It was supposed to be a casual game, but the Long March dungeon brought tears to everyone's eye

"Clang! Clang!"

Two muffled thuds followed as the players carried the large wooden crate and slammed it down.

Kuang Ge pried open the box and opened it.

The not-so-bright sunlight along the Dadu River was suddenly gathered together.

"hiss--"

The commander and his men were all shocked.

The entire box of silver dollars was neatly stacked, gleaming with a cool luster in the sunlight.

Those gleaming silver dollars are the hardest truth in this chaotic world—they are the hard currency that can make even the most wicked turn the millstone and make people risk their lives!

The commander's hands, calloused from years of wielding long oars, trembled instantly.

He had never seen so much money in his life.

Even in his dreams, this pile of silver dollars could crush his dilapidated thatched hut.

"This...this is..." The handsome guy stammered, unable to believe it for a moment.

"This is the interest." Crazy Brother bent down, grabbed a handful of silver dollars, and casually stuffed them into Handsome Boss's arms.

"I ate your porridge this morning, borrowed your sweet potatoes, and rode on your boat."

"I said, if we take it, we'll pay back double."

Kuang Ge stuffed the handful of silver dollars into Shuai Ba Zi's patched-up arms. The silver dollars jingled and fell onto the deck, rolling everywhere.

"And this too."

Crazy Brother kicked the second box open.

Among them were bags of white flour printed with foreign codes, stacks of army green canned beef, and several thick blankets with the smell of mutton.

On top of these supplies, eight brand-new rifles were neatly stacked, the smell of gun oil making one's nose itch. Next to them were two whole boxes of unopened bullets.

"Noodles and meat, to nourish the brothers."

"This is a cold shower for them, and it will damage their vitality."

Kuang Ge pointed at the guns, his playful smile fading, and his eyes became unusually serious.

"The guns are for you to guard your homes."

"The world is in chaos, and there are many bandits."

"With these guns, if anyone dares to bully you again, just use these to reason with them!"

The handsome guy was completely dumbfounded.

Shunzi was also stunned.

The eight top shipwrights stared blankly at what was happening before them.

In their minds, soldiers are like locusts passing through the country.

Not robbing them would be an act of great mercy; robbing them would be perfectly justified.

But these guys in gray military uniforms...

They risked their lives to save Shunzi.

They really threw this priceless treasure at themselves.

"Thump!"

The handsome guy's knees buckled, and he was about to kneel down in front of the madman.

This is the most precious gift that ordinary people like them can imagine.

"Don't!!"

With quick reflexes, Crazy Brother grabbed Handsome Guy's arm.

Kuang Ge was injured; the fight had aggravated his ribs, causing him to grimace in pain.

But those hands wouldn't make the commander kneel down.

"Captain, you mustn't!"

Kuang Ge stared wide-eyed, suddenly understanding how Ruan Ruan felt when she was called "Military Master".

"We, the Red Legion, don't do that!"

"We are the people's army, how can ordinary people kneel before us? Wouldn't that shorten our lifespan?!"

"Stand up straight!!"

The madman's loud shout startled the handsome guy, who instinctively straightened his back.

"That's more like it." Madman grinned, patting Handsome's dusty shoulder. "We keep our word, we're even!"

Just then, Ruan Ruan, who had been standing to the side, walked up.

She was holding a thick stack of slips of paper in her hands.

It was covered with crooked, illegible writing, some stained with blood, some with mud.

Those were all the "IOUs" written by these thousand players in that dilapidated village that morning.

A bundle of firewood, a ladle of water, a door panel borrowed...

I remember every single stroke clearly.

"Captain," a soft voice said gently, with a smile, "please take this to the villagers."

Ruanruan solemnly handed the stack of IOUs to the leader.

"Please go and exchange the remaining money with each of the companies listed on the receipts."

"If it's not enough, please remember it for us, we'll definitely pay you back!"

Even though the game was over, Kuang Ge and Ruan Ruan still earnestly fulfilled their previous promise.

They never really treated this as a game from beginning to end.

The commander held the stack of light, fluttering slips of paper, but suddenly felt that these "gray military uniforms" were somewhat unreal.

This note seems heavier than that box of silver dollars from before!

The leader looked at the group of people in front of him.

Looking at their tattered single-layer clothes, their worn-out straw sandals, and their tired yet frighteningly bright eyes.

At that moment, in the heart of this boat captain who had never read a book, it was as if a light he had never seen before tore through the darkness of this chaotic world.

"I...I thank you, sir, on behalf of my fellow villagers!"

With tears in his eyes, the handsome leader clasped his hands together and bowed deeply.

This bow is not a sign of kneeling before power, but a sign of respect for heroes.

……

Outside the crowd.

The sharpshooter looked at Crazy Brother, then at Softie, and then at this group of "new recruits" from the future, and his face suddenly softened considerably.

"salute!"

The gunner suddenly let out a low shout and slowly raised his hand towards the group of players.

That military salute was standard, powerful, and carried a solemnity that transcends time.

As if sensing something, Kuang Ge suddenly turned around.

"Attention, all! Salute to the gunner!!"

"brush!"

On the riverbank, everyone, whether cleaning their guns or bandaging their wounds, stopped what they were doing.

Even if their military posture is not standard, even if many of them can't even stand steadily.

But at that moment, countless hands were raised simultaneously, paying tribute to that solitary figure.

The wind seemed to have stopped.

The gunner's figure began to become somewhat transparent, indicating that he was about to leave.

He bent down and left behind a yellowed booklet.

Then, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, he turned around and walked into the depths of the mountains.

There, it seemed as if a vast army was waiting for him.

[System notification: Congratulations to "Crazy Bro's" thousand-man team for successfully awakening the God Gunner and gaining his approval!]

The special skill book "Easy Mortar Shooting and Intuition Correction" has dropped! The "Mortar Training Ground" is now unlocked!

……

A flash of white light in the settlement hall.

The thousand players seemed to have just woken from a dream, returning to this pure white space in a daze.

There was a moment of silence.

"Holy crap!! We won!!"

"First flight! It really is the first flight!!"

"Awesome!! Crazy Bro is awesome!!"

The cheers erupted instantly, even more frenzied than they had been on the battlefield.

Some people collapsed to the ground laughing, some hugged their teammates and wept bitterly, and others were subconsciously touching non-existent wounds on their bodies.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Just then, a series of rapid notification sounds echoed throughout the venue.

"Brothers! Check the group chat!"

Li Luoluo's voice was exceptionally high-pitched.

A red "red envelope rain" fell in the chat group of a thousand people.

"Promise fulfilled! 2,000 each for the survivors! An additional 5,000 for the first clear! Plus extra bonus rewards!"

"Wow! That rich woman is so generous!"

"Boss Li is awesome!!"

The atmosphere suddenly became as lively as during the Chinese New Year.

The Blue Knight is standing in front of a virtual screen in the center of the hall, conducting a post-battle review.

"Although the start was a bit chaotic, it didn't affect our final tactical execution."

The Blue Knight swiped his finger across the screen, bringing up the data chart of the battle that had just taken place.

"The coordination between the sniper team and the machine gun team, in particular, is textbook-perfect."

"And the final charge led by Kuang Ge, as well as the rapid incursion of the second team, were executed with perfect timing."

"It's fair to say that in this battle, we brought the fighting power of the 'players' group to its absolute limit!"

These words made the players below stand tall and proud, feeling as if they were possessed by special forces.

The live stream chat was filled with compliments.

"That's really impressive! To be able to turn the tables in that situation, that's the mark of a top-tier player!"

"In other games, a thousand-player raid group is just feeding kills, but the group led by Crazy Bro is practically an army!"

Eighty-eight-smooth sailing was also in the crowd, looking excited.

"Look, look! Isn't this going to be a highlight reel?"

"There's definitely going to be a close-up of me blocking the bullet! That's a legendary scene!"

As if in response to everyone's expectations, the huge main screen in the center of the hall suddenly went black.

Immediately afterwards, a line of large, blood-red characters slowly appeared.

[Historical Retrospective: The Real Dadu River]

"It's here! The CG animation is here!"

"We definitely deserve a close-up shot of this!"

The players widened their eyes, ready to admire their own heroic figure in the annals of history.

But what appeared on the screen was a rough black and white image, as if viewed through frosted glass, as if viewed through a layer of time.

There was no background music, only the howling wind and the deafening roar of the river.

The scene shifts to a familiar figure.

At this moment, the gunner's eyes were clear, without any emptiness or confusion.

Because he doesn't need anyone to wake him up; he's always awake.

He is the courage of this team!

The gunner in the picture moves extremely fast, supporting the cannon with his left hand and loading it with his right.

"Thump!"

The first shot destroyed the enemy's bunker.

"Thump!"

The second shot destroyed the enemy's machine gun position.

"Thump!"

The third shot hit the center of the enemy's counter-charge.

At the bottom of the screen, a line of white text slowly appeared.

[Sharpshooter: Three shots decide the fate of the world. No test shots, no calibration, every shot hits its mark.]

The players weren't surprised, after all, they had already witnessed the gunner's strength, although they still found it outrageous.

The scene flashed again, this time showing the Dadu River.

Eighteen figures stood beside the wooden boat.

They split into two groups and, under the cover of the gunners' superb artillery fire, rushed ashore.

They were facing an enemy battalion.

Grenades flew everywhere, and submachine guns roared wildly.

Of course...

Amidst billowing smoke, warriors appear; with flashing blades and the clanging of steel, the enemy trembles in fear.

The eighteen brave warriors of the Dadu River actually defeated an enemy battalion that outnumbered them ten to one!

Finally, the image freezes on a black and white photograph.

Eighteen figures stood on the beach on the north bank.

Although he was also injured, and although he was covered in blood.

but……

Not a single one is missing!

The entire audience erupted in uproar, and Kuang Ge and the others were completely taken aback.

They deployed four full batches of assault troops, all of whom were top-ranked players in the Chinese server, yet they still lost half of them.

Then, relying on the skill of the experts and the players' fearless charge, they finally defeated that enemy battalion...

Looking at the screen, Ba Ba Da Shun, who had originally wanted to find a close-up of himself, now only felt embarrassed.

"I thought... I was already a hero for taking those bullets..."

"And then those eighteen guys wiped out an entire enemy battalion, and they all survived?"

"This...this is cheating, isn't it?"

The Blue Knight frowned in thought and discovered a detail that left him feeling helpless.

"Look..."

"The Red Legion in history never disturbed the villagers from the very beginning."

"They entered the village quietly and did their work discreetly."

"So the boatmen were volunteers, and they were prepared in advance."

"And we..." The Blue Knight didn't finish his sentence.

And they were taking over the hellish version influenced by those disruptive players.

So much so that their mere desire to avoid disturbing the people is no longer enough to awaken the sharpshooter; even a promise made in blood is needed to do so.

After a moment of silence, the chat in the live stream stopped blindly praising and making jokes.

"Who just said that Brother Kuang and his gang are war gods? Come out and take your beating!"

"Damn, looking at these eighteen people, I feel like Brother Kuang and his thousand-strong group are just a bunch of elementary school students going on a school field trip..."

"This is the real Crimson Legion! Eighteen men wiped out an entire battalion and all survived—that's unbelievable!"

"That old scoundrel Luo... he really hit a nerve!"

Kuang Ge, having regained his senses, smiled.

Indeed, these assault troops could even shield themselves from pain during battle, but the eighteen warriors had nothing—they only had an unwavering belief in advancing, and then they killed, killed, killed.

"Alright, stop looking so gloomy."

Kuang Ge turned around and looked at his teammates behind him, who were hanging their heads and looking somewhat dejected.

"Although we're no good, although we're just a bunch of trash compared to our predecessors in parallel worlds."

"But we still have to keep going."

"The Dadu River has finally been crossed..."

"Ahead lies the daring capture of the Luding Bridge!"

White Hole, the old squad leader's tomorrow awaits them!