This Game Is Too Real -
Chapter 398: Luring the Snake Out of the Hole
Chapter 398: Chapter 398: Luring the Snake Out of the Hole
The communication channel buzzed with a busy signal accompanied by the sound of electricity.
Chu Guang pressed a finger to his temple, a hint of exhaustion in his posture as he sat in the office of Shelter No.79’s Manager and disconnected the video call from the City of Dawn.
It had been three days since he acquired the authority over Shelter No.79.
In order to establish a resurrection point and a temporary base at Shelter No.79, Chu Guang stayed at the front line to arrange work for these past few days, without riding back on Nicole.
Just ten minutes ago, his little player finally set up a temporary communication station in the Rui Valley City District.
And at last, Chu Guang managed to establish contact with the rear, learning from Luka about the matters concerning Kaliman and the news of the Army’s invasion of the Luo Xia Province.
Of course, he understood the principle of mutual dependence.
Once the Army captured the Luo Xia Province, the South Corridor of the River Valley Province would become the front line of the battle against the Grand Canyon.
By that time, the path from the City of Dawn to Dawn City, and even the entire Southern River Valley Province, would become a battlefield.
And all the wealth created by the players and the Alliance residents over the past year would vanish into thin air amidst the war.
If it weren’t for the Iron Heart having arrived at their doorstep, thousands of Alliance players would have already become mercenaries, rushing to the front lines to fight against the Army.
Just as Chu Guang was about to discuss a strategy with Vanus, the communication that had just been restored for less than ten minutes was suddenly severed.
Footsteps approached from the corridor outside.
Before the doorbell rang, Chu Guang opened the active door of his office, and, as expected, saw a head of silver-white long hair.
Standing at the doorway of the office, Heya complained with a gloomy face.
"I was just transferring data back to the Alliance’s server from here, and suddenly, the speed just dropped... What exactly happened?"
Chu Guang didn’t immediately answer; instead, he glanced at the VM and saw the light blue pop-up flashing with reports from players.
[Tail: Giao! We’ve come under enemy cannon fire!]
[Tail: Commander! The balloon’s flown away! Σ(゚Д゚;)]
From these two messages, he roughly understood what had just happened.
With a sigh, he closed the pop-up and briefly answered Heya’s question.
"It seems the signal source has been located... The Army’s airship opened fire on our newly deployed temporary communication equipment with a few shots."
Putting aside her complaining demeanor, Heya asked with a worried face,
"Ah? Then... is everyone alright?"
"There are still messages coming through, so they should be fine."
There were many bunkers in the city district, and unless something like a cloud burst bomb, a sub-nuclear weapon, was used, the damage from bombardment was limited.
For the Steel Heart, this place was still far from the supply lines, "behind enemy lines," so to speak; they wouldn’t waste their shells in random bombings without feeling the pinch.
Anticipating that the enemy would likely send ground troops to assess the damage, Chu Guang issued new orders to the players carrying out tasks, to evacuate from the vicinity of the shelling area.
Although long-distance communication had not been restored, short-distance communication was still unproblematic.
The faint signals were difficult to pinpoint, and at most, the enemy would know there were people there but would find it hard to judge their exact location.
"As long as no one’s hurt, that’s good..."
Scratching the back of her head, Heya felt awkward to press further, so she changed the subject and started talking about something else.
"...By the way, while searching the server of this shelter, I stumbled upon something interesting. You might be interested."
"What is it?" Chu Guang lifted an eyebrow with curiosity.
Xiao Qi had just connected to this place for less than ten minutes before the connection was severed. He had not yet conducted a full scan of the server in this refuge shelter.
This shelter had already brought him plenty of surprises.
So when he heard Heya describe her discovery as "interesting," his interest was immediately piqued.
Seeing the expression on Chu Guang’s face, the corners of Heya’s mouth curled up in a smug smile as she continued in a pleasant tone.
"I found a set of exoskeleton blueprints designed for the Claw of Death in the private database of a researcher with the ID A-7274. Although the project wasn’t included in the shelter’s research topic catalog, the completeness of the blueprints was surprisingly high, almost ready for acceptance... I’ll send it straight to you."
As she spoke, Heya stretched out her index finger and tapped twice on the screen of her VM, quickly sharing the data with Chu Guang’s VM.
Chu Guang opened the file and saw a 3D model that included all the parameters of various parts. It contained hundreds of components, with a complexity level somewhere between "Miner Type I" and "Type Five."
Handing this blueprint to Xiao Qi, who could make a prototype with a magnetic confinement cutting machine, wouldn’t be difficult. As for industrial mass production, omitting some configurations, replicating a stripped-down version should not be very difficult either.
Although this equipment was still on paper, the designer had given it a name very fitting for the identity of the Claws of Svan—
Hunter!
Looking at Chu Guang, who was visibly intrigued, Heya, standing to one side, continued.
"... The growth of the Dead Claw’s body is rapid; they can develop from cubs to a height of 1.5 meters in a year and reach 2~2.5 meters after five months, entering adulthood."
"Therefore, the design focus of this exoskeleton was placed on the adaptability of the equipment, reinforcing the extendability of each structure. Adult individuals with spine lengths between 2~4 meters could complete the wearing process. However, correspondingly, the coverage area of the exoskeleton armor is slightly lacking, only protecting the wearer’s head and chest."
"My guess is that the researchers here probably considered that after transplanting consciousness into the bodies of the Death Claws, it would be difficult to operate tools originally designed for the human body, thus they designed a set of exoskeletons specifically for the Death Claws."
The reason why the plan was abandoned was also easy to understand.
Even without Heya mentioning it, Chu Guang could probably guess.
Just look at the Mother of Dead Claw outside.
As long as the serum is injected, growth does not stop. No matter how perfect the equipment design, at most, it can only accompany them for a decade or even just a few years.
Compared to an endless lifespan, this amount of time is just the duration of a sneeze.
Due to different growth rates of various tissues and bones, the idea of scaling up the exoskeleton proportionally is unworkable; there would need to be a redesign for different stages of life.
Therefore, the idea of mechanical augmentation was simply abandoned.
"Not bad... This equipment will be perfect for our Wolf Cavalry," Chu Guang nodded in satisfaction as he archived the blueprint, planning to send it to Xiao Qi once communication was restored.
"Wolf Cavalry?"
"A project that the army is currently researching. We plan to build a cavalry unit capable of quick mobility... although talking about this in 2341 might seem a bit outdated, we want to give it a try," Chu Guang casually replied, "Don’t worry about it, leave the matters of war to us. You don’t have to concern yourself with this."
Heya nodded, seemingly half-understanding.
She didn’t really understand matters of war.
But in her heart, she was clear that if the Alliance lost, she would not be able to focus on her research interests like she can now.
"Anyway, it’s good if I can be of help. I’m heading back to the lab now, you guys... keep it up."
Reaching the door, she stopped, suddenly joking in a teasing tone.
"By the way, that sentence earlier, it sounded quite reassuring."
She didn’t wait for his response.
Her light footsteps soon faded away down the corridor.
...
Rui Valley City District.
The Spring Water Commander, crouching on the rooftop of a residential building, held binoculars, looking at the billowing smoke that was gradually dissipating in the distance.
He was lying next to the abandoned water tank, with the staircase room diagonally opposite him, and his current position was just out of direct sight of the airship.
Crouched beside him was Ghost from the grave, also holding a pair of binoculars and staring in the same direction as Brother Quanshui.
A few days ago, he was taken out by an Old Soldier. He only parachuted back in these last two days.
Although the Old Soldier said on the Forum that he had "obliterated any trace" of him, out of an abundance of caution, he still stayed away from the front line, following the Spring Water Commander.
Based on past experience, sticking to this old scrounger’s side meant nothing bad would happen.
The only downside was that it was a bit boring; unless absolutely necessary, this guy almost never showed up on the front line.
And even if he did show up, he hardly ever engaged in combat.
Take now, for instance.
Never mind an exoskeleton.
The guy didn’t even bring a gun.
Laying there and utterly bored, Ghost crouched by the grave couldn’t help but ask,
"Are you sure the Army’s men will come?"
Spring Water thought for a moment and replied,
"There’s more than an 80% chance."
"Then why isn’t there any sign of them?"
Annoyed by the question, Spring Water gave him a glare,
"Do you think people can get here without taking any time? Stop rushing it, just wait."
No sooner had he spoken than there was indeed some movement on the distant street.
A squad of armed Soldiers cautiously advanced toward the explosion area, taking cover from each other as they burst through the collapsed Enclosing Wall.
Leading the way, naturally, were the Attendants with mixed equipment, while Soldiers in black cloaks pressed from behind, urging the Cannon Fodders to advance into the building debris.
Seeing the sneaky figures, Old Ghost’s face suddenly showed surprise, and he muttered in astonishment,
"...Damn, the Army’s men really did come."
"Such a strong signal, if I were the commander on the other side, I would also send someone to check it out."
They must have mistaken that communication base for their Command Post.
Musing silently, Spring Water kept his eyes glued to that squad of soldiers on the distant street, carefully observing their equipment and personnel arrangement.
According to his reconnaissance over these days, he had pretty much figured out the Army’s attendance pattern.
If it was a regular mission, Space Marines would send out a small team of ten or so, working in conjunction with a hundred-man Attendant team.
The former was usually responsible for supervising and support, while the latter handled charging, clearing buildings, scouting, and covering the rear... in short, all the tasks with a high rate of death.
And if it was an operation against Guerrilla Teams, they would often send three or more hundred-man teams of Regular Army, working with five or more hundred-man teams of Attendants.
According to Old Soldier’s intelligence, the number of survivors at the Fallen Leaf Camp had nearly reached twenty thousand, and the size of the Attendant forces had also expanded from the initial five hundred to two thousand.
If it weren’t for the unestablished organization system of Fallen Leaf Camp’s Attendants, the Army would have loved to distribute Openers to every single able-bodied young man.
Due to the lack of capable lackeys, the promotion speed of lower-ranking officers in the Attendant Army was like riding a rocket.
Incidentally, the Old Soldier was now the strongest contender for Thousands of leaders.
After all, he was personally promoted to Centurion by General Mclen, he had hunted the Claw of Death, and he was the only one who had fought and won directly against the enterprise’s Guerrilla Teams.
Those players who had snuck in with him mostly ended up at positions like Centurion of the lower-level officers.
Confirming that Old Soldier was not among these people, Ghost, crouched by the grave, said eagerly,
"Should we give them a surprise?"
"We’re too close to the airship here and their cannons are most likely already trained on this city district," the Spring Water Commander looked up at the sky and after a moment’s thought, continued, "Let’s wait for the darkness."
Just then, a good idea suddenly came to him.
He had heard that the brothers from the Death Legion had recently captured quite a few Waste Land Wanderers, and they had also gotten some new gear made with the help of Goblin Technology.
It was just the right time to give them a chance to test their mettle...
...
Deep in the night.
A team of Soldiers in black cloaks advanced in the dark.
About ten hours earlier, they had destroyed a communication post located within the city district, and as soon as dusk fell, a new high-powered signal source was located within the city.
Without any hesitation.
As soon as the coordinates were sent to the artillery, the standby artillery team immediately fired three rounds of 100mm cannons, altogether nine shells, giving the signal source area a thorough washdown.
Putting up this radio station at the risk of being bombed, the other side clearly had some important communication with the rear to carry out.
Whether it was to request reinforcements or report frontline news, they had no intention of giving the other side the chance to speak.
Rachel transmitted the Command Post’s orders to the Fallen Leaf Camp side.
Soon a hundred-man team composed of Waste Land Wanderers assembled and, merging with the ten-man team from the Space Marines, set off grandiosely to the city district cloaked by night.
"Why don’t we just meet them with artillery... Do we really have to go over and take a look?"
As the black-cloaked Soldier kept a vigilant eye on the pitch-dark buildings around them while advancing, he couldn’t help but ask his superior in a low voice.
Entering the city after dark was not a good idea.
Any window here could hide a gun barrel.
The officer walking in the center of the group repeated the orders expressionlessly.
"The cannons have already fired a round, the signal source was weakened, but not completely interrupted; it is suspected to be reinforced by an anti-explosive shelter. We need to go over and see what was just bombed and if there’s anyone still alive there."
As he spoke, the officer looked to a side at the Pangolin.
"Take some men and scout ahead."
"Yes!"
As a Cannon Fodder with professional integrity, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group crisply responded and conscientiously led the way.
Not only that, he also brought along a few of his trusted men, including the one called Li Ba who spoke up first.
"You, follow me!"
The ones called out to lead looked sour but still reluctantly followed behind the "Pangolin."
Seeing their expressions, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group smiled to himself, yet he didn’t offer an explanation.
There was simply no need for an explanation; in a moment, those people would naturally be thankful to him.
As for the others.
They would need all the luck they could get.
In war, some are bound to die.
With his men following close behind, the Old Soldier quickly approached the building that had just been subjected to an artillery bombardment.
It appeared to have once been a shopping mall with a height of only five stories; its reinforced concrete dome, once entwined with emerald vines, had now collapsed along with the broken rebar.
Looking at the open-air market, Li Ba, who was following beside him, gripped his rifle tightly as his legs wouldn’t stop shaking.
He swallowed and nervously glanced at the Centurion beside him—the tough guy known as Pangolin.
"...Are we going in?"
The Old Soldier couldn’t be bothered to explain and just said briefly,
"Just stick close to me later."
Li Ba immediately nodded.
Although he couldn’t put his finger on the specific reason, his instincts told him that as long as he stuck close to this guy, he would survive.
After passing through the security checkpoint at the main entrance and entering the interior of the mall, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group shouldered their weapons and looked around apprehensively, clicking their tongues.
"Damn... those big-nosed guys are pretty accurate with their bombing."
The previous barrages of shells had almost all passed through the dome of the mall accurately, landing right in the middle of the spacious atrium, blasting the area to smithereens.
The intelligence that the Storm Corps had paid with their lives to confirm allowed in determining the location of radio signals, but the exact precision wasn’t clear.
Now, the Old Soldier was almost certain that those big-nosed guys’ targeting technology could pinpoint a spot on the map for radio signals of a specific power range within twenty kilometers.
Heading toward the center of the explosion, the Old Soldier searched carefully and soon found a backpack that had fallen from the fifth floor amongst a pile of scattered shopping carts.
The backpack was made of ordinary canvas, containing a radio transceiver and a solid hydrogen battery; additionally, a walkie-talkie was taped to it, repeating a prerecorded message in a faint, intermittent voice.
This was the source of the signal.
It was also the radio decoy prepared by Brother Quanshui.
Leaning in to take a look, Li Ba, who was following him closely, couldn’t help but ask,
"What are they saying on it?"
Although the walkie-talkie kept talking, he couldn’t understand a word.
The Old Soldier casually replied,
"I don’t know."
As a double agent for the Alliance, of course, he understood that the walkie-talkie was playing one of Teacher Zhao’s comic dialogues; "Selling Crutches" had just finished, and now "Just Kidding" started.
The only thing he wasn’t sure about was whether the Iron Heart could actually listen in on the specifics of the radio transmission.
If they could, he could almost picture the scene.
A group of electronic warfare officers sitting in front of a table, listening to the comic dialogue intently, racking their brains to analyze any intelligence that might be hidden within.
No...
After all, he was a double agent for the Alliance; he couldn’t afford to lose composure now.
The Old Soldier, who could barely contain himself, covered the laugh that slipped out with a cough, took off the walkie-talkie hanging from his shoulder, and relayed the lines he had memorized long ago,
"The first floor is secure; an enemy radio transceiver has been discovered... it’s in a backpack, looks like it fell from above, do we continue to search upstairs?"
The officer outside on guard duty quickly sent the expected response,
"Continue the search!"
"Received!"
The corner of his mouth lifted in a slight arc as the Old Soldier cut off the communication and turned to look at his trusted aides behind him. He cleared his throat and ordered,
"Start the search from the second floor. Check every nook and cranny carefully, and don’t miss any suspicious clues!"
"Move out!"
As the Old Soldier was leading his aides towards the second floor for exploration, outside the shopping mall on the street was a blanket of silence.
Seeing that there was no sign of movement inside the building, the officer standing outside could probably guess that the people inside were either dead or had already retreated.
Realizing that there probably wouldn’t be a battle tonight, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a match.
The sharp smoke wafted through his nostrils.
He was just about to glance at the time on his wristwatch,
But at that moment, he caught sight of a pair of amber-colored pupils hiding in the darkness, with the help of the moonlight spilling onto the street.
A hissing whimper floated over.
The creature crouched on the wall stared straight at him, its amber pupils filled with a thirst for slaughter and blood.
The officer’s face went pale in an instant as the cigarette with its burning ember dropped from his rigid lips, shattering the ash.
Especially when he realized it was not just a pair.
But a swarm—
"Dead Claws!"
The officer bellowed, reaching for his rifle and firing the first shot.
"Prepare for battle—!"
Almost as soon as his words ended, the Dead Claws dangling from walls and rooftops howled as they rushed toward the soldiers guarding the street outside the mall.
The previous tranquility of the street was torn asunder by gunfire that cracked like firecrackers, illuminating faces twisted with fear in flashes of gunshot flare.
What terrified them wasn’t just the Dead Claws.
But the fact that there were people riding on the backs of these Dead Claws!
Those people had not only barbarically tied themselves to the backs of the Dead Claws, but the weapons in their hands were also varied.
Some had rifles, some had flamethrowers, and some appeared to be grenade launchers or something similar.
Before colliding with the Dead Claws, the soldiers guarding the street were already thrown into disarray by a preemptive round of grenades and hand bombs.
And in just a few breaths’ time, this group of "wall-walking" cavalry was already upon them, their scorching breaths blowing onto their faces.
And from this moment—
The soldiers of the Army truly understood what was meant by sheer terror and cruelty.
The bloodthirsty beasts were nearly invincible in close-quarters combat. Often, just a swipe of their claws would bring a storm of blood and scatter severed limbs and bodies.
Both the Waste Land Wanderers of the Retinue Army and the soldiers enshrouded in black robes were being harvested wildly amid their fear of death, utterly unable to put up effective resistance and fleeing into the buildings in panic.
Those inside the mall clearly heard the commotion outside.
Looking out at the chaos on the street through the window, Li Ba’s face was filled with fear. His rifle aimed at a charging cavalryman, yet he couldn’t muster the courage to pull the trigger.
At that moment, a hand reached from the side, grabbing his rifle barrel and gently pulling it back from the window.
Li Ba turned his head to see it was his own Centurion, his face showing a look of surprise.
"Don’t shoot and draw those monsters here. We are no match for them..." Making a gesture for silence, the Old Soldier glanced outside and said in a low voice, "You hide here well. I’ll figure out a way to rescue our officer..."
The streets were in chaos.
Gunshots had filled the air not so long ago; now, there were only screams of agony and the horrifying sight of severed limbs and blood.
The methods of these beasts were particularly savage.
To savor living prey, they would hardly kill their quarry, instead swiftly moving to the next target once their current one had completely lost the ability to fight back.
As close quarters combat had already ensued, the airships hovering overhead could only watch in frustration, utterly unable to offer support.
In a mere two minutes, the retinue army’s hundred-man squad had suffered heavy casualties, and the army’s ten-man team was nearly annihilated.
Seeing no more targets to ambush in the street, the wall-climbing cavalry withdrew from the battlefield as swiftly as they had appeared.
Watching the ghostly shadows scatter into the darkness, the officer who had been dragged into the shopping mall by an attendant was still visibly shaken.
Panting heavily, he looked down at the bloodstain on his chest, then turned with gratitude to the centurion known as Pangolin and managed to squeeze out a word.
"Thank you..."
The Old Soldier said nothing.
Mainly for fear of giving himself away.
Finally regaining some strength, the officer took a deep breath and made a calm decision.
"We need to evacuate from here..."
The Old Soldier glanced at the wailing soldiers and attendants outside, and asked in a low voice.
"What about the wounded?"
A flicker of compassion crossed the officer’s eyes, but it was quickly supplanted by severity.
"They...are already dead."
He had not expected the corporation to be capable of using Variants in combat, a stark and disconcerting departure from their intelligence reports.
Especially when he could not be sure how many Claws of Death, like the one just now, were hidden in the city district. Under such circumstances, command couldn’t possibly approve reinforcements.
Hearing the officer’s response, the Old Soldier sighed inwardly.
A shame indeed...
...
After the remnants of the ground forces evacuated, the Iron Heart bombarded the city district with area fire for more than ten minutes.
General McCullen stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the bridge, his eyes fixed on the city district illuminated by artillery fire, his expressionless face rife with gloom.
He always had an illusion.
The longer they stayed here, the more corporate soldiers they killed, their adversaries seemed to grow stronger instead of weaker.
First, there were planes faster than artillery shells, now, cavalry charging on Dead Claws; the enemy’s tactics were becoming increasingly absurd, while their own advantage was fading away...
Just how many reinforcements had the corporation sent here?
Or was his intelligence flawed from the very beginning...
A staff officer reported in a grave voice beside him.
"That signal source...seems to be a bait set by the other side."
"Just now, we detected more signal sources in the city district, each from different areas and on different frequencies... We can hear their communications, but we can’t decipher the language they’re using."
General McCullen was about to speak.
However, at that moment, an officer approached the bridge’s entrance.
"Report! A communication request from General Griffin!"
McCullen said expressionlessly.
"Patch it through to the conference room, have him wait for me for two minutes."
"Yes!" The officer responded and briskly left the bridge.
Handing over command to his deputy, McCullen then left the bridge and headed to the conference room upstairs.
In the conference room sat a table, in the center of which was a silver machine. As General McCullen nodded, the officer at the door immediately left the room.
The ceiling light went out.
The conference room plunged into darkness.
However, pale blue particles of light began to rise from the device in the center of the table, reilluminating the space. Soon, a man in his forties or fifties appeared in the holographic image.
His nose was prominent, his features stern, his presence like that of a male lion, yet his eyes were as shrewd as a fox’s.
Looking at the face in the holographic image, a flicker of annoyance flashed in McCullen’s eyes,
But since that guy had one more star on his shoulder than himself, he still saluted first, waiting for the other to return the salute before starting patiently.
"What is it."
"Cheer up, it’s good news," the man in the holographic image smiled faintly and continued without a hint of emotion, "The Legion Leader has adjusted our deployment in Sunset Province, and we are now officially involved in the war between the Falcon Kingdom and the desert kings."
As a member of the main warring faction, this was indeed a cause for celebration.
Only by expanding of the army’s territory could one achieve honors and accumulate fortune. War was the only way to plunder more wealth, land, and slaves.
However, at this moment, McCullen’s face showed little joy.
Clearly, the major credit had already been snatched up by the man before him, and by the time he returned, he would likely not even have a sip of the spoils left.
As if understanding the captain’s expression, Griffin continued in a soothing tone.
"I was planning to wait for your return before starting the next phase, but we were unexpectedly attacked by corporate reinforcements... Before the desert dwellers receive support from the East Coast, we had to strike first. Of course, I believe you’ve heard about this from other sources."
Clearing his throat, the man in the holographic image went on.
"I am now ordering you to execute a new command, to set off immediately for Desert No. 9, to support the ground forces of the Falcon Kingdom! I hope you haven’t completely wasted your ammunition and that you have at least two tough battles left before you return to port to resupply."
"Corporate reinforcements?!"
McCullen, completely ignoring the latter half of what Griffin said, was visibly surprised at the first half—
Or rather incredulous!
Any semblance of composure broke as he slammed his hands on the table, raising his voice in disbelief.
"That’s impossible!"
"We’ve firmly held corporate reinforcements at bay in the southern River Valley Province, and our airships have blockaded this plain continuously! I am certain that not a single team...not even a Commercial Team has entered the desert from here since early this month."
"Moreover, if you have encountered corporate reinforcements, then who are we fighting against?!"
A light chuckle came through the communications channel.
The sound was tinged with an irritating mockery.
"Who knows."
"Perhaps it’s the locals."
-
(I’ll have to be offline for two days... I have to go again, funny how the doctor already recognizes me.)
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