Chapter 231: Gas Explosion?

"Everyone, spread out!"

As the captain of the Mecha Unit, Yun Mu immediately realized the severity of the situation; she jumped into the mecha cockpit behind her and issued orders to everyone using the communication device inside.

There shouldn't be any radio in this era.

For some reason, this thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.

But then, she felt a moment of trance.

Right, this is a magical device made using Supernatural means, with the effect of allowing communication at will within a range of 5 kilometers.

Strange, isn't she the captain of the Mecha Unit? Why would she feel confused about such a thing?

Also, what is a radio?

"Boom!!"

Another violent explosion rang out, and Yun Mu immediately snapped back to reality.

No, now is not the time to be thinking about such things!

"Have the Automatic Machine Soldiers move forward to hold the line, A Team cover everyone's retreat!"

Right now, those creatures are charging forward recklessly, and as long as they get close, they Self-Destruct; after the explosion, they can even infect the mecha.

Therefore, one must absolutely not engage them in close-quarters combat.

However, the distance between the two sides is not far right now, so it is necessary to rely on the Automatic Machine Soldiers to intercept them, and then dispatch a small team to cover the rear. Strange, how does one pilot a mecha again?

Another moment of trance, and Yun Mu suddenly recalled how to pilot the mecha; she hurriedly maneuvered her Steam Mecha to the very back of the formation, slowly retreating while using heavy firepower to cover the retreat of the other teams behind her.

A Team is the team with the strongest overall strength, and it is also the team she is directly responsible for managing.

The remaining B, C, and D teams each have their own team leaders, and those team leaders, in turn, follow her command.

It is roughly a structure like this. "Damn it, there are too many enemies!"

"The Automatic Machine Soldiers have been wiped out."

The voices of other A Team members came from the mecha cockpit; Yun Mu looked at the Automatic Machine Soldiers that had been infected by the enemy and were now charging back toward them, and she could only initiate the contingency plan in her heart.

"All members, aim at the ceiling and open fire!"

"Yes!"

The A Team members responsible for the rear guard turned their firepower and unleashed a barrage at the sewer ceiling.

Under the continuous bombardment of the High-Speed Rotary Machine Guns and Steel-Core Armor-Piercing Bullets, the sewer ceiling collapsed after only a moment.

Relying on the distance previously gained by using the Automatic Machine Soldiers, everyone successfully blocked the sewer entrance.

"A Team members, take this chance, retreat!"

"Received."

Listening to the replies coming through the communication device, Yun Mu maneuvered the Steam Mecha and, together with the other members of A Team, retreated in an orderly fashion toward the direction the main force had left.

As for the matter of destroying the sewer ceiling, she could just write a report and submit it after they retreated.

As for whether it would be repaired later or left alone, that was none of her business.

As the captain of the Mecha Unit, the only things Yun Mu cared about were two points.

That is, the completion of the mission and the lives of her team members.

Before she understood the true nature of those enemies that could even infect mecha after Self-Destructing, she would not risk the lives of her team members.

This was also the reason why she had the Automatic Machine Soldiers move up first.

"However... since just now, what is that faint sense of incongruity?"

Only at this moment, as her tense emotions relaxed, did Yun Mu have the time to think about that strange feeling that had appeared just now.

"Forget it, it should just be an illusion."

Having thought for a long time without any leads, she could only temporarily put the matter to the back of her mind; after all, there were more important things for her to do at this moment.

"Everyone, immediately head to the upper level and seal the entrances and exits between the upper and lower levels; you must not let even one monster break out." After catching up with the main force, Yun Mu immediately ordered.

Shattering the ceiling to bury the path was clearly just an emergency plan for retreat; given the power of those creatures' Self-Destruct, one must absolutely not let them leave the sewers.

Under the circumstances just now, it was also very difficult for the Mecha Unit to tangle with them.

But if it were just guarding a few narrow entrances, it should be no problem.

If there was any variable that worried her, it was that the sewers of Frostfall City not only had a complex structure but also had many tunnels dug privately; even if all known entrances and exits were sealed, there was no guarantee that monsters wouldn't crawl out from other places.

This was also one of the reasons why she had to retreat quickly.

If she hadn't given the order to retreat, but instead had the Mecha Unit members fight those monsters to the death.

Perhaps while they were still fighting, other monsters would have slipped out of the sewers through the crisscrossing paths.

If those monsters were to explode on the crowded streets... "Hiss."

Yun Mu gasped, and could only offer a Prayer that those monsters would not discover the routes that even their Guard Hall was unaware of.

"That... you." After ensuring that all entrances and exits to the upper and lower levels in this vicinity were sealed, Yun Mu temporarily turned off the team communication, opened the mecha cockpit door, and looked at the reporter who had initially reported the clearing progress to her.

"Do you have any instructions?" The other party also opened their mecha cockpit door and asked her.

"Hmm..." For some reason, Yun Mu felt that she originally knew what the other person was called, but she couldn't recall it no matter what at this moment.

Forget it, if she couldn't remember, she wouldn't think about it; there were more important things at this moment.

She looked at the other person and ordered with a serious face: "You go above and contact Guard Leinuode, and tell him what happened here."

"Also, the Mecha Unit is severely understaffed; whether it is to seal all the entrances and exits in the sewers or to wipe out those monsters, we need reinforcements."

It was simply too absurd that those monsters could even infect inorganic Steam Mecha after Self-Destructing.

Although as long as they kept their distance, the Steam Mecha could use their powerful firepower to kill them from a distance.

But... that was in an open environment.

In this dump of a sewer, the widest path could only allow five mecha to stand side-by-side, and that was without even considering the situation where the front-row mecha's gun barrels overheated and needed to swap positions with the back-row mecha in time.

Not to mention some corners where monsters might suddenly crawl out... The Frost Kingdom hadn't unlocked the Radar tech tree yet.

Huh, strange, what is a "Radar" anyway?

Yun Mu felt surprised by the vocabulary that had suddenly popped into her mind.

In any case, it was impossible for their Mecha Unit alone to clear out all those monsters that had just emerged.

The best course of action was to guard the entrances and exits of the upper and lower levels and wait for reinforcements. "Bang, bang, bang, bang!"

The roar of firearms reached her ears; it seemed monsters had already appeared at the access point leading to the upper level.

This made Yun Mu even more certain of her approach. "Go quickly." She looked at the reporter beside her, then closed the cockpit door of the mecha again.

In truth, the other person's position was not that of a reporter; she just couldn't recall his name for the moment, so she addressed him that way for the time being.

"Hoo."

Reconnecting to the team's communication channel, Yun Mu ordered loudly: "Listen up, everyone! Defend the sewer entrances and exits to the death! Do not let a single monster get through!"

"Yes!" A uniform response came through the Communication Device.

In a corner unknown to Yun Mu, inside a deep pit.

It was likely two weeks ago, inside a cave that had collapsed while the Mecha Unit was clearing out the sewer Monsters.

It was the very same deep pit where Yun Mu had found the Steam Mecha in reality.

A giant, squirming ball of flesh slowly transformed into a web of flesh and blood connecting the upper and lower passages.

And after the flesh-and-blood web took shape, monsters covered in Scarlet pustules climbed upward using both hands and feet.

Before long, they bypassed the Mecha Unit's blockade; some of them rushed toward the streets outside the sewers, while the rest poured into the depths of the sewers.

In fact, Yun Mu knew about this deep pit, but due to manpower issues and the depth of the pit, she had never once considered that monsters might crawl out from it.

And it was precisely because of this oversight that, about half an hour later.

The Mecha Unit, which had been defending the sewer's upper and lower level entrances, was suddenly attacked by monsters from behind.

Caught in a pincer attack, after holding out for about fifteen minutes, they were ultimately wiped out.

At the final moment as her consciousness faded, the image lingering in her mind was an endless tide of corpses clutching her Steam Mecha tightly, followed by a loud "Boom."

The world in the dream dissolved into bubbles.

【Player has received 【Revelation】 from 【Dark Night】】 【Focus +2, Inspiration +1 (24 hours)】 【Obtained passive skills 【Mecha Piloting lv6】 【Mechanical Repair lv7】】 【Mecha Piloting lv6: When piloting a mecha in combat, all mecha attributes increase by 6%.】

【Mechanical Repair lv7: When repairing machinery, success rate increases by 7%, repair efficiency increases by 70%.】

【Obtained trait 【Steam Mecha Mastery】】 【When piloting a Steam Mecha, any damage you deal +15%, critical hit rate +5%.】

Heral Calendar year 4243, October 17th.

Early morning.

Lying in bed, Yun Mu suddenly opened her eyes.

"... Was it a dream?"

Feeling the knowledge flowing through her brain, Yun Mu's expression was somewhat dazed.

No, it wasn't just a dream; it was more like... something that was about to happen in the future!

A revelation from the Dark Night? Could a god really be capable of foreseeing the future?

Or was this just a future inferred by Her based on the information She possessed?

Yun Mu thought the latter was more likely, because if it were the former, there would be too many things that were hard to explain.

In plain language, there were too many bugs, and the logic was hard to perfect.

However, having said that... "You're not going to give revelations to your own believers, so why come specifically to warn me?"

She really couldn't figure it out; was her identity as a Chuanzhezhe really so special that every god wanted to make contact with her? If it were just contact, that would be one thing, but to specifically stuff two passive skills and a trait into her brain... It wasn't that she thought it was bad, just that it felt a bit strange.

And why didn't She help her add one to the progress bar for the title Favorite of the Gods while She was at it?

Could it be because of the God of War and Thunder?

Uh, thinking about it carefully, that really might be the case.

After all, a God War had occurred between these two deities, and Lady Dark Night was the side that had been defeated.

Although the war was forcibly ended by the then-powerful Elf Empire, as the defeated side, Lady Dark Night and Her kin were driven into the Dixia Shijie.

It is said that to this day, Lady Dark Night's true form has not been able to take a single step out of the Dixia Shijie.

Even Her kin, the Dark Elves, are rarely seen in surface cities.

As for why the mainstream faith of the Frost Kingdom is Lady Dark Night... that is very complicated to explain, and Yun Mu hasn't read the relevant books, so she doesn't know much about it and won't mention it here.

Well then, what needs to be done today is already very clear!

Yun Mu got out of bed nimbly and then washed up with practiced movements.

She must participate in the sewer clearing operation!

As for her Yun Chao Publishing House and Rain Curtain Magazine, they would have to wait until she resolved the matter in the sewers.

"You mean to say that you received a revelation from Lady Dark Night and foresaw in a dream that the Mecha Unit would meet with an accident?"

In the morning, Brenna asked with great surprise while enjoying the breakfast Yun Mu had made.

"That's right." Yun Mu nodded without hesitation: "We must prevent what happened in the dream from occurring; if those monsters rush into the streets, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"... You are right." After thinking for a moment, Brenna agreed with her assessment.

"I will immediately contact the Guard Hall and have them deploy all available personnel to blockade every entrance and exit of the sewers, including that deep pit you mentioned."

"That would be best." Yun Mu rested her hands in front of her.

When the Mecha Unit was being attacked from both sides in the dream, she had been wondering where those monsters were pouring out from.

A narrow entrance could never allow so many monsters to swarm in within a short time, so they must have come out from a large "Gate."

So, by eliminating all impossible answers, the truth would surface.

Although it was still unclear how those monsters crawled out of that deep pit, this time, she would never let the accident from the dream repeat itself.

"However, just in case, let's disperse the civilians in the surrounding area," she said to Brenna.

"Mm, I think so too." Brenna stroked her chin, her expression appearing somewhat serious.

"Large-scale mobilization of the Guard, as well as dispersing the public, will inevitably bring about panic. We need to think of a suitable excuse—let's say there's a gas pipeline leak beneath the city, and an explosion of a scale sufficient to affect several streets might occur. How about that?"

"Uh, a gas leak?" Yun Mu inexplicably thought of the gas explosion incidents that frequently occurred in a certain city, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly.

"I think it's feasible," she nodded and said.

"Then let's execute it that way."

Finishing the last bite of breakfast, Brenna stood up and walked toward the Gate without looking back, leaving only Yun Mu alone in the room.

"Damn it, leaving me to wash the dishes again!"

Yun Mu suddenly thought of something and slammed her hand onto the tabletop.

(End of chapter)