PFC Chapter 583 First Steps into the Battlefield
Chapter 583 First Steps into the Battlefield
Behind the iron gate was a small courtyard, paved with blue bricks, with withered grass growing in the cracks between the bricks. In one corner of the courtyard was a well, the stone at the wellhead worn smooth, and the well rope still draped over the pulley.
Directly opposite is a stone house, not large, but enough for one person to live in.
The stone house door was unlocked, so Lin Tian pushed it open and went inside.
The room contained only a bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe. The bed was covered with clean bedding, and on the table sat an oil lamp and a key.
Lin Tian picked up the key, glanced at it, and then put it in his backpack.
He sat down on the edge of the bed.
The stone house was so quiet that you could hear the distant sound of cannon fire coming from outside the walls.
Boom—rumble—rumble.
The sound was distant, yet clear, like the pulse of the city.
Little White slid off his shoulder, curled up on the bedding, and quickly closed its eyes. Celia emerged from the shadows, leaned against the corner of the wall, her body wrapped in a black robe, and began to rest as well.
Lin Tian sat on the edge of the bed, without lying down.
He opened the system panel and glanced at the identity badge he had just acquired.
【Giant Gorge City: Identity Symbol】
[Owner: Lin Tian]
[Level: 72]
[Position: None (New Resident)]
Current contribution points: 0
[Note: Completing designated tasks in Giant Gorge City will earn you Contribution Points, which can be used to exchange for equipment, skill books, potions, and other resources.]
He turned off the control panel and leaned against the wall behind the bed.
The walls of the stone house were cool, and the coldness seeped through my clothes onto my back, like a giant block of ice.
Outside the window, the sound of artillery fire continued.
Boom—rumble—rumble.
.......
Lin Tian arrived at the North Gate military camp.
In the mornings of Juxia City, there are no roosters crowing or birds chirping, only the faint sound of artillery fire in the distance, muffled, like someone beating a drum in the distant mountains.
The barracks were located inside the city walls, a cluster of drab stone houses. Two sentries stood at the entrance, their armor covered in scratches. They reached out to stop Lin Tian as he approached.
"New here?" The sentry on the left looked him up and down.
"Lin Tian, reporting for duty."
The sentry pulled a crystal plate from his waist, scribbled a few times on it to confirm Lin Tian's identity, and then stepped aside. "Go in. The third garrison's barracks are the third row on the left."
Lin Tian nodded and stepped into the barracks.
The camp was larger than it appeared from the outside, with neat rows of stone houses on both sides and a dirt road in the middle wide enough for four horse-drawn carts to pass side by side. The road was covered with ruts and footprints, some deep and some shallow, as if it had been repeatedly trampled over.
Several soldiers were squatting at the entrance of the barracks, wiping their weapons. When they saw Lin Tian, a stranger, they merely glanced up at him before lowering their heads to continue their work. No one greeted him, and no one gave him a second look.
Lin Tian found the third row of barracks, where a person was standing at the door.
Colin.
He was still wearing that silver-white plate armor, and the scars on his face were particularly noticeable in the morning light. He nodded when he saw Lin Tian.
"Come with me."
The two men crossed the camp and climbed the city wall along a sloping passage.
The wind was strong on the city wall, making people's robes flutter loudly.
Standing at the edge of the battlements, Lin Tian saw the entire city for the first time.
The city of Juxia sits at the entrance to a canyon between two mountain ranges, with city walls spanning the entire valley entrance, sealing off the canyon like an iron gate. Every hundred meters along the city walls stands an arrow tower, the crossbows taut and their muzzles pointed north.
Beyond the city walls lay a wide buffer zone, the ground riddled with craters and burn marks. Further away, about thirty miles away, a hazy camp could be vaguely seen—tents, fences, and rising smoke.
"The Orc camp." Colin walked up to him, pointed to the camp, and said, "The main force of the Northern Orcs, the Blackrock Tribe. They've been stationed there for almost three months."
Lin Tian narrowed his eyes and extended his senses over the area. There were at least a thousand life forms in that camp, several of which possessed considerable strength, indicating they were elites at least level 75 or higher.
Why don't they attack?
"We've attacked," Colin said calmly. "Three times. Each time we were driven back. Now they've learned their lesson; they don't fight hard battles, they just send small groups of scouts to harass us every day, wearing down our troops and supplies."
He paused for a moment, then added, "The cannon fire you heard yesterday was them testing the defensive runes on the city walls."
Lin Tian nodded, his gaze shifting from the orc camp to the defensive structures on the city wall. The dark red runes weren't just engraved on the wall; each rune node was connected to a fist-sized energy core, which slowly glowed within the rune pathways.
"What level of attack can these runes withstand?" Lin Tian asked.
"It can completely withstand attacks from conventional battering rams and catapults." Colin walked to a rune node and tapped the crystal core with his finger. "But if it's a shaman's spell bombardment, the rune will overload. Three overloads and the crystal core will shatter."
He paused for a moment, then said, "The Blackrock tribe has three shamans, the most powerful of whom is level 85."
Lin Tian noted this information down.
The two walked along the city wall for a while, and Colin continued to describe the situation on the battlefield.
"The Northern Orcs mainly have three types of troops," Colin said, holding up three fingers. "The most numerous are the Orc infantry, between levels 70 and 75. They're tough and resilient, and when they charge in groups of three or five, they're like a pack of mad dogs. The second type is the slingers; they use explosive stones with a range comparable to our ballistae. The third type is the wolf riders; they're fast and excel at flanking maneuvers and pursuit."
Lin Tian's gaze caught several swirling dark shadows in the sky above the orc camp. "What are those?"
Colin followed his gaze, his brow furrowing slightly. "A scout wyvern, a flying magical beast tamed by the orcs. Fast, difficult to fight."
He turned to look at Lin Tian, his tone becoming more serious. "Have you dealt with alien races before?"
"no."
"Then remember one thing." Colin stared into his eyes, "Aliens are not monsters. Monsters only attack instinctively, aliens can think, cooperate, and set traps. If you treat them like monsters, they will treat you like prey."
Lin Tian nodded.
Just then, footsteps sounded from below the city wall. A middle-aged soldier wearing leather armor and carrying two swords at his waist ran up and stopped in front of Colin.
"Deputy Captain, the logistics department sent me to find the new guy." He glanced at Lin Tian. "Is it him?"
Colin nodded. "Lin Tian, this is Fang Ping, the patrol team leader."
Fang Ping was a veteran in his forties, with stubble on his face that he hadn't shaved for a few days. His eyes weren't big, but they were very bright. He looked Lin Tian up and down, his gaze lingering on Lin Tian's shoulder for a moment.
Little White was coiled up there, the dragon's scales gleaming with an icy blue light in the sunlight.