120: Chapter 120 The Tramplers

The next morning, the northern defense line of Coastal City.

The gray radiation fog hadn't dissipated yet. In the trenches, players were gathered around a bonfire, roasting Ork hind leg meat cut from the battlefield the previous night.

“Awooo—WAAAAAGH!!!”

The world-shaking roar of Orks tore through the morning silence without warning.

“Crap!”

Black Tiger A-Fu was still holding a skewer of roasted meat.

“Don't these beasts sleep in today? Clocking in for work this early?”

He shoved the skewer of weird-smelling Ork meat into his mouth in a few bites, chewed haphazardly, and swallowed it.

Then, he stood up, raised his binoculars, and looked toward the distant wasteland.

With one look, A Fu's scalp instantly went numb.

On the distant horizon, it was no longer just a simple infantry charge.

In the center were dense rows of Mekboy Heavy Artillery, welded with rusty spikes.

On the flanks were Ork Speed Freaks, kicking up clouds of yellow sand and honking their horns frantically.

And what felt most despairing were the dozen or so massive objects towering behind these armored units like mobile metal fortresses!

Those were Gorkanauts, over ten meters tall!

In the gaps of this forest of steel were countless Ork Boyz.

And that wasn't all.

A noisy engine roar came from the sky as a large number of rickety helicopters piloted by Gretchin, along with propeller planes that looked like they were hand-crafted from scrap metal yesterday, swarmed in like locusts.

“Holy cow! This is a full-scale assault!”

A Fu put away his binoculars and roared in the trench:

“Brothers! Is everyone freaking online? Stop leeching AFK experience! Wake up, a tough battle is here!”

Then, A Fu immediately tapped the pv terminal on his wrist and frantically @'d the Air Force Commander on the global public screen:

“[Black Tiger A-Fu]: Brothers! The Orks are here to deliver points early! @ikun True Fan, is your plane in the air yet? Hurry up and carpet-bomb them!”

A reply quickly popped up in the channel.

“[ikun True Fan]: Doing engine maintenance, taking off soon. Don't panic!”

Seeing this reply, A Fu jumped in anger.

“[Black Tiger A-Fu]: Dammit! Come look at the front line yourself and see if I should panic! The enemy pulled out over a dozen Gorkanauts! How are we supposed to play this?”

“[ikun True Fan]: Holy crap? There's such a good thing?!”

ikun's reply didn't contain a hint of fear; instead, it brimmed with an irrepressible ecstasy.

There was a reason for this.

Although the Shelter was currently running a large expansion pack for the Defense of Coastal City, the old basic repeatable task of killing Orks to earn Core Points still counted.

Most importantly, a large number of wealthy players with deep backgrounds and capital from the real Earth had recently flooded in.

To quickly establish an advantage in the game, they were frantically buying Core Points off-market at high prices!

The current exchange rate for Core Points in Huaxia had been hyped up to a staggering ten yuan per point!

Before logging into the game this morning, A Fu had exchanged the five thousand points he had saved over the past half-month for fifty thousand in real-world cash.

When he saw the SMS notification of the bank transfer arrival, A Fu didn't hesitate. He immediately sent a voice message to his balding boss who made him work overtime every day and quit that slave job on the spot!

Under the stimulation of such real-world money...

The enthusiasm of all players to earn points had reached an unprecedented level of fanaticism!

After all, no one would turn down money.

“[ikun True Fan]: Coming, coming! Be there in a sec! Leave some scraps for me!”

A Fu closed the pv terminal and prepared to deploy the defense line.

However.

Before he could even assign positions to the personnel.

“Whoosh—Boom!”

The Ork artillery on the opposite side had no sense of sportsmanship, crossing several kilometers to slam hard into the positions!

“Take cover!” A Fu roared.

Players ducked into the depths of the trenches to avoid being blown into parts by the artillery.

They thought this inaccurate Ork fire wouldn't last long, but the explosions were continuous, pouring down as if ammunition cost nothing.

A Fu was covered in dust from the blasts. In desperation, he could only turn to find the signalman.

“Bailey! Call for heavy fire from the rear! Knock out the enemy's artillery battery!”

Bailey ran over from another trench, his face covered in dust, shaking his head repeatedly:

“A Fu! I just contacted them. The artillery battery in the rear was blown up by an Ork Commando squad! There's no fire support at all now!”

“Huh?”

A Fu was dumbfounded.

“The artillery battery blew up right after the fight started? Why do today's Orks feel like they're on drugs? Their tactics are too clear!”

Just as the position was about to be leveled by artillery fire...

From the sky above, the scream of jet engines belonging to the players finally arrived!

ikun's flight formation arrived overhead and began raining fire down on the Ork armor on the ground.

ikun sat in front of the bomber's bomb bay, looking through the glass at the dense sea of Orks below.

Suddenly, his gaze was fixed on a colossal figure that stood out from the crowd.

“Holy crap!”

ikun shouted in the channel.

“The Orks have a super-large unit! It's as tall as a building! Suspected Titan!”

The player piloting a jet fighter, Elbow-Strike Helicopter, immediately lowered his altitude to confirm:

“Target confirmed! It's an Ork Titan unit—a stompa! Its armor is too thick; our autocannons and aerial bombs don't seem to be doing anything to it!”

ikun made a split-second decision:

“Prioritize clearing the tanks and artillery on the ground! Ignore the Titan; wait for the Scourge Legion's heavy ground units to arrive and let them handle it!”

Meanwhile, the Ork helicopter formation also flanked them like a swarm of flies.

An aerial battle broke out.

Although the Ork helicopters were slow and lacked maneuverability, they had the advantage of sheer numbers.

The players' fighters began to dance with them in the clouds.

Because of the aerial harassment, the three heavy bombers carrying white phosphorus bombs didn't dare to penetrate the densest core area of the Orks for now, only bombing the peripheral zones.

The effect of fire suppression was greatly reduced.

Consequently, the pressure on the ground troops increased exponentially.

The Ork army surged forward in overwhelming numbers, with heavy machine guns and homemade cannons constantly roaring.

Whether it was the players or the struggling Defense Force, the fire networks were pushed to their limits.

The battle grew more intense, and many strong Ork Bosses had already jumped into the trenches, starting a brutal melee.

...

At this moment, in the middle of the battle line.

A terrifying metal beast, dozens of meters tall and looking like a mobile mountain of junk, forced its way through the green smoke of the battlefield.

Its body was bristling with numerous cannon barrels and crude missile launchers.

On its front torso, a thick piece of starship armor plate was welded. With every step it took, the ground shook violently.

An Ork Titan!

The acting Commander of the Defense Force, Astra Militarum Political Commissar Arthas, was watching this scene through binoculars.

“ completion.”

A hint of despair flashed in the eyes of this usually cold and blooded Political Commissar.

“Boom—!!!”

All the cannons on the stompa fired simultaneously!

Amidst the deafening roars, the Defense Force's battle line was instantly torn open with a massive gap!

The few remaining Defense Force anti-tank guns hit the stompa's thick armor without even leaving a dent, bouncing off directly.

Combined with the Fat General being decapitated and the command system being paralyzed...

Facing a terrifying God-Machine of this level, the Defense Force's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

Soldiers threw down their weapons and began a massive rout.

Arthas remained silent for a long time.

He knew that this defense line, which had cost countless lives, could no longer be held.

“Give the order!”

Arthas gritted his teeth and issued the retreat order,

“Retreat across the entire line! Fall back to the outskirts of Coastal City and rebuild the defense line relying on the city walls!”

After giving the order, Arthas turned and walked toward a jeep.

The battle situation had reached a critical moment of life and death.

With the front line collapsing, he had to find the Governor immediately.

Only the Governor's presence could utilize the authority of the Governors Mansion to barely boost the morale of the routed troops;

More importantly, they had to use the Governors Mansion's interstellar communication array to send a distress signal to the Sector Capital!

Otherwise, the fall of Coastal City was only a matter of time.

The jeep sped through the chaotic streets and soon arrived at the Governors Mansion located at the top of the Hive City.

Arthas strode through the gates of the Governors Mansion.

However, he keenly sensed something was wrong.

Those well-equipped, usually arrogant Praetorian Guards on the perimeter of the Governors Mansion were all gone!

The hall was in a state of mess.

“Could the Governors Mansion have been taken out by Orks who snuck into the city?”

An ominous premonition rose in Arthas's heart.

He pulled out his Bolter, quickened his pace, and rushed up the spiral staircase directly toward the Governor's luxurious office on the top floor.

“Bang!”

Arthas kicked open the ornate gold-plated door of the office.

After seeing the scene inside, Arthas's gaze instantly turned cold to the extreme.

There was no Ork attack.

Several trusted guards were sweating profusely as they frantically moved crates of gold, jewelry, and bearer bonds toward the passage connecting to the rooftop helipad.

On the helipad, a high-speed Shuttle filled with fuel had already started its engines.

And that pig-like fat Governor was dressed in plain clothes, standing in front of a safe, urging his subordinates to hurry up and pack.

Seeing the Political Commissar barge in with a gun, the Governor only glanced at him and continued directing the moving indifferently.

“Your Excellency, Governor.”

Arthas's voice sounded as if it were blowing in from an icy wasteland.

“The soldiers at the front are bleeding and dying. Are you dressed like this to desert?”

The Governor stopped his movements. There was no trace of shame on his fat face; instead, he spread his hands righteously.

“The situation is already beyond salvation, Political Commissar.”

The Governor sighed and advised hypocritically,

“The Ork Titans are out; there's no need to throw your life away here. You're a talent. If you're willing, you can board my Shuttle and come with me.”

“Abandoning two hundred million citizens to flee in the face of the enemy.”

Arthas's knuckles turned white as he gripped his gun.

“Aren't you afraid of being held accountable by the Imperial Adeptus Arbites and the Departmento Munitorum?!”

“Held accountable?”

The Governor laughed as if he had heard some huge joke, the fat on his face trembling.

“I'm going back to the Sector Capital, back to my family's core territory. In this godforsaken remote star system, who would dare hold me accountable? The law is meant to constrain commoners like you, not nobles!”

Arthas fell silent.

He lowered his head, and no one could see his expression under his peaked cap.

The guards sensed the terrifying killing intent emanating from the Political Commissar. They stopped moving and pulled out their lasguns, aiming warily at Arthas.

The Governor waved his hand and smiled confidently:

“Relax, the Political Commissar is a smart man. He knows how to choose...”

However.

Before the Governor could finish his self-righteous sentence.

Arthas suddenly raised his head, his movements fast as lightning!

Without any unnecessary words, he raised his wrist and aimed directly at the Governor's fat head!

“Bang!”

The Bolter roared!

The large-caliber explosive round drilled precisely into the center of the Governor's forehead and then exploded violently inside the cranial cavity!

The Governor's head was like a ripe watermelon, blown into a spray of flying flesh and blood.

The bloated, headless corpse wobbled for a moment before crashing heavily onto the scattered gold with a thud.

The group of elite guards was completely stunned.

They held their guns, frozen in place, their minds blank.

For a moment, no one knew what to do next.

An Imperial Astra Militarum Political Commissar had actually executed the planetary Governor in public!

Western Fire Seed Shelter.

Since most players who could breathe had taken the expansion pack quest and rushed to the front line, the once-bustling surface camp now appeared exceptionally empty and quiet.

In the vast plaza, only a few scattered farming players were tending to the fields. Even the lifestyle players like Old Eight and Dumpling, who specialized in cooking, had gone to the front.

Under the watchtower, a parasol was opened.

Lin Li had insisted on dragging Stone Man Hong and Iron Man 73, who were busy in the underground lab and production line, up to sit around a wooden tea table.

He called it: enjoying a leisurely wartime afternoon tea.

This time, Lin Li didn't use the crude method of soaking leaves in boiling water common in the wasteland.

Instead, he had somehow found a tea set and started showing off with the ancient Huaxia method of whisking tea.

Lin Li exerted power from his wrist, using a Tea Whisk to rapidly strike inside a black-glazed tea bowl.

A thick and delicate layer of white foam gradually rose to the surface of the tea.

He pushed the two prepared bowls of tea in front of Hong and 73.

Hong picked up the tea bowl expressionlessly and drank it in one gulp.

“The physical mouthfeel created by the dense bubbles is quite decent.”

Stone Man Hong gave a very objective and rational evaluation.

On the opposite side, Iron Man 73's optical lenses emitted two red beams, scanning the tea bowl.

Then, it extended a metal finger and silently pushed the cup back.

“Oh, right.”

Lin Li slapped his forehead,

“Forgot that this body of yours doesn't have a digestion module. You can't drink water.”