"How is it changing?" Jiang Ye asked.
"It's getting worse, of course!" Isabelle said. "Just look at the team rankings."
Jiang Ye opened the rankings and was stunned. Jiangshuitang had actually risen to 68th place!
"How did it go up so fast? Is it just because of a few anti-air guns?"
"The anti-air guns are only part of it. The most crucial thing is that most of the camps have been overrun. Before you arrived, the military issued several war warnings. Large numbers of Earth Dragons hatched in many places around the globe, an unbelievable quantity. Even the top ten camps were completely annihilated." Isabelle's expression was grim. "This is just the beginning, and we don't know what the final outcome will be. The Mil people invested a lot of manpower and resources in this planet, so they won't give up easily. They definitely planted many time bombs before leaving."
Jiang Ye sighed in frustration. The situation was deteriorating too quickly, but he didn't have enough money.
"I suggest you put a temporary hold on sending troops. Troops aren't of much use right now; they're all low-level mechs with very limited combat power," Isabelle advised. "Pour all your money into infrastructure and get some decent firepower."
"The problem is, I don't have money," Jiang Ye said, utterly dejected. "I thought I'd be earning hundreds of millions every day and wouldn't have to worry about money for the rest of my life. To think I'd still be worrying about money."
"You're doing alright. At least you're not in debt. Some of my former comrades in the army, after retiring, started businesses. They looked very successful on the surface, with big companies, large houses, and expensive watches. But in reality, they were drowning in debt to banks. Every morning, when they woke up to use the restroom, they'd sit on their golden toilets, lost in thought, wondering how much debt they had to repay that day." Isabelle shrugged.
Passing through the dense forest, the two returned to the base and entered the control room to disengage their mechs.
Of course, it wasn't for anything else; the mechs were just too stuffy.
Jiang Ye sat down in front of the control screen to check the status of the entire camp.
All facilities were operating smoothly. The newly built shell manufacturing plants were underground, continuously producing shells. For every five shells produced, a small "5" would float up on the screen. The first ammunition depot had just been filled, and they were starting on the second.
With a little surplus money in his account, Jiang Ye placed another order for four anti-air guns and four shell manufacturing plants, positioning them about a kilometer outside the camp to form an outer defense line.
It felt a bit like a tower defense game, but in tower defense games, there's a fixed attack route. With Earth Dragons, you never knew which direction they'd come from.
Jiang Ye suddenly remembered something. "Why are those creatures called Earth Dragons? Do they dig?"
"Yes, but they dig very slowly. When they encounter heavy fire, Earth Dragons will dig a pit and crouch inside to avoid shrapnel. In the wild, Earth Dragons also dig pits to conceal themselves and then leap out to ambush prey when it passes by," Isabelle explained. "When Earth Dragons were first discovered, people were ambushed. At that time, people thought these creatures lived underground and could emerge at any moment, so they were named... Oh, another alert."
Jiang Ye turned to look at the control screen. The screen turned red, and an alert message popped up:
[Massive Earth Dragon Hatching Warning!]
[In the past two hours, 48% of camps have reported Earth Dragon attacks, 13% have suffered minor casualties, and 2% have been devastated.]
[Satellite monitoring has detected large numbers of Earth Dragons emerging in multiple locations. Nuclear weapons have been deployed for elimination, but the danger faced by each camp remains extremely high. Please consolidate your defenses.]
"You should go back and get some rest," Jiang Ye said, turning to look at Isabelle.
"Okay, you keep an eye on things then," Isabelle nodded.
The two had been old friends for years, so they didn't need many explanations. A single look was enough for them to understand each other. Jiang Ye meant that while the Earth Dragons hadn't arrived yet, Isabelle should go get some sleep, and he would watch for now. Once the Earth Dragons swarmed in, they would still need Isabelle to hold the line for extended periods.
Dusk arrived quickly, and the sunset lasted for a long time. Everything on this planet seemed to happen at half the normal speed, followed by night.
From the screen, Jiang Ye could see the entire camp's situation, including which soldiers were working and which had gone offline. From Jiang Ye's perspective, these soldiers looked like pawns in a computer game, just a collection of icons and data.
One hour, three hours, five hours...
Earth Dragon warnings popped up frequently. At first, Jiang Ye was very nervous, but after each bout of anxiety, the area around the camp remained eerily quiet, with no sign of any Earth Dragons. It felt like the boy who cried wolf, and he gradually grew weary.
Jiang Ye suspected there were no Earth Dragons near his camp at all. The only Earth Dragon egg discovered had been chopped to pieces, and it was likely that peace would reign forever.
With each Earth Dragon warning, Jiangshuitang's ranking would rise a few spots.
In just one night, it had climbed to 56th place!
Seeing the steadily rising ranking, Jiang Ye felt not joy but a deep sense of unease. He could imagine other camps being successively assaulted by Earth Dragons, with countless soldiers firing frantically, yet still being overrun and slaughtered.
But near the Jiangshuitang camp, a deathly silence persisted.
Just as Jiang Ye was about to doze off, a piercing alarm suddenly blared.
Then came the rumbling sound of continuous firing, like thunder, from the north!
The screen clearly displayed the weapon status: an anti-air gun on the outer defense line was firing! Ammunition was being consumed at an incredible rate!
"All units fall back! All units fall back!" Jiang Ye quickly issued a voice command. Many soldiers were still in the rainforest, chopping trees and meticulously searching the ground for Earth Dragon eggs. "Everyone return to the camp and prepare for combat!"
Immediately after giving the order, the firing from the anti-air gun stopped.
The alarm was cleared. Target eliminated.
Jiang Ye was bewildered. He didn't know what the anti-air gun had just fired at. This type of gun was fully automated, identifying threats automatically, but it wouldn't display them in the backend data. The radar hadn't detected any targets either. Of course, the radar couldn't detect threatening creatures when they approached.
It was likely an Earth Dragon, but perhaps a rather fragile one, killed with a single burst. Jiang Ye checked the ammunition consumption; it was quite substantial, with 2,670 rounds fired.
"Second Captain, send some men to the north to see what the anti-air gun just took down. Give me a holographic projection," Jiang Ye ordered. He wouldn't feel at ease without investigating the situation.
"Yes!" the Second Captain replied.
After waiting for two minutes, the holographic projector rose. The control room lights dimmed automatically, and the projection screen was pulled into the air.
With the clanking sound of metal footsteps, six gunners and one swordsman were running in the dark wasteland, using the lights on their helmets to illuminate the path ahead.
In the distance, a faint light could be seen. Small yellow lights blinked intermittently; these were the status lights of the anti-air guns. Green meant "no threat," yellow meant "scanning," and red meant "firing."
Jiang Ye watched the small lights silently.
Suddenly, the light changed from yellow to red!
(It's New Year's Eve, so I wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck in the Year of the Tiger!)