The Shame of Frostplate 066

Liu Wenzhong led his soldiers to set up camp in the abandoned factory, while reporting his situation to headquarters and, incidentally, also informing Andre Mercenary Security Group.

Like other countries on Terra, Yanxia employs professional military personnel provided by security companies, especially for pioneering work like this, where a deployment can last for more than ten years. If they use their own people as conscripts, it would be too painful if something went wrong. It is more cost-effective to use contract soldiers.

As mercenary contract soldiers, Liu Wenzhong and others signed 15-year service contracts with Yanxia. They could bring their own weapons or choose weapons provided by the Yanxia military, but there were no regulations regarding their specific service locations.

As a professional contract soldier, Liu Wenzhong is quite worried about the current situation. Although he and his team are carrying out missions in the game, he feels that they are being taken advantage of in terms of working hours and actual content.

While his soldiers were modifying the facilities, Liu Wenzhong pulled over a few military managers to discuss some practical matters.

"Don't you all think that Qiqiao Network, Yanxia, no, I should say, and all the major member states in the Federation are a bit strange?"

Liu Wenzhong made his point clear, and after observing the expressions on everyone's faces, he said:

"It's just a game world, but the Federation is being extremely cautious. Even the official authorities, who can manipulate game data, only provided a small amount of equipment for weapons, which the testers had to buy themselves—as if they were afraid of causing any harm to their native civilization."

"After all, it's Electronic Immigrants. Would you drop a nuclear bomb on your own territory?" Staff Officer Chris An said dismissively, "We don't need to worry about that. The big shots above will take care of it."

"No, I'm talking about a more practical issue." Liu Wenzhong tapped the table. "Shouldn't the time we spend working in the game also be counted as working hours?"

"Oh?" Lieutenant Zhao Xingzhe raised an eyebrow. "You want to stall for as long as possible, so the Federation will have to spend an extra day, right?"

"Anyway, the group takes the lion's share, and we've also put in the work, so it's only right that we fight directly on the battlefield."

There's not much controversy about this issue; everyone's just trying to make a living. At most, it'll involve the corporation and the federal government negotiating a bit more. But the next issue to be discussed is more serious.

"We still have too few members." Liu Wenzhong rubbed his temples and said, "Although our combat skills and tactical level have an absolute advantage over the Frostplate Citizen, we can only play the role of firefighters for now. Remember, each of us can only die three times. After three deaths, we will not be able to log in to the game today. In terms of in-game time, we will have to wait a full month. By then, the pizzas in the oven will be cold."

"We need manpower on the front lines, but let's not forget that the characters we control also have their own lives and families." A soldier player rubbed his eyes. "According to the country's orders, we should contact our 'family' from time to time to maintain our relationships. Otherwise, we won't have enough manpower for the battle."

"That's why we need a mercenary group license. We need to recruit some local lads from the Grand Territory to join us and do some logistical work and such."

"You just said you didn't trust Li Aoz, but now you're trusting the residents of Grand?"

"That's different." Liu Wenzhong tapped the table. "Didn't you guys read the intelligence? Li Aoz is a Frostplate Citizen. He only supports the independence of the Grantian because he opposes the Frostplate- Dalite government."

"You mean?"

"I haven't watched the promotional video, but you can all use your brains to think about it," Liu Wenzhong reminded him. "Intelligence shows that Li Aoz was persecuted and framed by the Frostplate authorities and forced to flee the country. After he destroyed the Nethermark Humanity, Sky Ring immediately asked the GTB to investigate, Red Arrow immediately decided to raise interest rates, and Zhengxu even provided military aid to Grand—don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers immediately understood.

"Granite's independence might indeed have been aided by the other three powers." The adjutant pondered for a moment. "Is that why you want to keep your distance from Li Aoz?"

"The game developers are thinking about the players, but we can't. Our primary task is to maintain the security of the Electronic Immigrants zone while also maintaining friendly relations with the native inhabitants of the virtual world."

Liu Wenzhong said earnestly:

"Stability is the most important thing. Immigrants don't fight and kill. I find Li Aoz very strange. How could someone with only a vocational school education know how to package a persona and market himself, and even support the independence of a Colonies while being wanted globally?"

Li Aoz's personal charm is undoubtedly strong, but charm mainly comes from a person's first impression.

Liu Wenzhong deliberately avoided watching the game company's promotional video in order to maintain an objective and independent line of thinking.

In fact, he did guess part of it correctly, and his reasoning was logical. Li Aoz did receive support and assistance from other countries, but it was Li Aoz who fought for it himself.

Liu Wenzhong's calm analysis prompted some military players who had watched the promotional video to reflect on the issue.

"You're right. It's best to keep a distance before confirming Li Aoz's background." Chris An thought for a moment and then added, "However, we do need to level up. Our warriors don't have their own Main Class right now. They don't have prosthetics, skills, or specializations. If we go to war again, we'll be at a huge disadvantage. If we could get the supernatural abilities that Li Aoz can provide, it might greatly supplement our Combat Power."

Although they had some differing opinions, they reached a consensus on this point.

Liu Wenzhong said, "We still need to make contact. I have already sent people to search for Li Aoz... However, we have not yet seen Li Aoz's true strength. Humans are humans, and they have individual limits. We should not have too many illusions."

Every organization or team needs people at the top to give advice and people at the bottom to do all the work.

Wa Liangke, Yakesi, and Mohad Lin were sent to find Li Aoz. Logically, with the NPC's location provided by the testers, they should have found Li Aoz quickly, right? —Indeed, they found it quickly. Every time they found the location where Li Aoz last appeared, he would instantly fly dozens of kilometers away. When they chased after him, they glanced at the mission information and found that Li Aoz's target had appeared on the border line 1200 kilometers away, leaving them dumbfounded.

Three Unlucky Guy were kicked out of the factory to slack off by Liu Wenzhong with just a few words. The three of them had to run and ride bicycles, risking crossing a minefield, and unexpectedly encountered a group of Frostplate Citizen's security forces.

Finally, after a grueling journey of more than ten hours, the three men, missing limbs and driving the captured truck, arrived at their new location.

They jumped out of the car and immediately saw a burning armed helicopter crashing down from the sky. The burning wreckage crashed heavily into the ravine, and a circle of Gurland civilians carrying baskets and pushing carts had already gathered around it.

The three looked at each other, Wa Liangke stepped forward, activating his Disguise Mode, and asked one of the onlookers in a natural tone:

"Hey bro, what's all this fuss about? A helicopter's falling from the sky, aren't you scared?"

"What are you afraid of?" the farmer asked, puzzled. "There are plenty of Frostplate airplanes falling down here. We're just about to pick some up to take home. The government is buying them back at a high price."

"A lot of planes crashed?"

The three of them stood on tiptoe and peered into the ravine. What they saw next immediately changed their understanding of the world:

The silvery-gray wreckage, like piles of bones, lay in heaps.

This is the burial ground for aircraft! The once majestic and awe-inspiring heavy fighter jets are now like princesses of a fallen kingdom, reduced to prisoners and beautiful skeletons, their bodies Frostplate and their proud snowflake flags covered by the white frost of the Outland, making them extremely conspicuous.

The heavy strategic bombers, which were like white swans, were smashed to pieces like unwanted trash. Five or six of them were left lying in the ditch, where they were buried by the wind and snow.

The fire was extinguished by the blizzard, but the shattered transport plane remained frozen in place like a giant of death. The bodies of several female agents, burned to skeletons by the flames, gradually froze in the wind and snow Outland.

White Frost Gold Bones.

None of the planes here have ever appeared in the airspace of Grant. Without a doubt, they were shot down before they even entered Grant. Many of the planes look as if they were smashed by stones. Their instruments were not damaged by the explosion and are well preserved. They are very valuable, which explains why the farmers from the surrounding area have come to guard them.

Amidst the overwhelming visual impact, a shared question arose in the minds of the three soldiers:

"How were these planes shot down?"

They soon got the answer.

A series of sonic booms rang out, and the next moment, another large transport plane was crashed down, lying among the mountains and ravines of the Great Land, along with their compatriots buried by the blizzard, dying in the ugliest way as invaders.

"Long live!"

"Kill these Frostplate Devils!"

"Thank you, Bahamut!"

The farmers of Grand raised their arms and shouted again. The three soldier players looked in the direction they were saluting—high in the sky, a humanoid figure clad in red and black armor was suspended in mid-air, slowly descending. The crowd tried to step forward to welcome him, but the tall figure in red and black armor raised a hand, and the people obediently stopped in place to avoid overcrowding. But this still could not diminish the enthusiasm and respect in their eyes.

The armor on his face opened, revealing the handsome faces familiar to the three soldier players—although they had seen Li Aoz's appearance in the trailer, seeing him in person still deeply shocked them.

"I never imagined that a man could be so beautiful, so beautiful that it makes people forget about gender and identity," Yakesi exclaimed.

"This is Li Aoz. He's even more handsome without the filter." Mohad stroked his chin. "He gives me a very good feeling. He doesn't seem like a bad guy at all. He's very approachable."

"Let's talk to him first," Wa Liangke suggested.