This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 695: Landing, Control, Street Fighting!

Chapter 695: Chapter 695: Landing, Control, Street Fighting!

At four o’clock in the morning, the sun had not yet risen, and the sea was still shrouded in gray.

Curled up along the coastline, Jin Galun Harbor resembled a slumbering bull, its concrete piers stretching out like horns, while the city area crowded with houses of varying heights lay along the coast like the bull’s bloated belly.

This settlement, situated on the banks of the Everflow River and nestled on the Shock Plain, was the largest settlement on the East Coast of the West Winds Empire and also its biggest port.

According to updates on the forum by Si Si, an astonishing one million people lived here, even surpassing the combined population of the Camel Hump Kingdom.

If one were to judge by size alone, the ports of Silver Moon Bay and Ring Island would be no more than fleas in comparison.

However, in terms of living standards, one need only look at the densely packed houses and shanties, which resembled an anthill, to feel the suffocation and struggle that hit one squarely in the face.

Of course, it would be slanderous to say that there were only shanties here. After all, anyone disembarking at this port, if not blind, would surely not miss the straight concrete piers and several streets equipped with streetlights.

Although the incident that occurred a month ago still sent shivers down the spines of the nobles living near the harbor, it did not detract from the fact that this was the most expensive area along the entire Everflow River, where a single brick could buy an entire nearby city district.

Of course, no matter how expensive the houses here were, it had nothing to do with Paru, who was standing guard.

Firstly, he was of the Horse Tribe, and only the esteemed Sun People, Cow People, and foreigners were qualified to buy houses here. Moreover, transactions were not made with the ever-fluctuating Dinar of West Winds but with pure gold dinars, which could even be used to buy a slave.

Both of which were beyond his wildest dreams; he could only hope to donate more to the temple and pray for a better life in the next cycle.

Actually, with only a thousand gods protecting this place, it wasn’t too many. Perhaps in the next reincarnation, he could be born as one of the Sun People or the Cow People?

It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

Gazing out at the silent coast and lost in his musings, Paru could not help but yawn and tightened his grip on the rifle that was more like a fire poker.

It wasn’t that the weapon gave him much of a sense of security—purely because the sea breeze was blowing mercilessly, and he always worried that he might be carried away by the wind without something to hold onto in his hand.

For most people in this settlement, this time was too early; only those carrying buckets, the night soil men, and patrolling guards were awake by the docks.

If one accidentally fell into the sea, they might drown without anyone noticing.

"...Isn’t it time for the shift change yet?"

Paru muttered under his breath, looking around restlessly, feeling like the time for the shift change had already passed.

Damn it.

The clock ringer shouldn’t have fallen asleep again, right?

...

At this very moment, Paru was unaware that the guard responsible for ringing the bell hadn’t fallen asleep, but had been knocked out cold with a cudgel.

The bell tower was a vantage point in the vicinity, right next to the port police station, and capturing it would allow one to overlook at least half of the port district.

And it wasn’t just the bell ringer.

In the time it took Paru to yawn, the port police station’s main entrance was also forcibly taken over by a group of individuals in exoskeletons.

The guard on duty had his mouth stuffed and was thrown under the table in the guardhouse. An Intelligence System player swiftly deployed the carried quadcopter drone, operating it through a neural interface device. It circled the entire guard bureau twice, marking all escape routes and potential hiding spots.

Corner Old Six, acting as the squad leader, immediately issued the attack order. Then, twenty soldiers clad in "Type Five" exoskeletons boldly breached the front door of the guard bureau, splitting into two groups and heading straight for the main building and dormitories.

Many of the snoring guards hadn’t even woken up when they were yanked from their beds, only to see a silenced pistol pointed at their foreheads.

Seeing the tapping index finger against the assailant’s lips, no one dared make a sound. They all meekly came to terms with the fact that they had been captured and were escorted by these uninvited guests to squat in the guard bureau’s cells, alongside the still half-asleep prisoners.

Even a blind man could tell that these people were clearly not ordinary pirates or looters.

They were well-trained, their actions crisp and decisive. They didn’t dilly-dally; their movements were fast, accurate, and ruthless, aiming for vital points, leaving the "victims" no chance to react.

Obviously.

They were all regular army!

And their equipment and tactics were professional!

Facing such a tough situation, resistance would be futile. It would be wiser to surrender compliantly.

Moreover, there was no shame in being captured by the regular army; their superiors wouldn’t blame them for not resisting.

But there was one thing that everyone at the guard bureau couldn’t understand.

How had they provoked this plague of calamity?

The entire operation took less than fifteen minutes, without a word exchanged. Jinjaron Harbor’s port guard bureau was already subdued.

This slumbering bull had been blindfolded.

The Alliance’s submarines could now surface right next to the docks with impunity, transferring personnel and equipment from the ship to the shore, with ropes tightly wound around its neck.

In the head of the guard bureau’s office.

Corner Old Six, who had completely seized control of the building, extended his index finger and pressed on his helmet, reporting the current situation to the temporary command center on the submarine.

"...This is the vanguard, we have successfully suppressed the port’s security system, no exchange of fire, you can land anytime."

After a rustling of electronic static, Old White’s voice came through from the other end of the communications channel.

"Received, continue to maintain suppression, stand by at your current location."

Corner Old Six: "Understood."

At the same moment the communication ended, at the southernmost edge of the port, a massive black submarine slowly emerged from the water.

The dark hull quietly pushed through the waves, revealing the broad deck and the vast curved bow.

The crew on deck threw out cushioned airbags and guided the submarine gently toward the edge of the concrete dock via walkie-talkies.

Once the submarine was steady, column after column of black exoskeletons marched in step through the door connecting to the deck, climbing up to the dock via the extended gangways.

Along with them surging towards the port were Y-2 Butterfly Knife drones, each with its menacing guns, and twenty "Hellhound" unmanned vehicles loaded with ammunition.

In just three minutes, a battalion’s worth of troops had completed its deployment, and it was one of the Alliance’s most elite battalions at that.

All of these players were not only Awakeners who had reached at least the Third Stage Gene Sequence, but they were also armed to the teeth with mechanized equipment.

Looking at the army that had suddenly appeared at the port, the nearby patrolling guards were so astonished that they were rooted to the spot, momentarily losing both the ability to act and to speak.

Facing this group that was completely unlike anything they were used to, they felt the Ripper Rifles in their hands were no more threatening than a small water pipe in a wash basin.

To say nothing of raising them to aim at those people, they didn’t even have the courage to load their rifles and instead put down their guns and raised their hands.

After all, they were just a bunch of ordinary survivors earning a meager salary, neither the noble Imperial Army nor the private soldiers of the governor’s mansion.

They possessed neither the skill to rush forward and fight desperately nor the courage to do so.

The leading player also did not open fire on them, but simply herded them into a nondescript area and placed them under the watch of two drones, then continued to execute the task of occupying the port.

At this very moment, Paru, who was on duty at the northern end of the port, did not even realize what had happened — control of the port had already fallen into the hands of the Alliance.

On the submarine’s deck.

Watching the port that had fallen into their hands without a shot being fired, Fang Chang, clad in a "Type Five" Exoskeleton, couldn’t help but sigh.

"Now I understand how that group managed to cause such a huge commotion at the port with only four people."

Before landing, he had estimated that there would be at least a fierce firefight in the port area, serving as a rehearsal for the upcoming landing operations in the Southern sea area and Haiye Province.

After all, their previous experiences had been airborne drops from the skies, and they had never encountered a situation like a sea landing before. In the event that the Southern Islands Federation suddenly turned hostile, defending against the bombardment of the Federal Fleet with Potato Harbor’s shore defenses would be challenging, so the best solution would still be to break through with the submarines.

Whatever the case, one always had to prepare for the worst.

However, this giant settlement with a population of a million people had completely defied his expectations; it was as if the garrison were asleep, allowing them to take it without firing a single shot.

Old White glanced at him.

"You’re talking about Ah Wei and the others?"

Fang Chang shrugged.

"Who else has been here?"

Seeing his speechlessness, Old White smiled and said.

"Don’t underestimate them. Their combat power aside, their talent for creating chaos is quite something."

Although the probability of success was not high, the effect of success was often remarkable.

As for those times when things went awry, the person involved probably wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about it on the forum.

Fang Chang’s gaze fell on the still-slumbering settlement, and he sighed softly.

"I’m not underestimating that guy, it’s just a little..."

He paused, searching for the right words.

"I might have overestimated this ’Empire’ a bit."

Whether the population exceeded a hundred million and whether the Wasteland Era had ended or not, only the locals knew best, but having unified the entire Poluo Province was certainly no lie.

Fang Chang didn’t know how they had accomplished it.

The Alliance had yet to fully govern an entire administrative division from the Era of Prosperity. Although it seemed they had not deliberately played this map-coloring game, implementing it, in reality, was not without its difficulties.

Survivors in several provinces east of River Valley Province were so sparse it was unclear how to even unite them, and the sparks of civilization left by the War Construction Committee in places like Giant Stone City and Singular Point City numbered around thirteen or maybe twelve. Its reach could never extend as far as Poluo Province.

Perhaps, as the West Winds people said, theirs was a kingdom truly blessed by the gods...

...

Elsewhere, at the port security office.

Watching these uninvited guests communicate in a language he couldn’t understand, Mandar sitting behind the desk shivered uncontrollably, afraid to even breathe.

But the Exoskeleton-clad figure still noticed him, striding over and peering down into his eyes.

"Are you the director here?"

Mandar’s instinct was to nod, but he quickly came to his senses and shook his head, stuttering out.

"Yes, no... I’m not, I’m the duty director."

Corner Old Six continued menacingly.

"And where’s your superior? Where is he now?"

"He, he lives just down this street..." Mandar was so unnerved he was nearly crying, his lips trembling.

Corner Old Six didn’t give him a hard time, picking up a notebook from the desk, tearing out a page, and tossing it in front of him, tapping it with his finger.

"House number, street, write it down."

"Yes, yes!" Without daring to resist, Mandar hurriedly grabbed a pen and swiftly wrote down a long string of information.

Corner Old Six picked up the note, glanced at it, tapped his helmet twice, took a photogenic snapshot through the Tactical Goggles, and had the offline program on the VM translate the written content.

Unfortunately, without satellite positioning, they could only sketch simple terrain maps from drone aerial imagery.

Corner Old Six took a tablet from a nearby Intelligence System player, pushed it in front of the trembling Mandar, and pointed to the address previously written on the paper.

"Is this the place?"

After a brief look at the aerial map displayed on the tablet, Mandar quickly spotted the posh three-story mansion and immediately nodded fervently.

"Right! 003 Tulip No. 1 Street, that’s it!"

Seeing the cooperating NPC, Corner Old Six nodded in satisfaction, shared the coordinates with his teammates outside, and kept questioning him.

"In addition to your superior, I also need the address of the governor of the port, the local lord, and other high-ranking officials of the settlement and port."

"The governor is in the Governor’s Mansion... As for the other officials, I really have no idea, my lord," Mandar said in a panic, drenched in sweat and worried the man before him wasn’t satisfied, so he hurriedly explained, "No, no, but don’t worry! Except for the governor and the city lord who are in their own mansions, ninety percent of those people you’re talking about are on those streets behind the port! If you ask around, you’re sure to find out! I, I’ll circle it for you!"

With that, he squeezed a solicitous smile onto his face and eagerly reached out both hands to take the tablet, his fingers trembling as he drew a circle on the map, enclosing the street district near the port that was equipped with streetlights.

"They’re all here!"

Goodness.

He’s that cooperative?

Seeing how eagerly this guy was cooperating, Corner Old Six gave him an extra look of surprise, then reported the situation here back to the submarine’s combat command.

After understanding the situation at the port, Old White immediately devised a capture plan. The first one hundred people who landed at the port would quickly head to the nearby port district to cut off transportation and execute the capture of key residents, while the mission to capture the Governor’s Mansion would be carried out by the second group of one hundred.

Looking at the line of people still standing in the office without leaving, Mandar could no longer restrain the terror in his heart and cautiously asked.

"Who exactly are you? When did we ever offend you?"

Corner Old Six cracked a smile.

"That’s a question for your governor."

Mandar gaped with a clueless expression on his face.

Not only was he bewildered at the moment, but so was Director Bihari of the Port Security Office, who had the door kicked open and was pressed onto his own bedroom bed, looking at this group of thugs in exoskeletons with both shock and anger, making a noise like a pig being slaughtered.

"Let go of me! Do you know who I am? If you don’t release me, I’ll put all of you in jail!"

Looking at the woman lying beside him whose beauty had turned pale, Killer Dagger casually picked up a piece of clothing from the wardrobe and threw it over her.

"We need to talk to your husband about something, please go to the living room."

The woman nodded her head palely, hastily dressed, and got out of bed, not daring to stay here a moment longer and quickly left.

Looking at Director Bihari, who had stopped yelling, Killer Dagger took out the tablet to confirm once again that he was the same man in the photos, then looked at him and said.

"Director Bihari, you’ve been captured."

"Ca..."

He choked on the second half of his sentence and quickly glanced at the menacing figures in the room, seeming to realize something, while cold sweat gradually began to ooze from his forehead, dripping onto the expensive satin sheets.

Swallowing, he spoke with a tone filled with disbelief and a trembling voice.

"You... are you people from the Alliance?"

Removing his helmet’s visor, Killer Dagger smirked, and looking at the man pinned to the bed, he whistled.

"Looks like we finally have someone who’s in the know, huh?"

Seeing that almost mocking look in his eyes and the assault rifles that were just short of being pointed at his own forehead, Bihari shivered and nearly wet the bed.

If he hadn’t gotten the date on the calendar wrong, Centurion Di Rang and his subordinates should have just arrived at Potato Harbor.

How did people from the Alliance just appear out of nowhere in Jinjaron Harbor, two thousand kilometers away?!

But he didn’t have time to consider these things at the moment.

Looking at the man in the exoskeleton, he confessed all he knew in a frightened and stammering voice.

"I... I don’t know anything... I swear it’s true! I only saw the Grey Wolf Army boarding the ship at the port and just happened to hear where they were headed. There’s no way I could be involved in this, I’m only a small port security director, how could I possibly influence the governor’s decisions! Right, you must go find Governor Nihak, it was his order!"

Watching Bihari, who was close to wetting his pants in fright, Killer Dagger continued at a leisurely pace.

"Don’t worry, our brothers are on their way to the Governor’s Mansion looking for him; you won’t have to bother yourself. All those involved won’t escape ’trial’."

Hearing this, Bihari guessed that the port was probably already completely in the hands of the Alliance, and he let out a pained groan.

"What exactly do you want to do? Start a war with the Empire?"

Killer Dagger shrugged.

"That depends on what your emperor thinks, but no matter what that guy decides, we’ll handle it in our own way."

Bihari swallowed nervously.

"... Your way?"

Killer Dagger nodded.

"First, we’re going to find the mastermind behind that attack and teach them a lesson while taking a bit of ’interest’ from them. Also, we believe that Jinjaron Harbor is a potential breeding ground for the ’Looter’, and to prevent similar events from happening again, we’re going to do something big here."

Bihari asked, trembling.

"Something big?"

Killer Dagger casually uttered two words.

"Abolition of slavery."

At first, Bihari thought he had heard wrong, but when he realized he hadn’t, he stared at him, mouth agape.

"... That’s impossible, you can’t do it."

Killer Dagger chuckled.

"Nothing’s impossible when we have your help."

Bihari’s eyes widened even further, looking like a startled ox.

"Me?! Are you crazy? Not to mention that I’m just a chief of the security bureau, even if Tuo Ri Shen Niu stood here, it wouldn’t be possible. Do you know how many slaves are in this settlement?!"

And why would he ever want to do that?! Not to mention that his mansion needed servants for cleaning, without those slaves, who would take over the jobs that would normally fall to them?

It wouldn’t take a week before this settlement would be flooded with sewage!

However, the person in front of him simply didn’t listen to what he said, or rather, didn’t take it to heart at all, and instead spoke with a smile.

"That’s great, it means we have a lot of work to do. From now on, you are the chief of the Jinjaron Harbor Guard Squad, and I grant you enforcement authority and temporary adjudication power. You need to govern all affairs of this settlement in accordance with the Alliance’s constitution during your tenure."

What a joke.

They were not here to do charity.

Abolishing slavery and conducting trials were just means to an end; did it really matter whether they were accomplished in the end?

Bihari stared at him in panic, muttering under his breath.

"You must be crazy, it’s impossible to achieve that even if you level this settlement to the ground... No... I can’t be this chief, you should find someone else. The security of our settlement is under the jurisdiction of the city defense officer, how about you go find him?"

Ignoring the man’s pleas, Killer Dagger said with a jest and a smile,

"You’re not taking the job? Are you sure? Really not taking it?"

Bihari shook his head like a rattle drum.

He had seen the light.

These guys had intentionally come here to wreck havoc.

They would mess things up and leave without a backward glance, while he had no place to run and was bound to be held accountable in the future.

He dared not take on such a head-rolling task.

Seeing that he adamantly refused to cooperate, Killer Dagger didn’t waste words, directly chambered a round in his rifle and pressed it against his head.

Feeling the chill emanating from the muzzle, Bihari’s face instantly lost all color, and his complexion changed faster than a traffic light.

"I’ll do it! I’ll do it!! That chief position is mine, more than ninety percent of the nobles in this settlement live in my jurisdiction, I know every detail about each of them, there’s nobody better suited for this job than me! Please entrust it to me!"

"That’s more like it."

With a smile, he patted the shoulder of this chameleon, took a cap off a nearby clothes rack, and placed it neatly on his head.

"From today on, you are the chief of Jinjaron Harbor. We hope you enforce the law fairly, according to the constitution of the Alliance. Do your job well and don’t let us down. There might be a chance for you to be the chief of the West Winds Empire."

Having said that, without considering the expression on the face of the man who had been frightened out of his wits, Killer Dagger took out a printed copy of the Alliance’s basic law from his breast pocket and tossed it on the bedsheets in front of the poor wretch.

"Have a look through this first."

Bihari hastily took the stack of bound printouts, pretending to earnestly flip through it, even though he couldn’t absorb a single word.

Killer Dagger didn’t bother with him and, according to the plan, left two men to watch over him, then took the rest of the team members and left the mansion.

The sky outside was still dark, but the street was already filled with a crowd of men and women.

They were all residents of Tulip No. 1 Street, not only of noble blood but also holding important positions in this port and settlement, while others were fully-occupied nobles or foreign merchants doing business here.

There were even two people from Weilante.

However, their appearance at the moment was utterly inconsistent with the word "noble."

Some were wearing coats, and others had simply put on a thicker nightgown. Their faces were full of panic and dishevelment, their eyes lost and clueless, not knowing what had happened, they were taken out of their homes by a group of soldiers with loaded weapons.

Knowing that among them there must be innocents, Killer Dagger did not make it hard for them. After clapping his hands to draw their attention, he spoke in a loud voice.

"I am sorry for disturbing everyone’s rest and I also appreciate your cooperation."

"We are a group of soldiers who cannot disclose our identities, as we were attacked by a group of people whose identities also cannot be disclosed. Through interrogation, we learned that they came from Jinjaron Harbor, and so we followed the trail and found this place. Our goal is to root out the hidden hand behind this and make this settlement normal by our methods."

"Please rest assured, we will not harm any innocent person, nor will we let any involved party go. If anyone can provide clues, we will be very grateful and may even distribute a portion of the involved party’s property to the informer."

"Additionally, we advise those involved to turn themselves in to seek our forgiveness as soon as possible. If we catch you, what happens next is not going to be pleasant."

He paused, then continued.

"Shortly, there may be a battle here, please follow us to the temporary shelter in the port area for refuge."

As he was speaking, a gunshot suddenly sounded in the distance, followed by a series of rapid gunfire in the adjacent streets.

The people on the street were startled by the sudden gunshot, with some huddling together and others screaming and crouching on the ground.

Hearing the sudden gunfire, Killer Dagger was not the least bit panicked; instead, he looked excited and murmured to himself,

"Well, well, the real fight has finally started."

With the port having such a large commotion, it seemed that the guards of Jinjaron Harbor had finally noticed something was amiss and engaged in a firefight with the players heading to cut off transportation.

Although their reaction was absurdly slow.

Without any hesitation, Killer Dagger pulled the bolt back, chambered a round, and called out to the eager teammates behind him.

"The mission board has been updated, Team A will take the ’VIPs’ to the warehouse!"

"The rest of the brothers, follow me!"

The players let out excited roars.

"Awoo! Awoo!"

Almost at the same moment the words fell, a shell whizzed down and hit a building by the street, blasting a skylight open in the three-story mansion.

Chunks of stone and dust fell from above, rolling and rumbling along the paved street amidst the screams of the people, clinking and clanking.

The players quickly sought cover and moved forward towards the firefighting area ahead, following the path scouted by the unmanned drones.

At the same time, the Alliance’s mortar positions at the port area began to fire, counterattacking the source of the incoming fire under the guidance of the drones.

The quiet of the early morning hours was utterly shattered.

The counterattack battle spanning two thousand kilometers finally broke out at this moment...

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