36: Chapter 36 Before the Battle

The ground-floor lobby of the Shelter.

Lin Li stood before a pile of weapons and ammunition smelling of engine oil, staring at the closed elevator doors, feeling somewhat uncertain in his heart.

After all, it was a weekday morning; the gravity of real life was immense.

If twenty people could get online, this battle would still be winnable.

The lobby was deathly quiet.

Suddenly.

"Hiss—"

The airtight doors of the incubation pod area slowly slid open to both sides.

Accompanied by a burst of extremely noisy footsteps, sounding like wild dogs fighting for food.

The first batch of five players rushed out, bare-chested.

Then came the second batch, and the third.

"Quick, quick, quick! Those in front, don't block the way! The exoskeleton is mine!"

"Leave a Logging Gun for me! I took three days of sick leave; I have to max out my points today!"

In less than ten minutes.

Fifty-four players stood neatly in front of Lin Li.

This was the entire current closed beta quota for the Shelter.

Not a single one was missing; even Dumpling, who was responsible for cooking, was mixed into the ranks.

Inside fifty-four pairs of eyes, an undisguised eerie green light glowed.

It was a fanatical thirst for loot.

Right now, they looked more like monsters than the actual Orks to the northwest.

Lin Li looked at this grimy group of players whose morale was practically overflowing from the screen, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly.

He nodded inwardly.

These idiots were actually reliable at critical moments.

"Kindlers."

Lin Li's expression was cold and stern as he reached out to pat the pile of brand-new weapon crates beside him, his voice low and powerful.

"Everyone take one Heavy Stubber, collect sixty rounds of ammunition, and grab your melee cold weapons."

He suddenly pointed outside: "Head to the western riverbank positions immediately and prepare to engage the enemy."

"Yes!"

Fifty-four people erupted in a synchronized roar.

They lunged at the weapon crates like hungry tigers pouncing on prey.

After a round of practiced picking and choosing, they stuffed heavy magazines into their waist pouches, slung the Logging Guns over their backs, and rushed out of the camp gates like an unstoppable grey torrent.

Such a large commotion in the camp naturally alerted those in the logistics area.

The fifty new slaves hid timidly behind the wooden sheds, poking their heads out to watch these soldiers, who looked as if they were going to destroy the world, in terror.

Rhine shielded Willow behind her. After comforting the little girl, she bit her lip and walked quickly to Lin Li.

"My Lord." Rhine watched Lin Li checking the halberd in his hand, her voice trembling slightly. "Is... is there some danger?"

Lin Li did not hide it and nodded: "A large-scale Ork tribe is approaching from the west."

Rhine's body gave a violent shudder.

As a native who grew up in the wasteland, she knew all too well what it meant for an Ork tribe to pass through.

It was a doomsday where not a blade of grass remained and no bones were left behind.

But she did not retreat.

"My Lord, I can go to the front line too." Rhine's eyes were red as she clenched her fists tightly. "I may not be strong, but I can help carry ammunition, I can dig trenches. We cannot eat your food for nothing."

Lin Li stopped his movements, turned his head, and looked at her with an extremely cold gaze.

"You don't even know how to fire a gun. Going there would only make you a burden, and I'm not short of cannon fodder to carry ammo."

Lin Li stopped her without mercy.

Although he usually liked to complain, when it came to protecting his own people, he was accustomed to using the coldest words as a cover.

"Your task is to lead those slaves and guard the camp. If the front line cannot be held, I will lock down the elevator. You will have to find your own way to escape for your lives."

Tears welled up in Rhine's eyes, but she forced them back.

She bowed deeply: "Yes, My Lord."

Lin Li turned his head and looked at the surveillance camera.

"73, watch the house."

"Understood, Creator."

Lin Li carried his halberd and stepped into the elevator leading to the second basement level.

He was going to get some real hardware. This tough battle couldn't rely solely on players throwing their lives away.

Lin Li walked quickly back to the elevator and descended directly to the second basement level.

The red warning lights in the main control room were still silently rotating.

The air was filled with an oppressive sense of an impending storm.

He walked straight to the metal storage locker in Room 1 and pulled the door open.

The Civilian Medical Version Auxiliary Rehabilitation Exoskeleton, which he had drawn from the High-Dimensional Roulette, was hanging quietly on its rack.

The silver-white streamlined metal spine and the hydraulic power-assist linkages connecting the limbs glinted with a cold luster under the cool light source.

"Even though it's medical equipment, I'll have to rely on you to deal with the Orks."

Lin Li took off his trench coat, turned around, and pressed his back against the main body of the exoskeleton.

"Beep—Identity confirmed. Neuronal interface in progress."

Accompanied by a faint electronic prompt, the exoskeleton's mechanical buckles automatically closed.

The cold metal fit against his spine, and eight hydraulic linkages quickly locked onto the joints of his limbs.

A slight tingling sensation of electric current spread from the back of his neck to his entire body.

Lin Li flexed his wrists.

"Hiss—"

An extremely faint sound of hydraulic venting hissed.

He felt his body suddenly become as light as a feather.

His originally heavy torso was now filled with a terrifying explosive power that seemed capable of punching through steel plates.

He gripped the refined steel halberd with one hand.

In his hand now, it felt as light as a toothpick.

"Five hundred kilograms of load assistance, twice the neural reaction speed."

Lin Li twisted his neck with satisfaction, his joints letting out crisp pops.

He casually grabbed a large tactical cloak to drape over himself, covering the exoskeleton's reflections and leaving only his cold face exposed.

"Let's go. Time to meet those Orks."

Lin Li stepped out of the elevator, the exoskeleton making heavy thuds as it supported him on the ground.

Rhine immediately came forward to meet him.

"My Lord, I..."

"Watch the camp. If the Orks really break through the line, don't hesitate—take the people and run east. Run as far as you can," Lin Li reminded her again in a calm tone.

Rhine bit her lip and nodded heavily.

Just as Lin Li was about to turn toward the dry riverbed defense line three kilometers away.

Within the wind and sand on the outskirts of the camp, a group of people suddenly appeared in the shadows.

They carried no torches, moving like a pack of coyotes prowling in the night.

There were about thirty of them, all holding weapons.

Lin Li stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing slightly.

His hand on the halberd tightened.

At a time like this, besides those players who loved to watch the world burn, who else would be running here?

A few seconds later, the group emerged from the cover of the wind and sand.

The leader wore a tattered jacket and had an extremely deceptive, honest-looking face.

It was Black Rat from the Mountain Tribe.

Behind him followed over thirty fully armed elites of the tribe.

Though these people looked thin and sallow, their eyes held the ferocity of those who had seen blood for years on the wasteland.

"Lord Liming. We meet again."

Black Rat stopped at a distance of over ten meters.

He glanced at the empty camp, then at Lin Li's oppressive attire, and squeezed out a sycophantic dry laugh.

Lin Li looked at him expressionlessly.

"Coming here at a time like this."

Lin Li's voice sounded extremely cold in the night wind, carrying an undisguised mockery.

"Black Rat, your leader didn't send you here to wait for us to die so you could conveniently scavenge the remains, did he?"

These words were like a sharp knife, directly piercing Black Rat's filthiest internal calculations.

The dry laugh on Black Rat's face instantly froze.

He indeed came to scavenge.

The Mountain Tribe's scouts had discovered the Orks' large-scale movement half an hour ago.

The leader Ockham keenly realized that the Orks' target was precisely this newly established mysterious camp.

Ockham immediately sent Black Rat and his men over.

Their plan was perfect: wait for this group of outsiders and the Orks to fight until both sides were wounded, or even until the outsiders were slaughtered, and then they could reap the benefits.

Whether it was the fine weapons in the outsiders' hands or the scrap metal left by the Orks, it would be a windfall.

On the wasteland, people with good intentions had long since become bleached bones in the sand.

But Black Rat never expected that just as they reached the edge of the camp, they would be caught red-handed.

Furthermore, those soldiers in the camp who looked like lunatics were all gone.

"My Lord... you must be joking, how could that be?"

Black Rat braced himself and rubbed his hands awkwardly, trying to hide his inner panic.

"Our leader heard that the Orks to the northwest were moving and specifically sent us to help. Since we've signed a trade agreement, we are friends."

"Help?"

Lin Li sneered. He knew the nature of these hyenas all too well.

If he showed weakness now, those thirty guns would immediately be aimed at his head.

"Fine, since we're friends, I won't be polite."

Lin Li raised his halberd and strode up to Black Rat.

The exoskeleton was hidden under his cloak, but with every step he took, the ground let out an extremely heavy thud.

That tangible killing intent pressed down so hard that Black Rat didn't even dare to look him in the eye.

"My soldiers have already gone to the front line to construct positions. You've come at the perfect time."

Lin Li looked down at Black Rat, his tone brook no argument. "Follow me to the front line. Let me see the sincerity of your Mountain Tribe."

Black Rat swallowed with great difficulty.

He wanted to refuse.

Go to the front line to face two hundred frenzied Orks? How was that different from suicide?

But he didn't dare say no.

Instinct told him that if he dared to take half a step back, the halberd in this man's hand would slice his head off in an instant.

"Yes... yes, we are at your service, My Lord." Black Rat gritted his teeth, feeling as miserable as if he had swallowed a dead fly.

Lin Li turned and led the way into the western night.

The thirty-plus scavengers of the Mountain Tribe followed behind like escorted prisoners, bracing themselves.

It wasn't that they didn't dare to move; it was simply that the pressure Lin Li exerted was too great.

Lin Li was already tall, and wearing the exoskeleton made him look even more robust.

Add to that the metal halberd he carried as easily as a toothpick, and they could only obediently accept their fate.

Long-term subservience had caused them to lose their resistance when facing a powerful opponent.