Battle (Part 1)
The so-called team reward means that if 100 soldiers from the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion survive, they will be rewarded with 2,000 CP, plus an additional 1,000 CP for the survival of the two commanding officers. This 3,000 CP reward is for the entire team, distributed according to the contribution ratio, and not awarded to each individual. The contribution ratio is analyzed and assessed by the city, which makes the final judgment, ensuring that there won't be any biased rulings.
As for special rewards, they are awarded to the adventurer with the highest contribution ratio. These are the real high-grade rewards, and they often constitute rare items not obtainable in the city.
According to the city's standards, the highest contributor, without exceeding 10% of the average contribution ratio, can choose a non-graded reward. Exceeding 10% gets you a D-grade reward, and 20% gets a D+. Regardless of the level, they are items that can't be bought in the shop and even hard to get in the mission world.
Upon seeing the prompt, everyone's eyes lit up, and they all eagerly rolled up their sleeves, excited to eradicate the enemies and claim the highest reward. Even the adventurer who was initially prevented from releasing a large-scale spell by Keanu, was getting antsy, inwardly grateful for not having used his magic earlier. This way, he still had an opportunity to distinguish himself.
However, compared to most people's enthusiasm, only a few soberly realized that this optional task was likely not going to be as easy as the main mission. A single airborne mission granted 500 CP and resulted in severe casualties amongst adventurers. Now, this optional task is offering 4,000 CP plus additional rewards, implying that the difficulty might be increased tenfold—the city always had a high-risk, high-reward approach. Hoping to see a rainbow without experiencing storms is outright delusional.
The 2nd Paratrooper Battalion originally consisted of over 600 soldiers. After factoring in other parachutists who had also landed in this region and were temporarily incorporated into Frost's battalion, their numbers rounded to about 800. After hours of fighting, only 600 remained, with over 200 killed in action. Half of the survivors were injured, with dozens critically wounded. In just 4 hours since the touchdown, the substantial casualties painted a bleak picture of the intense combat situation.
Now, they were expected to continue this kind of combat for ten more days.
Having completed the main quest 8 hours ahead of time, the adventurers could join the fight earlier, thereby reducing the casualties of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion. However, the downside was that they now had to hold for 8 hours longer than initially intended.
With the introduction of the additional team reward mission, it became clear that using the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion as cannon fodder and capitalizing on their efforts was no longer feasible. They not only had to fight strenuously but also ensure the survival of as many soldiers of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion as possible. Protecting them would also be factored into the team's contribution.
Max cast a crafty look at Keanu and pointed toward the injured soldiers off in the distance, "It's your turn now."
Keanu chuckled wryly, "I'll do my best. Provided I remain energetic, my healing technique can save one person every 20 minutes."
Much to his surprise, upon hearing this, both Max and Wyatt exclaimed simultaneously, "How is that possible!"
"What is it?" Keanu didn't understand their shock.
"You can't possibly have that much WP! How can you recover one SP every two minutes?"
"I only have 10 WP. I automatically recover 1 SP every ten minutes," Keanu was puzzled by their reactions.
Wyatt and Max exchanged glances, both exclaiming, "So you're saying your healing technique only requires 2 SP?"
Keanu realized at that moment something essential he had missed. How could such a practical healing skill only require 2 SP? According to Max and Wyatt, an average healing technique would cost at least 7 to 8 SP points with the effect probably equivalent to a small healing potion.
He froze for a brief moment before answering promptly, "Indeed, my healing technique only consumes 2 SP. It was a reward I received during the novices' challenge. Why it only requires 2 SP, I have no idea."
Max asked gravely, "Can your healing technique be used at long range?"
"No, it requires direct contact with the wounded area."
"Can it mend bones or reattach lost limbs?"
"Unfortunately, no. It purely restores HP and can't repair the physical loss or damage arising from special attacks."
Max instantly said, "I understand. This very likely explains the low consumption of your SP. The greatest feature of your healing technique isn't its restorative capability, but its low consumption and narrow usage scope. In simple terms, it only treats common injuries and is more suited for self-healing and transient maintenance. It is a healing technique designed specifically for adventurers considering that no matter how severe the injury, one can fully recover by spending some CP back in the city."
"Yet, during combat, SP exhaustion is a matter of life and death, and there isn't much medication available for recovery. So your healing technique is designed for common use, the key word being practicality."
Max then seemed sure of himself, "I suspect your skill is a variant skill, not one typically available in the city."
"Variant skill?" Keanu was puzzled, "Aren't those self-created skills by adventurers? How could they appear as city rewards?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself, but such highly practical skills, specifically tailored for certain situations, are usually variant skills. By the way, what is your healing technique called?"
"Despicable Healing," Keanu replied, seemingly reluctant to utter the name.
Max and Wyatt shared a look, puzzled over why such a useful healing skill would bear such an unusual name.
"I think Max is right," Wyatt laughed, "Your skill is likely to be one created by an adventurer, otherwise why would it carry such a name? This 'Despicable Healing', we've never heard of it, and it doesn't make sense for the city to include an adventurer-created skill as a reward."
"Unless..." Max suddenly trailed off.
The three of them shouted in unison, "Unless the adventurer who created it has died!"
There was no doubt that the creator of Despicable Healing was a genius. By limiting the healing scope and giving up long-range healing, he reduced the SP consumption to a minimum of 2 SP, primarily targeting common damage. For uncommon damage, he chose to rely on medication or recovery after returning, thereby substantially reducing the cost of healing. Otherwise, even an average injury would consume too much SP, making it not worth the recovery.
The adventurer with this skill was likely not an SP expert, but a close-combat fighter, capable of self-healing to a certain extent and maintaining combat status for a prolonged time. Any adventurer who could invent a skill was a formidable one. If this person was a meat shield fighter, they would be an incredibly effective one. If a support class, they would be an exceedingly terrifying healing-killer.
And now, it was clear that the adventurer who invented this skill was dead, and it was unknown why the city had recorded this skill and granted it as a reward to Keanu. Keanu suddenly felt like he had hit the jackpot, as the practicality of Despicable Healing far exceeded common healing techniques.
"It seems my luck is holding up." Keanu laughed.
"You've got the skills to justify your luck. If it were us, survival would be in question," Wyatt was not at all jealous.
Max, on the other hand, murmured quietly, "It's strange; I've never heard of the city granting variant skills as rewards to adventurers. What's going on?"
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a booming shell not too far from Keanu.
With this shell attack, the Germans launched a new offensive.
"Tank! Tiger tank!" a British paratrooper shouted at the top of his lungs.
On the other side of the bridge, a line of tiger tanks thundered into view. Their 88mm guns aimed at the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion's position and began a furious barrage. The deafening noise was quite a spectacle to witness.
The adventurers who were just overjoyed and ecstatic about the upcoming high reward were instantly dazed by the tiger tanks' bombardment. One unfortunate adventurer was hit directly by the cannon fire and was reduced to ashes in a flash of white.
"Everyone, get down!" Keanu shouted.
It is hard for someone who hasn't experienced a real battle to imagine what it is like to dwell amidst the hail of bullets and artillery. The air is filled with the smoky remnants of gunpowder. Other than the sound of gunfire or artillery, the only other sound is the heartbreaking screams of wounded soldiers. Bullets pour down like hail, hitting the firm ground, with just the scattering shrapnel alone enough to cause instant death.
The sky is filled with stray bullets intertwined like a massive net, relentlessly aiming at everything daring to expose itself. A British paratrooper tried to stand and retaliate, but he was immediately torn to pieces by the sweeping gunfire.
Crawling behind the cover, Keanu could only hear the furious popping of bullets just above his head, as if someone was frantically frying beans. He ducked his head and shouted, "Kitty!"
"I'm here!" Kitty responded from not far away.
"The enemy's firepower is fierce. Keep an eye on the situation!"
"Got it!" Kitty acknowledged. She swiftly rolled to the front of the position and scanned the movements in the front line from the flank.
Then, pulling back her body, she yelled out, "More than 20 German soldiers are charging up. There are at least 3 heavy machine guns and an Elefant tank destroyer!"
"Use grenades to take them out!" Keanu shouted back, pulling out a grenade from his emblem as he spoke.
This grenade was of average power and decently priced, only 5 CP each. Keanu bought 10, primarily for suppressing heavy firepower. Other than the one he used to save Kitty, there were still 9 left. When he had the remaining 1000 CP, he spent it all on anti-tank launchers, grenades, parachute training, and 2 bulletproof vests. He used up all his CP upon his arrival, prepared for whatever consequences may come.
"Give me a range!" he shouted.
"Almost right at our doorstep!"
"Understood." Keanu pulled the grenade pin, not even looking as he tossed it out.
Several adventurers, inspired by Keanu, also began to hurl their grenades if they had any. Successive booming explosions shrouded the Arnhem Bridge in dense smoke. The charging German soldiers' numbers dwindled by more than half in an instant, and the suppressing firepower visibly weakened.
Keanu then brought out his bazooka and aimed at the tank destroyer.
"Almost 10 tiger tanks around 600 meters away are bombarding us," Kitty called out, "We must neutralize them. Otherwise, we won't be able to seize the bridge!"
The effective range of a Tiger tank was 1600 meters. Currently bombarding from a distance, they racked substantial damage upon the airborne soldiers who lacked heavy weaponry and firepower.
Wyatt yelled, "Keanu, can your anti-tank rockets reach beyond 600 meters?"
"No problem, even the lousiest can exceed a Tiger's range by a generation," Keanu coolly replied. "Kitty, help me find a target. I need cover!"
"First hit the one a little past ten o'clock, hidden behind a wall. Just aim for the wall!" Kitty instructed.
Meanwhile, Wyatt and Max charged forward, standing in front of Keanu, and started a furious hail of bullets. Wyatt's body was radiantly glowing, a telltale sign of sustaining a hit.
Under their cover, Keanu loaded the bazooka and aimed at the little wall in front with an icy gaze, "Heh, dude, your hiding spot could be better."
He gently pressed the trigger.
The rocket whizzed past the surface, following the earth, and flew straight into the Tiger tank hidden behind the wall. The blow instantly turned the tank into a ball of fire.
"Oh!" The soldiers of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion cheered simultaneously.
For them, these Tiger tanks were the real headache that they had no means of dealing with. The late World War II era saw the Tiger heavy tank become a nightmare for the Allies: this weapon of mass destruction once managed to successfully overcome seven or eight enemy tanks single-handedly.
After taking out one Tiger, Keanu loaded another rocket into the launcher, aiming for the next target, and smoothly took down the second Tiger tank. He changed positions swiftly before the other tanks could adjust their cannons to target him, preparing to fire the third round.
Although Keanu had never served in the military, he possessed excellent physical conditioning due to his enhanced Vitality. A month of grueling training had honed him to match the paratroopers in strength, with only some minor deficiencies in terms of experience and technical skill, which were effectively compensated for by high-tech equipment.
Major Frost and Lieutenant Ralph initially had low expectations of these paratroopers – what use could 21 individuals be? But, to their surprise, these guys were armed with an array of strange weapons, and some seemed impervious to harm!
What, exactly, was that white glow that bounced off bullets? Just how powerful was it?
As for the anti-tank weapon Keanu was using, they had never seen anything like it before.
In WWII, tanks were the primary force in ground operations. Development of anti-tank weapons had started but was far from mature. The bazooka in Keanu's hands looked a bit like the Germans' "Panzerschreck" but the latter was disposable, with far less range. The British relied on PIAT launchers to combat tanks, but these weapons were complicated, had a large recoil, were risky to handle, and needed two people to operate. By contrast, the anti-tank bazooka Keanu was holding was definitely a next-generation weapon for the WWII soldiers.
"My God, who on earth are these people?" Lieutenant Ralph exclaimed.
The heavy nightfall didn't hamper their operation as the fire from the blasting tanks revealed their positions. With Kitty tirelessly helping Keanu find targets and report their coordinates, Keanu had successively switched places 4 times and taken down 6 Tiger tanks. As the number of Tiger tanks decreased, the number of shells landing on their position similarly reduced. 2 of the tanks even started retreating—the Germans were clearly shocked by this tank-crushing weapon.
"I could bet my life on it, he didn't carry that thing when he arrived. Where on earth did he get it from? Is he a magician?" Major Frost shouted.
"Or perhaps he's a god?" Ralph suggested.
"No, he isn't of that caliber," Frost confidently declared. After a moment's contemplation, he added, "Perhaps he's a messenger of God."