Chapter 201: City in Firefight

Water dripped down the underground world, and there was a slight vibration from the top of the head occasionally, as if a large machine was passing by. There were occasional dull explosions and sporadic gunshots in the distance, and then it returned to silence.

Sitting on the piled boxes, Dolores leaned on the edge of another wooden box, her eyes slightly closed and she fell into a deep sleep. Her long black hair was draped over her body, revealing a little white shoulders and neck. Her figure was soft and pitiful. This noble lady stayed in the dark and damp underground, which was out of place. The beautiful dress was so contrasted with the dusty wooden boxes and bags around.

Some of the other people closed their eyes to rest, and some sat below to look at Lebion's projected map and make marks, planning how to leave this place later.

The few red-hatted brothers who originally stayed here also tried to move quietly at this moment. They moved some supplies from other hidden corners, and some were trying to assemble some new guns.

At noon, the two sides discussed the next action. Although Tilan didn't want to get involved in the fight between the two sides, they had to consider some cooperation at this time. After all, they were not familiar with the local area. If they wanted to get out safely, they really needed the help of the local snake "Red Hat".

"I rescued you, so you must give me some benefits." That's what he said at the time.

So, Tilan and his group also agreed to provide some power in the process to protect the underground base and the safety of "Red Hat" himself.

At this moment, Shelian and Guluo followed "Red Hat" to the ground to investigate the situation, while the rest of the people stayed underground to rest and recuperate.

On the surface, the headquarters of "Fentie Energy".

A huge steel jungle full of rust was everywhere, and the pipes and gates in it roared from time to time. Various raw materials flowed in it, and the exhaust gas generated by industry was steaming, and the air was filled with a slightly pungent smell.

Some personnel wearing gas masks and protective clothing patrolled around with guns, guarding against possible sabotage from the enemy, while in the solid steel fortress on the other side, the senior executives of ‘Fentie Energy’ were also discussing things.

“Since the explosion at the oil depot last night, the other side has started to take action. First, there were sporadic conflicts in the north, and then they began to block the passage to Lebion. It is hard to believe that they were unintentional and impromptu.” A man with short brown hair reported this. Judging from his neat red and black uniform and the overlapping diamond badge on his collar, he should be a middle-level executive of Fentie Energy.

“Is there any need to analyze this? I think they are coming for us. Now that the large forces have been dispatched, we will directly have a decisive battle.” Masiza stood up at a corner of the conference table and spoke excitedly.

However, the words of the second son did not cause much ripples. Many middle and senior executives present remained silent and looked at the man in the middle of the conference table.

Compared to Masiza, this one is obviously much more mature and stable. He has a square face and wears a neat and fit red and black uniform, which gives him a military-like temperament.

"Sit down, Masiza." He still looked at the slowly changing projection map in front of him and spoke in a deep voice.

"Uh..."

Seeing that everyone ignored him, Masiza could only sit down in dismay. Yes, he is the second son of 'Fentie Energy', but in terms of prestige and actual ability, he is far inferior to his elder brother Broad. The age difference between the two is nearly 7 years. Sometimes Broad is like a strict father in front of Masiza.

"The movement of 'Black Hammer Heavy Industry' is very strange. They did not launch a large-scale attack at the beginning. It seems that they are testing and looking for something. This is not in line with their style." Looking at the situation on the desktop projection, Broad slowly analyzed.

"Our informant over there said that the Black Hammer Heavy Industry seemed to have been attacked by assassins last night. Kujin's youngest grandson was seriously injured and dying, and the eldest son who was originally the successor was also sniped and is now receiving treatment."

"Did our people do it?" Broad looked up and swept his cold eyes across the audience, making everyone present feel a sense of oppression.

"No, it wasn't our people who did it." Although the two sides have a tendency to conflict with each other, the situation has not suddenly deteriorated to such an extent, and it is not wise to act rashly.

"This means that someone is trying to sow discord." Broad said in a deep voice.

"It is inevitable to win against the Black Hammer Heavy Industry, but if there is a third party spying in the middle, the process becomes dangerous."

"But, who else can be a third party in Lebion?" Some people present were puzzled. Apart from the only two remaining industrial groups, Lebion has no forces that can be called famous, and the gap in strength with the first two is too great.

"What is the current situation of other forces in the North Second District?" Broad closed his eyes and thought.

"Since we left Jielou City, it's been a mess over there. Gangs of all sizes have emerged, but the number of people is generally between 50-100. They are not powerful enough and they are fighting each other. I guess they are not able to interfere with us."

"As for Fenri City... they lost a lot of high-end combat power in the raid on Jielou City last year, and have been in a state of contraction since then. The Dead Tree Garden has been obsessed with improving economic crops. Last year, it also recovered some funds by cultivating watermelon seedlings that can grow in wasteland. Now it is busy expanding production and has no time to care about others."

"Cultivating economic crops, really..." Broad shook his head.

"How do they solve the problem of toxins in the soil? Even if the plants can survive, toxins will accumulate in the fruits. Will the federal market accept such things?"

"It is said that the soil that has been washed away after the rainy season and has less toxins is selected, and then after neutralization and settling, it is used to grow fruits. A special glass shed is also built to avoid direct corrosion from poisonous rain."

"Even if it is barely qualified, the upper limit of this product is probably locked, and it can only flow in the low-end market." Broad shook his head slowly, not optimistic about the only achievement of Dead Tree Garden over the years.

"What about the other cities, Dipat and Silicon Bay? How is the situation there?"

Dipat is the only city in the North District that still produces ore. Although its population is not as large as Lebion, it is also a rare gathering place for people. Silicon Bay, a small city, was once the chip and AI manufacturing center of the North Star District. , later most of the equipment and personnel were evacuated, and only a small part remained. It is said that they are the descendants of the technical personnel who were eliminated at that time.

"Depat is still the same as before. Those people will send raw materials ore to us and Black Hammer every year in exchange for a certain amount of income. As for Silicon Crystal Valley... the blockade there is so severe that no one can really enter the interior for a long time. The outside They are all self-disciplined units on patrol. According to rumors, the original residents inside have now been transformed into half flesh and half machines. "

"Does the federal government of the planet not care? I remember that most of this kind of modification is prohibited by the ethics committee. The maximum degree of mechanical prostheticization allowed today cannot exceed 30%."

"Perhaps they are too lazy to pay attention. The technology in Silicon Bay is not advanced, and it has been closed for a long time. The planetary government has focused its energy on economic recovery in recent years. In order to save expenses, it has rarely mobilized the military."

For the North Second District, successive governors and governors of the Star Territory Government have selectively ignored it, because once interference causes a topic, they have to consider how to end it. Interference is easy to get in, but it is difficult to get out. Residence in the North Second District is expressly prohibited , then the residents inside will have to be relocated, which will cost a lot of money, but the benefits will not be much. The planet does not lack the remaining population.

"External forces, internal forces..." Facing the third party force that appeared out of nowhere, Brod fell into thinking.

"There is very little intelligence at the moment and we need to proceed with caution."

"Organize the mechas into five groups. Two groups will be dispatched to confront Black Hammer Heavy Industries. The remaining three groups will stay at the headquarters, ready to respond to emergencies at any time."

"In addition, unmanned reconnaissance drones are released to monitor the situation in the city at all times."

"Yes, sir!" Everyone present stood up, announcing the end of the meeting.

After everyone left, only Masiza and Brod were left in the conference room. Seeing that he was gradually becoming alone, Masiza also remembered that he should take the opportunity to slip away instead of standing here waiting to be criticized by his elder brother.

However, it was too late that he realized something was wrong. "Masiza, who were those people who had dinner with you yesterday?"

The eldest brother's sudden inquiry forced Masiza to stop. He smiled dryly and turned back, "They are some of my new friends."

"How strong are they?"

"This... is probably between Sequence 3 and Sequence 4?" Masiza tried hard to recall. Among them, Avni's heroic appearance left a deep impression on him, while the apparently strongest Natural Sequence 4 Yalian was He chose to ignore it.

"How many are there in total?"

"Four people, but I heard there are a few companions?"

"Four people, and a few companions, let's just call them seven people in total. If you are promoted before the age of 20, you will be promoted to Tier 4. You can be considered an outstanding talent in the federation. If you suddenly come to a place like Lebion, don't you Do you think it's strange?" Brod analyzed.

"It's strange, maybe she's just traveling? I feel that girl should have a good family background. She is familiar with all kinds of luxury goods, and she even scolded me for my average taste..." It's strange to say that if someone else was so scolding and despising him, Masiza would have long ago He became furious, but when faced with the blonde girl, he fell in love with her even more, and even couldn't help but want to please her.

Seeing that his younger brother was still stubborn and obsessed with sex, Brod felt a little disappointed, but he gradually got used to it over the years.

"Go ahead and don't go out casually during this period."

"Yes, brother." After saying that, Masiza quickly left the suffocating conference room.

Brod, who was left alone in the conference room, looked at the map on the projection, and fell into silence and thinking again, until after a long time he stood up with a sigh and looked back at the monitor under the ceiling behind him.

"Father, do you have any instructions?"

"I don't have any instructions. Just deal with it according to your ideas. 'Red' is almost completed. Staying undefeated is victory." An old voice came from the speaker on the ceiling.

"Does being undefeated mean victory..." A wry smile appeared on Brod's lips, and it was difficult to agree with this statement in his heart.

"I hope so."

————

In the city of Lebion, the two forces began to exchange fire. Although the top leaders of both sides did not intend to attack with all their strength, the lower-level personnel did not know. They only knew that if they defeated their opponents, their side would be the only force to monopolize Lebion. They will definitely be much more comfortable when they are down than they are now, and many people also hope to get promotions or rewards through their performance in the war, so their desire to attack is not low, but very active.

"Fire! Fire! Blow them up!" the commander shouted in the communication channel. Shining high-polymer energy bombs were thrown into the air and fell into the distant buildings. Then the violent explosion spread, destroying the abandoned building. Holes were blown out, and the originally dilapidated city became even more devastated.

"Wow, help--" Various cries and shouts also sounded in the city, some of which were already hoarse. It was obvious that the two warring parties did not care about the civilians in the city.

Some people cried and shouted on the streets, and the ground was scattered with some melted and re-condensed metal particles and blocks, and some places even burned and melted out potholes.

'It's really horrible. ' Standing in the corner of the ruined building, Xie Lian looked at the situation outside, and a wave of emotions rose in his heart. He came from the prosperous area in the south with excellent public security, and this was the first time he faced the front line of the war.

"Oh, what's there to sigh about? This situation has never changed in the North Second District. Gangs from all over the country fight each other, shop owners and cargo transporters intrigue with each other, and weak people without ability are like ants on the ground. No one cares if they are stepped on casually." The red hat said sarcastically.

"Then is there any way to change it?" Xie Lian couldn't help but ask.

"Method? If I were the boss of Lebion, I would definitely establish a stable order, because these are all my property and my things, so I have to protect them, but now it is not, so I don't have the heart to care about it."

"Well, is there no better way? Treating people as slaves is too backward, even if we do some capitalism, it's better than this." Shelian also shook his head.

"What is the doctrine or not? You people with a lot of knowledge just have a lot of thoughts. Trouble, in my opinion, I gave them food and let them live a stable life. They have to repay me. I can't just raise a bunch of useless people for nothing, otherwise why should I help them?"

"That's the truth, but it's too straightforward and cruel. Can't you be more gentle?"

"Warmth, don't you think it's funny? Warmth can be eaten, and can make the other side listen to your reasoning?" Red Hat simply stopped pretending after Tilan exposed his intention of getting something for nothing at noon. He also saw that the group of people in front of him still had a bottom line. As long as he didn't really offend them, saying some straightforward words would not cause any conflict.

"The world is like this, you just don't see it often and you're not used to it. I think you probably came from the south. The prosperous and stable environment there can breed such ideas." Red Hat also showed some contempt at this time.

"Listen to me, you guys are all very strong. If you can sneak in to the other side's leader and kill him, the two sides will be in chaos. Then it will be our chance to clean up the mess. If I become the boss of Lebion in the future, you will also benefit." Red Hat persuaded again.

"I also think you are joking. Big brother, the other side has a force of thousands of people, and there are mecha patrols. Aren't we, a few sequence 4s, going over there to eat food?" Shelian finally couldn't help but quarrel with Red Hat. He is usually a calm and taciturn person.

"I'm not kidding. You don't understand my strength. Although I'm not very good at fighting, I have a lot of informants and connections in Lebion. Otherwise, why do you think the two sides suddenly started fighting? As long as you cooperate with me, I will find a way to send you to their headquarters."

"Really?"

Turning around and looking at the short man in a gray jacket and earthy red trousers behind him, and thinking of the three subordinates of the big and small cats in the underground passage, Shelian really found it hard to believe that the man in front of him was an extremely powerful underground boss.

"Of course it's true." He raised his head again, making his less than 1.6 meters tall figure look taller.