"Ah! A rescue dog! So the dog is our teammate now?"
About two or three seconds after the screen went dark, barking came from the game.
With the sound of barking and scratching at rubble, the German rescue dog they had seen earlier dug Emile out.
After being saved by the dog, Emile went on to rescue a German soldier, and from him learned that Karl had escaped with Baron Von Dorf on an airship.
So the man and the dog pushed forward, fighting to survive.
The gameplay wasn't much different from before.
What stood out to Luke, though, was the big soup ladle in Emile's hand.
"Just like those nuclear-powered flashlights in horror games, this ladle is no ordinary ladle!"
Controlling Emile, Luke dug out a tunnel with it, amazed at how powerful it was.
In the game, the dog would also bark to hint at spots where you could find collectible items.
But these items had nothing to do with the story — they were just for unlocking achievements.
As they moved forward, Luke triggered hidden underground shells and got blown up two or three times.
The shells weren't meant to be guessed at; they were shown clearly.
But in the narrow tunnels, they were so sensitive that a light touch would set them off.
Plus, digging with a ladle had a slightly clunky hitbox, so it was a bit tricky.
After a few mistakes, Luke finally managed to dig a safe path.
That's when the dog suddenly got excited.
The screen switched to a scene showing two German soldiers fixing a truck in the distance. On a nearby toolbox sat two German sausages and a pretzel.
The dog dashed toward the sausages without thinking, only to get caught in barbed wire.
Seeing this, Emile rushed over to free the dog, but at that moment, the repaired truck on the slope behind the wire began to roll down.
"Oh no, oh no, is the dog going to die? Can't resist food at all… guess it's not 'man dies for wealth,' but 'dog dies for food'!"
Luke was reminded of when she had seen a shiny cross underground earlier and went for it with the ladle without noticing the shell ahead — and got blown up.
She knew the dog probably wouldn't die here, but still felt nervous. What if Nebula Games didn't follow the usual script?
Just before the truck rolled down, the game faded to black with a line of text: "Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield…"
The scene shifted to a temporary base where the British were preparing to attack Neuve-Chapelle, with Freddie among them.
Because of a shortage of troops, the British had recruited soldiers from India and other colonies. Freddie charged into the front lines with a group of Indian soldiers.
The gameplay for Freddie's part wasn't too different from before, but it was noticeably harder.
In a tense moment, Freddie saved Emile and the German rescue dog, cutting through the barbed wire and freeing Emile's shackles. No one would have guessed they'd meet again on such a chaotic battlefield.
After a brief talk, Freddie learned from Emile about Karl, and that they shared the same goal: taking down Baron Von Dorf's army. Freddie decided to join Emile.
When they reached Ypres, they spotted Von Dorf's troops. This was where the Germans first used chlorine gas.
Only the small dog could fit through to shut off the gas valve.
This puzzle section was a bit more complicated than before.
Still, compared to full-on puzzle games, the challenges here were easy to figure out with a little thought.
And if you really couldn't, the hint button gave helpful clues — very player-friendly.
Controlling Emile and the dog, they quickly wrecked the underground chlorine gas machine. With the gas gone, Freddie and Emile joined the soldiers in an attack.
But then, Von Dorf's zeppelin above began dropping gas bombs.
In the chaos, Emile and the dog hid underground, while Freddie stayed above.
Just as Freddie had once saved them, now it was their turn to save Freddie.
Using a bone as a lever, they opened an elevator so Freddie could drop down.
Looking at Emile and the dog, Freddie saluted and said one of the few voice lines in the game:
"thank you my friend"
"No need for thanks, we're all friends here," Luke said with a smile at the screen — but there was no time to relax.
The chlorine gas was catching up fast, and they had to rely on Emile's ladle to dig through the tunnels.
Finally breaking through to the surface, they ran for their lives, with the gas right on their heels.
Just then, the sound of a car horn came from nearby, and in the distance, a blonde woman in a car shouted to them.
The next moment, the game screen switched to a cutscene.
[Her name is Anna. She's a Belgian student living in Paris, and she's never stopped searching for her missing father.]
[Finally, one day, fate smiled on them: they were heading in the same direction.]
[But on the way to Neuville-Saint-Vaast, they were spotted by a German unit.]
By this point, all the main characters of the game had appeared.
Emile, the French soldier captured and made to work as a cook; Karl, the German soldier; Freddie, who wanted revenge; Anna, searching for her father; and a search-and-rescue dog.
Three men, one woman, and one dog—these are the main characters of the game.
"Ah! There's even a driving level in this game! This Anna feels just like me!"
Luke, sitting at his computer, lit up when he saw this stage.
Driving—now that's something he knew well.
With Hungarian Dance No. 5 playing in the background, the taxi sped madly under the moonlight, adding a playful, comical tone to the game.
Even better, the bombs and strafing from planes in the game seemed perfectly timed with the music.
Still, no matter how perfect the timing was, when it came to dodging those bombs, Luke found himself scrambling a bit.
At the start, the car was in perfect condition, but after a round of shelling and gunfire, the roof was gone, the engine was smoking, and even the license plate was bent.
Luckily, he made it through the stage in one piece.
"What's this about women drivers? I'll have you know I'm amazing at driving! Just a couple of days ago, I passed my second driving test! Even my instructor said I have talent!"
Luke laughed and joked as he read the comments on screen.
This had to be the funniest scene in the game so far.
The chat, carried by the lighthearted mood of the game, quickly joined in.
'Instructor: Who said that? Not me!'
'To be fair, Luke is talented at driving. He only needed six tries to pass his second test.'
'Speaking of which, imagine if instead of Hungarian Dance No. 5, they played Flight of the Bumblebee for this stage.'
'Are you a devil?'
But the cheerful mood didn't last long.
Right at the end, a shell hit them, sending Freddie—who was outside the car—flying.
(End of The Chapter)
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