At the border between the Southern Sea and the Baiyue Strait, the rolling waves murmured softly, spreading into an endless expanse of turquoise tranquility. It was a scene of serene beauty, but everyone living along this stretch of coast knew well that beneath that calm surface surged dangerous currents.

To the northeast, the Ocean Edge Province was ravaged by plague. To the east, the Southern Sea was no less turbulent. The war between the Southern Archipelago and Shelter 70 had dragged on for more than two months.

The Federation’s underwater troops had captured Shelter 70’s seafloor settlement and blockaded its main entrance. Yet that shelter had been built to withstand a nuclear blast. Not even the crash of the Heavenly Court Space Station had destroyed it, so the Federation’s crude picric-acid sea mines had no chance.

Unable to break through that steel shell, their navy could only maintain a siege.

But the inhabitants of Shelter 70 did not surrender. Equipped with advanced diving gear, they waged guerrilla warfare beneath the waves, raiding fishing boats, cargo ships, patrol craft, and even ocean mining rigs. They struck for supplies while weakening the Federation’s maritime strength.

For a month, the conflict had been in a stalemate, and there was no sign it would end anytime soon.

As usual, a pair of the Federation’s patrol boats cruised to the eastern mouth of the Baiyue Strait, searching for Shelter 70’s submersibles to prevent them from reaching the survivor settlements and ports along the Poro Province coast for supplies.

Standing at the bow, rifle slung over his shoulder, Muda raised his binoculars and scanned westward. Seeing no vessels, he waved toward the captain’s cabin. “Move a little farther ahead!”

“Got it!” the bare-armed captain replied, smoothly shifting into forward gear.

Feeling the humid sea breeze on his face, Muda gazed at the dense coastal rainforest, narrowing his eyes slightly.

He heard that two centuries ago, the sea around him had been a jungle of steel, a forest of ships and cranes. Hundreds of meter-long cargo freighters lined up at the concrete port, endless ranks of containers stacked high beneath towering gantry cranes that stretched beyond sight.

Actually, he had seen it himself, in old prewar posters and brochures. But he had never believed such prosperity could have been real.

If that age had been so glorious, why had people fled to isolated islands in the ocean? Wasn’t life on the shore better than this?

Just then, a voice crackled through the communication channel. “Something’s moving, due north!”

“Due north?” Muda blinked. He was already looking that way. There was nothing there, just thick jungle and scattered concrete ruins.

Then a shadow swept across the treetops. Instinctively, he looked up, and his pupils shrank.

A massive airship broke through the clouds, descending lower. Its pale hull blended with the thin cloud layer, but against the deep blue sky it looked strikingly out of place.

“... An airship?!”

Before the sailors on the patrol boats could even react, a line of black dots fell from the airship and unfurled parachutes in midair.

When Muda saw what hung beneath them, his expression changed. He snatched the radio and shouted, “Pull away from the shore!”

He was right.

As both patrol boats swung out to sea, the parachutes reached the edge of the jungle, then erupted into balls of fire. Flames rained down like a sudden inferno, turning the coastal rainforest into a blazing sea of fire.

Mutant apes screamed and fled inland. Mutated lizards and crocodiles hiding among old drainage ruins shrieked as the flames devoured them, leaving nothing but ash.

The blaze roared on...

The sailors stood on the boats, stunned, watching the inferno consume the coastline. In barely ten minutes, a stretch of once-lush jungle had become a charred clearing of cinders and twisted trunks.

“Was that... napalm?”

“What the hell just happened...?”

Muda stared blankly, unsure what to do.

The gunner on the roof raised his heavy machine gun warily toward the sky, though he had no illusion that he could threaten something that massive.

A voice came through the comms from the other boat. “Damn it, what are those things?! Are they people of the Torch Church?”

Muda swallowed hard. “Doesn’t look like it...”

Even as he spoke, another line of parachutes fell, faster this time, landing among the still-smoking trees.

No explosions followed.

The black shapes hit the ground hard, kicking up clouds of dust.

Through his binoculars, Muda saw a sight that would haunt him forever.

Black exoskeletons emerged from the haze, sleek, silent, their bodies armored in steel and polymer. They carried streamlined rifles, their visors hiding any trace of emotion.

He had never seen such advanced ground-ops gear. His mind raced, who were they? What were they doing here?

As he watched them, the armored figures turned toward the sea, having spotted the patrol boats.

One of them, Peepo, raised a fist, signaling caution to his squad, and tapped the side of his helmet.

“Unidentified NPCs spotted offshore. Requesting instructions.” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

A few seconds later, Ample Time’s voice replied through the channel. “... You didn’t accidentally hit them, did you? You better not...”

Peepo grinned, raising his binoculars. “Shouldn’t have. But they’re pretty spooked, both their machine guns are aimed at you now.”

Those pea-shooter guns couldn’t even scratch the airship. He wasn’t worried in the slightest.

Standing on the airship bridge, Ample Time had also noticed the boats but didn’t seem concerned. “Copy. Ignore them. Proceed with the mission.”

“Copy.”

Tapping his helmet to end the transmission, Peepo gave the sea a final glance, then waved for his squad to move into the forest.

The 30 Burning Corps players spearheading the landing established the beachhead first.

Their mission was to secure a temporary landing zone, suppress nearby mutants, and ensure safe deployment for the airship’s cargo and machinery under the cover of the incendiary bombardment.

After confirming the area was clear, Peepo reported back to Ample Time.

Once the airship descended and stabilized, cables and drop pods were lowered, wave after wave of players disembarked, lugging crates and supplies to the surface.

Compared to the Burning Corps soldiers, those newcomers looked completely different, a chattering crowd of overexcited tourists.

“THE SEA!”

“Props to the devs, this is amazing!”

“Hahaha! I’m seeing the ocean in-game!”

One player sprinted to the surf, giggling like a 200-pound child, while another dove straight into the water to see if it was real or just a texture effect.

No surprise, Wasteland Online’s ocean was indistinguishable from reality, complete with crabs big enough to bite off their nose and all kinds of bizarre mutant creatures.

Within the first hour, there was already one casualty, a dumbass player got dragged underwater by a mutant sea snake as thick as a man’s calf.

But that didn’t dampen anyone’s enthusiasm.

Holding his bleeding nose, another player shouted excitedly, “Holy crap! The lighting! The water! This is insane!”

Watching the noisy beach and the newbies gleefully fighting stray mutants, Elf Wang sighed with nostalgia, “Sometimes I really envy these newbies. I don’t even get excited about new maps anymore.”

Technically speaking, anyone above LV10 wasn’t a newbie at all. But compared to the alpha test veterans who had been in the wasteland since the beginning, their enthusiasm was practically childlike.

Irene shot him a playful look. “That just means you’ve gotten used to this brutal world.”

“Haha, maybe so.” Elf Wang smiled, unhooking the composite bow from his pack and glancing toward the smoldering rainforest. “Let’s go. Time to move.”

Irene chambered his assault rifle and grinned. “Let’s start with a water-source mission, and pick up some dinner ingredients along the way.”

At that line, Elf Wang visibly shuddered, silently praying they wouldn’t run into anything too strange this time.

As the excitement of unlocking the new map faded, players quickly got to work building the new camp.

Some cleared burnt debris while others organized supplies and construction materials from the airship. A few set up tents and simple fortifications.

All of it was mission-based labor and each task came with a reward in silver coins.

It was just like the early days outside the shelter long ago. Only now, the players who once earned silver coins from the administrator were the ones writing the missions and handing out rewards.

Combat Profession players weren’t idle either.

The Bull and Horse Squad posted exploration quests, find a safe fresh-water source, 50 to 1,000 silver coin reward depending on distance and purity.

There were also bounties for locating or clearing mutant nests, those paid in the four-digit range.

Just like the recruitment posters back in Dawn City’s airship terminal promised, there were opportunities everywhere! Silver coins were abundant! As long as they worked hard, their ticket would pay for itself.

While players busied themselves, the two Federation patrol boats watched in stunned silence, especially Captain Muda.

Their bizarre behavior left him utterly baffled.

What are these people doing?

After a long pause, he spoke into his communication channel. “Boat One, return to the Ring Island Port. Report that an airship landed east of Baiyue Strait, about 200 to 300 people disembarked. Unknown faction and intent.”

“Copy!” crackled the reply.

He continued, “Boat Two, follow me in closer.”

“Understood!”

The boats split up, one eastward, the other edging toward the shallows. Three men disembarked.

The players onshore quickly noticed the newcomers and turned their curious gazes on them.

Following Ample Time’s order, Peepo, still in his black exoskeleton, brought another teammate and approached the trio. “Who are you?”

Muda eyed them cautiously. “We’re from the Federation. You?”

“New Alliance,” Peepo said with an easy grin, flipping up his visor. “Looks like we’re pretty similar, huh?”

“New Alliance...” Muda blinked.

He heard that name before, from a bunch of traders out of Silvermoon Bay, a survivor power rising in the southern River Valley Province thousands of kilometers away.

What in the world were they doing here?

As confusion clouded his mind, Peepo smiled. “We’ll be staying here for a while. Hope that’s not a problem?”

The two sailors behind Muda exchanged bewildered looks.

Stay here? In this cursed place? Are these people insane?

Muda hesitated, unsure what to make of it. Technically, Baiyue Province was unclaimed territory. The Federation patrolled it, but it wasn’t their sovereign land. The islanders rarely came here, it was far too dangerous.

He finally said cautiously, “I have no objections. Stay as long as you want, just don’t interfere with our patrols. But let me warn you, mutants here are deadly. Even with your fancy gear, setting up camp here is a bad idea.”

Peepo’s grin widened. “Great! I’m sure we’ll get along just fine. Oh, and where’s your nearest settlement or port? Maybe we can trade sometime.”

Muda raised an eyebrow, then pointed south. “That way...”

“That way?” Peepo peered curiously in the indicated direction. “Where? I don’t see it.”

“Of course you don’t, it’s about 100 nautical miles southeast,” Muda sighed. “You can’t see it from here.”

Peepo laughed awkwardly. “That’s pretty far.”

“You’re welcome to visit our port and trade, but if you drag those... things”, he pointed at the airship floating above, “anywhere near us, don’t even think about docking. You’ll regret it.”

He clearly had no desire to linger in this dangerous place. With a curt warning, he concluded the conversation. “That’s all I’ve got to say. We’re leaving. Have fun here... if you’re still alive in a few days.”

“Sure thing!” Peepo waved cheerfully. “Safe travels! Come again anytime! Bye! Have a great time!”

As the boats pulled away, Muda watched the grinning figure onshore and chuckled coldly to himself.

We’ll see if you’re still smiling in a few days...