Chapter 32: The Just War
As he spoke, the young man turned to look at the other players from Zone 444. “Boss Bone Ash is completely right. ‘If You Don’t Submit, Fight’ really is an evil person.”
“We’ve been oppressed by him for a whole month,” he continued, bitterness lacing his voice. “Our vehicles haven’t even reached Level 2 because he enforced a tribute policy across Sector 587. If bottom-tier players like us don’t surrender all our supplies and join his gang, it’s impossible to upgrade.”
“Before this, any players who managed to upgrade to Level 2 on their own but refused to join him were hunted down and slaughtered.”
“That entire crew has lost their minds. They commit every kind of atrocity—rape, kidnapping, looting. They do whatever they want.”
At this point, If You’re Bad, Practice More couldn’t hold back her anger any longer. “You have no idea how disgusting they truly are! So many female players in our zone have been abused by them. They ambush women on the highway, drag them into their vehicles, and violate them. They aren’t humans—they are complete animals!”
Peace and Violence paused. He reached out and gently patted her arm, quietly signaling her to regain her composure, before addressing the crowd once more. “Yes. Every ordinary player in Sector 587 lives through that nightmare every single day.”
“All their vehicle upgrades and stockpiles of gear come from stealing our hard-earned loot and shaking us down for tributes. Everything they wrote in the public chat was a lie to fool you. Please, don’t believe a word they say.”
He looked earnestly into the eyes of the players around him. “If those of us who came here today cannot unite with you to eliminate them, we won’t live to see tomorrow. We are not just fighting for our lives right now—we are fighting for your future, too.”
The arrival of the defectors from Sector 587 could not have been better timed. Listening to their firsthand experiences and heartbreaking accounts, the survivors from Zone 444 suddenly understood the harsh brutality of the road ahead.
More importantly, every person standing in the square realized this was no senseless slaughter. This was a righteous war for survival!
Driven by a shared, just cause, the players raised their hands enthusiastically:
“Count me in! What they’re doing is monstrous—we have to save the innocent players in Sector 587!”
“I’m going too! Scum like that deserve to be put down by everyone!”
“Sign me up! Let’s wipe them out!”
Lin Huai raised a hand high, signaling the crowd to quiet down.
She turned back to her core squad. “We have the numbers now. What we need is a solid plan. Who has tactical experience?”
As she asked, her eyes drifted directly toward Dragon Emerging from the Sea.
Dragon Emerging from the Sea nodded without hesitation. “Allow me. Looking at the open layout around the Bell Tower and the gap in vehicle power between our sides, an urban ambush is our best approach. A straight frontal charge across open ground won’t give us any advantage.”
He adjusted his gloves. “I’m trained in firearms and hand-to-hand combat. I can handle close-quarters fighting or provide long-range fire support.”
Lin Huai remembered the heavy weapon resting in her inventory. “Can you handle long-range sniping? I have a sniper rifle and specialized armor-piercing ammunition.”
With that, she retrieved the Barrett sniper rifle from her bag. She knew very little about modern firearms; she only knew the weapon packed incredible power, but she had no idea if a real soldier would find it impressive.
Dragon Emerging from the Sea already possessed a sniper rifle of his own, but the second he laid eyes on the Barrett in Lin Huai’s hands, his gaze sharpened with genuine awe. “That works perfectly. There’s a three-story building facing the Bell Tower—it offers an ideal vantage point, perfect for precision sniping.”
His own weapon was a modified assault rifle retrofitted with a scope, decent enough for everyday defense. But the weapon Lin Huai held was the undisputed king of precision anti-materiel rifles!
He wasn’t just impressed; his fingers practically itched to hold it.
Seeing how much he liked the rifle, Lin Huai handed the weapon and its heavy ammunition cases straight to him. “Welcome to the Zone 444 Elite Squad. Consider this gun a gift from me.”
Dragon Emerging from the Sea tried to decline, feeling uncomfortable taking such a priceless item. “That wouldn’t be right. Let me just borrow it for this battle, and I’ll return it once we’re finished.”
Lin Huai waved her hand dismissively. “Just keep it. I don’t know how to shoot a sniper rifle anyway, so leaving it in my bag is a total waste.”
She pressed her lips together and decided to speak frankly about her own background. “To tell you the truth, before this world ended, my family worked in the business of the dead. I made wooden coffins and ran funeral services on the side. Because of that, Daoist talismans and spiritual artifacts are my real expertise. My strength lies in magical attacks; I’m not good at conventional physical combat.”
Her eyes hardened with resolve. “However, my hearse has very high attack and defense ratings. When the battle begins, I will lead from the very front to absorb the incoming gunfire and shield everyone behind me.”
Old Wang from Building Materials leaned over the rough tactical map Dragon Emerging from the Sea had scratched into the dirt with a stick. He pointed a finger at an open street corner. “I’ll advance from this side. My heavy truck is Level 3, so I can ram through their lines and draw fire too.”
After several minutes of quick planning, the strategy was set:
Flash Delivery Yellow Knight would take the wheel of Dragon Emerging from the Sea’s Level 3 Sabertooth, leading a flank of Level 2 vehicles to stage an ambush from the rear-right corridor.
Old Wang from Building Materials would drive his Level 3 heavy truck, taking another wing of Level 2 vehicles to push hard from the rear-left alleyways as a distraction.
Lin Huai would command the main force of Level 2 vehicles, leading a direct charge down the central boulevard.
Zone 444 had very few top-tier vehicles: only one Level 4 hearse, two Level 3 rides, and a sea of Level 2 and Level 1 cars.
Luckily, three days before the protection period ended, Lin Huai had publicly shared the secret of the altars out of spite against Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere. That accidental act of generosity had caused a massive spike in Level 2 upgrades throughout Zone 444.
As a result, their total number of Level 2 vehicles was far higher than Sector 587’s!
More importantly, as the server’s top-ranked player, Lin Huai had earned genuine respect, unlike the hated tyrant ‘If You Don’t Submit, Fight.’ Although her call to arms had been sudden, the response was overwhelming. Almost every single Level 2 driver in the entire zone had rushed to join the fray.
The two-hundred-person group chat filled up almost instantly.
Lin Huai didn’t hesitate; she spent another 10,000 underworld coins on the spot, expanding the group cap to five hundred members.
Meanwhile, Dragon Emerging from the Sea slipped away alone through the side alleys, moving silently to take the high ground.
Over at the base of the Bell Tower, ‘If You Don’t Submit, Fight’ was organizing his remaining forces.
He had already received scouts’ reports about Lin Huai gathering an army, so he pulled together every active combatant in his gang.
Having just lost a Level 3 heavy truck and ten Level 2 vehicles to Lin Huai’s sudden counterattack, he was boiling with rage.
“We hold this ground!” he roared to his men, brandishing a machete. “We have the defensive advantage here. When that hearse comes into view, everybody open fire at once! Even if it’s a Level 4 armored car, we’ll blast it into scrap metal!”
The words had barely left his lips when a deep, thunderous rumble of engines rolled in from every surrounding street. Off in the distance, a crimson hearse, gleaming like polished ruby beneath the gray acid rain, charged into view.
‘If You Don’t Submit, Fight’ raised his hand high. “Fire!”
Instantly, a barrage of bullets, elemental spells, and thrown talismans tore through the air, converging on Lin Huai’s vehicle.
Lin Huai didn’t flinch. She activated her golden light cannon and the surrounding firepower net, unleashing a blinding burst of energy that pulverized the first wave of incoming attacks mid-air.
Right behind the blast, the heavy green jade coffin launched into the sky, rocketing directly toward the Level 3 command vehicle parked beneath the Bell Tower!
‘If You Don’t Submit, Fight,’ who had been standing on his car’s roof directing the defense, saw the massive jade casket hurtling down from the clouds like a falling meteor. His face went white. He threw himself off the roof, scrambling toward the driver’s seat to get out of the way.
He was a second too late.
BOOM!
The green jade coffin smashed down like a mountain, flattening the front half of his Level 3 armored car into crumpled scrap.
The resulting shockwave rippled across the pavement, tossing nearby vehicles onto their sides.
Scrambling out of the dirt, ‘If You Don’t Submit, Fight’ clutched his pounding chest, drenched in cold sweat. If he had climbed into the cab a second earlier, he would have been crushed into meat paste.
“Damn it! What kind of broken relic is that coffin?!” he cursed, shaking with terror.
Before his voice could fade, a slender, cool figure dropped silently out of the sky.
Dressed in a dark combat uniform with a high ponytail whipping in the wind, Lin Huai dropped onto one knee, landing firmly atop the solid jade lid of the coffin.
