Chapter 787.3: Huh? How? Door? Open? Itself?

... Several hundred meters away, Hunter was concealed inside a three-story building. His brows tightened.

The entrance to the underground facility was beneath the plaza, and that area was already under New Alliance control.

The fighting on the beach had ended. They had to finish this battle before New Alliance reinforcements arrived! There was no longer any time for hesitation.

Hunter made his decision in only a few seconds and immediately issued an order over the communications channel. “Teams 1 and 2, advance! Teams 3 and 4, flank from both sides! Finish this quickly!”

“Yes!”

Crisp replies rang through the communications channel.

One figure after another emerged from the shadows of abandoned buildings, stepping out from environments they had blended into almost completely, and began closing in on the New Alliance squad that had stopped pursuing.

At the same time, the other two squads of Burning Corps’ first platoon also realized something was wrong. While calling for the second platoon to move forward, they immediately rushed toward their position as reinforcements.

At that moment, word that the units searching the ruins of Fortress Town had encountered Torch Church Judgment Panel forces reached Old White, who was currently directing construction of the camp and harbor at the beachhead.

After comparing the intelligence with the map for a couple of seconds, Old White made his judgment almost immediately. “80% chance there’s a big fish there!”

“I think so too.” Ample Time nodded and rubbed his chin with interest. “How about I take a team over and have a look?”

According to the information they had gathered, there was a shelter ruin in that area. Although the shelter had supposedly been abandoned for more than a century, it was entirely possible that the Torch Church had converted it into a research facility.

Similar situations had already appeared on the Northern Front.

Old White laughed heartily and patted his shoulder. “All right. I’ll leave it to you!”

The fighting on the beach was basically over, and they weren’t particularly short on manpower at the moment. The Mutant Human battalion defending the position had been completely broken apart and was now fleeing toward the rear like headless flies. Apart from cleaning up the battlefield, the only major work left was constructing the harbor. There was no need for him to personally remain here watching over everything.

After leaving the command tent, Ample Time immediately brought a company of players aboard the Chimera infantry fighting vehicles that had just beached through the floating harbor. He also requested two Cloudfly ornithopters from the NPC forces for support, then rushed toward Fortress Town.

By the time he reached the battlefield, the two platoons of Burning Corps’ first unit were locked in a fierce struggle with the Torch Church’s Judgment Panel.

Gunfire echoed continuously through the ruins.

Judging by the precise, efficient, and ruthless rhythm of their attacks, these people were probably the same kind of so-called Executioners from the Torch Church’s Judgment Panel that they had previously encountered in the eastern outskirts of Clearspring City and at Pinecone Ranch!

Seeing New Alliance reinforcements arrive, Hunter, who was personally fighting on the front line, couldn’t stop a trace of despair from appearing in his eyes.

Too fast!

Just like during the landing, those people moved without the slightest hesitation. The strategic missile had barely struck before landing craft and armored vehicles immediately surged ashore. By the time his side had finally figured out why the frontline command post had lost contact, the New Alliance landing troops had already smashed through the beach defenses they had prepared!

Now, it was happening again!

They had been fighting the New Alliance reconnaissance troops that searched their way to Fortress Town for less than 20 minutes, and the main force behind them had already arrived as reinforcements.

There wasn’t even the slightest opportunity to take advantage of the situation to whittle down the enemy forces!

If they continued getting bogged down here, they would soon be facing far more than a few squads. They would be surrounded by company-sized or even battalion-sized combat units!

Looking at the dozen or so bodies left behind by both sides and the position they had repeatedly failed to break through, Hunter finally gritted his teeth and shouted over the communications channel, “Retreat!”

After throwing out that word, he immediately turned and disappeared into the shadows of the settlement’s buildings, not daring to remain for even another moment.

The other squads did the same.

Just before the Cloudfly ornithopters arrived over the battlefield, they all turned and withdrew, vanishing into the shadows.

The mission had failed. All they could do was minimize their losses.

Nearly every Executor felt heavy inside. Their faith remained unwavering, and none of them doubted the supreme Chosen One. But forget seeing even the slightest hope of victory... Even relaying good news back to their faith had become a luxury...

...

The pressure on the Burning Corps in Fortress Town eased, and the players crouching behind cover finally let out long breaths.

Although the battle had been pretty damn fun for them, their opponents’ equipment was absurdly powerful. Nearly every one of them had optical camouflage, plus what felt like auto-aim headshots. Several times, they had almost managed to seize the position from the players.

If reinforcements had arrived ten minutes later, it would be difficult to determine who would be the actual winner.

Seeing Ample Time arrive, Coincidence, who had been commanding the fighting there, walked over and reported the entire course of the encounter and the casualties. “At first, we were fighting Mutant Humans. Then these guys suddenly appeared. I think they were trying to take something away, but they probably didn’t succeed.”

“These people aren’t stupid. They knew there was no point continuing the fight, so they decisively withdrew.” Ample Time looked around, slightly narrowed his eyes, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “We’ll know soon enough what they were so desperate to take away.”

Just as he finished speaking, a player who had come with the reinforcements walked over to report. “We found an underground passage beneath the public restroom in the plaza. Suspected entrance to Shelter 182.”

Hearing where the entrance was located, Coincidence’s eyebrow twitched. “These guys sure have refined taste.”

“Might not be their taste. What if the prewar people designed it that way?” Ample Time joked, then looked toward the player who had come to report. “Come on. Let’s head down together and see what they’ve hidden inside this shelter.”

If the shelter had been repaired and restarted after being abandoned, its security systems might not still be the original prewar versions. In that case, externally hacking the access controls might be possible.

That mainly depended on why the shelter had been abandoned, what arrangements the final Administrator had made for its future, and how the successor had inherited it.

For shelters restarted through unofficial means, an official offline key could often unlock the doors. Even slightly more complicated access-control systems usually amounted to little more than setting up an antenna and getting online.

Those were lessons summarized by the players active around Pioneer City, and naturally they applied to other regions of the wasteland as well.

Hearing that it was time to open a massive blind box, the players immediately became eager.

“Let’s go!”

“Haha, hurry up!”

Meanwhile, Arzu was pacing back and forth near the shelter’s buffer door, occasionally cursing under his breath. “Fuck... What’s taking them so long?”

What the hell are these people dawdling over?!

He had already backed up all the research data in the shelter onto the chip inside his brain. He had deleted every original file he could, and scrambled whatever could not be deleted as thoroughly as possible, all so he could flee as quickly as possible when the time came.

Just then, a staff member hurried through the buffer door and ran toward him in a panic. “Mr. Arzu... They’re here!”

Arzu’s face instantly lit up. “They’re here?! Then hurry up and open the door!”

Seeing that he was still dreaming, the staff member was so anxious he nearly cried. “N-no! It isn’t the Judgment Panel! The New Alliance is here!”

In an instant, the old face beneath Arzu’s hood lost all color. His lips turned pale as he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

The New Alliance is here?! How is that possible?!

In his daze, he suddenly saw the gear-shaped door tremble. Under the pull of mechanical suspension arms, it began rolling sideways.

The staff member who had run over to report the news jumped in fright. Seeing the door move, he collapsed straight onto the floor.

As for Arzu, he had gone completely still. He stood there in a daze as though his mind had stopped working.

The enormous gear-shaped door slowly opened as a man in an exoframe stood at the entrance. His left arm was raised, while his right hand held a data cable that had been pulled from the armor on his left arm.

The end of the cable appeared to be aimed at some port on the door, but he hadn’t even plugged it in yet.

Looking at the gray-robed old man standing inside the entrance and the man sitting collapsed on the floor beside him, Ample Time visibly froze. He couldn’t help but mutter, “That’s strange...”

He hadn’t even done anything yet. Why had the door opened by itself?

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