Players Invade Cyberpunk

The new players may not have high combat skills or battlefield experience, but the game system still set a countdown for them and the next machine gun emplacement point.

To redeem themselves, the Night Wanderers applied for a large amount of weapons and equipment from the Chaotic Blade Association. With the 'accidental' loss of Huang Ban's armaments, their combat strength is now greater than before—they're no longer the Ghostfire Youth Group wielding rocket launchers and multinational rifles.

The code artillery in the sky rained down precise strikes on the hiding fire points among the construction site's buildings. If it weren't for the timely evacuation of workers and construction equipment to the rear positions, the bombing alone would have caused heavy losses for Lin Miao.

The support beams overhead continuously trembled under the barrage of artillery fire, dropping clouds of dust.

Even the central room's projection map of the Stone Ridge Mountain construction site seemed to be vibrating as if it could dissipate at any moment, while several veteran players gathered here to try to come up with a strategy to counter the Night Wanderers' surprise attack.

"Ah, I can't do this, meow."

Hu Lang lazily sprawled out on the table like a cat.

"It looks like we're about to be overwhelmed."

"Their firepower, personnel, and equipment are all far superior to ours, meow."

It is now nighttime, and many players who logged in early in the morning have already returned to their dorms and logged off. The number of players is less than half its peak, and I have to admit, Huang Ban and the Chaotic Blade Association timed this attack perfectly.

As a result, a peculiar scene unfolded: the battle outside was thunderous, with workers evacuated deep inside the mountain for safety, while offline players lay steadfastly in their beds, asleep even if shells fell near the dormitory building—truly sleeping like the dead.

Just as Albertson observed, such a reckless group of players is formidable in small-scale, low-firepower operations. However, once the conflict expands from street fights to large-scale warfare, their fearlessness is quickly leveled by overwhelming firepower, and their street-fighting experience doesn't carry much weight in a grand battlefield.

After all, not fearing death isn't the same as not dying—a howitzer shell doesn't care if you're fearless.

On the projection map, the players' green light spots were being pushed back by the Night Wanderers' powerful firepower, compressing their defensive line step by step.

"Oh no..."

Red Barrel tossed his hard hat onto the table.

"Damn it, I thought this was supposed to be a farming version? How come as soon as we start farming, a bunch of Night Wanderers attacks us?"

"Forget it, didn't they say the spring in town is blocked by gangs too? This game is nothing but sudden events, just like getting kidnapped by Huang Ban—who could've predicted it, am I right?"

Tutu fiddled with his 'self-assembled' right arm prosthesis, its colorful gradient RGB light strip extending from the shoulder to his fingers, looking very cool.

"The priority now is figuring out how to defend the construction site; if we're overrun, we're done for."

Red Barrel slumped into his chair, spreading his hands.

"How do we fight? We're not skilled in tactical command; it's totally a free-for-all."

The player communication channel is a chaotic mess; it's all arguments with barely any useful information.

Most veteran players have gone to Big Sur, leaving only hacker players, and lifestyle-oriented veterans like Red Barrel and Tutu, along with a bunch of half-baked new recruits.

Tutu: "What's the situation with Adcardo? Can they come to help?"

Red Barrel: "Just asked them, they're still holding their position at the Stone Ridge Mountain tunnel, can't spare people to assist us. This time, Chaotic Blade Association and Night Wanderers have launched a massive attack; it's estimated there are at least seven or eight hundred attacking us, three times our numbers."

Even though there have been more people at Stone Ridge Mountain recently, they're mostly workers recruited from Night City; we can't rely on them to join the battlefield.

Just as the players were at a loss, a tall figure pushed open the door to the engineering department meeting room.

"Who is it?"

Red Barrel frowned and looked back.

The individual was tall, with dirt-dreadlocks, rainwater glistening on his dark skin, giving it a polished shine.

"Placid... what are you doing here, meow."

Hu Lang was somewhat surprised and stood up; she hadn't expected the high-ranking hacker from the Voodoo Gang to appear at Stone Ridge Mountain.

Moreover... he was wearing a reflective vest... looking rather comical.

"Checking to see what plans you've come up with."

Placid scanned the old players in the engineering meeting room, frowning.

"Where's Wuda?"

He was referring to Lucy.

Hu Lang, though puzzled, pointed to the basement.

"Mentor... she's over at the server room, do you need something from her?"

Need—something?

Placid now wished he could punch each of them; they brought his clan to Stone Ridge Mountain to work but never mentioned how dangerous it could be.

You idiots, why do you always end up stirring trouble everywhere?

Hundreds of Night Wanderers besieging Stone Ridge Mountain—this scale was only seen when New America attacked Night City years ago.

"You still have leisure to chat here; haven't you heard the gunfire getting closer outside?"

Placid wanted to leave a harsh word, and if his fellow Haitians were harmed, he'd fight these people.

But on second thought, with the current situation, if the Night Wanderers captured the Haitians, those desperately resisting players would likely be wiped out as well.

"Do you think we don't want to?"

Red Barrel slammed the table; he also had a bad temper, and working on a construction site for long, tempers never stayed good.

"Night Wanderers' numbers and firepower configuration completely overpower us; what can we do?"

Hearing this, Placid's look at Red Barrel became even more disdainful, like looking at a cultural illiterate.

It was a disdain filled with cultural sophistication.

"Have you forgotten that we have something here that we excel in over the Night Wanderers?"

"Huh? What is it?"

Red Barrel looked at the two around him in confusion; Hu Lang and Shui Yue both shook their heads.

Placid now wished he could dig Brigitte out of the grave and ask her, how did she lose to this bunch?

Alright, no one could withstand that tactic, not Brigitte's fault.

"Hackers!"

Placid ground his teeth, looking disappointed and frustrated.

"All the hackers and server rooms are here, right? Plus myself and my team of hackers, the Night Wanderers can't possibly beat us in network warfare."

"The only chance to turn the tables is through network warfare."

Placid initially intended to discuss this with Lucy, but speaking to these people worked as well.

Hackers?

Network warfare?

Red Barrel and Shui Yue both looked toward Hu Lang, as they weren't familiar with this area.

Hu Lang raised herself from the table, "But those Night Wanderers use their own local networks for contact, completely independent from the Night City citywide network; even if we want to wage network warfare, we have no point of intrusion, meow. Capturing a few can't support large-scale information invasion enough to fry their brains."

Otherwise, fighting the Voodoo Gang wouldn't have been so troublesome, trying to capture hackers and locate server rooms.

"No point of intrusion? Then find a point of intrusion!"

Placid held his head; these hackers resembled recruits, far inferior to those in the Voodoo Gang.

"With this scale of group activity and large-scale intelligent weapon applications, just the Night Wanderers' individual brain local networks can't support it—they must have a mobile server to share the load, a signal station. Locate the signal station, and you'll find the network access point!"