This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 482 Where is the airplane? Where did such a big airplane go?

Chapter 482: Chapter 482 Where is the airplane? Where did such a big airplane go?

At the border of Wandering swamp and Luo Xia Province, the thin sunlight pierced through the mist, casting a grey-yellow veil across the wasteland.

Crows tearing at a corpse raised their heads as an out-of-place silver gray cross entered their amber-colored pupils.

"...this is Torch-1, ’Seagull’ has arrived above the coordinates... I’ll check again, are you sure it’s these coordinates?"

In the cabin of the Tiger Whale Transport Aircraft, the co-pilot, chewing on gum, prodded a tablet with his index finger.

His name was Xiao Hua, a pilot affiliated with Company Aviation Science, but when they said "Company," it wasn’t just any "company"; his actual employer was "Casual Salvage Company," controlled by the Kang Mao Group.

Despite the nonchalant name, their services were renowned for being reliable and trustworthy, which is why the insurance company providing coverage for the crashed plane had given them this lucrative deal.

They had been exceedingly cautious in taking on this job, especially since entering Luo Xia Province, never letting down their guard.

Although the area was far from the conflict zones, the Aviation Science had crashed a plane nearby just a week ago, and he couldn’t afford to take any risks.

Those reclusive, psychologically shadowed swamp dwellers did not think conventionally— God knows why they would fire missiles toward "Old friends" on the East Coast.

But since the council did not wish to complicate matters further, they had to avoid conflict as much as possible.

Therefore, they cautiously hovered the Tiger Whale Transport Aircraft a hundred kilometers up in the air, first sending a drone to inspect the situation and confirm the exact location before deciding how to handle it.

If the Academy pulled the same trick again.

Sufficient altitude would allow them to glide towards the desert to the south.

A soft static crackled through the communication channel, possibly because the sandstorm had passed, leaving the unstable signal slightly restored.

"Coordinates wrong?! How is that possible?"

"Could I still be joking with you?" The pilot swiped down on the tablet, taking advantage of the good signal to compress and send over aerial photos.

The other side of the communication fell into a brief silence.

After seeing the aerial photos, the pilot named Sun Ze seemed to fall into a baffling self-doubt.

"No way... The leftover craters are still on the ground."

"Are you sure those are craters?" the pilot in the driver’s seat leaned in and asked cautiously, "We didn’t find any bodies on the ground... nor the ’beehive’ you mentioned, not even a single drone."

"Exactly... It’s probably the Academy’s folks who cleaned it up for us after realizing they had hit someone they shouldn’t have messed with, and cleared it all away."

"That makes sense haha."

There was no response to the pilots’ banter from the communication channel.

Only the static noise remained.

That Sun Ze was perhaps doubting life itself.

But they didn’t want to wait any longer, and the remaining battery life didn’t allow them to linger there.

"Anyway, we didn’t see anything... we’re running out of power, let’s stop here." said the pilot looking towards Xiao Hua, who was operating the drone.

Xiao Hua looked up at the captain.

"How should we write this report?"

"Just whatever, add a few sets of nearby coordinates photos, and that’s it."

"Got it."

Xiao Hua nodded, equally disinclined to trouble himself, stretched his index finger and chose the return-to-home button on the screen.

The silver gray drone quickly ceased hovering and flew toward the Tiger Whale Transport Aircraft suspended above the southern mountains.

Inside the cabin, the two staff members retrieved the drone, Xiao Hua’s finger sliding across the screen selecting photos to stuff into the report later.

Just then, his lips unconsciously uttered a soft "eh" as he sat up straight from his seat.

"What’s up?" The captain glanced at the tablet in his hands, seeing nothing but mountains on the screen.

Without a word, Xiao Hua tapped the tool icon twice with his index finger, switching to thermal imaging mode.

As the screen shifted to black and white tones, suddenly, bright silver spots appeared scattered throughout a dark mountain hollow.

The captain looked slightly astounded.

"What’s that?"

"Don’t know... but there seem to be quite a few people," Xiao Hua muttered in confusion, "about thirty kilometers away in the mountain hollow, captured by the drone on its way back."

The captain said nothing.

"Then let’s not bother."

Xiao Hua shrugged and made a gentle swipe on the touchscreen.

"You’re the boss."

Meanwhile, thirty kilometers away in the hollow, a group of ragged scavengers pushed carts, navigating through the mountains.

The company pilots returning home had no idea that the very Tiger Whale Transport Aircraft they had been searching for was right under their noses.

It was almost captured by the aerial camera!

But even if those Waste Land Wanderers boldly walked right past them, they wouldn’t recognize that the parts were indeed from their transport.

Under the temptation of a one million silver coins bounty, these scavengers were like ants moving house.

From the plasma engine hanging outside to the glass cover on the dashboard, they stripped the massive transport clean in less than half a day, packing everything into those big and small carts filled with jars and bottles.

Not even a screw was left behind!

And not only that.

Even the "beehive" drone launched by Beacon team and the numerous small attacker drones destroyed by the EMP were all picked up by these scavengers, one by one.

As that old man named Guste boasted,

When it comes to scavenging trash, they were professionals!

"Casual Salvage Company? What’s that?"

"Ideal City has a company specifically for recycling services. We were planning to contact them for work, but they only offer free shipping within the Province of Yúnjiānxíng."

"Free shipping?"

Hearing this strange phrase he had never heard before, Guste, who was leisurely smoking on the back of a Double-headed Cow, cast a curious glance at the alliance soldier who claimed to be ’Corner old six.’

Corner old Six coughed and explained in nonstandard United Human language.

"It means home delivery... it means delivering to your doorstep."

"Oh, okay," the old man nodded, then chuckled, "We offer ’free shipping’ too, that’s nothing special."

Corner Old Six looked at him, surprised.

Most Waste Land Wanderers, when mentioning companies and Ideal City, looked wistful, just as they’d show fear when talking about the Army.

It was the first time he had heard such a different opinion about Ideal City from a Waste Land Wanderer.

"Not special, huh? Isn’t it amazing to work for a company?"

"Pff, that’s nothing," Guste smirked, knocked his pipe, and said, "My ancestors even worked for the Post-War Reconstruction Committee. It’s hard to say who picked up more trash."

Corner Old Six looked even more surprised and nodded subconsciously.

"Then I guess you’ve picked up more... if you include what was collected before."

While the old man looked envious when discussing the good things about Ideal City, a sense of unquestionable authority and pride appeared on his wrinkled face when he talked about his own trade.

The Lost Rookie walking beside them had a confused expression the whole time.

Yesterday, during the disassembly, he had filmed the Scavengers tearing apart an aircraft.

No matter how many times he watched, he couldn’t imagine how they did it.

"...well, they actually took it apart," the Lost Rookie muttered to himself.

Looking back at the impressive procession and the truckloads of assorted junk, Sniper Bai scratched his head and said.

"But how are we gonna fit all this back?"

Upon hearing the conversation of his team members, Corner Old Six chuckled as he came over and said.

"Who knows! Why worry so much? Whether it can be put back together is the players’ and NPC’s problem, let’s just get it back first!"

...

It wasn’t long before the grand team crossed another mountain.

Just when the small players were performing their "disappear on the spot" trick right under their allies’ noses, Old White, who had logged back online after a night’s absence, finally sought out his two good brothers and candidly shared last night’s events...

"...so, that’s what happened. I was temporarily suspended by the Manager and have to stay back for three days."

Embarrassed, Old White looked towards Wild Wind and continued uncomfortably.

"I won’t be around for a while... I’m counting on you."

He had thought his two good brothers would show some sympathy or understanding for his predicament.

But unexpectedly, before he could finish his words, Night Ten burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Serves you right!"

Though not as exaggerated as Night Ten, a subtle expression still crossed Wild Wind’s face after listening to Old White.

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, he tried to summarize.

"So... you were suspended because you pleaded for that Ms. Chen with the Manager?"

"No, that’s not what I said. I said that the Manager felt I was doubting he would doubt... damn, this is so awkward to explain."

Watching the nearly crazed Old White, Wild Wind didn’t say a word, just silently watched him scratch his head with an "you think I’d believe this?" expression.

But whether he believed it or not...

The notice on the Legion System interface couldn’t be fake.

Wild Wind sighed, supported his forehead for a moment, and suddenly thought of something.

"Right, is that Ms. Chen going back with you too?"

Old White was taken aback for a moment and then spontaneously nodded.

"Of course, this is a war zone. It’s pointless for her, a non-combatant, to stay here..."

A second ago, Night Ten, who was still clutching his stomach with laughter, suddenly couldn’t laugh anymore.

The joy turned to agony in a flash.

"Damn! That’s not fair!!!"

Old White looked at him bewildered.

"What are you freaking out about..."

Wild Wind coughed.

"This time I side with Night Ten... We’re going to the front, and you’re running back to enjoy yourself. That’s really not cool."

Night Ten blurted out.

"Exactly! I’ve also gained achievements and shed blood for the Alliance, why don’t I get a reward!"

Old White: "???"

I just got suspended, for goodness sake.

How is that a reward!

...

To be honest, there definitely was a reward.

Avoiding a direct conflict with the Academy while securing the interests of the Alliance to the maximum in the rescue mission, all players involved got a handsome reward.

Thanks to occasional mysterious auctions on the official website, there were always buyers for the silver coins on the Forum, making the hefty reward quite appealing.

However, when Night Ten saw the pale figures on the settlement interface, his eyes were filled with resentment.

Old White coughed awkwardly, unable to meet his gaze, and muttered "see you in three days" before turning and heading towards the nearby transport plane.

Falling Feather and Xiaoyu were also in the cabin.

Including the bionic man, Xuan Feng, who was fixed in an iron coffin, the sub-entity debris packed in a box, and two corporate pilots who had been rescued earlier.

The plan had changed, because there wasn’t enough fuel left to return to Ideal City, they needed to first head back to the airbase in the northern part of West State City to catch a connecting flight.

As they waited for the plane to take off, the two pilots whispered to each other, discussing the "ghost story" they had just heard.

"It’s really ghostly."

"What happened?"

"That plane disappeared."

"Disappeared?!" The co-pilot sitting beside him looked at Sun Ze in surprise, his eyes wide, "How is that possible? How can such a big plane just run off by itself?"

"I don’t know... The salvage company contacted by the aviation science sector went to the coordinates I reported, and they nonsensically claimed I had remembered the location wrong."

Sun Ze was puzzled.

He had calculated the rough coordinates based on the flight data in the black box, and he had even checked twice. How could there be a mistake?

Moreover, the aerial photo clearly showed the area where the Burning Corps and Beacon team had exchanged fire. He was sure he hadn’t seen it wrong.

A plane that big, in a wilderness without even a single road around...

How on earth did it vanish?!

"Hey."

Seeing his teammate tug at his sleeve, Sun Ze, who was still puzzled, looked up.

"What?"

His teammate didn’t speak but pointed towards the entrance of the cabin, where a young woman in a beige coat had just entered.

Her slightly brownish long hair tied in a ponytail, her figure was slender and tall, although the shapely aspects were still quite prominent.

What surprised him was not the sight of a beautiful girl here, but that he had seen this woman before.

Out of curiosity, Sun Ze whistled and struck up a conversation.

"Hey, beautiful, weren’t you heading back?"

Chen Yutong glanced at him twice.

"I’ve stayed."

Sun Ze was even more surprised to hear this.

"Stayed?"

The co-pilot sitting beside Sun Ze, however, wasn’t surprised and said with a smile,

"I’ve always said, the life at the academy isn’t for normal people, nobody would want to go back to a place like that... Want to visit Ideal City?"

"Maybe later."

Chen Yutong casually responded and found an empty spot to sit down and buckled up.

Although she had left the academy, she still didn’t have a liking for corporate people... their frivolous attitudes, always unserious and inclined to brag about things that, in her view, were not worth boasting about.

She knew this might be a prejudice.

But a prejudice that had formed over twenty years wasn’t going to change in a day or two.

"That method of tying might cause your wound to tear."

Hearing this imperfectly spoken United Human language, Chen Yutong looked up to see Old White walking into the cabin.

She raised her eyebrows in curiosity and asked,

"How should it be tied then?"

"Shift the strain away from the abdomen, focus it on legs and shoulders... like this." Unable to explain with his index finger, Old White simply sat down next to her and demonstrated.

Following his example, Chen Yutong unfastened the nylon latch at her abdomen and resecured her belt, indeed feeling much more comfortable.

"Thanks... Aren’t you heading to the front line anymore?"

"Just like those two," Old White nodded towards the corporate pilots sitting not far away, and said helplessly, "Plans have changed... Anyway... I have to stay back for a few days."

Chen Yutong observed his expression for a while, and her professional instincts made her pick up on something.

"Because of me?"

Old White hesitated, then shook his head.

"It’s not about you."

Although often teased by his good brothers, he still stubbornly believed that, like the Manager had said, it was a punishment for him.

Actually, it wasn’t incorrect.

Even though he had never doubted the correctness of the Alliance or had hesitations about his beliefs, he couldn’t deny that there were personal motives behind those words.

"Sorry."

Old White laughed it off casually.

"What are you apologizing for, I told you it’s not about you."

At that moment, the cabin door was shut and soon, the humming of the plasma vortices could be heard outside the cabin.

Accompanying a slight tremor, the transport plane slowly ascended.

Sitting at the other end of the cabin, Falling Feather and Xiaoyu were still whispering to each other.

"... eat, eat, eat, when we get back I’ll buy you a box of lollipops to munch on! Let you eat your fill at once!"

"Yi wu!"

"Ice cream? Are you sure? Can’t you not handle something that cold?"

"Yi wu!!"

"Alright, alright... I’ll buy it."

That harmonious and affectionate scene made Old White’s face break into an aunt-like smile, though he still didn’t understand how the two were communicating.

By radio waves?

How was that possible?

"It’s really unbelievable..."

Speaking his mind, Chen Yutong’s eyes also revealed a curious look as she softly added,

"The fact that the ’Mutated slime fungus’ mother can communicate with humans... it overturns our understanding of the past two hundred years."

Old White nodded.

"Yeah, we were equally surprised when we discovered it, especially here in Qingquan City, where the slime fungus is practically synonymous with death and plague. If it weren’t for the Manager’s orders, I doubt anyone would allow it to live."

Players, however, didn’t seem to care.

As long as there was communication, even the Claw of Death could be used as a mount, let alone a ’Mutated slime fungus’. The stranger it looked, the cooler it seemed.

If it weren’t for the mutants’ excessively savage and bloodthirsty mental states, which even the Mind Interference Device couldn’t affect, Goblin Technology would definitely want to keep a couple as free labor.

However, compared to the unconventional approach of the players, the Waste Land Wanderers, who genuinely lived in this world, still cared somewhat.

It was only due to the Manager’s personal charisma and authority that they had accepted the existence of this anomaly.

Chen Yutong looked at Old White.

"Even so, you’ve accepted it?"

Old White scratched his head.

"Yeah, at least for now it’s harmless. Perhaps we can find a way to make those lairs harmless from it... Anyway, I think completely eradicating them is unlikely now. This thing can live over two hundred years without air, water, or oxygen."

Chen Yutong pondered for a moment.

"I once heard a rumor."

Old White casually asked,

"What rumor?"

Chen Yutong pointed upward.

"They come from there."

"From there?"

Old White hesitated.

He unconsciously looked up, but only saw the silvery-gray ceiling.

"She might be referring to South Gate Two."

Seated not far away, Sun Ze, unable to hold his peace and under the eager gaze of Xiaoyu, smiled as he popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth.

"A former colony of the United Human, a planet shrouded in aurora. I’ve heard the rumor, but so what... By the way, you can’t see it from here."

Old White gave her a puzzled look.

This was a setting not detailed on the official website.

Not minding the corporate employee’s comment, Chen Yutong nodded slightly, her voice tinged with a faint sense of loss.

"Many people have already forgotten that it once belonged to us."

At the same time, thousands of miles away on a desert, hundreds of trucks were anchored beside a ruined highway, wrecked metal burning on the sand dunes.

Standing on top of a tank turret, holding a pair of binoculars, the Mole was looking at a messy battlefield in the distance.

Another exhilarating victory.

Thanks to the information supplied by "Pangolin," the retreating ten thousand troops of the Alliance had been decimated by an onslaught of steel.

This was already the third ten thousand troops they had eliminated this week.

Including the allied forces’ achievements, the Army probably didn’t have many flags left.

Right now, the only thing Mole wanted to do was to seize the Lion Kingdom ahead of his buddy from the Springs and intercept the supplies the Legion was sending from the east.

He brought the communicator close to his mouth.

"Advance the armored grenadiers!"

"Roger!"

After patting the truck’s hood, Elena signaled the driver to start moving while steadying the welded 20mm heavy machine gun on the roof.

The dark barrel pointed directly at the disarrayed battlefield in the distance, heat waves distorting the air around the heated metal gun barrel.

The armored troops had already annihilated most of the resistance.

Now, it was time for the infantry to clean the battlefield.

Essentially, all they had to do was gather the surrendering soldiers, confiscate their weapons, and hand them over to the following forces from the Lion Kingdom Army.

With only fifty kilometers left to the Falcon Kingdom, the Skeleton Corps would soon see the royal palace that General McLennan "constantly remembered."

Glancing at the Weilante People with their hands on their heads, Elena said with a smile,

"I hope Old Soldier isn’t in there."

Hearing that humor-laced taunt, a construction youth drew a cross on his chest with bricks.

"Pray for him."

-

(Lingering after-effects of the climax, stuck a bit on the writing today, will write about the daily lives of professional players in the rear tomorrow.)