This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 444 Nowhere to Run

Chapter 444: Chapter 444 Nowhere to Run

Explosions split the night, sending two trails of white smoke streaking across the sky, one falling towards the valley and the other towards the airstrip.

If that missile had hit the runway successfully, it would have left a deep crater right in the center of the airport.

But, coincidentally, the H-55 "Hurricane" was in the midst of takeoff and already too late to stop.

"Damn!"

Colin, seated at the pilot’s seat, watched the white trajectory on the cockpit window with his face contorting in anger, cursed, and pushed the throttle down.

The flames spewing from the twin engines suddenly increased, propelling the aircraft forward at an even greater speed.

At the same time, he slightly turned the rudder to the left, attempting to evade the incoming missile.

However—

Danger still outpaced him by a step.

Although the missile didn’t directly hit the plane, landing instead beside the runway, there was essentially no difference for a missile charged with metal hydrogen.

"Boom—!"

The blast wave from the explosion expanded at a terrifying speed, hurling shrapnel and stones against the side of the plane, instantly turning the right wing of the "Hurricane" into Swiss cheese.

One engine came to an abrupt halt!

With the other engine still going strong, the aircraft took a sharp turn on the runway, the landing gear brutally snapped off.

Amidst a grating sound of steel, the bomber flipped over violently, tearing a trench in the ground with its broken wing.

A layer of cracks spread across the cockpit windows until, with a loud crash, they shattered into countless pieces.

Colin’s face twisted into a grimace as he groaned and, amidst the dizzying tumble, lost consciousness in an instant.

But before slipping into unconsciousness, he still struggled to stretch out his right hand and press the button next to the control stick.

It was the delayed explosion button, set for half an hour, and only he knew the code to disable it.

Although the troops stationed at the airport might not necessarily lose, General Griffin had cautioned him not to overestimate General McCullen’s abilities.

He didn’t care whether he himself would die; all he cared about was His Majesty the Marshal’s ambition to conquer the world.

If the ground forces ultimately failed to recover the nuclear warhead,

At least, it shouldn’t fall into the hands of the Alliance...

...

Meanwhile, in the skies above the airport.

Looking down at the ground through the fighter plane’s window, the pilot sitting in the "Peidao" was stunned.

His last dive had successfully turned that oddly-shaped aircraft into a sieve with his machine gun, but who would have thought it was still clinging to a missile that hadn’t been launched!?

What he didn’t expect even more was that the pilot opposite knew another strafing round would be enough to finish them off, yet they showed no intention of bailing out, instead completely abandoning maneuverability in exchange for the straight-line speed needed to break the sound barrier!

Everything happened too fast.

Combat at Mach speeds only allowed a few short seconds for either side to make decisions.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he squeezed a few short syllables out from his throat, with difficulty.

"Fuck..."

What kind of madman was he fighting against?

There were nearly 200 rounds left in the machine gun.

Although he could dive again to strike the ground, it seemed there was no need.

Without the protection of both the reconnaissance car and the machine gun positions, General McCullen’s line had been breached by the barbarian cavalry.

meters was a joke for these cavalrymen.

But at 20 meters, nobody could laugh anymore.

Especially out on the open Gobi desert...

The plane wreckage in the middle of the runway started to emit thick smoke.

Watching the wing fragment pierced into the belly of the aircraft, the pilot seemed to think of something, his face instantly turning ghastly.

Without any further hesitation, he immediately turned the nose of the plane westward and pushed the throttle lever all the way down.

At the same time, pinned to his seat by inertia, he bellowed on his private communication channel.

"...This is Peidao! We’ve been intercepted by Alliance ground forces, ’Hurricane’ unable to take off! Mission can’t continue! Requesting to return to base!"

"Repeat, requesting to return to base!"

The nearest airport was 1000 kilometers away, of course no one could respond to him.

But whether or not he got a response, it was time to retreat...

Not only the pilot in the sky was stunned but also the true air force personnel on the ground.

McCullen, who had just boarded a jeep, stared blankly at the smoke-rising airport, a trace of despair gradually appearing in his eyes.

Not only because that was his last and only way out.

But also because of the stuff that had been put on that plane...

The officer holding the steering wheel swallowed hard, nervously looking to the side.

"General... do we still go?"

They had originally planned to intercept that airplane at the airport.

But now it seemed unnecessary.

General McCullen’s Adam’s apple moved, and after a long while, he forced out these words.

"It’s over."

As he finished, his shoulders slumped against his seat.

The officer sitting beside him was stunned, a look of bemusement filled his eyes as he gazed at McCullen.

This vigorous and prime-aged man seemed to have aged over a decade in an instant...

A tumult of thunderous hoofbeats boiled over the south of the camp, amidst an overwhelming chorus of battle cries.

As the elite of Petra Fortress, every horse in this cavalry unit was a black steed from the Great Desert. The riders upon them were without exception, brave and skilled warriors.

Once they lost the protection of heavy firepower, the defensive line on the southern side of the Army’s camp was instantly shattered. Groups of cavalrymen charging into the camp wreaked havoc, jabbing with bayonets at anyone they encountered or opening fire with their rifles, sowing chaos throughout the camp with men and horses toppled everywhere.

"Capture the enemy commander alive!" the Chief Guard leading the charge shouted out.

However, by now, everyone was seeing red and had no mind to listen to his orders; the dead, including those struck down or impaled, lay everywhere, with some even kneeling to surrender.

Surrender?

Why hadn’t they considered it while sitting behind the machine gun?

Even if they were to surrender—

It could wait until after they’ve killed half of us!

Thinking of their comrades lost in the charge, the cavalrymen on horses roared with rage.

Whether they were the distant arrivals from Weilante People or the Soldiers of the Falcon Kingdom,

at this moment, they were all just meat on the chopping board; as long as they rushed out and stood outside the tents, they were as good as dead.

And those hiding inside the tents weren’t faring any better.

To avoid the tents entangling the horses’ legs, the cavalry didn’t charge at the tents but instead, they lit Molotov Cocktails stuffed with cotton and filled with petrol and alcohol using lighters and hurled them viciously into the tents.

These specially-made Molotov Cocktails were much more effective than grenades and cheaper to make besides, shaking them before use even improved their effectiveness.

Seeing the fires start behind them, Centurion Weiss immediately brought people to support from the western line.

Petra Fortress had numerous soldiers, but their combat power was not on the same level as the Falcon Kingdom.

Many of the militia were lax in their training and couldn’t even dig proper dugouts, thinking that scooping out a hole and burying their heads was enough, not realizing that they were leaving most of their heads exposed to the enemy.

It was because of this that he was able to spare a thousand-strong Retinue Army, which reassembled and then made their way back towards the direction of the airport.

However—

Riding a tricycle motorcycle, he had just reached the edge of the camp, not yet having had the chance to go in and assist, when he saw a flicker of light to the east.

"Boom—!"

Before the deafening sound of the artillery could arrive, the light of the explosion blossomed on the dunes.

Two ten-man squads hadn’t even managed to spread out and lie down before they were obliterated by a high-explosive bomb.

"Tanks!" a Retinue Centurion screamed in despair, "Everyone scatter!"

But this despairing shout was to no avail, it couldn’t even be considered a dying struggle.

Those were tanks!

And not just one!

On the distant horizon, now slowly cloaked in darkness, a number of black dots appeared.

Tanks lined up in a row, their dark muzzles uniformly erect and pointing forward, with an enormous cloud of dust rolling behind them.

Seeing the iron tide appear on the horizon, the soldiers of the Falcon Kingdom felt despair wash over their faces.

They didn’t even have anti-tank weapons.

They were utterly helpless against those things!

The first shell was just the beginning.

After the first hit, the other dozen tanks opened fire.

The barren Gobi Desert instantly exploded with deadly dust, vacuuming out areas the size of basketball courts.

Any organic being touched by the blast was instantly obliterated into a heap of flesh.

Even those not directly hit, scraped by the shards of the high-explosive grenades or shaken apart by the shockwaves, were countless.

A nearly full-strength thousand-man team was annihilated by half after just one round of volleys.

The caliber of those shells was clearly more than 100mm, likely upwards of 150mm.

There were no defensive fortifications to hide in, no cover.

In the face of the king of land warfare, the infantry could only await a one-sided slaughter.

Currently, only the tank cannons were firing.

By the time they reached the effective range of the coaxial machine guns, an interlocking net of machine-gun fire awaited them.

Centurion Weiss climbed up from the overturned motorcycle and, looking towards the distant steel tide, saw and despair in his stoic pupils turn into utter hopelessness.

"...It’s over."

It was all over...

...

The battle outside of Lost Valley was over.

With the arrival of the Alliance’s tank units, General McCullen had completely abandoned any hope of escape.

In fact, it was already too late.

Unless it was a plane, nothing could escape 100 kilometers within an hour.

"General... what should we do?" The officer sitting at the driver’s seat of the jeep looked at General McCullen beside him in despair.

He didn’t even know where to flee.

McCullen’s Adam’s apple moved, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

He didn’t see himself as a failed commander; he had dispatched each unit to the position they needed to be in, and made the right deployments.

However, he couldn’t conjure up a ten thousand-strong force out of thin air, nor could he order a non-existent force to attack.

What about General Griffin’s tanks?

Even if Camp 530 fell, at most they would only lose a third of the tanks.

That man couldn’t have failed to consider if the Alliance guessed their plans, they might send a mobile force to raid the airport.

But where were the Conqueror tanks?

Where was that "Wanderer" that the army touted to the skies?

Why did he only see Alliance tanks?

And how did the garrison at Petra Fortress suddenly come out of their shell?

Didn’t those nobles of the Falcon Kingdom swear that even if they were beaten to a pulp, those people wouldn’t come out of their shell?

What exactly went wrong?

He just couldn’t understand.

But...

It was pointless to talk about it now.

In the face of a million-ton three-phase bomb, all struggle was futile.

McCullen silently pulled out his pistol, trembling hands aimed it at his chin, and clicked off the safety.

He closed his eyes, yet his trembling forefinger, heavy as if filled with lead, did not pull the trigger after trembling for a while.

He put down the gun with a shamed expression and looked up at the night sky.

Well...

It was just a change in the method of death.

The sound of artillery from the northeast was getting closer, and to the south was the thunder of cavalry hooves and war cries.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, the officer suddenly started the car and stamped on the accelerator.

McCullen, slammed back in his seat, didn’t scold but instead asked with a wry smile.

"Where do you plan to go?"

"To the valley! If we hide in the valley, we have a chance to survive!" His boot pressed on the accelerator, the officer’s eyes bloodshot.

In theory, it might be the case.

Whether cavalry, infantry, or those tanks, all would turn to ash in a nuclear blast...

The jeep’s trunk contained decontamination suits and other survival tools; perhaps hiding in the valley could indeed allow them to survive.

A desire for survival reignited in McCullen’s heart.

However, at that moment, he suddenly caught sight of a truck speeding out of the valley in the distance, heading towards the airport.

What was that truck trying to do?

McCullen frowned slightly.

He had a bad premonition.

Just like the ominous feeling he had a few days ago...

...

On the truck.

Si Si, gripping the steering wheel, glanced at the rearview mirror and then at the burning airplane ahead, tapping his finger on the headset.

"Ah Wei, you’ve made up your mind."

"Yeah! I’ve made up my mind!"

Short hair turned into a bird’s nest, Tail nodded while standing at the machine gun position, a rare serious expression crossing his face.

"I’ve been thinking since Teddy died... maybe we are all alive."

Si Si’s face showed surprise.

Including Sesame Paste in the passenger seat, and Meat Meat at the back of the carriage.

"... Digital life? Or something like that... I don’t really understand, including other NPCs, I always feel that they are not just supporting roles in RPGs, or tools for issuing quests."

"They cry, they laugh, they have people they dislike and people they like, they manage their lives and don’t just repeat some preset things; they’re truly living well, just like we do in reality."

As she spoke, she herself became troubled, unsure of how to describe it.

Si Si glanced at the rearview mirror and fell into deep thought.

"Mm, but if you think about it that way, those enemies we’ve killed..."

Tail said with certainty.

"They were also alive."

"Then..." Sesame Paste said blankly, mouth agape.

Tail said without hesitation, "Even so, when it’s time to shoot, I’ll still shoot! No matter what, robbery and murder are bad, and if the bad guys refuse to surrender, more people will die. So if they don’t plan on surrendering, it’s better to let them die."

Si Si looked surprised at Tail in the rearview mirror, who couldn’t open his eyes because of the wind.

But she didn’t say anything more.

In fact, she’d thought about this question a long time ago, but she was flexible in her level of empathy.

Even an Oscar-winning screenwriter couldn’t make every plot and character liked by everyone, let alone just an ordinary RPG game.

She would choose to empathize with what interested her.

As for the rest, it was up to her.

In reality, you can’t just kill people, but in a game...

Once killed, they are just killed.

"I mean... do any of you know how to defuse nuclear bombs?" Looking at the burning plane, Meat Meat, who was clinging to the top of the truck, called out nervously.

"Oh! We don’t!"

Meat Meat said with a cry-laughing expression.

"Then what’s the point of us going there?"

"There’s always something that can be done..."

Sesame Paste consoled Meat Meat, not knowing herself what to do; she was just a teacher after all.

Tail: "Exactly! Like sending the bomb into the valley!"

Meat Meat paused.

"But then, that relic would..."

"Right, whether to save the copy or the people outside, it’s actually a multiple choice question..." Si Si said offhandedly, steadying the steering wheel, "So I let Ah Wei think it through."

Meat Meat: "What if we drove the truck as far away as possible in the other direction?"

Si Si: "To the west is Petra Fortress, to the east is the Skeleton Corps’ buddies, so we can only run north, I don’t mind making a sacrifice... Want to bet on how far we can get before it explodes?"

Tail: "Don’t worry, Meat Meat, the game map is so big, it won’t be difficult for Ah Guang to make a couple more!"

Meat Meat sighed and sat back down in the carriage.

"That’s true too."

After all, the trip had already yielded no small profit.

The power of a nuclear explosion varies depending on where it detonates.

Among them, the airburst undoubtedly has the greatest effect on personnel.

Whether it was the shockwave or the irradiation killing power, the coverage of an airburst was the broadest, with radioactive dust even being carried by air currents hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away.

Next was a ground detonation.

At the center of the explosion, a deep crater would form, and a portion of the shockwave would be released upward in a conical shape.

This method of detonation was mainly used to destroy fixed fortifications, and its effect on personnel was somewhat less.

As for being buried underground and detonated, that was primarily for nuclear testing.

At the center of the Grand Canyon, there was a sufficiently deep cave, probably blasted out by some kind of orbital weapon. Although part of it had been covered up over time, it still had a depth of about a hundred meters.

That was their target.

As long as the nuclear bomb was sent into that almost vertical shaft, the impact of the explosion could be minimized to the least.

The truck stopped next to the airport.

A pedestrian quickly got out of the vehicle.

Grabbing the combat shovel that was resting beside the seat, Si Si was about to step forward when Meat Meat volunteered with enthusiasm.

"I’ll do it!"

Alien sequence players may have difficulty operating tools, but their panel data was mostly outrageously strong.

The location of the bomb release mechanism was confirmed.

With a mighty roar, Meat Meat tore down the hanging steel plate, revealing the nuclear warhead buried inside the fuselage and the metal bracket securing the warhead.

Fortunately, this thing could be disassembled.

Not minding her singed fur, Meat Meat exerted all her strength and forcibly broke two aluminum alloys, finally pulling out the nuclear warhead about the height of a person, along with its bracket, from underneath the fuselage.

Looking at the cylindrical object on the ground, she suddenly felt a wave of fear and cautiously looked toward her teammates.

"...Will this thing explode?"

Si Si shook her head.

"I don’t know, if it doesn’t explode then that’s best, but what we need to do is prepare for the worst."

...

Elsewhere, in Lost Valley.

Waking up from unconsciousness.

Luo Yu shook her drowsy head and looked around, a trace of bewilderment gradually surfacing in her eyes.

"...Where is this?"

Ahead was pitch darkness, like some unnamed cave. Behind her, a few streaks of light mixed with the sound of whooshing wind suggested a high location.

The Cloud Dragonfly didn’t have ejection seats, but rather an ejection pod with stronger protective capabilities.

The parachute hadn’t fully deployed, and the ejecting escape pod had crashed straight into the mountain, with the front half stuck in a cave and the rear half exposed outside.

Judging from the scattered concrete debris around, this place did not seem like a naturally formed geological structure but rather something patched up with inferior cement.

According to posts from other players on the Forum, the residents near Lost Valley had imbued it with mythical colors, and there were even believers of The God of the Sky in the early days. Presumably, this was the temple they built... or part of it.

But Luo Yu always felt that rather than being a temple, this place looked more like a hole dug by "tomb raiders."

After all, something that happened 100 years ago couldn’t be verified.

Maybe there were no believers at all, just a few scavengers who came to pick up trash and, through exaggerated stories, were labeled with tags they might not even know about themselves.

Such coincidences had happened in history...

Climbing out of the wreckage, Luo Yu found the survival tools stored in the ejection pod.

A 5mm caliber pistol, two 15-round magazines, basic medical supplies such as bandages, and tools like flashlights.

Regrettably, the co-pilot brother ultimately didn’t make it; only a pool of blood remained in the crushed seat, not even a complete body could be found.

Let alone the VM tied to his leg.

Falling Feather silently mourned for him in his heart, then packed his survival tools into his backpack, took the flashlight, and continued down the cave, trying to find an exit.

The expansive cave led to an unknown destination, while the dark red fungus patches in the corners seemed eerily familiar.

Swallowing hard, Falling Feather drew his pistol and loaded it, holding the flashlight in his left hand to cast a beam of light as he cautiously moved forward.

The fungal patches on the walls were becoming more numerous.

Ahead appeared a rusty, spotty escalator.

Huge boulders blocked the way above, and below was an abyss of impenetrable darkness.

With no other choice, he could only proceed.

Especially after he passed a broken staircase and found a wall, at least half-covered in red spots.

And that wasn’t all.

Even the air around him carried the rotten scent of spores.

As Falling Feather had expected, an Eater appeared before him.

However, just as he lowered his footsteps, planning to knife the creature, the Eater seemed to notice him.

And then...

It spoke.

"Hey, is that a flashlight? Don’t shine it at me, the myxomycetes hate light."

Falling Feather froze, his finger almost pulling the trigger of his gun,

"You can talk!?"

"What do you mean I can talk... Your tone is really odd, is that some regional dialect?"

Falling Feather took a step back while staring at him, moving the flashlight aside and asking cautiously.

"Who are you?"

"Who am I... hmm, that’s a good question, but I can’t quite remember," the man replied nonchalantly, apparently unconcerned about Falling Feather’s gun.

Falling Feather looked bewildered.

What the hell?

"You can’t remember because..."

"Names are for others to use. It’s been so long since anyone came here, I forgot mine."

The man laughed heartily, still with his back turned, without facing him.

Falling Feather stared at the back of his head.

"Can you turn around?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Falling Feather nodded.

The man turned around without any fuss.

However, the moment Falling Feather saw this fellow, he was completely stunned, unable to help but blurt out a curse.

That face—

No, it couldn’t be called a face anymore. It looked like a piece of wood long soaked and rotted, grotesque to the point of hideousness.

With lips like decaying wood opening and closing, the man spoke cheerfully.

"Right, I haven’t seen any living beings for a long time. After seeing you, I started to remember a bit about the past..."

He paused, then continued.

"You can call me, Pigeon."

Falling Feather stiffened slightly, vaguely remembering the name.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled the book translated by Si Si that he had seen on the Forum before.

His eyes showing disbelief, he asked, dumbfounded.

"...You’re a researcher from the Academy?"

Pigeon thought for a moment.

"Academy... Oh, that’s a nostalgic name. Are those bookworms still around? Or have they already turned moldy in the swamps?"

"Probably still around..."

But only as a backdrop in this RPG Game.

Looking at that horrifying face, Falling Feather couldn’t help but ask the question he was most concerned about.

"Wait, weren’t you dead many years ago?"

Pigeon nodded.

Perhaps because he hadn’t encountered anyone to talk to for so long, he rambled on.

"Well... I should have aged quietly and been laid in a coffin like other old men, but in the end, I couldn’t resist my curiosity about these ruins. There’s no helping it, we people from the Academy have a hard time controlling our interest in ruins... even though I left the Academy many years ago."

Falling Feather’s expression turned odd.

The Alliance’s chief researcher came from the Academy, but his curiosity about ruins was average at best; he seemed more interested in coffee machines.

"So what’s your current state?"

The man candidly admitted.

"Symbiosis."

"Symbiosis?!"

Seeing Falling Feather’s eyes widen, the man chuckled.

"Don’t be so tense. Symbiosis is not parasitism; two organisms coexist, sharing prosperity with each other, having without possessing... don’t you think that sounds great?"

Before the man in front of him could recover, Pigeon looked towards the pitch-black corridor behind him.

"Right, let me introduce my companion... Hey, Little Red, come out and say hello to the guest."

A chilling sensation crept up Falling Feather’s spine.

He stiffly turned around and saw a humanoid creature, eight or perhaps nine feet tall.

In the residual light from the flashlight, he saw a blood-red hue.

Its facial features were abstract, the mouth and nose merely rough outlines, with no discernible gaps, as if they had yet to evolve.

Its eyes were particularly unusual, resembling half-spheres of a fly’s eye, composed of numerous hexagonal structures, faintly emitting a crimson light.

Two slender arms hung at its sides, the ends like trumpet-shaped openings, similar to the cuffs of a garment, though devoid of any hand-like structures.

As for its lower limbs, they were even more abstract.

Below the slender waist was an inverted cone-shaped fungal mat, eerily resembling Lisandro’s skirt hem.

At first glance, the creature somewhat resembled the Evolutionary body that had emerged in the previous Tide.

However, it was not as ferocious as that being.

If there had to be a distinction, the one emerging from the center of Qingquan City resembled a shark with a gaping maw, while the one before him now was more akin to a dolphin.

Thick tendrils, like fingers, floated from behind it, encircling him as a dolphin’s mouth might, but not coming too close.

Looking at the tendrils within arm’s reach, Falling Feather swallowed nervously.

He didn’t know what this was.

But he hoped that Dog plan would be humane.

—

(Thanks to the alliance leader "Schrödinger X" for the reward!!!)

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.