This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 493: The Airship from Triumph City!

Chapter 493: Chapter 493: The Airship from Triumph City!

Before the castle, the square.

Standing on the tower above the gate and looking out, he saw a sea of people, a massive, dark crowd that even choked the roads leading to the square.

Since the promulgation of the "War Time Regulations," such spontaneous, large-scale gatherings of residents had not occurred for quite a while.

Everyone was afraid of being conscripted or caught as spies by Count Krunwi, appointed by His Majesty the King.

Only now, with the war ended, did people dare to wander the streets without fear.

Looking at the gallows in the center of the square, the people gathered there excitedly whispered amongst themselves, sharing gossip they’d heard from others.

"Have you heard? Matniel has been sentenced to hang!"

"That baron?"

"I remember that the entire Hante family seemed to have died at his hands."

"His little daughter was so endearing... what a shame that she caught the eye of that scoundrel."

"Poor Hante... it’s said his eldest son died outside the City of Abundance, burned to ashes so not even his body could be found, and he himself lost an arm during the retreat. A pity he didn’t die on the battlefield."

"The second Ten thousand troops, right?... Too tragic."

"...In the end, it was the enemy who avenged him."

"Ptui! Matniel... that scumbag! I remember him! My wife was..."

A thin man spat in disgust, cursing harshly, but he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

The people around him perked up upon hearing this, looking at him with a mix of sympathy and curiosity, pressing for more details.

"What happened then?"

"Go on, tell us."

The man’s face turned red with irritation, and finally, after being badgered enough, he spat out a curse to drive away the onlookers.

"Tell your mother!"

Not far from the scaffold, under the watchful eyes of many, the belated "protagonists" finally made their appearance.

Five typical nobles, caught by the Alliance soldiers, were pushed onto the gallows by the angry citizens.

Faced with an unavoidable death, even the fiercest among them couldn’t help but turn pale as their lips blanched.

One baron closed his eyes, and the man next to him, scared out of his wits, wet his pants, the stench leaking out from his trouser legs causing the executioners forcing them up the scaffold to frown in disgust.

The disgraceful states of the five nobles ignited roars of excitement from the residents below.

They had never seen such respectable individuals in such an abject state, more thrilling than watching crickets fight in a mud pit.

It turns out these finely dressed individuals are just as afraid of death.

These people are not as noble as they claim to be.

When faced with death, they too will cry and beg for mercy.

But even if they begged, the angry citizens had no intention of sparing these despicable characters.

It was they who sent young men to the frontlines, who sent the finest cattle and sprightly young women to military camps, all to please the Weilante People.

These nobles were too scared to resist the rule of the Weilante People, but instead transferred all suffering onto these innocent people.

Five people...

Too few had been killed!

With no rotten eggs or spoiled vegetables to use, people could only pick up stones from the ground to vent their hatred. To avoid these prisoners dying before their execution, the watching militiamen had to step forward to separate the mob from the condemned.

The executioner read aloud the multitude of vile crimes these people committed during the war, including murder, arson, brigandage, and more, which further inflamed the anger in the crowd’s hearts.

"Kill them!"

"Cut off their heads!"

"Hang them on the streetlights!"

"Quiet! Quiet! Listen to me!"

A man, about thirty or forty years old, wearing linseed clothes, stepped in front of the crowd.

His name was Taote.

Before the "War Time Regulations" were enacted, he was a papermaker. Now, because he could read and write, he was dragged out by the Alliance soldiers to represent the committee.

"Friends from River Valley Province... tell us we must be civilized, even when dealing with jackals and hyenas! We must end their lives in a civilized manner!"

The five nobles were gagged, deprived of any chance to argue, and their necks were looped by the executioner’s coarse hemp ropes.

Taote turned towards the scaffold and swung his right hand down forcefully.

"Execute!"

Amidst the cheering of the crowd, the trapdoor fell heavily, the five men dropped, their necks snapped, ending their wretched lives on the gallows.

"Long live the Alliance!"

"Long live the Committee!"

"Good riddance!"

The cries from the crowd were deafening.

A few in the crowd shifted nervously, their faces pale as they quietly slipped away. Not far from the square, within the confines of a residence, Count Krunwi stood by the window, his hand on the windowsill trembling uncontrollably.

The Alliance had only executed those who committed crimes during the occupation and had not engaged in a massacre within the Royal Palace.

But what about after the Alliance leave?

These armed mobs had gone mad.

Previously, to ensure the mobilization order was carried out smoothly, he had killed many for His Majesty the King...

What he feared most now was that these past actions would come back to haunt him.

Behind Count Krunwi, the white-haired old butler spoke softly.

"Master... I suggest you leave the city to lay low for a while."

His master was a favored man in His Majesty the King’s eyes.

But being too close to that disaster of an old man was no longer favorable.

The intentions of the Alliance were unpredictable.

But their sudden move against the nobles in the city, arming the civilians, was certainly not a good sign.

Count Krunwi remained silent, his eyes struggling, but eventually, he clenched his teeth and made up his mind.

"I cannot leave."

Looking at his surprised butler, Krunwi paused before continuing.

"Tomorrow... at the latest by tomorrow, the Steel Heart will be here. The highest commander of the Alliance, even that Manager, is very likely to be on that airship."

The King’s word was no longer reliable; to survive, he had to ingratiate himself with a new master... otherwise, it wouldn’t matter where he fled.

A look of sorrow appeared on the count’s face.

Unfortunately, too little was known about the Alliance.

And he did not know what that figure of authority liked...

...

After the trial and the execution, Taote had those boys carrying guns drag the bodies beyond the river embankment to be buried anywhere they saw fit.

"If relatives show up, just dump it on them to deal with... But at this crucial juncture, even if they wanted to claim the bodies, I’m afraid they’d have to wait."

Under the influence of the Alliance, a new Militia Group was established in Falcon City.

Most of these militia members were young fellows who had previously performed labor service, now reporting directly to the Committee and mainly responsible for maintaining order within the city.

Watching the hemp ropes gently swaying on the gallows, Taote, now calm, suddenly felt a chill down his spine...

Only now did he realize what the Alliance had thrust into his hands.

Killing these few guys was indeed satisfying; he and the people hated those who bullied them, just as much.

But after the killing, he began to fear.

The Alliance wouldn’t be here forever...

What if they left?

Would His Majesty spare him?

Would those nobles spare him?

"Stand tall," Old White said, patting the slightly pale Taote on the shoulder with a grin, "You’ve got guns in your hands, what’s there to fear?"

Taote said with a bitter smile.

"This, this isn’t about the guns... These people, after all, were nobles conferred by His Majesty the King."

"So what? Are they Awakeners, or do they have a few divisions in their hands?" Old White shrugged, "The Alliance has no king, and we still live just fine."

Taote and the other representatives around him were frightened into silence by this rebellious remark, but then again, it seemed to make some sense.

They had guns, what was there to be afraid of...

With that thought, the few of them gripped their rifles even tighter, as if holding their lifelines in their hands.

Old White laughed and patted the NPC named Taote on the shoulder.

"From today on, you’re the Chairman of the Committee. Remember, even if one day we leave, you can’t just hand it over... This is not for us; it’s for those oppressed people behind you. Don’t let them down."

Taote nodded nervously.

"I promise!"

Looking at the middle-aged man, Old White nodded.

They wouldn’t stay here too long.

Falcon Kingdom was too far away for the Alliance, so far that these people could mistake an imaginary bearded man for a Manager.

People must ultimately complete their own redemption.

All they could do was drop a seed on this land.

As for what will grow from it...

That’s up to them.

Looking at Taote and the other representatives behind him, he added another line.

"Right, remember to take turns."

...

The "Citizens’ Self-Government Committee" was just a minor episode after the Alliance took over Falcon City. The actions undertaken by the Burning Corps under Chu Guang’s directive were far more than this.

All devices in the Royal City that could produce seamless steel tubes and stamp shells were destroyed, and any factory or workshop related to military production or even remotely connected was blown up and dismantled.

As for the craftsmen and engineers trained by Falcon Kingdom...

It’s always not too good to kill people.

After a call with Chu Guang, Old White decided to arrange a new place for these people—settling them near Bister Town.

Coincidentally, the Spring Water Commander, who had just arrived at the William Industrial Zone, had unwittingly done a similar thing.

Within the William Industrial Zone.

Since the surrender broadcast had already reached here first, when Spring Water gathered three hundred-strong teams ready to break in, he found that the guard team stationed here had already disbanded on the spot.

Not a single security guard to be seen in the vast industrial zone.

Inside the Royal First Foundry.

The workers sat idly by the factory building; as soon as they saw soldiers from the Alliance come in, they squatted down on the ground obediently.

Seeing the menacing look of these men, Director Bauman hurried forward with a big smile on his face.

"My lord... we have surrendered."

Spring Water looked at him.

"I know that."

That was yesterday’s news.

When he went offline for a rotation, he checked the Forum and knew Falcon Kingdom had already surrendered, with a whole eighty thousand troops squatting outside Bister Town.

The building materials they sent there were all used.

Watching the soldiers rummaging through the factory, Bauman’s smile gradually turned into anxiety, and he looked at the man before him with a bittersweet expression.

"Then... what are they doing?"

Before the Spring Water Commander could speak, I Max Black, standing beside him, cheekily spoke for him.

"We’re here to take war spoils. Is there any problem?"

Director Bauman had a bittersweet look.

To take war spoils, you should plunder those wealthy nobles! What could they possibly find in this factory...

At that moment, "Kakarot," with a rifle on his back, walked back from the front factory.

"We found two rifle production lines... They can produce 300 rifles at full capacity in a day."

"Three hundred?!" I Max Black looked at him in surprise, muttering, "This could arm a ten thousand troop force in a month."

"More or less," the Spring Water Commander nodded, looking at "Kakarot" and continued asking, "What about bullets and shells?"

"Kakarot": "The ammo production line is also here, with a daily output of two to three hundred thousand rounds without a problem. There are also 100mm caliber cannons and shells... It’s good that they ran out of resources, otherwise if the production lines were at maximum, this war might go on till next year."

Spring Water Commander nodded and remarked,

"Well, there’s still quite a bit of good stuff inside."

Honestly, although those Weilante People regard these outsiders as less than people, their support for the Falcon Kingdom, a Servant Country, is commendable.

The industrial equipment in this industrial park, obviously not made by the locals, was mostly transported from west of the Great Desert.

Including steel plants, chemical plants, and so on...

If they had several sulfur and iron mines, maybe they could hold out a little longer.

But unfortunately, reality has no what-ifs.

If the resources of Oasis No. 2 were so plentiful, they would not need to rely on the Army, let alone expand outward.

Like the Lion Kingdom.

Watching the Strength-type players carry out rows of industrial equipment and various models of machine tools from the factory building, I Max Black suddenly said, with a hint of regret,

"Hate to blow it all up; let’s just take it with us."

Living career gamers say, although they’ve gotten their hands on some precision production equipment and machine tools from corporations, the demand for heavy industrial equipment is still huge.

This kind of stuff, they can never have too much of.

"Kakarot" stared blankly at this whimsical guy.

"How are we gonna move this?"

Old White couldn’t help but snark as well.

"Right, even if we move it, where do we put it?"

I Max Black scratched the back of his head.

"Don’t we have an airship? That big airship... hoisting them up shouldn’t be too hard, right?"

Earlier, to make room for those gliders, Iron Heart hadn’t carried much ammo.

Now that these gliders have been tossed out, and they’ve come down too, there should be enough space freed up to take some of the stuff with them, right?

Spring Water Commander thought it over and came up with a compromise.

"We’ll move what we can, and blow up the rest!"

It’s not too easy to ship directly back to the Alliance, but they could transport it to the nearby Honey Badger Kingdom first.

Renting some land shouldn’t be too difficult.

If the Manager intended to keep Bister Town in his grasp, then resupplying from factories in the Honey Badger Kingdom would be the best option.

Speaking of which, the Spring Water Commander approached the factory manager and announced his decision.

"Your equipment might be a little outdated and shabby, but it’s a shame to blow them up if they’re still serviceable."

Hearing that this Army commander intended to spare these machines, the factory manager’s face lit up with joy. But before he could celebrate, the man in front of him continued to speak.

"...So we’ve decided not to blow up what we can move, only what we can’t. Pick a few knowledgeable engineers for us, let them lend us a hand, and save everyone some time."

Having never heard such shameless demands presented so matter-of-factly, the factory manager said with a mournful face,

"Just take me with you as well."

Surprised that this guy was so cooperative, Spring Water looked at him with a pleasantly surprised smile and patted him hard on the shoulder.

"Sure, no problem! We’re glad you’re willing to make the switch, and we can take your family along as well!"

Factory Manager: "???"

Ignoring the befuddled factory manager, Spring Water gave I Max Black a look and deliberately spoke in United Human language,

"Follow this factory manager to his home, and remember to be polite."

I Max Black grinned and tightened the straps on the rifle on his back.

"Got it!"

...

It took longer than expected to clear the ropes tangled around the propellers.

Iron Heart remained stationary sixty miles to the east of Falcon City for nearly twenty hours, finally arriving at Falcon City just before dusk the next day.

"Sorry... Honored Manager, for making you wait."

Standing in front of Chu Guang, the acting captain said awkwardly.

Earlier, when the Manager had asked him, he’d confidently stated it would take twelve hours to fix, but the steel cables were more stubborn than he’d imagined.

Especially after the airship continued sliding forward under inertia, causing the propellers to turn backwards and tangle with the cables, which meant their engineers had to endure several extra hours of cold in the wind.

"It’s alright, just a little late."

Chu Guang, feeling good with Falcon City so close, squinted his eyes slightly and continued with a pleasant demeanor,

"But remember next time when I ask you, give me the answer you’re most sure about."

The captain stood solemnly at attention, placing his right fist over his heart.

"Yes!"

The Alliance had only had Iron Heart for a few months, and the crew was even drawn from the army and air force, so their inexperience was understandable.

Chu Guang had no intention of being harsh with these hardworking subordinates.

However, he knew this bad habit of bragging had to be broken; it should not lead them down the same narrow path as the Weilante People.

Only by understanding the true situation could he make the most reasonable judgments.

This was also why he chose to go to the front lines with his players.

McCullen stood beside him with mixed emotions.

It was only now that he finally understood the Alliance’s plan.

But what complicated his feelings the most was not the strategic risks the Alliance was taking, but rather that his Steel Heart could be used in such a way?!

Especially the glider assault tactic—it was a complete eye-opener for him.

Looking at the command bridge just a stone’s throw away, McCullen suddenly felt a strange sense of alienation...

Undoubtedly this was his Steel Heart, yet he could hardly remember its original appearance... it had completely taken on the shape of the Alliance.

As the Iron Heart’s command bridge hovered over Falcon City, the residents and royal aristocrats of the city were also looking up at the colossal object floating above the clouds.

The shadow cast by the airship even covered the entire city district in front of the castle.

Sitting on his throne in Triumph Palace, King Montegarde stared blankly at the airship approaching outside his window.

It seemed to have started with the execution at noon...

He suddenly realized that, although he still sat on this throne, he had lost control over not just this Royal City but the entire Kingdom.

First, those nobles, all subtly distancing themselves from him, turned to curry favor with the Alliance people.

And it wasn’t just the nobles.

Even the servants in the castle, and even the pet dogs he kept there, started wagging their tails for the "new masters."

Thinking this, a self-mocking smile curled on the lips of King Montegarde.

It seemed it was the same when the Weilante People first arrived.

Such irony...

Right then, Middel walked in slowly from outside.

"Your Majesty."

Montegarde looked at him and let out a soft sigh.

"At a time like this, you’re the only one who remembers me as the king."

Middel knelt on one knee, respectfully saying,

"You will always be my king."

Montegarde nodded in satisfaction.

"Good... go on, what do you have to report today?"

Middel looked at the floor with a complex expression, speaking slowly,

"The Alliance’s Manager will be arriving at the palace in two hours. It might seem more sincere if Your Majesty personally greets him outside the fortress."

King Montegarde’s face stiffened slightly.

Although Middel meant well, the current circumstances still left him feeling as if a tumult of emotions had been spilled inside his heart.

Silence lingered for a long time.

Grasping the armrests with both hands, he slowly rose from the throne.

The action was shaky, as if he had aged a decade overnight... Transforming from a majestic emperor to a decrepit old man on the brink of death.

"The Emperor understands."

...

As the Steel Heart entered the airspace of Falcon City, another airship, no smaller in size than the Steel Heart, was moving slowly across the Great Desert in the Far West.

This airship’s name was Judgement, and it hailed from the distant Triumph City.

Compared to the Steel Heart, its firepower was somewhat inferior; it lacked a 400mm main cannon and the capacity for an overhead suspended gun bay.

However, while its ground support capabilities were somewhat lacking, against an "airship of its type", it was in no way inferior.

The "Phase energy rectifier" installed in its belly could fire "quark gluon plasma" enveloped by a gravitational field.

Though the plasma’s lethality was limited and its duration short, it was highly effective at disabling deflection shields and anti-gravity devices that operated on the core principles of "gravitons" and "gravitational field interference."

Its impact was far more direct than an EMP, and could not be easily defended against using simple conventional means like a Faraday cage.

Regrettably, in the Wasteland Era, such space-faring weaponry was already "obsolete."

Especially when facing Variants and Mutants, it was even less useful than black powder.

Probably only the Holy Shield System in the Grand Canyon and the Army’s own airships could make good use of it.

In fact, strictly speaking, it only posed a threat to the Army’s own airships, since the Holy Shield System’s shield on such a scale, and this shipboard weapon were not even in the same league in terms of power output.

Triumph City rarely dispatched the Judgement-class airships to the frontlines unless there was a special situation that called for the use of its "phase gun."

Like now...

Although it departed a month later than the supply line to the frontline, the Judgement arrived several days ahead of those slow-moving trucks.

Two men stood in front of the bridge’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

The one on the left sported a thick beard and a burn scar right under his right eye, giving him quite a fierce look.

His name was Joseph, a general in the Eastern Army, sent to replace Griffin as the supreme commander stationed in Luo Xia Province.

The other held an even more impressive post, appointed by His Excellency the Marshal himself as the governor of Luo Xia Province—though all he had to oversee was an oasis less than 70,000 square kilometers in size.

The two chatted in a nonchalant tone, yet every word was pregnant with probing.

"...I don’t have an aversion to the East Expansionists; I even sympathize with them, but their foolishness is also a reality. We have been dragged into a dangerous war that holds no benefits."

"What do you suggest we do, then?" Joseph glanced sideways at the esteemed governor.

Cohen continued expressionlessly.

"They should strengthen their hold on the vassals before attempting a full takeover of Luo Xia Province and should avoid direct conflicts with corporations on the East Coast as much as possible. In fact, if they hadn’t greedily tried to devour the Pioneer and No.0 Shelter together, they wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament."

Joseph’s eyebrows twitched involuntarily.

"So, are we to simply watch the corporations take over No.0 Shelter?"

Cohen did not answer directly but offered a vague response.

"That depends on what they can find there."

He did not believe in a universal key that could solve all crises; the problems of the Wasteland couldn’t be resolved with a few additional Black Boxes.

The Marshal thought the same way.

If No.0 Shelter were that important, it wouldn’t have been him who came here today.

Joseph felt slightly disappointed.

He still couldn’t glean the Marshal’s thoughts through this man.

Knowing that further questioning would be fruitless, he cut to the chase.

"Then, which party are you with?"

Cohen responded succinctly.

"I do not belong to any party. I always stand with His Excellency the Marshal, and his stance is my stance."

Standing behind the two, Captain Adria awkwardly realized he had no place in the conversation and occupied himself by watching the scenery outside the bridge to pass the time.

A four-star general and a five-star governor: either one was far beyond his reach as a three-star captain.

At that moment, his executive officer ran up to him and whispered a few words in his ear.

"...The Steel Heart is above Falcon City."

A look of surprise crossed Adria’s face.

"McCullen is still alive?"

The executive officer’s face grimaced as he replied,

"Unclear... An unfamiliar flag is flying."

After a moment’s consideration, Adria nodded.

"Leave it to me."

He approached the two dignitaries and said somberly,

"Sirs, that ahead is Falcon City... The Steel Heart is in the skies above; based on the flags it’s flying, it seems the Alliance people are aboard."

Cohen furrowed his brow.

In a bid to claim even a tiny bit of presence, Adria respectfully continued,

"Should we open fire?"

Joseph cast him a glance and quipped playfully,

"An idea."

Adria paused, puzzled, unable to decipher the general’s meaning.

Staring out at the endless desert sea and the barely visible contours at its edge, Cohen ordered emotionlessly,

"Slow down."

Whether to fight or not.

They had to figure out the situation over there first...

Meanwhile, amidst the vast expanse of sand,

A silver-gray power armor slowly lifted its head, casting its gaze toward the swath of light being swallowed by the surging sands.

Its focus was not on the apocalyptic dark clouds but on the "floating fortress" advancing in front.

Clouds of worry began to etch themselves on Yun Song’s face.

"Triumph City’s people have arrived."

The bionic soldier beside him nodded slowly.

"Ahh..."

Half a century passed.

And yet, they found themselves face to face once again...

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