SCOM - Chapter 36
Chapter 36
When the First Military Academy team entered, the Northern Military Academy was already nowhere to be seen. Ji Yuezhi looked at the map on his optical computer, chose a direction and route, and led everyone forward.
The winding mountain range contained all kinds of environments and terrain. They first passed over a low slope, where sparse tree trunks obstructed the path. The leaves had long since fallen from the trees this season, and being in a lower position, their line of sight was not good.
Zuo Luohuan walked at the rear. She didn't need to observe the route, as that was Ji Yuezhi's responsibility at the front. She held an SL-4 light gun, watching for any movement around the slope and tree trunks.
The environment was unremarkable, with withered, bare branches, making it nearly impossible for anyone to hide. The only thing to watch out for was a potential ambush from the slope above. Consequently, Ji Yuezhi and the others kept most of their attention forward, wary of any threat that might come from uphill.
Zuo Luohuan suddenly stopped, tilting her ear toward their rear. A moment later, she spun around abruptly and raised her light gun. "There's something behind us."
The students ahead of her instantly raised their guns. Not everyone turned; only Guan Xue and Ding Wuming from the middle-rear section turned to face the same direction as Zuo Luohuan, while the others scanned their surroundings.
"Something is approaching at high speed," Zuo Luohuan warned.
There had been no suitable ambush points behind them on the path they had taken. Anyone hiding there would have been spotted instantly. The only conceivable hiding place was underground, but a person couldn't stay hidden underground for that long.
Putting the pieces together, Ji Yuezhi quickly deduced what was coming from behind. He turned and gestured for Jiang Hong and Yan Yan to spread out and stand abreast of Zuo Luohuan, turning sideways to scan the area. "It's robot dogs."
Only robot dogs could be buried underground, as they didn't need to breathe.
"Robot dogs right from the start?" Guan Xue said, gripping her light gun with some excitement. "A perfect chance to get a taste of what the army groups face."
"They might be second-generation robot dogs," Ji Yuezhi said, raising his gun. He could now also hear the faint rustling of footsteps on the ground behind them.
"Why would they be second-generation robot dogs?" Yan Yan asked.
Jiang Hong explained, "Only the appearance of second-generation robot dogs would justify the organizers equipping us with light guns."
The group tensed, waiting for the pursuers to appear within their field of vision. However, they had still underestimated the speed at which the things would emerge.
Several silver-white shadows flashed past. Ding Wuming didn't even get a clear look at what it was before he was pounced on and thrown to the ground. He had no time to resist; the light gun in his hand was knocked away, and a deep gash was instantly torn across his chest.
Guan Xue, who was frantically spraying at a silver-white shadow nearby, saw this from the corner of her eye and, for a split second, thought Ding Wuming was going to die in the competition.
Fortunately, in the next second, Zuo Luohuan fired a shot that struck the very center of the silver-white shadow's head. She then smashed its head with the butt of her gun, extracted the chip, and flung the body away.
This was the only robot dog so far to have been taken down by having its chip removed. It was the first time the others saw its true form. It wasn't identical to the Gashiro Empire's second-generation robot dogs; rather, it seemed to be a modified version.
The Federation lacked the materials to build robot dogs, so these were all salvaged from scrapped units brought back from battles between the various army groups and the Gashiro Empire, then subsequently repaired and modified.
The disabled robot dog was nearly half the size of a true second-generation model. The Federation had likely downsized them after disassembly to conserve materials for the exercise.
However, not everyone present knew what a second-generation robot dog looked like, as that knowledge wasn't taught until the third year. Aside from Zuo Luohuan, Ji Yuezhi, and Jiang Hong, the others assumed these were the Gashiro Empire's standard second-generation robot dogs.
"Guan Xue, calm down. Don't waste the light gun's energy," Zuo Luohuan advised while standing at the front, firing five consecutive shots.
A moment ago, a total of eight silver-white shadows had lunged at them. Guan Xue had reacted faster than Ding Wuming, opening fire as they pounced, but her nervousness and fear threw off her aim. Every shot went wide, and she was only temporarily suppressing the robot dogs' advance by creating a barrage of light.
Meanwhile, aside from Ji Yuezhi, the others could barely land a shot on the silver-white robot dogs. They were too fast to be seen clearly.
Ji Yuezhi's marksmanship was excellent, nearly matching Guan Xue's accuracy when she was calm. Every shot hit a robot dog, but since these machines felt no pain like humans, the hits had little effect beyond the light gun's suppressive power slowing their movements.
Ji Yuezhi tried to hit the chip inside the second-generation robot dogs, but these had been modified, and the chip's location was different from that of the Gashiro Empire's originals. The robot dogs also protected their central heads, using their arms to block the shots.
"A 45-degree angle into the center of the forehead," Zuo Luohuan reminded them with a slight tilt of her head. "That will hit their chips."
As she spoke, she had already handed her position over to Guan Xue to guard Ding Wuming, while she herself charged toward one of the second-generation robot dogs.
The second-generation robot dog was fast, but so was she. The light gun was seventy centimeters long, making it awkward for close-quarters shooting. Zuo Luohuan held it vertically, wielding it like a staff to attack the robot dog.
Zuo Luohuan's goal was simply to suppress the second-generation robot dog and force it to expose its head.
The next second, two consecutive shots zipped past her ear. The second-generation robot dog in front of her lost its central chip and collapsed instantly.
Zuo Luohuan glanced back. Ji Yuezhi had fired those shots, and both had struck the robot dog's chip.
"Guan Xue," Zuo Luohuan called out as she ran toward another robot dog. "Did you get a good look?"
The perpetually cheerful expression on Guan Xue's face finally vanished. Gripping her SL-4 light gun, she replied, "Got it."
"Jiang Hong, go," Ji Yuezhi commanded. He was waiting for Zuo Luohuan to create an opening for him, but now he needed Jiang Hong to create an opportunity for Guan Xue to hit a robot dog.
"Classmate Guan, it's all on you," Jiang Hong said, immediately rushing forward to attack one of the robot dogs.
The remaining two, Yan Yan and Qian Mao, stood back-to-back beside Ding Wuming, holding their light guns. Their aim wasn't good enough, and the robot dogs were too fast. All they could do was fire as many light projectiles as possible, creating a shower of light to slow the machines' advance. But it only slowed them; the few remaining robot dogs were still drawing nearer.
Guan Xue gradually regained her composure. Though still tense, she was getting into the zone. The moment Jiang Hong created an opening, she would fire without hesitation, hitting the second-generation robot at the exact angle Zuo Luohuan had described.
Qian Mao clutched his gun and fired wildly, watching as a robot dog drew closer and closer to his position. The others were all occupied with their own targets, so he bit back the urge to call for help. He glanced back at Yan Yan and the nearly unconscious Ding Wuming on the ground, then gritted his teeth and faced forward again.
If that robot dog charged him, he... he... should be able to fight it off for a little while. He should be able to.
The robot dog seemed to sense that the human opposite it had terrible aim, and it actually began to speed up, no longer bothering to dodge the light projectiles as it closed in on Qian Mao.
Qian Mao swallowed hard, his face deathly pale. He took a deep breath, ready to fight for his life.
Just then, Zuo Luohuan, from the other side of the fight, suddenly hurled a disabled robot dog, forcefully knocking the one in front of Qian Mao to the ground.
"Save your energy. You can leave some for me," Zuo Luohuan said, arriving right behind it. She practically hauled the downed robot to its feet, and the moment she lifted its head, a shot rang out.
Zuo Luohuan met Ji Yuezhi's gaze from a distance, raising an eyebrow and silently mouthing, "Thanks."
Without lingering, she tossed the disabled robot dog at Qian Mao's feet and walked straight toward Yan Yan. Two robot dogs remained.
In the exercise's central control room, the instructors from the First Military Academy were gathered, watching the situation on the monitors. They couldn't help but applaud the students' coordination. When the last robot dog was eliminated, some of the more emotional instructors couldn't resist clapping, drawing sideways glances from the instructors of other schools.
Entering in the order drawn by lot, the Northern Military Academy had gone in first and was the first to encounter these modified second-generation robot dogs. Their methods were cruder and more direct. Several of them didn't even use their guns, opting for close-quarters combat to rip out the chips on the spot. Luo Shaoyuan, for instance, would grab a robot dog and slam it into the ground until its head shattered, then tear out the chip and finish it with a single shot.
Even the technical specialist who had been unwilling to duel Zuo Luohuan was calmer than expected.
The instructors in the central control room weren't particularly surprised. The Northern Military Academy was very close to the Winter Army's garrison in the Northern Sector, less than ten kilometers away. A little further out was the border.
These cadets were undoubtedly more familiar with second-generation robot dogs than students from other academies. They had seen the truly powerful ones.
The First Military Academy's method of eliminating the robot dogs, however, demonstrated... close coordination. The teamwork between Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi, in particular, was so seamless that even if Kang Guang and He Yue were watching, they would have called it flawless.
Zuo Luohuan didn't even need to exchange a glance with Ji Yuezhi; he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. Toward the end, the coordination between Guan Xue and Jiang Hong also grew more proficient. It was just a shame that one of the First Military Academy's team members was seriously injured.
In truth, regardless of when the four teams entered or which route they took, they were bound to encounter the second-generation robot dogs. Once a team was in the field, the organizers would activate the robot dogs to attack them based on their position.
On the slope, Ding Wuming dazedly opened his eyes to look at the sky, his mind hazy. He had lost too much blood, was drenched in a cold sweat, and his face was unnaturally pale.
By the time everyone had eliminated the last of the robot dogs and came over to check his wound, Ding Wuming managed to speak with difficulty. "Am... I... going... to die...?"
"You probably won't die," Zuo Luohuan said, crouching beside him and unfastening his uniform. Ji Yuezhi handed her a hemostatic agent. "Those robot dogs must have been programmed with some kind of restriction, otherwise that slash would have cut your throat."
"...I'm sorry." Ding Wuming struggled to keep his eyes open. "I... Don't... withdraw from the competition. I can endure."
In the first stage, the team was a single unit. There was no option for an individual player to be eliminated; either the whole team was out, or no one was.
"Just as long as you don't develop a fever," Zuo Luohuan said as she and Ji Yuezhi worked together to bandage his wound. "From here on, we'll carry you to the secret base if we have to."
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