Saving Unpermitted

Chapter 102: Attack

Most people didn’t care about Ding Lao or Dong Lao. At most they were shocked by Xia Liang’s sudden change. The three major families had long studied this enigmatic old man, and now Xia Liang, a younger generation member, had emerged explosively, creating a level of impact no different from an invasion of the Erosion Swamp.

The theater was now secure, and people on the second floor and above were discussing it. The oldest “patriarch” of the Xia family had a dark expression and remained silent.

For most members of the three major families, Xia Liang was merely one of the symbols used to stabilize public opinion—at most a pretty doll. Now that the doll had turned fierce and brandished a blade, their first reaction was simply, “This spectacle is quite entertaining.”

The fact that the delicate and weak singer turned out to be Zhu Yanchen’s top strategist would be enough to fuel conversations for months to come.

However, for the upper echelons, the subtlety of the situation lied elsewhere. It wasn’t uncommon for geniuses to be overlooked, or for the younger generation to rebel against their elders. What was terrifying was that she managed to conceal it—there were quite a few people investigating Dong Lao’s identity, including Zhu Sheng himself.

After the discovery of the thesis, people mostly acknowledged that Zhu Yanchen was an outstanding researcher. However, many still doubted his tactical abilities. After all, people couldn’t split their hearts in half, and it didn’t make sense for Zhu Yanchen to work so hard on both ends.

If he had let Dong Lao handle the command while dedicating most of his time to studying the Erosion Swamp, it would have been more reasonable. Dong Lao had a grassroots background and was old, so it was understandable that it would be difficult to trace his origins.

But Dong Lao turned out to be Xia Liang.

Concealing the identity of a national singer and concealing the identity of an ordinary person were like the difference between heaven and earth in terms of difficulty. It would be impossible for Xia Liang alone to evade the investigation of the three major families.

Zhu Sheng stood at the highest level of the theater, overlooking the people settled in the lower hall, feeling an icy coldness in his heart.

It seemed that only after his son’s death did he truly understand this child. The little boy who was once weak, cried easily, and hid behind the nanny when he saw people might be a more exceptional leader than his eldest son.

No, perhaps he had indeed become an excellent leader.

The “incompetence” from before was now explained entirely—his dislike of appearing in public was most likely to conceal the physical abnormalities caused by studying the Erosion Swamp. His tireless efforts, not driven by “saving face”, were undoubtedly because he understood his own impending death and didn’t want frequent changes in the power structure of the government. Even when his thesis was ignored by the command center, he didn’t make a fuss; he simply continued entering the thesis into the research database.

…His son had planned the end of his life and the subsequent chain of reactions from the very beginning.

So, was the current chaos also part of Zhu Yanchen’s plan? Over a decade had passed, and his son’s abilities had become terrifying, while his naivety and stubbornness remained unchanged.

He didn’t misjudge it at the beginning; this child really didn’t resemble himself at all.

Zhu Sheng remained silent for a long time, then called his assistant over. “Is the communication still working? Contact Tang Heyu.”

“Yes.”

Dong Lao’s identity caused a great uproar in the theater, while Xia Liang swiftly made her exit. The soldiers fighting against the Erosion Swamp had no time to concern themselves with such earth-shattering gossip—the Erosion Swamp had turned into a giant sea urchin and was about to charge towards the front of the theater. Tonight, there was a celebration for the newly elected leader, where the elders of the three major families gathered together. If the theater were to be breached, the United Government would immediately become paralyzed.

At that time, not only Y City but other cities would also suffer for a long time. The security guards were anxious to the point of foaming at their mouths. When they saw Dong Lao appear, the team captains from the First and Third Squadron were on the verge of tears.

“You finally came,” the captain of the Second Squadron said with a bitter tone. “Is this really an Erosion Swamp? Its spikes are extending too far, and we can’t do anything about it. If we can’t stop it…”

“I know,” Dong Lao replied straightforwardly. “Don’t delay, and don’t think about saving anything for later. Use the command center and the nearest armories. Activate as many purifiers as possible.”

“But… but…”

“If we can’t stop the Erosion Swamp tonight, keeping those things will be in vain.”

The captain of First Squadron frowned. “If another one comes later, do we have to fight them barehanded?”

“Survive until that time, then you can think about it.”

“This thing is too terrifying. You can’t really see it just by looking at the screens…”

Dong Lao didn’t say anything, but the man beside him whispered softly, “Knowing is enough.”

“Arrange the purifiers according to this configuration.” Dong Lao exchanged a glance with the man beside him. “Using the nearby residential areas and the theater as the center; the number of devices must be accurate. After preparing, find some agile young people and have them carry the purifiers on their backs to control the Erosion Swamp’s advancing route.”

“This…” The captain of the First Squadron was about to blurt out, “Isn’t that the synthetics’ job,” but after uttering the first word, he realized that something was amiss—

They didn’t have the synthetics with them now. Not only did they not have any, but the synthetics were also lurking outside the city. If it weren’t for the Erosion Swamp’s indiscriminate attacks, they would have taken advantage of this opportunity.

But they had no other choice. The team captain didn’t speak up again and quickly followed the instructions.

Under the cover of night, Shu Jun carried Monday and stood quietly at the top of the theater. The theater was tall enough, and he was wearing a black uniform, so no one noticed his presence.

The position was impressive enough, but Captain Shu’s posture wasn’t handsome at all. He sat casually with his legs apart, absentmindedly stroking Monday and occasionally feeding it a piece of his erosion candy.

Shu Jun didn’t come to watch the spectacle; he had to serve as the last resort—just in case, if that Spiked Erosion Swamp broke through the theater, he had to find a way to naturally eliminate it.

Also, he was very curious about what the first battle against the Erosion Swamp would look like.

Ai Xiaoxiao’s research on Monday came to an end. Recently, Monday had been quite comfortable, and it had grown quite large. It squeezed out a wave of water crazily but still couldn’t fix the sword to its original size. Fortunately, Shu Jun was no longer a normal synthetic human, and he could wield the overweight sword.

As a simple wild Erosion Swamp, Monday had no interest in disputes between humans and synthetics and had no thoughts about Sigma’s side. Its values were quite simple—live comfortably, good; fight, work hard, and struggle for survival, not good.

As for its special ability of “Spitting Water”, it had no attacking power against humans, let alone other Erosion Swamps. Now that it had candy to eat and someone to groom it, it had long forgotten its initial dissatisfaction.

“East. Side,” it reminded Shu Jun in a rough voice, “Very. Close. Still. There.”

“Probably someone Luo Duan sent to gather intelligence,” Shu Jun casually said. “Sigma has suffered quite a bit from me in the previous battles against the Erosion Swamps, and they failed to gather a lot of information… Is the other Erosion Swamp small?”

“Human. Head.”

“A human head is probably not very powerful. It’s likely following the large Erosion Swamp.”

“Eat?”

“No, it can’t be eaten. We have to send it back as proof.” Shu Jun tapped the hilt of his sword. “Otherwise, the play between me and A’Yan would be in vain.”

“Tsk.”

Zhu Yanchen skillfully took over his move—even though he couldn’t appear in person. First, he used Xia Liang’s help to stabilize the situation of the Grand Theatre and the mob, while the Old Fourth followed up with medical support. This time, he used Dong Lao as a diversion and took over the command of the guards.

The human resistance was still going well.

Purifiers were placed on both sides of the Grand Theatre and residential area. To prevent the Erosion Swamp from finding other ways to bypass them, they stacked the purifiers like tall walls. The stored combat purification weapons were all deployed, and although the young members of the guard team were nervous and their steps were chaotic, they still managed to drive away the Erosion Swamp to some extent.

The “Spiked” Erosion Swamp was still an Erosion Swamp. Even if it could bypass one or two lines of defense, it hesitated in front of the overwhelming purifiers—it once again thrust its spines, attempting to destroy the purifiers. However, the power of the surrounding purifiers was terrifying, and its spines shattered before they could pierce the mechanical shells.

Having no intelligence, it immediately became furious after being injured. Its spines grew sharper and longer, trying to turn the tide. Zhu Yanchen immediately ordered a tighter purification circle, attempting to keep the Erosion Swamp outside the theater district.

This area was quite prosperous, but the tidy storefronts were riddled with black spines and quickly turned into dust. The young soldiers at the forefront were inevitably injured, and some clearly had their hands and feet contaminated by erosion, which would have led to amputation in the past.

Shu Jun watched coldly, without softening his heart much. With Ai Xiaoxiao’s research now, it was possible to keep these people’s limbs intact.

And they were being commanded by Zhu Yanchen.

Zhu Yanchen’s commanding style hadn’t changed. He never liked sacrificing lives for victory, and whether he was commanding humans or synthetic humans made little difference to him. Human soldiers were still soldiers after all, and seeing that the unknown monsters could be controlled, their fighting spirit rose.

However, just as they were tightening the encirclement, the Erosion Swamp suddenly reverted to a swamp-like state, attempting to surge towards the nearby sewer. Although the people in the rear reacted quickly and immediately propped up the frames on their protective suits, several in the front were swept away. The water reached waist-deep, causing them to scream in pain.

The humans quickly adjusted their formation. The block had numerous obstacles, and the terrain changed rapidly, making it impossible to urgently call for transport machinery. Instead, people resorted to manually carrying the purifiers, fighting the strange Erosion Swamp like they were extinguishing a fire.

During the process, two people were pierced through their protective suits by spines, causing injuries to their necks and internal organs.

The broadcast stopped, leaving only the deafening sirens in the dark night. The bright lights illuminating the scene were dazzling, and the buzzing sound of the operating purifiers drove people insane. The heat generated by the machinery directly raised the surrounding temperature by five or six degrees, causing the protective suits of many people carrying the purifiers to melt, and some were directly burned.

That black, liquid-like flame was still “burning”, and they didn’t know when it would shoot out spines or recede. The wounded were quickly evacuated, replaced by newcomers, and the smell of gunpowder in the air grew stronger.

This crisis-filled war lasted for eighteen hours, and Shu Jun quietly watched for most of it. From dusk until dawn, people charged forward and were carried away while lying down. There were many who were minorly injured, but there were dozens who were severely injured. Due to the diligent retreat of the personnel, there were no casualties.

The human battle against the Erosion Swamp wasn’t much different from the players. Considering the special abilities possessed by the players and the unique abilities of the Erosion Swamp, Zhu Yanchen had probably done his best.

As the small-scale war neared its end, it was a struggle between manpower and machinery. The young ones fell, and they were replaced by middle-aged individuals. When a machine broke, a new one was immediately brought in. Except for not deploying their newly developed “Suppression” weapons, this war was said to be regardless of cost.

Finally, the Spiked Erosion Swamp was surrounded within this circle built with money and was gradually worn down reluctantly. Before dissipating, it had almost depleted the entire Y City’s arsenal of purification weapons. Although it no longer moved, the people around it didn’t feel any joy of victory.

Was this truly a victory?

They were exhausted and in pain, about to face lengthy purification treatment. If the treatment wasn’t adequate, they would carry the remnants of the illness for the rest of their lives. And with just one Erosion Swamp infiltrating, they had expended most of their ammunition. What if two or three of them came next time?

A battle had directly claimed a batch of lives, so what would come next? They couldn’t possibly send ordinary citizens to the battlefield.

The post-war streets were unrecognizable. The Erosion Swamp struggled intensely, reducing the buildings to ruins and completely eroded them into debris. A large expanse of desolation appeared in the most prosperous area of Y City, like an ugly scar.

This was just an Erosion Swamp that suddenly appeared. In the past two centuries, there have been thousands of Erosion Swamps dealt with by synthetic humans alone.

Could there be even stranger and more powerful opponents than this Erosion Swamp? What would they do when that time came?

People silently cleaned up the remnants of the battlefield, without anyone cheering.

On the other side, the Erosion Swamp was dispersed, and the area beneath the Grand Theatre gradually became lively. After eighteen hours without food or water, people eagerly rushed towards the outside world. The end of this small-scale confrontation was only the first step, and faced with such a battered “victory”, the United Government would only be met with an even bigger mess.

Shu Jun stood up from the top of the theater, patting his numb buttocks.

Monday: “Hungry.”

“You can’t eat it. The brain of that Erosion Swamp needs to be preserved for research at the command center.” Shu Jun stretched his muscles and bones.

“Angry.”

Shu Jun shook his head and opened the candy tin in his hand, pouring the remaining contents into Monday’s mouth. Monday got a taste for sweetness and finally shut up.

“Captain Shu, how’s it going on your side?” Hu Yan sent a message, sensing the silence from this end.

“Not bad. Not much different from the estimated situation. We can continue.”

“Continue? You mean…”

“Attack Y City. Isn’t now a great opportunity?”