Thriller Paradise - Chapter 357

Chapter 357: Battle of the Toys (11)
When the skirmish before the Lego House was reaching its climax, the battles at other places were starting as well.

Actually, the distance between the main base of Classic and Novel was only five hundred plus meters. Each of their territories were half of a circle expanding from their main camps. The areas at the edges were too isolated for any toys to be present and they did not present any tactical advantage. Therefore, the key battlefield was the oval-shaped area that was the overlapping of the two half-circle territories and their surrounding areas.

This battle line was long and thick. It was hard to tell whose territory it was. It was undeniable though, that all the areas within this line would be caught in heavy fire and conflict.

The mission undertaken by the Nintendo Assault Unit was just a common scouting mission, but it ended a small-scale war.

Their mission was to symbolically enter the other party’s territory to see if they could capture their stragglers or hidden spies. Even if they successfully killed some enemies, they would soon return to assist other battlefields. The frozen food aisle was the balance point of both parties, and it was a buffer zone of sorts. It had been an unwritten agreement to sound the first horn of war at that aisle.

The war between the toys was not a normal street fight. It was a large scale, long, and lasting war. Both parties had enough time, units, and money. Therefore… every night, there were endless small skirmishes and there would be at least more than five medium-scale battles.

Brother Jue and Xiao Tan didn’t know this info, but Passing Rain and Laughing Soul did. From a certain perspective, Brother Jue’s team had the advantage because they only needed to follow their given orders and Passing Rain and Laughing Soul were assuming roles of generals…

When the guys were taking on missions, the two girls were trying their best to navigate an unfamiliar, complicated, and exceedingly difficult war.

At that moment, at the sports equipment aisle, Classic’s Second Unit clashed hugely with the Bleach Unit from Novel. The main members of the Second Unit came from the Ultraman Universe and many classic children’s program like robots from various generations of power rangers, and robots from B-Robo Kabutack (like Sharkler, Gerotan, Spidon and so on…), members of Superman, and even some not so known toys from series like Golden Warrior, which was basically the Chinese version of Power Rangers.

And from the Bleach Unit, other than the leaders and sub-leaders from Gotei 13, there were Vizards, Espadas, Ichigo, and his friends. Even though the members of the second unit had the advantage in size, the Bleach Unit leveled the playing field through their use of special powers (like laser beam, AOE attacks, special attack, transformations and so on).

“Sir, this is not going down well…” the chief advisor Sonico told Laughing Soul softly. “Those tin cans are too powerful. If this continues… being defeated is just a matter of time.”

Laughing Soul was seated at the edge of one of the racks. Her hands held her cheeks and her brows were deeply furrowed. Seeing that, Passing Rain asked, “Have they succeeded the ambush at the eastern side?”

Sonico operated the phone screen that was as big as her person. “This is the live feed from the scene. Please take a look yourself…”

“That is…” Passing Rain saw three EVAs, the ambush units were fighting three shadows smaller than them and they were being pressured. She couldn’t help but ask, “Who did they send?”

“Arela, Astro Boy and Plawres Sanshiro,” Laughing Soul answered before Sonico. She stopped thinking and joined the conversation. “All troublesome characters… EVA probably wouldn’t win this.” She turned and said, “Advisor.”

“Yes, sir?” Sonico replied.

“Order for them to retreat.” Laughing Soul said, “And try to contact the four personal guards again. It has been more than ten minutes since they were supposed to return back to me to report.”

“Yes, sir,” Sonico answered and worked on the screen.

“Have you figured out how to turn this around?” Passing Rain asked.

“That is not that hard… but…” Laughing Soul said with contemplation, “I have a feeling this side quest… won’t be completed before dawn.” She explained, “If the power is imbalanced between two parties or neither armies are that big, it’s doable… But from what we’ve seen, this is not a war that can be finished in a day. I believe… minus the help from the leader and Xiao Tan, even if the intelligence of the toys are far beneath us, it will take at least two weeks to wrap this whole war up.”

“We couldn’t possibly stay in the scenario for that long.” Passing Rain observed.

“Yes, this is a Killing Game in non-sleeping mode. Counting the gaming hours, the winner has to be decided before the next sunrise.” Laughing Soul said, “So there has to be a problem with this side quest… How can one win this whole war in a few hours?”

“Perhaps…” Passing Rain speculated. “There is a special item or event that we can trigger in this scenario that can recover us to our normal size?”

“I’ve thought about that possibility.” Laughing Soul added, “But there is another similarly plausible ending… Perhaps we might find a lawnmower in the mall that will help us literally mow down the enemy; perhaps a neutral force have already created something like a ‘toy atomic bomb’ or ‘toy virus’; perhaps by destroying the enemy leader, the whole Classic Faction will surrender…”

“Speaking of which…” Passing Rain was suddenly reminded of something. “Could the solution to this puzzle be related to ‘that answer’?” Laughing Soul knew what Passing Rain was referring to.

Once they entered the scenario, they easily gained the trust from Novel and gained much information, but there was one thing that no matter whom they asked, they couldn’t get a confirmed answer. As the leader of Novel, Arthas even stated that it was a forbidden question, and the question was: what was the reason behind this war?

This should be a question everyone can answer. Everyone had a reason to participate in this war. It might be a difference in stance, or both parties having differing views, but it was impossible that no one, from the top of the ranking to the lowest soldier, could answer the origin of the war. As players, they couldn’t understand it. The toys had no idea why they were fighting this war, but they insisted on throwing their toy lives into it.

“Have we been mistaken from the beginning?” Laughing Soul said, “The things that we’re doing now… are as meaningless as this toy war…”

“You’re overthinking again.” Passing Rain touched Laughing Soul’s head. This was their habit since young. “Actually… we only need to ignore this side quest.” She used a detached gaze to observe the war that was happening beneath her. “For us, the final aim is clear, and that is to kill Bujue and Xiao Tan.”

“Hmm…” Laughing Soul appeared to have more to say about the side quest. She puffed up her cheeks and hesitated for a few seconds. “If we abandon the side quest, things can be much simpler… Using the resources we’re given, throw everything to find out leader and Xiao Tan’s location and send the whole army at them… Perhaps without even participating in the battle, we would have won this Killing Game.”

“No…” Passing Rain shook her head with a smile. “We only need to use the toys to find their location.” An excitable gaze crossed her eyes. “I’ll deal with Bujue myself…”

…

“Achoo!” Feng Bujue sneezed and rubbed his nose. He mumbled, “What’s going on with this sudden chill? Some readers have cursed me again…”

“Hey… can you not make that sound like a common thing?” Xiao Tan sighed.

At that moment, they were bystanders, watching the fight between the six NPCs from Classics and three great swordsmen.

The turtles were much more powerful than the players thought. These four, be it attack, defense, speed, or physique, were all superhuman level. Then again, it was only natural. They were carrying that heavy shell on their back; a normal person wouldn’t even stand upright wearing them. But the turtles could jump, run, and move so fast in them. If a human could reach their level, then they would be like a super Saiyan already.

After one or two minutes, it was clear that Classic had the advantage. Only the fight between Kenshin and Leonardo was undecided. Kenshin was known for his fast sword style and his mastery of swords was godlike; Leonardo was no simple character either. His shell protected him from physical damage and thus he had a natural advantage. The two went back and forth, truly making a show out of this fight. From the side, they were surrounded by moving shadows, clashing of steel, and changing illusions…

Even Feng Bujue could not follow their movement. Compared to his fight with Shiva and Seven Kills, the fight between these two NPCs was on a totally different level.

“By the way… Why are you standing here?” Feng Bujue said, “Go and join the battle. That would at least help improve your fighting mastery.”

“Who are you to talk to me about that…” Xiao Tan moaned. “Do you know how much Stamina Points I’ve lost in that short battle?”

“That only means that you were too nervous. When you’re nervous, the exhaustion of Stamina Points will increase.”

Feng Bujue explained, “Actually it has to do with Terror Points as well… Most people, when they face dangerous or scary things, instead of unleashing their hidden potential, they will lose their normal resistance power, like… tripping when walking, feeling fatigue, losing power in their limbs or in serious cases, pee themselves.”

He paused. “I’ve once masqueraded as a police officer to interview women who had been mugged at night. Some of them have learned martial arts or had pepper spray in their bags, but when faced with the threat of a cold knife on their neck, they were as powerless as little bunnies. Their minds went blank, their bodies would shake, and they didn’t even dare to scream for help.”

“Sorry, after the ‘masquerading as police’, I couldn’t pay attention to what you’re saying anymore…” Xiao Tan’s mouth twitched.

Suddenly, a booming voice said, “Enough! Gentlemen, that’s enough!”

A round shield few from afar and bounced on Sogou, Raphael, and Donatello’s weapon once each, pushing them from each other.

Then, the shield ricocheted back to where it came from.

A Lego figurine in blue, white, and red caught the shield and continued, “If you refuse to stop, then you will make enemies out of the Lego Avengers!”

Behind him came a row of people. They were Lego Wolverine, Lego Thor, Lego Antman, Lego Hawkeye, Lego Bee Girl, and Lego Ironman who was floating. Of course, the one with the shield was Lego Captain America.