Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 146 - 141 Sky Shattering Bomb

Chapter 146: Chapter 141 Sky Shattering Bomb

"Charge with me!"

Seeing Zhao Haiping and Li Hongyun breaking into the camp tower and throwing the bandits into disarray, General Deng naturally seized the moment and commanded his soldiers to swiftly attack the camp gate.

Soon, the wooden gate was broken open, creating an entry, and the soldiers of the Sheng Army rushed in!

Fan Cun was still leading the charge, carrying a heavy shield, already densely filled with arrows.

As for his body, he had already been hit by several arrows, and while charging, the shield was hard to completely protect him.

But such injuries were nothing to Fan Cun, as the pain relief effects of his two innate skills combined with an adrenaline burst allowed him to withstand the pain and focus entirely on slashing the bandits.

At the camp tower, Li Hongyun and Zhao Haiping were still relentlessly attacking the bandits within shooting range.

One used a musket and the other a bow, both highly accurate.

Although the former relied on sheer luck and the latter on solid archery skills, their high ground position did indeed cause huge trouble for the bandits.

Not all bandits on the camp tower had been cleared out, as Puning Port had several towers that weren’t fully connected. Many bandits hid behind wooden barriers, and Li Hongyun’s musket couldn’t reach them.

But these bandits were already panicking, for the breached camp gate meant that soldiers from the Sheng Army might charge up at any moment.

In their haste, their shooting accuracy greatly decreased.

The Sheng Army advanced in formation, step by step.

Screen bearers at the front blocked the bandits’ arrows and barbarian swords, while the Wolf Whisker bearers, bore handlers, and long spearmen in the rear could use the opportunity to kill the bandits.

Dark clouds rolled in the sky, constantly looming and hovering around the battlefield.

The demon was, of course, very interested in the battle at Puning Port, but its impatient behavior revealed that the battle was becoming a one-sided affair.

Even though the demon’s influence had enhanced the bandits’ strength, they were still no match for the Sheng Army.

The reason was simple: General Deng’s newly formed army was specifically designed to counter the bandits’ fighting style.

The combat power of this new army actually far exceeded that of the bandits.

The individual combat power and fighting will of the soldiers wasn’t inferior to the bandits; the weapons were a complete counter to the bandits’ weapons; the soldiers formed battle formations that cooperated seamlessly with each other, adapting different tactics based on the terrain.

Thus, even though the bandits’ individual battle power and fighting will had improved, they were still being slaughtered upon facing General Deng’s new army!

In fact, among the previous bandits, there were some with superb swordsmanship and strong determination, but, facing the Sheng Army’s shields and Wolf Whisker, they were still helpless.

Now, the demon simply raised the regular bandits’ combat power to a level similar to the seasoned bandits.

Since there was no qualitative change in combat power, the Sheng Army’s suppression of the bandits remained mostly unchanged.

In fact, the biggest damage inflicted by the bandits on the Sheng Army was limited to the time before the storming of the camp gate.

Relying on barbarian bows and muskets, the demon-enhanced bandits had indeed caused some casualties to the Sheng Army, but with Li Hongyun and Zhao Haiping’s surprise attack disintegrating the defense of the camp tower from the inside, the bandits’ defeat was already certain.

What followed was the expansion of victory and cleanup of the battlefield.

Fan Cun was very excited; he led a squad of elite Sheng Army soldiers, continuously killing isolated bandits.

Li Hongyun and Zhao Haiping also descended from the camp tower and rejoined the ranks of the Sheng Army.

"Hey, these bandits haven’t retreated yet?" Li Hongyun was somewhat surprised.

According to the usual scenario in "Trial Illusion," these bandits should have already fled back to the port to prepare to board ships and leave.

Although there were not many ships at Puning Port, and ultimately less than one-tenth of the bandits managed to escape, based on previous trials, this was inevitable.

Yet now, these bandits chose to fight to the death!

Under normal circumstances, bandits fighting to the death would be bad news, meaning they had high fighting will and capturing Puning Port would consequently involve more casualties.

But now, the Sheng Army already had very low casualty rates and was still overwhelmingly slaughtering the bandits.

Thus, the bandits’ tenacious fighting will and their decision not to retreat turned out to be a good thing.

The Sheng Army didn’t need to chase down fleeing enemies, they could just slug it out with the bandits, undoubtedly saving a lot of time.

The demon’s enhancement of the bandits’ fighting will had ironically accelerated the progress at Puning Port!

In the sky, black smoke churned, clearly showing the demon’s confusion and anger.

A moment later, the black smoke dissipated.

Clearly, the demon had realized that defeat at Puning Port was inevitable and turned to focus on the situation in Nanhe City.

As long as Nanhe City could be captured, the bandits still had a chance to turn the tables.

...

In Nanhe City.

"Hold fast! We can’t let the marauders enter the city!"

The Deputy General guarding the city gate yelled, but it was to no avail; there were too many invaders, and the gate was eventually breached.

The marauders poured in!

The Sheng Army soldiers formed their ranks to confront the marauders in fierce battle.

Although the Sheng Army also had rattan shields and Wolf Whiskers, they were, after all, mostly made up of the old, weak, and impaired, with relatively weak combat abilities. Additionally, they were outnumbered, so despite their valiant fighting, they inevitably began to retreat.

If their numbers had been sufficient, their formation could have held back all the marauders.

But now, many Wandering Warriors had breached the Sheng Army’s ranks and were killing their way into the city.

They had a clear target—to storm the city walls, to coordinate from inside and outside, and to first try to kill the defending generals!

The marauders could see that the generals fighting on the walls were the key; once a general was killed, the marauders on the walls could join with those inside the city, and the Sheng Army’s morale would suffer a severe blow, immediately plunging them into headless chaos.

The Wandering Warriors entered a low residential area, making their way toward the entrance to the city walls.

They walked arrogantly.

In their view, the only real threats to them from the Sheng Army were the soldiers armed with Wolf Whiskers, forming ranks, and these soldiers were mostly concentrated at the main gate.

Since they had breached the main gate, there should be no one from the Sheng Army to block them in such close quarters.

However, just as a Wandering Warrior swaggered through the alleyways of the residential area, a dark shadow descended from above.

"Who goes there!"

The Wandering Warrior reacted quickly, his right hand already reaching for the hilt of his Barbarians’ Bow, but it was still a step too late.

Xia Ruoling had previously scouted the ambush site and obviously would not give the Wandering Warrior a chance to draw his sword.

A burst of sudden rage, and her dagger accurately pierced the marauder’s neck.

"Phut!"

Xia Ruoling pulled out the dagger, casually shook off the fresh blood, and quickly hid in the alleyways.

She had already walked through these residential blocks countless times in simulations in the Trial Illusion, and she knew them like the back of her hand.

After entering the final instance of the ultimate trial, she had come to this residential area again, arranging with the Sheng Army to set traps and barricades to maximize the delay effect on the marauders.

"Chase!"

"Stay close, don’t spread out!"

The other marauders naturally couldn’t ignore the death of the Wandering Warrior; Xia Ruoling’s strike from above had unnerved them. If she were to escape, who could guarantee they wouldn’t be the next target?

Besides, the marauders instinctively grouped together, avoiding getting too isolated.

Even the assassin skilled in swordsmanship hadn’t been able to react to Xia Ruoling’s sudden attack from above, let alone the rest. How could the other marauders possibly avoid her?

So, the best option was naturally to stick together and not scatter.

This way, when Xia Ruoling struck again, even if she could kill her target, she wouldn’t be able to escape.

The gang of marauders gradually tightened their formation in the alleys, chasing in the direction Xia Ruoling had fled.

"Where is she?"

Moments later, the marauders had lost their way in the labyrinth-like alleyways.

The residential area was originally interconnected with many paths, but at that time, many paths were blocked with wood and stone, hindering movement, turning it into a massive maze.

Xia Ruoling had obviously been leading these people into dead ends during her escape.

"Crafty Sheng Army! They’re just buying time!" the leader of the marauders said angrily.

"No, it’s not just buying time..." one marauder looked up at the roofs, a shocked expression on his face as he stuttered.

"What?"

The marauders looked up.

They thought they would see Xia Ruoling on the rooftops, but they were wrong.

It wasn’t Xia Ruoling; it was the Sheng Army!

These Sheng Army soldiers didn’t look like elites; they were still mostly old, weak, and impaired, but the key point was that they were not holding sabers, rattan shields, or bows, but rather a spherical object slightly larger than a gourd.

A few marauders’ faces instantly changed, recognizing the name of the object.

"Sky Shattering Bombs!"