Chapter 52: Big-Headed Karl
Editor: Geoffrey_
After spending half a day of effort to fight against bandits and completing countless numbers of quests, all Tian Xing Jian received were some broken-looking parts, many of which were duplicates. Fatty, who had been quite anxious in exchanging moves with the experts and bullying the weak, had long started feeling restless. If he continued on doing this, how long would it take him to build a Battle Mecha that was comparable to those from the current era? This wretched person started wracking his brain.
First, he would modify the Battle Mecha. The ET started transforming under Tian Xing Jian’s hands. After removing the additional parts, Fatty focused on modifying the speed of the mecha; the Battle Mecha did not need to be too fast, but it did have to be a level higher than the old and falling apart ET mechas. The parts he had on hand was enough for this purpose, with most of the modification done on the drive system. The engine was not modified, as he did not have the appropriate parts for that.
The transformation of the drive system allowed this ET to become a monster that was extremely fast, albeit without any attacking power. As such, within the grounds where Battle Mechas were gathered in the game, the base of the bandits, another type of bandit appeared, one with extremely fast speed—SM01314. The moment he saw any bandits being felled, he would immediately rush in to steal the parts. With his extremely fast hands, after a gust of wind swept past the area, at least three out of every ten parts dropped would be snatched away by this despicable Battle Mecha. For a moment, Fatty became the street rat which everyone wanted to beat.
After that, everyone became more intelligent. Those teams who were farming for parts would immediately dispatch people to defend the items the moment they saw this Battle Mecha. However, this SM01314 was way too despicable and shameless and utilized his miraculous techniques to find all kinds of loopholes. If there were too many people, he would snatch the parts from the smaller groups. Otherwise, he would just hide in the dark with his formidable camouflage and concealment skills, which was impossible to guard against. Furthermore, as the game proceeded, his speed only became faster and faster, eventually maintaining a speed a level higher than the current best Battle Mecha.
In this international game, all the various superpowers were fundamentally divided into groups based on their nation. Those from the Leray Federation had long gotten used to the face of SM01314, as they did not see this as something that came out of the blue. This chap would not let someone off solely because he belonged to a certain nation. Those parts which he could snatch would be done without fail, and even those from the Federation would be part of his targets. After all, he was a famous character from the Online War Simulation and was the one known as the undefeatable SM01314, a reputation that anyone would respect him for.
Other nations, however, did not have such good words. Those who entered this game were fundamentally either students from military institutes, soldiers, high-ranking officers from the various nations, or even generals. When had they ever suffered from so much pent-up frustration? Seeing the good parts that were about to be obtained taken by the fleeting SM01314, the indignation arising from this was something which words could not express.
They started a group known as the Anti-SM Alliance. This alliance’s name seemed quite hilarious, yet nobody dared to laugh at this alliance that comprised of over 10 million players. Naturally, for them to be able to go “Anti-SM”, they could naturally go “SM” you as well [1].
Fatty had long become immune over this. His ET had already been completely modified according to his own design concept which imitated the [Beast]. He had locked himself within the system workshop. This modification work done in the virtual world wasn’t as carefree as it was in reality, as every single part and contour would have to be built meticulously by Fatty. [Logic] was kept within the research laboratory, and this virtual Battle Mecha was another [Logic]. He planned to drive this Battle Mecha and use it to fight against all Battle Mecha experts in the web from the entire cosmos. He did not wish to experience another bout of weakness when facing against someone from the Myth Legion, where the other party treated him as a rookie that was meant to be slaughtered.
Naturally, the war continued on. The situation in Cato became more and more grim; the soldiers that had left the base were forced to return to their defense lines in view of the chaotic, intertwined situation out there. The two opposing nations were biting against each other in the region west of Cato, embroiling in a clusters of fights.
Gyaca Woods Imperial Army had finally completed their reorganization. At the juncture when those soldiers from the Federation were retreating, the Imperial Army leapt forward, causing the cut-off Federation soldiers at the rear to enter an excessively arduous battle. Both sides were incredibly determined, with one side pursuing and the other side preferring death over retreat. As the Federation still had an advantage with their air force, the outcome was a stalemate.
Finally, the Federation soldiers had retreated into the Catosi Canyon and formed a new, stable defense line by relying on the tall mountain walls that surrounded it. The control over several high grounds within the region were wrestled by both sides, with the battles becoming really bitter. Having been bombed by the artillery, more than a dozen meters of the soil and rocks on the highlands were shaved off, leaving behind nothing but wreckage and shrapnels.
Having to handle the deductions using the statistics from the combat plans, Tian Xing Jian could determine the desperate straits the front lines were in from seeing the changes in the number of military units. So far, the Federation had already assigned 10 armored divisions and 16 mechanized infantry divisions to the flank of the right side of the canyon at the Garo Mountain Pass. One had to understand that Garo Mountain Pass could, at most, contain just 2 armored divisions and 4 mechanized infantry divisions. In other words, within the total of 8 armored division and 12 mechanized infantry divisions, they were either completed wiped out in battle or only had a few soldiers left.
Such a war was extremely cruel in the eyes of Tian Xing Jian. The battles that occurred in the recent days at the several key locations in the Garo Mountain Pass, which was at the flank of Catosi Canyon were especially cruel, as neither side wanted to lose 1-2 armored divisions and a mechanized infantry division every single day . This place had long been synonymous with hell; it was a place where blood flowed like rivers.
But a war of this extent was just something natural in the mouth of Big-Headed Karl. Using his words, the extent of the occurring war was extremely common amongst various huge nations, and to them, they were like daily meals. As long as the number of deaths did not reach upward of several hundred thousands of people, it would be akin to having no war.
Karl was an intern of the 6th Research Unit. He was not tall, had quite a frail body, and had narrow shoulders that held up his massive head. Along with the pair of spectacles supported by the bridge of his nose, he had quite a comical look.
Ever since Fatty casted off Ke Lun’s plan, Karl became an admirer of Fatty.
Initially, Fatty felt that this chap who did not speak was unsophisticated, but who would have thought that the moment they became familiar with each other, Fatty would want to sew up the mouth of this chap. He really was the type of person who, if he spoke half a sentence less during the day, would spill it out at night when dreaming.
Fatty suspected that if this big-headed monster was captured by the enemy, there was no need for interrogation. As long as he was kept in a room with a recorder placed inside, all sorts of intelligence would be acquired.
However, this chap was a strange, fanatical military genius. Fatty had been startled quite frequently from the combat plans he made. Speaking from this aspect, he had long formulated his very own way of thinking about the military affairs, with his plans being much more insane than anyone else’s! But, once anyone studied his plans carefully, they would discover that this sort of madness had been built on top of a reasonable combat tactic. It was just that in certain segments, his plans were akin to walking on a tightrope. As long as the enemy found out about the plans, they would be consigned to eternal damnation. Of course, if it succeeded, the victory would naturally make everyone mad with joy.
In the aspect of battle outcome deduction, Karl, being a student from the Steel Academy of Military Affairs, would naturally hear and see more than the tactless and impulsive standards of Tian Xing Jian. Just by learning in the academy, he had learned about countless examples of battles.
These battle examples were naturally the classics of human war history. Blood flowed into rivers on the battlefield, and the families of the dying soldiers would be in tragic sorrow. Yet, in the eyes of the military instructors and academies, these matters were akin to a matter from another world—they were simply just a set of cold statistics.
These students all understood a single principle when they entered the military institutes on the first day—soldiers could not be compassionate! An amazing commander could be said to be intelligent, to be callous, to be decisive, or to be brave, but never could he be called a kindhearted and benevolent on the battlefield.
Thus, seeing the unbearable manner which Tian Xing Jian portrayed himself when reading those intelligence, Karl would sneer at Fatty, mocking that he would eventually lose his ability to judge as a result of his feelings, and Fatty would just clench his fist in response to this callous big-headed monster, as a means to prove his own cold-heartedness against the enemy.
[1] The meaning behind here is how they can group up and pick on anyone for they were a huge alliance.
Chapter 53: Natural Enemy
Editor: Geoffrey_
The entire combat planning department was buzzing with activity, though Tian Xing Jian and Karl had become outsiders of the war and were extremely free. To them, their most important daily work was inputting the required data after verification into the computer, after which they would wait for the results before bringing it to the other research units.
Thus, the majority of the time would be spent with Karl in Tian Xing Jian’s office as they idly chatted, boasting about themselves.
When speaking about live battles happening on the front lines, Karl, as someone who did not have any actual experience on the front lines, would naturally not have any right to speak; however, when it came to matters regarding the situation of the nation, military affairs, or classical theoretical examples of battles, Fatty could only listen to the other party.
"The Tara River Military Campaign! Have you heard of the Tara River Military Campaign? I doubt you have! This ground-based army battle is truly one of the most classical campaigns." Karl’s big head shook back and forth, with hands gesticulating and saliva flying.
The ignorant and inexperienced Tian Xing Jian could only honestly admit that he had indeed never heard of this before.
"I truly do not know how you got your way into the combat planning department." Karl had an expression of puzzlement before continuing, "For you to not even have heard of the Tara River Military Campaign." His heart became shattered over his admiration for this idol.
Fatty waved his fist, signalling to the big-headed monster that if he did not continue with the main topic, he would certainly be firmly suppressed.
Fatty had come from a background of training as a scout, spending long periods of time being pressed onto the ground before being punched. This sort of bitterness allowed Karl to discern what the other party was thinking from his body expressions, thus he immediately continued, "The circumstances during that military campaign is quite similar to the war we are currently fighting. However, regardless of whether it is our military strength, our equipment quality, our commanding techniques, or other aspects, we are still inferior to those big nations like the Republic of Ryan and the Naga Federation of ten years ago, much less to say the ultra-big nations."
Tian Xing Jian disapproved that statement, "Even if we cannot achieve that, do you think Gyaca Woods, who have an economical strength half of ours, has achieved it? As long as we chase them out, how formidable the other nations are isn’t our business!"
Karl shouted, "War is an art! An art! Tara River Military Campaign is the most classical example of the art of war. Furthermore, do you think that this is as simple as just Gyaca Woods Empire waging war with us? You don’t even know the motivation behind why they had started this war!"
Talking about war, Karl immediately entered this fanatical state that. If not for his fear of Tian Xing Jian’s fist, Karl’s spittle would just fly all over Fatty’s face.
Tian Xing Jian asked in bewilderment, "Other than resources, could there be any other possible motivation?"
Karl felt that this action of admiring and treating Fatty as his idol was one of his life’s greatest shame. This chap, other than being quite formidable in his deduction skills, did not have any knowledge on other subjects. Seeing how Fatty had exerted a large amount of strength into his fist to calm himself down, he started to teach Fatty about this topic. "Right now, you should understand the history of these nations, right?"
Tian Xing Jian nodded. "Mn, I’ve learned about them when I was learning about the history of the human race’s outer-space exploration."
Seeing that he himself did not have to teach Fatty right from the start, Karl let out a breath of relief. "Several thousand years ago when the federal union on Earth started breaking up into different groups to snatch the capital resources, most of these resources had been used up. The discoveries made by the ultra-big nations were all either without any development potential, or those nations did not have any human-migrated planets in the public starfields, thus humankind has currently started turning into wolves locked up within a cage and killing each other."
Tian Xing Jian laughed. "Even after talking about this for half a day, the reason behind this is still for the sake of resources."
Karl shook his head. "It’s different. The struggle between the Alliance of Fei and the West Faction is becoming more and more intense. Our war with the Gyaca Woods Empire is merely a microcosm of what is happening within the entirety of the human society."
(The military alliance that was headed by the Republic of Feuillants is known as the Alliance of Fei)
(The countries that signed the military agreement at Weston, Binater Empire is known as the West Faction)
Tian Xing Jian nodded. "I know about this, though in these few hundred years, no nations had actually been wiped out even after they fought numerous wars."
Karl sighed. "Even if there were no such cases happening in the past, it doesn’t mean that it might not happen in the future. Since we are currently swept into this maelstrom, nobody could really escape from it. Right now, the highest level human alliance legislative assembly has lost its meaning despite the existence of the name. If two ultra-big nations started fighting, I’m afraid that the true Great Cosmos War would begin. Right now, the Gyaca Woods Empire is merely undergoing a pact related to the West Faction by destroying marginal nations as a part of the plan for a united attack against the main enemy."
Tian Xing Jian fell silent. Leray Federation was merely a small to middle-sized nation, occupying just three starfields, one of which was occupied by others when fighting against a nation governed by a military dictatorship regime. If the true Great Cosmos War fully begins, then under the participations of the other nations, the Federation would not have much hope of surviving.
As for the exploration of the external world beyond the known cosmos, under the highest human alliance legislative alliance’s lead, it had been happening for more than a thousand years already.
This thousand years were truly the thousand years which the human world had developed the fastest, yet with the increasing population and the advancement of technology, no resources could be found and dug out any further.
The conflicting views and friction had finally started appearing within several ultra-big nations with depleting resources. Just like drinking poison to quench one’s thirst, an armament race started, as those nations were afraid of being eaten by others and also wanted to eat up others. These hungry wolves stood in confrontation against each other, spending large portions of those resources on the military.
This was truly tragic for humankind.
During the past hundred years, under the conspiracy and instigation by those ultra-big nations, several medium to big-sized nations were constantly kept in a situation of war, with the regions engulfed by the fire of war becoming larger and larger. Right now, even the boundary nations like Gyaca Woods Empire and the Leray Federation, these two small to medium-sized nations, had been swept into the storm. What Karl said was right—this war was merely a microcosm of what was happening in the entire human society.
"In such a situation, for the Federation to earn her rights of survival is truly a difficult thing to do. This is a mad world." Karl’s line of thinking had a jump as he changed the topic. "The experience the Federation has in fighting wars is too little. Other than economics, equipment preparation, and technology, a war requires an outstanding commanding officer in order to decide the final outcome between two evenly matched nations. It’s a pity that the Federation doesn’t even have one who could be ranked as one of the top international commanders."
Unknown when he had pulled out a picture book, Karl flipped it open and pointed to the pictures within the book. "Look at it. These are the most outstanding military experts in the entire human society." Sighing, he added, "Today, amongst all the generals serving in the Leray Federation, there isn’t a single one entering this collection of military experts, and yet, there is one in the ground army of our opponent, the Gyaca Woods Empire."
Using his hand to flip through several pages quickly, Karl pointed to a middle-aged officer who was approximately 40 years of age and looked quite thin. "Right, it’s this person. Russell, a general of the Gyaca Woods Empire. I’ve heard that the invasion plan of Gyaca Woods Empire was formulated by him alone."
Tian Xing Jian carefully looked at this slim male who had an ordinary look. On the picture, he was wearing the Gyaca Woods Empire’s general uniform with a calm look. The more he stared at it, the more Fatty felt that this person was mysteriously related to him and was either a natural friend or a natural enemy—one that would light up a mysterious feeling of either becoming enemies on a narrow road or friends who would meet again after a long separation.
Shaking his head, Fatty could not help but laugh as this sort of person was the opponent of the Supreme Headquarters’ General Sergei Eisenstein, and not an opponent of him, who was merely someone with a background of being a Battle Mecha engineer and an impulsive staff officer. Becoming friends with this sort of enemy was much more impossible.
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