless people dreamed of.

Countless people flocked to the recruitment points set up by the Verland Legion all over the world, the flow of people forming a dark tide.

At the Earth Third Legion Station, the line for registration stretched from the plaza to several blocks away, with no end in sight. In the morning light, the heads of the crowd were packed together, shoulder to shoulder, making even a single step difficult. The air was thick with the smell of sweat and dust.

Some people had been squatting here with their identification since two or three in the morning; some had driven hundreds of kilometers overnight, their eyes showing the fatigue of the journey, yet they had no intention of leaving.

At the front of the crowd, a middle-aged man wearing faded work clothes was looking around nervously, his hands unconsciously clenching until his knuckles turned white from the effort.

His name was Lin Dafang, a man from the Central Continent. Legend had it that his ancestors were coal miners, but by his time, the family had long since declined, leaving not even a speck of coal dust. Now in his early forties, his back was slightly hunched from years of heavy labor on construction sites, and his hands were covered in thick calluses and cracks. His wife had also run away recently, unable to take it anymore.

Lin Dafang had also been depressed for a while, numbing himself with alcohol every day, feeling that life no longer held any hope.

But now, Verland's recruitment notice was like a beam of light, illuminating his dark life.

As long as he joined Verland, the greatest company in the world, his life would be completely changed. If he was lucky, he could even get the L-Vax Vaccine, something he hadn't even dared to think about before.

If he couldn't make something of himself at a hundred years old, what about five hundred? He had to get ahead eventually.

The process of joining Verland was very simple; one only needed to pass through the scanner and blood test at the front of the passage.

The line moved quickly, and soon it was Lin Dafang's turn.

Stepping in front of the scanner, a blue light beam silently swept over Lin Dafang's entire body. His personal information scrolled rapidly across the instrument's screen: name, age, criminal record, no history of major diseases...

In less than three seconds, the green indicator light at the top of the scanner lit up and emitted a crisp beep.

Lin Dafang breathed a sigh of relief, his tense shoulders slumping slightly. Without any delay, he immediately thrust his hand into the blood collection port to the side.

The cold touch of metal made him shiver slightly, followed by a minor stinging pain as a needle as thin as a hair precisely pierced his fingertip, drawing a small blood sample.

The blood sample was quickly sent to the testing instrument next to it, and the progress bar on the screen began to scroll slowly.

A few seconds of silence felt as long as several centuries. Lin Dafang held his breath, not even daring to blink.

Finally, the testing instrument emitted a pleasant beep, and a line of green text popped up on the screen:

【Eligible for Armored Infantry Sequence, please proceed to Sector 7 for contract signing】