Thriller Paradise

The members of this unit basically came from the MG series and had a 1:100 ratio, so most of them were about twenty centimeters tall. Luckily, this bunch of fellas weren't relying on propellers or some flying device to move, or else their mobility would be unimaginable. They were running on their feet. Even so, the Gundams still spotted the players and were approaching them at rapid speed.

At that moment, Brother Jue and Xiao Tan were about thirty centimeters off the ground. One was running down the wall of the fridge, and the other was stepping through the air. Seeing this, Feng Bujue reacted quickly. He shouted, "Hey!" Then, he used Geppo in the air, turned at a 90-degree angle, and while maintaining the same height, dashed forward. Even though Brother Jue only said one word, Xiao Tan understood him perfectly. The two had played numerous games since they were young, so they understood each other quickly. They had an unspoken chemistry. Xiao Tan halted for a moment and then turned his body around with ease. He was running horizontally on the wall.

"Our recon team sure runs away fast," McCloud (from Star Fox) who sat on an NES tank said to Mario with a smirk. A condescending look flashed across his green eyes. Mario also saw the retreating pair, and he said darkly, "At least this proves that they are not spies sent by Novel." Reality quickly dawned on him. "So this is why…this has been Optimus's plan all along? If those two are spies…" At that point, Mario realized something. He shouted, "Stop moving forward! Cover the two newbies! Turn back! Retreat!"

This was a well-trained unit that had been through a lot. Even though it seemed like they had a good chance of winning, everyone followed Mario's order when his voice rang across the battlefield. Thy all started to retreat. No one hesitated to follow or questioned the commander.

Meanwhile, inside the shadows of a large container, Laughing Soul stood at the front end of a trolley cart, holding a pair of night vision goggles in her hands and studying the battlefield from a far.

"Tsk…The plumber uncle is quite acute with his sense…" she grumbled with annoyance.

"Did we expose their weakness?" casually said Passing Rain, who was not far from him.

"Impossible. They're still so far away from the designated ambush spot," Laughing Soul replied. It was worth pointing out that Laughing Soul's tactic was rather similar to a 'pocket' tactic. It was quite easy to explain. There were only three steps: first, design an ambush circle from three sides; second, lure the enemy deeper into the net; and third, lock the doors.

But things were more complicated when it was put into practice. To succeed, one had to take into consideration the enemy's tactical acumen, including their psychological strengths. At that moment, the most common thing to do was to use a smaller unit to fake an attack, lose the skirmish, and then lure the enemy to fall into the trap.

Laughing Soul knew that even if this plan could fool the commander of the Classic Unit, it would not fool Feng Bujue (Passing Rain and Laughing Soul thought the boys were given the same treatment as they did with the Novel. They didn't expect the boys would be placed under such an inconvenient situation.) Therefore, she used something even more daring—using more than half of the unit as bait and then splitting the rest of the unit into two sides with herself and Passing Rain as well as their personal guards (four powerful omakes).

The unit that she used to lure the enemy were all high mobility units. These were the airforce and Gundam models. These units could retreat from the battlefield easily and would not be tied down by the enemy that much. Even if they fought as they retreated, there was a bigger chance for the enemy to fall into her trap.

"Did you see the two of them?" Passing Rain asked. Compared to the side quest, she cared more about the duel between the players. (Their side quest was similar to that of the boy's, except they were in a different camp.)

"Yes, I did." Laughing Soul replied. "I'm quite surprised they were sent at the front as scouts." She paused, and in a confused tone, said, "This is unfortunate. If I had known that, I wouldn't have come up with the tactic. I would have asked the unit to go into the skirmish directly, and I could have found a place to hide and snipe at them."

Passing Rain voiced her thoughts. "That is strange. Bujue is not the kind who would volunteer as a scout…unless he is doing this so that Xiao Tan could be involved in more actual battles?"

"That's possible," Laughing Soul said. "But he is now a monster-level player. He has ranked second on the combat stat ranking, so it's hard to say how strong he is now. No matter their situation, we mustn't show them any mercy."

"Naturally," Passing Rain replied. "Even if there is no setting like 'AFK-like behavior,' I will do my best."

Sa sa. Tsk tsk.

"Sir, the enemies have retreated back to their territory, asking for the next order," said a rather blurred speaking voice from Laughing Soul's walkie talkie. The background was noisy and sounded chaotic, like the sound of war.

"We will also retreat then. The night is still young," Laughing Soul said on the walkie-talkie as she sat down. Several seconds later, she took a deep breath. She suddenly raised her voice and said, "Ladies, I have a mission for you."

On the top of a nearby rack, a voice instantly replied, "Ah? Finally, there's a chance for us to go chop some heads?"

With the aid of the Nintendo unit, Feng Bujue and Wang Tanzhi naturally retreated unscathed. They retreated willingly and were not forced to retreat. Therefore, the motion was easy and smooth for the toys from Classics, and they did not suffer serious loss. On the way back, the two players were discussing the battle earlier.

"The battle setting in this scenario is quite interesting," Feng Bujue said. "The ammo used, whether physical or energy-like, will not damage the surroundings but will cause harm to other toys."

"If the environment can be destroyed, then the tiles, walls, racks, and even the products of this mall would be ruined the next day," Xiao Tan said. "The war between the toys would be revealed very soon."

"Actually, I personally believe that that should have been revealed on the first day of war itself," Feng Bujue said. "But from what the toys said, it sounds like this war has been going on for quite some time. That is strange."

"Huh? Why would it be exposed on the first day?" Xiao Tan asked.

Feng Bujue pointed above them and said, "Do you think a mall of this scale does not have security cameras?" Xiao Tan lifted his head to look, but as mentioned earlier, the ceiling was very high. There was no actual lighting, and the borrowed light sources were from the toys. The shrunk players couldn't see what was really happening above them. "Now that you mention it, the intro cinematic says that scenario is set in the 22nd century. By then, the security cameras should be able to receive noises and have the night vision function already," Xiao Tan said.

Feng Bujue added, "Other than that, even though the environment has not been destroyed, there will be so many blocks and other debris left on the ground after the war. Eventually, the cleaners will notice that something is off, right?" He shrugged and continued, "Furthermore, the toys themselves are products on sale. If they come up with missing parts or damages, that will eventually be exposed as a problem."

While they were talking, they suddenly heard a loud sound. "Boing."

Mario found the sound familiar. He leaped up from the Xiao Ba Wang, arched through the air and dropped next to the two players.

"Hey, the two of you. Follow me," Mario said as he pointed at the western side of the mall. Feng Bujue turned back to look at the group of tanks. He replied, "Aren't we going back with the rest?"

"I've contacted Optimus Prime. He has gone to the command post of the first unit. It's at the Audio Visual Aisle, and you're going with me to meet him now," Mario said. "By the way, are you injured? Do you need any immediate medical attention?" This uncle reached into his suspenders to take out his wrench. Seeing this, Xiao Tan quickly said, "It's okay. We're perfectly fine!"

"Okay then. Let's go."

Ten minutes later, they walked for about two hundred meters before they reached the command post of the First Unit.

Along the way, Feng Bujue noticed the presence of many hidden guards. It seemed like the concept of 'territory' was clearly defined. When you were inside a camp's territory, they would be watching your every move. Finally, they approached a quarantine zone. It was surrounded by electric wires for maximum security. Two Transformer soldiers blocked their way.

"What's the password?" Ironhide asked in a casual tone.

"Get lost," Mario replied.

"Go ahead. Optimus Prime is waiting for you," Ironhide answered as though he hadn't just been insulted.

"Erm…the password is 'get lost,'" Xiao Tan said as he realized after a few seconds.

"Newbie." Another guard, Cyclonus, smiled. "Naturally, the more unusual the password, the better it is."

Xiao Tan then asked, "By the way, since you guys know each other, what's the password for?"

"Does knowing each other mean we will let anyone through?" Cyclonus replied. "What if you have gone to the other side? Doesn't that mean you can get into the command center to create chaos anytime you like?"

"Oh, you have a point there," Xiao Tan nodded.

"Enough, newbie, don't distract them from their job," Mario said as he waved for the players to follow. After they entered the Audio Visual aisle, they climbed on top of a wooden stage that was surrounded by several speakers. Next to a giant light bulb, they finally saw the members of the first unit. About twenty to thirty toys were gathered there, and they were engrossed in conversation. When Optimus Prime saw them, he gave them a silent signal, telling them to wait for a while.

Feng Bujue was thankful for the opportunity. Listening to those toys was a great way to get information. Most of the members of the First Unit came from the Transformers Universe, including both Autobots and Decepticons. It was unsure whether this was a good or bad thing, but Brother Jue could name them all one by one. The thing that surprised him the most was, Megatron and Galvatron were both present at the same time. (Galvatron was once Megatron but was reborn from his death throes in a Faustian pact with Unicron. He retains the memories and spark of Megatron, but his personality was significantly altered after the near-death experience, massive physical upgrade, and reprogramming.) Then again, in some feature comics, the two had worked together and fought against one another many times.

"Based on the report given by Mario about ten minutes ago, there are Lego helicopters among the enemy ranks," Shockwave said to them. He was the analyst. "Combining that with the Lego aircraft incident at the bath and toiletry aisle, I believe the Legos who have maintained their neutrality in the past have most likely joined the ranks of Novel."

"Humph…Those chips from Denmark—I've been annoyed by them for so long already," Grimlock said. (Grimlock is usually portrayed as the leader of the Dinobots, a subfaction of Autobots that can transform into metal dinosaurs.)

"But they are a powerful faction that shouldn't be underestimated," Starscream declared. (Starscream is the treacherous Decepticon Air Commander and the deadliest of the Seekers. The self-proclaimed pride of the Cybertron War Academy, he's famous not only for his incredible skills, but also for his limitless and troublesome ambition.) "And this might change the whole condition of the war."

"Perhaps…we should go and confirm this further…" Jazz said. He paused and continued, "By going to the Lego House and asking them in person."