This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 229: Spring Thunder

Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Spring Thunder

New Industrial Zone.

Goblin Technology Workshop.

In a factory stacked with various components, stood a rather punk-looking three-wheeled motorcycle.

Unlike a normal motorcycle, this contraption didn’t just have tires the height of a man, its engine that drove the tires was absurdly large. Due to the engine’s height exceeding that of the seat, it had to be mounted on the side of the motorcycle, supported by an additional wheel, making it look like a strangely protruding tricycle from a distance.

The engine’s design was also quite unique, shaped like a furnace used for roasting sweet potatoes, with a round feeding port on top which, if placed by the roadside, could easily be mistaken for an outdoor trash can.

But in fact, the overly spacious feeding port was designed that way to make it easier for the driver to add wood.

Walking beside the esteemed Manager, Mosquito excitedly introduced his new invention.

"This is modeled after the Expeditionary Army’s standard light truck engine, specifically designed for the terrain around Qingquan City!"

"With some simple modifications, it has become more adaptable to rough terrain than before, ensuring the engine won’t suddenly extinguish even when hopping around in mud pits. Our soldiers no longer need to use their gun butts to keep the wood inside the feeding port steady!"

"And this motorcycle is also a masterpiece of Goblin Technology, which I call—’Death Breath’!"

"How about it? Doesn’t it look cool?"

In a certain sense, it sure was cool.

However, Chu Guang felt that the name was somewhat ominous, as if sitting on it meant you weren’t coming back.

Apart from that, this contraption was quite interesting, bearing an operational principle similar to a camel engine.

The trash can-shaped feeding port was connected to a barrel-like structure and pipes. The wood, once inserted into the port, would slowly dry out as it descended, subsequently being pyrolyzed by the internal heat, undergoing incomplete combustion in limited oxygen, causing the carbon on the surface to react with water and oxygen, creating a mix of gases including hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide, which were then directed into the engine through a metal condensation pipe.

After that, the principle resembled other natural gas engines, including the piston and cylinder structure.

Three kilograms of wood were equivalent to one liter of gasoline, enough to run the motorcycle for 20 kilometers, equating to a consumption of fifteen kilograms of wood per hundred kilometers, making it not only useful but also cheap.

After all, wood was the most abundant resource in the Wasteland.

In fact, this device couldn’t be considered Mosquito’s latest invention since he had tinkered with wood gasification in his carpentry shop long ago.

And the Molotov Cocktails used by players in the early stages, as well as the flamethrowers he had employed, were all made from byproducts of wood gasification.

After carefully inspecting this uniquely shaped motorcycle for a while, Chu Guang looked at Mosquito and continued asking.

"What’s the top speed this motorcycle can reach?"

Mosquito confidently replied.

"100 miles per hour is not a problem! But I wouldn’t recommend going that fast; given the condition of the roads outside, a bump might just send it flying."

Chu Guang nodded in understanding.

Although he had never ridden a motorcycle, he had ridden an electric bike and could somewhat imagine that scenario.

"Not bad."

"Although there’s still much room for improvement, achieving this much is already commendable."

"With this device, our mobility on the battlefield will greatly increase. Thank you for your contribution to the revival of the United Human."

Never did Mosquito expect his invention to receive such high praise from the faction leader. His face immediately showed a flattered expression.

Containing his excitement, he said with emotion.

"Being able to alleviate your concerns is my honor!"

Orders!

Silver coins!

Most importantly, his invention had been recognized!

Thinking of his pride and joy potentially being listed in NPC stores and chosen by players across the server, Mosquito couldn’t help but burst into emotional tears.

Who else dared say his inventions were useless?

Who else dared say his creations were superfluous?

Eh?

Just who would dare!

Chu Guang glanced strangely at Mosquito, who had suddenly become emotional, but said nothing further and continued to inquire about production matters.

"Is it difficult to produce this type of engine? And that... uh, ’Death Breath’ motorcycle, what is its monthly production capacity?"

Mosquito chuckled and replied.

"Not difficult at all! As long as the material supply is sufficient and the steel plant’s orders can be processed on time, assembling one every three days is no problem! If we hurry, even two days!"

Three days, huh.

He was a bit slow.

He was afraid he might miss the battle that was unfolding.

However, Chu Guang knew this was an unavoidable situation.

Scaling up industrial production required consuming vast amounts of manpower and physical resources, and currently, eighty percent of the manpower and resources in the new industrial area were focused on the production of weapons and ammunition. No mater how much you mobilize, you cannot conjure up what is not there.

As for vehicles, they would have to be temporarily placed as a secondary priority.

Nevertheless, Chu Guang was comforted by the thought that Mosquito seemed to have finally come around, choosing to leave behind the small workshop production model and adapt to the "version" demands, hiring other players and indigenous people, following the model of Factory No.81 to grow and strengthen.

This was undoubtedly a good start.

...

He had placed an order with Goblin Technology through VM.

After leaving Goblin Technology, Chu Guang had toured around Factory No.81 steel plant and then returned to Outpost Base.

However, just as he had returned to the base, he saw Wrench approaching him with a serious expression.

"Sir! The patrolling team deployed northeast has sent a message; they’ve spotted numerous traces of Looter activity around the area from Central State Aerospace Ecology Experimental Base to Winter Willow Camp."

"They must have come from the suburb of Tianshui City!"

So, they had finally come?

Strangely, upon hearing this news, Chu Guang did not feel the slightest bit of tension; instead, he sighed in relief.

Black Snake choosing to attack now was better than dragging it out to a month later, and both he and Vanus had anticipated that they would make their move early.

It seemed the Looters wanted to spend winter in jail cells.

Very well.

Chu Guang looked at Wrench and ordered calmly,

"Mobilize all the soldiers."

"Deploy them according to the plan we made the night before last!"

Wrench’s expression turned solemn, and he replied,

"Yes, Sir."

...

Northeast of Qingquan City.

A convoy made up of twenty light trucks, eight armored pickup trucks, and one tank was meandering awkwardly through a vast expanse of white snow, slowly inching forward.

Besides the vehicles, the sides of the convoy were dotted with hundreds of Looters along with nearly a thousand slaves shackled by their feet.

Since they were carrying all their possessions, their marching speed was slow.

Every now and then, a truck would get stuck in the snow due to the poor road conditions or get wedged by the terrain, forcing the slaves to lift and push.

The Looters walking beside had no choice but to slow down their pace, waiting for these cumbersome vehicles.

Sitting in the back seat of an armored pickup truck, Black Snake, growing impatient, urged the driver,

"How much longer will it take?"

The driver, gripping the steering wheel nervously, answered,

"We should arrive before dark, Sir."

Before dark...

It looked as if they would have to spend another night in the snow.

Knowing that urging was useless, Black Snake cursed inwardly and continued to wait with patience.

The night before last, his scouts dispatched to the south had reported intense battle near Changjiu Farm, and they even saw a flare rise into the night sky.

Although they could not see the specific battle conditions, his scouts reported that judging from the gunfire, there were at least 300 people, perhaps even more, engaged in combat.

Two to three hundred-person squads.

It seemed his old friend, Lion Tooth, had read his intentions, and was now determined to move his troops 20 kilometers south before the snow melted, aiming to take over the large tracts of land in the north suburb of Qingquan City.

Black Snake knew he had to act.

If he continued waiting and only started mobilizing in spring, he feared there wouldn’t even be any soup left for him.

Sitting next to Black Snake, Vedes spoke cautiously,

"Marching in heavy snow is not a good idea; our armored units simply can’t leverage their mobility advantages in half a meter of snow."

Whether it was the armored pickup truck, tanks, or the two 100mm howitzers towed by trucks,

these heavy-duty pieces of equipment were prone to sinking into the snow, and once they broke down in an ill-timed place, they could easily become sitting ducks.

However, Black Snake did not care or seemed not to have taken the warning to heart.

Judging by the power displayed by the survivors from the "North Suburb" in the first two battles, they were at best two hundred-man teams.

And he had four such teams right by his side, plus six more that had already set out in advance to scout ahead of the main force.

Unable to take advantage of mobility?

That’s a joke.

Did he need that?

In the face of absolute power, all he had to do was point the gun barrel at their faces, and they would naturally surrender, abandoning their armor.

"The blizzard has stopped, the hardest part is past, our infantry will clear the obstacles ahead, and our armored forces and supplies will follow up. If all goes well, by tomorrow night we could be sleeping in their houses, under their quilts."

Vedes asked.

"What if things don’t go well?"

"The day after tomorrow," responded Black Snake, patting Vedes on the shoulder with a pleased expression, "Don’t worry, my friend. I know you like detailed plans, but sometimes the ability to adapt spontaneously is just as important."

Vedes shook his head and said,

"This isn’t warfare, this is gambling."

"Gambling? I’m not averse to the term," Black Snake continued with a smile.

"I know what you’re worried about. What if our front-line forces come under attack, and our tanks can’t charge forward?"

Vedes remained silent...

Before the staff officer could speak, Black Snake answered his own question,

"That concern is completely unnecessary. The heavy snow isn’t just on us, they face it too. My battle line is extended, but still within the range of artillery fire. Without vehicles, they will be like grasshoppers trapped in the snow, crushed to death under our fire!"

"What if they choose to attack our rear?" Vedes couldn’t help but interject, "If I were them, I certainly wouldn’t foolishly charge from the front."

A trace of displeasure crossed Black Snake’s face.

Although this staff officer occasionally provided very constructive suggestions, sometimes his words were quite unpleasant.

Especially since he did not think it was a good idea to attack their rear.

"Do you think I haven’t considered that? Why else would I have four hundred-man teams staying behind? Even if by a miracle they managed to bypass our front line and appear at our rear, those four teams should be more than enough to overwhelm them."

Besides, that was impossible.

The harsh winter was the same for everyone.

People can’t just fall from the sky.

To bypass the six hundred-man teams moving forward, they would have to take a long detour from the east.

At a conservative estimate, their marching route would be extended by thirty kilometers, and during that time, they would have to cross a vast expanse of snow and patches of forest and ruins.

By the time they made the effort to get to the rear, their armored forces might have already entered the urban area of Qingquan City!

And even if, by some miracle, they managed to reach the rear, it would not matter.

Even if tanks got stuck in the snow, at most it would clog their tracks, not affect their gun turrets.

With the cooperation of the four hundred-man teams, dense bullets and shells would swat that bunch of damn bugs dead in the snow like flies!

Black Snake had been waiting for this day for over a month!

After hearing Black Snake’s words, Vedes chose to remain silent, as he really did not know what else to say.

Not sending everyone to the front only proved he was not stupid, but that did not mean it was a wise decision.

If this guy were to command the Expeditionary Army, they would probably not last even a week, maybe just three days before a million-strong army was decimated.

Vedes sighed quietly in his heart and could only pray that the opposition was equally incompetent.

However, for some reason,

Whenever he thought this, a sense of unease troubled his mind.

It was an intuition developed from battles along the northern line and against the people of the Grand Canyon, an intuition that had helped him avoid dangers countless times.

Could it really go this smoothly?

...

At this moment, neither Vedes nor Black Snake, nor the patrol team following beside the convoy, noticed a pair of eyes gazing intently at them from a snowy slope 3 kilometers to the east.

The front of the binoculars covered with gauze, Night Ten, lying in the snow, suppressed his excitement and stretched out his frozen index finger to press on his uniquely designed headphones.

"All squad leaders, attention! The target has passed through Mark A and is moving towards Zone C on the map... They seem to want to head to the interstate highway."

"You guys won’t let this big fish get away, right?"

Not far away, in a sleeping bag, slept Wild Wind who was offline; soon he would have to log off and call Wild Wind to join them.

They had been on shift here for two days.

In these past two days and nights, neither of them had returned to the base.

Night Ten himself didn’t know how he had persevered!

The voices of the squad leaders came through in the communications channel.

Canyon Escaping Mole: "Damn! Again, not passing through my area!"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "There’s work coming, brothers!"

Standing next to a truck 5 kilometers away from the target on the snowfield, the Spring Water Commander returned to the passenger seat and nudged the one sitting in the driver’s seat from the Battlefield Atmosphere Group.

"Drive, let’s head to Zone C. Don’t jump on seeing someone soon, stop the vehicle before getting into a fight."

"It’s on? Fuck, this mission has been too long... I almost fucking disconnected," the Old Soldier shook his head and started the engine.

The Spring Water Commander ignored him and pressed his index finger to his headphones.

"Redeploying to target Zone C... Calling Edge Squad, those people are heading straight for you, looks like you’re leading the charge again."

kilometers away from the target, next to the interstate highway.

A team of players clad in white camouflage crawled in the snow, with a forest behind them and a gentle slope in front.

This was the nearest route to the interstate highway.

Edge Shoveling pressed his earphone calmly and responded.

"Received."

Ending the communication, he turned to his eager comrades behind him and took a deep breath, saying with a serious expression.

"Brothers, the enemy is marching straight toward us, only 4 kilometers left."

"This will be the very center of the battlefield."

He then looked at the construction site youth and the brick.

"... Brick, aim for the tank’s tracks when firing, regardless of hitting or not, move immediately after shooting. If the track breaks, leave it to Big Eyes."

In front of him lay a nearly two-meter-long "Cavalry Gun," Construction Site Youth and Brick exclaimed excitedly.

"Leave it to me!"

"+1," Debt Giant Eye took out a small robot from his backpack and after confirming the dynamite was securely attached, chuckled and continued, "So, are we betting this time? I bet—"

"Get lost!"

"Bet your crow’s mouth! You talk too much, hurry up and go put the robot up front!"

Seeing that he had provoked their ire, Debt Giant Eye coughed.

"I was just kidding."

This was going to be a tough fight.

The enemies they would face were going to be several times those of the last time.

However, no one was afraid.

Edge Shoveling could feel that the gleam in the eyes around him sparkled with excitement and a readiness to embrace death.

They would stop those bandits right here, leaving none behind.

Want to get through?

Let’s see you try!

Edge glanced at the VM on his arm.

A line of pale blue text emerged on the screen.

[Mission: Operation Code "Spring Thunder"]

This thunder.

Would shatter all darkness!