This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 445: The Light that Destroys Everything

Chapter 445: Chapter 445: The Light that Destroys Everything

At the awkward bend on the south side of Lost Valley, a truck sped past.

Glancing at the layered peaks outside the window, Si Si, who was leaning in the driver’s seat, finally breathed a sigh of relief and focused on the road ahead.

By now, the power of the nuclear bomb had been reduced by at least half.

"Just one last step left."

Muttering to herself, she slammed her foot on the accelerator, hit a few Eaters wandering by the roadside, and continued driving along the path dug out by the Army, heading straight for the center of Lost Valley.

Ten minutes earlier.

She and Meat Meat had loaded the nuclear bomb onto the truck, and then she drove alone towards Lost Valley.

When they had previously sneaked into the valley, they had confirmed that right in the center of Lost Valley there was a huge pit hundreds of meters wide and seemingly bottomless.

Just like a hole left by a quarry.

Some terrifying weaponry had collapsed the geological structure of this area and caused rock veins several kilometers away to rise upwards; the battlefield from the last epoch must be located right beneath that pit.

To explore inside the pit and transport the excavated earth, the Army had dug a circular dirt road along the funnel-shaped slope that could just accommodate two vehicles side by side.

Following this dirt road downwards, just as she was nearing the very center of the pit, Si Si suddenly encountered a jeep abandoned by the roadside.

Before she could wonder why there was a vehicle here, two heads quickly popped up behind the jeep, followed by a handgun and a submachine gun aimed at her.

"Don’t move!"

"Stop the car! Hands on your head!"

The faces of the two men were filled with tension and wariness, clearly looking like high-ranking officers from the Army.

Si Si hit the brakes and stopped, but she did not comply with their demands or even get out of the truck; instead, she just smiled faintly, resting her arm on the window and jokingly said,

"Guess what I’ve got in my truck?"

There was no need to drop it exactly at the center, so she was not at all flustered and looked at the two men with interest.

Seeing that she was not taking their guns seriously and remained calm, General McLenn asked reflexively.

"...What’s loaded in it?"

Si Si did not waste words and stepped out of the truck.

Ignored the two guns and walked straight to the back of the truck, heaving down the nuclear bomb that was placed in the cargo area.

The grey-black bombhead was surrounded by an aluminum alloy frame, as if it had been yanked directly off an airplane.

The moment they saw the bomb, General McLenn and the officer beside him turned pale.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Si Si relaxed.

It’s just like how the more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen.

This thing must have a self-destruct mechanism to prevent it from being captured by the enemy.

Otherwise, there was no need for them to run into this dead-end or be terrified like this upon seeing the device.

McLenn’s lips quivered as he looked at her and said,

"Are you... insane?"

"Insane? Not at all, I just saved tens of thousands of lives," Si Si rolled her eyes and looked at the high-ranking officer, continuing, "By the way, I found a numeric keypad on the nuclear bomb, it’s probably for entering a password, do you know it?"

McLenn’s voice strained,

"...Only the pilot knows it."

"That’s a pity, he’s already dead." Si Si shrugged and added, "By the way, the battle outside is over, are you surrendering?"

Looking at the bombhead on the ground, McLenn gave a wry smile and said,

"Is there any point now?"

"I don’t know, let’s try," Si Si shrugged, "But if you keep delaying, you definitely won’t have a chance to live."

Seeing his indifferent expression, McLenn gritted his teeth, but in the end, didn’t muster the courage to face death.

He didn’t understand why the person in front of him wasn’t afraid to die.

But if he could survive, he didn’t want to die yet.

He let his gun hang down, and McCullen said softly,

"Please, take me away from here..."

Although he never actually uttered the word "surrender," his defeated expression clearly showed he had given up resistance.

A slight smirk curled at the corners of her mouth, Si Si returned to the driver’s seat and expertly started the truck.

"Get in."

On the other side, somewhere in the valley,

Watching the tentacles getting closer, Luo Yu was at his breaking point.

Standing not far behind him, Pigeon smiled gently and said pleasantly,

"Don’t be scared, it won’t eat you, it’s just been years since it’s seen a living person, it’s just a bit curious."

Curious about what?

The taste or the texture?

Hearing this explanation, Luo Yu grew even more nervous and couldn’t help but step back, avoiding the tentacle that was stealthily reaching towards his forehead.

"What... what is this situation? Is it symbiotic too?"

"Not really, it’s the mother body."

"Mother body?!"

Seeing Luo Yu utterly shocked, the man whose head looked like a piece of rotten wood continued in a calm voice,

"Yes, but you shouldn’t be so scared. Just as people can be good or bad, the ’Mutated slime fungus’ as a kind of social animal that has evolved to have social structure, can also embody these concepts of good and bad."

"Of course, this is just to make it easier for you to understand. To be more precise, the dry environment in the desert makes it tough for the slime fungus here to thrive. They don’t have enough nutrients to breed a giant lair or cultivate strong evolutionary bodies to help their species hunt, and there are no available organic bodies around for them to hunt. Therefore, some of the mutated slime fungus have evolved special abilities over the long years."

Luo Yu swallowed.

"...Symbiotic?"

Pigeon nodded happily.

"Yes."

Luo Yu thought of Batch.

The man wrapped in a can of armor like a medieval knight.

He had the fortune to see what that guy looked like with his armor off; almost his entire body was occupied, leaving him with a sporadically functioning brain.

According to Heya, if it weren’t for special medication to suppress it, that guy could turn into a puppet of the slime fungus at any moment.

Would that be considered parasitic?

Luo Yu asked nervously.

"I don’t understand, what’s the difference between symbiosis and parasitism?"

Pigeon replied in a cheerful voice,

"Of course, there’s a difference. One is non-aggressive, and the other is aggressive. One strives for mutual prosperity with the host, while the other drains every last bit of nutrient from the host before moving on to another host to continue exploiting."

"The slime fungus evolved from the Oasis No.7 ruins belongs to the former; it can make you immune to illnesses, immortal, give you a stronger body and abilities, plus it doesn’t require giving up your own genes, which is much safer than an awakening."

"And as a symbiotic, it doesn’t sacrifice the host’s health but extracts trace elements, organic matter, and water from the host’s metabolism. You can think of it as a special kind of... vaccine! Once inoculated, you will gain a stronger body!"

"How about it, young man, want to give it a try?"

That tempting voice sounded like the whisper of a devil, and accepting it was like signing a contract with some "evil force."

Luo Yu admitted.

Becoming a tentacle monster did sound quite appealing.

Operating a plane with two hands, how could that compare to performing brilliant maneuvers with ten?!

But merging with a tentacle monster was a different story altogether.

Moreover, this guy had already turned into such a ghastly mess that Xiao Qi felt his words had no persuasiveness at all.

If the cost of becoming stronger was becoming uglier, then he’d rather level up in an honest fashion.

However, out of curiosity, he still asked a question.

"What’s the cost?"

Pigeon continued with a smile.

"The cost is—"

Before he could finish his sentence,

Little Red suddenly looked around uneasily, but before it could react, an earth-shattering tremor surged up from beneath everyone’s feet.

Pigeon’s face drastically changed.

But before he could utter a syllable, raging sand and debris instantaneously engulfed everyone in the ruins...

At the same time, in another world.

Lying on the bed, Xiao Qi suddenly opened his eyes.

What he saw was a disconnected popup.

The respawn cooldown timer had already started; clearly, his game character was dead.

He ripped off the helmet covering his head, sat on the bed for quite a while, and then, as if his soul had just returned, he burst out swearing.

"What the hell!"

What exactly was the cost?!

...

The nuclear bomb eventually exploded.

It happened not long after it had been moved off the truck and pushed down a steep slope.

A beam of light illuminated the silent valley.

That blistering orb of fire, like the sun rising twelve hours early from the horizon, instantly lit up the night sky enveloping the valley.

The wild airflow and shockwaves slapped against the mountain sheltering the riverbank, shaking the very earth with its terrifying energy.

Outside the valley, in a military camp.

The Army’s soldiers and officers had already given up resisting, their hands raised above their heads in surrender. When they saw that burst of light, despair was etched on almost everyone’s face.

The horses galloping through the camp paced restlessly, their riders clutching the reins in an attempt to calm the horses.

The Chief Guard of Sain looked perplexedly at the light rising in Lost Valley, his eyes flickering with confusion and fear, continuously muttering under his breath.

"...Prophecy!"

That man truly was a messenger of the Gods!

The apocalyptic prophecy was fulfilled after all!

However, it was comforting that the all-consuming light had not risen over the soil of civilization, but instead within the lost ruins.

...

At the same time, on the western front of the battlefield.

As that blinding white light appeared, the gunfire echoing across the wilderness also ceased abruptly.

Gazing at the nuclear-illuminated sky and the rising dust nearly reaching the heavens, people momentarily forgot about the battle, their astonished expressions frozen on their faces.

The world seemed to have pressed the pause button.

Only the earth-shattering tremors and the rolling echo of the explosion remained.

It was as if it were the roar of the Gods.

"...Spirits of the Desert Sea above."

A soldier from the Falcon Kingdom went pale, his shoulders trembling as his gun and knees hit the sandy ground together.

His case was not an isolated one.

Including the Centurion and other frontline officers, seeing the nuclear light bloom behind the front lines, many lost the courage to continue fighting.

Several hundred meters away,

On the lee side of a sand dune,

Sain, who was tending to a gunshot wound, also saw the shining light.

Several Guard Soldiers immediately shielded him, but he waved them away dismissively.

"Priest of Prest once said, ’Those who wither in a curse cannot see the curse,’" Sain continued with a hearty laugh, "We can see that light, which means we won’t die."

"That’s a curse for the sinful; the Gods are on our side!"

He raised his arms high and cheered, inspiring his comrades fighting alongside him.

"Long live Camel Hump Kingdom!"

The sudden nuclear explosion caused a brief pause on the battlefield.

Facing the direction where the nuclear light had appeared, devout believers collectively knelt to pray, while the others, uncertain, either lay or crouched, undecided about whether to continue fighting.

The shockwave from the explosion seemed to sweep a great distance, but fortunately, it didn’t reach them.

It appeared the "Gods’ " grace once again shielded them...

On the other side.

The Skeleton Corps’ Tank division, upon reaching the airport on the north side of Lost Valley, didn’t pause but continued pushing west to aid the allies from Petra Fortress, who came out to meet the battle.

The outcome of the entire battle had already been decided with no room for doubt; it was even time to move on to the mopping up phase.

Lost Valley’s northern military camp had been taken by Petra’s cavalry. The Army had almost completely lost all armored strength in that region.

The remaining infantry to the west had no further reinforcements.

Just a few righteous 155 strikes would suffice to make them raise their hands in surrender.

And just as the nuclear light bloomed, a Conqueror Tank No. 5, waving the allied flag, wobbly made its way to the eastern side of the airport.

The hatch opened upwards.

Mole, with his head bandaged, poked out and stared in the direction of Lost Valley, his mouth gaping open in surprise.

"...Holy shit."

Hearing that exclamation, the driver who was already driving called out.

"What’s happening outside? I can’t see it here!"

"Nuclear bomb..." Mole swallowed and added after a pause, "Dude, that nuke just blew up!"

If you exclude that small one in the north suburb of Clear Spring City, this was the first time he had experienced a nuclear explosion so close.

That overwhelming sense of oppression was genuinely extraordinary, although the explosion seemed less powerful than he had expected.

Did this thing really pack a million tons?

Or was its power diminished because it happened in a valley...

"Holy shit?!"

Hearing that a nuclear bomb had exploded up ahead, the moving tank instantly stopped.

A series of clanky noises ensued as the driver, in a flurried and clumsy manner, opened the hatch to see what was going on, eagerly peering forward.

"Let me see!"

...

At the same time, at the edge of the nuclear explosion zone, it was a scene of heart-wrenching screams.

"Quick—!"

"Faster!!"

"Ah ah ah! It’s catching up!"

General McCullen, lying in agony in the rear of the truck, shrieked without any composure, frantically squeezing towards the front of the truck to try and get further away from the centerpiece of the explosion.

His adjutant lay on the other side of the carriage, embracing his head with both hands, eyes tightly shut, mumbling a prayer to someone incessantly.

Both men had already donned radiation suits.

Not only were they wearing protective masks, but they had also taken two radiation antidotes; nonetheless, they couldn’t fend off the imminent threat of death and the fear that penetrated deep into their bones.

Si Si, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, remained relatively calm, but the sight of that streak of white light in the rearview mirror still caused a drop of cold sweat to trail down her forehead.

The truck she was driving had just surged out of the northern exit of the valley when the harsh white light and the sound of an explosion chased after them.

She dared not look at the situation behind her.

Clenching her teeth tightly, she all but welded her foot to the accelerator, speeding over the rough, uneven dirt road to over sixty yards!

The scorching shockwave, along with a torrent of dust, almost blew into the cab.

The southern side of the open valley seemed to have become the vent of the shockwave; dust and debris surged forward from behind her.

Fortunately, the center of the explosion was below the ground’s surface.

Had it exploded on flat land, they probably wouldn’t have felt anything before they, along with the truck they were on, turned into molten metal and rubble...

North of the airport.

Tail, standing on a sand dune, held a pair of binoculars in her hand, gazing at the valley enveloped by night in the south.

When she saw that streak of white light, she couldn’t help but let out a cry of alarm.

"My God! The nuclear bomb really went off!"

"Good thing we made it in time," Sesame Paste sighed with relief, finally relaxing her tightly clenched fist.

Tail suddenly looked at her with confusion.

"But why is there no mushroom cloud?"

"Mushroom clouds only form in aerial explosions... probably?" Sesame Paste answered uncertainly.

Meat Meat was still sighing in distress nearby, obviously upset over the relics in the valley.

Sesame Paste was about to comfort her.

Just then, a truck burst from the rolling dust, heading toward the airport from the north side of the Lost Valley.

The truck came to a stop.

The group had just gathered around when two people rolled out of the back of the truck.

The two individuals tore off their protective masks and, before even getting up from the ground, began vomiting with their hands propped on the dirt.

Watching the two vomiting profusely, Sesame Paste who went to greet her teammates unintentionally paused, looking puzzledly towards them as she asked.

"Who are these two?"

"McCullen and his adjutant..." Si Si jumped down from the driver’s seat and glanced at the two on the ground, "I also just found out."

Tail’s eyes lit up, excitedly looking at the middle-aged man slowly getting up from the ground.

"Oh! You are General McCullen?"

Meat Meat clenched her bear paw, excitedly shouting out,

"Ah Wei! We’ve snagged a big fish!"

"Oh!!"

The pale-faced McCullen was momentarily stunned, not recognizing the bear and human before him, nor understanding why the bear could talk.

Yet, he still had the consciousness of being a captive, and knowing to keep a lower profile to avoid hardship, he cautiously spoke up.

"I am McCullen... and you are?"

Tail: "Tail!"

McCullen: "...?"

Seeing his baffled expression, Si Si’s lips curled into a sly smile as she thoughtfully said.

"Speaking of which, back in Rui Valley City, it was Ah Wei who released that balloon."

Tail excitedly nodded her head, "Yes! Yes! Sesame Paste and I really struggled to get that balloon high enough!"

Sesame Paste smiled sheepishly.

However, McCullen didn’t even glance at her.

The moment he heard the word "balloon," his eyes bulged as if inflated.

With a murderous gaze, he deadly stared at the proud figure, shaking as he pointed with his trembling index finger, his face turning alternately pale and flushed.

"That balloon... was your doing?!"

Unconcerned with the hostile glare that wished to strangle her, Tail proudly nodded her head.

"Yes, that’s right! You’re welcome!"

McCullen nearly spat out blood, wishing he could throttle her.

"Don’t move."

Enjoying the sight of his breakdown, Si Si shook the handgun she had just confiscated and politely reminded him,

"Remember, you are a prisoner now; stay quiet if you don’t want to die."

Getting chased so desperately in Rui Valley City back then.

Now, it was time for revenge.

...

Oasis No.9, western part.

The command post of the Army.

A "Peidao" fighter plane landed on the runway of the airport.

As the pilot jumped out of the cockpit, an officer, following the footsteps of the ground crew, quickly approached and asked urgently.

"Where is your escort, H-55?"

The pilot bluntly answered.

"We were attacked by the enemy’s air forces! H-55’s engine was damaged during takeoff."

The officer’s complexion changed drastically, and he urgently asked.

"What about the nuclear bomb?"

The pilot steeled himself to answer truthfully.

"It’s on the plane..."

As the pilot reported the situation, the officers at the front-line command post had already learned about the front-line circumstances through other channels.

Inside the command tent.

General Griffin, standing before the radio, was silent for a long time before speaking.

After about ten minutes, he turned back to the command table, glanced at the strategic map, and ordered in a deep voice.

"Notify the third ten thousand troop of Falcon Kingdom... they must hold the line until reinforcements arrive!"

"Second ten thousand troops, end your rest period, move to the north side of the third ten thousand for defense setup."

Reinforcements from enterprises and the Alliance were continuously arriving in Sunset Province.

With the support of Iron Heart, Oasis No.9 was definitely untenable; retreating to organize defenses at Oasis No.3 and stretching the enemy’s supply line was the best choice.

He would request more reinforcements from the Legion Leader.

Hearing General Griffin’s orders, the officers around the command table looked at each other.

An officer couldn’t help but speak up to remind.

"The second ten thousand troops just fought the assault battle at the City of Abundance a few days ago, and both personnel and equipment suffered heavy losses; their combat power may not even be a third of its capacity, I’m worried—"

Griffin gave him a cold look.

That icy stare caused the officer to immediately shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

Turning back to the map, Griffin succinctly continued.

"Relocate the rest of the divisions to Oasis No.3, and take all equipment and supplies that can be carried; burn everything that can’t be carried."

The aide standing by asked,

"Where is McCullen?"

General Griffin sunk into silence, a complicated glint in his cold eyes.

He had been at odds with that arrogant man for the better part of a lifetime.

Although he wished McCullen would just disappear, such an exit made him genuinely feel a sense of sorrow for his enemy.

He swore,

He would avenge this!

Throwing his hat onto the map in the command tent, he turned and left the tent.

"Lower the flag to half-mast."

Behind him, silence reigned in the command tent.

After a long period of silence, led by who knows whom, the officers unanimously removed their hats and held them in their palms.

Flames burned in pairs of eyes.

They were the seeds of hatred...

Meanwhile,

Chu Guang, commanding at the front line, also learned about the battle near the Oasis No.7 ruins through Xiao Qi and the official forum.

When Chu Guang heard that the 110,000 troops stationed at the airport were actually under McCullen’s command, he was stunned for two seconds.

This was really...

Too coincidental.

"Where is he?"

Xiao Qi: "He has been controlled by your players."

Chu Guang nodded.

As long as he was alive.

Before the situation escalated into total war, all these could serve as bargaining chips at the negotiation table.

Neither the Alliance nor corporations could afford to fight all the way to the West Coast, ten thousand kilometers away; that did not align with the interests or war goals of both parties.

For the Alliance, the most optimistic scenario would involve knocking out some war reparations from an Army or its vassals and taking some underlings in Luo Xia Province.

Perhaps the corporations would be willing to share the secrets of No.0 Shelter with him, but he wouldn’t be too disappointed if not.

After all, he had never placed his hopes on that legend.

"What about the nuclear warhead?" Chu Guang immediately inquired about his most crucial concern.

Xiao Qi spoke softly,

"The Army has detonated it... but your players managed to send the nuclear warhead into the underground tunnels of Lost Valley, and it seems no one was injured."

Chu Guang looked slightly startled.

Detonated?

"What’s wrong?"

Noticing the change in Chu Guang’s expression, Vanus cast an inquiring glance at him.

Standing not far away, Finod also looked over nervously, trying to understand which stage the war had reached.

Whichever side had won,

as long as they entered ceasefire negotiations, he could hope to go home.

Chu Guang remained silent and looked towards the horizon through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the bridge, where The Sun was setting.

It would have been good to get that nuclear warhead.

Even if he just held onto it without using it, it would force the Army to restrain themselves on the battlefield.

But now...

Things were somewhat complicated...

Grand Canyon, Origin city.

In the spacious conference room, there was a long table carved from obsidian; two people were seated at the table.

The man sitting at the head of the table was about sixty years old, his temples frosted white, and his face bore the marks of harsh years, resembling the cracks of a canyon.

His eyes were half-closed as if pondering something.

Concerned that he had fallen asleep, the tall man sitting at the other end of the table, expressionless, reminded him,

"They have even resorted to nuclear weapons."

Hearing the word "nuclear weapon," the old man’s eyebrows twitched slightly, but he still didn’t react much.

"Hmm."

"It’s getting out of hand."

"Hmm."

"Is that all you can say?" The tall man’s voice carried a hint of displeasure.

The old man sighed softly.

"I need time to think."

"Think? Do written contracts mean nothing anymore?"

The tall man chuckled sarcastically, his voice tinged with scorn,

"If you keep thinking, we might end up fighting another world war in a rubbish heap."

The seated old man sighed, eventually lifting his drooping eyelids.

With cloudy eyes, he looked at the tall man sitting opposite him and spoke in a calm and gentle tone,

"The complexity of the problem lies exactly there; our civilization is on the brink of collapse, any minor error could destroy our last hope. And... stop using that detached tone, doesn’t your Academy bear any responsibility for this situation?"

"Of course, we made a serious mistake in believing a group of fools who think with their fists. Even more foolishly, I just wasted another precious five minutes of my life trying to persuade a slow-witted old man." The tall man sneered, unfolding his arms.

His figure gradually faded, ultimately transforming into a holographic image that dissipated into a swarm of light particles.

Facing the empty conference table, the old man fell into prolonged silence.

At that moment, an AI’s electronic voice floated to his ears,

"... a messenger from the south seeks an audience, claiming to be from the Alliance, wishing to negotiate over the issue of Bugra Free State’s clandestine support for the Army."

The Alliance...

It sounded familiar.

When was it?

He pinched his forehead with the index finger, trying to recall.

Since the end of the Prosperity Epoch, too many bizarre things had happened on this land.

From the kings of Kingdoms to chieftains of Tribes, and various strange organizations and ideologies... They were like matches struck in the darkness, quick to come and quick to go, their only use was to turn fingertips black before feeling the pain.

But ultimately, the old man decided to meet these young people.

"Have them come to the lounge, I’ll be there shortly."

The AI assistant replied in a gentle electronic voice,

"Very well, Chief."

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