Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 52: Chapter 12 Big Head Karl

Working hard for half a day fighting bandits, completing countless tasks, and all you get are some ragged parts, many of which are duplicates. The Fatty, eager to challenge masters and experience the thrill of dominating others, had long since lost his patience. If this continues, who knows when he will get a Mecha comparable to modern standards? The scoundrel began to have crooked thoughts.

First, modify the Mecha. ET started to slowly transform under Tian Xingjian’s hands, removing unnecessary components. The Fatty focused the modifications on speed. It didn’t need to be too fast, just twice as fast as the outdated ET. The parts in his hand were just enough, mainly modifying the transmission system, as the engine couldn’t be touched due to the lack of suitable parts.

The change in the transmission system turned ET into a monster with high speed but almost no attack power. Thus, a peculiar bandit appeared in the bandit base where Mechas gathered in the game. This guy, named SM01314, relied on his speed and would immediately rush up to grab things as soon as a bandit Mecha was knocked down. His hands moved extremely fast, like a gust of wind. Out of ten parts, at least three would be snatched by this despicable Mecha. For a time, the Fatty became a street rat, everyone wanted to beat him.

Later, people got smarter and began to form teams to gather parts. Upon seeing this Mecha, they would immediately send someone specifically to defend. But SM01314 was utterly shameless and despicable, with his sneaky techniques finding opportunities everywhere. When he couldn’t strike because of the sheer number of people, he would target those who were alone or hide in the dark. This guy had strong stealth and camouflage abilities, making it basically impossible to defend against him. Moreover, as the game progressed, his speed became faster and faster, always maintaining double the speed of the best current Mecha.

In the global game, the forces were basically divided according to countries. People from the Leray Federation had long been used to the face of SM01314 and were not surprised. This guy wouldn’t spare anyone just because they were from the same country. He would take anything he could, and the people of the Federation let him rob them. After all, SM01314 was a famous figure in the war simulation network known as the ”Invincible God”. They had to give him some face.

Other countries were not so accommodating. The ones who came here were basically either military cadets or soldiers. There were many senior officers and even generals from various countries, and they had never endured such humiliation. Seeing the precious parts in their hands snatched away by SM01314, their anger was beyond words.

They formed an Anti-SM Alliance. The name of this alliance might make people want to laugh, but nobody dared to mock a coalition of over ten million players. If they could be anti-SM, they could certainly SM you as well.

The Fatty didn’t care anymore. His ET had been completely modified, designed and created according to his own concept of imitating a [Magic Beast]. He locked himself in the system workshop. Creating this virtual Mecha was no easier than doing it in reality. Every part, every line, the Fatty meticulously crafted. [Logic] was still in the lab, and this virtual Mecha would be another [Logic]. He would pilot this Mecha to challenge Mecha masters across the universe in the network. He didn’t want to remain a rookie to be slaughtered when encountering the Mythical Army again.

The war continued, and the situation in Kato grew increasingly severe. The frontline troops were forced to retreat and formed an intertangled defense line. The armies of both sides were biting and entangling each other west of Kato.

The Gazalin Empire Army’s assembly finally completed. When the Federation’s forward forces retreated, they pounced fiercely. The Federation’s rear guard fought bitterly. Both sides showed utmost determination, one side desperately chasing, the other refusing to retreat even if it meant death. Currently, the Federation’s air force still had a certain advantage, so the battle was evenly matched.

Finally, after the Federation Army retreated to Katos Canyon, they depended on the canyon and the heights of the surrounding mountains to form a new defense line from above to below, and stabilized. Several high grounds were contested back and forth, and the fighting was extremely brutal. Some high grounds had their soil and rocks shaved off by artillery fire by more than ten meters, leaving nothing but wreckage and fragments.

In the data calculations of the battle plans he handled, Tian Xingjian could see the severity of the situation from the changes in the numbers of frontline troops. So far, the Federation had successively committed ten armored divisions and sixteen mechanized infantry divisions to the right side of Jialuo Mountain in the canyon. Knowing that Jialuo Mountain could only accommodate the forces of two armored divisions plus four mechanized infantry divisions, it meant that eight armored divisions and twelve mechanized infantry divisions were either crippled or annihilated in the battle.

This kind of warfare already seemed very cruel to Tian Xingjian. Especially in the recent days, in the battle over several strategic points on one side of Katos Canyon, the loss of one to two armored groups plus a fully mechanized infantry division’s worth of soldiers almost every day made this place a synonym for hell, rivers of blood flowing.

But such a level of warfare seemed only natural to Big Head Karl. In his words, this kind of war between major warring countries was like everyday meals. It was as if these countries weren’t truly at war unless tens of thousands of people died daily.

Karl was an intern from 6th Room, not very tall with a relatively thin body, topped with a large head on narrow shoulders, and wore glasses, making him look quite comical.

Since seeing Fatty’s outburst after the Keren plan, Karl had become Fatty’s admirer.

Initially, Fatty found this quiet guy in the research room very wooden. But after they got acquainted, Fatty wished he could seal this guy’s mouth. He was someone who barely spoke during the day but would talk even in his dreams at night.

Fatty suspected that if this big-headed freak were captured by the enemy, they wouldn’t need to interrogate him. Just lock him in a room with a recorder, and they would get all the information.

But this guy was a crazy military genius. Fatty was often shocked by his combat plans. In this respect, he had already developed his own military thoughts. His plans were crazier than anyone else’s! However, upon careful study, it would be found that this madness was actually based on very reasonable tactical arrangements. It was just that in one particular link, he was walking a tightrope. If discovered by the enemy, it would be an utter disaster, but if successful, the victory would be enough to drive people mad.

In the battle situation simulations, as a student of the Steel Military Academy, Karl had seen and heard far more than the moderately-skilled Tian Xingjian. In the academy, he had come across countless battle examples.

These battles were classics in Human War History, where blood soaked the battlefield and the families of fallen soldiers grieved deeply. However, to the instructors and students of the military academy, these were just a pile of cold data.

On the first day they entered the military academy, they learned one principle: Benevolence has no place in commanding soldiers! A great general can be smart, ruthless, decisive, and brave, but never a kind-hearted and compassionate person on the battlefield.

So when Karl saw Tian Xingjian looking sympathetic while reading battle reports, he would mockingly criticize the Fatty for losing the correct judgment because of this. The Fatty would respond with his fists to prove his ruthless cruelty towards the enemy.