This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 379: That Airship, It Must Be Quite Valuable, Right?

Chapter 379: Chapter 379: That Airship, It Must Be Quite Valuable, Right?

Eighty kilometers east of Rui Valley City.

The camp of the enterprise expedition team.

The distant rumbling of thunder made the soldiers from the East Coast stop their work and look westward.

"What’s that sound?"

"Is it thundering?"

"Doesn’t seem like it..."

"Sounds like something exploded."

"It’s strange, when I was in the City of Dawn, I specifically asked the commercial team from the west, and I didn’t hear about any wars going on nearby."

The soldiers whispered among themselves.

In the middle of the camp, at the entrance of a tent.

Standing next to the captain Yun Song, the logistics officer He Ding looked slightly tense. Being someone who often traveled far and wide, his intuition for danger was extremely sharp.

He was very clear that the sound was definitely not thunder.

"Was that a nuclear bomb just now?"

Yun Song’s eyebrows knitted slightly.

"I’m not sure."

Nuclear bombs weren’t really that scary, they were just weapons with a high cost-performance ratio, and there were plenty of weapons on the Wasteland with even greater power.

What really concerned him was the power that the sound implied.

Based on his experience, the explosion’s yield was at least ten tons.

Whether it was a nuclear weapon or not, that power was enough to put them on alert.

However, what was strange was that, according to the intelligence they gathered in the City of Dawn, there shouldn’t be any other regional powers from Qingquan City to the east until the Falling Leaves Province.

At most, there were some scattered small survivor settlements.

Although not few in number, they clearly did not have the capability to manufacture such weapons.

He Ding spoke in a low voice.

"I suggest we change our direction of advance. Before we enter the Falling Leaves Province, it’s better to avoid getting involved in regional conflicts..."

Yun Song pondered for a moment and then nodded.

"Hmm."

...

On the northwest side of Rui Valley City.

The camp directly below the Steel Heart.

Sitting in the tent, Rachel’s complexion was as gloomy as the clouds outside the tent.

Especially upon hearing that his most capable hunter, Vito, had died on the battlefield and had died ignominiously under enemy artillery, he clenched his fists angrily.

"These damned bugs who hide and skulk..."

Once he caught those guys, he swore he would torture them with the cruelest methods until they bled dry and gasped their last breath.

At that moment, the tent flap was lifted.

The guard who entered performed a military salute, interrupting his thoughts.

"Sir, there’s an officer from the Airship Staff outside."

Upon hearing this, Rachel’s expression stiffened slightly, and it took him a good three to five seconds before he finally spoke.

"Let him in."

"Yes!"

Watching the guard turn and leave, Rachel sighed softly after a long contemplation and slowly relaxed his taut shoulders.

The parachute was not found.

The half-dead enterprise employee had escaped too.

Not only that, but his side had lost two marine squads in a row, as well as a scouting team composed of three Awakeners.

At this time, for the Airship Staff to send someone over, it was obvious what they intended to do.

The tent flap was lifted again.

An officer in a crisp uniform walked in from the outside.

Rachel noticed that this was someone he had just met during the day.

However, unlike when he saw him during the day, the officer’s face and demeanor were much more serious now.

Knowing that the officer was most likely here to hold him accountable, Rachel didn’t speak, quietly closing his mouth, waiting for him to speak his piece.

However, to Rachel’s surprise, he did not receive the demotion he was expecting.

Instead, he heard an unexpected assignment...

"General McLlen has appointed you to be the commander of the ground forces; tomorrow morning we will deploy more troops to the ground."

"The troops will be under your full command until the deployment order is revoked."

Upon hearing what the officer before him said, Rachel’s eyes immediately showed a clear surprise.

Seeming to have noticed his astonishment, the officer from the Airship Staff continued to speak.

"According to the Staff’s assessment, the enterprise employee we are pursuing is suspected to have joined forces with the enterprise’s reinforcements. Various signs indicate that the unidentified armed forces that ambushed our patrol tonight are from the enterprise!"

"The losses of the 29th and 31st Marine Squads are not your fault; it was our deficiency in regional intelligence that led to this accident."

"Captain McLlen demands that you perform well and use the enemy’s blood to wash away this disgrace, avenging the brothers who died tonight!"

Surprise receded from his gaze, Rachel took a deep breath and said earnestly.

"I will."

"Prove it with your actions; the Captain awaits your news."

Dropping those words, the officer from the Airship Staff didn’t linger, turning crisply and leaving the tent.

Rachel stared straight at the tent flap, gripping his fists tightly, then slowly releasing them, his eyes sparkling with combativeness as he chewed over the words he had just heard.

As if he wanted to crush them and swallow them down.

"I will!"

...

The seething wildfire burned all night until the night waned and gradually extinguished.

However, the fury of the Army had not subsided; the annihilation of the two marine squads had the Steel Heart on the highest level of alert.

And the thunderous sound of the guns kept the survivors in the vicinity of Rui Valley City sleepless through the night.

In the early morning.

The disturbance was far from over.

The "Steel Heart" airship continued to deploy military equipment to the ground, deploying an entire thousand-man team, while the fortifications under construction followed the standards for three thousand-man teams.

Dozens of marine teams were dispatched to the eastern suburbs to search, looking for those three girls who kept two bears and the mortar position that fired at their patrol last night.

According to the soldiers who escaped, their attackers consisted of at least a hundred-man team, equipped with highly mechanized exoskeletons.

No doubt about it.

That was corporate reinforcement!

However, General Mclen wasn’t worried—at all. What did it matter if they were corporate reinforcements?

Just a bunch of weaklings.

It was time to catch them all in one go!

Simultaneously, under the guidance of the airship staff, the marine commander Rachel began sending out "armed negotiators" to the surrounding areas.

Leveraging the intimidation of last night’s cannonade, it was time to convey General Mclen’s intentions to the nearby survivor settlements—

Submit or perish!

...

On the other side, in the eastern part of Rui Valley City.

About five kilometers away from the center of the explosion, in the mountainous area, over twenty players of the Storm Corps were resting.

The sky was not yet fully bright, and a gray dim light loomed in the distance.

Although some suggested camping further away, Brother Quanshui said that seemingly dangerous places were actually the safest.

Come daylight, the Army would likely send people eastward to search, but they would probably not focus near the blast area.

Besides, the terrain here was high, providing an open view.

Even in the event of trouble, they could move quickly.

After more than thirty continuous hours of forced marching, having fought a battle with the Army patrol afterward, even if people were made of iron, their equipment couldn’t hold out.

Most players’ exoskeletons had run out of power.

Fortunately, the truck driven by Tail had a wood-fired generator.

The removed exoskeletons were lined up in a long queue next to the truck.

"Kakarot," leading a few Strength-type players, went to the nearby forest to cut down trees, while several Agility-type players began preparing food for everyone.

Meat Meat took Teddy, who would not wake again, up the nearby mountains, intending to find a spot away from scavengers to bury him.

Tail and Sesame Paste accompanied her.

Si Si wanted to follow, but her injuries were too severe, so she had to stay at the camp.

She found a secluded corner and performed minor surgery on herself with the medical tools from the vehicle to remove the bullets lodged in her body.

Since she was not very skilled, it ended up a bloody mess, but after some fiddling, she managed to get the job done.

"Fixed!"

Si Si exhaled deeply as she looked at the deformed bullet clamped in the tweezers, casually tossing it into an aluminum box to keep it as a memento.

Although the regeneration rate of a Body Constitution System player far surpassed that of an average person, it wasn’t to the degree of mutants where "wounds healed at a visible rate."

Simple suturing could make the wound heal faster; Si Si figured that by this time tomorrow, she would probably be able to join her comrades in battle again.

After stitching up the wound, she opened a new box of bandages to apply, admiring her handiwork satisfactorily before heading back to the truck.

Breakfast was still a while away; "Kakarot" and his team had just returned with firewood for the stove and generator.

The other players sat in a circle, most yawning from exhaustion.

Only Brother Quanshui, standing in the center, was enthusiastically explaining his battle plan to the others.

"...The airship can store a lot of supplies, but even their supplies are not unlimited! With an Army of thousands, not to mention the food they boast every day, just the shit they take could fill a truck!"

I Max Black burst out, "Fuck, can you not talk about this before we eat?"

The Spring Water Commander said with a smile,

"Just an example!"

"The ’Steel Heart’ has dropped anchor; if they plan to stay for as long as a month, they will definitely gather resources on-site and get supplies locally—as much by buying with Dinar as by forcing it."

"And that’s an opportunity for us!"

He looked at the players intently and continued,

"We need to differentiate between those who were bought by them and those who were coerced by them, and then attract those who can be attracted!"

Si Si pondered for a moment and said,

"But how many survivor settlements dare to resist the Army?"

The Spring Water Commander said with a smile,

"We don’t need them to resist openly; we can fight the tough battles."

"All we need is their small help within their reach!"

Even if it’s just telling us the positions of the Army patrols.

Even if it’s just a tip-off about when their supply confiscation convoy arrives.

Old Soldier’s eyes lit up with understanding,

"I get it, you’re talking about guerrilla warfare, right?"

"Exactly!"

The Spring Water Commander said with approving eyes, continuing,

"The Army’s people are likely to contact the nearby survivor settlements during the day, so we’ll do the opposite and go at night!"

"When everyone has finished eating, log off and recover, and we will continue discussing the specific battle plan in the group chat."

With that, he turned his eyes to Si Si and said with a smile,

"Good buddy, could you guard the bodies?"

Si Si replied with a smile,

"No problem, and Ah Wei and I will help watch over things."

She had laid down in the truck for a while earlier, and her fatigue values had gone down; she wasn’t very sleepy now and thought she could sleep in shifts with Tail and the others later.

Brother Quanshui gave a fist salute and said with a smile,

"Thanks then!"

...

Those players who arrived in Rui Valley City with Brother Quanshui were mostly full-time players.

Even if a few weren’t full-time, they also had relatively flexible time; otherwise, they couldn’t afford to pull off the impressive feat of a continuous thirty-hour long rush.

After a hearty meal, everyone agreed on a time to log in and then found a spot where they wouldn’t be in the way to lie down and log out of the game.

As for equipment and game characters, Si Si took care of them.

Members of the White Bear Knights were originally part of the Storm Corps, and they’ve been playing together for several versions already; there was naturally no issue of trust.

After logging off.

The Spring Water Commander used the @all function in the Storm Corps’ guild group chat to divide the twenty or so team members who arrived first into three groups.

Group A consisted mainly of Agile system and Perception-type players, responsible for scouting the nearby terrain; Group B was made up of players who could engage in simple communication with NPCs, tasked with gathering information about nearby survivor settlements.

As for Group C, it included players from the Battlefield Atmosphere Group and others who liked to engage in gun battles, continuing to head west, responsible for searching for and ambushing the Army’s patrol teams.

The number of people killed wasn’t the key point.

The main goal was to cause strategic confusion in the enemy’s view by frequent harassment, leading them to misjudge our own position and numbers.

Regarding the task of searching for the entrance to Shelter No.79, Spring Water planned to assign it to Tail and her team once they logged back in.

On one hand, he felt that Tail seemed quite interested in treasure hunting, and on the other hand, it was because they weren’t equipped with high-level gear, making high-frequency combat maneuvers quite challenging.

In this game, wearing an Exoskeleton and not wearing one were completely different styles of play.

It had nothing to do with ability, purely a matter of suitability.

...

When the morning sun shone on the Earth of River Valley Province, and in Giant Stone City located at the edge of Qingquan City’s third ring road, it was a moment of peace and tranquillity.

Even the main cannon with a caliber of 400mm, powerful as it was, couldn’t possibly send shockwaves this far.

Unless—

Someone intended to fuel the fire.

"Extra! Extra!"

Running through the streets and alleys of Giant Stone City, the newspaper boys carrying canvas bags delivered the specially printed papers both to bars and grocery stores in partnership with the Survivor’s Daily, and stuffed them into customers’ windows and door cracks as well.

The specially printed paper had only one page.

And the photo printed on the page was a continuation of that morning’s headline story.

A massive crater imprinted in the valley, the world-destroying shockwave swept across the entire forest, the fiery red blaze like a boiling mushroom cloud.

Beneath the picture, there was a line of thought-provoking text—

[Steel Heart’s 400mm main cannon! Just six shots could level the entire Inner City!]

This was, of course, an exaggerated metaphor.

But with such a comparison, the previously clueless bystanders suddenly realized the terrifying power of the weapon.

Gray Squirrel Clothing Store.

Sitting behind the counter, Sieur was leaning back on a chair, his furry arms resting over his bulging belly, holding a still-warm newspaper in his hands.

He subscribed to the Survivor’s Daily mainly to look at ads to keep up with the latest fashion trends from the City of Dawn.

However, he also found the occasional news stories published there quite interesting.

Mr. Hauser’s broadcasts were exciting, but the guy’s voice was like Spirit Leaf, purely stimulating with no substance.

The Survivor’s Daily was different, with a diverse spread of news, not only covering events in Giant Stone City but occasionally reporting on the outside world as well.

"...Rui Valley City, I feel like I’ve heard of it somewhere."

Hearing Sieur’s quiet mumble, Luo Bo, an old friend browsing in his store, casually responded.

"Of course you’ve heard of it; it’s at the southeast corner of River Valley Province, the Western Gate leading to the South corridor, most commercial teams passing through Giant Stone City would go by there."

"That’s the place!"

A hint of surprise appeared in Sieur’s eyes as he sat up straight from his chair, "That’s really strange, the Army actually went there... Shouldn’t they be up north causing trouble in the Grand Canyon?"

"Army?!"

Rubbing the "art piece", Game’s index finger stopped, and he shifted his gaze away from the mannequin’s leg to look back at Blue Jacket, who was sitting behind the counter, and couldn’t help asking,

"What nonsense are you talking about, what does the army want here?"

He was running the most famous bar in Giant Stone City, the Night Queen, which was not only a notorious den of iniquity but also a hub of information where all sorts thronged.

Not just the nobles from the Inner City would come here for fun; wealthy mercenaries were also happy to contribute their chips to him.

Apart from the White Shark of the Pirate Bay bar, no one had more up-to-date news than he did.

"Stuff from this morning, take a look."

Blue Jacket passed the newspaper and the just-arrived extra edition to his old friend, "The photos can’t be fake, right?"

Game grabbed the newspaper and skimmed through it hastily, his eyes quickly widening to the size of chips.

"The Steel Heart? Hold on, I think I’ve heard of this thing!"

Blue Jacket looked at him quizzically.

"Where did you hear about it?"

With a face full of disbelief, Game spoke rapidly,

"From the Commercial Team that came from the west! Just two months ago! They said, the army settled in the oasis where the sunset, and there was a steel fortress floating above their heads... Damn it, I thought that guy was bullshitting!"

The 400mm main cannon that burns everything...

The caliber was big enough to fit a person inside!

Imagining that scene, Game couldn’t help but shrink his neck.

He truly couldn’t bear to think further about what it would look like for that behemoth to fly to their doorstep.

"Don’t worry too much, the city lord surely won’t let it fly over here." Watching his exaggerated reaction, Blue Jacket’s expression was a bit strange, but he still offered reassuring words.

"That’s not for sure... Last year, whether it was the army or some corporation, they dropped a nuclear bomb in the Elm District to the north, and in the end, it still fizzled out." Game couldn’t help but complain.

Hopefully, someone would take care of this.

Right, aren’t there a bunch of busybodies in the north?

West State City is about a hundred kilometers away from here, and Rui Valley City might be a bit farther, but not by much.

After all, Giant Stone City has a massive wall with plenty of fixed weapons installed on it, while those people have nothing and have planted a large field; they’re bound to do something, right?

Compared to the detestable army, of course, the country bumpkins are a bit more lovable.

A trace of worry unconsciously crossed Game’s face.

Could they win?

...

It wasn’t just Game who harbored similar concerns.

Almost every Waste Land Wanderer holding the Survivor’s Daily had the same thoughts as him.

Not everyone cared about the fate of the country bumpkins in the North Suburbs.

But they wouldn’t naively think that the Steel Heart’s range was just short of a dozen kilometers and would coincidentally spare them.

At this moment, the city hall of Giant Stone City was bustling with activity.

The city hall chief, Duron, had already convened three meetings in a row, bringing not only bank personnel but also summoning the president of the Survivor’s Daily newspaper.

While it couldn’t be said to be in total chaos, it was certainly in a flurry.

Unlike those ordinary residents.

Their concern wasn’t just about the safety of the Survivor Settlement, they were even more worried about the two billion chips they had just loaned out!

What does two billion represent?

There are roughly five hundred thousand residents in the outer city of Giant Stone City, not considering mercenaries and commercial teams involved in trading. The average income per resident is about 100 chips.

In other words, even if all the laborers of Giant Stone City worked screws to the point of smoking, it would take them three to four months to earn that much money!

Yes, the money wasn’t in the Alliance’s hands, but was placed in a supervised account at Giant Stone City Bank. But the problem was that the Alliance had already taken those chips to place orders with their factories and commercial teams!

Almost every factory in Giant Stone City was busy taking out loans, hiring, and expanding production, all for those two billion chips.

The furnaces of industry blazed fiercely. Such a boom had never been seen before!

Neither the bank of Giant Stone City nor the city hall, having tasted just a little bit of success, wanted to see the signs of "economic recovery" snuffed out.

This simply could not happen!

"That idiot Jaeger even proposed terminating the loans. How could such a big deal be stopped just like that! Thank goodness the city hall director was on my side..."

After a whole day of meetings, Melvin returned home, exhausted, handing his coat to his wife while he rambled on with his complaints.

He broke his back every day to make sure those poor debtors could pay him back on time.

His wife took the coat and kissed him, gently consoling him.

"You might need to rest for a few days."

"Darling, I’d like to, but there’s a mountain of troubles..."

Melvin sighed and slumped into the soft sofa.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed the newspaper on the coffee table. His eyebrows, which had relaxed a bit, knitted together once more.

"Survivor’s Daily... have we subscribed to this thing, too?"

He rubbed his temples. Just the sight of this newspaper gave Melvin a headache.

"I subscribed to it. I saw so many things I’ve never seen before, like nutrition paste. They say it’s food for the Waste Land Wanderers..." Sitting next to her father, Alyssa blinked curiously, "Can we buy some? I want to see what it’s like."

"You wouldn’t be interested in that stuff. It’s like... it’s like fermented vomit, only slightly better than the hard-to-swallow tree bark." Melvin conjured up a vivid analogy.

He felt disgusted himself, which should quell his daughter’s curiosity.

Alyssa: "Tree bark?"

"Yeah, if you’re too lazy to even cough up a single chip, that’s all you can nibble on. But the nutrition paste is cheap enough, usually selling for only... why am I even telling you this," Melvin patted his daughter’s head affectionately, "You don’t need to know all this."

One of his sons had moved to the Inner City, another went with a reliable commercial team to the East Coast, and the other two daughters were already married. She was the only bit of his heart left.

His wife frowned.

"...Just don’t bring that stuff into the house."

"I know," Melvin said, smiling as he hugged his wife’s shoulder, "I was just educating our little girl on some..."

"Some unnecessary knowledge," his wife fixed her gaze on her husband with a slightly reproachful tone, "You spoil Alyssa too much. I never agreed with her subscribing to that kind of newspaper. With so many books in our library at home, why would she want to read the vulgar writings of a bunch of Waste Land Wanderers."

Melvin chuckled dryly.

"I’ll talk to her about it."

He wasn’t exactly fond of Survivor’s Daily either, mainly because he didn’t think those "non-professionals" could write anything worthwhile.

Though his office had a subscription, it was only for his secretary to glance over.

But this time, the headline of Survivor’s Daily was beyond his expectations.

The Army’s airships had flown to River Valley Province. If it weren’t for that weirdo who ran over from the neighboring province to write articles, they would probably still be in the dark.

Just like the last time the Pioneer arrived here. A tactical nuclear bomb had already detonated, and their esteemed lord of the city only sent someone to take a look afterward, arriving fashionably late.

Alyssa stared into her father’s eyes and suddenly spoke thoughtfully.

"...You know, we can’t truly isolate ourselves from the Wasteland. The prosperity of Ideal City is enviable, but after all, we are not them."

Melvin looked at his daughter in surprise, not expecting to hear such words from her.

"Where did you hear that?"

"From the newspaper, but I think it makes a lot of sense."

Looking at his daughter who was gazing up at him, Melvin pondered for a moment before speaking.

"You’re right, not only do I know it, Duron knows it too, and even that Uncle Jaeger... that one who doesn’t seem too smart knows it. But there are many, many complex reasons for it, and this issue has been around for a long time."

Alyssa blinked.

"If it has been around for so long, why not start to change it from now?"

Melvin rubbed his daughter’s little head and smiled amusingly, speaking in a gentle tone.

"Because our abilities are limited, each generation has its own work. All I can do is to provide a slightly better life for you, so you don’t have to sell your soul for tomorrow’s lunch like those Wasteland Wanderers, or fight over a bottle of diluted beer."

He did not intend to break the tacit understanding that had been in place for two centuries.

The source of Giant Stone City’s prosperity was the same as that of Ideal City; after all, they were following a corporate path, albeit with some modifications.

They had a powerful armed force and, just like the corporations, did not get involved in the affairs of the Wasteland, only making sure that others did not come to make trouble at home.

Throughout the whole Southern River Valley Province, and even the neighboring Brocade River Province, survivors, whether they were Slave Owners or merchants, regarded them as a model.

Just like they looked up to the Utopia on the East Coast.

However, now trouble had still come knocking.

The Army’s airships had already flown to their doorstep, and those with the high-bridged noses were as barbaric, rude, and openly displayed their canine teeth as the rumors claimed.

He had no doubt that those people would covet the prosperity of Giant Stone City.

Thinking of this, Melvin felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Even as the wealthiest man in the city, he had no way to persuade the great city owner to send out the Army to do something for everyone’s benefit.

After all, when it came right down to it, he too was just a beneficiary of the rules.

That person, the rule-maker, was the one who was truly in control.

That man, age unknown, was colder, more obstinate, and more elusive than anyone he had ever known combined.

Melvin couldn’t help but fantasize.

If there were a perfect solution that could shield them from that trouble, or drive that airship away, that would be great.

And just then, a perfect... or rather, a mad idea suddenly emerged in his mind.

If lending those Blue Jackets a sum of money could save those factories on the verge of bankruptcy, why not lend them another sum for military expenses and encourage them to go to war?

That airship...

It must be quite valuable, right?

And given their "nice guy" personalities, seeing the gaunt survivors of the area, they surely couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. They would end up building roads and houses for them.

"Rui Valley City, the western exit of the southern corridor... The potential there is much greater than West State City."

Muttering softly to himself, Melvin’s eyes grew brighter, and he suddenly stood up from the sofa with a look of exhilaration.

"Dad?" Alyssa tilted her head, not understanding what was going on with him.

Melvin laughed heartily, wishing he could pick up his daughter and give her a kiss.

"My Alyssa, you’re absolutely right—we do need a little change after all, at least a bit of a compromise..."