Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 129 Planning
"For the glory of Apocalypse!"

The deacon raised the holy emblem, and the fanatics in front of him pulled out a metal sprayer and pressed it sharply against their throats.

"puff--"

The white powder was inhaled into the lungs.

Within seconds, these fanatics began to convulse uncontrollably, their eyes rapidly became bloodshot, and the veins in their necks bulged.

Reason was burned away under the influence of drugs, leaving only pure destructive desire.

The cultists strode toward the recycling station, while on the watchtower of the Torch Base, Xiong Er stared intently through the scope.

"Enemy attack, due east! The Apocalypse Cult!"

His voice boomed in the tactical channel, "More than a hundred men! The enemy has heavy firepower. I saw six power armors and two snipers!"

The atmosphere in the command room paused slightly.

The weariness on the faces of Cole and the others around Zhuang Fan vanished, replaced by a surge of anger.

These people without parents, will they ever stop?!
Zhuang Fan looked at the thermal image on the screen and said calmly, "The Blue Blade Gang's corpses aren't even cold yet, and these bastards are already scavenging for the scraps because of the smell of blood."

Watson shook his head and laughed, "But they don't know we've hidden so much powered armor."

"Boss, let me lead the team!"

Cole was the first to step forward; ever since he adapted to the power armor, he had become increasingly formidable in battle.

"There are us too!"

Hua Xin also stepped forward, "Hmph, perfect opportunity to test out the new equipment on them!"

The catwomen, who had just donned their power armor, were still frantically adjusting the interface, appearing somewhat clumsy, but they also exuded a spirited and high-spirited aura.

Zhuang Fan's gaze swept over everyone, and he slowly nodded.

"Then let them go. If the Apocalypse Cult wants to take advantage of the situation, then let them taste the bitterness of regret."

His voice was somewhat serious, “This is your first lesson. Try to feel it, and then adapt.”

Combat is the fastest way to train troops in the wasteland.

Behind the command center, Pipi was already busily preparing medical supplies for the approaching wounded.

……

The Apocalypse followers stopped 200 meters away from the Torch Base.

The deacon stood at the back of the line, coldly watching the weathered metal wall.

He felt a surge of contempt at the thought of the other deacons' fear and cowardice towards the recycling center.

"A bunch of useless trash, scared off by this garbage dump." He sneered to himself.

"charge."

After he gave the order, the drug-addicted fanatics howled and ran wildly.

Behind them, several artillerymen quickly set up makeshift mortars and shoved shells into the breech with a thud.

"boom!"

"Boom!"

An explosion rang out on the outer wall of the recycling station, sending up plumes of fire and black smoke.

However, the reinforced walls were far more robust than they appeared, and this level of bombing only left some charred marks.

The deacon didn't care about this.

In his view, this was nothing more than an easy plunder. How much fighting power could a group of defeated soldiers who had been ambushed by the Blue Blade Gang have?
He was even already thinking about what to do with the survivors inside after breaching the base.

"Keep bombarding! Don't stop!"

Braving the artillery fire, the fanatics, wielding machetes and shields, quickly rushed to the gates of the Torch Base.

However, just as they were about to rush to the door, everyone's steps suddenly froze.

"Click——"

The alloy gate slowly opened to both sides.

Behind the door, there was neither the chaotic counterattack they had imagined, nor was there an empty room.

The next second, heavy metallic footsteps were heard.

One unit, ten units, thirty units... fifty units!

Fifty powered armored vehicles, painted with the symbol of the torch, emerged from the darkness and quickly lined up in three rows at the entrance, forming an iron wall.

The alloy armor reflected a cold luster in the dim firelight, and rows of rotating machine guns stood imposingly before the fanatics.

The deacon stared at the massive steel torrent from afar, completely bewildered. What on earth was going on?
Fifty powered armor units! When did the enemy hide such strength?!

Among the fanatics were many tiger-men and lion-men, who, relying on their strong physiques, let out provocative roars.

"A bunch of cowards hiding in tin cans, nothing to fear, God is watching over us!"

Under the influence of drugs, they seemed so arrogant that they wanted to use their flesh and blood to fight against steel.

But Cole and his armored men would never give them a chance to get close.

"Fire."

Fifty machine gun barrels rotated simultaneously, spewing out tongues of fire.

“Da da da da—!”

The berserkers in the first row, who had taken drugs, didn't even have time to scream before their entire chests were shattered into pieces by heavy bullets.

"Dang! Dang, Dang, Dang!"

The fanatics in the back finally reacted and hurriedly raised their steel shields to defend themselves.

These shields barely held off the first wave of attack, but that was all. Under the continuous bombardment of fifty machine guns, the shields were riddled with holes, like paper.

"Commandos! Charge with me!"

Cole personally led ten of his most experienced veterans, like a red-hot blade, and crashed into the enemy's shield defenses.

The remaining forty new members, including Hua Xin, firmly remembered Zhuang Fan's tactical arrangements.

Instead of rushing forward, they quickly spread out, forming an impenetrable wall of fire on both sides of the assault team, specifically to shoot down any enemies attempting to flank them.

Mao Shanwang muttered, "This cat loves big scenes like this!"

His six mechs weren't idle either, firing grenades into the crowd, purely for the sake of joining in the fun.

Meanwhile, on the watchtower.

Xiong Er's scope locked onto two shimmering, eerie reflections in the distance.

"boom!"

"boom!"

Two muffled sniper shots rang out almost simultaneously from the top of the watchtower.

The two snipers had just found their firing angles and hadn't even had a chance to fire a single shot when their helmets and skulls were blown off.

Xiong Er's voice immediately rang out in the channel: "Sniper, two have been eliminated."

"This...how is this possible!"

The deacon was no longer arrogant; he cowered awkwardly behind a scaffold, his head growing increasingly numb.

He finally understood.

Why did those deacons look at him so strangely before he set off? There was neither jealousy nor fear, but rather a kind of... eerie "admiration".

It's out of respect for his courage to come and die.

"No retreating! Throw all ammunition to the front lines! Fire! Fire!" the deacon screamed hysterically.

But the Apocalyptic believers were powerless in the face of overwhelming firepower.

The continuous roar of the rotary machine guns, mixed with the explosions of the automatic grenade launchers, shook the earth and drowned out all courage.

The Apocalypse Cult's formation was already half-crippled by the first wave of attacks. Their sporadic counterattacks were laughably weak and they couldn't organize a decent counterattack.

The six powered armored vehicles, on which the deacon placed high hopes, were attempting to stabilize the front line.

But they were facing a group of frustrated armored soldiers who had nowhere to vent their anger and took special care of these six tin cans.

Cole didn't even bother using Armor Buster.

"Come on, charge up and tear it apart with your bare hands!"

So they charged straight up and used their high-strength alloy fists and shoulder strikes to tear the six dilapidated mechs into pieces.

The battle turned into a one-sided massacre.

Those fanatical believers, high on their wits, continued to charge forward fearlessly, only to be mowed down into piles of minced meat by machine gun fire.

The Apocalypse Sect's classic combination of punches has always been effective.

The fanatics absorbed the first wave of damage with their shields, while artillery fire and sniper shots cleared out the defenders from behind.

In the end, everything was destroyed by the tin cans.

Countless settlements were destroyed in this way, but tonight, this tactic completely failed.

Even the most fervent believers, if they retain some rationality, will gradually calm down in the face of such unreasonable and brutal violence.

The cunning brown rat-men, in particular, were the first to react.

"Fairy Mouse! We've all been fooled!"

"The wind is so tight!"

One of the brown rat-men threw down his weapon and ran away.

Other mutants followed suit: if they can't win, can't they at least run away?

Panic spreads like a plague.

The deacon huddled behind the bunker, hoping the half-collapsed concrete wall would save his life.

From the watchtower, Xiong Er locked onto the location through the scope of his Gauss sniper rifle.

He didn't need to look; he could roughly determine the other party's location based solely on his past experience.

"Hey——!"

The hypersonic sniper bullet streaked across the sky, easily tearing apart the concrete wall.

"boom!"

A hole half a meter wide was blasted into the concrete wall, and the butler's upper body disappeared along with it.

The sudden death of the deacon became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

"God, have mercy on us!"

"You damned tiger, run!"

The Apocalypse cultists fled in panic, with the brown rat-man running the fastest, but he also resented that his mother hadn't given him two more legs.

"Chase them! Leave no one alive!" Cole, his eyes bloodshot, commanded the armored troops to crush them.

"Cole, wait a minute."

Zhuang Fan's voice rang out promptly, "Leave a few alive, just those few brown rat-men."

Cole paused for a moment, then understood.

The machine gun's fire deliberately tore a gap in the barrage.

The battle ended quickly. The Apocalypse Cultists were almost completely wiped out, with only a few Brown Ratmen scrambling and pushing each other into the ruins.

A cold wind howled, carrying the smoke of gunpowder.

Cole directed the armored troops to clean up the battlefield.

Zhuang Fan walked over and said, "Collect those white robes, and try to find the intact ones."

“Yes.” Although Cole was puzzled, he didn’t ask any more questions and immediately nodded to carry out the order.

Zhuang Fan then turned to Hua Xin: "Let's go, let's catch up with those lucky ones." "Okay!" Hua Xin had already come out of the power armor and followed closely behind Zhuang Fan.

Under the cover of night, the two moved silently among the dilapidated buildings.

The brown rat-men were so panicked that they didn't notice the hunters following them.

Zhuang Fan and Hua Xin trailed far behind them, passing through a forest of steel and concrete, then around a collapsed ring road, finally stopping at the edge of a crevice in a canyon.

The scene before her eyes made Hua Xin gasp in shock.

Beneath the crack lay a much larger underground stronghold than imagined, brightly lit and teeming with people.

A heavy machine gun was mounted on a makeshift watchtower, and cross-shaped searchlights scanned every corner.

Inside and outside the stronghold, there were patrolling believers and armed personnel everywhere.

Suppressed chanting emanated from the depths, mixed with a kind of fanatical prayer, making this underground world particularly eerie.

A quick glance suggests there are at least five or six hundred people here, a number far exceeding that of the raiding party from before.

Hua Xin frowned: "Brother Ya, I remember very clearly... there were no Apocalypse Cultists a few days ago, how come they all suddenly appeared?"

"Yes, they're after us. Tonight's attack is probably just a test."

Zhuang Fan looked at Hua Xin: "Therefore, your intelligence work is even more important. You need to be the eyes of the Fire. As for the scavenging team's mission, I will have Cole make proper arrangements."

"Brother Ya, I understand."

Hua Xin nodded seriously, her voice still a little strained, "Then what do we do now... we only have fifty mechs."

"The other side has 500 squishy enemies."

Zhuang Fan's gaze swept over the base below, as calmly as if he were looking at an engineering blueprint.

"The enemy is in the open, while we are in the dark. With careful preparation, even fifty armored vehicles can achieve a great victory."

Zhuang Fan looked at Hua Xin: "When looking at war, we should look at the difference in equipment technology, not the number of people."

"I see."

Hua Xin breathed a slight sigh of relief when she thought of her boss's perfect strategy; at least she didn't have to worry anymore.

Zhuang Fan added, "But why should my men waste their ammunition and energy?"

"Huh?" Hua Xin asked, puzzled.

Zhuang Fan was subtly hinting to Hua Xin: "There's an old saying, 'When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.' Have you heard of it?"

"Hmm, I've eaten giant clams before. They were very fresh and chewy. Are you hungry too, Brother Ya?"

Zhuang Fan remained silent for a while before speaking: "...It's okay, you'll understand after tonight."

"Ok."

Hua Xin seemed to understand but not quite, scratching her messy short hair and muttering to herself:
"Brother Ya, I think I'm a bit slow and didn't understand, but I'll remember what you said and try my best to figure it out."

Zhuang Fan glanced at her; the girl's eyes were clear and firm, without the slightest impurity.

He gave a soft "hmm" and issued the new instruction:

“Go back and meet up with Cole, and take our Blue Blade Gang leader with you. Have him lead the way and find the location of the Blue Blade Gang’s headquarters.”

"Brother Ya, what about you?"

"I'll go talk to Jetta and the others."

Zhuang Fan didn't say anything more, and his figure quickly disappeared into the shadows of the ruins.

The rat people are very good at burrowing. In just over half a month, they have already dug out a network of tunnels covering an area of ​​several hundred meters.

When Zhuang Fan appeared at the hidden entrance of the Jetta base, he saw six rat guards on duty.

They were dressed in uniform, simple leather armor, and carried sharpened steel spears. They were sharp and alert, and none of them were dozing off.

The rat guard recognized him, immediately saluted respectfully, and then opened the internal communication.

A moment later, a rat guard trotted out and led the way.

Zhuang Fan followed the cave passages, winding and turning, and found that the tunnels here had been widened and reinforced, and the ventilation system was also quite well done.

When he arrived at an unusually spacious underground hall platform, the scene before him surprised him.

This is an underground kingdom that is beginning to take shape, with its cave spaces planned in an orderly manner.

The left-hand cave was filled with incubators for fast-growing fungi, the boxes emitting a faint glow, and many rat-men were busy inside harvesting them;
In a more distant cavern, Santana was training a ratman guard of several hundred men on the training field.

Not far to the right, Lao Fukang was spitting as he instructed several apprentices on how to efficiently cultivate high-protein insects;
In the quietest corner, Master Mouse, wearing a pair of worn-out glasses, was teaching dozens of young mice to read and write in front of a simple stone slab.

After finishing their day's work, most of the ratmen had returned to their cubicles, and the sounds of them snoring could be heard from deep within the cave.

Everything appeared clean, tidy, and orderly.

Jetta rushed over upon hearing the news, and upon seeing Zhuang Fan, his face revealed undisguised respect.

"Boss! You've arrived!"

"Hmm, let's see how things are going for you."

Jetta stayed by Zhuang Fan's side and began to tell him about the team.

“Our tribe has reached six thousand people, with a black rat to brown rat ratio of 4:6. As you instructed, we now have very strict screening criteria for our tribe members, and we prohibit lazy people from entering.”

Jetta scratched his head: "However, many of the rejected Brown Ratmen turned around and joined the Apocalypse Cult."

Zhuang Fan smiled and said, "Let's respect individual destinies."

"...This is the agricultural and fungal area, barely enough to fill our stomachs. Over there is tool repair and processing. We have a few rat-man craftsmen who are quite skilled."

Zhuang Fan's gaze fell on the group of baby mice that were learning to write; the little guys were all focused on it.

Zhuang Fan rarely expressed his feelings, saying, "You've done a great job."

"Boss, without your help, we couldn't have gotten to where we are today!"

Zhuang Fan values ​​Jetta's loyalty most, which is why he spares no effort in helping the Ratman team.

Master Rat adjusted his glasses, nodded to Zhuang Fan, and continued teaching the multiplication tables.

Jetta remembered something and whispered, "Boss, we still have a small scavenging team to continue collecting Mist of Decay equipment, but we didn't tell you because we were worried you'd be too busy..."

Zhuang Fan understood his unspoken meaning and said with a smile, "Don't be so formal. Take me to the warehouse. I'll come over to help you deal with the decaying mist whenever I have time."

"Thank you... thank you, boss!"

Jetta was overjoyed. Although the boss said they should be responsible for their own profits and losses, he still took good care of them.

The value of the Mist equipment is immense; it is practically the foundation of the Jetta team's existence.

Then, in front of Jetta, Zhuang Fan "cleaned up" all the piles of decaying fog equipment.

Jetta has witnessed this countless times, but each time he is deeply moved, and his respect for his boss remains unchanged.

After dealing with the equipment, Zhuang Fan called over Jetta and Master Rat, and the three of them returned to the stone table to discuss matters.

"We were ambushed by the Blue Blade Gang today. The Firewood Base and the Blue Blade Gang have officially gone to war."

But Zhuang Fan didn't expect that as soon as he uttered the words "Blue Knife Gang," Jetta's eyes instantly turned red.

"boom!"

Jetta slammed his fist on the stone table, gritting his teeth as he said, "It's the Blue Blade Gang again! Those damned bastards!"

"Sir, you've come at the perfect time! We were just about to report this to you!"

Rat Advisor's face was also full of anger: "Our reconnaissance outpost located on the outskirts of the south of the city was wiped out by the Blue Blade Gang! We have no grudge against each other, yet they threw Molotov cocktails into the cave!"

Jetta's voice trembled slightly: "Seven or eight of our clansmen were burned to death inside, and more than fifty others were burned."

Zhuang Fan frowned slightly and immediately asked, "Do you have burn ointment? How is the injured person?"

The Rat Advisor sighed, "Sir, you left us many medical kits, and the injured are out of danger."

Zhuang Fan said in a deep voice, "The Blue Blade Gang are real beasts, offending both of us in one fell swoop."

Jetta suddenly looked at him: "Boss, we can raise an elite force of two hundred men at any time! Give the order! We must avenge this!"

Zhuang Fan raised his hand and pressed down, calming Jetta down: "Revenge is fine, but we can't risk our lives. We're in the early stages of development now, and our manpower is the most important thing."

"Boss, so... we're just going to leave it at that?"

"of course not."

Zhuang Fan cut to the chase: "Let the Blue Blade Gang and the Apocalypse Cult fight each other."

The Rat Advisor's eyes lit up instantly; he understood immediately.

Zhuang Fan continued, "We will disguise ourselves as the Blue Blade Gang and attack the Apocalypse Cult's stronghold."

Rat Advisor immediately chimed in, "Then let's disguise ourselves as Apocalypse Cult members and raid the Blue Blade Gang's hideout!"

Jetta understood: "Brilliant!"

The Rat Advisor added with a laugh, "If both sides start fires at the same time, they'll meet up... hehe."

"That's it."

Zhuang Fan emphasized, "But the details must be done well, and no traces can be left."

The three then discussed the specific route of action, the timing of the attack, and how to leave evidence at the scene to ensure that the hatred between the two sides was ignited.

"We must not linger in the battle; we must retreat as soon as we are done."

Zhuang Fan carefully laid out his plan: "...Also, the signal is very poor in the wild, so I will have someone install a signal booster in advance, and both teams will maintain constant contact."

Jetta and Master Mouse silently memorized the key points, occasionally adding questions.

After the discussion ended, Cole sent a message promptly.

They are in an abandoned church; coordinates have been provided, and there are estimated to be around 300 people.

"Without further ado."

Zhuang Fan glanced at the terminal time: "The operation will officially begin at 3:00 AM tonight."

"understand!"

Half an hour later, Cole secretly transported the dozens of Apocalypse Cult white robes he had seized to the Skaven base.

Jetta and Santana immediately sprang into action, personally selecting hundreds of their most elite ratman guards.

Since there weren't enough white robes, the Rat Advisor had to instruct the logistics rats to take out all the white sheets and canvas they could find and sew simple robes overnight.

"Boss! Boss! Look at this!"

A skinny ratman excitedly emerged from the corner, holding a modified spray can in his hand.

Jetta was stunned for a moment: "What's this?"

"Boss, this is juice I extracted from ginkgo nuts, and I mixed in a little quicklime!"

He shook the spray can vigorously and sprayed it into his mouth, which filled with white powder.

"Ho...ho..."

He deliberately put on a ferocious expression, and he really did look like a fanatic after taking drugs.

"Does it look like that?"

"...You're a genius."

Looking at his tattered, patched white robe and the way he tried so hard to imitate and perform, Jetta couldn't help but think of his own past.

Back then, in order to disguise himself as a brave rat guard, he once painted a found ball black and used it as a helmet.

After putting it on, he was quite pleased with himself, thinking he had truly become an invincible warrior.

The same absurdity, the same sincerity.

He patted the other man on the shoulder: "Keep it up!"

After the rat guards had barely managed to get dressed, Jetta cleared his throat and shouted, "Listen up! Go to sleep now and get plenty of rest!"

"If tonight's raid is executed flawlessly, everyone who comes back will get an extra meal of meat! Bonuses will be paid separately!"

The rat-man guards roared excitedly, "Jetta King, Jetta Wang!"

(End of this chapter)