The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 644 Dwarfs?! Attack whoever gets close!

In real warfare, commanders are the key protected units.

Otherwise, if they are killed by the enemy, it will severely damage their own morale.

But in the virtual world, the situation is naturally very different.

As long as information and communication can be kept smooth, the commander can take the lead and charge alongside the suicide squad.

If you die, you can just wait to be resurrected!
The pre-battle mobilization was inspiring, but the actual experience of boarding the ship was rather terrible.

Every ship was far too crowded!

Before boarding the ship, they were fearless warriors who resisted alien invasion and reclaimed space for hundreds of millions of virtual residents. After boarding, they turned into canned fish, crammed into the cabin and unable to move.

After launch, it's unclear whether they will survive and reach space.

The description of Deep Space Strings states that accident insurance is required for manned flights.

But there are no insurance companies in the bustling city, and you can't buy one even if you want to. If you die on the way, you can only accept your bad luck.

Amidst the complaints, rows of assault team members donned their armor and lined up to board the ship.

Hua Zhou and the other casual players returned to Mansheng Metropolis, found new spots, took out sunflower seeds, and watched with great interest as those tin cans squeezed into the spaceship like people crowding the subway during rush hour.

She had previously felt it was a pity that she couldn't be among the first players to go to space.

Now, seeing how uncomfortable these big shots are crammed together, I immediately don't feel sorry for them anymore.

The only regret is that there is only one left:
"The telescope looks like such a hassle."

Especially after the shrimp people's spaceship starts moving, keeping it in the eyepiece of the telescope is not an easy task.

Just as I was feeling troubled, the huge screen that used to connect to the Caribbean Sea suddenly lit up.

The studio of Mansheng Metropolitan Television came into view.

"Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to the special edition of 'Midday News'!"

The host is still a real person, a virtual character.

Since Tang Qian was captured by the shrimp people, the "Midday News" program has been off the air for a long time. Now that it has suddenly reopened, it has attracted the attention of a large number of players.

This program will not only be broadcast on outdoor large screens, but will also be broadcast simultaneously on almost all televisions in Mansheng City.

At the same time, the live stream of the official account of Mansheng Metropolis was also launched.

The news of the global live stream was immediately pushed to all players.

But when everyone focused their attention, their feelings were somewhat complicated—the virtual character sitting in front of the studio was not Tang Qian, but another new female NPC named [Bai Hui].

This is the virtual host giving an emergency broadcast:
"The observatory reports: 10 minutes ago, the Planck Shrimp Fleet in near-Earth orbit exhibited unusual activity and engaged in a fierce conflict with an unidentified fleet flying from the direction of Saturn!"

"Please see, this is an image recorded by the observatory staff at the time."

As Bai Hui finished speaking, the live broadcast immediately switched from the studio to the dark and empty space.

The Shrimp People's fleet and Deep Rock Mining's transport ships "met" in space and quickly went to war!
Viewers who received the notification to start the broadcast clicked into the live stream and, before they even knew what was going on, witnessed this cosmic battle.

Players who followed this event closely knew, of course, that there was no major battle at all.

—It was a one-sided massacre.

But this brings us to the art of "editing".

The well-chosen editing, coupled with the high-energy music, can completely deceive the audience's eyes.

Unsuspecting viewers who watched the live stream for a few seconds might actually think they were missing a major battle.
"Holy crap, what did I miss? A single day apart and they've already started a cosmic war?"

"I'm begging you, can you please not do this kind of thing during work hours? Aren't we office workers human beings?"

"Seriously, bro? You guys only started streaming after you finished fighting? Are you kidding me?"

"You're saying this image was recorded by an 'observatory staff member'? I'd like to ask: how did he use a telescope to capture this view looking down from space? Is your observatory built on Mars?"

"Hilarious! This guy at the observatory even knows how to set music, huh?"

……

Hua Zhou looked at the barrage of comments flying across the big screen and nodded in deep agreement: "The music selection is really good."

The screen returned to the studio only after the full 30-second video clip had finished playing.

This time it was Han Dong's turn to speak:
"According to sources, the fleet that just fought the Plans Shrimp People came from Deep Rock Mining Company."

"Deep Rock Mining Company is furious about this and has dispatched actual combat units to the battlefield to retaliate."

"Currently, 6 Furnace-class space carriers, 18 Anvil-class frigates, and 24 Thunderstorm-class destroyers have departed port and are expected to engage in battle within 10 minutes!"

"In addition, the warriors of the Mansheng Metropolis are also fully prepared to intervene in the war."

"But we don't yet know which side they will join."

"let us wait and see!"

After Han Dong finished speaking, the scene completely left the studio and arrived at the square outside the Deep Space String, where he randomly followed a player in full armor onto the Cloud Pivot spaceship.

Xu Meng, who was "randomly" selected by the camera, paused for a moment after boarding the spaceship.

It's so damn crowded inside!

But the players behind him were already urging him on, so he had to sigh and follow them in, standing close to the other people's armor.

The guy next to me was actually chatting!

He raised his arm—of course, he couldn't lift it all; he only managed to raise it halfway before it struck someone's iron buttocks with a "clang, clang."

"Dude, buddy!"

"?" Xu Meng turned her head and gave him a questioning look.

—Of course, he was disguising himself once again.

"So, who do you think we should fight this time?"

"You didn't know?" Xu Meng asked, somewhat surprised.

He has been busy with the Dream Within a Dream experiment and the preliminary preparations for the launch of the Aurora Satellite these days, and has not been involved in the players' preparations throughout the process.

They only rushed in now that the war has begun, so naturally they don't know the specific strategies.

He didn't really want to know either.

When playing games, it doesn't matter who you beat.

But he didn't expect that these people didn't know either.

"I don't know!" the older man said in a rather loud voice. "Do you know?"

Seeing the gazes directed at her, Xu Meng quickly shook her head: "I don't know either, but it should be a shrimp person, right?"

Others, feeling bored, also began to share their thoughts.

The guy still spoke loudly: "I think so too! Deep Rock Corporation may not be a good thing, but at least they haven't attacked us. Helping capitalists is better than helping aliens, right?"

Before he could finish speaking, another guy immediately retorted, "That's hard to say! How do you know Deep Rock Corporation are also human? Have you ever seen them?"

“That’s right!” someone immediately chimed in. “Besides! Do you remember the Prompt Shrimp People’s [Declaration of Slavery]? That treatment! Wasn’t it much more humane than the atrocious system of Deeprock Mining?”

"If you ask me, we should fucking kill those capitalists first!"

Some people have rather confused ideas:
"If you ask me, forget all that nonsense. Just see who looks better and help whoever does!"

The guy who supports Shrimp immediately responded: "If you don't like Shrimp, you can just say so..."

"What? You're having a blast seeing the shrimp man? Dude, you have some weird tastes."

"You ride on the horse!"

……

Xu Meng listened with great interest. However, the sounds soon subsided as the battle between Deep Rock Mining and the Plans Shrimp People began.

In the live broadcast, Deeprock Mining's combat spaceship slowly revealed its true form.

Unlike the Shrimp People's spaceships, which have smooth curves and look like the shells of large creatures, Deeprock Mining's spaceships have a strong heavy industrial style.

The ship's heavy, black hull is adorned with large and small bright yellow flame nozzles and flame-like patterns.

At the stern of the Furnace-class mothership, there is a huge bright yellow propulsion nozzle that continuously spews out blazing tail flames.

Frigates and destroyers, one-fifth and one-tenth the size of the mothership respectively, surrounded the mothership and opened fire first.

Of course, the shrimp-men did not sit idly by and wait for their doom.

Thanks to Director Xiaomeng, the players' perspectives were much richer.

You can even see Ktoyo, the leader of the Prans shrimp people, standing on the bridge directing the fleet to fire.

All three main guns fired simultaneously.

A high-energy particle beam pierced the silent space and shot toward the massive furnace-class mothership.

The familiar force field defense bubble reappeared.

But this time, the defensive bubble was not broken.

Although the entire bubble was twisted and deformed, and it seemed like it was about to burst at any moment, it just wouldn't burst!

Xiaomeng zoomed in on the interior of the mothership.

Everyone immediately saw a large group of chubby, bearded dwarves running wildly while shouting:
"We can't hold them off any longer! Add more ingredients! Add more ingredients!"

"Stop hiding! For the sake of the God of the Forge, use the highest grade of Tear Gold!"

"Throw it in! Throw it all in!"

"If the shield breaks, all of these things will become the shrimp's spoils!"

"Any more mithril? Throw some in too! Poco!! You definitely have some hidden away, throw it in now, the captain'll reimburse you later!"

"No! This is mithril! How can we burn it? That's such a waste!"

"You miser! You'll die if you don't burn it!"

"Then let me die!"

……

A group of people rushed forward and overturned the dwarf named Pok.

A bearded dwarf pulled a piece of mithril the size of a pocket watch from Pok's body.

After hesitating for a second, he instinctively reached for his chest.

This action resulted in him being immediately knocked down by the other dwarves, who snatched the mithril and threw it into the huge, blazing furnace behind him.

The furnace's shape and patterns looked rather old and rustic.

But the plasma ball inside the furnace, firmly confined to its core by a magnetic field and constantly emitting dazzling light, undeniably proclaims the furnace's astonishing technological level!
As various rare minerals were thrown into the furnace, the constrained ball of light was no longer still, but began to beat like a heart.

Even more powerful energy was transmitted out and poured into the force field shield, preventing the shaky "bubble" from bursting.

The players were completely shocked:
"Holy crap! Dwarves?! Dwarves have even developed the ability to build spaceships?!"

"What is that? A nuclear fusion reactor?"

"Wait a minute! What fusion reactor needs to consume minerals?"

"Out of minerals? I'm here to help! I may not have tear gold, but I have liquid gold!"

……

Whether in the live stream or among the players in the Mansheng Metropolis, everyone was loudly expressing their shock.

Hua Zhou was so startled that he spilled his milk tea.

Ultimately, this volley of shots failed to achieve its goal.

Oh, it wasn't entirely fruitless—Bock was heartbroken and sat by the furnace, weeping uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Ktoyo immediately adjusted his tactics and aimed his main guns at the three frigates.

The frigate's force field shield was significantly weaker, and after holding out for a few seconds, it eventually burst like a soap bubble.

The powerful main gun struck the frigate, burning three large holes in it instantly.

Numerous metal fragments and dwarf warriors spewed from the massive hole, helplessly flying into the depths of space.

The frigate, being a combat unit, had shields that absorbed some of the damage, preventing it from being sunk by a single shot, but it was still severely damaged.

They were completely unable to resist the onrushing shrimp-man fleet.

Even with the bearded dwarf inside the spaceship desperately trying to save it, and with surrounding destroyers rushing to its aid, they still couldn't avoid their doom.

Thanks to the efforts of generations of creators over the years, many players and netizens have a natural affinity and trust in the "dwarf" race.

Seeing the dwarves in a disadvantageous position, with an entire ship dying, everyone immediately became restless.

Xu Meng could clearly sense that things were getting restless in the cabin.

But just then, the spaceship's broadcast announced: "Deep Space Strings are beginning to charge."

"The spacecraft is about to launch. Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts and hold on tight."

"?" Xu Meng was speechless. "Where the hell are the chairs here??"

The broadcast didn't care about seat belts or chairs; it just kept talking to itself:

"Deep Space String fully charged."

Launch countdown: 543

The cabin finally quieted down, and everyone fell silent, preparing for the acceleration.

Many people even emanated a glow, clearly indicating they were activating a skill to make themselves more durable.

"Have a safe journey, 21!"

In an instant, the spaceship was accelerated from a standstill to break the sound barrier!
A terrifying acceleration was applied to everyone!

Just a second before, Xu Meng felt that everyone was standing so close together that there wasn't a single gap, to the point that she couldn't even lift her arms.

But a second later, he realized he was wrong.

There's clearly still plenty of space!
Because everyone in the entire cabin was violently thrown towards the stern!
The sound of the armor colliding only lasted for a brief moment. After that moment, everyone was pressed firmly against the bulkhead by the acceleration, almost solidified, leaving no room for further collision.

There's even a space more than six meters long at the bow!

A cacophony of angry, snarling curses erupted from the air!
But that's not the most ridiculous part.

The most ridiculous thing is that they still haven't received any definite answer as to who they're going to attack.

It wasn't until 10 seconds later, when the acceleration stopped increasing, that a player with exceptionally high base stats asked in the assault team's chat, "Who are we going to fight?"

“Theoretically, they are shrimp hunters!” Yama immediately replied.

"Theoretically???"

“That’s right…theoretically speaking,” Yanluo explained. “Our goal is to fight the shrimp people, but both sides’ ships are in motion, and our ship’s center of gravity is not very stable. The trajectory of the Deep Space String is affected, and the final landing point will have a certain degree of randomness.”

"So, our target is the shrimp people, but we might be closer to the dwarves? What should we do then?"

"Simple!"

Time is of the essence, so Yama will get straight to the point:
"Once we're in space, we don't care whose ship is nearby, we'll take it down first!"

(End of this chapter)