"It looks like... smoke?" Jiang Ye said hesitantly.
Too far to see clearly, a grayish-white mass was drifting over the valley at the edge of their vision.
Isabelle leveled her arm, gave a thumbs-up, and attempted to judge the distance using the old-fashioned method of sighting, opening and closing her left and right eyes alternately.
Suddenly, the smoke surged upwards, and a small, glowing object shot into the sky, trailing a long streak. Then came a second, a third, a fourth…
Isabelle lowered her hand. She didn't need to measure anymore; she knew what it was.
"Nuclear missile silos?" Jiang Ye's face turned pale.
Isabelle activated the communicator on her arm and sent a message to the public channel.
"There are some suspected nuclear missile weapons heading towards First Main City. Personnel within the city are advised to evacuate as soon as possible!"
Isabelle repeated the message three times. Someone in the public channel immediately copied and pasted it, and soon the message was flooding the screen. According to battlefield rules, if an identical message reached one hundred consecutive posts in the world channel, it would appear on everyone's retinas.
This rule was in place to ensure that critical information could be rapidly relayed from a single soldier to the entire force. Later, dedicated personnel would analyze whether the message was deceptive or malicious.
Someone had once spammed the public channel with extremely offensive insults. After posting one hundred consecutive messages, everyone in the entire area saw an unknown person's name, their family members, and large blocks of vulgar language on their retinas. The spammer was later sentenced to twelve years in prison.
A burst of rapid gunfire startled Isabelle.
She turned to see Jiang Ye raising his arm and firing into the sky. The machine gun rounds whizzed upwards, disappearing from view.
"Don't be silly, bullets can't take down missiles," Isabelle kicked him.
Jiang Ye stopped firing and lowered his arm.
A string of missiles flew slowly, appearing and disappearing in the clouds. They were actually moving very fast, but viewed from a distance, they seemed to be flying slowly.
The two stood motionless, watching the series of missiles streak across the sky, heading towards First Main City.
"What do we do now?" Jiang Ye asked.
Isabelle sat down cross-legged. "Wait for the flight."
"Flight?" Jiang Ye didn't understand.
A brilliant flash suddenly erupted, as if a sun had fallen onto the planet, bathing half the sky in light. Then the light grew increasingly intense. Jiang Ye had never seen such fierce light since he was born. Most absurdly, the brightness doubled every two seconds, as if the entire world was burning!
His visor suddenly turned black and a prompt appeared:
[Strong light detected. To prevent blindness, please keep visor on.]
But the light pierced through the visor, impossibly bright. Jiang Ye raised his hand and could see the dark, segmented bones of his fingers through the visor and his arm armor! The outdoor environment was already like an X-ray! His eyes were in agony and watering, his vision filled with both darkness and intense light. The next second, with a deafening boom, the shockwave sent both of them flying into the air.
They were dead.
A prompt popped up.
[First Main City spawn point destroyed. Your only spawn point is Biron Star Orbital Station.]
Just when they finally had a base, it was nuked. The Mir people resorted to nuclear weapons in guerrilla warfare; truly a disgrace, a collapse of combat effectiveness.
As for how many Mir nuclear launch silos were left on the entire Biron Star, it was anyone's guess. With the Mir's technological level, building a nuclear missile silo was about as easy as digging a water well.
Jiang Ye was helpless and exhausted. He exited the remote control pod.
He left home and drove to the naval port.
Today was a general meeting for unit officers, and he planned to use the opportunity to convey the plan to participate in combat on Biron Star. Jiang Ye intended to get as many officers as possible to go to Biron Star to fight; it was a rare practical combat opportunity, and they could make money on the side. Why not?
His phone rang. He answered it. Isabelle's voice came through.
"Logging off so early? Are you guys that lacking in perseverance? Get back online quickly!"
"I have to go to a unit meeting," Jiang Ye said. "Want a part-time job? Teach those people in the unit how to fight on Biron Star as a remote control pod instructor and answer their questions."
"How much is the salary?" Isabelle asked.
"How much do you want?" Jiang Ye asked.
"If I don't say, what if you were going to give me a lot, but I say a very low number, and you just go along with it?"
"Isabelle, you're becoming cunning. Is our friendship based on such mutual suspicion?" Jiang Ye said. "I'll pay you one hundred yuan a day."
"One hundred to bribe a beggar? At least ten thousand a day!" Isabelle cursed angrily.
"Alright, then ten thousand a day, my dear cheap labor," Jiang Ye said with a smile and hung up.
Arriving at the naval port, Jiang Ye went straight to the main conference room. Many officers were already present, each with a meeting notebook in front of them, as Jiang Ye had requested them to bring.
Verbose explanations were not Jiang Ye's style. He immediately began by introducing the situation on Biron Star and the use of remote control pods. Finally, he stated that the first batch required one hundred officers to participate in combat, and the remote control pods would be delivered to the participants' dormitories for synchronized logging in and out. After the earned merit points were converted to money, half would go to the army account, and half to the individual.
Jiang Ye had expected that with such good conditions, officers would enthusiastically sign up.
However, surprisingly few were willing to volunteer. Everyone kept their heads down and didn't raise their hands, adopting an attitude of "If the commander needs someone, just find anyone, but please don't find me."
The officers' reluctance to participate in combat was purely due to income considerations.
Expanding their territory on Jiang Ye Star was currently very lucrative and relatively leisurely, with no formidable beasts or Mir incursions. They could make money just by driving their aircraft forward. Fighting on Biron Star might not earn much, and a set of mechs was expensive; they might even end up losing money. Who would engage in a losing business?
Understanding the reason for the officers' unwillingness, Jiang Ye waved his hand and offered to cover the cost of a mech for each participant daily.
Finally, people were willing to sign up, and a sea of hands rose in the conference room.
As long as they didn't have to pay, many were willing to go to the front lines to gain experience. If nothing else, witnessing a nuclear explosion was something few living people would get to see.
The first batch of combat participants totaled ninety-eight people. Including Jiang Ye and Isabelle, that made exactly one hundred people.
That evening, these one hundred people joined the same group chat, "Smash the Mir." Isabelle gave a live video lecture, teaching combat rules and experience. The students listened attentively and privately discussed who this beautiful teacher was.
At seven-thirty the next morning, Jiang Ye entered the remote control pod.
Simultaneously, the remaining ninety-nine members of the team were already in their remote control pods, waiting.
For their first collective expedition, Jiang Ye spent half the day setting things up. He appointed himself as the captain, Isabelle as the vice-captain, and divided the rest into ten squad leaders. He clicked confirm.
His soul departed, and after a brief wait, his vision reappeared. He felt cold all over, still lying in a bathtub filled with ice.
Jiang Ye climbed out and got dressed.
He heard shouting in the hallway. Many officers were new to this and, upon opening their eyes to find themselves submerged in ice-filled bathtubs, thought their kidneys had been removed.
After getting dressed, Jiang Ye went into the hallway and shouted loudly:
"Within thirty seconds! All personnel of the Jiang Ye unit assemble in the hallway!"