Chapter 674: Chapter 641: The Final 1 Minute and 30 Seconds!
Izumo players were in a terrible mood.
From the beginning of the game till now, there had never been a smooth time.
First, the fighter jets had no engines, then the bombers had no bombs, and finally, they were attacked by two strong opponents joining forces.
The mobility of the Air Force was not utilized at all.
Even now, they had to consider cutting their losses to survive!
Yes, if they didn’t find a way to shake off their pursuers soon, they would end up like Poland.
But players were hot-blooded and wouldn’t easily give up a quarter or even a third of their forces by being chased. It wasn’t a decision they could make lightly.
At this moment, the System announcement appeared again-
[T3 War Zone-Java, has withdrawn from the battlefield.]
Due to Suharto’s previous clever tactics, Cloud Dream hadn’t established a Server Center in Java, nor did they have any dedicated partners.
Java players had grown into a sizable player group through cross-border networking, and successfully entered the [Peak War].
But this loose nation held together by religion, seemed to be making little progress in the virtual world.
After accidentally running into Swiss players, Java players, being the world’s fourth most populous country, thought highly of themselves and looked down on Switzerland, a small country “only good at making watches”, and started a fight without hesitation.
As a result… they collapsed at the first touch!
Java players were scattered by Swiss players after just one charge.
After that, they were chased and killed like sheep until their casualties reached over 80% and were eliminated.
It was really troublesome to kill more than 80% of a group of thousands of players…
Java’s exit finally gave Izumo players the determination to act.
“Leave 200 people to cover us, the rest head south! All the planes that can fly, take off! Don’t leave a single one!”
There was no other choice. After Russia and Germany joined forces, they were surrounding them from the east and the north. The flat terrain in the west lacked cover and wasn’t suitable for a breakout.
Only the south seemed to have some hope, either fleeing further and jumping into the river to follow the current, or turning in the middle to escape to the city center – these were both worth trying.
By now, Izumo players had suffered over 15% casualties. Leaving another 200 would increase their losses to over 35%, which was extremely dangerous.
Izumo players reached a consensus and immediately took action.
In the chaotic battlefield, this covert retreat lasted for quite a while before being discovered. German and Russian players became even more fierce in their attacks.
The Izumo players who stayed behind to cover their retreat resisted stubbornly, not giving an inch.
Their goal was to die as late as possible.
*
Out of Daxia’s 100 recon soldiers, only 6 got too close out of curiosity to watch the excitement and were killed as collateral damage by both sides in the ongoing battle.
The remaining 94 still held their positions, keeping an eye on anything they could.
By now, 28 countries’ players had been marked by Daxia on the map.
Some bored players even began making sand tables on large cargo ships.
The 100 who went out to search for the Controller no longer needed to look for it and began to head towards the Drawing a Snake With Horns’ location.
But the situation was very bleak.
As they returned to the seaport, four countries and more than 3,000 people had gathered on their way!
Breaking through the blockade seemed almost impossible for the small team of Drawing a Snake With Horns.
If Daxia wanted to provide support, they would probably have to deploy their entire army, which was too risky just for a single Controller.
Turn back towards the east?
It wouldn’t work either. According to the “Recon Group’s” information, there were several countries chasing them from behind.
As the encirclement was about to close completely, another System announcement rang out-
[Nuclear Bomb Controller’s current owner: Daxia. Location: Area 24 – Silent Town, 94-124]
[Nuclear bomb launch countdown: 10 minutes.]
This seemed like a signal. In the eyes of the chasing players, Daxia’s car teams split into four and rushed out of the small town from the east, south, west, and north.
In the center of each car team, a pickup truck was protected, and a huge chest was placed in the truck bed.
Players from all eight sides didn’t hesitate to block them, and with a numerical advantage of tens of times more, the tactic of splitting their forces had little effect.
As the encircling formation was disrupted a little, four more motorbike teams rushed out, and in the middle of each team, a person was tightly holding a briefcase in their arms.
Now the attacking players were a bit puzzled—
What the hell does a Nuclear Bomb Controller look like??
Nobody had seen one before!
Having no choice, they split up again to block the motorbike teams.
Even though the attacking players were worried about damaging the Controller and didn’t use heavy firepower, they quickly eliminated the team members due to their absolute numerical advantage.
Then they began to research whether the things they had snatched were nuclear bomb controllers.
First, it was the briefcase, although it also had a password, but how strong could a briefcase’s password lock be?
There was no need even to use a gun, a few slashes and it was open.
But at the moment they opened it, they saw the stairway to heaven–
“Boom!”
The loose-release landmine that the Daxia players had cautiously fixed inside the briefcase exploded.
In real battlefields, loose-release landmines are rarely used; most of the time, it’s pressure-release landmines. You step on it, it explodes, leaving no chance for rescue.
Loose-release landmines are often chosen deliberately by TV dramas to create suspense.
In Cloud Dream, of course, both types were stuffed in great quantity.
Players, who thought the battle was over, were rushing over excitedly, wanting to see what the “nuclear bomb controller” looked like.
They didn’t expect the cunning trick of hiding landmines inside the briefcase.
As a result, there’s no suspense, a death zone was cleared at the center!
This resulted in them being cautious when opening the chests of the pickup trucks. They hid far away, guessed the fist, and chose a brave one to go up and open the chest alone.
With no surprises–
“Boom!”
The moment the chest was opened, the hand grenades bound together by ropes were pulled off their safety.
The brave one turned and ran, but still couldn’t escape.
All players who participated in the siege got nothing.
*
[Peak War] Nuclear Bomb Controller current possession: Daxia. Location: Area 24 – Silent Town, 94-124 ]
[Nuclear bomb launch countdown: 5 minutes.]
System’s third announcement.
The nuclear bomb controller hadn’t moved at all, still in a small area to the north of the town.
“These people… are all here to delay!”
“What should we do? Shall we rush in and search?”
Players from Siam, Johor, Baekje, Belgium, Netherlands, and Norway all realized they were tricked.
But war reporter Mario Pumisat, within the group of Siam players, suddenly thought of something–
“Daxia players, wouldn’t bomb themselves, right?”
“What do you mean?” asked a nearby player.
“Nobody will bomb themselves. Whether it’s the Daxia players’ main base [Seaport] or the town they’re in now, neither of them could be the target of the nuclear bomb. So, this area now is the [Safe Zone]!”
“So, we are actually safe?”
“Not just that!” Mario quickly continued, “In 5 minutes, the nuclear bomb is about to explode, so why not wait and watch it instead? Anyway, those blasted are all our opponents!”
“As for the controller, it’s already blocked in the town, unable to escape. We can wait until the explosion is over and then snatch it.”
Like waking from a dream, the players from Siam stopped in their tracks and no longer advanced.
Not only the players from Siam but other factions besieging the town quickly thought of this too. They all relaxed, started searching for the tallest buildings nearby, and prepared to enjoy the rare, super explosion that was about to happen.
*
On the other side, Russian and German players successfully annihilated the Izumo players in the airport who were left behind, but did not pursue further. They quickly resupplied their military equipment and continued sweeping to the west.
Since Izumo had suffered massive losses and their air force appeared to be no threat, it was not worth their time to chase them.
The most important thing now was to stay mobile, to reduce the chances of being hit by a nuclear bomb.
On the other hand, Izumo players, who fled all the way south, saw nobody chasing them from behind. They planned to enter the city from the east and redeploy their positions.
As a result, they collided head-on with the Italian players who had stormed out of the city from the west!
Italian players, from the beginning of the match, had been furiously charging towards the city center but up until now, they hadn’t encountered a single enemy, driving them crazy.
Now that they finally see people, they are excited.
Their Italian cannons had long been starving for action!
“Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!”
Izumo players, escaping with their heads covered, fled southward, soon reaching the river on the map.
Izumo players, like ducks being chased, plunged into the river awkwardly, hoping to escape by drifting downstream.
…
In their panic, Izumo players had forgotten–
Across the river were the French players’ anti-aircraft shelters.
And at this time, there was 1 minute and 30 seconds left for the nuclear bomb to launch.