CHAPTER 874: CHAPTER 874: MADNESS

Twisted steel burned on the muddy wasteland, and shattered corpses were buried near the riverside washed by rain.

After setting up a pontoon bridge, five thousand Glory Army soldiers wielding Ripper Rifles launched a charge, followed by another five thousand.

These clones, like unleashed hyenas, fiercely charged at the scattered positions of the Alliance and Poluo Country’s army.

The fierce battles turned the entire forest into a brutal meat grinder, wave after wave of clones fed into it like rolling chunks of meat.

The same was true on the other side.

Enduring severe casualties under those near-frenzied charges.

Yet even so, the charge of more than ten thousand clone soldiers still couldn’t break the positions standing on the east bank of the river.

The opponents seemed immortal, still occasionally erupting with sharp, sporadic gunfire after ten consecutive waves of charges and bombardments.

The gruesome scene made all the surrounded Weilante soldiers swallow hard, only just beginning to understand what their brothers in the 36th ten thousand troops had encountered.

But before they could rejoice that the deaths were just clone Cannon Fodder, they were met with their commander’s thunderous roar.

"Our Glory Army has dismantled the enemy’s line! Check your equipment now! Prepare for the assault!"

The clone infantry of the Glory Army is not unlimited, just like the support team’s artillery, after firing, the regular army must still charge.

Especially since those clones are unsuited to fight scattered soldiers, resembling rabid dogs that are difficult to control and communicate with, fit only for charging at solid lines.

The leading thousand team quickly gathered at the bridgehead.

Military boots stepped over blurred bodies, and Weilante soldiers in exoskeletons and bullet-proof armor stared wide-eyed at the withered forest, venting fear and courage through their battle cries.

"Oh oh oh!!!"

They charged through the riverside defensive zone under the cover of armored vehicles and tanks, engaging in fierce skirmishes with the joint units hiding in the forest and hills.

The bloody slaughter officially began, the battle lasting from dawn until dusk, the flowing blood dyeing the land, the forest, the river, and the sun a deep crimson.

The Death Legion was wiped out!

The players holding the ground nearly exhausted their last bullets, even expending the weapons they picked up.

The rocket artillery of the Goblin Corps was the same.

The twelve "Storm" rocket launchers were all destroyed by the Horn Number airship, only a few scattered 155mm field guns in the mountains survived.

The Poluo Country’s army also suffered heavy casualties.

The 50th, 51st, and 52nd ten thousand troops, just on the front line and unfamiliar with the situation, were forced into a hard fight, suffering heavy losses in a short time.

However, the Southern Legion also gained no advantage.

Leaving aside the ten thousand Glory Army, the regular army suffered casualties exceeding four thousand, and over three hundred vehicles were scrapped!

Furthermore, this was with the support of airships and the retreat of the Alliance’s Burning Legion and the First Mechanized Division of Jinjaron Harbor back to Tiandu.

Besides the ground forces, there were significant losses in air power.

Of the five airships, three lost power.

Even if West Sail Port prepared replaceable wings, it would take one to two weeks to repair these three airships.

Watching the chaos on the distant riverfront, Commander Ryan, sitting in the command vehicle, clenched his fist, his teeth grinding.

After a long while, he squeezed out a curse through his teeth.

"...A bunch of incompetents!"

Although they won the battle, he felt no joy.

After all, according to his original plan, they would crush the forces stationed on the east bank like squashing a bug, redeeming the face and morale lost by the 36th ten thousand troops, but didn’t expect to get bitten by the bug.

No one would cheer for such a costly victory.

He even saw traces of shock and fear on the faces of the soldiers that should never appear on Weilante soldiers.

Seeing the angry commander taking offense, the adjutant and the staff officers were nervously restless, not daring to utter a word.

At this moment, a communication request popped up on the holographic screen.

Seeing the signal flash, Ryan’s heart skipped a beat, relaxing only after realizing it was from John, then he pressed the connect button.

Facing the face on the holographic screen, Ryan said expressionlessly.

"What is it."

Sensing Ryan’s bad mood, John dared not ridicule the army’s clumsiness as he usually did, but instead using a business-like tone he said.

"...General Giulion arranged for that Blue Ground Squirrel on my airship hopes we can provide him with some corpses, preferably those who were poisoned."

Ryan impatiently replied.

"So many dead people, how the hell should I find those poisoned ones for him."

As he finished speaking, an annoying snub nose jumped into the holographic screen.

"Give me an engineering team! And a medical team! I can set up a frontline research institute myself!"

Hearing this request, Ryan coldly laughed in his heart.

An engineering team plus a medical team...

Quite bold in making such a request!

"What’s in it for me?"

The Blue Ground Squirrel laughed twice.

"Of course there is! Once my project is complete, you can get a virus that only works on the Poluo people... or possibly beyond the Poluo people, we can customize the RNA to match the receptors with specific DNA of the ’Mortal Serum’ as needed."

Not understanding what this guy was babbling about, Ryan grunted noncommittally.

"So what?"

Martin spoke softly.

"It means... you could potentially erase any disliked race from this planet."

Ryan’s eyes narrowed slightly, a slight smile curling on his lips.

"...Interesting."

He didn’t quite believe this guy had such abilities, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot. If it indeed succeeded, this war might end immediately.

They don’t need to kill all the Poluo people.

Just killing enough to instill fear in the rest would be sufficient.

Martin snickered.

"So... do you agree?"

Ryan pondered for a moment and said.

"The engineering team is no problem, but frontline medical resources are tight, I can’t spare staff for you... Can we replace the medical team with a hundred team?"

Martin said with a troubled expression.

"A hundred team... you mean your soldiers? I don’t doubt their bravery, but identifying corpses’ causes of death might be difficult for them—"

Ryan impatiently waved his hand.

"Then use the living."

The Glory Army’s clones can be used freely.

If those quick products don’t work, they can capture some from the local population.

As long as it reduces Weilante casualties, such inconsequential costs are worth it.

Martin was taken aback for a moment, an incredulous expression on his face, but soon an enthusiastic and ecstatic look appeared.

"Oh oh oh... that’s great! Honorable General! Thank you for supporting the end of the Wasteland—uh, I mean, thank you for supporting science!"

Ryan chuckled.

"Don’t rush to thank me, I want to see results."

"No problem! My lord!"

Martin bowed deeply.

"I will certainly not disappoint you!"

On the other side, in the north of Akale County, two sneaky figures peered at the Weilante people cleaning the battlefield by the riverside.

Looking at the corpses, Night Ten couldn’t help but click his tongue.

"Whoa... this is one hell of a brutal fight."

If it were reality, this region, barely a fingernail on the map, would have taken at least a couple of months to sort out.

Only in this wasteland where people are not viewed as humans can it be fought like this.

Since the army parked five airships here with too many radars on, the two dared not deploy drones to spy and could only observe from the ground clad in ghillie suits.

Wild Wind glanced at the time on the VM screen, then looked at the airship in the distance, and then said calmly.

"Based on the damage assessment, striving for a week’s time shouldn’t be an issue... By the way, how long does your friend from the Academy need?"

Night Ten thought for a moment and said.

"About a week should suffice..."

Wild Wind nodded silently, just staring at the truck filled with bodies in the distance, with a slight frown.

The soldiers of the Southern Legion were loading the corpses of the Poluo people onto a separate vehicle, driving along the winding river to a place where the terrain was flat, then lifting the truck bed to dump the bodies into the Everflow River.

Noticing the situation by the river, Night Ten also furrowed his brow.

"What are they trying to do?"

Wild Wind pondered for a moment and said.

"Maybe they’re hoping these bodies will wash downstream to Tiandu, breaking the will of the Poluo Country survivors to resist."

After a pause, he continued.

"Of course, it might as well be poisoning."

Besides those who died in battle, a considerable number of Poluo Country soldiers also died from poison gas.

According to the Edge brother, the poison gas bombs used by the Southern Legion don’t seem to be simple synthetic toxins but viruses with some self-replicating ability.

This stuff is much more formidable than nuclear radiation.

However, what perplexed Wild Wind the most was here.

If the Southern Legion’s goal was to occupy the land and population here, he couldn’t understand the significance of what they’re doing.

Unless—

They are conducting some kind of experiment.

And the virus released on the battlefield might just be a by-product of the experiment or an "incomplete form" of a final product.

This makes everything understandable...

...

The news of Akale County’s fall hasn’t reached Tiandu yet, but it has already spread to the official forum through Debt Giant Eye’s death.

While players were chatting away on the forum, in a secluded corner of the Heavenly Palace, a group of researchers in white coats busily worked on their tablets.

These are researchers from the Academy, about a hundred of them, ranging from E-level to B-level researchers.

Since the war between the Southern Legion and the countries of Poluo Province began, the Academy borrowed parts of the Heavenly Palace from Absek to set up research stations.

Although Poluo Country did not establish formal diplomatic relations with the Academy, upon hearing that the Academy could help deal with the Legion, Absek agreed without hesitation, even assigning quacks, copyists, and masters of ceremonies from Witch Gu who couldn’t leave in time to help.

On the surface, they were helping, but Absek also wanted them to learn something from it.

However, the Academy clearly didn’t value these people much and largely ignored Absek’s thoughts, only assigning them to serve tea and run errands.

As for research-related errands, they still relied more on their prospectors and apprentices.

At the entrance of the research station.

Fang Chang showed a card with an identification code to the bionics on duty, and with a few players wearing exoskeletons, dragged a cart filled with body bags through the checkpoint.

Jiang Xuezhou’s mentor, Yang Kai, happened to be standing beside a barracks, directing several E-level researchers to operate a square terminal.

Fang Chang, with curiosity in his eyes, approached and took a look, then asked.

"What’s this?"

Yang Kai didn’t keep him in suspense and explained succinctly.

"This is the control terminal we’ve redesigned and built for the starship. Through this device, we can connect to the starship’s control server without entering it, adjusting the reactor’s output power, obtaining connection permissions, and so forth..."

"In short, it sounds simple, but it’s not easy to execute. The locals have added so many useless structures to the starship’s exterior that the access corridors are almost completely blocked."

Fang Chang curiously asked.

"Can’t this thing be fixed?"

Yang Kai chuckled and teased.

"Sometimes we are indeed a bit lazy, but we are not blind. If it could be fixed, we wouldn’t have left it here unattended for over a century."

That made so much sense, Fang Chang couldn’t find words to refute it.

After a pause, Yang Kai continued teasingly.

"The gravity placed on this starship by the locals is too heavy; even the anti-gravity engine can barely handle it... According to our examination of reactor operation data, without this issue, the palace could float for at most another thirty or forty years. With our current tinkering, its lifespan might only be ten to twenty more years. You better advise that chieftain not to blame us later."

Fang Chang nodded and said.

"I’ll let him know, but I think he’s not that petty."

Yang Kai laughed noncommittally and said.

"That’s hard to say."

He, as a B-level researcher, had worked his way up from the grassroots, dealing extensively with survivors on the Wasteland in his younger years.

He was well aware of what those people had on their minds...

Just then, Yang Kai finally noticed the cart beside Fang Chang and the body bags piled on it.

His eyebrows slightly raised as he seemed to guess something.

"These people... are they the so-called ’Mortal Serum’ infected?"

With the topic shifting to the body bags, Fang Chang also put away his playful expression and nodded seriously.

"Correct. They are soldiers fallen on the front lines, and we discovered some unfamiliar viruses in their bodies, with genetic material suspected to be artificially designed. Alliance Biological Research Institute has already begun analyzing the samples... The Manager hopes we’ll share some samples with you for your research; perhaps you can find some clues we overlooked."

Yang Kai stroked his chin, and his expression gradually turned serious.

"Alright, leave the bodies here."

Viral weapons are even more dangerous than nuclear weapons; the latter merely destroys a region, whereas the former affects the entire ecosystem.

After speaking, he tapped twice on his personal terminal, and soon a young man in a white coat came over.

The young man appeared very young, just over eighteen, but exuded a professional demeanor.

Especially his shiny forehead, it was highly convincing.

Facing Yang Kai, the young man respectfully said.

"Professor, you called for me?"

"Qin Yuanxing, right... Yes, I have something for you."

Seemingly not remembering this student, Yang Kai glanced at his name tag to identify his face and match it to the number in the System before succinctly continuing.

"Our old friends sent some virus samples. I recall your research focus includes virology. Conduct an RNA and pathological analysis, compare the results with our database, and see if you can devise a cost-effective solution."

The young man’s eyes lit up at the opportunity to apply his expertise, and he replied energetically.

"Leave it to me!"

The Academy lacks nothing in researchers, only opportunities to shine.

He wasn’t any less capable than D-level seniors; he was still an E-level simply due to insufficient qualifications in his resume.

Watching the young man leave in a hurry, Fang Chang felt a twinge of envy in his eyes.

While there are quite a few researchers in the Alliance, they are not abundant enough to randomly appoint someone to lead a major project.

At least in terms of research talent reserves, the Academy’s foundation is deep.

If only these E-levels could be lured to the Alliance!

Ironically, Yang Kai was unaware that his unintentional boast had already attracted someone’s attention to his turf.

Retracting his gaze from where the figure disappeared, Fang Chang suddenly thought of something and continued to Yang Kai.

"By the way, according to the latest feedback from our front-line unit, they discovered that Weilante people have thrown virus-carrying corpses into the river. We are concerned this might contaminate the Everflow River’s water."

Yang Kai’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, and after pondering for a moment, he said.

"Hmm, your concern is valid. It’s best to remind the local chieftain to have his survivors pay attention to hygiene, like avoiding using river water for washing clothes, and making sure to boil drinking water."

Throwing poison into the Everflow River...

These big noses are truly ruthless.

The virus won’t stay in Everflow River; eventually, the water will push it into the sea, and only heaven knows where the fish schools and ocean currents will carry it.

Fortunately, this "Mortal Serum" has a very high mortality rate and isn’t a perfect virus from a pathological perspective, so its spread might not be too extensive.

However, it’s evident those bloodthirsty maniacs won’t be satisfied with the current semi-finished product and will surely find ways to improve the existing samples, enhancing both its destructive power and transmission efficiency.

Using high technology for evil deeds is far easier than for constructive purposes...