Players Invade Cyberpunk

Chapter 1111 - 361: Where Are They? They’re Everywhere! (Part 3)

If we’re talking about nutrition, it certainly may not be as nutritious as a tube of nutrient paste, but do people eat just to fill their stomachs?The desire of the palate has always been one of man’s great desires.

"Enough! Anyone who doesn’t want to die should keep their mouth shut."

Vargas knew the treatment on both sides was worlds apart, though he couldn’t understand why the other side was able to eat so well. Organic food was clearly so expensive, yet the other side could feast every few days.

But he certainly didn’t want these sentiments to spread within the team, lest the higher-ups find out—it would be the end for him.

"You..."

He was just about to say something like finding a nightclub to let loose at when they went back for rest, wanting to drink as much as they wanted.

But an ear-piercing noise interrupted him; it was the air raid alarm.

The dense sound of sonic booms roared like thunder, tearing through the air waves and splitting the sky, rushing straight toward their position.

But the Cuban frontline was also equipped with an anti-aircraft defense system, quickly launching missiles to intercept those falling onto key defensive zones.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The trenches hiding the frontline foot soldiers were naturally outside the defense range; otherwise, no amount of anti-aircraft missiles would be enough.

When the rocket storm hit the predetermined location, Vargas’s vision was almost obscured by the dust and flames kicking up, his ears buzzing, his mind in chaos—heavens spinning, earth whirling, not knowing up from down or east from west.

Previously, the two sides had been greeting each other with artillery fire, but it had never been this vicious. It looked like they were going for a full-scale assault.

He instinctively reached for his gun, shouting at the soldiers around him

"Find cover! They’re coming!"

Amidst the buzzing in his ears, he could faintly hear the other soldiers shouting

"Damn, they’ve never used this stuff before!"

"My leg is pinned down!"

"Drone! Drone!"

This round of bombing didn’t last long; its purpose was just to exhaust anti-aircraft fire and probe the enemy’s air defense position.

The real first round of attack followed the rocket barrage—small swarms of drones.

More than a dozen small drones equipped with electric rifles suddenly appeared in their sights.

To avoid radar interference in data communication, players adopted relay drones with fiber optics to evade electromagnetic signal interference, capable of operating within a 1.5-kilometer radius.

Even the ground transport platform wasn’t much different; although they had their own processing centers, capable of a certain degree of battlefield calculation.

As the rockets halted, bullets from the drones rained down on them; a soldier’s head first sticking out and exploded, with half of the skull taking off and flying away.

"There’s too many of them! Why didn’t radar and helicopters provide early warning? Air defense team, take them down quickly!"

"Where’s our drones? Are they not responding?"

A common ailment of troops with inadequate information or poor training, always reacting a beat slower than the enemy.

When bullets started flying over their heads, the headquarters’ defense deployment orders had just been delivered into Vargas’s hands.

War is an OODA loop

Observe - Assess - Decide - Act

Both sides repeat the cycle within these four steps, facing off to see who reacts faster, executes more swiftly, demonstrates higher efficiency, to see who can first break the opponent’s loop, catch them off guard, unable to make accurate decisions to win the battle.

Fortunately, the drones equipped with rifles were not palm-sized small things, and soldiers were equipped with artificial eyes, allowing them to see the flight paths of the drones in the sky. Without waiting for the rear air-defense team to react, they took the initiative to fire back.

Having yet to actually see the enemy, Vargas’s platoon had several troops fall one after another, closing their eyes beneath the burial of blood and soil.

It wasn’t until this moment that friendly drones from the rear sluggishly took off, approaching the frontline.

This was because the drone unit and the deployed foot soldiers were not from the same regiment, and Vargas had no authority to command them.

While the drone units were engaged, players first encountered Cuba’s helicopter force.

"237 direction, detected 13 enemy units, no large drones in sight, D-22 clear out."

"Roger, 145 direction, D-13 detected 22 enemy units—free fire."

A flight squad of four patrol helicopters confronted Arnold leading the advance mechanized infantry platoon head-on.

Generally, such columns of dozens of men, at best, could carry several single-man portable anti-aircraft missiles, virtually posing no threat.

Even with infantry fighting vehicles, it would still end with helicopter pinpointing and exploding their heads.

"D-22, detected unidentified units, suspected MT-3 exoskeleton armor recorded, paint approaching what the command mentioned as Caldeia Mercenaries."

A pilot’s voice suddenly became urgent in the channel

"D17, damn, they have excessive anti-aircraft missiles, I’ve been locked!"

"How is that possible at this distance?!"

"Evasive maneuvers! Quick evasive maneuvers!"

Before the helicopters noticed the players, the players had already spotted this helicopter force; the radar on the infantry fighting vehicle first locked onto the helicopter target.

The anti-aircraft squad, responsible for air defense, had three MT-3s, with two anti-aircraft rockets mounted on each shoulder.

Looking at what seemed like mere platoon-level manpower on the ground, yet they prepared so many anti-aircraft devices—it’s as if the helicopter crew felt they’d gone mad, worried they might’ve unwittingly flown into a wretched anti-aircraft squad.

Compared to 2025’s solo combat, the MT-3 players held now could be considered a small mobile weapons base, also able to connect with the entire information network, sharing data sources with other radar groups, being terrifying to the extreme.

Faced with suddenly incoming anti-aircraft missiles, the helicopters climbed higher and released flares, but all actions were futile under radar targeting.

Four helicopters exploded into fireworks one after another, steel mingling with flames crashing to the ground.

Meanwhile, in the Cuban command center, Lancaster finally obtained the intel he desired.

"Commander, we’ve detected traces of Hell Divers!"

His eyes lit up.

"Where are they?"

"They’re everywhere!"

Divide forces?

Not possible.

Now 600 divers are engaged in the battle, aside from the three spearhead platoons allotted to Caldeia Synthetic Regiment, there are precisely 500 men left, plus 2,000 additional allies deployed to the front.

The early signs of weakness were merely arrangements paving the way for this full-blown assault!