The battle ended at 3:41 a.m.
From the moment the first helicopter was shot down to the moment the last mercenary laid down his weapon, a total of twenty-four minutes had passed.
The battle had gone so smoothly that Wade found it almost unbelievable.
"How were these enemies so weak? They surrendered with a casualty rate of less than thirty percent? What a bunch of trash! Even nobles put up a better fight."
Wade had seen plenty of death, but he couldn't make sense of it. All he could do was look down on them with utter contempt.
Then again, maybe the enemy had realized how great the difference in weaponry was and given up.
"All squads, report casualties."
One by one, voices sounded over the comms:
"Squad One, no casualties."
"Squad Two, no casualties."
"Squad Three... Does a sprained ankle count?"
Wade's mouth twitched. "No. Clear the battlefield, and gather the prisoners under guard."
Fu Haoran was a little surprised when he received the report.
"By rights, 2K's weapons shouldn't be this bad. The Planetary Defense Force's plasteel and plastisteel are both pretty basic, and their defensive capabilities aren't very strong. We shouldn't have come through without any casualties."
"They probably misjudged the situation because they didn't have enough intelligence."
That was exactly what had happened. If the battle had continued, the Planetary Defense Force would certainly have suffered casualties.
The problem was that the Leman Russ Tank's formidable fighting power had quickly broken the United States military, which was only used to winning when it had the advantage.
It was hard to expect these grunts to fight on tenaciously.
They were paid that kind of salary. Why risk their lives?
Elsewhere.
Several young soldiers gathered around the Sherman Tank whose turret had been melted through, pointing and commenting.
"How can this thing be made of paper? One shot went straight through from front to back! It's not even as good as our Taurus Troop Carrier."
"This world's armor is way behind. I wonder if it's even worth dragging back to repair."
An old soldier walked over and smacked each of them on the back of the head. "Quit talking nonsense! The governor said we can haul these vehicles back, swap in plasteel, and still use them as armored cars."
Only then did the others catch on.
"Right! Weld on a few armor plates, mount a Heavy Bolter, and we've got a mobile heavy-fire support point."
Once they got the idea, everyone got to work with renewed enthusiasm, stripping armor from the tanks and Humvees.
In a clearing some distance away, nearly a hundred mercenaries knelt in three rows with their hands clasped over their heads.
Many had vacant looks in their eyes, still too stunned to recover.
A former SEAL stared at the ground and murmured, "Who are they... and what kind of weapons are they using?"
He looked at the guardsmen's crude Lasguns, some of them even wrapped with cloth and "clear tape," then at the custom HK416 by his feet. Suddenly, the weapon he'd paid eight thousand dollars for seemed like a toy!
[Ding! Combat mission: Ranch Defense completed] [Rating: S (overwhelming victory without a single loss).] [Rewards: Universal Points +5000, Soldier Morale +10,] [Bison Armored Vehicle (Elite Edition) x5] [Don't you feel ashamed? Is picking on elementary schoolers fun? If I were you, I'd go find the regular army next time. Only opponents who are evenly matched are worthy of respect!]
Fu Haoran ignored the system's final provocation and checked out the new toys he'd received as a reward.
Soon, five armored cars appeared in the clearing, fitted with thick armor plates, four sets of tracks, and supercharged engines.
Each vehicle carried a different loadout.
Some had Twin-linked Autocannons mounted on their sides and turrets, some had Storm Bolters installed on their roofs, and others were equipped with Twin-linked Gatling Cannons.
Of course, they all came with a full life-support system as standard.
Wade's eyes lit up when he saw these beauties.
"Now those are some fine machines, sir."
"These improved Bison Armored Vehicles are usually only found at the Schola Progenium. They're standard issue for Stormtroopers, sir. How did you get your hands on them?"
Fu Haoran didn't answer. He only glanced at Wade.
Wade immediately shut his mouth. "That was out of line, sir!"
There were some things it was best not to ask about if a superior didn't bring them up.
As for the real reason?
Fu Haoran looked at the vehicles and thought, The system gave them to me. How am I supposed to explain that?
"All right, finish clearing the battlefield before dawn, and these vehicles are yours."
"Really?!" Wade's eyes lit up.
"Obviously. Now get moving."
Wade scampered off to work.
But as a man from the Warhammer World, Wade clearly had no idea what it meant to treat prisoners humanely.
"Colonel, what should we do with the bodies?" one of the soldiers asked.
Wade said with exasperation, "Take all the enemy corpses back and sell them to the food-processing plant to be turned into corpse starch."
"No need to treat the badly wounded. Kill them, take them back, and sell them to the food-processing plant to be turned into corpse starch."
"Check whether the lightly wounded can work. If they can't, kill them, take them back, and sell them to the food-processing plant to be turned into corpse starch."
"Take the uninjured back to work. When they die, sell them to the food-processing plant to be turned into corpse starch."
The soldiers took this in stride.
You might wonder whether eating corpse starch made from human bodies would weigh on their consciences.
That was easy to handle. If they needed money, they could sell it to the Under-hivers.
If they didn't need money, they could store it in the warehouse and eat it if supplies ever ran out. Once they were hungry enough, they wouldn't mind.
After Wade left, Fu Haoran brought up the ranch's surveillance feed.
As the guardsmen set aside their weapons and picked up their tools, the farm finally began operating normally.
[Side Mission: King of the Hive City—A Great Legacy (Completed)] [Rewards: Unlocked the Interworld Industry Management Interface; Universal Points +1000; Storage Space expanded to 5000 cubic meters.]
A new interface unfolded across his retina.
The left side displayed real-time data for Blue Star Ranch:
Canned goods produced per day: 12,000 standard cases
Meat processed per day: 100 tons
Vertical farm output: 8 tons of vegetables per day (estimated)
"Still not enough." Fu Haoran wasn't in a good mood. This level of output was nowhere near enough to meet the Tithe's requirements.
The next morning, a hundred kilometers away, in an underground bar.
Three mercenaries who had made it back by sheer luck huddled into the booth in the farthest corner. There was whiskey in front of them, but none of them drank.
One of them was still shaking.
Staring at his glass, he kept murmuring, "Lasguns... One shot went right through an armored car... Their armor... The bullets couldn't even pierce it!"
At the Montana Environmental Protection Agency office.
Calvin, the portly official, had just finished a phone call. His hand jerked, and his coffee cup smashed to the floor.
He rushed to the filing cabinet and frantically pulled out every file on Grayrock Ranch: the fine notices, the environmental assessment reports, the orders to make corrections.
"Destroy them! All of them!"
He shouted at his assistant.
"And tell everyone down the line that from now on, anyone who mentions Grayrock Ranch is fired!"
The assistant froze. "But, Director, just yesterday we said we'd inspect their slaughterhouse..."
"Yesterday was yesterday, today is today! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"
Meanwhile, a post on the Underworld Forum was taking over the front page: "Grayrock Ranch is off-limits. Four hundred elite mercenaries wiped out. It has been declared a death zone. No more contracts."
Hundreds of kilometers away, at Lawrence Dewinter's estate.
A tablet hit the floor, its screen shattering.
Dewinter stared at the message, [Operation failed. All personnel missing], his face shifting from flushed red to deathly pale, then finally ashen.
"Investigate!" He grabbed his assistant by the collar. "Find out everything! Where did that army come from? Where did their equipment come from? And who is that Asian man?!"
The assistant trembled as he spoke. "Sir, we just got word from our people... Fu Haoran is offering a bounty for the death of the mastermind."
"How much?" Dewinter asked through gritted teeth.
Stab!
Dewinter looked down in disbelief and saw a dagger buried in his heart.
"They're offering a hundred million dollars, sir." The assistant, usually so meek and submissive, was now filled with manic excitement.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist taking the job. I'm sure you understand, right?"
"With that money, I won't have to put up with you anymore."
As he spoke, the assistant stabbed him a few more times in a fit of excitement.
The once-feared Dewinter was gone for good.
Above all the chaos, the Underworld quietly raised Grayrock Ranch's threat rating by three levels, then chose to wait and watch.
Before you continue