On the street directly south of the library, gunfire rang out like fireworks, mingling with the screams of wounded soldiers and the roars of the Deathclaws, creating utter chaos.
The entire street had become a bloody Roshan grinder.
The narrow street provided no room to maneuver, and the Army's soldiers could only form small squads of ten with smaller squads, continuously filling in wave after wave.
Facing the thoroughly enraged Deathclaw, their bulletproof armor was of no use, and their 7mm rifles were as effective as wooden sticks.
In contrast, the Deathclaw, nearly two stories tall, could slice a man open with a casual swipe of its half-meter-long claws, scattering organs and flesh all over.
The hellish scene turned the soldiers' faces pale and their stomachs churned.
"Suppress it with firepower! Don't be afraid!"
"Damn, wasn't it already blown to pieces by the cannon?!"
"Shit, our bullets can’t penetrate its skin!"
"It’s not that they can’t penetrate. Its wounds are healing too fast!"
A soldier who couldn't dodge in time was torn in half.
Watching the continuous casualties among his men, Cowley, clad in an exoskeleton, stood on the rooftop, clenching his teeth as if his heart were bleeding.
Standing next to Cowley, his adjutant, also in an exoskeleton, swallowed hard and spoke with difficulty. "Sir... Why don’t we just use the cannon to blast it to heaven?"
Sending infantry to deal with a Deathclaw seemed insane to him!
Hunting and warfare are two entirely different concepts, especially when facing a monster as unreasonable as a Deathclaw where even battle-hardened soldiers were completely useless.
Cowley’s face was stern, and he remained silent.
He certainly knew that hunting and warfare were two different concepts, that a 100mm cannon was more effective than rifles. Three rounds from their 100mm cannon could turn the entire street upside down.
However, General McClennan wanted the creature's head, not just a pile of mushed Roshan.
At that moment, a soldier with blood on his forehead ran down from the front line and stood at attention before Cowley.
"Sir! Our squad has suffered more than half casualties!"
"The brothers can't hold on much longer!"
The adjutant also advised, "If we continue , even if we use up the rest of the men, we probably won’t be able to get that beast's head."
They had only brought a 100-man squad.
Though it should have been enough, nobody expected the Deathclaw to be so tough! A 100mm shell had blasted it at close range, looking as if they severely injured it, but within a few minutes, its wounds had mostly healed.
Is this still a carbon-based life form?
Cowley could see that continuing the fight would only result in more senseless casualties.
They needed infantry cannons, iron fist rocket launchers, anti-mutant armor weapons, and... local cannon fodder.
Gritting his teeth, he gave the order. "Retreat!"
On the top floor of the library, next to the rooftop railing, a person and a bear quietly crouched behind cover, watching the firefight unfolding on the nearby street.
"Go, Big Garbage-kun!" Tail, with glowing eyes, clenched her fists and excitedly whispered cheers for the Deathclaw on the adjacent street.
Beside her, Roshan, piled up in a heap, worriedly watched the besieged Deathclaw and asked softly, "Should we help it?"
It seemed like it was about to collapse.
However, Tail sternly rejected her suggestion.
"Roro, this is a duel among men! We better not interfere."
A group beating up a single figure was hardly a duel!
Watching Tail blatantly lie, Roshan couldn't help but complain silently. But after thinking it through, it was true. It wasn't easy to help.
If it were just a 10-men squad, they could probably handle it. However, the other side had 100 men and even had indirect fire support.
If the enemies really came at them full force, they would be overwhelmed in minutes.
What was worse... If they really took action and failed to clean up the battlefield properly, allowing members of the Army to escape and report to the Heart of Steel that there were suspected Enterprise soldiers, what came next would probably be a bombardment from their 400mm main cannons. Everything there would be reduced to dust.
Even if they could escape, the local survivors would suffer because of them.
Although Roshan didn't think Tail had considered everything, she had to admit that quietly watching from the side was the best choice.
In the end... They decided to support ‘Garbage Pro Max’ in spirit.
As if responding to their expectations, the massive Deathclaw let out a piercing roar that made the leaves on the trees below rustle.
Faced with the indestructible monster, the Army's soldiers finally couldn't hold on and began retreating from their cramped cover, organizing a rapid withdrawal.
As the last soldier cloaked in black exited the street, their reserve members in the distance also ran.
The amber-eyed Deathclaw glared fiercely at the backs of the retreating soldiers. It didn't pursue but instead, with a blood-dripping tail, staggered in the opposite direction.
Watching the majestic figure disappear into the night, Tail excitedly pumped her fist. "Well done, Big Garbage-kun!"
Roshan frowned. "Garbage would cry if he heard that..."
Fortunately, the battle the night before was just a scare. The Army's men and the Deathclaw had mutual losses and both sides retreated, one utterly humiliated. Neither knew where the other had run off to.
Standing at the window on the third floor, Wu Tao's face was filled with worry. Smoking one cigarette after another, his thoughts tangled like a ball of yarn.
Outside were the Army's men, and underneath lived a group of bloodthirsty mutants, rumored to also have hairy, blood-drinking savages...
He hadn't slept well all night the day before.
At that moment, Wang Xu arrived while carrying a pipe rifle.
This middle-aged man in his thirties, a well-known hunter from Xiangling Town, looked exhausted and defeated, with heavy bags under his eyes.
He hadn't slept at all, standing guard on the rooftop all night.
Looking towards the approaching Wang Xu, Wu Tao extinguished his cigarette and tucked it back into his patched pocket. "What’s up."
Wang Xu was silent for a moment before saying. "Should we... move away?"
"Move away?" Wu Tao chuckled bitterly and said, "Where can we go?
"Anywhere is better than staying here," Wang Xu said firmly. "We can’t pin our safety on a beast, especially since it’s now gone, who knows when the Army will come back? They might even take their frustration out on us... What will you do then?"
Hearing Wang Xu’s words, Wu Tao fell silent, not knowing how to respond. Perhaps as he said, moving away from this troubled land was the right choice. However, saying that was easier than doing it.
They had been living in their settlement for a century. Even if the conditions were tough, at least they still had a home.
Leaving meant wandering the wastelands. Who knew what more terrifying things awaited them out there. They might be thrown into a worse situation then...
Wu Tao’s brows furrowed with premature worry as he looked out at the devastated street, and after a long while, he sighed, "Let me think about it..."
Just as Wang Xu was about to say something, someone ran in from outside. It was the gatekeeper of the settlement, his face full of panic.
"Old Wu, there are people outside!"
Wu Tao felt a surge of anxiety, but recalling what the few outsiders had told him about reinforcements, he quickly calmed down.
The nervous gatekeeper said, "On the north side of the garage wall. There are around 20 of them. Each of them has an automatic rifle, similar to those girls who came earlier!"
Wu Tao’s mind raced, and he immediately declared, "Tell them to wait a few minutes!"
"Okay!" The gatekeeper nodded hurriedly and left the room.
Wu Tao didn’t linger either, following him quickly out of the door. However, instead of going out to greet them, he headed to the second floor to find the outsiders who had arrived the day before.
He knocked three times and pushed the door open when he heard them welcoming him in.
But before his leg even entered the room, a strong stench of blood wafted towards him.
He saw a long table, apparently dragged in from somewhere, covered with a plastic sheet, on which lay a disemboweled corpse.
A metal tray next to it held blood-soaked organs and a few bones that seemed to have been removed from somewhere.
Looking at the long surgical knife Sisi’s hands, his breath froze momentarily. It was as if he had seen a ghost.
Sisi casually looked towards the NPC at the door.
"Is something the matter?"
Wu Tao's gulped as he swallowed hard before stammering, "There are people outside. Their guns look like yours."
Sisi's eyes widened in surprise.
Are they really that fast?!
She tossed the scalpel into the tray, removed her plastic gloves and cloth mask before speaking. "Take me there."
"Okay..." Wu Tao’s face was pale, nodding like a chicken pecking on grains. His legs were weak as he turned to walk away.
As he descended the stairs, he almost fell. Fortunately, he managed to catch himself on the handrail.
Following behind him, Sisi looked curiously at his retreating figure.
I’m just dissecting a specimen... Is it really that scary?
On the north side of the library, near the wall.
As Sisi appeared atop the wall, Eye Owe Money, standing at the front of the team, waved his arm and joked, “Hey, sugar mommy, we’re here!”
"I've told you, I'm not the sugar mommy..." Sisi responded helplessly, her gaze drifting over his head to the familiar faces beside him, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes.
25 players arrived, and all of them were from the Death Corps!
The highest level among them was their team leader, Sideline Slacking, who had already broken through the LV20 bottleneck. Although he was a perception type, his overall combat capabilities were not weak at all, making him a solid T1 player .
Most of the other players were also above LV10. They were primarily strength and agility type, with constitution and intelligence as secondary traits. All of them were core members of the New Alliance’s combat forces.
What surprised her was not the presence of so many heavy hitters...
It was that the people she had just rallied on the forum the night before actually arrived in the morning!