There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

We lay prone in the trenches and watched for a while before standing up. We discovered that we weren't the only ones under attack. The camp of the Thirteen Covenant Tribal Alliance had also been bombarded and was riddled with holes. To the west of the camp, the Dry Land Warriors and Gray's assault troops were charging under enemy fire!

"What's the enemy's background?" I took a deep breath, feeling the situation was becoming even more complicated.

The Coyote from the mass-produced Seven Legion remained alert throughout the match and immediately answered my question.

"It seems to be an alliance of eight forces, including the Meto Empire, the Heart of the Sun, Andenavara, the Aim Human Federation, and the Iron Alliance Mercenaries."

I frowned: "Eight... the Eight-Nation Alliance?"

What the hell?! The Boxers were barely dealt with when the Eight-Nation Alliance broke out! Is this script something like "Towards a Republic"?

Seeing me deep in thought, the hyena added, "These are all forces around the Lake Blue Hermit Crab Plain, and they all have one thing in common... they've all been raided by tribes recently..."

The tribe's courage was truly astonishing. Relying on melee weapons, they were able to persist in charging through enemy fire and knew how to use skirmish lines to outflank and ambush enemy strongpoints, organizing a counterattack the moment they were attacked.

The most eye-catching figure on the field was Gray, who was rampaging across the battlefield carrying a Christmas tree flag, imitating Santa Claus delivering deadly gifts. His commando team swiftly broke through the enemy's vanguard and suppressed the soldiers wearing top red hats at the forefront.

"Those are soldiers from the Meto Empire, a branch of some broken interstellar empire. These people are extremely arrogant and vindictive. The fact that even these royal guard knights have appeared shows that they've truly been angered this time..."

Rao, who mass-produced the Leo Legion, had participated in battles between tribes and surrounding forces during his travels. He knew these enemies inside and out, so he specially put aside his work of building trenches and came to our side to explain.

"What exactly are Bertholdt and the others trying to do... not only trapping us here, but also attracting so many enemies..."

“It was that bastard Sakam who provoked the enemy!” Rao said.

As I pondered deeply, I heard Rao exclaim again, "They're in danger! It's the Sunheart's slaughter squad!"

A group of special forces soldiers clad in menacing armor had quietly entered the battlefield. Suddenly, they opened fire with machine guns on Gray's position. Rows of tribal warriors charging forward were hit in the back, fell to the ground, and never got up again.

Upon hearing the gunfire, Gray instantly turned, throwing his battle axe and striking two members of the Sunheart Slaughter Squad. He then rushed to their side and shattered their ribs with a single punch. But the next moment, these two soldiers, who should have been dead, pulled out grenades and stun grenades from their pockets!

After a deafening roar, Gray was thrown back by the shockwave, landing quite a distance away. Dizzy and convulsed, flames still engulfed his body, but instead of extinguishing them, he roared, a whirlwind rising beneath his feet as he instinctively charged at his enemy once more!

"The members of the slaughter squads have had their pain receptors removed, and their brains are filled with killing techniques. Even in direct combat, the tribe usually loses dozens of warriors to defeat a single enemy. This is the first time I've ever seen so many slaughter squads appear together..."

Rao muttered to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The situation was even worse in other places. On the other side of the battlefield, a musketeer squad marched into the battlefield with great momentum, approaching Gray methodically to the rhythm of the war drums, about to complete the three-sided encirclement tactic.

"Teacher, what should we do..."

Fire Fist's words echoed everyone's sentiments. As a warrior, he wasn't afraid of fierce fighting, yet he couldn't find an enemy in this environment. The Thirteen Allied Tribes were the enemy, the Eight-Nation Alliance was also the enemy, and the Sharp Vision Alliance was clearly a member of one of the tribes. How should they fight under these circumstances?

The entire battlefield is now a complete mess. The Meto Empire's shells have long since indiscriminately bombarded us, but because neither I nor the bald man gave the order, the entire team retreated to the trenches to await further instructions and did not launch an attack.

Lacking warriors like Gray to lead the charge, the land warriors were clearly scattered and forced to retreat to Gray's cedar clan, also bringing along elite archers from the Balg clan, forming a small fortress to fight the enemy.

Strangely, the warrior legion of the Giant River tribe held their base camp pointlessly, allowing the enemy to slaughter their own people...

I led my legion of over eight hundred men to their feet in the trenches. "Rao," I commanded, "continue to expand the trenches. We'll set up camp here and fight the enemy!"

"Firefist, Hyena, come with me to meet up with the tribe's brothers. External conflicts aren't the priority right now! This is a case of 'pacifying the internal before dealing with the external!'"

…………

Gray led Senbo and others across the battlefield, each attack taking the lives of the enemy, but they could not break through the encirclement network organized by the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Faced with artillery, machine guns, and bulletproof vests, the tribe's courage was commendable, but their methods were too limited. They could only watch helplessly as their activity range was compressed and they lost their lives in vain.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out on the northwest position. A disturbance occurred in the most difficult-to-attack and most heavily armed slaughter squad.

Those fighting machines, devoid of pain, are battling a lone human figure.

As the slaughter squad expressionlessly raised their guns to spit fire, I had already moved close and raised my gun. Then, a scythe flashed, and an unidentified assault rifle with a severed arm was in my hand. I then easily eliminated a ten-man squad with even more terrifying bursts of fire.

Even though the Slaughter Squad had excellent marksmanship, ruthless assassination skills, and a constant stream of weapons and tools, I still managed to subdue them with an even more cold-blooded and ruthless method of slaughter!

"Boss! You're still alive!" Gray exclaimed joyfully.

I glanced at the tattered armor on his back and the obvious burn marks on his skin, and smiled, saying, "You're not dead either, so why are you talking so much nonsense? Take your men and charge out with me!"

Gray gritted his teeth and said bitterly, "I was tricked by that old man Bertholdt! He told me to stay here and hold you off, but we've all been expendable!"

I patted him on the shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to be angry.

The harassment of surrounding forces by the Thirteen Covenant tribes appears to stem from the Scorpion Yakan tribe's grain requisition order, but Bertholdt's shadow must be behind it all.

The fact that the warrior legions of those Great River tribes are now firmly guarding their camp and refusing to move makes their intentions all too clear—their orders were not to defeat the Sharp Vision Alliance or defend the besieged camp...

Their real purpose should be to guard this key route up the mountain!

He would not allow anyone, including the Fir Clan, the Sokeno Chieftain Alliance, the Balg Clan Covenant, and other miscellaneous forces, to pass through this road, lest anyone harass his plans!

I nodded. "I fell for it too, but I'm not so angry now. He made such a commotion; I'm curious how he'll resolve this chaos. It's something to look forward to..."

His true intentions have been revealed, and now his plan should be in its final stages. I'm curious to see what his vision is all about.

"Boss, if you bring us into your territory, they probably won't be able to follow orders..."

Having gone through this experience, Gray has clearly matured a lot, anticipating the problems caused by inconsistent policies.

But I shook my head and said, "Don't worry, I'll make sure all my men obey your orders. You're a hero of the tribe, surely you can command them?"

Gray asked in astonishment, "Listen to me? What about you, boss?"

I smiled and said, "I should go up the mountain and meet Bertholdt!"

Chapter 524 Burn! Burn! Burn!

After Gray joined our position, the fierce siege gradually subsided.

After the troops of the Sunheart took away the corpses, they slowly retreated. The musketeers in formation stood still, and the armed forces of the Meto Empire also slowly returned to a safe distance of confrontation, blocking us from the besieging camp. For a moment, a trend of a sit-in war emerged.

But as I was trying to cross the battlefield, a squad of Meto Empire lobster soldiers wearing tall hats suddenly launched an attack on me for no apparent reason.

These arrogant soldiers were different from the first wave of attackers; there was a clear distinction between upper and lower classes.

Contrary to the common division of labor, ordinary soldiers could only use firearms and grenades to clear the way, or operate mortars at a distance to carry out area bombardment, and were not qualified to approach the battlefield.

The warriors who besieged me were all soldiers who called themselves the Royal Knights Guard!

They all wielded melee weapons, engaging in glorious hand-to-hand combat with their enemies. But this melee combat was not a backward practice—because they possessed weapons that combined cold weapons with advanced technology, completely comparable to, and even surpassing, firearms!

These people all showed signs of modification to varying degrees. Based on my brief encounter with them, I could tell that their skin was unusually tough. Even when I used my scythe to cut through their armor and inner protective layer, I couldn't leave any bleeding wounds on their obviously hardened skin.

These somewhat pathological symptoms are clearly a manifestation of human body modification.

I also discovered their pre-installed subcutaneous weapons and poisoned needles, which repeatedly threatened me. These implants have likely hollowed out these expressionless warriors, turning them into powerful killing machines.

In an instant, I thought of the mad lord next door in the trade zone, the one who was created using artificial organs, except that these warriors were modified even more thoroughly and were even more utilitarian.

It seems they must have a close relationship with Andenawala. Was that the reason for the attack?

Wielding plasma swords, power hammers, and ultra-sharp single-edged swords of unknown material, they attacked me, a lone enemy, with power exceeding human limits. The level of their welcome was so high that it could be described as a thousand cuts.

As I dodged a guard's plasma sword, I heard a strange buzzing sound of magnetic fields pass by my ears, and I effortlessly sliced ​​through the rocks beside me.

Such energy weapon technology has clearly surpassed the technological barriers of this planet, so why participate in this primitive level of combat?

With a slight pause, the power hammer roared in from the side. This primitive-looking weapon was equipped with a power storage device; after each attack, the released kinetic energy was stored in it and released with the next attack. Repeatedly, with just three to five bounces, the impact force and speed would increase to an incredible level, easily shattering the enemy's bones!

A single sword of unknown material swung toward my neck, imbued with strange magnetism and heat, appearing with an extremely eerie rhythm of attack.

After a brief exchange, the one-handed sword's attacks became increasingly fierce, and the abnormal flash in the soldier's left eye made me suspect that this ordinary one-handed sword had been infused with biochip technology and possessed data computing capabilities linked to the human brain, collecting data and optimizing its combat mode!

Under this overwhelming technological pressure, I felt for the first time that my first-dimensional arm armor could no longer keep up with the pace of the battle. I couldn't help but want to enter charging mode to quickly end the fight, but I was worried about revealing my trump card too early...

My goal is Mount Corillo, how can I use up all my cards here!

After a brief moment of hesitation, I gritted my teeth, switched the scythe blade to a razor blade, parried the single sword, and then used both my gauntlets and the razor blade to forcefully open a path and break out of the encirclement.

Just as I was about to break free from the encirclement, a feeling of dizziness appeared in my brain!

The feeling was as if a grenade had exploded inside my skull, shredding my brain and drying out my blood, leaving only flames and shockwaves echoing around me, destroying my consciousness and thoughts, and turning my attempt to break free into a fall to the ground in an instant.

With a splitting headache, my vision gradually went black, and the last thing I saw was an ever-enlarging hammerhead approaching me...

After my hearing returned, I found myself successfully out of the encirclement. Coyote and Firefist were supporting me on either side, and where I had just been, there was a terrifying crater in the ground.

According to the principle of action and reaction, the powerful Ampere force of the power hammer must ultimately be borne by the hands of the person holding the hammer handle. Given the immense power of the power hammer, this reaction force is unlikely to be pleasant either...

Trying to fly by stepping on your own foot with your left foot is likely to result in breaking your own foot, right?

Firefist used his longsword to fend off the pursuing soldiers, while Coyote carried me forward. The dizziness in my head came and went quickly, disappearing without a trace in just a few seconds, as if it had just been an illusion.

"System notification: The colonist has been attacked by a Mind-Dizziness Pulse and will be stunned for twenty seconds."

"System notification: Due to the characteristics of Bear Grylls and Death, the effect is reduced by 90%, the duration of the negative effect is shortened to 2 seconds, and the vomiting effect is also immune."

I only realized I had been attacked when two system notifications kept ringing in the same order.

"What happened to me just now?" I asked.

"Teacher, that's a super soldier's mental blast!"

Not far away, I saw an enemy holding a single sword, staring at me with wide eyes, his left hand outstretched in a gesture of loose grip.

Through simple reasoning, I can rule out the possibility that he is going to sing "Kimi wa Rosaburo yori Mishii" (You are beautiful like a rose)...

Run!

This guy is clearly going to do it again!

"Get out of the way! If you get hit, you'll probably die instantly!" I quickly pushed the hyena next to me aside and stood in front of him.

Sure enough, a second later, an invisible wave rose up once again.

But this time my consciousness wasn't attacked; instead, I experienced a strange feeling of heaviness in my body!

"System notification: The colonist has been attacked by Mind Overload, and his movement ability has been reduced to 40% for 30 seconds."

"System notification: Due to the characteristics of the Child of Nature, the impact is reduced by 90%, and the duration of the negative effect is shortened to 3 seconds."

Three seconds isn't a long or short time, but the negative effect was far from easy for the hyena who rushed up to help me. My body felt as if it had gained tens of kilograms of weight out of thin air, causing him to stagger and nearly fall.

To be fair, while this tactic isn't as direct as a stun attack, it's exceptionally insidious. If someone in a squad gets trapped for thirty seconds and their teammates stay behind to rescue them, the entire squad could be wiped out on the spot.

"What a disgusting tactic..."

Seeing this, Fire Fist forced the enemy back and turned to provide support, but I pushed him away directly. If they had suffered a stroke and hemiplegia in half a minute, my head would be in even bigger trouble than it is now.

The Royal Knights of the Meto Empire advanced again, and the psychic warriors in the ranks once more gathered their strength, clearly intending to continue to hinder our progress until they completely trapped us.

"Sir, leave quickly!"

Suddenly, a strange light wave flashed from afar, and the mind warrior's face darkened. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, losing his last chance to use his superpowers.