Chapter 1397: At All Costs
The New District Government City was a place where the number of robots far exceeded the population. Fully automated cars, aircraft, repair machines, and even trash cans maximized labor savings, not to mention the large factories, all staffed by robots working twenty-four hours a day without interruption.
With such a vast disparity in numbers, coupled with the relatively scattered residential areas, once the bombing began, it felt as if the entire city was left with only robots. Since robots normally moved on foot, a slow massacre permeated every corner of the city. Whenever players intervened, the robots would swarm and bomb in groups, and if they were outmatched, they would resort to suicide detonations.
Of course, the players of the New District Government City weren't entirely helpless. After realizing that interfering with the robots to regain control was ineffective, they began luring the robots to open areas to destroy them. Thus, the explosions echoing from various parts of the city now were more often the sounds of robots being obliterated.
Besides these rampaging robots, some players from outer zones were also looting within the city. The New District Government City players could hardly be bothered to deal with them. Apart from handling the robots, they had to allocate some of their forces to search for the hidden singing player.
The aircraft still circled above the city, relentlessly broadcasting the devastatingly powerful song. Government players had conducted a thorough, carpet-like search of every area in the city that hadn't been bombed or burned, yet they found no trace of the suspected singing player. Excluding the residential districts, that left only the factories heavily guarded by robots.
Finally, the government players set their sights on a biopharmaceutical factory. This location stored a significant quantity of toxic agents and pollutants, and so far, no player had dared to attack it. To protect the factory, the government had originally installed detectors on the robots, which had now become a powerful constraint against the players. Whether using invisibility items or jamming devices, they couldn't guarantee that the government players wouldn't be detected. Consequently, although a large number of players had surrounded the pharmaceutical factory, none had successfully infiltrated it.
Explosions rang out one after another from the rear of the city, occasionally accompanied by screams or wails of agony, but these were no longer the primary concern for the government players.
Because the robots had gone out of control so suddenly, many government officials with decision-making power had been killed. Only a few, who were accompanied by high-level players or had been rescued by chance, survived. Most of these individuals had immediately sought a way to escape Zone 023. Those who remained were the ones who had to shoulder the responsibility.
"Mayor, issue the order for a full assault." A player in a black uniform with a golden badge on his chest walked to the rear and addressed an elderly man, who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties and was being protected.
Ordinary evolved humans typically aged more slowly after taking potions, so this man could easily be much older than he looked. Compared to the others around him, the old man bore no injuries, and even his clothes were clean. Staring in the direction of the factory, he said in a deep voice, "If the factory is destroyed, years of hard work will be ruined."
"How is the evacuation at the laboratory progressing?"
"It's moving quickly," the golden badge replied. "To prevent experimental data from being stolen, we originally only deployed robots around the laboratory's perimeter. After losing control, the laboratory has actually become a relatively safe place."
"That's good." The old man nodded, his gaze fixed on the factory turning grim. "Once all the A-level experimental subjects have been evacuated, at all costs, fully encircle and destroy the factory!"
"Yes, sir!" The golden badge gave a military salute, turned, stepped forward, and raised his arm to make two special gestures. The players gathered nearby quickly adjusted their combat positions. The defensive barrier surrounding the factory was increased from one layer to three. Since the machines had failed, players took over the ground and mid-air positions, forming a human barrier outside the defensive barrier.
Only a few players remained inside the barrier, holding items and waiting for the old man's command.
The factory remained silent—naturally, for players, leaving a district was far too easy. Even if the factory exploded and released toxic agents and pollutants, as long as they reacted quickly enough, escaping safely wasn't difficult. The actions of the New District Government City players seemed more like a helpless venting of anger, or simply an attempt to drive someone away.
"Can you believe it, there's only one person in that factory!" Qiu Ming, crouching in another neglected factory that produced maternal and infant products, said to Cao Qinglin beside him, utterly astonished. "Just one player showed up, and they nearly wiped out the entire New District Government!"
"That's not surprising," Cao Qinglin replied, her injuries appearing much better. Her tone was steady as she said, "In fact, the main force behind the city-wide massacre was the robots. The New District Government relied too heavily on machines. Once those machines turned their guns around, they had no time to defend themselves. The player who started this must have known the situation here in advance and deliberately used a targeted jamming device. But such a high-level jamming device definitely isn't available on the regular market."
"As for the sonic attack, it's just a means to disrupt the players. Once you've fallen for it, you won't fall for it a second time."
Cao Qinglin paused, then added, "I just find it strange. If it really is just one player, there's no way they could deliver a fatal blow to the New District Government. Compared to human lives, the district government clearly cares more about what's in the laboratory. If they were targeting something specific, they should be trying to destroy the lab, not kill people."
"Maybe that person is just a psycho, here specifically to kill," Qiu Ming said dismissively. "How could we normal people understand the thoughts of a madman?"
Cao Qinglin still had doubts. "Nothing in this world happens without reason. Unless that player has a grudge against the New District Government."
"Could it be the Ya Clan people?" Qiu Ming speculated wildly.
"If the Ya Clan had the means to get such a good jamming device, or had such a powerful player, they wouldn't have ended up in their current situation," Cao Qinglin said. "When you came over, did you see many people looting the laboratory?"
"Of course I did. It looked like some outer zone players," Qiu Ming nodded.
"Besides the outer zone players, there were probably some Ya Clan members taking advantage of the chaos," Cao Qinglin said. "Their main goal is to destroy the laboratory. From that perspective, the singing player isn't on the same side as the Ya Clan."
"Although the New District Government might not do anything humane, some of their potions are still quite valuable. Luckily, I managed to grab a few cases in time," Qiu Ming said. "This trip to Zone 023 won't be a total loss..."
"What potions did you grab?" Xu Huo's voice came from behind them. After signaling the startled pair to calm down, he turned his head toward the other side of the factory and said, "And you, friend hiding behind the cargo boxes, no need to stay hidden. Come out and have a chat with us."
(End of Chapter)