Chapter 1 Aftermath

An hour later, at the headquarters of the Mu Stone Forces.

"What the hell is going on?" Ted paced back and forth in the command center, covered in sweat. "Why is their battle plan completely different from what we agreed upon?" As he spoke, he grabbed a communications soldier by the collar and roared.

"C...Commander..." The communications soldier was also wronged. "Th...we don't know either." He paused. "The content coming from the bug...you heard it yourself, sir. It couldn't have been a miscommunication on our part."

"The bug..." Upon hearing those words, Ted seemed to realize something. "That's right! It's the bug!" He suddenly revealed a furious expression. "That's it...that must be it! Those bastards tricked me! What 'Interdimensional Travelers'? They're clearly spies sent by 'Arrowhead'!"

...

At the same time, deep within the forest.

"Captain, I don't think these NPCs can hold out much longer. While the enemy's encirclement hasn't tightened yet, let's withdraw ourselves... Maybe there's still hope for a comeback once we return to headquarters." Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was changing magazines behind cover, anxiously offered advice to Toyotomi Hei by his side.

Currently, the four members of the Sengoku Second Squad were trapped in the enemy's crossfire along with a unit of Mu Stone soldiers. Although the players were not in immediate danger, the Mu Stone soldiers were essentially doomed.

"Strange...something's not right..." Toyotomi Hei had a grave expression, vaguely sensing something but unable to pinpoint it. "Imagawa...when you went to install the bug, did you encounter anything unusual?"

"Huh?" Imagawa was taken aback. "Anything unusual? No, the whole infiltration went smoothly, and I didn't even encounter a single member of the Useless Alliance."

"Hmm..." Toyotomi Hei frowned in thought. "This..." He suddenly thought of something, his expression drastically changing. "Could it be!"

Bang—

A loud explosion interrupted his thoughts.

It turned out that the Arrowhead Army's Giant Lizard units had approached within ten meters and began attacking with short-range rocket launchers.

The force fields used by the Mu Stone Forces to block beam weapons couldn't withstand such attacks. In the blink of an eye, several flyers were hit and overturned.

"Captain! We might not be able to withdraw if we don't leave now!" Hojo Kazu immediately urged from the side upon seeing this.

"Yeah, Captain," Tokugawa Tadanao also advised. "There's no benefit for us to stay here. Although we can fight those mechanized units, the enemy's numbers and firepower are considerable, plus they're more familiar with the terrain... If we really drag it out, we'll inevitably have to pay a price."

"Tch... fine..." Although Toyotomi Hei's doubts hadn't disappeared, the current situation didn't allow him to think too much, so he decided, "...Withdraw!"

...

Their withdrawal process didn't encounter much resistance; they easily passed through the enemy's flank.

This was, after all, a planet known for its technological capabilities, not a place like Rabbit Star where a "Fist Saint" might pop up at any moment. In terms of individual combat ability, the players had an absolute advantage.

About twenty minutes later, the four members of the Sengoku Second Squad returned to the Mu Stone Forces' headquarters.

Just as they thought they could rest for a while and make a comeback, what awaited them was...

"Everyone, don't move!"

Several beams of strong light shone down from the towers all over the base, focusing on the four members of the Sengoku Second Squad.

Ted's voice also rang out from the loudspeakers: "Hmph...you guys...you actually have the nerve to come back?"

"Colonel Ted..." Toyotomi Hei was shocked and angry, but on the surface, he suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "What do you mean by this?"

"You're asking me what I mean?" It was clear that Ted's tone was a bit of angry laughter. "There's a limit to how much you can treat people like idiots!"

Accompanied by his stern shout, a group of soldiers in light combat armor surrounded the four players with guns, and several heavy machine guns at high points locked onto them with lasers.

"I should ask you..." Ted continued to question through the broadcast before the other party could respond, "...What about the troops that went out to ambush with you?"

"This..." Toyotomi Hei hesitated for half a second before replying, "The enemy seemed to have changed their attack plan, causing us to..."

"...get counter-ambushed, is that right?" Ted didn't intend to let him finish speaking, interrupting directly, "Heh...then let me ask you another question, since you were counter-ambushed, why did all my troops die, and you guys returned unscathed?"

"Hmph...did you want us to be buried with your troops?" At this time, Imagawa Yoshimoto finally couldn't help it, coldly snorting and shouting back.

Even if Toyotomi Hei wanted to stop his teammate from saying something reckless, it was already too late...

Of course, at this point, whether Imagawa Yoshimoto said those words or not, the result would be the same.

"Ha! Hahahahaha..." Ted laughed a few times, then suddenly switched from laughter to cursing. "You spies...working with those mongrels from 'Arrowhead' to put on a show in front of me...then tricking my men into walking right into a trap." The more he spoke, the more excited he became, eventually turning into a roar, "Since you asked, then I'll tell you...I want you to be buried with my troops!" As he roared, he issued the order to attack, "Brothers! Kill them for me!"

This Colonel made no attempt to hide his warlord-like behavior.

In any case, the Mu Stone Forces soldiers were very receptive to this. In addition, the profession of "spy" was universally hated. Thus, the surrounding soldiers unhesitatingly attacked the four members of the Sengoku Second Squad.

Ta-ta-ta-ta—

Gunfire, machine gun fire, artillery fire...all kinds of chaotic sounds announced that countless powerful firepower was being unleashed on the four players in a very short period of time.

Even if the players had all kinds of skills, it would be unrealistic to escape from such an encirclement unscathed...

...

Forty minutes later, on the beach.

"Damn it!" Panting, Toyotomi Hei sat down on the sand, spitting out fiercely.

Along with him, Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had suffered minor injuries, and Tokugawa Tadanao, who had lost most of his health, had escaped here. As for Hojo Kazu...he had unfortunately died in the NPCs' encirclement and failed to break through.

"Captain...that Colonel Ted is out of his mind, right?" Imagawa Yoshimoto also complained unhappily, "Can he blame us for the enemy's temporary change of formation? He heard the content coming from the bug himself, it's not like we made it up, how can he say we colluded with the enemy and make us take the blame?"

"Idiot!" Toyotomi Hei turned his head and shouted fiercely, "Don't you understand? We fell for their trap!"

"Wh...what?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned by the Captain's shout, but he couldn't figure out when they had fallen for the trick.

"When you went to plant the bug...you were probably discovered long ago." At this time, Tokugawa Tadanao said in a deep voice.

"Nonsense!" Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't accept that this was his fault. He said loudly, "How could I possibly..."

"How could you possibly be discovered by us?" At this moment, a voice sounded from afar, joining their conversation.

The remaining three members of the Sengoku Second Squad quickly got up, looking around warily.

Soon, they saw four figures riding mechanical Giant Lizards emerge from the forest and come to the beach.

The newcomers...were undoubtedly the four members of the Useless Alliance. And the one who had interrupted just now...who else could it be but Honghu?

"Captain Toyotomi, we meet again." Honghu looked at Toyotomi Hei with a smile, greeting him, "I remember you said last time...that you hoped to have the opportunity to experience my strategies in a real match. It seems...your wish has come true." He repeated the other party's words from before, adding with a smile, "Looks like...I'm more than just a smooth talker, right?"

"Hmph..." Toyotomi Hei snorted coldly, "I, Toyotomi, have indeed experienced your strategies...but..." He stood up, glaring at Honghu, "We haven't lost yet!"

"Ah...of course." Honghu said, "When I set up this plan, I guessed that those 'Mu Stone' guys wouldn't be able to wipe you all out. It'll be good if they can take out one or two."

"Don't keep talking about setting up plans. What exactly did you do?" Imagawa Yoshimoto hadn't understood the previous question, so he couldn't quite keep up with their conversation.

"Hehe...I didn't do much," Honghu smiled, raising his hand and pointing to his teammates, "If we're talking about credit, it mainly belongs to him."

"I just used summons to gather some information," Zhao Yingwang, who was pointed at by Honghu, calmly added, "Those conspiracies and tricks were all his ideas; they have nothing to do with me."

"In short...your 'infiltration' operation was already being monitored by us from the moment you set out." Honghu waited for two seconds before saying to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "That's why...your operation went so smoothly; you successfully planted the bug without even seeing us."

Imagawa Yoshimoto finally understood at this point.

"After that, all we had to do was rehearse our lines next to the bug." Honghu continued, "Even if General River didn't want to help, I could have used a voice changer to direct and act it all out myself." He adjusted his glasses. "As expected, the commander of the Mu Stone Forces believed the 'information obtained from the bug' and fell into the trap. And when things started to go wrong, Colonel Ted's primary suspects would definitely be you guys...because you were already a group of suspicious people who suddenly appeared and couldn't be trusted. Moreover...the entire bugging plan was proposed and implemented by you...considering all of that, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that you four were spies sent by Arrowhead to put on a good show for Ted."

"Using a trick against the trickster, a double agent scheme, borrowing a knife to kill..." Toyotomi Hei gazed at Honghu, and at that moment, his attitude returned to calmness. "Good...worthy of being called a strategist."

Before the words finished, Toyotomi Hei reached out and grabbed, and a white light flashed, revealing a long staff in his hand.

Seeing that the Captain had prepared for battle, Tokugawa Tadanao and Imagawa Yoshimoto also summoned their weapons, preparing to fight the four members of the Useless Alliance.

"I wonder...besides your schemes, what are your skills like?" Toyotomi Hei added.

"Hehe..." Hearing this, Uncle Useless on the opposite side laughed, "Are you trying to use reverse psychology to make Honghu fight you one-on-one?" He shook his head. "You might regret it. Our strategist is also a very capable fighter."

"Yeah..." Juan Menghuan nodded in agreement, "So I suggest...let Honghu and Zhao Yingwang handle this for now."

"Tch...are you looking down on us?" Imagawa Yoshimoto shouted, "You guys can all come at us! We don't need your sympathy."

"Sympathy?" Juan Menghuan cast a sharp glance at Imagawa Yoshimoto, coldly replying, "You are...Imagawa Yoshimoto, right..." He had undoubtedly done his homework before the match, knowing a little about the appearances and abilities of the enemy team members. "I hope you don't misunderstand. We have no intention of 'sympathizing' or 'looking down' on you, nor do we plan to 'go easy' on you." He paused. "I'm simply making appropriate suggestions based on the current situation. For the sake of the matches to come, there's no need for us to expose too much of our team's strength here."

"That's right, but...your estimation of the situation isn't accurate enough." At this time, Zhao Yingwang joined in, slowly moving his mechanical Giant Lizard towards the three members of the Sengoku Second Squad. "I alone can handle things here."

...

Four o'clock in the morning.

In the game world, in the Sengoku Guild meeting room.

"So, they lost after all..." [Akechi Nobu], who was speaking, had mid-length gray hair and wore light yellow armor. His tone sounded quite calm. "I thought they'd at least have a chance to get more information out of them..."

"Although the result was expected...the process was a bit unsightly." [Takeda Tomo] had long white hair, and the armor under the guild cloak was pink. Her voice gave off a sweet and lively feeling. "Why don't we dock their prize money for the month?"

"I think...there's no need to dock their money..." [Uesugi Jin] had long black hair and wore blue armor and a white shirt. She gave off a straightforward feeling when she spoke. "Those guys have been arrogant and conceited ever since they entered *Thriller Paradise*. This failure...is a good lesson for them." She paused for half a second, looking at the beautiful girl with long red hair at the head of the conference table. "Oda, what do you think?"

"Huh?" While others were speaking seriously, [Oda Ai] was playing a small game on the conference table. "What? Can we log off and get breakfast?"

"Are you an idiot?!" Takeda Tomo cursed at the team's strongest fighter. "The men of the Second Squad have lost! You should have a sense of crisis!"

"Ah~ Men are unreliable anyway..." Oda Ai yawned, replying weakly, "The only one I consider my opponent is [Devourer of Heavens]...anyone else...it's all the same...once our First Squad makes it to the finals, no one will care about the Second Squad's defeat, right?"