Chapter 186 - Rainy Season
Between the two bases in Shattered Starlake and Raging Waves was a huge sandbox. There were long-term plans for it.
Central Business District, a 3D show farm for etherealized plants, a high-end residential area, a crystal industrial integrated area, and a runic symbol research town would be built there. They had prepared dozens of skyscraper models that were hundreds of meters tall, which would create a picture of prosperity and modernity that did not lose to Dragon City’s main city. This bridgehead for the advancement of human civilization in the Other World would be a legendary futuristic city.
When the students had just arrived, even the ones with the strongest imagination had a hard time believing that they could turn everything that was planned in the sandbox into reality within a short period of time.
But as they gained victory after victory in the northern offense and a large number of construction machines were sent to the cleared areas from the rear, the riverway was cleared, the muddy ponds were filled up, and the pile drivers made loud sounds day and night, everyone felt like they had returned to the Great Construction Era. Sparks from steel flew everywhere, molten iron flowed, everyone bustled with activity, and everything changed rapidly. The students quickly gained hope.
Now, when they came back from their hunts, they loved to squat around the sandbox and imagine a bright future.
There were all sorts of rumors flying around.
It was said that the Survival Committee had already decided to turn the area from Shattered Starlake to Raging Waves into a brand new demonstrational developmental zone. It was going to be the best region in Dragon City, and it would be known as Celestial Dragon Area.
Someone also mentioned that the prices for land and houses would rise to extravagant numbers, and in the future, the high-end houses would be more in demand than even the luxurious house in the main city area. Many of the powerful fighters would move here so they would be closer to the crystal mines under Graveyard Forest and Raging Waves.
It would allow them to enjoy being nurtured by spirit energy, and the training here would be even swifter than in the main city area.
Other people said that the houses here could not be bought by money. They would have to draw lots, and those who contributed in the northern offense and had a lot of points accumulated under their belt would have a higher chance of getting selected.
Whenever anyone mentioned this, the students’ faces turned red. They rubbed their palms together, as if they already saw themselves living in the high-end houses in Shattered Starlake. They imagined themselves being nourished by spirit energy every day.
Meng Chao was the only one who squatted in a corner while thinking about other things.
In his previous life, Celestial Dragon Area did not exist.
Instead, he could vaguely remember Dragon City going through an incredibly difficult period for a few years after his mother was burnt by the Ghost-eyed Golden Winged Flame Beetle. They suffered from such a lack of resources that they had to ration food.
The atmosphere in the city had turned incredibly gloomy, which meant that they never managed to gain complete victory. There were no fighting spirits soaring into the air as they started all-round constructions.
So, what happened after they thought that everything was going great to when they would never be able to build Celestial Dragon Area?
Meng Chao could not figure it out for the time being.
So, he trained even harder to improve his strength and spread the Ultimate Style, Reckless Bull Force, One Hundred Saber Techniques, and other martial arts suitable for the war in the future.
When November arrived, the thing he was worried about finally happened.
A sudden storm came, and it rained for three days and nights, which turned Shattered Starlake into a wetlands.
The lakes were calm and pure, like brilliant moons or pearls before, but the water level rose, and hundreds of lakes gathered together. They became an ocean with strong waves.
The areas the humans had cleared after fighting for two months were devoured by the mysterious ocean in the blink of an eye, and a lot of the crude and clumsy construction machines that were not transferred away in time sank to the bottom of the lake.
When the rain hit skin, it felt as if the heavens had decided to fire tens of thousands of arrows at the same time. The drops were slightly corrosive and interfered with the superhumans’ vitality magnetic fields. It also invaded the core units of the war and construction machines. The humans could not launch massive offenses in the storm, which provided the monsters with valuable time to catch their breath while on their deathbed.
When the storm gradually came to a stop, the water level, which had risen to ridiculous heights, required around five days to go down. However, the marks the humans had left in the regions which had been ravaged by the lake were completely washed away. The ground had become at least ten times more watery than before, and there was a lot more mud. The originally fertile soil turned into a terrifying swampland, and countless mutated pests lurked in it
Even worse was the fog that came later.
Once the storm passed, fog rose from everywhere and enveloped a circular area of one hundred kilometers in Shattered Starlake.
The visibility in it was incredibly low. Even the superhumans with sharp eyesight had a hard time seeing each other clearly when they were twenty meters apart. And there was a powerful interference with spirit energy magnetic fields, so the internet was completely crippled. The communications system was practically dead, and the failure rate of the war machines rose to 100%.
The fog, mud, and venomous pests, the collapse of communications systems, and the large increase in the failure of complicated machinery created an incredibly horrible fighting environment. Only superhumans were able to deal with the situation, while the Red Dragon Army had a hard time providing support to the northern offense, since it consisted of normal soldiers. Unless, of course, it did not care about casualties.
“How could this happen?”
“Didn’t they say that the Supernatural Tower inspected Shattered Starlake for more than ten years and had complete knowledge of the astrological and geographical parameters? Why didn’t they know that November is the rainy season in Shattered Starlake and that such a bothersome fog would rise here?”
The fighters at the frontlines grumbled.
The environmental scientists and meteorologists at the rear felt really unsatisfied as well. Based on their observations over the past ten or so years, the weather during autumn in Shattered Starlake was stable, so it was a very precious period of time when they could get decisive results. Storms and fog seldom appeared.
But they did not know just how many types of crystal mines were hidden under Shattered Starlake. The minerals that contained great spirit energy were incredibly unstable, and it was very easy for them to interfere with the planet’s magnetic field.
Based on the analysis, Shattered Starlake had never had such a large number of superhumans gathered in it before. The vitality magnetic fields released by thousands of superhumans at the same time might have created a resonance and affected the unique frequency of some underground crystal mine, so it released its power, which interfered with the magnetic field of the planet in this area. This in turn might have affected the weather and created a heavy storm with fog.
“In the ancient texts about deities and monsters, there were records of cultivators summoning the wind and rain. After superhumans reach Deity Realm, they can also use their strength to resonate with the planet’s magnetic field to obtain the support from the world. Based on this, the change in the weather should be related to the activities of the powerful humans.”
The meteorologists argued eloquently. “In the past, only a small number of superhumans did small-scale reconnaissance in Shattered Starlake, which is why they didn’t create any problems with the weather, but this time, Dragon City sent out such an unprecedented number of superhumans that they could practically be considered an army. This, of course, interfered with the weather, which then affected the army.
“This is the first time we’ve sent so many superhumans out of Dragon City to launch a decisive battle. Before we figure out just how many crystal mines are hidden under Shattered Starlake to Raging Waves, no one could have expected such a thing happening!”
It was no longer important to find out who was responsible for the accident.
In truth, even if they had managed to predict the arrival of the rainy season and the fog, the northern offense was already ready to be launched, and they had to wage war.
What was important was that they could not drag out the northern offense until it was January or February in the Other World, because winter was the harshest during that time.
The temperature during the winter in the wild would occasionally drop to negative twenty or thirty degrees Celsius. Sometimes, it was even lower. The ground would freeze solid, and the failure rate of sophisticated weapons and construction machines would increase a lot.
Right now, the strategy Dragon City used to fight against monsters was known as the Fortress Strategy, where they used war fortresses as their core.
Without the war fortresses’ massive firepower, which served as transfer points for communications and command centers and provided necessary supplies and medical treatment to powerful fighters when they were hungry and injured, even the superhumans would not dare to recklessly enter deep into the wild for intense battles.
When the harsh winter arrived, it would be inevitable that the efficiency of the man-made war fortresses would plummet. The northern offense’s rhythm would then be disrupted.
But the worst part was that the monsters had already started attacking the artery connecting Dragon City to the frontlines.
The monsters had become smarter.
In the past, they formed huge hordes and launched suicidal attacks at the humans’ groaning armored trains.
Since they faced the powerful firepower from the armored trains which were protected by powerful fighters, it was only natural that their actions led to their death.
But now, the monsters noticed that they did not actually need to attack the armored trains. They just had to destroy the rails and public roads when the fog was around and visibility was low. Then, they could force the humans’ armored trains and freight cars to stop, which gave them the chance to attack them.
The fog enveloped the entire artery, and it covered a region that was almost twenty kilometers in length.
Hence, the stretch of twenty kilometers turned into a death road where fights occurred all the time and blood was spilled all over the place.
Every day, countless Red Dragon Army soldiers and monsters engaged in brutal survival games. When the rails and public roads were destroyed, the humans repaired them, and once they were repaired, the monsters destroyed them. Practically every cross tie and road sign was stained with blood that could not dry.
Because of it, the efficiency of supply provision fell down. The amount of weapons, ammunition, medicine, and resources transported to the frontlines was reduced to half of its original number. Then, it dropped to one-third, and later, it became even less. This put a limit on the number of times the Red Dragon Army could provide fire support for the superhumans. After the normal soldiers fired their last bullet, even if they wanted to contribute, they could only hold their guns like they were torches and sigh helplessly.
The superhumans could only grit their teeth and persevere.
It was impossible for them to retreat.
Even though their spirits were not as high as half a month ago, all the people at the frontlines knew just how many resources Dragon City had poured into the northern offense. They had been very close to success and glorious results.
If they retreated now, it would mean that the resources the Dragon Citizens had accumulated over decades would all go up in smoke. Until they rested for some five years, it would be impossible for them to make a comeback. And if they waited for five years before they returned, Shattered Starlake, Graveyard Forest, and Raging Waves would have once again turned into monster heaven.
Then, all the blood they spilled in the northern offense would all be in vain!