This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 583: Great Strength Creates Miracles!

Chapter 583: Chapter 583: Great Strength Creates Miracles!

At the southernmost end of the Central Continent, there is a beautiful place where lush jungles, seas of vibrant flowers, and coral and seas that glow can be found.

Its name is Haiye Province.

It is said that many years ago, the land here was more extensive, the glowing sea used to be land, upon which a prosperous city sat.

However, one day something fell from the sky and obliterated it, along with the land beneath it.

Li Jinrong had never actually seen this land as it had once been, having only heard snippets from his grandfather.

It’s said that two hundred years ago, the glowing sea was even more exaggerated, with arcs of azure light forming a continuous blaze, like flames burning.

It is said to have been the flame of the Reaper.

Everyone who saw it died.

The vast majority of people moved north with the help of the Post-War Reconstruction Committee, while a few still chose not to leave their homeland. After all, the world had already been destroyed, what difference would it make to go north?

Death was certain either way.

Might as well leave with some dignity.

When he was very young, Li Jinrong didn’t understand why people thought this way. How could humans, such tenacious creatures, possibly be wiped out by such a trifle?

Even in places where grass couldn’t survive, humans could.

And wasn’t that the case in reality?

If those people really had perished, how could he be here?

What he did not understand was not only the despair in the hearts of those who chose to stay at that time but also why others chose to flee. In his child’s eyes, there was clearly a better way.

"Why don’t we all unite and extinguish the Reaper’s flame?"

He remembered asking his grandfather this question.

However, the always wise old man showed an uncommon look of difficulty when faced with this question.

"Not all problems have solutions; some problems have no answer at all, and some problems, even if there are solutions, come with their own set of priorities..."

"Then, to which category does our problem belong?"

He remembered pressing further with this question, and his grandfather responded only with a look of helplessness.

"Sorry, child, I don’t know either."

Two hundred years ago was too long past.

Not to mention two hundred years, even one hundred years, fifty years, or even twenty years ago, if no one deliberately recalls, records, and spreads the stories... then soon enough, no one may remember what exactly happened back then.

Just like that glowing sea.

Even though it had snatched away the lives of millions in a moment, today some people still worship its vast and boundless power and perceived benevolence without reason.

Fortunately, the pale blue arc light had now sunk to the seabed, only glimpsed in the pitch-black night.

In fact, young Li Jinrong was more interested in the Post-War Reconstruction Committee that his grandfather mentioned. In his grandfather’s mouth, that organization seemed omnipotent.

Even though Haiye Province didn’t have a settlement planned by the committee, even though they saw the survivors here as a bunch of self-abandoned folks, they still didn’t give up on the people who had decided to stay.

Those Signal Towers standing in Haiye Province were the traces of their presence.

It is said that for a very long time, even after the dissolution of the committee, those Iron Towers kept spreading self-help knowledge to nearby survivors over and over, urging residents from various refuges to fulfill their original oaths.

During that period, many good people wearing blue jackets appeared in the settlements. The knowledge and tools they brought helped many settlements in Haiye Province lead a better life.

It was during that time that the Iron Tower Organization was founded.

The local people and residents of the refuge who were helped by the Post-War Reconstruction Committee decided to unite and help more people to end the Wasteland and to rebuild the collapsed order over a broader area.

Until twenty years ago, the Iron Tower played a significant role in Haiye Province.

Li Jinrong could not remember the exact day.

He only remembered that he was very young at the time, and suddenly from one day on, the folks in the settlements stopped trusting those self-claimed Iron Tower people and instead sought refuge in the arms of the Torch Church.

Initially, the Iron Tower left by the War Construction Committee were dismantled and melted into molten steel, then invisible high walls were erected between villages, and one settlement after another became an isolated plantation.

He didn’t know why it turned out this way.

He only remembered from that day on.

Everything changed...

...

"...it’s Mutants."

Holding a pair of binoculars, Li Jinrong looked out from the edge of the hills toward the rolling dust on the plain several kilometers away, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Their numbers were uncertain but at least over five hundred and hopefully not more than two thousand.

There were quite a few vehicles, and these guys turned out to be a motorized troop—one-half of the green skins were riding in trucks and SUVs, and the other half were panting behind.

Although by Mutant standards, such discipline and equipment were considered elite—as these beasts weren’t normally ones to rely on such things for fighting—he still thought, these folks looked less like they were going to war and more like they were heading to a feast.

Leaning against the motorcycle next to him, the man yawned and said,

"These green skins must never need to sleep, still roaming around at three in the morning."

The man’s name was Xiao Yue, Li Jinrong’s subordinate, and the one who had been rescued by the Alliance plane with him that night.

Old Li suspected there was a traitor in the organization, so he didn’t meet up with them.

Although he thought Old Li was a bit paranoid—after all, they had been through life and death together—he was really not comfortable leaving this guy to act alone, so he stayed with Old Li.

These past few days they had been wandering near the Qi Tribe, investigating clues about the Sacred Land from various settlements, while also gathering some intelligence about the Torch Church with the people of the Alliance.

The guys from the north were very generous.

With them, intelligence could even be exchanged for food and ammunition.

If it weren’t for the fact that the Torch Church also came from the north, and Qingquan City had been called the Holy Land by those fanatics, Old Li’s opinion of the Waste Land Wanderers from the north might have been a little more amicable.

"They clearly aren’t just wandering around outside; with so many guys mobilizing together, they must have a definite target."

Putting down the binoculars he was holding, Li Jinrong took out a map and spread it open, his index finger moving along the gridlines for a while before quickly stopping on a red circle, his brows knitting together.

He muttered to himself in a low voice.

"Pine Cone Wood Farm."

Hearing the name Pine Cone Wood Farm, Xiao Yue couldn’t help but click his tongue.

That was their first stop on the way to Brocade River City and had successfully contracted all his bad impressions of the settlements in this area.

The arrogant farm owner hadn’t even met them face to face before unceremoniously driving them away, ranting about how Pine Cone Wood Farm only dealt with truly powerful forces and didn’t need wanderers like them without even a home to call their own.

"The lot of them are beyond saving; this is a Mutant Corps of one to two thousand strong. The soldiers from that settlement added together might not even amount to that many... I even doubt that those people would be enough for those mutants to eat."

"It doesn’t matter if it’s useful or not, we still have to notify them, at least let them have some preparation."

Back at his motorcycle, Li Jinrong started the engine, looking at Xiao Yue and said.

"Are you coming with me or staying here?"

Xiao Yue sighed, also climbing onto the motorcycle.

"Even though I think you’re wasting your effort... Fine, I’ll accompany you for a bit."

Li Jinrong grinned and twisted the motorcycle’s throttle.

The thick exhaust pipe belched black smoke, and just as he was about to head down the slope, a dull roar suddenly came from the sky.

He raised his head to look at the pitch-black night sky.

Through the gaps in the dark clouds, with the faint help of the moonlight, he could vaguely see rows of cross-shaped silhouettes.

Xiao Yue, who was riding alongside him, also noticed the anomaly above their heads and murmured as he looked up at the sky.

"...What is that?"

Li Jinrong wanted to know too.

His Adam’s apple moved slightly, and just as he was about to speak, he saw those dark crosses break free from the edge of the clouds and under the cover of night, they charged toward the mutants on the plain.

With such a commotion coming from the sky, the mutants obviously noticed the anomaly overhead, and the convoy moving on the plain showed a brief disturbance.

Standing half out of the off-road vehicle, the towering figure of Kulu looked up at the sky and frowned, his sharp canine teeth poking out from his lips.

The droning roar gave him a sense of instinctual threat.

However, at this moment, he clearly hadn’t realized the severity of the situation—a fast-moving army encountering an air raid on the plains meant something significant.

In that moment of distraction, the crosses flying in the sky began to dive toward the ground, releasing ear-piercing whistles as the beepers activated, dropping missiles onto the terrain.

Hundreds of kilograms of missiles rained down from the sky, and balls of flame burst into life across the plain in an instant.

The blast waves flipped over the trucks, and Mutant Warriors not blown to pieces on the spot by the explosions were thrown out by the overturned vehicles.

Confused by the blasts, the mutants couldn’t understand what was happening, especially those trailing behind the trucks inhaling exhaust, panting hard only to see the trucks being blown into the air.

Some mutants even thought they had awakened some incredible ability, imagining that their breath had blown away the trucks until the next second when they saw nearly all the trucks had been bombed; that’s when they realized it was an enemy attack.

A look of disbelief appeared on each hideous green face.

The moon has risen from the west!

Someone had actually dared to provoke them!

And they were beaten so badly right from the start!

Most of the survivors on this land were chicken-hearted; they had been like that since they were born. Those two-legged creatures had always been the ones chased by them. On rare occasions when they took out one or two powerful items, those too would soon be robbed by them. This was the first time they had encountered such terrifying things, and so many at once.

No—

It wasn’t their first time, actually.

In fact, they had already experienced the Alliance’s missiles on that night, but no one had taken that weak showing seriously.

After all, not many had died in the blasts, and stout mutants simply shook their heads and got back up.

Kulu’s disastrous defeat hadn’t seemed to teach them any lessons either; they had just assumed he was a coward who couldn’t even handle a bunch of weak human beings and was scared to come back after his failure.

Facing those planes that were out of reach, the confused mutants with their faces covered in confusion didn’t know what to do next.

At this same time, up in the night sky.

One by one, the W-2 planes completed their diving and bombing runs, pulled up their noses and returned to a safe altitude, preparing for the next dive.

"Hahaha! Damn exciting!" Sitting in one of the planes, Mosquito excitedly watched the bursts of fire blooming behind him, his face flushed with excitement.

Since the war in Luo Xia Province had wound down, he, a pilot, had found himself without a role, bored to the extent of joining the throngs of vocational players living off the gaming life.

Later, he even got fooled by his teammates into blowing up the army barracks’ kitchen.

This time, it was the neighboring Army’s turn to make a mess, and finally, it was his turn to clean up after others.

At last, he had the opportunity to enter the fray!

Howls filled the communication channel, and soon Feng Qing’s voice came through.

"...Commander, what do we do next? Go back to resupply, or?"

Mosquito chuckled.

"Resupply? Screw that! Pound them with the cannon!"

"But it’s too dark, and we can’t see anything on the ground."

Even if they dropped flares, the visibility was still extremely limited.

Without the cooperation of ground troops, the pure air raid indeed seemed somewhat forced.

Feng Qing estimated that the previous round of dive-bombing probably killed only around a hundred mutants.

As for minor and serious injuries, there was no need to count them at all. After all, given the healing abilities of the mutants, most could recover unless they were blown up on the spot.

Of course, blowing up a hundred or so wasn’t too bad.

Their first objective had been achieved—they had crippled the mutants’ vehicles, stopping those green-skinned beasts from advancing toward Pine Cone Wood Farm.

As long as the mutant corps lost their mobility, even if they hadn’t died in great numbers, the pressure on the friendly forces at Pine Cone Wood Farm would be greatly reduced.

Mosquito was clearly aware of this point, their mission was completed.

But—

To finish the job and call it a day would be too out of character for him.

"Not important! It doesn’t matter if I can’t see, just fire towards the approximate location and the job’s done! Brothers, charge with me! Gahaha—"

With a reckless laugh, Mosquito gripped the joystick, swung it to the side, and was the first to turn the nose of his craft back into the fray, unleashing a barrage of cannon fire towards the ground.

Meanwhile, on the ground that had been strafed by his cannon fire, the dazed mutants finally snapped back to reality, scattering to dodge and retaliate against the returning aircraft.

Watching the sky full of little flies and the ground littered with burning steel wreckage, Kulu, standing on top of the off-road vehicle, was almost grinding his teeth in frustration.

Forty armed trucks!

He had robbed more than a dozen commercial teams to gather these supplies, and now, in a single round of explosions, more than half had been blown away!

As if bleeding internally and unable to contain his rage, he let out a skyward roar.

"Kulu! Fire! Everyone fire! Shoot those noisy sparrows down!"

Blinded by anger, he grabbed the machine gun welded to the vehicle roof, firing wildly into the night sky.

The thick tongues of flame and rain of bullets chased the plane’s tail, the tracer bullets fluttering menacingly through the air, unaware that the muzzle flash had already revealed his position.

Without warning,

The 20mm cannon fire was faster than the sound of the shots, and almost the instant he heard the whistling of the shells, a stream of bullets peppered his vehicle with resounding pings.

Giant bullet holes crept from the hood of the off-road vehicle all the way to the muddy trunk. With the hail of fire, the driver in the front seat was killed instantly, followed by his co-driver in the back.

"Ah—!"

Gory flesh splattered chaotically inside the vehicle, covering Kulu, who, bathed in this bloody rain, found the machine gun in his hand reduced to scrap.

Tumbling out of the out-of-control off-road vehicle, Kulu was about to curse in shock, only to see his ride not far away being peppered by a pursuing plane, hitting the fuel tank, and exploding into sparks in the wilderness.

A bead of sweat rolled down his caterpillar-like eyebrows onto the ground, Kulu’s Adam’s apple moved, and he finally realized he’d picked up a second chance at life.

Struggling to get up from the ground, he saw a severed arm next to him and instinctively reached out with his right hand to pick it up, only to see what remained of his own arm.

As the pain slowly crept over him through the wound, his fierce and twisted green face contorted painfully.

Raising his eyes to survey the devastation of the battlefield and the countless mutant warriors fallen or wounded in an instant, he could no longer suppress the shock and fury in his heart.

"Aaaaah!!!"

Meanwhile, after completing a strafing run, Mosquito pulled the nose of his plane up again.

Looking back at the sparsely twinkling fires on the ground, even he, who had seen all sorts of bizarre opponents, felt a touch of amazement at the courage of these green skins.

"Damn, good on you..."

Shooting blindly, huh?

Were they worried he couldn’t see well enough to know where to spray his bullets?

...

Elsewhere, several kilometers away next to the rolling hills.

Staring dumbfounded at the blossoming flames in the distant plains and the mutants fleeing in all directions, Xiao Yue swallowed hard and finally squeezed out a sentence from his throat.

"...It’s the Alliance’s planes."

Li Jinrong’s mouth was half open, he didn’t speak, just stared straight at the plain.

He had heard before that an organization called the Alliance had fought with the Army people in the northwest, but he had no concrete idea of either the Alliance or the Army.

Now he understood.

The roaring gunfire had left an indelible impression on his heart.

The mutant corps, looking invincible and murderous just a second ago, were engulfed in an inferno in the blink of an eye, and those green-skinned beasts lucky enough to survive were scattering frantically under the sky full of tracers in a desperate escape.

Seeing no response for a long while, Xiao Yue turned to Old Li and said with difficulty,

"...Do we still need to go to that farm?"

This seemed an unnecessary question.

Li Jinrong was silent for a while, then nodded.

"Let’s go."

Of course.

This wasn’t about bringing news or anything; those people were obviously already aware of the mutants leaving the city, and they didn’t need their report.

What was interesting was why the group of mutants headed to Pine Cone Wood Farm in the dead of night, and why the Alliance’s planes were there above them.

As everyone knows, Pine Cone Wood Farm was within the power of the Torch Church, and the Qi Tribe was an ally of the Church.

Li Jinrong had a vague guess and a surge of joy in his heart.

Was it possible that the Alliance was officially moving against the Torch Church?!

This could be significant news...

...

Pine Cone Wood Farm.

The brainwashing of the Mind Interference Device had been lifted, but the chaos within the settlement was far from over.

Despite the mayhem, the players remaining in the safe haven had no time to care for those crazed fools. Some were guarding the pavilion, while others followed Night Ten’s lead toward the church of the settlement.

"Open up! FBI! Damn, delivering warmth!"

Kicking open the half-ajar door, Kidney Fighter charged in with his rifle at the ready, scanning the area with a murderous gaze.

Seeing the half-bodied figure, the pastor hiding inside the church was scared stiff in an instant. The grenade he was prepared to use for a mutual takedown fell to the ground, the pin forgotten in his panic.

He knew nothing.

People outside had suddenly gone mad, biting anyone they saw.

Just at this critical moment, the respected Apostle had disappeared. With gunshots outside resembling firecrackers going off, he was so terrified that, besides praying, he didn’t know what else to do.

Spotting the pastor cowering in a corner of the church, Brother Kill Dagger, with fists like a pair of excavators, strode forward. Planting his massive fists beside the pastor, he bared his teeth in a menacing smile.

"Where’s the Apostle here? The Apostle from Torch Church, don’t play dumb or act confused, saying you don’t know."

"I, I—" the pastor stammered, unable to complete his sentence.

"Stop wasting time with him."

Night Ten stepped forward, pressing the gun barrel against the pastor’s forehead and looked into his eyes.

"Speak, where’s the basement of this church?"

"I, I’ll show you."

Threatened by the barrel of the gun, the pastor finally lacked the courage to keep his secret, trembling as he led the group down to the church’s basement.

It was pitch dark down there.

Just as Kidney Fighter was about to take out his flashlight, Quit smoking found a button on the wall. He pressed it, and the dark basement lit up with the brightness of an incandescent lamp.

Somewhat embarrassed, Kidney Fighter coughed and put away his flashlight.

"Is there really some kind of underground passage here?"

The place seemed to be just an ordinary bookroom, roughly seven or eight square meters in size, with two bookshelves against the wall and a table. The table was squeaky clean, with nothing on it.

Night Ten turned his gaze to the pastor standing aside, whose face had turned deathly pale under his stare. The pastor began shaking his head vigorously like a rattle-drum.

"I, I don’t know, this is the Apostle’s bookroom... I’ve only been here a few times myself."

"Usually, we need to find the mechanism to open the door..."

Quit Smoking, rubbing his chin, crouched beside that empty table, touching and looking around for the mechanism, but after a long time, he found nothing.

Seeing Quit Smoking messing with the bookshelf again, Brother Kill Dagger couldn’t stand it anymore. He clicked his tongue and started moving forward.

"Move aside, I’ll do it!"

Quit Smoking, who moved away instinctively, glanced at him.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Heh, isn’t it obvious? Force works miracles!"

Brother Kill Dagger chuckled, pleased to finally find a use for the exoskeleton he’d been carrying for so long.

Without further words, he swung his excavator-like fist with all his might at the wall.

His punch was indeed heavy, but the wall wasn’t made of mud. A muffled ’Duang’ sound rebounded, and he bounced back. The plaster was scraped off, even cracking a layer of cement beneath, but the wall remained unscathed, not even budging. It was evident from the sound that the other side of the wall was solid. If there was a hidden door, it couldn’t be here.

Seeing eyes fixed on him, Brother Kill Dagger felt embarrassed. He coughed, wanting to scratch his head but reconsidered after seeing his hands.

"Uh... not this wall, let me try another."

He realized this method was unwise, but he had already put up a front, and backing down now would be embarrassing.

As Brother Kill Dagger approached another wall, the people at the door were dumbfounded.

"Holy shit... if you don’t find the door and block the passage, what then?!"

Not to mention if there were traps—

Before they could finish, that cauldron-sized fist had already slammed into another wall, yet this time was different. Behind the crumbling plaster, a crack appeared.

Seeing this, Brother Kill Dagger was startled and exclaimed joyfully.

"There’s something behind here!"

He was about to smash the wall when suddenly, noises from outside the basement filtered through.

The players guarding the entrance shouted loudly.

"... Freeze! Put the guns down!"

At the same time, two gunshots rang out.

Before the echo of the gunfire had dissipated, Night Ten had already rushed out, with other players quickly following suit.

After a short while, the gunfire outside ceased, and team members’ voices came through the communication channel.

"We’ve captured him... he came right through the main entrance of the church, ran straight into us, heh heh."

"Geez, they were behind on their intel compared to our objective, didn’t even make it to the tunnel yet..."

"Four Apostles!"

"We caught a big fish!"

"Who’s going back to the pavilion? Tell Old White to turn off that Mind Interference Device, this choppy signal is really annoying!"

Is this...

Victory?

Listening to the voices of his teammates in the communication channel, Brother Kill Dagger, standing by the wall, looked baffled, and it took some time before he managed to blurt out a word.

"Shoot!"

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