"Drop the Pokeball, surrender, and we promise to guarantee your personal safety!"
"Give up resistance, don't make a futile sacrifice. Your superiors will just continue to indulge, and no one will grieve for you!"
"The Quicksand Team accepts prisoners! Those who surrender can be assured of personal and property safety!"
The loudspeakers were set up at the street entrance, continuously broadcasting surrender appeals into the district.
The ten thousand residents living in the district aren't mindless like pigs; the Quicksand Team must ensure that the general populace does not "aid the enemy," and they aim to evacuate as many people as possible to prevent formal members from getting bogged down in drawn-out battles.
However, the Evil Dog Team had anticipated the possibility of surrender appeals, and they gathered the citizens from the outskirts, relocating them inside—
Without internal sabotage, the Luo Qi Team could presumably hold out for a long time.
Unfortunately, the Jiama Team, acting as turncoats, had prepared everything in advance, persuading a large number of people to surrender, leading the way in turning to the Quicksand Team from various parts of the three districts.
Masses of people emerged from the district, faces filled with anxiety, cautiously making their way out under the Jiama Team's guidance, clearly not by choice.
Yet, after the Quicksand Team safeguarded their security and property as promised, and their families were properly settled.
Their emotions naturally relaxed.
Subsequently.
The Quicksand Team demanded their participation in the surrender campaign.
Suddenly.
One by one, intentionally set up examples were born.
Under the arrangement of the Quicksand Team, they used loudspeakers to call out to their relatives and friends inside the district to surrender; their heartfelt appeals persuaded quite a few people.
Certainly.
The Luo Qi Team wouldn't allow the civilians to leave; these hostages are excellent meat shields and auxiliary combat units. The Quicksand Team rushing in would always buy them some time.
The Quicksand Team didn't expect the Luo Qi Team to release people; they only aimed to stir the hearts of those citizens and peripheral members, preventing them from standing firm with formal team members. They sought to create exploitable fissures by dividing the internal environment.
Meanwhile.
Various action teams had already rushed to critical locations.
They cut off water, power, and medical support, ensuring no supplies could be sent from outside, indicating their preparation for a prolonged battle.
Numerous drones flew toward the district from above, quickly shot down by the Evil Dog Team, but upon explosion, scattered countless leaflets.
The leaflets boldly depicted surrender illustrations, using simple drawings to ensure literacy was not a barrier to understanding.
The members of the Luo Qi Team were undoubtedly targets for surrender appeals, as the Jiama Team secretly influenced many of the Evil Dog Team members in the Luo Qi Team to harbor desires to surrender.
Unlike the upper echelons, these individuals joined the Evil Dog Team for profit, lacking the loyalty of the original members. As external forces disrupted these interest groups, compelling them to recognize reality would prevent anyone from holding out.
It's the same under both the Evil Dog Team and the Quicksand Team.
The Quicksand Team merely needed a slight nudge, and the precarious building of the Evil Dog Team would immediately collapse.
Trapping the Evil Dog Team members effectively cut off their lifeline.
Peripheral members began clearing out buildings abandoned by the Evil Dog Team, checking for any remaining personnel or secret passages leading elsewhere.
As a member of the action group, Baimu was tasked with occupying the district's highest point to control the overall situation.
Due to a shortage of manpower, the Quicksand Team couldn't directly send people deep through the alleyways to reach the target building, so they spread smoke throughout the district, allowing Baimu and Otsuka to disguise as Evil Dog Team members and infiltrate the building to seize the target inside.
This would then serve as a base for controlling air supremacy, information control, and high-ground vision.
—
"Keep close to me, don't panic."
Baimu softly said to the slightly nervous Otsuka.
"Oh!"
Otsuka, carrying a strange machine on his back, nodded.
While the Evil Dog Team uniform could somewhat obscure their presence from the Luo Qi Team's vision, completely fooling them was undoubtedly a fool's dream.
Crashing into a district full of enemies was practically suicidal.
However, Baimu was grateful that guns did not exist in the Ore Region, sparing him from unknown bullets exploding his head from a hundred meters away.
But simple bombs were certainly to be expected.
Like the flash grenades Baimu had used before, they might not kill him wearing protective gear, but they'd definitely leave him dizzy and disoriented.
"Charge, charge, charge! We'll use drones to cover you!"
A Quicksand Team member shouted into his ear.
Baimu and Otsuka immediately rushed into the smoke, the former gripping a device scanning radar-like while marking the target location.
Soon after they began moving forward,
a terrifying explosion sound came from the horizon.
Despite the surrounding white smoke, Baimu could still see the huge dark clouds rising; that direction seemed to be where the Evil Dog Team's power station was, a key facility they were protecting.
The explosion at the power station, regardless of the outcome inside, would escalate the panic in those trapped.
At this point, Baimu only needed to place the temporary signal tower on Otsuka's back at the highest point of the district, asserting control over information, and he believed they would soon take control of the area.
Pushing through the white smoke.
The two arrived at a broad and quiet street.
Frankly, all aspects of the Evil Dog Team were far inferior to the Quicksand Team, evident just by looking at this street.
Although there were entertainment places like restaurants, bars, and dance halls, merely the atmosphere and exterior décor provided a sense of constrained urgency. Gray and decayed walls, sewage everywhere, uneven ground, and mounds of garbage.
Recalling the thin, pale faces of the people who had emerged earlier.
Was it a prison?
A landfill?
This district was already one of the wealthier ones controlled by the Luo Qi Team, yet it remained in such a state.
It wasn't hard to conjecture the exaggerated degree of oppression the Evil Dog Team inflicted on their subordinates, unsurprisingly scum who wouldn't spare even children or the elderly.
Such intense oppression, Baimu didn't believe there wouldn't be people in the Evil Dog Team with similar ideals.
But presumably not within the district he was responsible for, otherwise, Flop wouldn't let him remain uninformed.
The two moved quickly along the wall, vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
Perhaps the heavy smoke rising in the distance drew most Evil Dog Team members' attention, allowing them to advance smoothly without encountering any ambushes.
Nevertheless.
Just as Otsuka saw the building drawing nearer, relaxing gradually, Baimu suddenly halted his advance.
"Shhh, someone's there."
Baimu lowered his voice, pointing to the numerous deliberately placed cover around the building and then to the device in his hand.
Though the Evil Dog Team members may have thought themselves well-hidden, they underestimated the power of high-tech life detection devices. While this tool couldn't pinpoint the number of people ahead, merely alerting him to the presence of life was enough.
Otsuka jolted sharply.
"What do we do?"
"Of course, we find a way to fight through." Baimu took out a Pokeball.
Seeing this, Otsuka bit down hard, "Wait, I've got an idea!"