The Pioneer had a First Legion.
Then surely there would be a Second and Third.
Players felt their hands and feet go numb with excitement. Didn't this mean the Pioneer was basically their revered golden emperor? And they themselves might someday become part of these future legions?
The Sarkaz mercenaries of Tomorrow's Development were slack-jawed. This was their first time realizing… their faction was actually this damn powerful?
The first wave of the assault ended just like that. Players stared at the Lightbearers with burning eyes. They were practically drooling over their power armor and drones. Even W, who hadn't thought much of the Lightbearers at first, couldn't hide her surprise, though her expression soon shifted to something more complicated.
Back in the Babel era, even Her Highness never had such an efficient, overwhelmingly strong army. They had all been ordinary mercenaries fighting for her.
If such elite troops had existed then…
Wouldn't they have been able to protect her when danger struck?
Felix was satisfied with the Lightbearers' first battle. They had fought with the bearing expected of the First Legion and demonstrated overwhelming dominance in front of the players. It was a message: Tomorrow's Development had deep foundations, and the First Legion was immensely powerful. It was also a warning to those who had yet to join, those still lingering on the official site, or those who might become future enemies—we are not to be provoked.
Only one Lightbearer was lightly injured. They had used up quite a number of Arts rounds, but Felix didn't mind in the least. He entrusted the rest of the operation to Oras and to Deputy Officer Yang Yan XF, the player with the highest rank and permissions, along with his strategy team.
Felix himself, accompanied by W, Ines, and the other upper-level members, monitored the entire operation through surveillance feeds.
When Yang Yan learned he would be a leading commander in this campaign, his whole body buzzed with excitement. Ever since he had risen to deputy officer, he had gained many permissions—mobilizing manpower, issuing requests, and so on—but participating as a main strategist in a campaign-level mission was a first. He now had authority to arrange troop formations, decide attack routes… He was, for all intents and purposes, a general of old.
And with that authority came responsibility and pressure.
The success or failure of the campaign rested heavily on him, but even more stressful was ensuring balance between the various teams. This was a reward-pool mission. Contribution, kills, damage dealt—they would all be recorded and directly affect the final distribution of rewards.
The first wave of pressure came from the professional teams.
At least six professional squads had joined this operation, three from China and three from other regions. As a Chinese player, Yang Yan could have easily funneled the easier, point-farming positions to the Chinese teams. But Tomorrow's Development wasn't composed only of Chinese players. Foreign players made up a significant portion too.
Doing that might get a few more points, but it would cause division within the faction—and that was unacceptable.
He had recently recruited several foreign players into his strategy group, and besides, his idol was the Pioneer. There was no way he would do something that would embarrass him.
After a discussion with his team, Yang Yan XF held the first strategy meeting with Oras.
Felix listened with closed eyes. He had instructed Oras to respect Yang Yan's decisions and only intervene if something violated Tomorrow's Development's principles. But unexpectedly, Yang Yan spoke for a long time, and every point hit exactly where it needed to.
Maintaining balance in contribution was the core of this campaign.
Yang Yan believed this would not be the last war. And in future battles, the Pioneer would not be here. He could not divide himself to oversee every front.
How to fight, how to attack—that would be the players' challenge.
Players were not an infinite resource. Yang Yan understood this well. Dying once cost several Terra-hours. Dying twice meant waiting an entire Terra-day. On death, players lost experience and levels, and unlucky ones even dropped gear. Watching gear you worked hard for get picked up by someone else was enough to make anyone furious.
Based on power rankings, Yang Yan soon drew up the tactical layout.
Professional teams were assigned to the front line, the most dangerous position but also the most profitable in terms of contribution. The Caster and sniper corps would form the second line, while specialists and medics stayed in the rear under frontline protection.
Once they pushed deeper into the fortress, no one knew where the Western Legion might strike from, so protecting the rear ranks was essential.
The professional teams were practically glowing with excitement. Their job was always "licking blood off the blade," but they were long accustomed to it. Frontline work was dangerous, but it offered the fat, juicy opportunity to farm damage.
As for the Lightbearers, Yang Yan showed great respect for Oras and asked for his opinion. Oras had no objections. After being consulted, he stated their role would be that of a trump card. With their combat strength, appearing in these early skirmishes would practically be a dimensional reduction strike.
Of course, Yang Yan had his own player-side considerations. Lightbearers were NPCs. They could not participate in the reward-pool system. They would not receive experience or weapon proficiency, which were benefits exclusive to players. His priority was maximizing player gains.
Felix could hear the little schemes in Yang Yan's heart, but he didn't mind. This level of calculation was acceptable. The Lightbearers' true target was the Western Legion's central army. Rumor had it that one-third of their troops were mixed-blood Wendigos, and their leader—the one known as Azure, Caren Augusta—was also a mixed-blood Wendigo.
Pure-blood Wendigos were nearly extinct.
Across both his past life and this one, there was only one pure-blood Wendigo Felix knew of: Patriot.
Amid the fires of war, the players quickly finished preparing for the first advance. They cleaned and maintained their weapons with excitement, eagerly awaiting the coming battle.
"This won't be the last time. In the future, our opponents might be some faction or even an entire nation. I'm certain of it."
Yang Yan XF said quietly to the members of the strategy group. "This is just a training exercise."
Before long, good news came from the front lines. The professional teams had worked together and taken a strongpoint, at the cost of only thirty players dying and logging out. The result was impressive enough to make anyone sigh in admiration.
Ines let out a soft breath. "Pioneer, have you been waiting for a day like this?"
She finally understood. Even back when everyone regarded adventurers as cheap, disposable manpower, he was the only one who extended a hand to them, the only one who treated them so generously under Tomorrow's Development. Had he, from the very beginning, anticipated this day would come?
"Not enough. This is still not enough."
Felix replied. It was only the end of version 2.0. The long-awaited, peak-player era of 3.0 had not arrived yet. This was nothing. Right now, players were still struggling against the Western Legion's offensive, but a year from now?
It would be a completely different world.
Five days passed quickly, and Tomorrow's Development was steadily closing in on the Western Legion's fortress.
Just as the fighting reached a fever pitch, Muelsyse suddenly jumped out of Felix's canteen with a panicked expression.
"What is it?"
Felix snapped out of the 'war movie' he had been watching. He had left the battle entirely to Oras and Yang Yan XF. The upper-level members served only as advisers. He had decided from the start that he wouldn't personally take the front line this time.
"It's bad, Felix! Something serious happened!"
Muelsyse grabbed his arm, her anxious look completely genuine. "Saria is in trouble. The military is targeting her!"
"Saria? If she didn't punch the military into orbit I'd take their surname before mine…"
Seeing Muelsyse's exasperated stare, Felix waved his hand. "What happened?"
"Because of the incident with the Loken Watertank, the scientific community is in turmoil. Many terran experiments were exposed to other researchers. When Saria and I were exploring the underground waterways earlier, we discovered the military's experimental facility and their outsourced researchers."
Felix tapped his forehead lightly. "Let me guess. Saria punched straight through the military's lab and then ran off with the experimental subject. That's what happened, isn't it?"
Muelsyse blinked. "Ah! Felix, how did you know?"
"The Project Diαbolic."
Felix's eye twitched slightly. He looked at Muelsyse's now-serious expression.
"It's a terran experimentation program conducted by the military and their contractors. They embedded a fragment of a Sarkaz Diablo into a test subject, hoping she would inherit the Diablo's power."
"I read about the Diablos in a university library," he continued. "They were once part of the Sarkaz royal courts but died out over time. I didn't expect Columbia's military to get their hands on a Diablo fragment."
Muelsyse nodded lightly. "After the fragment was implanted, the subject's race became impossible to identify. As for her safety, Saria is currently protecting her. In order to avoid dragging Rhine Lab into trouble, Saria hasn't returned since taking custody of the subject."
Felix frowned slightly. "The military has already set their sights on Saria. And given her connection to Rhine Lab, they'll target them regardless of any attempts at distancing. I want Saria to bring the subject back, then leave the following problems to Justin. I suppose it's time to cash in that favor."
Muelsyse nodded quickly. She lowered her voice. "Olivia Silence knows about it too. She's part of Ahrens's group… Do you think Ahrens will be interested in the subject?"
"Kristen is still around. Ahrens won't do anything. Have Saria return to Rhine Lab first. Whatever happens next, we'll deal with it then."
Felix spoke calmly. "I'll return to Rhine Lab once this campaign is over."
"I understand. I'll tell them."
Muelsyse planted a damp kiss on Felix's cheek, then slipped back into the canteen.
Felix frowned slightly. The Diablo… the experimental subject must be Ifrit. Another familiar face from Rhodes Island, though right now she was still just a child afraid of pain.
He would never put a child on the battlefield. After taking in Narcissa, he never subjected her to any combat training. Instead, he asked Nymph to accompany her to and from school, hoping she could move on from her tragic past as soon as possible.
He had seen Ifrit in his previous life as well. A girl full of personality. Even though fate had never shown her the slightest mercy, she never chose to take revenge on the world through violence.
He pulled his thoughts back to the present. The battle would continue for at least another month. Saria herself should be fine... but as for the military's attitude, he could already guess. They had likely decided to make a move against her.
———
Once Muelsyse ended her water clone mode, she jumped up from the sofa at once. In a flurry, she moved Felix's pillow and blanket aside, split off another water clone to gather supplies, and hurried out the door.
The clone slipped out the back of the company building and sprinted through an alley. After weaving through more than a dozen turns and just as many streets, Muelsyse arrived "out of breath" in the lower district. Passing a few second-rate rappers, she crouched low and ducked into the sewer.
After two more turns underground, a fist suddenly came flying straight at her face.
"Kyaa!"
Muelsyse let out an undignified scream. The owner of the fist halted the punch the moment she heard the voice, revealing Saria's face under the dim light.
"We agreed on a signal. Why did you come rushing in like this?"
Saria spoke evenly as she caught the supplies Muelsyse had tossed into the air. She glanced through the items: pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medicine to stop infections from spreading.
"You scared me half to death!"
Muelsyse's eyes brimmed with tears. "We've known each other for so long, and you still can't recognize my footsteps!"
Saria turned her head aside in embarrassment. "There's been too much pressure these past two days. Sorry."
"Honestly. You owe me a good meal after this if you want an apology to count!"
Hands on her hips, Muelsyse huffed, then blinked. "Right… where's little Ifrit?"
"She's still inside resting… she's in too much pain to sleep."
Saria led Muelsyse forward. After two more turns, Saria gently pushed open a basement door. The place looked like an old break room once used by electricians who worked in the underground water system. It had been abandoned for years, but Saria had cleaned it, and Muelsyse had washed it once more, turning it into a temporary shelter.