This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 386: Overwhelm with Numbers!

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Overwhelm with Numbers!

The street directly south of the library was as noisy as firecrackers, with the sound of gunshots mixing with the screams of injured soldiers and the fierce roars of the Claw of Death, creating complete chaos.

The entire street had turned into a bloody meat grinder.

The cramped street did not allow for much maneuvering, so the soldiers could only fill in wave after wave in small teams of ten and groups of five.

Faced with the thoroughly enraged Claw of Death, their bulletproof armor plates were useless, and their 7mm rifles might as well have been fire pokers.

In contrast, the Claw of Death, nearly two stories tall,

swung its half-meter-long claws lightly, cleaving a man in half diagonally, his organs and flesh scattering all over the ground.

The hell-like scene turned the surrounding soldiers pale, their stomachs churning.

"Suppress it with firepower! Don’t be afraid!"

"Damn it, didn’t the artillery already blast it to pieces?!"

"Shit... our bullets can’t pierce it!"

"It’s not that we can’t pierce it, it’s that its wounds heal too quickly!"

"Ah—!"

Another soldier was torn in half for not dodging in time.

Watching his continuously falling men, Coleway, clad in an exoskeleton, stood on the rooftop gritting his teeth, feeling as if his heart was bleeding.

Standing next to Coleway, his assistant, also in an exoskeleton, swallowed hard and said with difficulty,

"Sir... why don’t we just use artillery to blast it to the sky?"

Sending infantry to face the Claw of Death...

To him, this was madness!

Hunting and war are two entirely different concepts, especially against an unreasonably strong monster like the Claw of Death; even battle-hardened soldiers were ineffective.

Coleway’s face turned solemn, and he said nothing.

He certainly knew that hunting and war were different concepts; against such a monster, a 100mm cannon would be more effective than a rifle, as three rounds of 100mm indirect fire would be enough to overturn the entire street.

However—

General McClenn wanted that creature’s head, not a pile of crushed meat.

At this moment, a soldier, blood oozing from his forehead, ran down from the front lines and stood in front of Coleway, saluting.

"Sir! More than half of our squad is dead!"

"The brothers can’t hold out much longer!"

The assistant also advised,

"If we keep fighting like this, even if we use up all the remaining men, we might still not be able to get that beast’s head."

They had brought only a hundred-man team.

Although it should have been enough in theory, nobody expected the Claw of Death to be so hard to deal with! A 100mm cannon had blasted it at close range, seemingly crippling it, but within a few minutes, the wounds had largely healed.

Is this thing still made of carbon-based life?

Coleway also realized that continuing this way would do nothing but increase casualties without any real results.

They needed infantry cannons, Iron Fist rocket launchers, anti-armor weapons effective against mutants, and... local cannon fodder.

Gnashing his teeth, he gave the order.

"Retreat!"

...

On the library’s rooftop, next to the railing, a person and a bear crouched stealthily behind cover, watching the firefight happening on the nearby street.

"Go, Big Trash Buddy!" Tail, eyes gleaming, clenched his fist, cheering excitedly in a hushed tone for the Claw of Death on the neighboring street.

Beside him, Meat Meat, concernedly watching the besieged Claw of Death, whispered,

"Should we help it?"

It seems like it can’t hold on much longer.

However, Tail flatly rejected her suggestion, speaking sternly,

"Meat Meat, this is a duel among men! It’s better if we don’t interfere."

A group ganging up on one, how is that a duel!

Watching Ah Wei blatantly lying, Meat Meat couldn’t help but secretly complain in her mind.

But thinking about it, helping really wasn’t a good idea.

If it were just a ten-man squad, they could have handled it, but what came was a hundred-man team, with indirect fire support.

If the enemy genuinely closed in at full force, they would be overrun in no time.

Plus, the worst part was, if the battlefield wasn’t cleaned up properly and someone escaped back, letting the command center on the Iron Heart know there were suspected corporate people here, what awaited them might be a 400mm cannon cleansing.

Even if they could escape, the local survivors would suffer because of them.

Although Meat Meat didn’t think Ah Wei had considered as much as she did, she had to admit, staying silent and observing was the best choice at this moment.

So...

She decided to support this "Big Trash Buddy" in spirit.

As if responding to their expectations, the massive Claw of Death let out a piercing roar, shaking the leaves on the trees below.

Faced with the indestructible monster, the soldiers finally couldn’t withstand it any longer, leaving their narrow cover and beginning to retreat in an organized fashion.

As the last soldier clad in a black robe withdrew from the street, the hundred-man team waiting in the distance also retreated.

Amber pupils glaring fiercely at the retreating black-robed soldiers, the "Big Trash Buddy" didn’t pursue them. Instead, he staggered in the opposite direction, his tail dripping blood as he retreated.

Watching the majestic figure disappear into the night, Tail excitedly pumped his fist.

"Way to go, Big Trash Buddy!"

Meat Meat: "Trash Buddy would cry if he heard that..."

...

Fortunately, last night’s battle turned out to be a false alarm, as the Army was injured fighting the Claw of Death and fled in a disheveled state, disappearing into the unknown.

Standing at the third-floor window, Wu Tao’s face was etched with worry, his thoughts tangled as he smoked one cigarette after another.

Outside were the Army’s men, and beneath his feet lived a group of bloodthirsty Variants, rumored to be joined by cannibalistic Wild Men...

He had hardly slept at all last night.

At that moment, Wang Xu, carrying a pipe rifle, approached.

This middle-aged man, over thirty, a well-known Hunter from Xiangling Town, now appeared tired and disheartened, dark bags under his eyes.

He hadn’t slept at all, having spent the entire night standing guard on the rooftop.

"Old Wu."

Wu Tao turned to face the approaching Wang Xu, snuffed out his cigarette, and tucked it back into his patched pocket.

"What is it?"

After a moment’s silence, Wang Xu spoke.

"How about... we move away?"

"Move away?" Wu Tao gave a bitter smile, "Where could we possibly go?"

"Anywhere is better than staying here," Wang Xu said resolutely. "We can’t pin our safety on a beast, especially now that it’s disappeared. Who knows when the Army will return, possibly to take their frustrations out on us... What will you do then?"

Hearing this, Wu Tao fell silent, unsure how to respond.

Perhaps, as suggested, moving away from this troubled place was indeed the wise choice.

Yet talk was cheap—how could it be so simple in practice?

They had lived here for a century, and while life was hard, they at least still had a home.

Leaving would mean wandering the Wasteland, and who knew what greater terrors lay ahead.

It could well be worse than their current predicament.

Wu Tao’s brows furrowed with premature worry; he gazed out at the ruin-strewn streets and eventually sighed.

"Let me think..."

Just as Wang Xu was about to say something, a person ran indoors hurriedly. It was the gatekeeper of the settlement, panic written all over his face.

"Old Wu, there are people outside!"

People again?!

Upon hearing this, Wu Tao tensed up momentarily but then calmed down, recalling the talk of reinforcements mentioned by a few outsiders before.

"People? Where?"

"The gatekeeper replied anxiously.

"By the garage’s enclosing wall to the north, about twenty of them... each armed with an automatic rifle, similar in style to those three outsiders!"

Wu Tao’s heart stirred, and he immediately responded.

"Tell them to wait for a few minutes!"

"Okay!"

The gatekeeper nodded hurriedly and left the room.

Wu Tao didn’t linger either; he followed out the door, but instead of going outside the library, he went to the second floor, searching for the three outsiders who had arrived the day before.

After knocking three times and hearing a "Come in," he pushed the door open.

But before he could step inside, a strong stench of blood wafted to his nose.

A long table, dragged from who knows where, was covered with a plastic sheet, upon which lay a gruesomely disemboweled corpse.

Nearby, a metal tray held bloody organs and several bones, clearly disassembled from somewhere.

Seeing Si Si holding a fine scalpel, Wu Tao’s breath froze, his expression stiff as if he had seen a ghost.

Si Si looked unconcernedly toward the door.

"Is there something?"

Swallowing hard, Wu Tao stammered.

"Outside, there’s a group of people... Their guns, they look similar to yours."

A hint of surprise flickered in Si Si’s eyes.

So soon?

He tossed the scalpel into the tray, took off his plastic gloves and cloth mask, and quickly said.

"Take me there."

"Okay... " Wu Tao, pale-faced and nodding like a pecking chicken, weak-kneed, headed towards the door.

While descending the stairs, he almost lost his footing and nearly fell, fortunately grabbing the handrail just in time to steady himself.

Si Si, following behind, looked at his back with a peculiar expression.

Just dissection of a specimen...

Was it worth being so scared?

...

At the library’s north side, by the garage wall.

Seeing Si Si appear atop the wall, the leading figure of the group, Big Eyes Brother, waved his arm and joked.

"Yo, rich lady thunder!"

"I keep telling you I’m not..."

Si Si said helplessly, looking beyond him to the familiar faces around, surprise dawning in his eyes.

There were twenty-five players in attendance, all from the Death Legion.

The highest-ranked among them was surely Edging Brother, the team leader who had broken through the Level 20 barrier. Though his Sequence was Perception, his overall combat ability was by no means weak—a solid T1 squad player.

The rest, mostly above Level 10 and primarily Strength and Agility types with Constitution and Intelligence types in support, were all central pillars of the Alliance’s combat strength.

What surprised her wasn’t the arrival of so many big shots.

Rather, it was that the person she shook up on the Forum last night had arrived early this morning.

"Could it be that too many people have come?" Edge Shoveling said with a smile.

"How could that be," Si Si, having regained her composure, grinned and continued, "Thanks for showing up."

"Haha, don’t mention it, we mainly came for the excitement of the New Map, and we were planning to come to this area in a couple of days anyway," Edge Shoveling laughed heartily, "Oh right, there are about a hundred more brothers coming. If the convoy fills up, remember to give me a heads-up."

"There’s no such thing, the more the merrier. Shelter No.79 is like an underground city, bigger than all the shelters in the Alliance combined; just a few of us can’t explore it all."

After a pause, Si Si continued.

"Don’t stand outside, come in and let’s talk."

The survivor on gate duty lowered the ladder.

Over twenty players from the Death Legion crossed the Enclosing Wall and quickly entered the Survivor Settlement known as Xiangling Town.

Faced with this group of unexpected visitors, the survivors living there displayed worried expressions on their faces.

Although they seemed quite friendly, the weapons in their hands were anything but.

However, the players didn’t disturb them and headed straight for the "instance" entrance on the second floor of the library.

Along the way, Edge Shoveling and Si Si briefly explained how they had arrived here.

Around two or three in the morning, Bun Brother flew them in a "Dragonfly" Transport plane and dropped them along with airdrop boxes twenty kilometers from Rui Valley City.

Since the Northern Expedition, not only the players from the Burning Corps but most players from the Alliance had learned to parachute in constant practice.

Now in the entire New Alliance, all the corps above the T2 echelon were almost rapid reaction forces, averaging out to "Special Forces."

Whether it was hunting or fighting, all was a piece of cake!

Edge Shoveling: "Originally, Brother Killing Chicken and the others were planning to come too, but last night they received another task and the whole corps was sent to the front lines to support Brother Quanshui."

Si Si: "Rui Valley City is getting more lively."

Edge Shoveling said with a smile, "Yeah. And I heard from Old White and others, the planner seems to have hinted in the group that the next version will push the front line to the neighboring Luo Xia Province, by then this place will be our bridgehead for advancing west."

Si Si: "Let’s talk about the next version when it comes, the pressing matter is to clear Shelter No.79. The corps came over last night, who knows when they might come again. If they find out there’s a shelter hidden here, it’ll be trouble."

Looking at Si Si’s furrowed brow, Edge Shoveling said with a smile.

"Not to worry much about the corps."

Si Si looked at him in surprise.

"Oh?"

Edge Shoveling continued.

"Just before logging in, Brother Battlefield was telling us in the group that the corps seems to be planning to pull together a team of locals from the Fallen Leaf Camp to deal with that Claw of Death, saying that whoever drags back the Dead Claw’s head will get a title of a slave and a Centurion."

Hearing this information, Si Si looked astonished.

The head of the Claw of Death?

That thing...

Does it have any special use?

And from his words, it seemed the corps was set on getting that Dead Claw, determined not to give up until their goal was achieved.

Why wouldn’t there be a concern then?

"So what’s next..."

"What next? Why would there be a ’what next’?" Edge Shoveling said with a laugh, "Our Brother Battlefield heard there was such a good deal and mixed right into that team. The corps even issued him a rifle... although it’s an Opener that requires manual operation."

"Ah, he’s not peeling potatoes anymore?"

"He stopped. He said he’s been peeling potatoes by day and night. The Dog Planner’s tasks were just too damn unreasonable. He decided to do what a man should do," Debt Giant Eye, joining the conversation, chuckled, "We were still joking with him yesterday, saying once he becomes a pseudo-army leader, he should recruit us too."

That’s possible?!

Si Si was stunned on the spot.

After a moment of deliberation, she hesitated.

"But that way... wouldn’t you end up facing Brother Quanshui and his folks?"

Edge Shoveling said with a laugh.

"No problem, we’ve discussed it with the people from the Storm Corps. If it ever comes to a clash, we’ll just set a regular meeting time to practice and take it as a drill."

After all, players wouldn’t really die, as long as they don’t lose their equipment, it’s no loss.

Just go easy on them, hand some "credit" to the good brothers, and before long all the officers on the opposite side are one of their own.

When the battle comes, it’s up to them to call the shots.

"... Anyway, we have our people on the other side. If the corps make any big move, he will inform us ahead of time in the group or on the official website, and we just focus on clearing Shelter No.79."

Si Si looked at these guys, astounded.

This move is just too slick...

...

Second floor of the library.

When they opened the door and entered, like Wu Tao, Edge Shoveling was startled by the grotesque corpse on the Table.

"Holy crap... what in the world is this?"

Si Si replied in a casual tone.

"The Wild Man we encountered in Shelter No.79... I was a bit curious, so I brought it back and dissected it."

The Youth at the Work Site swallowed his saliva, hesitantly yet curiously leaning forward to take a look, then turned back to ask Si Si.

"Any discoveries?"

Si Si’s expression suddenly turned subtly complex.

"Um... how should I put this, it has two more ribs than a normal person, sturdier leg bones, and the distribution of muscle groups in its body and the structure of its brain are quite bizarre. Rather than saying it’s a Wild Man, it’s more like... this guy is a hybrid of a human and some kind of animal."

"Damn... is it that sinister?" I Max Black said, stunned.

Edge Shoveling furrowed his brow slightly.

"Are you sure?"

"Not sure, I’m just a small doctor in pathology, don’t be too hard on me..." Si Si sighed and suddenly noticed Ah Wei squatting in the corner.

"Ah Wei, what are you doing?"

"I’m greeting the Manager at Shelter No.79! Hey, hello, are you there, are you there? Mr. NPC, we are going to disturb you again today."

Listening to the crackling electrical sound, Ah Wei patted the radio and muttered, making a final effort to wake it up.

"Strange... it was fine yesterday."

Meat Meat lifted a bear paw and scratched the back of her head.

"Could it be broken?"

The expression on Sesame Paste’s face showed some trouble.

"Do we still need to bring it?"

Si Si said, "I think it’s better to bring it along."

Ah Wei stroked his chin and nodded solemnly.

"Ah Wei also thinks that perhaps the Manager just overslept?"

"Emmm... It’s not completely impossible."

Although the likelihood was small...

Si Si felt it was more likely due to some other delay, given the game’s setup that Managers are always busy.

However, no matter what, such a critical mission prop was better kept at hand in case there was any urgent need for communication...

...

"Brothers, charge!"

"Aooo!"

Gunfire continued incessantly inside Shelter No.79. Regardless of whether there were rallying cries, Death Legion’s tactics were as always fierce and brutal.

With the addition of over twenty good brothers, the speed of the level conquest significantly increased.

Wolf spiders higher than shins swarmed toward the players, but facing the dense barrage of fire, they fell to the unseen abyss like dumplings being dropped.

Even if occasionally one or two slipped through the overlapping crossfire, guns and bayonets would smash into them face-first, and the outcome was unchanged.

Building after building was rapidly seized from the shelter entrance to the central research area, with almost no significant resistance encountered.

It was only when creatures like the Claw of Death and other dangerous Variants started appearing halfway to the central research area that the progress of the conquest gradually slowed.

However, what puzzled Si Si was that Yong’s, who had helped them open the door of Shelter No.79, hadn’t contacted them all day.

As if he had disappeared.

Si Si didn’t think much of it and continued leading her group to conquer the shelter.

That evening, the Army came again but didn’t get too close, just took a distant look and left.

The players took their game out of the shelter and made a fire on the open space outside the library. The aroma of the roasting meat soon spread throughout Xiangling Town, tempting the local survivors greatly.

Time quickly passed, three days went by.

Later, more players from the Death Legion arrived, and the number of players stationed in Xiangling Town exceeded a hundred.

Just when everyone had almost forgotten about the radio and the self-proclaimed Manager, Yong’s, on the morning of the fourth day, a hoarse voice suddenly echoed from the radio after a long absence.

"...How many people have you brought?!"

Sitting in the room, Si Si, munching on her rations, was startled by the sudden voice, almost dropping her biscuit.

"About a hundred... what’s up?"

Si Si was about to continue asking what he had been doing these days, but the person on the radio didn’t give her a chance to ask.

"Do you really need so many people?! I mean... with so many people, what if the library’s books get damaged?"

The voice sounded somewhat anxious.

Si Si reassured him.

"Don’t worry, we cherish knowledge and won’t damage anything here. Plus, we’ve already moved those books to an empty room on the third floor... including the living survivors there, we will do our utmost to ensure their safety."

... The radio fell silent for a long time, sinking into a prolonged silence.

Si Si felt a bit perplexed.

Isn’t it better to have more people?

These three days, their speed of conquering the shelter was almost several times faster than the first day. According to her estimation, it would take at most three more days to successfully extract the serum.

Although she could understand the nervousness of having many strangers in one’s home, Si Si always felt his concerns were somewhat excessive.

And...

"By the way, why does your voice sound a bit odd?"

"Odd?"

"Yeah," Si Si nodded and after reflecting for a moment said, "It sounds... raspier than before."

Two coughs came from the radio.

"I’ve got a bit of a cold... a small issue."

Si Si said, "Oh, are you okay? Do you need cold medicine? Or you can tell us your location, and while we’re searching for the serum, we can take you out—"

The radio cut her off.

"No need, I’m quite safe here, and whatever happens to me doesn’t matter. The serum in the research area, please ensure it’s taken out, for the sake of... for the sake of the people still alive in this world!"

"Don’t get worked up, we’ll succeed very soon."

Although she delivered these reassuring words, Si Si’s expression grew increasingly strange.

Maybe it was her illusion.

But she always felt this guy’s voice... sounded a bit hollow.

Was everything really okay?

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