This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 268: The Stitched Giant Beast and the Captured Armor

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: The Stitched Giant Beast and the Captured Armor

The piercing shriek tore through the gray-green fog, and after a dull thud, a black shadow smashed onto a pile of concrete.

Nearby players immediately aimed their guns at the black mass.

However, before he could make out what it was, he heard a loud explosion, and the black mass instantly shattered into fragments, black viscous fluid and charred pieces of flesh splattering everywhere.

The stench smeared on the gas mask.

The player ducked and dodged, cursing loudly.

"Damn!"

"Martyrs!"

Fortunately, they were far enough away to avoid any casualties.

Yet just then, the eerie scream sounded again, and a dozen or more black shadows drew parabolic arcs through the fog, crashing toward the players’ position.

Explosions occurred one after another, the gray-green smoke flickering, black liquid, and chunks of flesh splattering.

Although the damage was low, the range was small, and accuracy was not precise, once there were enough of them, they still caused significant trouble for the players.

One player was killed on the spot, and four others were injured to varying degrees.

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group was shocked, blurting out instinctively.

"Holy shit! Are they using martyrs as grenades?!"

That thing must weigh at least 20-30 kilograms, right?!

Being able to throw it that far, the thrower must have incredible strength!

The Spring Water Commander made a swift decision and ordered,

"Team A, take cover!"

"Team B, launch the high-explosive bombs!"

The left position fired in unison.

Twelve 20mm high-explosive bombs penetrated the gray-green fog, bursting into orange-yellow flames.

Although visibility was zero, predicting the trajectory based on the parabola was still feasible.

That attack seemed effective, as the number of martyrs flying in the sky was halved instantly.

Then came the second and third volleys, the incessant explosions emanating from the fog, occasionally accompanied by the sounds of martyrs bursting.

The enemy camps were covered with dead and wounded.

Some were killed by the high-explosive bombs, others were killed by their own kind.

Standing on the front line, the Spring Water Commander felt a surge of joy, sensing with his naked eye that, after several rounds of bombardment, the enemy’s assault had significantly weakened!

Realizing that continuing this way would eventually lead to their doom, the Variants in the fog no longer hesitated and resumed their assault on the players’ position.

Accompanied by a deafening roar, one bulky monster after another charged out of the dense fog.

They were two and a half meters tall, with fat bellies swaying from side to side, necks seemingly fused with chins, appearing from a distance like lumps of walking flesh, reminiscent of ogres from a fantasy world.

Such creatures had never been seen in the North Suburb before, and the players hiding behind the concrete were startled.

"Holy shit, what kind of Variant is this?"

"I’ve never seen this in the official bestiary."

"Variant version of Mutants?!"

"Warhammer Ogre?!"

"I actually think it resembles the tank from Left 4 Dead..."

"Just replace the muscle with fat."

Behind each of those fatties, swinging their bellies and arms, sprinted Eaters that followed them like little devils.

Good grief.

Did they manage to coordinate a tank infantry?

Although the players were surprised, they did not become distracted, for this was a group fight, and there was no time for idle chat.

After entering shooting range, the heavy machine guns positioned on the rooftops of buildings on both sides opened fire first, unleashing fierce firepower on the running Variants.

Then, players from Class A also tightened their grip on the triggers, spraying bullets at the incoming Variants.

Compared to the Tyrants, which were fully encased in keratin armor, these big-bellied Variants had thick flesh, but not high defensive power. The full-powered 7mm rifle bullets might over-penetrate the Eaters, but they were just right for these targets.

Bursts of black blood mist exploded from the massive chunks of flesh. The tumbling bullet fragments created cavities inside their bodies, directly blowing off their limbs.

The Eaters gathered around them suffered heavy casualties under the machine-gun fire as well. Occasionally, a few high-explosive bombs thrown their way resulted in a scattering of severed limbs and a simultaneous fall of many.

A few big-bellied Variants with Eaters managed to reach the edge of Class A’s position, but they quickly realized that the brutal fight had just begun.

The front-line players decisively ceased firing, picked up the spears, short axes, iron-wrapped clubs, and shovels rested on the ground, and turned to greet the Variants’ heads.

The players in the back continued firing to support the front line, reducing the pressure from the front.

Those standing at the front were veteran players who, having experienced many versions, not only had panel data much stronger than ordinary people but also had rich combat experience. Dealing with these Variants was quite easy for them.

Even when facing three or even four Eaters at once, they managed them with ease.

The fierce battle lasted for an hour.

Under the crossfire from buildings on both sides, the second wave of the Tide’s offensive finally began to weaken, and in the end, only a few scattered Eaters and "Fat Ones" were still assaulting the players’ positions.

However, they were close to exhaustion!

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group swung the engineer shovel in their hands, easily splitting open the skull of an Eater, and kicked it over while smoothly pulling out the shovel.

Another two Eaters rushed at him, but he remained unruffled, neatly chopping off the heads of both with a single poke and a cut.

Black blood splattered all over him.

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group raised an arm, wiped the black blood off his gas mask, and turned to give I Max Black a sly smile.

"This thing is too useful!"

I Max Black was struggling to pull a bayonet out of an Eater, panting heavily.

"MMP, how many more waves are coming at us?"

"Don’t know, it might last all night."

"What the fuck?" I Max Black exclaimed, "Doesn’t that mean it’s going to be dark again in reality?"

"What are you afraid of? You’ve only been alive for a few hours."

Hanging the engineer shovel at his waist, the Old Soldier squinted towards the front.

All night? What’s that to him?

If he could disable the "Anti-addiction Mechanism," he could fight all day long!

The Tide’s offensive paused briefly, leaving only sporadic gunfire on the position.

The players were somewhat fatigued, but their morale remained high.

Up to this point, besides five Class A fatalities and ten injuries, Classes B and C were almost in full condition!

Just then, good news came from the rear.

Over twenty new recruits, carrying ammunition boxes, ran over from the street behind.

"Ammo! Ammo is here!"

The news of the supply arrival relieved many players.

In the previous two rounds of assaults, the attacking Variants numbered at least five to six thousand. Even though everyone was conserving bullets, they still used quite a bit.

Most players had carried only six magazines when they set out, and many now had only one magazine left.

This batch of ammunition came just in time!

Without a chance to rest, Spring Water immediately had the team distribute 14 boxes of ammunition to the B and C classes on both sides of the positions.

Those were the fire support points.

The remaining six boxes of ammunition were distributed to the brothers of Class A.

About 1000~1100 bullets were packed in each ammunition box. Aside from 2000 bullets sent to the two machine guns, the remaining 35 players could only receive around 110 bullets each.

"How come there’s so few?" Spring Water asked, frowning.

The Silver Hand, responsible for delivering the ammunition, said helplessly.

"I also wanted to bring more, but the ammunition had to be transported from the rear to the frontline, and this is all the stock from Street No. 68. The Manager had ordered us to send it all here."

Spring Water Commander nodded and continued to ask.

"How’s the defense construction going?"

Before Silver Hand could speak, Silver Sword beside him interjected, "The construction progress is already one-third complete! We’ve made barricades from concrete rubble, strung barbed wire across the streets, and even set up wooden stakes to halt the advance of large Variants."

"The residents of Bet Street and the serfs from Brown Farmhouse have all been mobilized. Many other players are joining continuously—it feels like at least a thousand people have been mobilized!"

"It might be done by morning!"

The North Suburb had reached a critical juncture of life and death, and no one dared to take it lightly.

Hearing that a third of the defenses were completed, Spring Water Commander breathed a sigh of relief, paused for a moment, then walked to the front, looking over the players who had delivered the supplies.

"Who among you knows how to use a gun?"

At these words, everyone’s eyes lit up, and twenty hands simultaneously shot up.

"Me, me, me!"

"I know! I rule at FPS games!"

"I’ve played at a shooting range!"

Spring Water Commander: "..."

They were practically brand new.

However, it wasn’t the time to be picky.

Selecting five players who seemed reliable, Spring Water handed out the guns of fallen players to them and after teaching them how to shoot, he cautioned,

"Remember to fire only when you see the monsters!"

"And don’t point the gun at our own people."

Holding the rifle, Silver Daddy said excitedly,

"Alright, bro!"

While they were talking, the gray-green fog suddenly contracted then rapidly expanded.

It was like breathing!

The players standing on the defensive line finished their rest and watched the gray-green fog with readiness.

At that moment, a series of muted thuds struck the earth, causing the cracked concrete pavement to tremble slightly, with pebbles trembling off the buildings.

Everyone tensed their nerves.

Then, a dull, long moan, like the whistle of a train, echoed through the broken ruins.

A huge foot as thick as a pillar heavily stamped onto the concrete surface, followed shortly by a massive head emerging from the dense fog.

"Holy shit... What is that?!"

I Max Black’s eyes widened, nearly popping out of their sockets as he stared intently ahead.

He felt more shocked today than he had in the past week combined.

Not just him, the faces of other players next to him simultaneously bore expressions of astonishment and disbelief.

Countless chunks of flesh piled up into a five-story-tall hill, with decaying skin stretching from the foot to the head, the ugly face covered with mucus-like mycelial filaments and sticky secretions.

It had no facial features on its head, just a rotten mouth, and another, even larger mouth continuously opening and closing on its belly, emanating a sinister gray-green color.

From time to time, Variants like Eaters fell from the gaping maw, then staggeringly stood up from the ground.

Spring Water Commander’s eyes instantly narrowed, and he pressed his hand to the mic at his ear and shouted.

"All squads, attention, the Boss has appeared!"

"Squad B and C, fire! Armor piercing incendiary bullets! Three rounds volley!"

"Suppress it!"

The Sutured Giant Beast stood like a wall blocking the barrage of firepower, with masses of Variants behind it. If this creature got close to their position, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Neat and uniform responses came through the communication channel.

"Received!"

Gunfire roared, 24 anti-tank rifles spat thick tongues of fire!

One by one, armor-piercing incendiary rounds traced orange-yellow arcs through the air, heading straight for the giant beast sewn together from flesh!

Facing the players’ concentrated fire, the sewn-together giant beast, with one large and one small mouth buried in fat, emitted a dull roar from its throat.

The Variants huddled around it began to accelerate, sprinting forward.

The third round of the assault officially began!

"Damn it! This Boss’s health is way too thick!"

His shoulders ached from the shock.

Kakarot, having set up the 37mm machine gun on the ground, cursed and reloaded the gun with an armor-piercing incendiary round before forcefully pulling the bolt.

Bang—!

The tremendous recoil even sent the dust on the ground flying.

However, the shell smashed into that mountain of flesh, still like a needle poking cotton, eliciting no response at all.

Ignoring the firepower concentrated on itself, that giant composed of flesh still moved forward smoothly.

Crouching at the very front of the battle line, Battlefield Atmosphere Group urgently shouted backward.

"Fuck, Spring Water, think of something fast!

"Shut up, I’m thinking!"

Spring Water’s brain whirred rapidly, his gaze intently fixed on the five-story-tall mountain of flesh.

He had seen its head take at least six armor-piercing incendiary hits, which should theoretically have scorched its brains.

Unless...

Its head wasn’t its weak point?!

There was no time to hesitate; he decisively ordered,

"Machine gunners and anti-tank riflemen take note! Don’t waste bullets on that mountain of flesh!"

"Take those Crawlers down!"

"All 37mm Heavy Cavalry Gunners! Load armor-piercing bullets and target its left leg! Aim for the joints!"

It didn’t matter if they couldn’t kill it.

At least they had to stop it!

The attack seemed to be effective.

Deployed on high buildings to the sides, heavy weapons furiously fired. The giant whose left knee had been hit with several armor-piercing rounds staggered, lost balance, and heavily fell to the ground.

Rolling dust rose, the resulting air disturbance even swept away the surrounding spore clouds, flattening countless Eaters and Crawlers beneath its massive body.

Machine gun bullets passed over its body, ruthlessly mowing down the Variants behind it.

Anti-tank rifles continued firing, targeting Crawlers and Tyrants to prevent high-threat targets from approaching their position.

The battle situation became intense for a moment.

Just then, Spring Water Commander suddenly heard a voice like heavenly music through the communication channel.

"Support firepower is in position!"

"Hold on!"

In the same moment the voice dropped, a series of loud bangs came from a distance.

Several incendiary rounds soared into the sky, their blinding white light illuminating the night.

Under that intense light, Eaters’ movements visibly stiffened, and their advance speed also slowed significantly.

The stitched-together beast on the ground struggled to rise, but just then, four arcs of lightning streaked across the sky.

Many players spotted the anomaly above, raising their heads with surprised expressions on their faces.

"Look up at the sky!"

"Airplanes?!"

Two long shuttle-shaped aircraft flew one after the other, their plasma engines on the wings spraying arcs of fire as they roared across the sky above Qingquan City like shooting stars.

Twelve black warheads were dropped from the bellies of the two aircraft, starting from the giant beast crawling on the ground, sweeping backward.

Boom—

In an instant, flames surged into the sky.

The shockwave of the explosion filled the entire street, and the boiling flames instantly engulfed all the Variants on the street.

The boiling heatwave even reached the players’ position, charring the corpses of the Eaters scattered on the ground.

"Is that..."

Staring dumbfounded at the sea of fire before him, the Spring Water Commander swallowed.

"An aircraft from Giant Stone City?"

So powerful!

If only Shelter No. 404 had such formidable firepower!

The fire from the incendiary bombs created a vacuum zone, and the giant beast engulfed in flames struggled for a while before quickly lying motionless on the ground.

The spore clouds were replaced by thick smoke, and the scent of charred meat permeated the street, detectable even from the distant artillery positions.

Cheers of victory erupted around, and players shouted praises like "Awesome" and "666."

"Thanks to the developers for sending these rockets!"

"Damn... that power is too fierce!"

"How many did this wave kill?"

"At least two or three thousand... maybe even four or five thousand."

Their resistance had made the Variants press densely before the position, and this air raid had even cleared away the clouds of spores released by the sub-entities.

However, a bit of confusion still lingered in Spring Water’s mind.

Where did this air raid come from?

...

Far away, several kilometers distant at the temporary command center, Chu Guang, clad in power armor, watched the images on the screen and slowly exhaled.

"We finally made it."

Earlier, he had instructed Xu Shun to buy support from Giant Stone City’s Militia Group.

Twelve incendiary bombs cost 60,000 chips altogether, no delivery charge for orders over six within Qingquan City.

Great value for money.

Originally, Chu Guang had planned to hire mercenaries to fight, but the distance from Giant Stone City to Street No. 65 was too great, and it wasn’t cost-effective.

So, he changed his approach and used the contacts he had gathered from the radio to rent an aircraft from the Militia Group for the bombing run.

Looking at it now.

This money was indeed well spent.

As for where the chips came from?

He certainly couldn’t produce that much himself, but he could borrow from List.

List’s battery factory and exoskeleton factory had just opened, and he was now tied to the wagon of Shelter No. 404.

Besides, Chu Guang had a good reputation, and there was a large reserve of Spirit Leaf in his warehouse; List wasn’t worried about him not paying back the money—in fact, he was eager for him to borrow more.

"The troops at the front line should be able to catch their breath now."

On the front-line positions, sporadic flames burned.

Accumulated corpses piled up into small hills.

From afar, the sounds of mortar fire occasionally came, with 88mm high-explosive bombs landing in the dense gray-green fog in the distance, leaving a trail covered by advancing barrages.

The boss had been wiped out by the air strike.

Only a few stragglers remained, struggling atop the heaps of corpses.

"... Is it over?"

Spring Water Commander slowly eased up inside, perhaps he had overthought the problem, maybe this ambush battle wasn’t as difficult as he had imagined.

It was still five or six hours before dawn, and they had already inflicted casualties amounting to one-tenth of the Variants.

However, just then, a burst of intense gunfire suddenly erupted from the right flank. Spring Water Commander sharply turned to look at a nearby building, but in the darkness, he could only see a few flickering lights.

A rushed voice came through the communication channel.

"Left flank is encountering a lot of Crawlers!"

"Us too! Right flank is under attack—damn it!"

"Damn! Where did these bastards come from?!"

Rifle fire and the shrill screams of the Crawlers filled the communication channel as players stationed there engaged in close combat with the Variants invading the building.

From the sounds of it, it was obviously not just one!

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Spring Water Commander’s forehead.

Just as he was about to send reinforcements to both flanks, a dark shadow suddenly burst through the dense flames within the thick fog.

Seeing the figure clearly, I Max Black instinctively cried out in surprise.

"Power armor?!"

More accurately, it was power armor engulfed by Mucor species. The rusted armor was packed with dark red flesh pieces in its crevices, and a dark red fungal mat had climbed onto the steel surface from the breastplate to the leg armor.

Steel and flesh organically merged together, forming a bizarre stitched monster. However, surprisingly, its running posture was no different from that of a real person!

The flanks attacked by the Crawlers fired desperately, and two 37mm armor-piercing bullets struck the heavy breastplate, tracing a steep upward trajectory.

They couldn’t pierce through!

The eyes of the Battlefield Atmosphere Group widened.

T-10 power armor!

He had seen it on the forum!

It was from the photos Elder Fang took during his first visit to Giant Stone City—this was the armor used by the militia group of Giant Stone City!

Was it captured by the Mucor?

There was no time to think about the reason. Players around him furiously squeezed their triggers, spraying bullets at the power armor, trying to stop its advance.

But those 7mm rounds hitting it seemed like a joke, not even making it pause.

A distance of a hundred meters vanished in an instant.

The power armor charged into the players’ position, swinging an arm embedded with a chainsaw, instantly claiming two lives.

I Max Black tried to take a detour, but just as he took a step back, the roaring chainsaw cleaved him in two.

This unfortunate brother had only resurrected a few hours ago, and this time he didn’t even manage to cry out "Damn!" before he was physically logged off again.

Seeing the power armor focusing on him, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group knew he couldn’t escape. He threw away his rifle with an empty magazine and drew his engineer shovel, charging straight at it.

A chainsaw swung fiercely towards him. The speed alarmed him. Even with his reactive Dodge talent activated, the roaring chainsaw still cut off his right arm.

Blood gushed from his arm!

His consciousness briefly blurred.

Old Soldier struggled to remain conscious, drew his combat dagger with his left hand, and violently stabbed at the side of the power armor filled with dark red Mucor.

"Die, damn you!"

However, the power armor was a step ahead of him, extending its left arm to grab his neck, lifting him up from the ground.

The dagger swiped through the air.

A massive pressure built up in his neck, making it difficult for Old Soldier to breathe, his entire face turned red, feeling like his head was about to explode.

He threw the dagger in his hand at the iron lump covered in Mucor, but it only made a clanging sound and was utterly useless.

This damn thing must have inherited the defense of the power armor. Even 37mm armor-piercing bullets only left a scratch on it, let alone a dagger!

Sterling Silver, brandishing a bayonet, was shouting and charging to help, but before he could get halfway there, a Crawler pounced on him and broke his neck.

"Mama! Old Sword! Ahhh, I’m going all out with you guys!"

When Variants rushed at him, Silver Daddy, whose rifle had jammed, bravely pulled out his short axe and charged forward, but he was quickly overwhelmed by Eaters.

The battlefield was in chaos, gunfire everywhere.

Players clashed with Variants.

Both sides were fearless and brutal; courage and morale had lost their meaning at that moment.

The entire street instantly turned into a bloody meat grinder, pulling in both sides, their lives visibly vanishing.

"Damn..."

He’d been too cocky, and now he was likely done for!

Catching sight of this scene from the corner of his eye, Old Soldier cursed under his breath.

While his consciousness hadn’t yet drifted far, he mustered his last strength, reached to his waist with his left hand, and pulled the pin hidden there.

This was a device he had made himself.

But he had never had the chance to use it.

Six grenades simultaneously emitted green smoke.

Staring at the red eyes beneath the iron can, he spat a mouthful of bloody froth onto its face.

"...Go to hell!"

His spit left the iron can momentarily stunned as if it didn’t understand what he was trying to do.

Just then, flames erupted in a fiery explosion!

Old Soldier was inevitably blasted into pieces.

The explosion caught the power armor off guard, scattering large chunks of mycelium, but it didn’t cause any substantial damage.

Class A’s defensive line was breached.

With the collapse of the frontline, the already-struggling flanks quickly fell into a Variant encirclement.

The battle continued.

Everyone fought bravely.

Even though they all knew their deaths were certain.

"...Just as the plot dictated."

A wry smile appeared on Spring Water Commander’s face.

The intensity of the fourth wave of attacks had clearly exceeded their capacity to withstand.

In fact, if not for the previous air raid, they might not have survived even the third wave.

He had done his best.

The rest he had to leave to those who came after...

Dropping his rifle with an empty magazine, Spring Water pulled out his pistol and began shooting at the swarming Eaters, intending to fight alongside his teammates until the last moment.

Anyway, there was no possibility of escape.

What could an Intelligence System do?

Hiding was not even worth considering.

According to data updated on the official website, when the air’s spore concentration reached a certain level, Mucor species Variants would gain omnidirectional Perception of the area.

Every cloud was their eyes!

After firing an entire magazine, Spring Water Commander silently reloaded.

To his surprise, the Eaters ignored him, not even glancing his way, as they rushed past towards the position behind him or into the buildings on either side of the street.

The fog around him expanded.

He was completely engulfed, visibility reduced to less than five meters!

At that moment, a vague silhouette suddenly appeared straight ahead.

It was a three-meter-tall giant, its dark red flesh hanging like a long skirt along the ground, its face without features stared straight at him, trailing strands of meat-red tentacles like Medusa’s hair.

Though not a Perception Variant, Spring Water had a strong feeling.

This creature might be even more dangerous than the giant beast, five stories tall, he’d faced before!

His finger reached his headset, he took a deep breath, and spoke calmly.

"Artillery team... fire at my position."

VM had already marked his location.

It would take about half a minute to adjust the coordinates.

After speaking, Spring Water raised his gun barrel and pulled the trigger at the creature in front of him.

Bang—!

The gun spat flames.

The bullet hit the creature, not even a speck of blood splattered, but he continued firing relentlessly.

It seemed to have caught the creature’s attention.

Or maybe it was aimed at him from the start.

Suddenly, a slit opened on the face without features, and a tentacle swiftly pierced through his mask, impaling his right eye.

He didn’t have time to react, seeing only a blur before losing connection with his in-game character.

His headset fell to the ground.

The transmission continued.

The creature uttered a hoarse whisper,

"...Embrace evolution."

The unconscious Spring Water stood motionless.

The creature watched him, seemingly puzzled.

After a while, a hint of disappointment appeared in its crimson pupils, and it slowly withdrew its tentacles.

The surrounding Eaters swarmed him, quickly submerging Spring Water standing amid the ruins. He remained motionless as they devoured him.

Silence enveloped the area, only the crunching of their chewing could be heard.

The scene was filled with eerie colors.

Just then, streaks of projectiles whistled through the air from above, with numerous mortar shells covering the area around Spring Water, linking up in a blaze of explosions.

A shell landed nearby, and the Eaters surrounding Spring Water instantly fell.

The explosion-direct hit, resembling a Medusa-like creature, let out a piercing scream as its flesh rolled and darted through the scorching smoke.

The explosions continued relentlessly, the street in chaos, the gunfire inside the buildings had ceased, with only the occasional blast heard now and then.

Scores of kilometers away in a temporary command post, a deadly silence reigned.

The camera cut off due to the explosions, the silence in the air was terrifying.

Vanus couldn’t help but glance at Chu Guang.

Though unseen behind the mask, his expression was likely not good.

All 125 people were killed.

Including dozens of Awakeners.

Even with their notable victories, such heavy losses would cast a gloom over the entire shelter.

"...They are true warriors."

Chu Guang nodded slowly.

"Yes."

Construction on the first line of defense had reached 60% completion, expected to be fully completed before dawn.

Although it was still hours away from sunrise, the advancing Tide had markedly paused.

The warriors on Street No. 65 had bought them enough time.

The cultivation chamber, disconnected from the clone, began synthesizing a new vessel.

Meanwhile, as 125 players logged off, the official site of Wasteland OL was buzzing...

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om