Chapter 49: Sudden Encounter with the Zerg
Chapter 49: Sudden Encounter with the Zerg
After scolding Wangcai a few times, Fatty Lei stopped. After all, Wangcai was now considered his trusted aide. “Go get the Armored Vehicle out. Having an Armored Vehicle indeed makes travel faster than walking,” Fatty Lei said to Wangcai while standing there.
“It’s not just about being a little faster. We can also expand our exploration range. And in terms of safety, it’s much safer than walking,” Wangcai leaned in and whispered to Fatty Lei.
“Why haven’t you gone to do it yet?” Fatty Lei tilted his body slightly and looked at Wangcai strangely.
Fatty Lei was almost 1.9 meters tall, while Wangcai was only about 1.7 meters. So when Fatty Lei looked at Wangcai, he always had a bit of a downward gaze, which made him feel quite comfortable.
“Actually…” Wangcai lowered his head slightly, occasionally glancing up like a child who had done something wrong.
Seeing Wangcai like this made Fatty Lei both annoyed and conflicted.
Wangcai’s appearance was that of a middle-aged man from Europe and America. Acting like this now was just ridiculous.
“Who are you trying to disgust?” Fatty Lei really wanted to yell, but after thinking about it, he held back.
“Just say what you want to say,” he said impatiently.
Wangcai wasn’t stupid and knew Fatty Lei was suppressing his anger, so he quickly replied, “Actually, when I found the Heavy Armored Vehicle, I had already taught five Artificial Humans to be drivers.”
As soon as Wangcai finished speaking, the entire Military Outpost shook suddenly. With a loud “thump,” a large metal plate in the center of the outpost slowly sank downward, forming a sloping passage.
“Hum~ hum~”
An Armored Vehicle, about four meters high, three meters wide, and eight meters long, hovered half a meter above the ground and rose from underground along the slope.
“Is this the Heavy Armored Vehicle you found?” Fatty Lei asked, smacking his lips.
“Master, this is the Armored Vehicle I found,” Wangcai immediately replied. “But there are only five in total, and the Energy is running low.”
“Energy is low?” Fatty Lei muttered softly. “That’s not good news.”
Wangcai agreed, “Yes, Master. The firepower configuration of this Armored Vehicle is quite good. If we use it well, we can protect our ‘Farm’ and patrol around it day and night.”
So that was Wangcai’s idea, which Fatty Lei hadn’t considered before.
The Armored Vehicle stopped in front of Fatty Lei. Wangcai rushed over, opened the door on the side of the vehicle, and respectfully bowed, making a ‘please’ gesture.
Fatty Lei straightened his clothes and, under Wangcai’s guidance, entered the Armored Vehicle.
From the outside, the interior Space of the Armored Vehicle didn’t seem very large, but once inside, you realized the Space design was very reasonable and comfortable.
As Fatty Lei and Wangcai entered the Armored Vehicle, the hundred Artificial Human Soldiers, led by their squad leaders, divided into five groups and entered the vehicles as well.
The interior of the Armored Vehicle was quite spacious. Even with twenty Artificial Humans inside, it didn’t feel crowded. Moreover, five of the Artificial Humans climbed to the top of the Armored Vehicle to operate the Heavy Laser Rifles there.
“How is the Armored Vehicle’s protection?” Fatty Lei asked from the driver’s seat.
“The metal density is very high. It can definitely withstand attacks from those Xenomorphs and Bugs,” Wangcai replied. “Also, the Armored Vehicle’s outer shell has been improved with some technology, so it can handle the corrosive liquids of those Bugs.”
Hearing this, Fatty Lei felt completely at ease.
With Artificial Human Soldiers by his side and sitting inside a Heavy Armored Vehicle, Fatty Lei had nothing to worry about regarding safety. He might as well treat this as a relaxing trip.
The Metal Gate of the Military Outpost slowly opened. Under the watchful eyes of the remaining Artificial Human Soldiers, the five Heavy Suspension Armored Vehicles filed out of the outpost and headed deep into the Desert ahead.
The Suspension Armored Vehicles were indeed great. Sitting inside, you didn’t feel any bumps at all.
This was the first time Fatty Lei truly appreciated the benefits of high technology. Before this, he hadn’t seen anything particularly good about it.
The convoy of five Armored Vehicles traveled deep into the Desert. Fatty Lei’s Armored Vehicle was positioned in the center, while the other four took advantageous positions at the front, sides, and rear.
“Do these Artificial Humans understand such tactics?” Fatty Lei asked Wangcai after glancing through the driver’s window.
“Commander Master, these Artificial Humans aren’t very intelligent. But Dr. Rogue made them to be soldiers,” Wangcai thought for a moment and replied. “So these Artificial Human Soldiers do understand some combat skills. Otherwise, Dr. Rogue wouldn’t dare charge ten Credit Points per Artificial Human.”
Fatty Lei thought it over and realized that was indeed the case.
Ten Credit Points didn’t sound like much, but if you were buying Cannon Fodder, that was a bit high. After all, if you bought them, they needed to have some value.
So when Dr. Rogue created these Artificial Humans, he implanted some combat skills into them. Once awakened, they could pick up weapons and go straight into battle without any training or hassle.
Compared to new recruits, these Artificial Humans were more like cold, emotionless veterans.
After all, Artificial Humans were designed to feel no pain, have no emotions, and only follow orders.
Fatty Lei and Wangcai chatted idly along the way, since there was nothing but Desert as far as the eye could see.
“Commander Master, you should pay attention to your personal hygiene,” Wangcai kindly reminded him.
Huh!
Fatty Lei raised his hand and touched his face. Indeed, as Wangcai said, his beard had grown quite long.
“It seems I haven’t bathed in two months,” Fatty Lei smiled wryly.
“Do you think I wanted this? Back then, supplies were scarce,” Fatty Lei said to Wangcai with a bitter smile. After saying this, he smiled again. “But now, this issue really needs to be resolved.”
Wangcai nodded. “Commander Master is our face. Even though there are no other intelligent beings in this barren land, if you stay clean, you’ll feel better, right?”
Wangcai’s words struck a chord with Fatty Lei. After all, not bathing or brushing his teeth for two months did affect his mood.
“I didn’t pay attention to these things before because I was poor,” Fatty Lei said with a sigh. “When you can’t even fill your stomach, how can you talk about personal hygiene?”
“But now it’s better. After paying off the System’s debt, I still have over two thousand Credit Points left. I think I’ll use these Credit Points to buy some food and personal hygiene products. As long as my Farm continues to expand, in six months, I should have enough Credit Points to buy a spaceship.”
“Commander Master, actually, these things don’t cost many Credit Points,” Wangcai muttered softly.
The Armored Vehicle convoy moved quickly across the Desert. About twenty minutes later, they were already ten kilometers deep into the Desert from the Military Outpost.
Last time, for the sake of his stomach, Fatty Lei walked for over two hours from the outpost into the Desert and only managed to go about two kilometers.
After all, the Desert wasn’t like a flat Great Dao, so walking was exhausting and difficult.
Fatty Lei didn’t know this; he thought he had traveled quite far.
The convoy crossed a high Sand Dune, and suddenly, the two Armored Vehicles in front stopped on the dune and didn’t move forward.
“Call them and see what’s going on.”
There must be a reason for this sudden stop. Wangcai ordered the Artificial Human driver.
“Command vehicle to antenna, command vehicle to antenna. What’s happening up ahead? Please respond.”
The Artificial Human driver picked up the communicator and immediately started calling.
“Beep~~~”
After some static, the other side replied.
In front of Fatty Lei, a metal plate slowly lowered. Embedded in it was a display screen showing real-time footage transmitted from the Armored Vehicle 300 meters away.
As soon as Fatty Lei saw it, his scalp tingled. His eyes widened as if he had seen something terrifying.
The place where Fatty Lei’s convoy was located was at the highest edge of a circular Desert area. Below was a very deep Desert Basin, about one kilometer in diameter.
The Basin was densely packed with fierce-looking Bugs. In the very center of the Basin stood a large, tumor-like creature.
Through the real-time footage, Fatty Lei could clearly see the tumor wriggling constantly. Below it, dozens of tubular tentacles extended, with the ends connected to fluid-filled membranes.
Inside those membranes, signs of life were visible. Clearly, this was a Hive’s lair.
“Oh my god! How can there be so many Bugs in this barren land?”
After estimating from the real-time footage, Fatty Lei guessed there were at least tens of thousands of Bugs in the Basin.
This number made Fatty Lei break out in a cold sweat, instantly soaking his undershirt.
“If all these Bugs attacked the Military Outpost, I don’t think these Artificial Human Soldiers could hold them off,” Fatty Lei began to imagine the scene of these Bugs swarming the outpost.
After shuddering, Fatty Lei wanted to order an immediate retreat to the Military Outpost.
But suddenly, he noticed something unusual in the display.
The Bugs in the Basin suddenly stopped being disordered. They lined up neatly, all facing the Sand Dune opposite the convoy, as if preparing for a great enemy.
“Are they facing an enemy?”
“Drive to the edge of the Sand Dune. Let’s take a closer look.”
At that moment, a surge of courage rose from somewhere in Fatty Lei’s heart, and he decided to go up to the dune for a better view.
Soon, the five Armored Vehicles lined up at the highest point of the Sand Dune. Fatty Lei and Wangcai climbed onto the roof of the Armored Vehicle.
“It looks like these Bugs are preparing for battle, but I wonder who their enemy is?” Wangcai whispered to Fatty Lei.
The Artificial Human Soldiers operating the Heavy Laser Rifles on the roofs of the five Armored Vehicles watched the surroundings expressionlessly. They only cared about Fatty Lei’s safety and paid no mind to these Bugs. Even though there were many of them, it didn’t stir much in the Artificial Humans’ hearts.
With their simple brains, they thought, ‘Enemies, just eliminate them.’
After hearing Wangcai’s words, Fatty Lei said softly, “As long as the enemy isn’t us, we can just watch the show.”
The Bugs in the Basin had their backs to Fatty Lei and his group. If their target were Fatty Lei, the Bugs wouldn’t be positioned like this.
This small judgment was something Fatty Lei understood quite well.