This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 718 "Crab" and "Big Fish

Chapter 718: Chapter 718 "Crab" and "Big Fish

A vast expanse of azure sea.

A sea blue painted propeller plane was quietly skimming the surface of the sea, bobbing with the rolling waves, like a piece of driftwood.

Two float struts had replaced the 20mm cannons, lying beneath the aircraft like sleds. A deep-water bomb equipped with a pressure sensor clung tightly to the underside of the fuselage, like a concealed blade under the blue.

All around was a tranquil silence, only the rolling tide.

Just then, Feng Qing, lying in the cockpit with her eyes closed, suddenly jolted awake, and sat upright in her seat.

Because of the force she exerted, her forehead nearly knocked against the cockpit, but fortuitously, the seatbelt kept her from an accident.

Amidst a series of creaks, the silent plane seemed to come back to life.

Almost simultaneously, the standard drake-like voice of the corps commander, Brother Mosquito, came through the communication channel.

"...We’ve hooked a fish!"

Chaos of electrical static filled the communication channel.

The VM screen strapped to her thigh lit up at the same time, displaying coordinates for the strike estimated from the positions and relative distances of allies.

Without haste, she took a piece of chocolate from her pocket and threw it into her mouth, while her skilled hands reached over to clear the cockpit dashboard and started the aircraft’s engine.

The propeller at the nose roared to life, dragging the light airframe forward against the waves.

Maintaining speed at the critical point for takeoff, Feng Qing didn’t rush to lift the nose but tapped a rhythm lightly with her index finger on the control stick.

The continuous sound of the tide was overwhelmed by the roaring propeller, and the once peaceful and serene sea surface suddenly boiled to life.

Not just one aircraft—

But a full fifty!

A fleet of W-2/H maritime attack planes hugged the rippling sea surface like racing speedboats, speeding towards the attack coordinates shared by friendly forces...

...

Above the azure waves, the tide surged, while beneath them roiled equally tumultuous waters.

Harsh, screeching sounds like sweeping harpoons drove away the fish and Variants ahead, as a group of blue-scaled monsters clung to the seabed, swimming rapidly towards the underwater water pipeline on the west side of Ring Island.

Behind this group of Mutants followed a massive sea creature, with a form resembling both snake and fish, somewhat like a prehistoric plesiosaur.

Its ten-meter-long tail hung with dragon scale-like plates, its protruding head resembling a crocodile’s mouth, sharp teeth like the blades on a chainsaw, seemingly capable of biting a small ship in half.

Local fishermen called it Laken, from a folk song that spread throughout the Southern sea area, meaning "the giant dragon of the deep sea."

Although according to the Mind Influence Law, it was difficult to directly control such large-brained Variants with a Mind Interference Device, lowering the cognition through drugs and various methods was possible.

For The Church, this clearly wasn’t much of a problem.

They could even turn the survivors of a province into mindless puppets, let alone a Variant whose intelligence was far inferior to humans.

The target was quickly approaching.

One of the Mutants separated from the group, swimming faster to the forefront and pulled out a palm-sized thermite bomb from its back.

This device was another weapon bestowed upon them by the Torch Church.

Once activated, it could not only burn underwater but also melt through hundreds of millimeters of steel plate!

The blue-skinned fellow contorted its nauseating face with a cackling laugh, then pressed the button on the bomb, and a thirty-second countdown appeared on the screen.

However, at that very moment, just as it was less than fifty meters away from the seabed water pipeline, a faint ripple of water suddenly surged from the side and reached right next to it.

Something was rapidly approaching it.

Just as it sensed that something was amiss and was about to react, a sharp arrowhead instantly pierced through its flank and, in the blunted noise of an explosion, rocketed it toward the surface.

The mutant let out a hoarse and muffled wail as a multitude of bubbles instantly submerged its entire face and gills hidden under its jaw.

Losing balance and enduring immense pain, it thrashed its limbs about in the sea, yet its hand gripping the thermite bomb forgot to let go.

At this moment, the thirty-second countdown had just ended, and a blinding white light, engulfed by a mass of bubbles, instantly swallowed the creature whole.

The slowly blossoming fireworks, like a mandala flower blooming at the sea floor, left the approaching army of blue-skinned mutants stunned by this terrifying scene.

They didn’t know what had happened, and panic-stricken expressions emerged on their faces as they looked around bewildered, searching for the source of the attack.

At this instant, not far from them, shadows resembling crabs were stealthily lurking at the edge of a seaweed forest, their long, thick gun barrels already aimed at them.

If the Empire’s Army were here, they certainly would have recognized this scene.

These heavily armored iron behemoths, and those "King Crabs" that had rampaged through Jin Galun Harbor, looked to have been carved from the same mold!

In fact, they were one and the same.

Only the weapons mounted on their arms had changed from twin 37mm guns to a chainsaw specially designed for deep-sea environments and a so-called "harpoon" supercavitation weapon.

The principle behind this device, as the name suggests, was to reduce drag using supercavitation, with the tail fitted with nitrate ester propellant, and the front a magnesium-aluminum powder charge, equivalent to a miniature torpedo, 19mm in caliber. The firing device was the same model as the 19mm bomb gun, facilitating ammunition swapping for continued pursuit after reaching shore.

Unlike the 19mm explosive bolts, the 19mm "harpoon" had an effective kill radius of only 200 meters and a minimum safety distance of just 10 meters.

This combat radius was somewhat challenging against ships, but more than sufficient against near-surface torpedoes and Frogman troops.

Although it was the Alliance’s military factories’ first foray into underwater weaponry, with technical support from the survivors of Coral City, Huge Rock Military Industry quickly solved several problems and mounted these devices onto the Alliance’s "King Crabs."

This was the harpoon’s first combat trial.

So far, the effect was quite impressive...

Watching the cluster of "fireworks" falling toward the seafloor in the distance, and the restless demons and devils behind them, the Ground Model lying within the "King Crab" cracked a smile.

"Never thought the day would come when we, the Jungle Corps, would dabble in naval affairs."

A teammate’s voice came through the communications channel.

"In some sense, seaweed forests can also be considered jungles."

"666!"

"It doesn’t matter, the enemy is all mutants."

There was no point in holding back against these beasts.

They should go to hell and repent—

"Hit confirmed! Free fire!"

Bubbles burst forth from the crab’s shell as the Ground Model maneuvered the King Crab forward, taking a step, "Don’t let our fish escape!"

Energetic responses came through the communications channel.

"Roger that!"

"Awoooo!"

Following the attack command, all twenty-two "King Crabs" fired simultaneously, launching underwater flares according to the sonar-detected targets.

White lights, dazzling to the eyes, bloomed near the aquatic mutants, instantly illuminating an area where one could not see one’s hand in front of their face to look like broad daylight.

The aquatic mutants, already accustomed to the surrounding darkness, screamed in high pitches and raised their arms to shield their eyes, stung by the sudden brightness.

At the same time, "harpoon" bolts dragging bubbles darted wantonly under the glow of light, like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, reaping one vital life after another.

In just a few breaths, dozens of aquatic variant humans had their flesh and blood bodies shattered, and a crimson mist of blood diffused wildly with the current.

Death was spreading.

Fear crept into the hearts of every mutant.

Different from those green-skinned ones on the shore, the ones nesting under the cold and damp rocks had more cunning, like fish, rather than the bloodlust and frenzy of wild beasts.

Seeing their morale about to collapse, a mutant leader lurking among the mutants let out a deep and long howl.

"It’s the humans!"

"They’re below us!"

"Charge them! Tear them apart!"

Hearing the leader’s roar, the mutants enduring continuous casualties finally regained some morale and powerfully kicked their legs, charging toward the sea bed beneath them.

With the descent, the surrounding water pressure grew higher, compressing their bloodshot eyeballs and muscular chests.

Finally, they neared that nearly three-hundred-meter-deep ocean floor, and the glaring white light gradually moved away from them.

"Click—!"

The nearly thousand mutants, reabsorbed into the darkness, gradually restored their vision and issued angry roars to dispel their fear, brandishing all kinds of weapons in their hands and charging toward the source of the attack.

Coincidentally, their opponents were thinking the same thing.

Almost simultaneously, twenty-two massive "King Crabs" switched on their searchlights, swinging their crab legs and chainsaw-equipped claws at those blue-skinned monsters and charged!

Excited roars echoed in the communication channel—

"Crush them!"

"Roar roar roar!"

Flesh and steel collided!

A "King Crab" armor swiftly ejected its mechanized legs that folded inward, flinging away a mutant clutching a thermite bomb.

Then, the huge body lunged forward, and the extended forelimb smashed down, precisely stepping on the back of another mutant diving toward it, crushing it to death on the uneven rocks like an ant.

A mutant, by chance, got behind it and tried to pry open the heavy crab shell with its harpoon but didn’t even scratch the paint.

Just as it was considering another plan, a real "harpoon" exploded through its chest, blowing half its body into a mist of blood and shredded flesh.

Mutants, like garlic cloves in a grinder, were minced into a mush of indistinguishable flesh and blood in an instant.

Harpoons were thrown from their strong arms, but only left scratches on the steel shell.

They tried everything they could, using harpoon guns, underwater rifles, short swords and daggers, even deep-sea mines and explosives... However, in front of the armor several times thicker than that of Crack Claw Crabs, all their efforts were in vain.

The blinding searchlights made it impossible for them to keep their eyes open, and those thick chainsaws needed only a gentle touch to split them in two.

It wasn’t just the chainsaws—

There were also the fishing net bullets spraying from each thick gun barrel!

Strong thread was pulled into a large net, ensnaring many mutants against the rocks or simply bundling them with other mutants.

And the more they struggled,

The tighter the nets bound!

In just five minutes, over two hundred mutants were dead under the howling chainsaws.

The consistent casualties and the battles with no visible hope for victory had painted deep terror on the face of every mutant.

Even their leader couldn’t help but shuffle backward in fear.

They had never seen such bizarre opponents before!

Yet their enemies—the players crouched inside the king crabs—were all too familiar with these scaly beasts!

Ever since they captured several aquatic mutant humans at Potato Harbor two months ago, the Alliance Biological Research Institute’s station at the harbor had dissected those mutants and quickly came to understand their habits clearly.

These creatures were not the unchallenged predators they seemed to be in the sea.

They too were subjected to attacks from variants, just like unprotected ships not clad in black iron wood or equipped with mind interference devices.

To avoid drawing the attention of massive variants, they typically chose to stick close to land or islands where the seabed was relatively shallow for their travel routes.

The maximum depth of these waters was no more than four hundred meters. Generally, the huge variants, to avoid running aground, wouldn’t dare to venture there casually.

Moreover, during long journeys, they would take turns singing "boat songs" to actively generate noise, masquerading as "XXXL size" variants to intimidate the small and medium-sized variants that frequented the shallow waters.

Taking these traits into consideration, Potato Harbor had only to place a few buoys that collected sound wave signals near the seabed’s water pipelines to lock onto these beasts’ movement trajectories for a planned interception.

This was not technically difficult to achieve.

Though satellites were not available, sensors installed on the seabed freshwater pipelines were more than capable of transmitting signals to Potato Harbor or to nearby players.

The mutant humans did not know that they had already been targeted by the military base located at Potato Harbor since they left Death Coast and entered the eastern coastal areas of Baiyue Province.

Seeing the continual casualties among his kin, the leader standing amidst the crowd of mutants finally panicked and loudly shouted to his subordinates.

"Retreat—!"

"To the surface!"

One by one, the mutants entangled with the "king crabs" began to forcefully paddle their legs toward the direction of the sea surface.

Though the king crabs were equipped with buoyancy tanks and high-pressure air bottles similar to "fish bladders," their ascent was limited by the weight of their equipment and the restricted volume of their armor, making their rise to the surface slow and rendering them incapable of maintaining fire during the ascent.

Thus, the twenty-two "king crabs" did not pursue to the surface but instead continued to fire with the "harpoon" guns welded to their arms.

Streams of air chased after the fleeing mutants towards the surface, with mutants constantly being turned into blood mist by the harpoons, but many more mutants were still lucky enough to escape from the not-so-dense barrage of fire.

When only fifty meters from the surface, the harpoons chasing them finally slowed their pursuit.

It seemed these weapons could not fly very far.

Watching as the "harpoons" below their feet gradually lost power, and they outpaced the iron crabs, the terrified mutants finally let out a sigh of relief.

However, before they could fully exhale, slender cylindrical objects suddenly plunged into the water, falling towards their heads.

At that moment—

Their nightmare had just begun!

Staring at the cylinders calmly descending before them, faces covered in scales uniformly registered shock and confusion.

Seemingly sensing the threat of death, an inexplicable fear crawled into the hearts of every mutant.

Before they could react—and with no opportunity to do so—explosive flames and columns of water burst open simultaneously, engulfing these sinful lives.

Looking up at the expanse of flames spreading near the sea’s surface, the players underneath the "king crab" shells all voiced their admiration.

"That’s some serious firepower..."

"Anti-submarine work is really the air force’s job."

"Damn it, those green-skins can take a beating. These scaly creatures are like eels; they can’t take a hit at all!"

"So who gets the MVP in the end?"

"Just subtract the explosion scene and it ought to be ours."

"Great idea."

While everyone was noisily arguing, Ground Model suddenly heard Brother Mosquito’s voice in his ear.

"Bombing complete! How are things on your end?"

Hearing that nasally voice, Ground Model promptly responded,

"Oh! We’re all good! No casualties—"

Mosquito: "Who gives a damn about that? I’m asking if you got it on camera?!"

Ground Model: "...Shit! That real?"

Mosquito: "Wait, hold that thought... I’ve detected a signal from the Mind Interference Device! The source is roughly 300 meters near the explosion area, between 50 to 100 meters deep. You guys watch out for anything else nearby."

Anything else?!

Ground Model was momentarily stunned.

Almost the very moment after Brother Mosquito had finished speaking, a long, drawn-out cry entered everyone’s ears.

"Wooo—!"

The sound was like the horn of a cargo ship, causing the nearby waters to tremble.

Everyone looked up, shining their searchlights above, and saw an enormous shadow, tens of meters long, looming over their heads.

"What the hell is that?"

Faces showed expressions as if they’d seen a ghost, and Ground Model couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Voices from the team came over the communications channel.

"Holy mother... there’s another big one."

The Mind Interference Device began to emit unstable waves of interference, and it seemed the howling behemoth was somewhat injured.

The entire sea boiled, and the raging waves scattered the corpses floating in the water, scaring away the Aquatic Variant Humans probing nearby.

"King Crabs" standing on the seabed were also pushed back by the chaotic currents, shuffling their legs.

"Mosquito! Do you have any more ammo?!" Clutching the trembling handle tightly, Ground Model shouted into the headset.

Static crackled through the communications channel, followed by an embarrassing admission.

"None left... We only had one round. I even dismantled my machine guns to drop that thing for you guys. Good luck to you."

"%￥#@!"

After a string of cursing, Ground Model switched to the squad channel, shouting to his teammates.

"Get ready for the BOSS fight!"

Contrary to the intense nervousness inside him, the squad channel erupted with excited roars.

"Awww!"

...

Meanwhile, roughly a hundred kilometers away from the center of the explosion, a destroyer belonging to the Southern Islands Federation was anchored.

At this moment, the bridge was in complete chaos.

"An explosion occurred 100 kilometers west in the underwater region! The location is near the seabed volcano zone, which seems to be our minefield!"

"Minefield?!"

"Damn... Was it those airplanes that did this?"

"What’s the deal with those airplanes?"

"Could it be Shelter No. 70?!"

The sailors were thrown into chaos not solely because of the explosion that had suddenly occurred underwater but also because of the fifty airplanes that had abruptly appeared on the radar!

These airplanes seemed to spring out of nowhere, rising above the boundless sea without any warning whatsoever!

And what was bizarre was that around here, let alone an aircraft carrier or airport, there wasn’t even a small fishing boat in sight.

Captain Dongwen furrowed his brow as he stared out the window of the bridge at the azure sky and the rolling sea below, pondering something unknown.

Seeing that his superior was unresponsive, the deputy standing next to him took a deep breath and spoke up with a grave voice.

"I suggest we immediately report the situation here to Navy Headquarters!"

Just as his subordinates had speculated, it was possible that the airplanes belonged to Shelter No. 70. And the location of the explosion fell precisely within the minefield they had set up to intercept submersibles from Shelter No. 70 and to protect Ring Island from threats.

Although the entrance to that shelter was indeed blockaded by the Federal Fleet, nobody could guarantee that the shelter didn’t have other emergency exits.

However, after pondering for a moment, the captain next to him spoke up, unusually, saying,

"No need, maintain observation."

The deputy was momentarily stunned, looking at him with puzzlement.

But the superior officer didn’t seem to want to explain; he just instructed him to monitor the situation and then turned and left the bridge.

Back in the captain’s quarters.

Dongwen casually hung his captain’s hat on the coat rack and opened a drawer to retrieve a small communicator.

He used his thumb to press the mechanical buttons on the casing, carefully inputting a string of numbers before finally bringing the communicator to his ear.

Before he could speak, an urgent voice came through from the other end of the line.

"What’s the situation?"

The person on the other end was none other than Mr. Charles, the Chief of Staff for the Federal Navy and also the Presidential Chief of Staff, a key figure representing the Navy’s interventionist faction.

Although for most citizens of the Federation, breaking free from the control of Shelter No. 70 was a consensus already reached, until the ocean current power station was destroyed, there were divisions among people about whether to resolve the conflict through mild or radical means.

Because of his firm stance and radical proposals, Charles garnered the support of many naval officers, including Dongwen himself.

However, some unsettling rumors had recently surfaced, causing Dongwen to begin doubting whether what he was doing was truly in the best interest of the Federation.

Indeed, the Alliance, which seemed to have emerged from nowhere, had conducted some doubtful activities, but their slogan "Survivors, unite!" did not seem like something that warranted viewing them as a significant threat.

After all, people on this planet were once a single entity.

And they were indeed practicing what they preached, setting an example for those Waste Land Wanderers still engaged in internecine warfare on ending the Wasteland Era.

Take, for instance, Jin Galun Harbor of late; no matter how the slave owners sophistically argued, they did indeed unshackle the slaves. Or the freshwater pipeline leading to Ring Island, they might have made some money off of it, but factually, water became cheaper for the locals.

Those guys never claimed they were here for charity; if they decide to hike prices maliciously, that’s an issue for the future, but one couldn’t pre-emptively place an oversized hat on their heads just because they weren’t giving everything away for free today.

At least in his view, it was the Church fanatics who incessantly spouted "evolution," "future," "for humanity," that seemed a bit more suspicious.

These people did indeed offer things for free, providing the Federation with Mind Interference Devices at no cost. But no one could be certain they didn’t harbor ulterior motives for something greater.

Like Coral City.

Haven’t they always wanted to go there?

He agreed with a moderate degree of cooperation with the Torch Church, provided it was truly beneficial for the Federation, even if the benefits weren’t immediately apparent but would prove infinitely advantageous for future generations.

For example, it would undoubtedly be worth trading a ocean current power plant for the unity of the entire Federation, and the people of the future would thank their ancestors for their temporary hardships.

But...

Where was the benefit in blowing up a freshwater pipeline?

In the past, he had managed to convince himself, even justifying Mr. Charles’ position, but now he simply didn’t know how to continue the fabrication.

However—

Now was not the time to consider this.

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Dongwen slowly began to speak.

"The explosion... It did indeed occur."

Hearing a sigh of relief from the other end of the phone, he paused momentarily before continuing.

"There are, however, some suspicions about the incident. The explosion didn’t occur underwater but rather in an area close to the sea surface... and those planes, did you send them?"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, followed by a hesitant half-statement that was finally squeezed out.

"Planes?"

"Yes."

Dongwen paused briefly, and then continued.

"A group of planes suddenly appeared on our radar. Then they dropped torpedoes or deep-water bombs into the sea, and we observed the explosion... I’m not sure if the pipeline was destroyed, but I want to know what those planes were and what they were bombing—"

However, what he hadn’t anticipated was that Mr. Charles, who was usually so mild-mannered, jumped up like a seal spotting a penguin upon hearing these words.

"That is none of your concern! Captain, order your men to return immediately to the nearest port—no, head directly east to Anle Island."

Dongwen was taken aback.

"Mr. Charles?"

Realizing that his tone was off, a sound of steady breathing came through the phone.

"I apologize... I lost my composure. Formal orders will be issued later through the command system. You can return to the bridge and prepare your subordinates now."

After a pause, a sigh of frustration was heard through the phone.

"It’s a complete mess... A water pipe has caused those backstabbing ingrates to betray their initial beliefs. They’re completely unaware that they’re eagerly slipping their own necks into the noose handed to them by others, in a rush to sell themselves for a good price after just a couple days of freedom."

"Mr. Charles," Dongwen asked with a frown, "perhaps I shouldn’t be asking this, but... what does this have to do with selling themselves for a good price?"

Charles snorted through his nose.

"Aren’t they doing just that? We’ve just freed ourselves from the noose that Shelter No. 70 had put around our necks, and now they’ve picked up the noose from Shelter No. 404—"

"So, I want to know, what exactly is the ’noose’ you keep referring to?" Dongwen couldn’t help but ask, "Could you use a specific term instead of an abstract metaphor?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, followed by a light cough.

"We’ve strayed too far off topic... Anyway, our friends in Haiye Province wouldn’t want us to get too close to the Alliance. Those lunatics are bad news, but we temporarily need to leverage their strength to solve our problems. In any case, that pipeline is a problem... It would be great if someone could solve this issue. Every citizen of the Federation would be grateful to them."

Hearing the expectation in the voice, Dongwen took a deep breath, keeping calm, and carefully responded.

"Mr. Charles, if it’s other concerns, I can handle them for you, including silencing those who need to be silenced and making those who should disappear disappear, but this matter... it’s going too far."

After a pause, he continued.

"I’m sorry I can’t solve your problem. Perhaps you should seek a more legal and compliant way to deal with this issue. I suggest you talk to the President."

Charles said with deep regret and pain.

"That would be too slow! And the residents of Ring Island wouldn’t understand us."

Dongwen immediately replied.

"Then let’s take it slow... Being cautious with this sort of thing isn’t bad."

The reason he disliked the people from Shelter No. 70 was because they were arrogant and obstinate, never willing to lower themselves to communicate with survivors outside the shelter, and once they couldn’t explain themselves, they would use their blue jackets as a shield.

It was only now that he suddenly realized he had almost become the very person he despised the most.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a resigned sigh.

"You are right... Taking it slow is not a bad idea; I didn’t think things through, please forget what I just said."

Dongwen nodded, feeling a slow sense of relief in his heart.

Perhaps Mr. Charles had also realized this point.

He had no doubt that the gentleman made his decision in the interest of the Federation, but like the other captains who occasionally acted too rashly, so could this chief of staff, right?

He would continue to support him as always...

After hanging up the phone, Dongwen returned to the bridge.

Then his adjutant approached, saluting.

"... We’ve just received orders from Navy Headquarters to proceed to the port of Anle Island directly east for repairs."

Already having heard about it through private channels, Dongwen nodded and walked straight to the bridge console to stop.

However, just as he was about to order a turn to the east, something in his mind gave him pause, and he ordered the officers beside him.

"Head west for eighty kilometers!"

The officers’ faces all showed surprise, especially the adjutant who had just relayed the message from headquarters.

"But..." The adjutant stepped forward with a look of hesitation, only to be cut off by a raised hand.

"The headquarters didn’t say we had to turn around on the spot."

Gazing out at the surging waves, Dongwen adjusted his hat and said slowly.

"Taking a slight detour isn’t out of the question, is it?"

...

In the vast expanse of the clear blue sky.

Feng Qing, piloting a seaplane, circled over the sea intending to turn back when she suddenly spotted a warship coming from the east.

A look of surprise crossed her face, and after wiping the chocolate sauce off her hands on her clothing, she reached for the switch of the onboard radio.

"This is Feng Qing, spotting a Federal warship, seems to be a destroyer... heading towards the little Iron Crabs of the Jungle Corps."

"It’s unclear if they are hostile, they haven’t opened fire on me... Ah, they seem to be trying to call me on the radio... Should I answer?"

Mosquito Brother’s voice quickly came through the communication channel.

"Answer! Why not answer! Ask these sons of bitches what they’re doing here!"

Listening to that tone, which "sounded like he still had plenty of ammo," Feng Qing made an exasperated face, pressed her left foot on the rudder, adjusted her heading, and moved closer to the direction of the destroyer.

"Received."

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