NOVEL NEXT Chapter 105: Day Six – Attack on Stink Hill
Atlas and his declaration of a surprise attack was shocking.
John, who had been momentarily caught off guard, returned just in time to hear the tail end of Atlas's command.
"What?" he exclaimed, disbelief clear on his face. "We just agreed that we're going to have diplomatic ties with them!"
Atlas met John's gaze, his expression serious. "If we don’t attack this very afternoon, everyone in their group will die. They may be stinky hippies, but from what I can tell, they aren’t bad people. When I portaled back this time, I vowed I’d bring as many people home as possible. They might have let a snake like Clark into the group, but being gullible idiots shouldn’t be a death sentence. The leaderboard count refreshes every night after the demon dog attack. If we take out their camp, we get their points before the refresh happens."
John blinked, still struggling to process the situation. "What about diplomacy?"
Atlas shook his head, frustration bubbling to the surface. "That's ridiculous. It'll never work."
"Why is that?" John pressed, still trying to wrap his head around it all.
Atlas let out a sigh, heavy with the weight of the decision. "I'd love to be able to have a diplomatic exchange with this group of hippies and sing Kumbaya by the campfire," he replied, sarcasm dripping from his words. "But it's not possible in the wasteland. Not for them. If we don't attack them this afternoon, they’ll all die."
John blinked, taken aback. "What?"
"This afternoon is critical," Atlas continued, his voice firm. "It's going to be Day Seven tomorrow. And in my last life, Day Seven means the fairy wipe. She's going to wipe the last place settlement in the wasteland."
"Yes, we know that," John interjected. "It's unfortunate."
"But what she didn’t tell you," Atlas said, leaning in slightly, "is that she's also going to portal more people into each surviving camp, about 50 more people in total."
"Holy shit," John muttered, the reality of the situation beginning to sink in.
"That's right," Atlas confirmed. "If fifty people get portaled in, that means the Mana Domes won’t hold. Remember what I told you about the settlement upgrade limits?"
"Kind of," John replied, trying to recall.
"After the portal happens, they will have till night time and the demon dog attacks to get to 7 points. Which means either taking a dungeon spawn or another settlement. Most camps should be able to do it if they’ve been pushing hard. Portal Crushers are already at 6.1 points; by tonight, we will be at 8.1 even without taking another camp. But what do you think those hippies will do? Will they attack a dungeon with their small hunting group? Or attack another settlement?"
"Neither," John answered, realizing the implications.
"When they try to activate their Mana Dome of MegaAwesomeness they’ll find out that they can’t because of the extra people."
John was silent, the gears in his head turning as he considered Atlas's words.
"They’re all about peace," John finally said, his voice soft.
"And knowing that they’re hippies, we also know that they won’t have any way to protect themselves," Atlas said, his tone hardening. "They’ll probably spend the whole afternoon debating about what to do. And before you know it, it’ll be evening, and they’ll have, what, probably over thirty demon dogs attacking them? What do you think the chances of them surviving are?"
"None," John said, the word heavy with realization.
"Exactly," Atlas agreed. "So they’re going to use that chance to portal out of there. But unless somebody else has a running Mana Dome of MegaAwesomeness, and allows them in, they won’t be able to find any safety during the night. And they won’t be able to teleport to another territory."
"Fuck," John whispered, the gravity of their situation fully dawning on him.
"So, they can't teleport, they can't fight the dogs... it's the end of the road for them," Atlas said with an unfortunate sigh. "The only way we can save them is by taking out their settlement right now. It’ll save all their lives.”
Amber joined in,”Can’t we just convince them to join us?”
John agreed. "Won’t they do it? I mean, it’s logical."
Atlas shook his head. "No. They’ve had Clark talking shit about us for days. Do you think they’ll believe me when I tell them?"
"No," John said, defeated. "They still aren’t 100% sure we aren’t demon worshippers. And they didn’t really care about the demon dog warning either."
"That’s why we’re gearing up right now. My goal is to blast into their settlement when their hunters are gone during the day and capture it. They’ll be pissed, but it’ll save their lives."
John, realizing the severity of the problem that was about to approach, and hoping to save as many lives as he could, finally agreed with Atlas. "Alright, so, what’s the plan then?"
Atlas turned to the Portal Crushers, his eyes sweeping over each member of his team. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. The ManaDome of Mega Awesomeness is still protecting everybody in the group, so we have some cover from monsters for now. Crafters?”
“Yes?” Amber responded, stepping forward, her expression determined.
“I need everyone in their bone armor. You’re not going to be going on the attack, but I need you ready to defend in case another settlement has the same plan to attack us for being the point leader. I’m especially concerned about those settlements in the bottom ten,” Atlas explained, his tone serious.
Amber gulped, the weight of the responsibility settling in. “How long will you be gone for?”
“That depends,” Atlas replied, his gaze intense. “Portal Crushers, you just heard what I’ve said, so you know we’ve got a timeline. Our goal is to get in, capture everybody—hopefully, we don’t have to hurt anyone—and bring them back here. Is everyone clear?”
“What if we have to kill somebody? Or they don’t want to come?” Isabella asked, her face a mix of determination and concern.
Atlas’s expression hardened. “We’ll be on a tight timeline. Because while we’re gone, our settlement isn’t protected. I don’t know how you all would feel if we came back and found out that our crafters had been killed because we took too long.”
“Gulp.”
“I don’t think we’d last long,” said Amber, her voice tinged with worry.
“So knock them out and get back as quick as possible. Gotcha." Isabella said, her eyes narrowing with focus.
“Amber. When we come back, we’ll be bringing prisoners. So prepare someplace to put them all.”
“Like a prison with bars? We don’t have that much bone,” Amber replied, her brow furrowed.
“Nyah. Just pound some long bones into the ground. We'll use the KrazyBondoglue to glue them all onto them. One person per pole. I don’t want them breaking out during the nightly demon dog attack.”
“I can do that,” Amber said, nodding firmly.
The Portal Crushers exchanged glances, the gravity of the situation settling over them. They were about to attack another settlement—not out of malice, but to save them. ‘For the good of the Earth’s Children‘, Atlas thought, ‘we have to do this‘. There was no room for error. The wasteland didn’t care about intentions, only results.
“Alright, you’ve got your orders,” Atlas said, his voice steady. “Let’s gear up and move out.”
As the Portal Crushers began their preparations, the air buzzed with a tense energy. Atlas couldn’t help but feel a knot of worry in his stomach. ‘This was the right call, wasn’t it?‘ But there was no time to second-guess. The wasteland waited for no one, and if they hesitated, it could mean the end for more than just their settlement.
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