Season 2: Chapter 69. Special Mission (3)
In Civil Empire, defensive structures generally overpowered infantry. Until siege weapons came into play, infantry had virtually no way to destroy these defense towers. Their best option was usually to avoid damage and hope for the enemy archers to miss.
Fortunately, the wooden defense tower in front of them was the most basic type. Its only offensive capability was the archer inside shooting arrows.
Of course, even that was deadly for a regular infantry soldier who would have to endure the one-sided attacks.
However—
"Go inside?"
"Yes."
Entering the defense tower was a bold move when they should be avoiding or hoping to bypass it stealthily.
— ??? Anyone can be killed with bows and arrows!
— The player enters the game. Game over!
— The game's over lol
The viewers quickly grasped Almond's intent and relished the idea, but Jessie remained skeptical.
"Can I ask why?"
"There should be bows and arrows inside."
"Just for that?"
For Jessie, her skepticism was reasonably justified. She didn't know what Almond could do with a bow.
'Hmm.'
Almond pondered how to explain, but decided against it. Instead, he clearly and sincerely conveyed his thoughts.
"Everything will work out if we can get a bow."
Jessie looked into his eyes filled with deeply rooted confidence. His expression looked as if he was stating an obvious fact like the sun would rise tomorrow.
'There's something about him. He's a bit unusual, but he's capable.'
He already demonstrated his skill with spears by taking down four knights.
'And...'
Most importantly...
'He's cute!'
His cuteness was undeniable.
"Fine! Do as you wish. I'll follow."
"Okay."
Almond led the way and Jessie followed. They lifted their shields and crept toward the defense tower, hiding in the bushes to stay out of sight.
Slowly and carefully, they crawled. The rustling bushes sounded unusually loud.
— Scary
— Why aren't they shooting?
— Can't they see?
Either the enemy hadn't noticed them or their approach through the bushes had worked. No arrows came flying at them.
The silence continued. Still, Almond kept crawling until Jessie made a comment from behind.
"This might sound like a stereotype..."
"?"
"Asians are usually smart, right? The top students in our school were mostly Chinese and Koreans."
"Yeah, Asians are smart," Almond responded nonchalantly as if he wasn't Asian and kept crawling.
No matter how much they advanced, the enemies never reacted.
Almond found this odd and peeked up from behind his shield.
'Nothing?'
After seeing the defense tower, he realized why Jessie had mentioned the stereotype about Asians being smart. She was already standing with her shield down.
Almond looked defeated.
"There was nobody."
— lol
— Perfect hidden camera prank
— Shadow boxing
The defense tower was empty. A defense tower without archers was just a lookout tower. They had unnecessarily approached so cautiously.
Jessie laughed heartily at Almond's reaction.
"You crawl really well."
— lololol Spicy
— Serves you right, nut guy lolol
Embarrassed, Almond dusted off his knees and stood up.
No one in the defense tower meant no archers. He couldn't decide whether this situation was lucky or more confusing.
[Why did you go there? Hurry up! Go this way!]
The commander was surprised to see them so close to the tower and urged them to take a different path.
'There won’t be any bows and arrows inside, so we have to move on.'
Having confirmed the absence of archers, they silently returned to the commander’s route.
***
Slithering through the dense trees, they finally reached the destination marked by the commander.
"... This is the end."
"It's dark. I can't see anything."
They couldn’t see anything from their position. The dense forest and the descending night made it even darker.
"I really can't see anything."
Jessie, usually composed, complained repeatedly due to the darkness.
"Where are you?"
"Here."
"Give me your hand. I can't see."
"Got it."
They relied on touch and hearing after having lost their sight.
— What's this situation?
— Alone in the dark, holding hands...?
— Oh my!
— Raina: Almond, who is she?
— Walnut dance! Duck!
Unknown to them, arriving in such darkness was Commander MyDinner's intention. Not for igniting a romantic subplot between Jessie and Almond, but for visibility reasons.
[The enemy workers chopping wood have lit fires. They can't see us, but we can see them. Use the darkness to your advantage and throw the spears.]
The enemy workers needed light to work, so they lit fires. Almond and Jessie hid in the dark forest without any fire. The enemy couldn’t see them, but they could clearly see the enemy. This was an example of controlling visibility, a tactic often used by commanders.
— Controlling their visibility like this is intense
— Feels like real warfare
— Dinner boy, you had a plan all along?
— The commander knows what he's doing?
In Civil Empire, such detailed strategies were essential when facing numerous enemies with a smaller force. However, the actual effectiveness of such a strategy in the field was another matter no matter how well a commander planned. What if the enemy workers hadn't lit torches or moved their woodcutting site elsewhere? All their efforts would be in vain then. Luckily, things didn't turn out that way.
Jessie pointed out a spot in the dark surroundings, softly illuminated by a warm red glow.
"That must be it."
The gentle scarlet light in the darkness revealed the [Wood Camp], the enemy's site for cutting and storing wood.
They cautiously crawled closer and began to see the workers.
"Haah!"
"Aah! Haah!"
Thunk! Thwoong!
Many workers continued chopping down trees with shouts of effort and quickly processed the fallen trees into neat lumber destined for the wood camp.
Jessie whispered from beside Almond, "The size of this wood camp is pretty big. Looks like we're in the right place."
Large scale camps like this one weren't common. It seemed Commander MyDinner had accurately scouted a major operation. Destroying this camp would significantly reduce the enemy's wood production, a crucial resource for building structures and siege weapons. Although it wouldn’t affect an immediate battle, it would definitely impact the war at large.
"Let's start."
"Okay."
Almond and Jessie laid down all the spears they brought and each picked one up.
"Haap!"
Almond threw first and Jessie quickly followed.
"Haap!"
Thwack!
Pfff... Thunk!
Unlike the knights, the workers were virtually defenseless. A hit to a vital spot meant instant death. Almond's spear cleanly severed one worker’s head, who fell without a scream.
— Nice shot!
— Yes! 1 gold!
— It's working!
However, accurately hitting vital spots from a distance in the dark was unique to Almond.
"Oops."
Jessie's spear only grazed an enemy's leg.
"Aaaah!" the wounded worker screamed.
— Oh no
— Busted
— What now?
— Still working lol
— Is it over?
An instant kill would have been better, but the scream already echoed out.
Almond contemplated whether they needed to hide again.
Jessie shouted, "Keep throwing! One scream won't give us away! The commander has to notice it first! They're just NPCs!"
"Ah."
Realizing this, Almond nodded and quickly picked up another spear.
Whoosh!
'One.'
Thwack!
The spear flew straight and pierced through another worker's neck. Almond already grabbed and threw another spear before he even saw his target fall.
'Two.'
Thud!
He landed another direct hit without even trying to aim.
'They move predictably.'
It was harder to aim with a spear compared to a bow and arrows, but Almond's VNS (Visual Nervous System) stats and the workers' predictable movement patterns guaranteed him a one hundred percent accuracy.
Thud!
'Three.'
Another worker fell.
The workers continued their tasks, oblivious to their fallen comrades as long as their commander didn't notice.
— Wow, already three
— He doesn't miss
— Incredible
— Meanwhile, Jessie?
— Poor Jessie
While Almond eliminated three workers, Jessie only managed to finish off the one she previously injured.
"Ah... It's not working."
She took three spears to take down just one worker. Jessie decided to change tactics.
"Hey, you throw and I'll stay on guard!"
— Smart Jessie
— Quick thinking
— She should've done this sooner lol
Jessie took up a shield and spear to protect Almond.
***
Meanwhile, Commander MyDinner was too busy to watch over Jessie and Almond.
Ping! Ping!
He was bombarded with warnings.
[Our base is under attack!]
The enemy cavalry had breached their main base.
'I just dealt with the archers, and now this...'
Fortunately, he eliminated the enemy archers harassing the workers. However, this cavalry posed a different level of threat. Could he defend against them? It was hard to say, but there was hope.
Civil Empire’s design favored the defender. Workers placed in certain buildings could become archers, offering protection as another military force.
However, this meant they couldn't gather resources anymore like semiconductor researchers leaving the lab to do sales. This boosted immediate sales, but allowed competitors to catch up in the long run.
Civil Empire functioned similarly. Even if Commander MyDinner fended off the attack, the resource gap would start to widen and affect the pace of civilization development.
'If that happens, it's over.'
However, Commander MyDinner wasn't entirely without hope.
'If that special mission goes well...'
In almost all RTS games, killing enemy workers was the best way to turn the tide in a disadvantageous situation. The success of his two spear soldiers was crucial.
A couple of dead workers wouldn't suffice in the current situation. He hoped for at least seven dead, ideally ten.
'Please let it work.'
Their success would greatly improve the situation, but the odds were low.
'How are they doing?'
He took a moment to check on the spear soldiers, hoping they at least took down a couple of workers.
Commander MyDinner shouted in disbelief upon seeing the situation, "This is insane! What is this?"
They already slaughtered fifteen workers.