22: Boss Phase Two? No, that's an unlimited fuel buffet! Everyone, get your straws ready!

Rumble—

The earth was wailing.

The twenty-story administrative building that originally stood in the center of the square now seemed like a living nightmare.

Countless thick black oil pipes, like living pythons, burrowed out of windows and walls, dancing wildly in the air. Each pipe was as thick as a bucket, its tip spraying superheated steam at thousands of degrees.

"I am... Immortal Steel!!"

The voice of that monster named Factory Director 7702 was no longer elegant.

It became overlapping, piercing electronic roars, bombarding the players' eardrums through the city's broadcast System.

Snap!!

An oil pipe lashed down fiercely like a whip.

Li Qiang raised the piece of scrap iron door he used as a shield, trying to parry.

Clang—!

A loud bang.

Along with the door, Li Qiang was sent flying over ten meters, like a pin struck by a bowling ball, crashing heavily into a pile of ruins.

**[Warning: HP has dropped below 30%!]**

"Cough, cough..."

Li Qiang spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva (it was red mosaics in the game), his eyes filled with horror.

"Is this freaking Phase 2?"

"These stats aren't right! This isn't a monster meant to be fought at this stage!"

The players on the field were in total chaos.

No cover.

No heavy weapons.

Facing this 'map cannon' level of attack, the steel pipes and homemade explosives in their hands were like scratching Godzilla's itch... Shelter Control Room.

Su Mu looked at the tragic battle on the screen, frowning slightly.

"Fortress-type BOSS."

"High armor, high damage, full-range AOE."

"According to normal game progression, this is when they should call in aerial support or use bunker busters to attack the core."

Su Mu's finger hovered over the 'Emergency Support' button, but he didn't press it.

He was hesitating.

He was also expectant.

"If it were a regular army, they would have retreated by now."

"But you are players."

"In this world without rules, only interests... what will you do?"

...On the battlefield.

Wang Wei (ID: Luban No. 7) was cowering behind a broken concrete pillar, trembling.

Sizzle—

A black liquid sprayed overhead, splashing all over him.

That was the 'blood' spilled when the BOSS waved its tentacles just now.

"How unlucky..."

Wang Wei grumbled as he took off his glasses, preparing to wipe off the oil stains.

However.

The moment his fingers touched that viscous liquid.

A pungent, familiar, yet Soul-shaking scent entered his nostrils.

Wang Wei's movement froze.

As a civil engineering dog who had spent ten years on construction sites, he was all too familiar with this smell.

He suddenly brought his glasses to his nose and took a deep breath.

That was the smell of money.

That was the blood of industry.

"This..."

Wang Wei suddenly looked up, staring at the monster building that was crazily spraying black liquid.

The fear in his eyes vanished in an instant.

Replaced by.

A kind of heart-wrenching anxiety and anger, as if he were seeing his own bankbook being burned.

"Stop fighting!!"

Wang Wei grabbed the communicator and let out a heart-piercing roar with all his strength:

"**Stop freaking fighting!!**"

"**That's oil!!!**"

"**That's high-purity diesel!! He's wasting our oil!!**"

This shout even drowned out the BOSS's roar.

The fleeing players were stunned.

Li Qiang, who was preparing for a final stand, was also stunned.

What the hell?

Oil?

The next second.

Everyone's eyes focused on those waving tentacles.

Every lash, every spray, tons of black liquid spilled onto the ground, seeping into the soil.

That wasn't the monster's body fluid.

That was the fuel that could make their Wuling Hongguang run.

That was money that could be exchanged for Contribution Points, buy equipment in the mall, and buy houses and cars in reality!!

"Holy shit!!!"

A unified exclamation.

The atmosphere changed abruptly.

One second it was an apocalyptic escape from Resident Evil.

The next second, it turned into a money-grabbing scene from Gold Miner.

"Waste is shameful!!"

"That pipe is leaking! Quick, get a bucket to catch it!"

"Don't let him spray! Every drop is my hard-earned money!"

No one thought about running anymore.

No one thought about dealing damage anymore.

Everyone rummaged through their backpacks like mad. Empty oil drums, mineral water bottles, even the healing potion bottles they had just finished drinking were all pulled out.

"Minister of Punishments!!"

Li Qiang crawled out of the ruins, ignoring his injuries, and roared with bloodshot eyes: "Where's that water pump of yours?! Bring it out!!"

"It's here, it's here!!"

From under the wasteland ark, Handmade Geng crawled out with a face full of black soot, holding a huge water pump modified from a fire hydrant.

"But this thing has to be inserted to pump!"

"Where do I insert it?!"

"Insert it wherever it's thickest!!"

"Ruthless Squad! Follow me!!"

Li Qiang roared, leading a dozen or so strength-type players, braving the high-temperature steam, charging madly at one of the BOSS's tentacles like a group of middle-aged women fighting for discounted eggs.

Snap!

The tentacle lashed out.

This time, no one dodged.

A dozen people took the hit head-on, their health bars plummeting, but they held onto that pipe for dear life.

"Suck it... for me!!"

Handmade Geng rushed up, holding that sharpened steel pipe, and stabbed it fiercely into the joint of the tentacle.

Pfft!

Black oil gushed out.

Before it could hit the ground, the oil pump's pipe was shoved against it.

Buzz buzz buzz—

The high-power motor started.

The high-pressure fuel that was supposed to be sprayed out to attack the players was instantly intercepted by this unreasonably industrial water pump.

**[System Prompt: Obtained [High-Purity Diesel] x10 L.]**

**[System Prompt: Obtained [High-Purity Diesel] x50 L.]**

**[System Prompt: Obtained [High-Purity Diesel] x100 L...]**

Looking at those crazy jumping numbers.

The players were ecstatic.

"Awesome!! So awesome!!"

"This isn't a BOSS! This is a mobile gas station!"

"I want that tentacle too! Don't push! This one belongs to our squad!"

Hundreds of players were like a swarm of greedy mosquitoes, densely hanging onto those oil pipes.

Some used pumps.

Some used buckets to catch it.

Some even used their mouths to drink because they had no tools (and then were forced to vomit by the System)... Building Core.

Factory Director 7702's massive consciousness network lagged for the first time.

**"Warning... Internal hydraulic pressure too low."**

**"Warning... Circulatory System pressure loss."**

He couldn't understand.

Why?

Why weren't these insects afraid?

Why were they looking at me with eyes even more affectionate than looking at their own fathers?

**"What... are you doing?!"**

**"That is my blood!! It is the lifeblood of industry!!"**

The Factory Director let out a humiliated roar.

He tried to swing his tentacles to shake off these vampires.

But it was useless.

As long as interests were involved, the grip strength of these fourth calamities was infinite.

"One more suck! Just one!"

A player held onto the pipe for dear life, swinging in mid-air like a pendulum, while shouting: "This bucket is worth a hundred Contribution Points! I'm just short of these hundred points to buy a Great Sword!"

This sense of humiliation.

This feeling of helplessness being treated as a buffet.

Made the Factory Director's proud logic core completely overheat.

As thousands of liters of fuel were 'physically plundered'.

The building that was originally bloated and arrogant visibly shriveled up.

Those waving tentacles became weak and limp, and the high-temperature steam that was originally sprayed turned into intermittent black smoke.

"He has no pressure left!!"

Wang Wei, who had been staring at the battle, pushed his glasses, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Now..."

"It's just a huge empty tank filled with an oil-gas mixture."

"Lin Xiaowan!!"

"Here!"

On top of the ruins not far away.

Lin Xiaowan had already set up the launcher modified from a flare gun.

She brushed back her wind-blown hair, looking at the dying behemoth, a charming yet dangerous smile curling her lips:

"This shot..."

"Is on me."

Bang!

Trigger pulled.

A red flare, trailing a shrill wake of fire, pierced the night sky.

It precisely drilled into the main oil pipe in the BOSS's chest that had been sucked dry and was now gasping like a large mouth.

In that instant.

Time seemed to stand still.

There was no earth-shattering explosion (because the oil had mostly been sucked out).

But a dull thud, as if coming from underground.

Boom—

A ghostly blue flame ignited from inside the building.

That was an oil-gas deflagration.

**"NO————————!!!"**

The Factory Director let out one last unwilling, desperate hiss.

That indestructible administrative building collapsed inward under the negative pressure generated by the implosion.

Steel twisted.

Glass shattered.

The monster that once tried to mechanically ascend finally turned into the scrap iron it despised most.

Rumble... The dust settled... "We won?"

"I told you we could win! This is just a welfare monster!"

The players didn't cheer for victory immediately.

Instead, they immediately looked down to check if the caps on their oil drums were tightly closed.

"Profit! Pure profit! Everyone will get several hundred points from this wave, no problem!"

"Oh no! A little bit spilled! It hurts my heart!"

Looking at these players who cared more about oil than the BOSS.

In the control room.

Su Mu's finger left the 'Emergency Support' button, and he picked up an empty soda can next to him, making a shooting motion.

Clatter.

Precisely into the bin.

"Dimensional thinking shift."

Su Mu chuckled, a trace of awe in his eyes.

"For these guys..."

"There has never been such a thing as an 'unbeatable enemy'."

"Only 'drops that aren't attractive enough'."

"As long as you dare to show a health bar named 'interest'..."

"They'll even kill a god for you."

Buzz—

A holographic light screen unfolded over the ruins.

**[Congratulations on capturing No. 03 Satellite City.]**

**[Battle Settlement: Perfect.]**

**[Transferring core control...]**

There were no golden light effects.

Just in the very center of the ruins, the safe that originally belonged to the Factory Director slowly rose.

Click.

The door popped open automatically.

There were no gold or silver treasures inside.

Only a yellowed blueprint, smelling of engine oil, as large as a tablecloth.

All the players' eyes were drawn to it.

When they saw clearly what was on the blueprint.

Their breathing stopped.

It was a steel beast with twin-barrel cannons, heavy armor, and a chassis as wide as a mobile fortress.

**[Obtained Legendary Blueprint: 'Apocalypse' Heavy Assault Tank (Wasteland Modified Version).]**

**[Firepower: Twin 120mm smoothbore cannons (not built yet, but looks fierce).]**

**[Armor: Composite Reactive Armor (requires special steel).]**

**[Note: Want to drive a tank already? In your dreams.]**

**[Prerequisite Task Opened: Collect 50 tons of special steel.]**

Silence.

One second.

Two seconds.

"A tank..."

Li Qiang's eyes turned red.

"Twin-barreled..."

Chu Qingkuang's hands were shaking.

That was a man's ultimate romance.

That was the ultimate dream of every Wasteland player.

But the next second.

They saw that note.

"50 tons of steel?"

"Special steel?"

The players looked around blankly.

This was a ruin.

There were only corpse puppet remains all over the ground, and that... although dilapidated, still magnificent city made entirely of metal structures.

"Steel..."

Wang Wei pushed his glasses, his gaze falling on the lamppost that had tripped him just now.

That was steel.

Handmade Geng's gaze fell on the alloy door that hadn't completely collapsed.

That was special steel.

Everyone's gaze finally converged into the same meaning.

It was a look even more crazed and greedy than when they were grabbing the oil.

Li Qiang picked up the sledgehammer on the ground and pointed at the entire city before him, issuing the command that would make all NPCs tremble in fear:

"Brothers..."

"See that city?"

"It's the raw material for our tank."

"For me..."

"TEAR IT DOWN!!!!"