A Mob Against a Mob

Just as Ruan Wenbo and the other Players were gathered around the virtual shop panel, drooling over the powerful but expensive war machines inside, a dazzling red laser beam shot over their heads with a whoosh, instantly setting something in the distance ablaze.

"Open fire!"

"Enemy attack!"

The Players in the trench reflexively scattered, hurriedly grabbing their Lasguns and cautiously peeking over the trench's edge. However, they were quickly disappointed to find that they could not see anything.

The Underhive's terrain was as complex as a maze. Their stretch of trench happened to have its view blocked by the corner of a massive building, and they could only see that the laser had fired at somewhere beyond their line of sight.

"What's going on? Are the enemies here?" Ruan Wenbo shouted toward the high ground as he raised his gun.

However, the Players above gave no response. His shout echoed through the empty ruins a few times before fading away. Ruan Wenbo quickly realized that they were too far apart, and amid the noise of the battlefield, the others could not hear what he was saying at all.

He casually pointed at a new Player beside him. "You! Go up there and ask what happened and why they opened fire!"

"Yes!" The Player accepted the order, immediately scrambling up the slope beside the trench on all fours and running toward the high ground.

Ruan Wenbo turned his gaze back to the front, even though he still could not see anything.

I should've picked a spot with a better view... he thought regretfully. He had been too careless. Only now that the fighting had started did he realize this game had no convenient god's-eye view or instant communication.

Soon, a Player came running over, panting heavily. He even awkwardly performed an Imperial Eagle Salute over his chest like an NPC. "Reporting to the Company Commander..."

"Hold on." Ruan Wenbo interrupted him and looked him over in confusion. "Who are you?"

This Player's ID, appearance, and voice were all completely different from the one Ruan Wenbo had sent out earlier.

"Oh, our Squad Leader sent me," the Player explained awkwardly, scratching his head. "After our Squad Leader fired, he realized he probably should send someone to report the situation to you, so he hurriedly had me come over."

"..." Ruan Wenbo was briefly speechless. This command structure really is casual as hell. "Fine. At least someone came. Talk. Who are the enemy? How many are there? What units do they have? How far are they from the main defensive position?"

"The enemy are Cultists!" the Player answered the first question with absolute certainty, then got stuck. "Their numbers... uh, a lot. Units... hmm, I kind of forgot, but there probably aren't any elite troops. They're all dressed in rags. As for their distance from our first line of defense... well, they're still pretty far away."

After hearing this, Ruan Wenbo felt a headache coming on.

How many was "a lot"? What did "dressed in rags" mean in terms of equipment? And how far was "pretty far away"? How was he supposed to command anything with intelligence this vague? Perhaps the only thing worth being grateful for was that the enemy was relatively far away, so they still had time to react.

Just then, the Player Ruan Wenbo had originally sent out came huffing and puffing back. "Reporting to the Company Commander..."

"The enemy are Cultists, their numbers are unknown, their equipment is shabby, and they're far away?" Ruan Wenbo said weakly before he could continue.

"Uh... yes." The Player stared at him in astonishment. "Company Commander, how did you know?"

"...After this battle, I'm definitely setting up a dedicated communications officer position." Ruan Wenbo rubbed his temples and muttered to the air. "System, will communications officers receive merit rewards?"

[Anyone who contributes to victory in war will receive corresponding merit.]

A cold mechanical voice sounded directly in his mind.

"Damn, I just asked casually, and it can actually answer?" Ruan Wenbo jumped. "Are the devs spying on us?"

This time, the system gave him no response.

Nor did he have the chance to ask another question. A ball of energy flickering with ominous purple light came screaming in, landing precisely beside him!

Boom!

The Psyker Missile exploded, and the massive shockwave instantly tore a Player beside him into ash scattered through the air. Although the Player's body reassembled and recovered in a flash of light the next second, the sudden sight still scared Ruan Wenbo and the Players around him badly.

Ruan Wenbo abruptly looked up and was immediately horrified.

At some point, a large group of ragged Cultists wielding crude weapons had already charged up to the first line of defense!

"What the hell?!" Ruan Wenbo grew anxious. This was completely unlike the commander scenario he had imagined, where he could fan himself and casually wipe out the enemy fleets with a smile. "Didn't you say they were still some distance away?"

The Assassin, who had been watching the front lines, shouted back, "Company Commander! They seem to have suddenly appeared from another corner! I can't see clearly either; this terrain is too complicated!"

"Then why was Commissar Walter able to give orders in advance during the previous test?" Ruan Wenbo asked instinctively.

"Uh..." The Assassin froze for a moment before answering uncertainly, "Maybe... Commissar Walter deployed scout teams and sentry posts outside ahead of time?"

Although Ruan Wenbo knew there was no mockery in the Assassin's words, his cheeks still burned so fiercely with embarrassment that he felt like he could carve out an entire garden world beneath the trench with his toes.

"...Next time, next time I'll deploy scout teams and sentry posts too!" he said through gritted teeth.

Another Psyker Missile came flying in. The enemy seemed to have identified his position as the commander's, but their aim left much to be desired. This one missed as well, merely blasting a huge patch of dirt beside him into the air.

"Fuck your mother! My bulletproof armor's completely wrecked!" cursed the unlucky Player who had been caught in both explosions. "You got a grudge against me or something?! Fuck, don't let me catch you, you son of a bitch!"

At the same time, the two missiles, with their obvious trajectories, successfully exposed the attacker's location. Following the paths of the shots, the Players saw a Chaos Sorcerer in magnificent robes standing arrogantly atop a ruined platform, seemingly with no intention of hiding.

"Rabble!" Chaos Sorcerer Elias Holmes looked down at the chaotic Astra Militarum below and said disdainfully, "So this so-called Imperial Guard isn't all that impressive after all!"

The Cultists around him immediately began fawning over him. "It's because your wisdom reaches the heavens, my lord! Your strategies are flawless! It'd be the same no matter who came!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Elias laughed triumphantly, though he pretended to be modest as he said, "Don't exaggerate. You all know I'm a very humble person."

Although the other Cultists were filled with contempt for this upstart who had risen to power through the blessings of the Warp, they did not slack off in their expressions or words. Flattery poured from them without end.

Meanwhile, at the Players' position.

"It's too dangerous here!" A Player looked at the arrogant sorcerer and shouted, "Company Commander, hurry up and fall back!"

The other Players immediately caught on and chimed in. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, the leader goes first!"

"Protect the leader! Protect the leader!"

Ruan Wenbo watched the Players scrambling to "protect" him, and for one second, he was touched. Then he realized—these bastards were afraid that if their "Company Commander" died, then if they died, no one would approve the inheritance of the merit they had worked so hard to save up!

Bit, watching everything clearly from within the Warp, could not help sighing. "What a mob!"

Whether it was the attacking Cultists or the defending Players, both sides currently resembled a band of utterly disorganized irregulars.

If it had been an ordinary mortal army, caught in a surprise attack like this amid command errors and a lack of intelligence, they would certainly have been overrun by the Cultists, with no chance to correct their mistakes.

But unfortunately, these Cultists were facing Players. Players always had countless chances and costs for trial and error.

What was more, these were Players under Bit's protection, able to resurrect on the spot in perfect condition.