Chapter 271
"Then activate the self-destruct program; it will definitely panic," the commander-in-chief replied directly, as the General Staff had already prepared a contingency plan.
It's alright. I might not be able to resist either. But destroying the Fire Seed means it's a fight to the death. This process takes 24 hours to complete. What if the encirclement fails and the Queen goes mad?
Yuki was thinking about how to survive, and never intended to perish with humans and the insect swarm. He looked at the dense array of icons and suddenly raised his head.
"Do you have the Fire Seed energy? Show me."
The commander-in-chief looked at him strangely, but out of appreciation, he snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the pipes on the ceiling, and some blue energy leaked out. The players were very curious and noticed that a blue mist quickly filled the air above them.
Pure soul energy, but purified so that it cannot be absorbed by the Demon Heart, nor can it be used directly.
Yuki, an expert in this field, looked disappointed and asked again, "Is there any way to control this energy?"
"The soul force field can be manipulated. In fact, these pipes are a special device that sends energy to where it needs to go."
I see.
Yuki had no interest in studying the principles of the soul field, but he combined the Ignition Ritual with the Wall of Sighs. The Fire Seed was not only a tool for absorbing human souls to slow down the reproduction of the insect swarm, but also the energy core of human civilization.
Can pure soul energy be mobilized?
Yuki raised an eyebrow, suddenly drew his Hunter's Blunderbuss, and pulled the trigger amidst the stunned expressions of both sides.
Bang!
The burning mist triggered screams. No one knew what had suddenly driven Yuki mad, as several Blaster Rifle and a giant sword were pressed against his forehead.
"Mr. Yuki, shouldn't you offer an explanation?" The commander-in-chief looked down at the young man with a dangerous gaze.
Yuki remained silent, head bowed, as if deep in thought. Hayasaka and the others were at a loss, unsure whether to intervene and mediate.
"Commander-in-Chief."
"You say."
The man raised his head, his eyes resolute, as if he had discovered some interesting toy.
"How about adding a final solution at the end of the 'Fire-Chasing Plan'?"
The Fire-Chasing Plan involves concentrating all remaining human forces to lure the Zerg swarm into a decisive battle at the Unfallen Fortress. Then, the Command Headquarters, equipped with cloaking systems, will launch a single-ship assault, deploying their last remaining elite units to the Zerg Queen.
Prerequisite: Queen's coordinates are needed; the more precise, the better.
There's no way to clean up the mess; it's either success or annihilation.
The plan, which consisted of hundreds of thousands of words, did not include any post-disaster remediation or retreat; it was all about charging forward, with details down to the mission of each Psychic Warrior squad.
A total of 11 players and 374 Psychic Warrior of various ranks participated in the assault, while the remaining hundreds of thousands of marines were scattered across various battlefields to attract the attention of every bug.
The Unfallen Fortress is the main battlefield; the walls will inevitably be breached, and the swarming Zerg will be stopped with their own flesh and blood. If the Zerg receive news of the Queen's attack and rushes back to reinforce, they will launch a counter-offensive until the last soldier falls.
The Zerg hive is another main battlefield, where a commando team of nearly 400 people raids alongside warships, determined to eliminate the Queen at all costs, while the players' role is also maximized.
Johnny Silverhand, a more agile numerical character, is responsible for communication across the entire battlefield, while the remaining players charge like spearheads.
"A crazy plan with no regard for the consequences."
Yuki rubbed his head. The core of the plan was that his coordinates were correct, and he needed to pinpoint the Queen's location as soon as possible. Otherwise, a mere 400 people would soon be overwhelmed by the swarm of insects.
"But humanity has no better plan. With us players around, our chances of winning are even higher." Hiyori was also rubbing her head; she had read hundreds of thousands of words and was feeling dizzy. "Mr. Silver Hand can make the unmanned machines effective and prevent them from being corrupted by Electronic Bug in a short time."
"The Mechanical Believers are the main force, and that Aslan is also very suitable for large-scale battles." Yuki didn't intend to be a lone wolf, and looked at Mai Sakurajima with some concern, "Senior, your task is very important. You must determine the location of that queen; this is the prerequisite for all operations."
Mai Sakurajima needs precise coordinates. First, she uses the 'badge' as a base, then follows the backdrop to the Skull Lands, searching for the Queen in the pitch black.
Ideally, we should get directly to it, guide the 'satellite cannon' to bombard it, and then let the assault team finish it off.
"Worried about me?"
"Hmm, your special ability isn't invincible; it's possible it could be detected."
A hint of a smile flashed in Mai Sakurajima's eyes as she glanced at Hayasaka Ai, who was lightly biting her lip. "I'll be fully equipped with protective gear and wait for you to come and rescue me. I'm more worried about alerting the enemy, and whether the Queen might escape."
The worst thing is coming up empty-handed, but that's something we've already discussed.
"It's good that it ran away; it proves the ambush was effective. If it hadn't run, it would have been really difficult to deal with. Don't forget what the Zerg swarm truly wants."
Fire Seed.
Everyone became serious. Even the Queen feared that humans would destroy the Fire Seed; was it possible she would use herself as bait?
Only in this way will the warship voluntarily leave the wall, giving it a chance to instantly seize the Fire Seed, turning a surprise attack into a suicide mission.
"Didn't we have a contingency plan? If the Queen wants to use herself as bait, we'll use Fire Seed to fish her in the opposite direction." Hiyori participated in revising the plan; with Johnny Silverhand around, it wouldn't be so easy to infiltrate the ship.
The endless nesting of fishing tactics, anticipating the opponent's predictions.
Yuki gently bit the end of his pen, muttering to himself, "Hopefully the battle won't become that complicated, because theoretically there's still one uncertain factor."
"The three players standing opposite?"
"No, it's Aizen." Yuki's words stunned everyone. Hadn't this player already left the dungeon?
Yuki couldn't explain it either; that person's plans were far-reaching and couldn't be deduced by common sense. That's why he specifically added a safety net.
"Hiyori, work out that final solution carefully, and then send the results directly to Johnny Silverhand. Let him figure out how to set up the soul field array."
"Hmm, but do we really have to go that far?" Hiyori pursed her lips. This idiot said the Defense Force's plan was crazy, but his own ideas were even crazier.
After discovering that the energy output of the 'Fire Seed' could be ignited, he actually thought...
"It's never wrong to prepare for the worst, isn't that how we got through this?" Yuki shrugged, leaving no room for argument.
The reason Yuki has survived until now is that he always prepares for the worst and then solves problems in an orderly manner.
"Okay, I'll get right on with the preparations."
This is the calm before the storm; players from all factions should take this time to relax and get themselves into top condition.
Some people drink heavily, some sleep soundly, some take endless walks, some talk to themselves while holding a phone that will never go through, and some keep smiling at themselves in the mirror.
"Wait a minute, if he comes here, won't their relationship be exposed?" Kaguya Shinomiya suddenly realized that Yuki shouldn't be here at this stage.
This is the players' private time, and each faction will respect each other's privacy.
"You don't need to worry about that. I told Rebecca Chambers when she came to see me earlier, and I reckon all the factions have received the news by now."
"What did you say?" Hayasaka Ai appeared silently beside her, still remembering the bold words of that twin-tailed loli.
"She wants to physically link with me, saying she's been modified and will absolutely have a blast." Yuki licked his lips; as expected of someone from Night City, he's so unrestrained.
These words immediately made the others blush, and they cursed Rebecca Chambers for being shameless. Only Kaguya looked left and right, not knowing what the 'link' meant.
"But I resisted the temptation." Yuki wore a sanctimonious expression, like a virtuous gentleman. "I said I prefer natural beauties, like those from Thorny Rose. This is a good opportunity to strengthen your friendship."
"You idiot, how dare you ruin my reputation!"
A sharp pain shot through my foot as the senior student, her face flushed, stepped over. She recounted how, when everyone returned to their rooms, the captain's gaze had been so meaningful, and how Reiner Braun had said such rubbish as, "Brother, you're in great shape."
"So it was you who did this. Chris wanted to come along, but Smiling Lady pulled her away."
"Yeah, I knew the captain's eyes looked weird."
The noise grew louder as the group realized Yuki's scheme. The talk of different factions was clearly misleading; he had been plotting against them all along.
"Alright, alright, I'm just thinking about the bigger picture. Anyway, we won't run into these players again, so what are you shy about?"
"Is this a matter of saying goodbye?" Kaguya Shinomiya stormed over, protesting loudly, "I can forgive Mai Sakurajima- senpai and Hayasaka, but why should Hiyori and I be slandered by you?"
"What do you mean by slander? Don't you have any friendship with me? We've been apart for so long, can't we at least strengthen our bond a little more?"
"Don't try to fool me, it's not as simple as you make it sound."
Yuki adjusted his glasses and calmly replied, "It's that simple, Kaguya. People with yellow minds see everything as yellow. Even if I were desperate, I wouldn't go so far as to take on all four of you before the big battle."
If they were to take on all four of us one-on-one, what kind of one-on-one fight would it be?
Yuki's words are all very serious, but when put together, they evoke a lot of thoughts, and you can't really refute them.
Kaguya blushed, Hiyori felt like she'd been unfairly targeted, Hayasaka Ai tilted her head slightly, seemingly thinking it wasn't entirely impossible, while Mai Sakurajima was shocked by someone's shamelessness.
This completely disregards me, crosses the line with Hayasaka- san, and starts 'harassing' Kaguya and Hiyori. Looking at their expressions, although they are extremely ashamed and indignant, they haven't turned against me.
Oh no, this pig-headed guy is testing me.
Having spent so much time together, Yuki could see right through Yuuki's schemes. Mai Sakurajima simply stepped forward and stopped the group that wanted to 'besiege' him.
"This idiot is deliberately provoking you. Don't fall for it. What can you do about him, Kaguya?"
I'll shoot him through the heart with an arrow! And then stomp on him a thousand times!
The young lady's eyes were ruthless, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it, well, out of respect for Hayasaka.
"Right? Nobody can really get serious. Regular moves feel like a massage to him, which actually makes him feel good."
Tsk, I saw through you. Hiyori's little fists really do feel like a massage.
Yuki pouted. It was hard to be clever when her senior was watching her, so she simply lay lazily in the swivel chair.
"But we all have to stand by until the swarm begins its attack; we can't exactly go looking for Rebecca Chambers or Captain Chris, can we?"
"Of course not!" Mai Sakurajima glared. If it were just the two of them, she wouldn't care about increasing her attack speed, but everyone was watching, so there was no chance to launch a sneak attack.
Yes, important matters come first; isn't that what he always says?
"We've activated the bloodline skills, but there are some differences between them. Can you take a look and tell me what's going on?"
Psychic Warrior?
Yuki suddenly remembered that this matter was important, so he asked Mai Sakurajima, Hiyori, and Kaguya to open the player panel. After only one glance, his brows furrowed.
They Taiyi.
[Bloodline Skill: Psychic Warrior LV1], all three have the same label, but the descriptions in the descriptions are quite different.
Mai Sakurajima: Releases her soul energy as a force field, possessing detection and communication abilities.
Shiina Hiyori: Soul energy attaches to objects (non-living things), effectively enhancing control precision.
Kaguya Shinomiya: Shapes and temporarily materializes soul energy.
Simply put, the senior is more like a human radar, Hiyori is developing in the direction of a puppeteer, while Kaguya is harder to say, her development is more broad.
"The same bloodline skill can mutate in different players." Yuki thought of the Psychic Warrior in the dungeon. Their mutations came from genes and training. Senior and Captain Chris were very similar.
Players obviously can't spend a lot of time training, so this mutation comes from --
Yuki glanced at the three players' player panels and already had his answer.
Does the game make modifications based on the player's original characteristics?
"Good news. What I was most worried about was the homogenization of bloodline skills, which would be detrimental to teamwork. You each have different skill trees, so you can refine them in the future."
All three laughed. No one dislikes the feeling of becoming stronger; this bloodline skill raised their overall rating by a level.
Senior sister has reached the Transcendental Grade II level, Hiyori is at the Extraordinary III level, and Kaguya has finally crossed the threshold of the Transcendental Grade. If they survive this challenge, they will definitely be able to advance a major level.
"Don't be too happy yet. The direction has changed, but your 'blue energy' is too low. Kaguya, show me how to materialize an arrow."
The black-haired girl wrinkled her nose, opened her palm, and skillfully conjured an arrow—pure soul energy.
Before she could even feel smug, Yuki caught the arrow and snapped it in two with a 'crack,' raising a cloud of red soul particles in his palm, freezing Kaguya's smile.
"The strength is too low, and you can't gather many. Besides, you don't have Zhang Jin's ability to split his own soul, so don't even think about using them for an attack."
Yuki is somewhat ruthless, but he doesn't mean to hurt anyone's self-esteem. His Demon Possession was initially a useless skill, relying entirely on the 'Demon Heart' as the core of his system.
"We still have some time. Think more about how to use the bloodline skills. We can talk about upgrading them after we return." Yuki looked around and saw that everyone, including Hayasaka Ai, was deep in thought, so he simply snapped his fingers.
"How about this, the Command Headquarters happens to have a training ground and a cell repair chamber. I'll spar with you. High-intensity combat is beneficial for stimulating inspiration."
"Huh? Now??" Mai Sakurajima opened her mouth slightly.
"Yes, didn't I just say that?" Yuki with a smile, pointing to each one:
"I'll take on all four of you one-on-one."
Chapter Thirty-Four: The Final Battle Begins! (5K)
Is this Yuki Sorajima crazy? Is this all he means by "exchanging feelings"?
Levi Ackerman leaned against the wall, raising his eyebrows, looking utterly bewildered. Meanwhile, behind the glass wall opposite, a madman was beating four pretty girls so badly they were running all over the place.