This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 232: Annihilate! Capture! Spoils of War!

Chapter 232: Chapter 232: Annihilate! Capture! Spoils of War!

The sunset fell through smoke and fire, staining the snow a hauntingly beautiful red. The wilderness was littered with corpses, like the gates of Hell.

It was over.

This could hardly be called a war.

It was more like a massacre!

Without the protection of armor, and lacking any solid cover around, when the screeching reaper soared overhead and the charge whistles blasted from all directions, Yu suddenly remembered the fear he had felt in the forest that day.

His awakened power offered him no sense of safety whatsoever.

He wished he had grown extra legs to run faster or even wings to fly away from this terrifying place...

On the northwest side of the battlefield,

under the cover of his trusted subordinates, Black Snake, who abandoned his vehicle, finally escaped into the forest.

It was the right choice.

Light armors without mobility were like iron coffins on the open snowy field. A few high-explosive bombs were enough to turn the gunner manning the fixed machine gun into a bloody mess, and the looters using armored pickups for cover met instant deaths without even a scream.

"Damn... where did these guys get all this equipment?!" Panic flashed across Black Snake’s eyes.

And what were those things flying toward them?!

How many guns did they actually have?!

Black Snake felt like everything happening was a dream.

And a nightmare at that!

Completely different from the intel he had.

Just over a month ago, these survivors didn’t even have a decent vehicle, hopeless against their armored trucks, unable to chase or escape.

Now, the situation had completely reversed.

At that moment, Black Snake saw from afar his most loyal and brutally ferocious Centurion, who, like a coward, dropped his gun and crawled on the ground begging for mercy from the survivors.

"This waste!"

He cursed, continuing to run deeper into the forest, yet he dared not stop.

The survivors attacking them had spotted them; the pursuers quickly caught up and relentlessly chased after them.

To cover his retreat, the six subordinates who ran into the forest with him had to leave four behind to hold off the enemy, allowing the remaining two to continue escorting him northwest.

Gunfire erupted behind them.

Those four were probably engaging the enemy.

But the gunfire didn’t last long; whether those brave men were dead or alive, whether the pursuers were blocked or not, was unknown.

Without looking back, Black Snake kept running.

However, at that moment, he suddenly realized his military adviser was missing.

He didn’t even know when that man had fallen behind.

Out of breath, Black Snake turned to his subordinate beside him.

"Where’s Vedes? Where is that guy?"

That subordinate quickly responded.

"I don’t know, he was right behind us when we got out of the car, but then he was gone, maybe we got separated... Boss, let’s not worry about him now, we need to break through here!"

Another subordinate chimed in,

"Yes! As long as we save our necks, we’ll have everything we need to take back what we lost someday!"

Although they had lost this battle and all their belongings, the situation was still not desperate enough to have no room for maneuver.

Black Snake still had six companies of a hundred men each ahead, currently rushing toward his direction.

As long as he could regroup his troops, he still had a chance to regroup and reorganize.

If it came to it, he would abandon Qingquan City, leaving that tough nut for Lion Tooth, and march east according to his original plan.

He had heard of a thriving place in the east called Red River Town, where there was a lucrative mine, and which was also a paradise for slave owners.

With six hundred men, seizing it would be more than possible.

As for today’s grudge.

There would be plenty of chances for revenge later!

Suddenly, two gunshots from behind broke Black Snake’s thoughts.

The man running to his left groaned, powerless, and fell forward into the snow.

Another subordinate, realizing escape was futile, stopped running. Taking a wide tree as a shield, he pulled out his submachine gun, firing wildly behind him, and shouted,

"Boss! Run fast!"

"I’ll cover your rear!"

Touched, Black Snake felt a surge of emotion.

Yet before he even had the chance to bid farewell, he saw his man, who had stayed behind to cover him, get his head blown off by the pursuing bullets and fall backward onto the snowy ground.

Black Snake knew he couldn’t escape.

The pursuers were outrageously fast; no matter how far he ran, they would catch up.

As the snow ahead grew deeper, reaching up to his thighs, Black Snake found a relatively reliable cover, caught his breath, and shouted back.

"Friends over there!"

"Are you not thinking about your own situation?"

"I’m just a broken man left, I have nothing on me, capturing me will give you no benefit."

"Why not look behind you? On those trucks of mine, there are treasures, wine, and women, everything you want can be found there! If you’re late, nothing will be left."

From the central part of He Gu Province to the south, he had destroyed at least ten survivor bases, looting countless resources and treasures.

Thinking about it, Black Snake felt his heart bleed; after struggling for half a year, he hadn’t expected to lose everything before winter was over.

Now, he only regretted not heeding Vedes’ advice.

Had he been cautious, why would today have happened?

The two players chasing him exchanged glances, completely baffled, having no clue what he was talking about.

Gnome King Riches: "What... is he saying?"

Elena: "No clue."

Gnome King Riches: "Damn, didn’t you say you speak United Human language?"

Elena bashfully smiled.

"Uh, I only know a few words... Maybe I should try Qui Qui language?"

"Forget it, I can’t count on you anymore."

Gnome King Riches sighed and shook his head.

Then, using a few words he had learned from an NPC, he shouted at the looter leader hiding behind the tree.

"Surrender!"

"No kill!"

"Refuse."

"Kill!!"

Black Snake was stunned at first and didn’t understand.

But when he did, he became instantly furious.

"You want me to surrender? In your dreams! Even if I die, I’ll never be a captive!"

Two people try to catch me?!

Roaring, he raised his assault rifle and swept it behind him.

Bullets whizzed through the forest, hitting the tree in front of Elena and Gnome King Riches, sending chips flying.

Taking this opportunity, Black Snake pulled out his last smoke grenade and fiercely slammed it outside the cover.

As the smoke began to spread, he didn’t delay a moment, emptied the last of his magazine, then discarded the rifle and ran deeper into the forest.

However, what Black Snake didn’t expect was that just after he left the cover, several gunshots came from behind the smoke.

The shooter completely ignored the smoke and sprayed a barrage at him.

Hit by several bullets in the back, Black Snake couldn’t even scream before he plunged into the snow, ending his criminal life so sloppily.

As the smoke cleared, Gnome King Riches, holding a rifle, walked up and poked his face with a bayonet only to find the man was indeed dead.

Elena also came out from behind the cover, glanced at the looter killed through the smoke, and exclaimed in surprise.

"Holy shit, dude, did you turn on x-ray vision?!"

"Get lost, what the heck can be activated in a console game, ever heard of talent? Heat Vision! My eyes can see infrared light, how badass is that?"

Elena looked envious.

"Badass, badass... Fair is fair, your ability is a bit of a bug."

Gnome King riches smirked, "Indeed a bit, usual smoke doesn’t affect me, unless it’s the type that blocks heat."

Or if it itself could generate heat.

Then, Brother Mole’s voice came from behind them.

"MMP, finally got it sorted! How about you guys? Caught up?"

Tying up the captives took some time, and by the time he caught up, the gunfire in front had already stopped.

Elena said.

"All sorted, the guy’s lying on the ground, tell me, is this guy really a Centurion? Or a Thousands of leaders?"

Mole said affirmatively.

"It probably is."

Gnome King Riches curiously looked at him.

"How did you guess?"

"Do you even need to guess?" The Canyon Escaping Mole rolled his eyes as he spoke, "Look who else runs away like this guy, having others to cover his retreat."

Gnome King Riches was stunned.

Damn?

Makes sense!

Mole went over to check the man lying on the ground.

"Damn, the guy’s dead."

Gnome King Riches awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, I was actually aiming for his leg, but this damn rifle’s recoil is too freaking much, the second shot went to his back."

"That’s where you messed up, should’ve picked up their submachine gun like I did."

Elena chuckled, waving the duct-taped Army submachine gun in her hand and boasted.

"This thing works wonders at close range, 9mm pistol bullets, practically no recoil, a burst can kill a crowd!"

The Manager has a real fondness for full-powered rounds. Whether it’s automatic rifles or light machine guns, they use 50mm casings, and bolt-action rifles are outrageous with 70mm case lengths!

Maybe it’s the experience of surviving in the Wasteland, powerful rifles are more effective against Variants. Those short-cased rifles with small calibers wouldn’t even break a Crawler’s defense.

Comparing it to the Type 95, the full length of a round is just 58mm, and the case is probably around 30+.

What does that mean?

Simply put, when the LD-47 is in burst mode, it’s like a rapid-fire "98K", apart from Strength Types hardly anyone can handle it.

This also somewhat saves ammunition, leaving suppressive fire to specialized gunmen.

Mole glanced at the submachine gun in Elena’s hand, his gaze lingered for a while on that ruler-like magazine.

"That toy gun of yours... works when shooting people, but I doubt it would be effective against Variants."

Elena awkwardly smiled.

"Uh, that’s true."

But no worries.

She could carry two.

Gnome King riches glanced at the body on the ground, muttering quietly.

"What now?"

Chased around half the day only to end up lonely.

Initially wanted to capture someone alive, only to accidentally kill them, and the war score instantly halved, putting MVP status in jeopardy.

Mole sighed, shaking his head as he spoke.

"For now, let’s just drag them back."

...

Elsewhere.

The battle on the snowy plains had ended, fiercely resisting Looters were all killed, and those who threw down their weapons and surrendered were rounded up together, huddling and squatting in an open area.

Players on the frontlines had a moment of inspiration, taking the shackles off those slaves and locking them onto the Looters.

These shackles were made of iron, far sturdier than rope!

To prevent the slaves from escaping, heavy modifications had been done to the shackles.

However, these clever designs were now all used on the Looters themselves.

Most of the rescued slaves watched blankly, still unable to comprehend what had happened.

Some had started to recover, but their faces still wore numb expressions as they stood motionless.

In the wasteland, slaves usually wouldn’t find freedom just because their owner was killed; at most, they would just swap to a new owner and continue their previous lives.

Still, for many, switching owners was something to be happy about.

After all, being the Looter’s slave meant doing tough labor and being treated as emergency food.

Working for the Survivor Settlement meant at least having a shelter to sleep in and not worrying about getting your throat slit at night or being unabashedly taken for dinner.

Up until a week ago, they had almost a thousand people.

Now, only over four hundred remained.

It was enough to see how disastrous it was.

The players didn’t initiate conversations with them, just allocated a few people to watch them to prevent any problems based on the VM task.

The security team would arrive within an hour to take over and transport them to refugee shelters for resettlement.

"Motherfucker... Jackpot!"

Standing on the rear cargo bed of the seized light truck, Spring Water Commander flung open the curtain and stepped in, his face lighting up with surprise the moment he surveyed the crowded inside.

Potatoes!

An entire truckload of potatoes!

"This truck’s got to have at least five or six tons!"

This wasn’t some mutant horned potato, but bona fide pre-war crops. Although he wasn’t sure if they were improved varieties, even the most common variety was more expensive than mutant crops like green wheat or horned potatoes.

Especially in some Survivor Settlements that were less picky about food, prices could even reach two or even three times as much.

Spring Water had seen these details on the official settings collection site.

In addition to the truck filled with potatoes, there were some burlap sacks in the corner of the cargo hold filled with grains like rice, wheat, and beans.

He hadn’t expected these Looters to have such a balanced diet.

According to the latest food recycling prices at NPC warehouses, the goods in this truck were worth at least five or six thousand silver coins.

If bought, it would cost even more.

In MMORPGs, a difference of a zero in price when trading equipment is common knowledge.

Wasteland OL was similar, starting with a buying-to-selling ratio of 1:10 and, after several rounds of inflation, gradually increased to about 1:3~1:4, which could be considered industry-leading.

According to the game’s battle reward settlement mechanism, these resources would be converted into silver coins as war spoils into the prize pool and distributed based on war scores.

It was somewhat similar to the heist mode in GTA5 but not exactly.

Spring Water clasped his hands together, his expression earnest.

"Thanks be to Mother Nature!"

Money was a minor concern.

With these supplies, hopefully, the food crisis at the Outpost Base would be smoothly resolved.

He hoped the ramen prices at the North gate market wouldn’t rise again.

"Eating" is one of the major joys in this game, on par with exploring and battling.

Especially since higher levels consumed more energy, logically increasing food intake.

In real life, he couldn’t even finish a bowl of noodles, while in the game, he could eat two large bowls without a burp.

You could eat to your heart’s content without worrying about getting fat, diabetes, or gout, and even try foods never seen or dared to taste in reality, challenging your taste buds to their limits.

It was sheer happiness!

In the deepest part of the cargo hold, a wooden box contained some jerky with unrecognizable ingredients.

Based on his experience, they were probably not good, so he just closed the lid.

Jumping down from the truck, Spring Water Commander proceeded to check the next vehicle when he happened to hear his teammates’ voices.

"Fuck, this truck is incredible! 5, 10, 15...40! 40 artillery shells! Holy shit, I didn’t even see them use any cannons?"

"What a waste on them!"

"Hahaha, same here! This is just too much!"

"Let’s start betting, I bet our earnings from this mission will hit 500!"

"Damn... now that you mention it, I’m getting nervous."

"Nervous? What’s there to be nervous about?"

"The miner’s exoskeletons at the NPC shop, aren’t there only eight left? They might be sold out instantly once we return."

"Fuck?!"

Damn!

These guys are already worrying about inflation for the game planners.

However, hearing that the 2000-per-suite miner’s exoskeletons were about to be sold out, Spring Water Commander couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.

Godly equipment was godly because it was rare!

When nobody had guns, even a pipe rifle could be a big deal. Who uses those now?

Exoskeletons are the same.

Right now, just him and Old White have the "Miner I", so showing off is naturally awesome.

Once everyone gets one, the god equipment turns into junk, and he, who had a slight advantage, has to start chasing the next version again.

Nearby players are still counting their loot, boasting and comparing, having a great time.

This stuff is just as fun as opening blind boxes.

Before lifting the curtain, no one knows what’s inside. After opening it, a quick scan with a VM gives you 2 more war points.

Over twenty trucks were not enough to go around, half were checked in just a moment.

"Yikes, why’s my truck full of crap?" someone from the Battlefield Atmosphere Group couldn’t help but say.

Spring Water curiously walked over and looked, speechless.

"What crap, isn’t that stuff nutrient paste? I’ve heard the stuff made from cockroaches is black."

Old Soldier was shocked.

"Holy shit, who can actually eat something so gross?"

"A fun fact, the recipe for Devil’s Frozen is similar—"

"Enough, don’t say anymore."

"+1, I’m gonna vomit."

"Ha-ha-ha, keep going and Crow Boss will go out of business!"

"Holy shit, you guys are opening blind boxes?! Save one for daddy, let me have a look!"

I Max Black, filled with excitement, lifted the curtain and jumped onto the last light truck, but as soon as he entered, a woman’s scream came from inside.

Everyone turned to look, only to see I Max Black, his face blackened, awkwardly hopping back out.

"There are a few girls in the truck... anyone got some clothes?"

Spring Water and Old Soldier exchanged glances, as did the surrounding players.

"Holy shit?"

"Awesome."

"Is it that realistic..."

...

One could guess with their toes what was happening in the truck.

Although it was something the Looters would do, nobody expected the game developer to include this content, especially during beta testing.

Is this content one can see without paying?

Of course, now was not the time to discuss this.

Spring Water pondered for a moment, "I think I saw one truck loaded with cotton clothes and some cotton fabrics..."

Old Soldier immediately said.

"I’ll go with you."

Elsewhere.

At the northeast border between wastelands and forests of Changjiu Farm, 200 players and over 30 NPC guards were moving along the forest edge towards the battlefield.

Lacking vehicles, they could only walk.

Walking at the front of the group, Tail suddenly looked around and frowned.

Si Si, seeing her expression, curiously asked.

"What’s up?"

"Nothing," Tail shook her head, muttering, "Is it just Tail’s imagination? Why does this feel like a picnic?"

Si Si: "No need to feel, it’s definitely so."

Among these 200 players, many had joined the game in version 0.9 and 0.8, with an average level of 5, with only a few at level 6 and 7, and even some at level 3, who had just gotten their VM.

Ignoring whether they had been soldiers or had similar experiences in real life—after all, this game has all sorts of players—at least in terms of level, the two standing here could also be considered pro gamers.

"By the way, Si, will everything be over by the time we get there?"

The sun was already setting.

In a few more minutes, it would probably be dark.

Si Si: "Maybe, but isn’t that a good thing?"

Tail turned around, surprised.

"Yikes, didn’t we run all this way for nothing?"

Si Si: "But look at it from another perspective, if even the big shots can’t win, wouldn’t we just be throwing ourselves into the fire if we went?"

"Damn, there goes Tail’s chance to show off—"

"Not necessarily."

Si Si suddenly squinted his eyes, looking towards a white glow on a snowy slope ahead.

The visibility wasn’t good in the snowy weather, and the light at dusk was poor too, but facing away from the setting sun, they could still clearly see a string of vague black dots on the distant slope, rapidly moving towards them.

Almost at the same moment, Tail also noticed the anomaly.

Her agility allowed her to see further, and at this distance, it was more useful than perception attributes.

"Up ahead! Loads of people! One two three... Damn, too many to count, at least a hundred!"

Hearing the player’s warning, Liuding, the deputy captain leading the guards, immediately picked up his binoculars.

After confirming the situation ahead, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately ordered.

"Prepare to engage the enemy ahead!"

"Possible fleeing Looters!"

"Get ready for battle!"

-

(Today, there’s only 6K, really couldn’t catch up QAQ)