The game has become a real alternate world

Chapter 1152 - 800: Pioneer Zone

The translucent energy shield buzzed in the canyon’s gale, deflecting the dust and some small flying magical creatures in the sky.Victor stood on the command tower at the top of the constantly reinforced metal fortress walls, his gaze like an eagle, scanning the swirling shadows beneath Black Stone Pass.

The foundation of their fortress had been firmly planted on this steep rock.

The prefab metal wall panels supported by the Night Watchers quickly covered the core area like steel scales, while a few automatic magic energy turrets rotated vigilantly, emitting a faint blue glow.

The energy core provided stable power to the shield.

From this perspective, it’s clear that not every team could obtain a Pioneer Order.

Just finding a suitable location, how to construct defenses? How to build quickly? How to defend the core base—all are not things an ordinary adventurer team could know.

In the first few days, leveraging their geographical advantage and excellent equipment, the Iron Wolf Mercenary Corps successfully repelled several waves of middle and small-sized magical creature groups that came with the wind—the frenzied Fanged Rock Dogs, and the swarming, acid-spitting "Acid Devouring Beetles".

The spoils of war and victory boosted the morale of the members.

There was no doubt about the Night Watchers’ supply, yet their demand for various raw materials was exceedingly immense as well.

They only needed to disassemble the usable materials from these magical creatures, and naturally, there would be a dedicated transportation team from the Night Watchers to take them away.

They only needed to fight, slaughter, and handle the spoils.

It could be said they had never felt so comfortable.

This also allowed them to focus wholeheartedly on the Pioneer Zone, thinking about how to firmly establish themselves.

"Hey, Tommy! Do you see that Rock Dog charging at the front? Aim for the dark spot behind its neck, that’s the joint’s weak point."

An unshaven veteran, Hank, called out to the nervous young crossbowman beside him while aiming his heavy crossbow from behind the parapet and pulling the trigger.

Buzz!

The precise heavy crossbow arrow deeply pierced the neck joint of a Rock Dog trying to climb the rocky wall, causing the creature to howl in pain and fall.

Although the magical creatures in Tariel Continent are somewhat different from those outside, for experienced hunters, it only took a little time to get reacquainted.

Generally speaking, as long as the appearance doesn’t change much, careful observation would allow one to find the opponent’s weaknesses after several battles.

The intensity of battles in Tariel, naturally, goes without saying.

"Got it, Brother Hank," the young Tommy excitedly replied, immediately emulating and hitting one.

But the good times didn’t last long.

The existence of the Mercenary Corps and their ongoing construction activities were like a beacon in the darkness, attracting more, further, and stronger "sights".

Their frenzy and territorial instincts were thoroughly ignited.

The danger of this cursed place was partly due to the overly aggressive attack desire of its creatures.

Sometimes it even surpassed their biological instincts, surpassing the part of a creature’s nature to seek benefits and avoid harm.

At dusk on the third day, with deafening roars and footsteps that seemed to shake the rocky walls, the first batch of real big ones appeared.

Two "Earth-shaking Rock Armor Beasts", five meters high, entirely covered with irregular heavy stone carapaces!

They ignored the traps and attacks of small magical creatures, charging directly toward the main support pillars of the fortress like moving hills.

The energy beams from the magic energy cannons only left charred marks and scattered stone fragments on their thick rock armor, unable to inflict decisive damage.

The chaotic Magic Power was protecting it, the damned thing had high magic resistance.

"Main cannon! Focus! Hit its front leg joints! Don’t let it hit the support pillars!"

Victor’s shout exploded across the battlefield.

Boom! Boom!

Two thick magic energy beams precisely hit their target.

The left forelimb armor of one Rock Armor Beast finally shattered under the concentrated bombardment.

The giant beast let out an agonizing roar, stumbling against the rock wall.

But the other one braced against the cannon fire, its massive rocky horn crashing fiercely into the metal outer wall of the fortress.

With a deafening bang.

It was like a sledgehammer striking the heart.

The entire fortress shook violently, the alloy walls emitted a teeth-grinding groan, even showing slight deformation.

The glow of the energy shield flickered intensely, and two unlucky mercenaries standing near the parapet were directly thrown off by the huge tremor.

"Gree! Jason——!" a heart-wrenching scream came from afar.

Jason fell onto the internal platform of the fortress, his life and death uncertain; Gree was directly thrown into the pile of magical creatures outside the fortress wall, instantly torn to shreds.

"Damn it!"

Hank roared, firing several arrows from his heavy crossbow at the relatively fragile eyes of the wall-hitting Rock Armor Beast, trying to disrupt it.

Tommy, looking pale, trembled as he continued to shoot at the oncoming small magical creatures.

Victor gritted his teeth: "Backup cannon! Side attack! Engineering team! Immediately reinforce the damaged area! Use the expensive stuff we bought ourselves!"

The temporarily deployed artillery and their previously prepared rapid repair alchemy equipment finally forced back the second Rock Armor Beast.

But the dark shadow of the first significant losses and wall damage hung heavily over everyone’s heart.

This was merely the beginning.

In the following days, the assaults were like tides, each wave more fierce than the last.

A staggering number of short-distance flying "Bone-winged Predators" descended like dark clouds, diving from the sky to attack the gunners and shield node operators.

The highly stealthy "Shadow Spotted Panthers" took advantage of the darkness to ambush patrol teams from the shadowed cliffs.

The most troublesome were those that could silently emerge from beneath hard rock, capable of spewing powerful acid to dissolve steel bases—"Drilling Acidic Worms".