NOVPUB
Chapter 90: Art Is About EXPLOSION
When it was close to 11:00 at night, it had been some time since the snow stopped falling.
In the darkness of night, players carried weapons as they were spread out in a long arc through the woods. Some were digging foxholes on the ground with shovels while others were building simple trenches.
"This is so much fun! I just entered the game, but this is already the second team battle!"
"Don't you dare steal my kill later, I want to get a Pentakill!"
"Screw you, I have to stay away from you later. Don't use me to make up your kill count when the time comes."
"Am I that kind of person?!"
"Who knows..."
No one panicked. Everyone was excited and it was as though they had been injected with a stimulant.
What made the game so real was that its atmosphere was just too damn realistic.
Everyone felt like they were really going to war!
The rustling in the woods concealed the whispers of the players.
Fully armed, Chu Guang stood with the sledgehammer propping up the rest of his body as his dark pupils stared towards the north intently.
He was actually making a bet. He was betting on the fact that Hein would side with him due to their interests aligning and would successfully persuade the leader of the Bloodhand Clan to march through the dark and split a part of his forces to the northwestern creek.
Of course, Chu Guang also prepared for the worst. He was fully ready to deal with Hein betraying him and helping his former partners. If that were to happen, he would have to face the Bloodhand Clan head-on.
If that happened, it would be a close and difficult battle.
But he was not worried.
Even if the losses of both sides were even, he would still be at an advantage.
The next moment, a perception type player ran over and reported excitedly to Chu Guang, "Dear Administrator, the people of the Bloodhand Clan have left the camp and are moving in our direction!"
Chu Guang was overjoyed.
However, instead of showing his emotions on his face, he asked a question with a stern expression. "Have we set up the equipment?"
"Yes!"
"Very well. Pass down my order. Every team must act according to plan!"
"Yes!" The player stood at attention with his right fist pressed to his chest and then ran away excitedly.
Thinking of the equipment that had been set up nearby, he shivered in exhilaration.
This is just too damn exciting!
...
North of the Linghu Wetland Park...
A group of people was standing in the dark.
Most of them wore animal skin coats with homemade metal, wood, or leather protective gear tied to vital parts. Blood-red patterns decorated their arms, necks, and faces, and the weapons they carried were even more diverse.
Although they looked like a group of mobs in terms of temperament and garb, their combat effectiveness was, in fact, not as weak as it seemed.
Everyone was an experienced veteran and could be considered an elite of the Bloodhand Clan!
Dressed in heavy armor, Bear, who rode on the back of a rhino with a nose ring while carrying a double-barreled shotgun in his hand, squinted his eyes to gaze at the dark forest.
At the entrance of the forest, a sign with a skull and crossbones was inserted, and on it written in scribbled handwriting was a sign.
[Private Territory! Enter At Your Own Risk]
The corners of his mouth curled up in a playful arc, and Bear cast a glance at the subordinate next to him.
The marauder understood what he wanted and immediately carried the axe forward. He raised his hand and hacked down, splitting the sign in half diagonally.
"Let's bring destruction onto them!"
"Everyone, march!"
Bear let out a hearty laugh and waved his massive palm to signal everyone to advance. He kicked the mutant rhino under him with his heel and moved in front of the team.
The rhino started to move forward with heavy steps. At the same time, the fifty five marauders who were following him also pressed forward under the leadership of the five squad leaders.
At this time, Bear suddenly had an idea. He immediately called his confidant that followed him.
The person he called was Horse, and he had a long face and was about 1.9 meters tall. He was a lot taller than other people, and he was the bravest squad leader amongst his men.
Bear looked down at him and ordered. "You, lead your subordinates to raid the brick kiln by the river in the west. Capture anyone that can be captured. After that, meet me in the south."
Horse clasped his fist in response. "Yes!"
After saying that, the squad leader immediately led his ten subordinates and lurked towards the west without any delay.
Eleven people...
That was more than enough people to raid a camp in the dark.
Then, Bear looked at the rest of his men with a cruel smile on his face.
"We go south."
"We’ll wait for them in front of their gate!"
...
Although the heavy snow had stopped for a while, the cold in the forest did not dissipate. The north wind kept blowing through it, making a rustling sound that made everyone nervous.
Horse did not dare to take the command given by their leader lightly, and was careful to watch out for threats in the forest while moving quickly towards the river to the west.
Fortunately, there was no ambush lying in wait.
Perhaps, as the merchant said, these savage survivors were having their open-air celebration in the camp and didn't even notice that death was approaching.
At the edge of the forest, a swaying campfire could already be seen.
A group of marauders quickened their pace and moved quickly in the direction of the light.
Soon, they found a row of shacks built along the southwest side of the river.
As the doors of the shacks were covered with plastic sheeting, the people inside could not be seen. However, axes and shovels used to dig up the wasteland were left by the door.
In the center of the shacks was a campfire made of stone, and by it still remained some bones that had just been gnawed away.
Looking at the camp in front of him, a cruel smile gradually appeared on Horse's face. He loaded the iron-barreled rifle in his hand and inserted a bayonet into the slot under the barrel.
"We’ll sneak in without making any noise."
"We don't need to fire our guns. Try not to use them."
"If anyone resists, just kill them!"
At the command of their boss, the marauders either equipped their barrels with a bayonet or pulled out the mace, short spear, and other melee weapons from their waist, ready to slaughter the enemy in their sleep.
A group of people approached quietly and entered the camp silently. They tacitly divided into two people per shack, flanking the left and right sides of the door.
Seeing that all the shacks were under control, Horse raised his right fist and made a gesture of action. The group of people acted together immediately and opened the doors of the shacks with bayonets.
What happened next caused all of them to freeze in their tracks.
There was nothing inside.
No... Actually, there was something in every shack.
There was an iron bucket covered with wood tar in every one of them, and Horse’s expression changed the next instant.
"Disperse!" He, who was the first to react, shouted out in a panic.
However, it was still one step too late.
About ten or so flaming projectiles flew from the other side of the river, landing in the camp one after another.
The plastic sheets on the shacks were ignited by the fire and instantly shrank into balls of burning oil droplets, falling into the iron barrels containing wood tar and gunpowder.
Boom!!!
The explosions induced by the chain reaction rang out in the camp one after another. The marauders who had dispersed and escaped had just escaped halfway before they were swallowed by the thick smoke contained in iron flakes and the light of the explosion.
Two marauders were killed on the spot and the remaining nine were heavily wounded!
One of the unlucky ones was lit by the flaming oil that splashed out. He dropped to the ground and rolled frantically, screaming and crying in pain.
His screams became weaker and weaker, and soon completely stopped.
Seeing the miserable appearances of his subordinates, Horse's eyes were bloodshot. He gritted his teeth and roared. "You cowards!"
"Come out and fight me like a man!"
"Cough..." The smoke choked his throat.
Ignoring the bloody wound on his back, he lowered his head and broke out of the thick smoke. Then, he raised the rifle in his hand and continuously fired toward the other side of the river.
Bang, bang, bang!
The flames flickered, and the sound of gunfire was chaotic.
The other marauders also fired back in the direction where the bows and arrows came from. However, after they had fired more than a dozen shots, they couldn't tell if they had hit anything. They just watched more arrows sailing above their heads.
Morale began to falter.
Horse panicked along with his men, and they began to retreat.
Players lying in ambush had already been gearing up eagerly, waiting for the opportunity to kill their enemies.
"They’re retreating! They’re retreating! Hahaha, they’re retreating!!"
"Elite monster spotted! Must be their squad leader!"
"Fuck yeah! Squad leader! Brothers, charge! Let's catch him alive!"
"For the alliance!"
"For the horde!"
"Long live Demacia!"
"For Yaya's mushroom soup!"
The players screamed excitedly while they charged out of the bushes one after another. None of their battle cries were the same.
At the same time, the supporting players on the other side of the river also stopped firing arrows. They took out shovels, axes, and sickles, and waded across the ankle-deep river one after another, cooperating with friendly forces to launch a siege on the enemy and joining the carnage.
They were everywhere!
The sound of gunshots, footsteps, and shouts of killing resounded throughout the battlefield, sweeping through it like a tide under the cover of night. Horse didn't know how many people there were, let alone where they came from.
The marauders, who had just emerged from the fire and rushed into the forest, only knew that they had lost sight of where to go.
Horse pulled his jammed receiver hard, and ejected the jammed cartridge case while screaming loudly at his subordinates. "Retreat! Retreat south!"
A trace of sanity in his heart told Horse that the only way for them to survive was to rendezvous with the large force in the south.
However, were the players stupid? They could also think of the same thing.
The line of defense against a large force was on the south side. If he fled through the burning camp to the north, he still had a chance of survival, but if he ran towards the south, it would almost be the equivalent of rushing into the trenches with only his face as a shield!
Just as Horse and his men were hit head-on, the main force of the Bloodhand Clan that was marching towards the outpost also heard the explosions from the northwest.
"What happened?"
"It seems to have come from the brick kilns by the river..."
"Did... Did something happen to Horse and his men?!"
"It can't be. That's Horse... I once saw him tear a Cruncher apart with my own eyes!"
The marauders looked at each other and whispered softly to each other. Their intuition told them that something wasn't right.
Bear frowned and looked to the northwest, his expression uncertain.
Horse was his confidant, and he knew very well that none of his equipment could make such a noise.
There was only one other possibility...
"Damn it! Everyone, march northwest!" Bear, anxious and angry, kicked the mutant rhino below him and roared again.
"Hurry up!"
"Quick!"
The already dead Badger and Cha were not enough to cause his heart to ache, but if Horse died as well, not only would the Bloodhand Clan suffer severe damage, but his prestige would also plummet.
At this moment, he no longer cared about the formation. The marauders also didn't have the habit of lining up. So, the whole group ended up loosely scattered after they started running.
The other four squad leaders felt that something was wrong, but they wouldn’t dare to comment in a situation like that. They could only bite the bullet and yell at their subordinates to keep up.
At a distance of fewer than six hundred meters, reinforcement came in only a matter of minutes. Even if the forest terrain was not easy to run on, it was still much better than the obstacles in the city.
As they got closer and closer to the flames ahead, all of them could feel the shocking heat, even as they looked at it from a distance.
"Motherfucker! Didn't you all eat?! Go faster!" Bear was furious, cursing and urging his subordinates to speed up after he discovered the fire instead of Horse.
His subordinates were dissatisfied, but they couldn't do anything. Although they hadn't seen the enemy anywhere, they still sprinted with their weapons in their arms.
Bear raised the double-barreled shotgun in his hand and rushed to the front.
However, at this moment, in the muddy ground under the light of the fire, he suddenly saw the faces of people who popped out their heads.
Many pairs of eyes seemed to be glowing a green light, which made him panic for a millisecond.
"Fire!"
There was a sharp shout.
Although he didn't understand the meaning of the shout, his fighting instincts still made him leap off his mount, his big body falling behind the roots of the tree as thick as a snake.
The thunder-like gunfire sounded in an instant the moment he fell. The blazing fire seemed to surround them from all sides, and bullets howled as they were shot through the air like lightning.
Bear was actually terrified by the sudden change in the situation.
For a while, he couldn't tell how many guns there were on the opposite side. He only saw the brothers charging next to him being caught off guard, before falling one after another.
But he didn't know whether they were lying down to dodge the bullets or had already been shot.
"Fuck! We’re being ambushed!"
"I will chop up that Hein when I get back!"
"Let’s... Let's find a way to go back first..."
"Fuck! How many guns do they even have?!"
"Why do I feel like they have at least two machine guns?!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Bear panicked while listening to the frightened voices of those around him.
The mount rushing to their opponents’ position had been shot to death by random gunfire, its body lying motionless by the tree twenty meters away.
Bear didn't dare to check; he didn't dare to use his head to test the enemy's marksmanship.
But when he listened quietly to the whistling sound above his head, he felt that something was wrong.
It was a little difficult to describe.
Some noises didn't sound like gunshots!
In an instant, he recovered his composure and exclaimed in anger, "No! This is not a gunshot! This... This is!"
Bear wanted to say something, but couldn't think of what it was called.
Actually, he was right. It was really not gunshots, but just two rolls of firecrackers made of waste paper, gunpowder, and brick powder.
In the wasteland, people didn't even have enough food to eat; who would have time to play with firecrackers? It was normal that he didn't know what it was called.
However, it had to be said that in the dark environment, lighting up two rolls of firecrackers to confuse the enemy was indeed a genius idea.
Those marauders had been running out of breath and encountered the enemy's attack before they could even spot them. How would they have time to think whether the gunshots were real or not?
Those who were crawling on the ground only felt that two machine guns had been used to deal with them, especially when the people next to them fell down one after another and it was hard to see who was shot. All of them lowered their heads in fright, not daring to check where the shots came from.
By the time the four marauder teams were completely stunned, the players squatting on both ends of the trench had already left the trench.Under the cover of their firecrackers, they left to surround the marauders.
Seeing the figures attempting to flank him, Bear let out an angry roar, "Their people are scattered! Everyone, charge!"
"Get the fuck up, they’re not firing at us! Everyone, charge with me, rush into their trenches, and smash their heads with the stocks of your guns!"
However, even after shouting for a long time, no one listened to him.
The continuous ambushes brought the morale of the marauders to the verge of collapse.
A sudden burst of despair filled Bear’s heart.
Perhaps......
Leaving the city and entering the opponent's territory was a wrong decision from the beginning.
"But Boss... the firepower on the opposite side is too fierce. To charge is no different from suicide!"
"What fucking firepower?! Can't you hear it?! It's fake!" Anger burned in his heart, and Bear almost puked blood.
But he also knew that no matter how loud he was, few people could hear him, and fewer were willing to listen.
Knowing that it was over, he looked to the east and made up his mind. He gave orders to those beside him. "We will die if we wait here. Let's break through to the east!"
Those confidants nodded nervously.
However, just as Bear was about to elaborate on his breakout plan, a piercing roar came from the west.
Bear raised his eyes and saw flames cut through the darkness, pushing countless firecrackers the size of fists towards them.
There was also a burst of presumptuous laughter in the distance.
Although he didn't understand, he did vaguely hear a man's deep voice.
"MUAHAHAHA! Explosion is an art!"
