Chapter 274
The detector transmitted images from below, but because of the mushroom caps blocking the view, nothing could be seen.
They've arrived.
Just as Mai Sakurajima had expected, after the Spirit Particle Communicator was destroyed, Yuki jumped up from the swivel chair and stood there frozen like a statue for several seconds.
He remembered that someone was missing beside him— Mai Sakurajima. Then he remembered her mission, grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth.
"Have you found the Queen?" The Smiling Lady sat up straight instantly, and the other players who were resting also looked over.
"Yes, it's quite close. Captain Chris, tell the Commander-in-Chief that we've found the Queen." Yuki nodded; the plan was progressing more smoothly than expected.
"Yes!"
The prepared troops were invigorated, stretching their joints. The battle at the fortress had reached a fever pitch, and if Mai Sakurajima hadn't sent any news by then, they were all ready to activate their contingency plan and personally scout the area.
A holographic 3D map of Emerald Star City was projected. After the commander-in-chief led a group of generals to arrive, Yuki was already standing next to the map, examining the glowing dots on it.
One of the points of light was the coordinates he had left behind; using that as a base, Yuki pointed to a certain place.
"This is where Mai Sakurajima's signal disappeared."
"Near the former Central Bank, could the Queen be hiding in the vault?" Reingor, who had memorized the topographical map perfectly, pondered for a moment, "It makes sense, but could it be a trap?"
"I don't know, and I can't contact her either, but at this point, we have to bite the bullet and go for it, whether there are problems or not. Do we have to take it a long time to plan?"
Yuki was in a hurry; the special ability would only last for less than ten minutes. The commander-in-chief was also in a hurry; if the main battlefront collapsed, countless insects would soon be able to come to the rescue.
The two exchanged a glance and quickly reached an agreement.
"Whether it's a trap or not, let's jump in first. General, proceed with Plan A, parachute directly to the coordinates. If we're lucky, we can decide the outcome in one battle." The commander-in-chief waved his hand, truly a decisive man.
"Understood. First and Second Battalions, prepare for the attack. Who's on your side?"
"Ladies of Thorny Rose, along with Captain Levi and Rebecca Chambers, launch an attack and parachute directly to the coordinates to meet Mai Sakurajima," Yuki immediately replied. After the senior joins up with Hayasaka Ai and the others, they can form a complete four-person team for combat. Levi Ackerman and Rebecca Chambers are both experts in fighting in confined areas.
Plan A involves deploying half of the forces to clear the landing zone, and once that is confirmed to be safe, then deploying the remaining forces under the fire support of the "Hope".
Yuki stared at the map, his brain racing. All the information that had flooded him since entering the instance rushed through his mind. With a flicker of his eyes, he called out to the general who was turning to leave.
"Wait a minute, we'll make a few minor adjustments. Hope will remain in stealth mode." Yuki looked at the man leaning against the wall and spoke rapidly, "Mr. Silver Hand, activate the railgun. Just make a hole in the top as a greeting gift."
The sky inside the red walls was completely covered by the fungal carpet. Yuki had tested it with his sword before; it was as hard as armor. He had originally planned to bombard it with the main guns of the warship.
"Using your trump card right off the bat?" Johnny Silverhand produced a smoke ring, somewhat reluctantly. "Let's get this straight, that thing is something we brought from the last dungeon, and it only has three rounds of ammo."
Yuki didn't blame him for being stingy. The Mechanical Believers put on a big show at the beginning of the instance just to get the satellite into orbit, which really took a lot of effort.
"These are all your trump cards for saving your life anyway, isn't now the time to use them?" Yuki asked with a smile.
Johnny Silverhand thought for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Okay, I agree."
They were risking their lives to save themselves, so there was no need to hold back. Yuki continued to make minor modifications to the plan.
"The Hope should remain invisible. I've seen the map; that location is dozens of meters underground, so the space must be very small. I suggest using two hundred men to guard the entrance, and only betting everything once we've spotted the Queen with the naked eye."
"You suspect something's amiss?" The commander-in-chief narrowed his eyes; he didn't doubt Mai Sakurajima's stance.
"It's never wrong to be cautious; things going too smoothly can be problematic." Yuki with a sinister smile. He was a gambler, but a cautious one; the threat posed by the name 'Aizen' was too great.
I'm being a bit hesitant. What if the Queen escapes?
People looked back and forth, and many disagreed with Yuki's changes, thinking, "Isn't he supposed to be pretty brave? Why did he become a coward when things came to a head?"
The first battle is the decisive one, so of course the sooner the Queen is eliminated, the better. The probability of Mai Sakurajima becoming an internal traitor is extremely low. Since she dared to send back a signal, she must be confident.
"Alright, we'll do it your way. We only have so much capital; we should play it safe." The commander-in-chief unexpectedly agreed, waving his hand at the general who looked full of doubt.
"Time is limited, execute the order."
"Yes, Major General Ailit and Henderson, come with me and have your troops enter the landing craft!"
A flurry of footsteps sounded, and Yuki nodded slightly to Hayasaka Ai, who promptly followed. Then came Shiina Hiyori and Kaguya Shinomiya.
Levi Ackerman paused for a few seconds, then left, saying, "I'll wait for you to kill the Queen."
A total of six players are engaged in the battle, armed to the teeth with Molecular Vibration Knife, Reaper Mech, and electromagnetic Blaster Rifle — the Defense Force will open the armory doors to supply whatever they can lift.
These special items alone are worth dozens of enhancement points, meaning players have already made a fortune even before the war has begun.
Yuki resisted the urge to see the maid off. As the representative of the players, he had to stay here. He could only watch through the surveillance footage as Hayasaka Ai and the others changed into bodysuits and stood on the platform, transforming from high school girls into hardcore tin cans.
There were two more platoons of 600 of the same tin cans, like a torrent rushing into dozens of airdrop pods. They sat silently in their seats, fastened their seatbelts, and wore helmets with thin antennas.
This is a modification to the 'Mechanical Believers' faction talent, because human technology had long been cracked by the Zerg, and player influence was added just in case.
Except for a few soldiers with personalized paint jobs, all the tin cans are exactly the same, making it impossible for the six players to distinguish one from the other.
This was also part of the operation, intended to confuse the two madmen. However, Yuki took a few more glances and felt that the landing pod looked familiar. He then turned to look at the commander-in-chief.
"Don't look at me like that. These things were all recovered by the research department. I was originally planning to research a way to return to space from them. If I can't beat the swarm, can't I at least hide?" The man was quite straightforward and readily admitted it.
"And then why couldn't you figure it out?"
"Yes, it's like seeing a ghost; the technology for space travel has been completely locked down."
Without a doubt, this is the work of the Reincarnation Game, somewhat like the Sophon in 'The Three-Body Problem,' trapping the Defense Force on this planet.
Yuki patted the commander-in-chief on the shoulder with a hint of pity. Unlike previous dungeons, the people on Emerald Star were all living, breathing people—a bunch of unlucky people.
The blood-red numbers were counting down, and Mai Sakurajima's special ability was entering its final five minutes. Yuki was trying hard to find Hayasaka Ai among a bunch of tin cans, and he was also fantasizing about how panicked his senior must be at this moment.
At 50,000 meters below, Emerald Star City is just a tiny dot. The terrain data has been matched, and the coordinates have been entered. Ms. CIC's crisp voice echoed throughout the room.
"Ten-second countdown begins. Activate the optical stealth armor on all landing modules."
"Hangar deployed, racks ready to detach, mirage system preparing for brief shutdown."
The atmosphere became visibly tense. Yuki glanced at Johnny Silverhand, who had stubbed out his cigarette at some point and was now holding a pistol-like device, staring intently at the countdown.
"Four."
"Three."
Special war artifact: Rod of God activated.
He pressed down hard, and almost without delay, a beam of light illuminated the window, causing Yuki to instinctively close his eyes.
Those Mechanical Believers, they even have this thing hidden away. If we become enemies with them, wouldn't one railgun shot down and we all perish?
He immediately opened his eyes and saw that the thick beam of light had struck the mushroom cap directly, not only piercing Piercer it but also melting a large hole in the ground. The accuracy of the beam was astonishing.
If the senior student stayed where she was, wouldn't she be blown to bits by his cannon?
Yuki couldn't help but feel nervous, but he had no time to think about it anymore.
"One."
"Fire-Chasing Plan initiated, deploy all landing modules!"
A dozen or so egg-shaped objects fell, their descent speed quickly exceeding the speed of sound, constantly adjusting their posture in mid-air before disappearing into the circular hole that had just been blasted open.
The railgun provided the best guidance, and the landing module plummeted into the crater in the ground, at which point the Zerg swarm finally realized what was happening.
An attack from above, a laser beam swept across, and in just over ten seconds, their reaction was, frankly, fast enough.
Like stirring up a hornet's nest, swarms of insects emerged from the building and sewers, and hundreds of Bat Dragon swarmed toward the hollow. They began attacking the landing pod, but the item that sent the player into the dungeon was tougher than expected.
The game's technology clearly surpassed that of the Defense Force; spitting thick phlegm at them had no effect whatsoever, and they quickly broke through the defenses. This time, the landing craft did not slow down, smashing the ground to pieces like a rock.
The people inside must be suffering terribly.
Yuki made a face showing signs of toothache, as he heard a cacophony of CIC reports.
"The landing module successfully landed, with 80% accuracy in landing at the predetermined coordinates."
"The first and second battalions have deployed; the defensive line is being set up."
"Data transmission, receiving signal from ahead in three seconds."
A cheer erupted from the bridge. The accuracy of the landing was beyond expectations; thanks to Mai Sakurajima and the railgun, the raid was incredibly swift.
If it's the Hope's main guns bombarding, then cloaking must be deactivated. Although it's less than a minute, that's enough time for the swarm to organize a defense. An attack from outer space is different; the two are only a dozen seconds apart.
The artillery bombardment began, and the troops arrived. Almost no landing craft were intercepted en route, meaning that all 600-plus soldiers were deployed to the battlefield.
Only Yuki frowned slightly.
It went too smoothly, far too smoothly. The Zerg swarm was clearly prepared; they knew the humans would launch a surprise attack. Could such preparations really be wiped out by just the senior student?
Theoretically, there's no problem, and the characteristics of Adolescence Syndrome are powerful enough, but can such a massive challenge be conquered with a single gamble?
As the footage of the first soldier stepping out of the landing pod was transmitted back, Yuki's pupils contracted.
This place resembles the interior of some giant creature. The not-so-wide passage is covered with marks from laser burning, but there's nothing there. Machines specifically designed to detect advanced Zerg have been deployed, and invisible energy waves sweep into the depths of the cave.
There was a strong reaction from the Queen's energy; this specimen was also a top-secret remnant of 'Thunder Plan,' but it was invisible to the naked eye, and the pointer was spinning wildly.
Yes, they exist, but they're everywhere.
Only the rustling sound of footsteps echoed from the depths of the cave, as if the tide were rolling in.
"Where is the Queen?" Levi Ackerman, clad in his mecha and gripping his slender twin swords, suddenly turned to look at Mai Sakurajima, who had just arrived to join him after their special ability ended.
"I'm asking you, where is the Queen?!"
A perfect raid, a perfect landing, but the problem is the target is gone, enough to turn perfection into a trap.
Hayasaka Ai took a half-step to the side, blocking her senior, while Mai Sakurajima stood there somewhat bewildered, as if she hadn't quite come to her senses yet.
She blinked, glancing around blankly. She saw the Emerald Stone embedded in the wall, the crushed skulls on the ground, and finally fixed her gaze on the side of the passage ahead.
There was a simple long knife there, which immediately startled her awake.
Is this the entrance to the core Hive? Didn't I walk in? Didn't I hear the Queen's voice with my own ears?
Everything is like Kyoka Suigetsu, blurring the lines between reality and illusion.
"Senior, what happened?" Hiyori nudged her shoulder, finally bringing Mai Sakurajima back to her senses.
"I think..." The girl raised her head, gave a bitter laugh, and said, "I must have been under an illusion at some point."
Illusion?
Levi Ackerman had never questioned Mai Sakurajima's stance, and upon hearing this, he immediately came to his senses.
The Zerg swarm doesn't possess illusion magic, so the only interventionist would be the players. However, the three players on the Zerg swarm's side don't know illusion magic at all, so there's no need for them to intervene.
He looked at the knife, which was like a lifeless object, showing no energy reaction whatsoever. But his intuition told him that Mai Sakurajima had been deceived by this knife.
The rustling sound grew closer, and five or six Samurai Bug appeared side by side from the end of the passage, while the light above them gradually dimmed.
The mushroom caps that had been blasted open were closing, cutting off their contact with the Hope, and various communication devices began to emit a hissing white noise.
The entire city came back to life. Thousands of insects swarmed in from all directions. With a 'boom,' the building shattered, and a crocodile-like insect as big as a mountain rolled over.
This was a brilliant trap. Just as humanity was preparing to gamble everything, the insect swarm was also fully prepared, even using something unexpected.
Is it a series of schemes against a series of schemes? Fortunately, that Yuki Sorajima was cautious enough not to reveal all his cards.
Levi Ackerman took a deep breath, watching Rebecca Chambers's Blaster Rifle blast a Samurai Bug into mincemeat, and slowly raised his twin swords.
"Yuki Sorajima"
The constant hissing white noise continued, and Yuki in the bridge also saw the scene of the airborne troops. After a mental storm, it took her a long time to respond.
"You say."
"You jinx! Think of something quick, or we'll all die here!"
The swarm anticipated humanity's predictions and dug a huge pit just for them to jump in. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to jump in. The biggest surprise was that Mai Sakurajima was under a spell, and the paratroopers couldn't find the queen at all, let alone launch the subsequent siege.
The plan was completely overturned, but fortunately, Yuki had a backup plan: the Hope, carrying the 'Fire Seed,' remained hidden in the shadows.
Communications were completely cut off, and all video feeds were lost; the bridge was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
In this deathly silence, Yuki remained expressionless, with only his fingers trembling slightly.
"Good."
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Hope, Unmoved (5K)
"Look, here they are."
As the airship descended with the laser beam, causing the entire insect hive to erupt in chaos, the two players stood atop a building, observing the scenery like outsiders.
The empty streets were soon filled with insects, and a five- or six-meter-long Bat Dragon flew low overhead, the air currents it created ruffling hair.