Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 32: Preparations for Destroying the Wet Component Outpost

Looking at Lieutenant Colonel Saveyev, whose face was deathly pale, on the other end of the screen, Zhang Qiming said:

"Now, the choice is yours—continue to pretend you know nothing, serve the church, and take this matter and Elijah to your grave; or stand with the Skywards and wait for the day when Mars truly changes."

Lieutenant Colonel Saviev stared at the cold documents, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't utter a single word.

How could he possibly make a decision about something like this so quickly...?

Saviev raised his head, the bloodshot veins in his eyes appearing red in the terminal light, and his voice was very low:

"Where is Ilya's brain?"

Zhang Qiming looked at him, his tone becoming calmer.

"You want to destroy the place where Ilya's brain is being held?"

Saviev's fingers slowly clenched, his knuckles making a soft cracking sound against the edge of the table.

The lieutenant colonel did not answer, but Zhang Qiming already knew the answer. He paused for a moment and continued:

"You don't need to lift a finger; Skyward will destroy that place—whether you join us or not, Skyward will do it."

After listening, Lieutenant Colonel Saviev hesitated to speak.

Zhang Qiming, sensing the lieutenant colonel's inner turmoil, kindly said:

"You don't need to reply to me now. I will leave the contact information for SkyDrive in your terminal. You can delete it or keep it; it's up to you."

"Next, Skydrive will destroy that wet network experimental site and expose what's inside. At that time, you can decide which side you want to stand on. Skydrive leaves the choice to you."

"I look forward to your reply, Lieutenant Colonel."

The next second, the communication was interrupted, and the screen went dark.

Lieutenant Colonel Saviev sat at the table, his shoulders feeling as if something was pressing down on them. His entire silhouette was hidden in the cold light of the terminal, and no one knew what he was thinking at that moment.

……

……

Meanwhile, while Zhang Qiming was on the phone with Lieutenant Colonel Saviev, he had already mentally reviewed the plan to destroy the wet network experimental site.

The previous life's [Bloodstained Parts] mission had several stages, the final step being to infiltrate this secret network node, destroy the core server room that housed Ilya's completely enslaved brain, and expose all the experimental records, transport lists, and brain tissue numbers inside.

That place was no small workshop. In order to protect the nodes under Project Blackwall, the Office of the Holy Inquiry stationed two platoons of armed security guards on the perimeter, totaling ninety-six elite Martian security personnel. Furthermore, the internal network was an independent wet component node network.

The fortifications were armed to the teeth, with heavy machine guns, portable anti-armor rocket launchers, automatic turrets, and enclosed gates. If Zhang Qiming charged in head-on, he would be crushed into a sieve by the dense firepower.

Even more troublesome is the final boss – the Blood Jar Guardian.

"Blood Jar Guardian" is the affectionate nickname players used for the BOSS in the previous game; his real name is Valentin Cronin.

Executive Director of the Special Asset Management Division of the Holy Execution Bureau, Level 40, Career Path: Holy Body Forger.

This thing is practically a human head growing on silicon, a Martian version of Hammer of Steel.

Zhang Qiming also remembered that this guy had several tank specialties—Iron Body, Heavy Firepower Adaptation, Flesh and Blood Cut-off Circuit, and Cybernetics Overload Core.

Therefore, if he were to single-handedly break through ninety-six heavily armed security guards and then engage in close combat with a level forty Saint Body Forger, it would be practically suicide, and he had no intention of doing so.

At times like these, it's about time to deploy your beloved comrades—the Skyward Legion.

Thanks to the Skydrive faction's poverty alleviation missions over this period, most players have now reached a total level of around LV14, mainly due to the Skydrive faction's efforts in leveling up their secondary professions.

Even so, facing Cronin and two platoons of heavy firepower, it only went from being easily destroyed to being destroyed after taking two more shots.

The only place where players can truly be useful is to hold off the ninety-six security guards outside the stronghold, and then go and solo the health potion gatekeeper.

The most logical strategy is for the leader of the Skywards to protect the legion while he goes alone to challenge the final boss.

Zhang Qiming already had an idea in mind.

First, this task cannot be made into a regular daily task, but rather into a prize pool task with a fixed total reward, multiple participants, and rewards distributed according to contribution. Player deaths will not affect the final settlement; only the amount of firepower they hold off during the operation matters. In other words, it is a time-limited large-scale team battle instance.

This large-scale raid instance is simply named "[Bloodstained Pieces]".

However, the prerequisites for the mission must be handled properly. The true nature of the Skyward Legion cannot be revealed yet. From the players' perspective, they must avoid being locked in a red name by the Martian Church faction while doing this mission.

To participate in this mission, they must prepare in advance disguises, facial prosthetics, temporary identification codes, camera obscuring devices, and short-term signal jamming devices.

In other words, stealthily attack the tower, without making a scene.

Zhang Qiming had even thought of several prerequisites.

First, participants must make contact with the SkyDrive peripheral network and follow the terminal commands issued by Chishiro.

Second, participants must be equipped with basic facial perturbation prosthetics or use disposable camouflage masks to ensure that they are not immediately matched with player identities after being captured by surveillance cameras.

Third, participants must carry camera jamming patches, low-level signal blockers, or similar devices to bypass regular surveillance outside the restricted area.

Fourth, participants must not reveal their identities as "soldiers" or their original identities. They must disperse and hide at the designated time and evacuate along the designated retreat route, concealing their identities and waiting for the temporary red name to end.

During the mission, Chishiro and Ares will create alibis for their original identities, preventing the church from pinpointing where the two hundred suddenly appearing terrorists came from and thus exposing the Skyward Legion.

These prerequisites won't seem abrupt to players; on the contrary, they'll make the mission feel very real.

As for what Zhang Qiming really wanted, it was hidden behind these prerequisites—to filter out the troublemakers and keep the high-quality players who were willing to follow the commands of the Sky Chariots, and who could fight and were willing to fight.

The firepower of the two platoons was handed over to the Sky Chaser Legion, and he, as the leader who protected them, naturally had to take the lead and prepare to solo the BOSS.

Only by grasping both aspects can we achieve success in both.

Cronin is a level 40 Holy Body Forger, with high health, high defense, resistance to crowd control, and strong melee burst damage.

To deal with a metal behemoth like the Blood Tank Gatekeeper, ordinary ammunition is too inefficient. He needs to prepare specialized armor-piercing rounds, prosthetic body destruction rounds, electromagnetic interference mines, short-duration EMP pulse nails, and high-frequency heat dissipation destruction rounds that can suppress the overloaded core of the prosthetic body.

Moreover, the opponent's level is much higher than mine, so I also need to level up.

So, Zhang Qiming silently opened his template—Gaia, I need to level up and add points!!!