Operation Bomb the Scorch Cannons

After arriving at the Lord's Castle, Ark encountered an unwelcome face again. When Ark's group followed Cross inside, Alan, who was already there, made a slightly surprised expression.

Only the leaders of each raid had received the young Lord's summons. It wasn't a place for a regular grunt who wasn't even the leader of the Militia composed of low-level players. But Alan soon turned his head as if uninterested. His attitude was like a noble ignoring a commoner.

'That bastard, he's getting more and more irritating.' Ark was even more displeased with Alan's attitude.

Then, the young Lord looked around and spoke, "All of you worked hard to protect Jackson Castle. I've sent out summons, even in this busy time, because a pressing situation has arisen. Raymond, explain."

"Yes, this morning, at dawn, the scouting unit discovered enemies moving towards the plains to the west of Jackson Castle. There are around 600 of them. They are currently divided into two battalions; each is transporting a scorch cannon."

"Scorch cannon?"

The commanders stared at each other with quizzical looks.

The young Lord explained with a heavy voice, "They are the mobile cannons that intercepted the airship, steel-armored merchant vessel, and tank sent by the three guilds."

"Those black fireballs back then!"

"You must know their power well, as you have already experienced it. It has been just half a day since a scorch cannon attacked Jackson Castle. The result of that is the current Jackson Castle you see now. We mustered all the magic power from Jackson's Magic Tower to erect a shield at the castle walls, but it couldn't resist. If their other mobile cannons had not moved to intercept the three guild's volunteer troops, the castle may have already been turned to ruins."

"What a big problem."

"If the two scorch cannons are left to situate themselves within range, Jackson Castle won't be able to hold for even half a day. Our only option is the carry out an ambush operation now, while the scorch cannons are on the move, and blow them up. The reason we called you all here is to discuss that operation."

The young Lord scanned his surroundings before speaking to Alan. "With the situation like this, we must wage an all-out war and stop the scorch cannons without fail. Therefore, when the Sylphid Knights return, they will blockade the front gate and stall for time. During that time, I'm thinking of dividing all our forces in Jackson's line of defense into two units to attack one scorch cannon each. First, I will entrust the first unit to Sir Alan. I leave the details of the formation and strategies to you."

With his level, Fame, and his occupation of 1st place in contribution among the volunteer troops , it was an obvious result that the young Lord would entrust the command of the first unit to Alan.

Alan nodded smugly. "I understand."

"Then, the second unit will be..."

When the young Lord turned his gaze, the warrior in charge of Platoon 2 lifted his head stiffly. He thought he was the obvious choice after Alan. But the person the young Lord chose was a nameless, ordinary player.

"Ark, it'll be good to leave it to you."

"Huh?"

Alan and the leaders of Platoons 2 and 3 made bewildered expressions.

This was something Ark had never expected, so he wore a shocked expression. Ark's contribution points were still struggling in the mid-upper levels. How could he be suddenly entrusted with such a task?

If someone was registered as a commander of a special task, of course they would get additional EXP and contribution. Alan was able to take 1st place in the rankings because of this. Because of this, anyone would want to become the commander of a large operation.

But passing over the leaders of Platoons 2 and 3, who were in the top 10, and giving the position to Ark was something they couldn't accept. As expected, Alan immediately raised an objection.

"Please wait a moment! That person still hasn't accumulated enough contribution for this. To entrust such a large undertaking to him, it's not a sensible judgement. Also, it isn't fair."

'Dammit Alan, you bastard. Saying useless things...'

Ark wondered inwardly. New World was a game, but NPCs thought the same way real people do. They couldn't act without sufficient reasoning, and this was more pronounced in management NPCs like Lords. They would help someone they had high intimacy with if it was something trifling, but they couldn't designate command of an operation with Jackson's fate depending on it without any justification and intimacy alone.

Alan was pointing that out as he demanded a revision. But the young Lord's decision was a result of factoring in a value that Alan, and even Ark, hadn't known.

"That's not it. This task is being entrusted based on operation performance evaluation criteria; according to Raymond's report, you, the commander of Platoon 1, have the highest operation performance evaluation, and then Ark. Though, it's just a hair's breadth from Platoon 2's commander."

'Operation performance evaluation!'

That was the value he had raised while doing Raymond's quests. He hadn't even imagined such a thing would come into play like this.

He completed about 30 small sub-quests, thanks to that, his operation evaluation had risen considerably; on the other hand, since Alan and the commanders of Platoons 2 and 3 got contribution and EXP just from being there, they had ignored Raymond's meagerly rewarding quests. As a result, the only operation evaluation they had was what they had received from being registered as commanders.

Alan clenched his teeth as he looked at Ark. In such a case, there was no way the decision would be reversed.

"Then, let's continue with the briefing, Sir Alan, Ark. Discuss the formation between yourselves."

Th-th-thump, a quest window popped before Ark's eyes.

Hero Assembly!

* Sub-quest: Operation Bomb the Scorch Cannons

The two scorch cannons possessed by the Army of Darkness are advancing on Jackson Castle. If the scorch cannons get into range, they will place Jackson Castle in great jeopardy. Therefore, Jackson's Lord has suggested an operation to stop the scorch cannons.

– Quest success conditions: This quest is split into A and B groups. All players in the defense of Jackson must choose between the A and B group. Upon completion of the quest, all players in the group will be awarded bonus experience and contribution.

– Quest failure conditions: Quest automatically fails if all players are killed during the operation or if they are unable to complete mission within the time limit. Also, if both A and B group fail and the 2 cannons get within range, and start attacking Jackson Castle, then the main quest will fail even if there are still surviving players.

*Time limit: 3 hours

* Ark is currently the leader of Group B. A player registered as a Commander obtains a 20% bonus in experience and contribution points. However, there is a -30% penalty upon failure.

Difficulty: D++

A sub-quest that could possibly cause the main quest to fail!

"Well, then let's divide up the troops now," said the young Lord while looking at the Commanders.

Having finished reading the quest info, Alan suddenly smiled coldly as he spoke. "Are the volunteer troops free to choose which unit to join?"

"Yes, it'll only work if the group works well together, so I will honor the decisions of the field commanders."

"Then Platoon 1 will of course be in Group A, but what will you do, Platoons 2, 3 and the Militia? It doesn't matter to me either way."

"Platoon 2 will also join Group A."

"We will as well..."

After seeing the look in Alan's eyes, the commanders from Platoons 2 and 3 quickly answered.

The young Lord spoke with a shocked expression, "What? Wouldn't that be a problem? If the whole force goes to Group A, then what is Group B supposed to do?"

"Isn't there still the Militia and the Jackson Guard remaining?"

"But the Militia only amount to 20. The Guard is only 30, and even combined they only amount to 50."

On the other hand, Platoons 1, 2, and 3 combined amounted to around 120. Though there had been casualties over two days of battle, their numbers were still twice that of Group B. Moreover, there were up to 300 monsters escorting each scorch cannon. Against that many monsters, all hell would break loose if there was a battle. In such a melee, no matter how sturdy their organization was, the Militia of level 35 players on average would be no help.

Alan answered with a smirk, "That is no concern of mine. They just choose the leader with the higher chance of survival. They don't trust someone who hid in a corner and racked up points with the management with petty tasks."

"But..."

"And rather than catching two rabbits, it should be less burdensome for Jackson as well to organize the forces to ensure that we can succeed with one. After taking care of one, the other shouldn't be hard to get rid of, after all. Of course, Group B is needed, since it would be hard if the enemy concentrated their forces. So, don't be foolish and just buy time until Group A takes care of one scorch cannon and comes to help. You should be able to do that much with 50 people, yes? How does that sound?"

The quest had a high degree of freedom, and Alan had struck its weakness precisely.

The quest said there had to be two groups, but it didn't specify that each group had to take down a scorch cannon. So it didn't matter if one group took down both, and even if they ran out of time and couldn't take down one of them, the quest wouldn't be unsuccessful.

Alan had nothing to lose from concentrating the power to Group A. Rather, it was a method that would ensure him EXP and contribution. Moreover, since the Guard led by Cross were NPCs, they couldn't be controlled by a player's whim, and the low leveled Militia would only be in their way. Therefore, he took the useful Platoons 2 and 3 and left those two for Ark.

'Alan, you bastard...!'

Curses were surging to his tongue. But JusticeMan spat out with a heavy voice before Ark could.

"This young little nipple-sucker talks dirty, how rude."

"What?"

"I get the gist of it from hearing you talk. There is always one like you, living for the taste of superiority. It's hopeless bastards like you that I hate the most."

"Hmph, thank goodness. I was worried the Militia would come crying to ask me to let them into Group A."

"What bullshit. I wouldn't join you even if you asked."

As JusticeMan snorted, Roco also gave him a tongue-lashing. But with no acquaintances among the players, there was no way Ark could sway the leaders of Platoons 2 and 3 anyway. Rather, they seemed to think Ark took the commander position of Group B unfairly, as their looks towards Ark were less than friendly. Thanks to that, Ark had no options.

He had no choice but to face 300 monsters with just 50 troops, half of which were the level 30 Militia.

There was nothing he could do about it, so he didn't want to seem like the troops were dumped onto him by Alan's coercion.

In the end, Ark nodded his agreement. "I understand, I will move out with the Militia and the Jackson Guard."

The young Lord nodded with a troubled expression. "Alright. If you accept it, then I have nothing more to say either. Let's proceed with what Sir Alan said for now. Operation starts in 1 hour. After you're done preparing, go to the Quartermaster. I will have him prepare the goods necessary for this operation."

* * *

"Will this really be alright?" Cross asked with a worried expression. "There's definitely a point to Sir Alan's words. While we hold one monster battalion down, there may be a greater chance of success if Group A takes down one cannon for sure and combines with us to take down the other, but Group B might be unable to avoid annihilation. Even so, if we're sloppy about pressuring the enemy, Group A will certainly take heavy damage..."

Honestly, that was the problem. If Group A succeeded, then the main quest wouldn't fail. There was really no reason for Ark to move according to the plan. But since the Guard was part of Group B, he couldn't use the method of pretending to attack while stalling for time. If he did such a thing, his intimacy, contribution, and reputation would plummet.

'Either way, I have no choice but to move according to plan.'

Ark laughed with an indifferent expression. "Don't worry. There will be a way. No, I will find a way."

"Yeah, alright. I'll trust and follow you for now. I'll be preparing the Guard, so come find me when your preparations are done."

"Understood."

After leaving Cross, Ark went to the Militia and explained the quest. Having heard the circumstances, the Militiamen showed slightly disappointed looks. That they had to join Group B, which had no hope of success, seemed to weigh heavily on their minds.

"That's enough, going out in a blaze is better than sponging off a bastard like that. Yah!"

"Understood. We will only follow you, JusticeMan!"

As Justiceman shouted, the Militia just accepted it without objections. Once Ark shared the quest, the Militia automatically became a part of Group B.

'But really, what should I do now?'

He had gotten the quest for now, but he was at a loss.

The monsters they would meet on the way to the cannon weren't a problem. However, there were at least 300 level 80~90 monsters guarding the cannon.

'It would be possible if we lured out twenty to thirty of them at a time...'

For the most part, the monsters in a battalion were a collective whole. If one attacked, they would all attack.

Of course, it might be possible to lure out a few at a time using Dedric. But there was a limit to that as well, and this quest even had a time limit. Getting to the scorch cannon with just 50 troops, with alternating battles and rest, would take over 2 hours. If they met more enemies than expected, there might be less than half an hour, or only a few minutes left when they reached the scorch cannon. It meant that they had take care of 300 enemies and blow up the scorch cannon in just minutes; with just the Militia and the Guards, it was a hopeless quest from the beginning.

'Even if I somehow make it back alive, the difference between Alan and me, for this quest, would be like heaven and earth; if we both fail then we fail the main quest so I can't interfere with Alan. But still, there's no way to get rid of a few hundred monsters in an instant...'

Just then, an idea suddenly flashed into Ark's mind.

'Wait? A few hundred? That's right, that method might work...'

It felt like he was shocked back to his senses. Truthfully, the possibility was low. But if he could use this method, Ark definitely had a chance to succeed.

'Okay, here goes nothing. Let's go find out for now. There's no time.'

Ark immediately set off for the refugee camp that had been scraped together at one end of Jackson Castle. There he met up the airship's Bosun, Jabel, and consulted with him about the method he had thought up. Jabel listened for a moment, thought for a long while, and responded skeptically.

"Maybe. It's honestly hard to give you an answer right now. We attempted a crash landing and there wasn't a second explosion, so it's not entirely without hope, but before seeing it personally... and even if it's fine, the time to disassemble and reassemble would differ based on the situation."

"Anyway, so it is possible."

"Well, yes."

"The Magic Institute's help is absolutely necessary to save Jackson Castle. Will you help?"

"If it's something we can do, then of course. We are alive thanks you, Ark. In addition, we are people who came to save Jackson Castle. As the crewmen of the honorable Silver Arrow, it is our duty."

Jabel answered courageously, as befitting of the brave Captain's subordinate.

'All right then. It's not guaranteed yet, but at least there's some hope now.'

As expected, if you think about it, an answer will come. It was the advantage of a game with a high degree of freedom.

Having found a clue for the solution, he was able to relax a little and think about the situation more deeply.

'But even if I finish the quest, nothing will change in the end.'

Since Alan had swept up all the volunteer troops, that he would finish the quest was already no different from a proven fact. It meant the situation wouldn't change even if Ark succeeded; there would be no change in the rankings.

The best thing that could happen to Ark was if he succeeded and Group A failed. But this was Group A with 120 users at an average level of 80. Even for them, it wouldn't be easy, but there was little chance they would fail.

'I have to strengthen my resolve!'

Ark clenched his teeth. Truthfully, he had made a plan to make Group A fail. To be precise, it was a method he had thought of after meeting Shambala. But then again, if Group A ended up failing and Group B also failed, then the main quest would end in failure.

It would cause Alan despair but everything Ark had done for the past few days would turn to dust.

'However, I can't beat Alan without taking some risks.'

The quest wasn't the problem now. It had turned into a grudge fight with Alan, and that wasn't all. There was even Andel, none the worse for it even after being chewed and swallowed, sticking to Alan. It wasn't a time to hold back for fear of the losses.

'Alan, and Andel. You guys chose the wrong person to mess with.'

Ark made up his mind.

To be willing to use any and all methods, no matter how cheap...

Ark immediately took out his pot in an empty alley. Then he shook out the ingredients left in his bag and started cooking.

Howling Seasoned Chilies

A food made from the extremely stimulating fruit of a chilli tree; if eaten, an unstoppable heat will radiate from one's body. Warning, something might go slightly awry because of the severe heat.