Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 1003 - 434: The Eve of the General Offensive_2

Chapter 1003: Chapter 434: The Eve of the General Offensive_2

The situation at South Bridge by the power plant seems even worse; not only has one side of the bridge started to gather a horde of zombies, upstream there are large numbers of zombies assembling as well, seemingly preparing to jump into the water and drift to the other side.

It is said that the situation at the East Base isn’t optimistic either. Earlier, they had hundreds of thousands of refugees, who left behind a large number of zombies. These zombies, originally scattered in the wilderness, are now also beginning to assemble.

Lin Wu and others are now certain that Dawn is cheating, as a king among the zombies has evolved, and it is commanding the zombies, preparing to launch an unprecedented attack on humanity.

Following this, Lin Wu filed a complaint, and Little White Rabbit showed him a movie clip featuring intelligent zombies. The final words left for him were, "Everything is a product of human imagination."

However, through this complaint, Lin Wu learned that the zombie attack is scheduled for day D185, expected to last at least 24 continuous hours of high-intensity assault. The aim is not to breach the armed defenses, but to deplete all human ammunition. In other words, Dawn granted Lin Wu an additional ten days to live, but the news came on day D180, leaving only five days to prepare.

The combat department of the Railway Bridge proposes a battle plan: Demolish the bridge.

The preparation is estimated to take three days. After the materials are ready, the team will head to the vicinity of the bridgehead to work, which is expected to take six hours. The combatants must first seize the bridgehead and then hold it for 6 hours to complete the task.

The power plant base formally announces the bridge demolition, while Starlight Base is frantically digging holes. All manner of experts show off their skills, seeing who can last the final 5 days.

On day D182, the assault team conducted a drill, advancing from the outpost to the explosives placement point to establish a position, stacking sandbags and earthbags to form a one-meter-high wall. The process went smoothly, as the zombie legion did not launch a full-scale attack.

Watching the scattered zombies come forth to die, Lin Wu felt a sense of unease, so he grabbed the walkie-talkie to contact: "Xiao Zhuan, start drilling today."

Seeing the zombie legion 500 meters away, Shana asked, "Why?"

Lin Wu replied, "When the case is three feet tall, there is Dawn."

Shana understood Lin Wu’s meaning: "Xiao Zhuan, bring the equipment to the temporary outpost to prepare for drilling."

Xiao Zhuan, carrying a drilling machine, chisels, and other tools, arrived at the temporary outpost, put on safety gear, attached the safety rope, and descended from the surface of the bridge. Just as Xiao Zhuan began drilling, the zombie legion stirred, moving like sand through an hourglass, as the entire assembly area of zombies followed suit, squeezing towards the direction of the bridgehead.

Complaint, complaint, complaint! This world is only left with geography.

Little White Rabbit: Intelligent zombies have appeared among the zombies.

Lin Wu: Isn’t this intelligence a bit too high?

Little White Rabbit: All players fairly face the zombie army commanded by the intelligent zombies. This is a test for the players, not for the NPCs. Though NPC behavior is not centered on players, players are always the protagonists of the game, and the unpredictable NPC variables also serve the players.

Lin Wu: If there were no players here, there would be no intelligent zombies, nor would there be a zombie legion.

Little White Rabbit: That’s correct.

Lin Wu: Then why are there large numbers of zombies gathering along the river at South City, ready to jump in?

Little White Rabbit: That was originally a gift prepared for the players of the man-made island.

Lin Wu: What players are on the man-made island?

Little White Rabbit: Refuse to answer.

During the complaint, everyone pulled Xiao Zhuan back to the bridge surface, and Shana ordered: "Retreat."

The assault team retreated decisively from the temporary outpost. After their retreat, the zombie legion did not pursue on a large scale. Back at the base, Lin Wu talked about the incident, of course, with some artistic embellishment. Lin Wu said: "Dawn has determined that there are intelligent zombies among the zombies, commanding the zombie legion in battle. It looks like it plans to destroy all bases in one fell swoop."

Shadow immediately understood what Lin Wu meant; the so-called intelligent leader was designed for players. Stone voiced his concerns: "How long will the battle last? Until we all die in combat?"

Maya: "Based on the information we have, it will last at least 24 hours."

Stone: "Let Xiao Wen and the others retreat."

Everyone agreed that leaving NPCs behind would indeed help with the defense and would increase the number of zombies killed, but essentially, it meant certain death for the NPCs.

After reaching a consensus, Lin Wu and Maya went to handle an important matter at the temporary outpost, while Stone was responsible for calling a general meeting. With the king absent, Stone had to make things up: "The zombie corps you see preparing to attack is a scheme by Blue Star’s villains, trying to erase our memories of this year. We fell into the wormhole because of their interference. Once we return to Blue Star with our memories, they’re done for."

Shana fixed the bug: "We didn’t notice anything before because our signal wasn’t strong enough. It was only in the last few days that they discovered we were still alive and about to return to Blue Star. This has nothing to do with you. There are two plans now, one is for you to retreat to Mountain Base, the other is to the mountain stronghold. We can use helicopters for transport of supplies and personnel."

Xiao Zhuan suggested: "Why not all retreat to the Mountain Base?"

Shana replied: "That would lead to a siege situation. Don’t forget we still have a helicopter, we can leave on it if things get too tough. We are the target, and the villains will try everything to kill us, while we will do everything to survive. The only reason for you to leave is we can be revived, you can’t. If we manage to send supplies in the future, it means we have survived the battle; otherwise, it means we have been wiped out."

NPCs didn’t have much to say, Xiao Zhuan said: "185 days, right? We can stay one or two more days. Do you need us to do anything?"

Shana said: "It would be great if you could help us move supplies."

The meeting was straightforward. However, after the meeting, the disgusting Dawn wanted to exploit the incomprehensible human love and affection, instructing Xiao Wen to seek out Stone in private, and having Xiao Nü find Lin Wu. This led to a complete mess for the seemingly perfect Dawn who, unable to understand human emotions, could only mechanically execute actions.

Lin Wu’s response to Xiao Nü’s confession: "If I come back alive, you’ll be my eleventh wife." What to do with pure love when faced with a playboy who takes it for granted? The key issue was that Dawn simply didn’t understand love and was just rigidly applying love philosophy analysis and themes from novels and movies.

If you can’t play well, just be thick-skinned and play down emotions.

Shadow held an emergency, under-cover, Shadow meeting at dusk.

To avoid being eavesdropped on by Dawn, everyone followed Lin Wu’s bad idea of covering their heads with blankets, using flashlights to hold the meeting. That meant everyone stuck their heads under the same blanket and communicated by writing. Although most felt silly, even Lin Wu thought it was dumb, they at least found some psychological comfort.

On evening D184, the helicopter transported supplies, including bedding, coal stoves, and packed coal for life necessities in a short-haul transport, delivering the supplies near Mountain Base.

Xiao Wen, Xiao Wu, Xiao Yi, Little Sniper, Xiao Nü, Xiao Zhuan, Xiao Jing, and Xiaoji embraced and said goodbye to everyone at the front of the vehicle, as the Shadow People watched the eight NPCs walk through the snow towards Mountain Base.

Snow Egg: "In the end, it’s just us."

Maya: "Let’s start preparing."

First, they had to prepare food, the staple being slab oil fried noodles, carrying several pounds per person, and heating a pot with a coal stove. Next was hot drinks; keeping hot black tea on the coal stove at all times was a boon during combat in the icy snow.

Then there was preparation for Incendiary Grenades; basically, all cans and bottles had been turned into Molotov cocktails. Over the past two days, they also made homemade gasoline bombs out of bamboo tubes and clay, acting as accelerants. Stone and Su Shi were the throwers.

Next was personnel arrangements; zombies don’t rest, but humans need to. Maya would stay at Mountain Base, piloting the helicopter for support, although over a dozen rockets had already been used. The over a thousand rounds of ammunition for the main weapon, the machine gun, would become the primary combat weapon.

The sickly Lin Meng turned into a cook, providing hot tea and moving ammunition for everyone. For this purpose, a sled trailer was made for Lin Meng, making it convenient for her to drag it in the snow.

The rest were assigned combat roles, divided into two teams. First team: Lin Wu and Little Knife. Second team: Shana and Snow Egg.

The divide felt quite bleak, really showing how people are missed when needed the most. But no one regretted the decision to let the NPCs retreat, not just because they only had one life, but because the game ultimately relies on players themselves.

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