This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 592: Let’s Go to Hell Together!

Chapter 592: Chapter 592: Let’s Go to Hell Together!

At the entrance of Town of Hope.

The followers of the commercial team unloading goods nervously looked around, feeling a trace of panic at the sudden mist encroaching from all directions.

Both the guards at the entrance and the mercenaries standing near the truck clenched their rifles, warily observing their surroundings, especially the small woods to the north.

The townspeople exchanged glances and whispered in surprise.

"Is it getting foggy?"

"Why in the afternoon?"

"And this color..."

"It doesn’t look like normal fog, could it be some kind of poisonous gas..."

"Could it be those mutants?"

Such speculation wasn’t without reason, given that the mutants had visited the place a few days ago and had been defeated by the Alliance.

People’s eyes gradually filled with panic; they returned home, those who could found gas masks to wear, and those who couldn’t soaked towels to cover their mouths and noses.

A green-skinned half-breed stood in the corner of the street, a lowered hood hiding his furrowed brows, his right hand pressed against his chest.

Half of his blood belonged to mutants.

And at this moment, that part of his blood was restlessly stirring...

At the entrance of the town hall.

Ma Hechang blankly observed the changes around and in the sky, his face marked with unease and a hint of fear, as he muttered softly.

"What in the world is going on?"

Standing beside him, Wei Ming didn’t speak.

This usually amiable middle-aged pastor, however, seemed like a different person now, expressionlessly staring at the sky.

He seemed to have anticipated the situation, not showing any surprise.

Ma Hechang’s Adam’s apple moved as he looked at him and suddenly felt that the person before him seemed unfamiliar, sparking a sense of unease in his heart.

With trembling lips, he ventured.

"...Old Wei?"

The pastor shifted his gaze from the sky and abruptly spoke on his own.

"It’s Saint Heir."

Ma Hechang was slightly taken aback, his face growing even more frantic as he quickly asked anxiously.

"What did Saint Heir say?"

The pastor spoke slowly.

"He didn’t say anything."

"He’s just angry."

Ma Hechang’s breath hitched.

"Angry..."

He didn’t remember doing anything to wrong Saint Heir.

No—that’s not entirely true.

If he had to say, there was one incident; they had become closely associated with the Alliance recently, even allowing their soldiers to stay in the town for a night.

There had been friction between the Alliance and the Church. He had heard bits about it, and if it was about this event, Saint Heir indeed had reason to be angry.

But that was a special circumstance: the green-skinned brutes were right at their door; if not for the Alliance’s intervention, they might have already been thrown into the frying pan.

Were they supposed to surrender without resistance?

Moreover, why should they?

The Torch Church had promised them peace and prosperity; they had chosen to convert based on the preachers’ words, and yet those green-skinned brutes still showed up at their doorstep.

Who had betrayed whom?

"The betrayal of the non-believers has brought down divine punishment. The green plague will envelop the Earth, and soon everyone will see that seething rage..."

With a deep voice speaking these murky words, Wei Ming looked at the bewildered and frightened Mayor Ma, continuing with a meaningful tone.

"Send some people to check Pinecone Wood Farm."

"That will be the fate of traitors."

...

At Pinecone Wood Farm, engulfed in the mist.

Because most players had dispersed for defense around the settlements, the gathered survivors attracted the remaining players to the front of the manor, thus the inconspicuous building appeared somewhat deserted, with only the entrance to the underground laboratory on the north side being heavily guarded.

The moment a footstep landed on the floor, the empty hallway rippled with semitransparent waves, outlining the contours of a streamlined exoskeleton.

Dark goggles covered the person’s eyes; he was like a machine executing commands, raising the muzzle of the gun cleanly and efficiently.

The moment Yinyin’s gaze met that muzzle, she felt a surge of blood rush to her head, her brain seemingly crashing into a blank.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment, each second stretching indefinitely.

There was no time to think.

Almost instinctively, she hugged the Little Lamb tightly, twisted her body, and used her back to shield her in front of her.

A sharp pain pierced her back, coming out from beneath her side ribs, shaking her body forward, almost causing her to fall down.

Simultaneously, she heard the short sound of the gunshot.

"Bang—!"

As she lowered her head, she saw her beautiful clothes stained with blood and Little Lamb with eyes wide open.

Vaguely, her dazed consciousness heard a heart-wrenching cry—

"Don’t—!"

Little Lamb...

She tried to speak but only blood gushed out.

The person seemed to intend to fire another shot, but for some reason, mechanically lowered the raised gun muzzle and drew a blood-stained dagger, advancing towards her.

Instinct told Yinyin.

That person’s target didn’t seem to be her.

That’s right, speaking of which...

It seemed that Little Lamb was the only one in the entire manor unaffected by the Nago Mushroom.

Dimly, she seemed to understand something. If the Nago Mushroom was truly important to the Torch Church, they would surely target Little Lamb to prevent the Alliance from developing an antidote.

And after all, everyone had become like that last night because of the Nago Mushroom...

Such a simple truth was right there, but she had never noticed it for some reason, even blaming those people for her father’s death. She wished those people had never come.

The cause had been planted long ago, and it was they themselves who had sown it. It would have been the same whether those people came here or not.

Her father had easily trusted those people and handed everything over to them, which led to his death.

And so had she, trusting the Saint Heir until the end; now he was coming to kill her best friend.

In the end, she was the sheep in the fold...

"Run fast..."

A scorching liquid trailed down her cheek, blood or tears of regret, she wasn’t sure. Using her last bit of strength, she whispered this to her best friend.

Her faltering consciousness could hold on no longer; as her body fell forward, it tumbled into the abyss.

However, to her disappointment, the usually docile and obedient Little Lamb didn’t run away as she had said but was still doing something utterly meaningless, trying to bandage her undeniably bloody wound with a piece of clothing.

The human-shaped shadow fell on both of them. Seeing the shoe tip so close, Little Lamb’s neck stiffened, she stopped her trembling hands, faced him, and knelt on the ground.

"Please... don’t hurt Yinyin, save her, I... I can die for her..."

The man didn’t speak.

He was an Executioner from the Tribunal, codenamed ’Mountain Falcon,’ unlike those Executioner’s Squads that partook in defensive tasks, more like a lone assassin than a unit responsible for special operations.

The task had originally only one target—the carrier of the antibody who survived from "Sector 03."

If it weren’t for that bishop saying that a "Holy Land" had been embedded in that girl Yinyin’s head, asking him to spare her life, he would have sent both away with a burst of gunfire.

But...

Why would the bishop do such a superfluous thing?

There should be no shortage of Holy Lands in this settlement. Is this one special?

He didn’t understand.

Nor did he intend to ponder further.

As the sword of the Church, he only needed to follow the Pioneer’s instructions to eradicate those heretics that might obstruct the great plan.

In the face of civilization, one or two lives are outright insignificant.

Watching the hand extending towards his hair and the dagger so close, Little Lamb’s shoulders trembled uncontrollably as she closed her eyes in fear of the pain.

However, the anticipated pain didn’t come. Instead, a roar accompanied by a whooshing sound pierced through the corridor.

The Executioner, Mountain Falcon, startled by the sound, clenched his fist and swung it fluidly towards his rear, colliding with the rushing shadow.

The immense force was beyond his expectations, making him stagger, taking two steps back to steady himself.

And the moment he saw that face, he froze for half a second.

He remembered this person.

He distinctly remembered slicing this guy’s throat with a dagger, and that was alongside another guy wearing an exoskeleton.

Yet inexplicably, the guy who should have been dead was now alive, the wound on his neck gone, replaced by a bright red centipede-shaped scar.

That centipede-shaped scar didn’t seem like part of him; it looked like a large swath of gauze stuck to his neck, under the throbbing flesh, oozing fresh blood was visible.

The man raised a dagger in his right hand, blocking the thrust of his dagger, his face bearing a fierce smile. He spit bloody saliva on his helmet.

"MMP! Lucky I had a biological bionic implant..."

Dog Brother had previously seen the Kidney Fighter and Killer Dagger equipped with exoskeletons, thinking not to wear some useless iron contraption like those two fools; but without any equipment felt lacking something.

So he had a flash of inspiration, followed Mosquito to Xiaoyu, and got himself a biological bionic implant.

It was said to be immune to one fatal injury and could even accelerate HP recovery during combat; the only downside was diminished experience.

Lucky he had installed one.

Otherwise, the stab at his neck would have taken him out directly.

Mountain Falcon didn’t understand what he was saying, just stared coldly at the cursing person before him, suddenly kicked towards his chest planning to create distance to draw his gun for a barrage.

Dog Brother grunted from the kick to his chest, feeling as if a train had crashed into the exoskeleton’s breastplate, squeezing every bit of air from his lungs.

However, he didn’t let the assassin get his way, locking the "Type Five" Light Cavalry Exoskeleton’s leg joints to withstand the kick, then pushing forward with both legs and wrapping his arms around the assassin’s thighs, attempting to topple him.

Unable to create distance, Mountain Falcon was startled, while maintaining his balance, he vigorously thrust his dagger into the man embracing his right leg.

The dagger pierced through an unprotected spot, deeply into Dog Brother’s shoulder blade area. Although it didn’t hurt, it still made him grimace.

Seeing he didn’t let go, Mountain Falcon ruthlessly continued to stab multiple times, poking nearly every unprotected spot on his opponent’s back.

Indeed, being of the Perception type, his physical constitution couldn’t compare to that of his Strength Type and Body Constitution System brethren. Originally intent on tripping the assassin to the ground, he had not only failed but had also ended up with blood pouring down his back, riddled with numerous holes.

"Fuck... you’re playing for real, huh."

Glancing at the little girl lying in a pool of blood, Xiaoyu gritted his teeth, steeled his heart, and with all his might, twisted his body and slammed into the window near the corridor’s patio side.

After all, with a life every three days, not using it now would only lead to regrets later!

Crack—

The glass shattered outward from the impact, falling onto the open space of the patio from the second floor, making a clear sound like that of a bell.

The fierce sounds of battle were enough to attract the attention of other players nearby the villa; someone should be coming here soon.

Xiaoyu glared ferociously at the assassin who hadn’t said a word throughout, violently exerting strength with his arms and legs, and dragged him out the window along with him.

"Let’s go together then—!"

Caught off guard, Mountain Falcon had never anticipated this move and stared in surprise at the madman not caring for his own life.

Fortunately, his reactions were quick, and he managed to grab the edge of the window, hanging outside. He raised his left foot and fiercely kicked at the person clinging to his right leg.

Of course, this height wouldn’t kill him.

But his mission was to guard the carrier of the antibodies, the Little Lamb. Falling from here would definitely ruin that chance.

Unable to shake off the person holding his right leg, Mountain Falcon gritted his teeth, dropped the dagger, and was just about to reach for the fragmentation hand grenade hanging at his waist when he saw a triumphant smile appear on the swollen face below him.

"Let’s go to hell together!"

Just then, he had pulled the pin on the last plastic bomb strapped to the exoskeleton — a venerable tradition of the Burning Corps.

Smoke began to rise beneath the chest armor of the exoskeleton.

Mountain Falcon’s expression froze briefly, and before the expression on his face could turn to horror, the explosion engulfed them both in a burst of flame and thick smoke.

The entire corridor’s windows shattered from the blast.

Since the explosion occurred outside, the shockwave didn’t spread to the corridor. Nevertheless, the Little Lamb, just trying to get up to help, was still knocked to the ground.

"Ugh—"

Ignoring the pain that almost brought tears to her eyes, the Little Lamb struggled to her feet from the floor strewn with glass shards, looked fearfully at the broken window, and then, limping with her lips tightly pursed, she walked over to Yinyin lying in a pool of blood.

Seeing the horrifying blood stains, she had already lost all hope for that one-in-a-million chance, but still, she extended a trembling index finger to touch Yinyin’s lips...

No breath.

Her hand dropped, her head spinning, she felt utterly drained and collapsed onto the floor.

At that moment, rushed footsteps echoed down the hall, and she saw many people coming their way, including the researcher sister who had taken her blood, along with others in exoskeletons.

"There’s a wounded person here!"

"Quick, stop the bleeding!"

"Fuck... this one’s not breathing."

"Where’s the medical syringe?! Who can lend me one!"

"Lend my ass, I’ve got it here!"

Dazed, she heard those yelling around her as they picked Yinyin up from the glass and blood, rushing her towards the stairs.

Chen Yutong crouched in front of her, hugged her shoulders tightly, sobbing as he spoke something into her ear.

She felt no joy of having narrowly survived; suddenly her nose tingled, and all her emotions came rushing out through her eyes.

She had never felt so sad...

...

Official Forum.

Although Brocade River City, eight hundred kilometers from City of Dawn, was in chaos, the forum, in another world, remained calm.

Old Edge Shoveling found a new fishing spot north of Falling Leaves City where one could catch eels as thick as thighs, but it was somewhat draining.

Storm Corps took over the jungle eradication mission from Jungle Corps, and Spring Water Commander was sharing his insights on fighting alien nests and jungle warfare on the forum.

As for Big Eyes, who had lost contact for a while in Luo Xia Province, he had finally returned and was sharing travel tips on the forum, a kind of strategy in its own right.

By the way, the Weilante people stuck in Pioneer City had finally received the parts sent from afar and fixed the airship to begin their journey back.

They were about to head to distant Triumph City; Old Soldier felt both anticipation and hesitation, unsure when he could return home adorned in a pangolin breastplate.

But overall, everyone’s daily life was quite joyful.

Night Ten, who had logged off early, reported the situation in the group and then, with nothing else to do, idly started a thread on the forum.

"Fuck... Got capsized in a gutter today."

Edge Shoveling: "What happened, brother?"

Elena: "Tell us, curious. (playful)"

The thread went quiet for a moment.

Urged by others for a whole minute, Night Ten finally said reluctantly,

"... Er, got knifed on the way to trigger a mission."

Spring Water Commander: "Pfft..."

Gnome King Riches: "Who could knife a Perception type like you??"

Night Ten: "I’m also fucking baffled, didn’t feel a thing. Both me and Xiaoyu were gone in an instant, I even saw him get his throat slashed... That guy definitely has some issue."

Spring Water Commander: "Could it be an Awakener from the Torch Church?"

Night Ten: "It’s not as simple as being an Awakener... I feel it’s more like that..."

Edge Shoveling: "Which one???"

Night Ten: "Frost, Solar Eclipse, and the like..."

Old Soldier: "Damn! Bionic warriors?!"

Night Ten: "Yeah... I’ve heard that the nature of the Perception type is a comprehensive induction of some kind of biological pheromones, and the detection of environmental changes. Bionic ones obviously lack the former, making it quite hard for me to perceive them in advance."

Of course, it could also be someone like Heya, implanted with a large amount of bionic prosthetics.

Considering the Black Boxes owned by the Torch Church mostly deal with synthesizing bionic organs, creating a bionic person shouldn’t be too difficult.

It’s just a matter of cost.

Spring Water Commander: "Hmm... Although I’m not familiar with your situation, if you say so... isn’t that villa in danger then?"

Night Ten: "I’ve already told the brothers responsible for online and offline communication in the group, it should be fine... But it’s strange, why hasn’t Dog Brother come down yet? Didn’t he die with me?"

The Burning Corps always had people taking turns being on call offline, to facilitate timely online and offline exchange of information. This was also Brother Fang Chang’s idea.

So, right after dying, Night Ten went into the group to inform the brother who relayed messages, telling him to come online and notify everyone that something was happening at the villa.

But strangely, Dog Brother still hadn’t shown up.

As Night Ten was puzzled by this, as soon as he typed out this line, the ID with the name all taken up by Dog popped up in the post.

"Damn! I’m having an intense battle with that boss, and you’re here chatting?!"

Night Ten: "Damn, what’s happening?! Weren’t you dead?"

Dog Brother: "Who told you I died! I tell you, Xiaoyu’s Resurrection Armor is really useful! I was all set to log off when suddenly my neck felt warm, and I stood back up!"

Gnome King Riches: "??? Is it really that awesome?"

Elena: "This cheat... is simply invincible, I gotta get one too. (smirk)"

Night Ten: "Wait, before we talk about the Resurrection Armor, what’s the situation over there?! What the hell is that guy who messed with our home?"

He was more concerned about that little Lolita.

As for his good brother’s death, it wasn’t that important; after all, everyone had a life every three days, and they had recently saved their progress, so death was just that.

Dog Brother: "Who knows, that guy totally ignored me, but it seems he was after the little girl with antibodies... Damn, what a heartless thing, how could he lay a hand on such a small kid!"

Night Ten: "Where is he? (sweat)"

Dog Brother: "Couldn’t beat him, that guy is tough, in a second I barely got a handle on taking five hits, he’s probably what you described in your post, a bionic person! But I reacted quickly, dragged him outside the hallway, and used the old method to replace him."

Outlaw Maniac: "This humble amateur asks, what’s the old method? (curious)"

Dog Brother: "Hehe, once I’m alive again, I’ll teach you hand by hand. (shy)"

While everyone was discussing, Elder Fang’s ID suddenly appeared.

"Who’s on the Iron Heart or can reach the airship in the game?"

Feng Qing: "(raising hand)"

Fang Chang: "Twenty-five kilometers in the direction of the Pinecone Wood Farm, exact coordinates (X-233, Y-365), our scout team spotted a group of Mutant Corps, roughly the size of a thousand team. We noticed a small number of vehicles, types unclear, moving at speeds between 10~20... We are in radio silence, could you please report these coordinates to Iron Heart?"

Feng Qing: "Huh?"

Fang Chang: "What’s wrong?"

Feng Qing: "Nothing... just that our captain just went out to scout for you, but it seems unnecessary now? 0.0"

Night Ten: "No worries, we’ll all laugh about him making a wasted trip later, definitely won’t let him feel left out. (smirk)"

Elena: "(smirk)"

...

Iron Heart, bridge.

Gazing at the vast sea of smoke accumulated on the ground in the distance, the captain standing by the floor-to-ceiling window furrowed his brows.

"...The visibility on the ground is too low, our aircraft can’t see anything."

Chu Guang looked at him and asked.

"Have you found the source of the fog?"

The captain shook his head solemnly.

"Our consultant from the Biological Institute thinks... these obstructions might not be just fog, but spores released from the soil."

"Spores?" Chu Guang slightly frowned.

The captain nodded.

"The consultant says, according to the clues collected from the front line, the mycelium lurking in the soil and within flora and fauna releases spores similar to Mutated Slime Fungus under certain conditions, but it doesn’t have the ability to exchange information through spores like the slime fungus lair... This mainly stems from the part of its genetic fragment derived from Mutated Slime Fungus."

Chu Guang: "Is there a connection between Nago Mushroom and Mutated Slime Fungus?"

The captain hesitated for a moment and said.

"She thinks there’s a relation, but that Nago isn’t a branch of Mutated Slime Fungus; rather, it’s artificially created by splicing parts of the fungus’s genes into the nucleus of some other species’ cells... This research is still ongoing, so the consultant couldn’t provide a definite conclusion."

Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully.

"I see."

Just then, Xiao Qi, perched on his shoulder, suddenly lifted its head and whispered something into his ear.

After listening, Chu Guang looked towards the captain stationed nearby.

"Prepare the port gun position and the main bow cannon for firing, target coordinates (X-233, Y-365) and adjust five hundred meters westward, push the barrage two kilometers westward."

The captain’s expression turned serious as he heard this, not asking the reason, he promptly responded.

"Yes!"