Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 39: Bloodstained Items - Dungeon Cleared!

On the other side, La Kuku was still leading his raid group in a fierce battle against the stronghold defenders.

They had almost managed to hold out for twenty minutes, and the outer perimeter of the stronghold's blast wall had been breached by grenades and armor-piercing fire.

One of the two Steel Badger infantry fighting vehicles had its turret damaged by the sniper team from Little Pony Express, while the other was still using its vehicle-mounted chain gun to suppress the frontal advance. Five low-altitude military drones were shot down by the players, but the remaining ones continued to circle the battlefield firing in short bursts, causing the respawning players to flee in panic.

However, they weren't always on the defensive; the garrison at the stronghold wasn't having an easy time either.

Of the 96 elite security personnel in the two platoons, 37 have been confirmed dead, more than 20 have been seriously wounded and retreated to the rear, four heavy firepower positions have been destroyed, and the rocket launcher team has been so heavily targeted by snipers that they dare not show their faces.

The cost to the players was equally staggering, with the cumulative number of deaths exceeding 140. Several unlucky soldiers in the first infantry platoon had even used up their five casualty quotas and were forced to retreat to the repair station to become logistics personnel while cursing and swearing.

At this moment, the channel of the person in charge of the front-line command was filled with reports of enemy positions, distress calls, and reports of running out of ammunition.

"Second rank, left flank, move back half a body length! Don't let the vehicle-mounted chain gun sweep through in a straight line!"

"Ruby squad, hold off the flank fire! Shieldbearers, don't hold out too long; if they're about to explode, switch them in!"

"Sniper team, keep your eyes on the heavy gunner. Hacker team, hold that infantry fighting vehicle's turret in place for another three seconds. Fire support platoon, fire all your grenades! One minute left!"

[Dungeon Countdown: 00:00:59]

It's the last minute...

As he watched the mission countdown, his fingers almost left marks on the tactical terminal. He now had to organize the Skyward Legion to evacuate after the dungeon ended.

Just now, La Kuku heard a report from someone who doesn't eat beef.

The viewers in Lao Niu's live stream room have been flooded with news from outside. Some people have found out from the Mars public channel that the anti-terrorism reinforcement force is approaching the Mariner Valley manufacturing corridor. Some people say that the Covenant Army Mobile Force has entered the nearby transportation level. Others have captured a blurry image, which appears to show an organism taking off from the direction of the SA hangar.

No wonder the mission only required them to hold out for twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes later, when the anti-terrorist force and SA mechs arrived, these two hundred players, even with their respawn points tied to the side, were like XX cups—they could be shot at however the enemy wanted, and they didn't even have the slightest means of resistance.

This time, I truly experienced the intensity of the large-scale dungeon in the Homeworld world.

This thing is damn hard to beat.

The regular defenders are all elite security personnel fully modified with cybernetic implants. A single round of heavy firepower can wipe out an entire player's squad. Infantry fighting vehicles and drones will also provide follow-up fire. The defenders' crossfire is very professional. If a player is even slightly cramped, they will be targeted by grenades and chain guns in the next second.

What's even more troublesome is the issue of evacuation after the instance ends.

The mission only required them to hold the enemy back for twenty minutes, but after those twenty minutes, would the defending forces relentlessly pursue them? Would reinforcements block their escape route? Would the Covenant's SA mechs directly bombard the battlefield? All of these things were related to whether the two hundred players could leave alive.

The original plan of the raid was simple: once the dungeon ended, all players would retreat at full speed, first leaving the combat state, then rushing to the evacuation point according to the pre-planned route, and then logging off together to enter a silent state, using player mechanics to avoid the church's subsequent search.

Therefore, once the instance ends, they absolutely cannot be caught by the stronghold defenders.

Just as La Kuku was contemplating his escape plan, a burst of blazing white light suddenly erupted deep within the inner ring of the stronghold.

boom--!!!

The explosions came from inside the blockade zone. Even from the outer ring of positions, one could feel the ground tremble violently. Then, a second explosion sent up an even larger column of smoke. Red warning lights lit up layer by layer along the interior of the stronghold, and the faces of the defenders who were fighting the players head-on changed instantly.

"An accident has occurred on the inner ring road!"

"Wet component node lost connection; core area exploded!"

"Second row, return to support! Quickly return to the core area!"

Some of the Secret Service security personnel abandoned their front-line firing positions and rushed towards the direction of the explosion. Even the Steel Badger infantry fighting vehicle that was still firing began to adjust its direction, attempting to return to defend the inner ring.

The outer ring of firepower suddenly became less intense, and the barrage of bullets pressing down on the players finally broke through.

At the same time, all participating players heard the system notification.

The phase objective of the large-scale faction raid quest [Bloodstained Pieces] has been completed!

[Core objective: To tie down the armed security forces surrounding the Sacred Registrar's Office for 20 minutes – Completed!]

[Hidden Objective: Assist in opening the Skyward Core Operation window - Completed!]

[Special Decision: The wetware network master node has been destroyed!]

[Dungeon Challenge Successfully Completed!]

[All participating players will receive a basic reward: +5000 experience points!]

[Contribution rewards are being processed...]

[The elite shared prize pool is currently being tallied...]

The player channel exploded instantly.

"It's done!!!!"

"Finally, I passed the damn level!"

"We've cleared Bloodstained Armor, guys, run!"

La KuKu reacted the fastest; the moment he saw the system notification, he immediately shouted in the main channel:

"Everyone retreat immediately, enter disengagement mode, then proceed to the extraction point as planned, and log off collectively!!!"

"Don't linger, don't finish off the enemy. The mission is complete; it's time to run!"

After he gave the order, all the players started running.

The players who were just yelling about contributing immediately turned around. The shield guards retreated with their broken shields, the riflemen fought and retreated, the gunners threw all the remaining grenades at the outer ring of the stronghold, the sniper team put away their guns and went down to their high positions, and the hacker players casually threw out the last few jamming programs.

Pound, dragging the beef-eating boy, charged out from behind the cover, with the Ruby Squad chasing after him at breakneck speed.

While running, the streamer kept panning the camera back. In the live stream, the flames inside the blockade zone were still rising, the defending troops were in chaos, and the players were like a group of cyber lunatics who had just blown up a fishpond, running frantically along the pre-planned evacuation route.

The screen was flooded with a dense barrage of comments.

[You're giving the road some gas!]

[Don't turn around, SA is coming!]

[Hilarious! Just a moment ago they were chanting "Long live the Skyward Drive!", now everyone's making a hasty retreat.]

……

Little Pony Express was among the last players to evacuate the combat zone. They used up all their smoke grenades, and a white smoke wall spread along the abandoned pipelines, obscuring the last section of the players' evacuation route.

Several military drones that had pursued the drones had just passed through the smoke screen when they were caught by interference programs left by hacker players within the guild. The drones swayed twice in mid-air, and their fire control cursors were deflected onto the stone wall next to them.

The low rumble of thrusters could already be heard above the distant canyon.

Several SA mechs' exhaust plumes pressed down from the night, their blue-white streaks of light rapidly approaching along the sky above the canyon, making the atmosphere increasingly thrilling.

"Brothers, don't stop, keep running!!!"

Soon, as the players rushed into point one, their combat status began to fade away.

"I'm out of the war! I'm out of the war!"

"Don't log off here, keep running towards the evacuation point—only by logging off at the evacuation point will your login location not be fixed in the same place!!!"

"Ruby Class, roll call! Anyone missing, please report immediately!"

Pound glanced back and saw that although the Ruby Squad members were all low on health, their prosthetic bodies were smoking, and their equipment durability was low, at least they had all kept up with the group.

He grinned, then kicked open the iron fence of the abandoned maintenance passage and led his team into the darkness.

On the other side, the elite platoon of Little Pony Express also completed its withdrawal. After La Kuku confirmed that all forty-eight core members in the guild channel had disengaged from the battle, he allowed them to enter the withdrawal point in batches.

Below the abandoned cooling station, the last group of players rushed into the designated evacuation zone, their figures turning into tiny glimmers of light in the low light.

One, two, ten, dozens...

The players logged off en masse, their bodies quickly dissipating, leaving behind only scattered bullet casings and charred armor fragments on the ground.

A few minutes later, the first Covenant SA aircraft landed at the edge of the outer battlefield. The heavy footsteps made the ground tremble slightly. The pilot scanned the chaotic evacuation route and saw only empty abandoned pipelines and lingering smoke.

The Skyward Legion has successfully withdrawn, and the Bloodstained Parts dungeon has been cleared!