This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 737: The Cave Filled with Flesh

Chapter 737: Chapter 737: The Cave Filled with Flesh

It must be said, nobody understands the people of Vellante better than the Vellanteans themselves.

Vanus, who had once served as a legion commander in the Eastern Legion, knew all too well the temperaments of those high-ranking officials.

Watching as the position at Broken Blade Mountain remained uncaptured, Lucien, seated on the bridge, grew restless and cursed under his breath.

"What is Modlin dallying for!"

The second unit of a thousand had already been fighting in the cave for quite a while, but despite the prolonged combat, they still hadn’t taken the position.

Casualties were continuously carried out, and more people were sent in to replace them. In the blink of an eye, the entire unit had rotated completely, even the Sweeping Group under the unit was nearly wiped out!

Seeing this, unease inevitably rose in Lucien’s mind.

Although it might sound far-fetched, he couldn’t shake the feeling that these mutants were deliberately letting them in...

It was absurd.

Was this something those muscle-brained fools could come up with?

However, even realizing that something might be wrong with the mutants, Lucien could not possibly order a retreat.

Wouldn’t that mean his previous declarations were akin to lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet?

Thinking back to that phone call, Lucien’s face involuntarily flushed red.

He could almost see the mocking faces of those scoundrels from Ideal City.

Even for the honor of the Vellante people, he absolutely couldn’t retreat!

His teeth clenched so tightly they squeaked, actually biting the stick in his mouth in two.

Lucien hammered his right fist on the armrest of his chair and turned to his adjutant with gritted teeth and ordered,

"Inform General Modlin! If necessary, he may employ the first unit of a thousand from Black Cloud Mountain!"

"I permit him to use the forces of two units of a thousand! No matter the method, no matter the cost, he must take that hill tonight!"

...

At the same time on Black Cloud Mountain, it was a scene of bustling activity and noisy shouts.

With dull matte gray helmets on their heads and wearing pitch-black bulletproof armor, fully armed soldiers shoulder to shoulder with a torrential momentum, surged out of the trenches and anti-cannon holes and flooded down the mountain.

They were all warriors from the first unit of a thousand, who had just been deployed to the front lines tonight, taking over the position originally held by the second unit of a thousand.

In fact, it was under the guise of rotation that Lucien managed to release the attacking troops from their position without the allies knowing, initiating tonight’s offensive.

However, now the strength of a single unit of a thousand seemed insufficient to chew through this tough bone—an outcome nobody had foreseen.

As the front-line attacking troops were in peril, General Modlin could only commit the defensive troops from the position as well, leaving only the forces of two units of a hundred to defend.

For these eager young warriors, however, there was not a trace of a sense of crisis.

Watching their comrades courageously fight on the front lines, those waiting on the mountain were eager to rush down and teach those mutants a severe lesson.

Crossing the rugged mountain path, a group soon reached the very front lines of the battlefield.

A Centurion strode forward in front of the leading unit of a hundred, pulled open his robust voice, and roared,

"The second unit of a thousand has run into a bit of trouble, now it’s our turn to resolve it!"

"For the glory of the Vellante people!"

"For the glory of Triumph City!"

"For His Majesty the Marshal!"

"Follow me and charge! Crush those vile, filthy bugs! Everyone behind you will witness your bravery!"

A fervor burned in every pair of eyes, each soldier with a helmet unleashed a blood-boiling roar.

"Kill!!!"

In that moment, with overwhelming momentum, an entire unit of a hundred charged up the hill.

Meanwhile, dozens of stretchers brushed past them, hurriedly carried down the rugged path.

However, no one paid attention.

Their only thought was to pin those green-skinned creatures down in the cave!

While the Vellanteans were seeing red, the corporate command center monitoring the battlefield through a drone finally noticed something amiss—

The number of troops the Vellanteans had committed to the battlefield seemed unusual.

Yun Song, staring at the holographic screen, felt a sudden shock in his heart and spoke,

"They’ve mobilized the reserve forces from the mountain!"

A turmoil arose in the command center, and the adjutant standing next to Lin Shangwen widened his eyes in disbelief,

"Has Lucien gone mad?!"

"When have those madmen ever been normal..." Squeezing out the words through gritted teeth, Lin Shangwen glared at him, "Contact the Manager from the Alliance!"

"Yes!"

The adjutant quickly nodded and was about to instruct the communication officer when a communication request from the Steel Heart popped up on the screen.

Without hesitation, Lin Shangwen immediately ordered the connection.

After a short delay, the azure power armor appeared in the center of the screen.

The armor, codenamed "Order," instilled a sense of security merely by being observed, akin to the concept of order itself.

However, Yun Song felt that, more than the heavy armor, it was the face that exuded dignity yet was approachable that gave him even more confidence and security.

It was an indescribable intuition; he could see the shadow of a new era in that person’s eyes.

From their very first meeting, he had felt it...

The command room fell unconsciously quiet.

Looking at Commander Lin on the other side of the video window, Chu Guang spoke in a light voice,

"I’ve been gone for a few days, and you’ve gotten a bit too zealous."

Hearing the slight displeasure in those words, Lin Shangwen felt somewhat embarrassed and coughed awkwardly before speaking.

"...let’s first think about how to solve the problem."

Internal conflicts within the Allied forces were mostly historical issues, not solvable in a short time.

Aware of this, Chu Guang nodded, did not press further about tonight’s matter, and went straight to the point.

"I need you to dispatch a Cloud Dragonfly Flapping Machine attack squadron to standby on the west side of Black Cloud Mountain."

Lin Shangwen frowned slightly.

"To cover the retreat of those Weilante people?"

Chu Guang shook his head.

"Expecting them to retreat might be difficult, but we can’t afford to lose the position on Black Cloud Mountain."

Lin Shangwen hesitated slightly, looking at him with a hint of disbelief.

"Are you suggesting that the mutants might counterattack?"

"Why not? They’ve even lured the enemy deep into the territory. I suspect that Torch has taught them not just biological techniques, but also communication technology and some command skills."

After a pause, Chu Guang continued.

"Since we can’t save them, we at least need to make their sacrifice somewhat worthwhile."

Lin Shangwen’s expression gradually grew solemn, and he spoke earnestly.

"I understand, the Cloud Dragonfly attack squadron will depart within half an hour."

Chu Guang nodded and simply instructed.

"Um, try to be as fast as possible."

At the same time, in another world, the player communication section on the "Wasteland OL" Official Website Forum was bustling.

This was always the case during a great battle.

Shaking people up in the group was not enough, for complete coverage of information, the Army leaders usually also had to shout out on the Forum.

Spring Water Commander: "@Storm Corps, all members, there’s work to do! Brothers!"

"Kakarot": "Roger that!"

Catching Ghosts at the Tomb: "Received!"

I Max Black: "Aooo aooo aooo!"

Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "Damn! Jealous as hell! T.T"

Quit Smoking: "Hahaha! Poor Old Soldier!"

Irina: "Why pity him? His father-in-law has him on a tight leash. (facetious)"

Battle Atmosphere Group: "??? What’s that?"

Quit Smoking: "...Ah, I was too hasty."

With a single shout from Brother Quanshui, the players of the Storm Corps quickly donned their headsets and returned online, gathering at their positions according to the previously established plan.

Just as the Alliance and the company were ready to put out fires, the battle between the Stone Axe Family and the two thousand-man teams of the 31st Million Men was nearing its end.

The Centurion of the second thousand-man team was injured in the battle but fortunately rescued by the Personal Body Guard and brought back from the frontlines.

The "Sweeping Group" composed of one hundred and twenty was cut off during the struggle for the tunnels and nearly annihilated trying to break out. The remaining ten hundred-man teams also suffered more than half casualties under the fierce counterattacks of the mutants, on the verge of collapsing.

Even though the first thousand-man team pushed forward timely, they were unable to reverse the deteriorating situation.

The tunnels were like a maze, multiple branching paths from a single tunnel, and the routes interconnected with each other, risking losing direction with the slightest carelessness, or even potentially colliding with one’s own people.

While the mutants weren’t smart, these tunnels were dug by them, marked with signs only they could interpret.

Besides, there were those short-statured goblins.

They could not only squeeze through tiny holes smaller than a watermelon but also use small knives and sticks in their hands to fiercely stab the unsuspecting Weilante people.

Although the Army deployed flamethrowers, a powerful weapon, as the battlefront advanced deep into the tunnels, these devices were not as effective as imagined.

Often the flames hadn’t killed the enemies before they depleted the oxygen in the entire tunnel, forcing the hard-won positions to be abandoned.

The battle situation, initially evenly matched, gradually turned into a decline for the Weilante people.

In a narrow tunnel, the walls on both sides were marked with bullet holes.

A Weilante squad, relying on protruding rocks on both sides as makeshift cover, engaged in intense gunfire with the green-skin mutants across the tunnel.

After emptying an entire magazine and finally killing a brainless zombie mutant, Damon, helmet smeared with blood plasma, was both shocked and furious, swearing as he replaced his magazine.

"Damn... how many more of these beasts are there?! Did they bury a ten thousand-man team in the mountain!"

The entire tunnel echoed with thunderous gunfire, forcing him to shout.

"I bet they did—damn!"

The fallen Centurian struggled to his feet with the help of his teammates, took an incendiary grenade from his breastplate, and handed it to Damon.

"Use the white phosphorus one!"

Against those who wouldn’t die even with blown-up heads, only this was effective.

The blinding bright light could not only disrupt the mutants’ vision but the searing flames and pungent smoke could also pause their assault, buying them a moment to catch their breath.

Damon hesitated not, took the grenade, bit off the pin, and threw it deep into the tunnel.

A piercing white light flashed, followed by agonizing screams and yells from the darkness.

Hearing those cries, everyone’s spirits lifted, the Centurion even clenched his fists with excitement.

"Beautiful!"

"At least we burned two or three—"

However, just then, a sudden change occurred as a lump of green flew out from the depths of the tunnel.

It was a goblin.

To be precise, it had been thrown, its swollen belly appearing as if something was stuffed inside.

Struggling to rise from the ground, its bloodshot eyes filled with hatred and fear, it screamed and charged toward the group.

A sense of crisis suddenly crept into Damon’s mind, and he pounced without hesitation, shouting loudly at the same time.

"Get down!"

As he pressed his body against the goblin and pulled out his dagger to cut its throat, an explosion roared from the tunnel, dizzying everyone with a wave of confusion and ringing ears.

No one knew what the bomb was made of.

But even if it was black powder, it was dangerous enough in these narrow tunnels.

Damon, lying on the self-destructing goblin, groaned, his breastplate shattered into pieces and embedded in his body. Under the flickering light, the tall figure was lifted by the blast wave and then heavily fell back down.

"Damon!!!"

Watching his unconscious comrade, the centurion’s eyes instantly filled with blood veins, and he roared furiously.

A marksman hurried to his front, trembling fingers felt under the nose of his teammate, his face suddenly changing.

"He’s not breathing!"

Without a moment’s hesitation, the centurion, trying to restrain his rage, shouted.

"Peter! Banji! Guard the tunnel entrance! Medic! Get the hell over here!"

"...Yes!" The marksman by Damon’s side clenched his teeth, stood up, and moved to a cover next to another teammate, exchanging fire deep into the tunnel, venting all his anger through the flames bursting from his gun muzzle.

The accompanying medic crawled swiftly to Damon’s side, struggling to turn his body over.

However, the moment he saw Damon’s chest, his face instantly turned pale.

He’s beyond saving...

At least half of the breastplate fragments were embedded inside his body.

His intestines were mangled into indiscernible, bloody chunks, making it hard to tell which parts were Damon’s and which were the goblin’s.

Still, he shakily stretched out his trembling finger, pulled a bandage from his waist, and began to bandage his now-unbreathing teammate, mumbling shakily as he worked.

It was like making a meaningless prayer.

As the firepower surged from deep within the tunnel, the morale and fighting spirit that they had when descending the mountains were long gone.

Watching their comrades continue to fall, and with no reinforcements in sight, the centurion almost crushed his teeth.

They couldn’t wait any longer!

Ready to face punishment from his superiors, he yelled to his teammates ahead.

"Seal off the tunnel entrance with incendiary bombs!"

"We need to get out of this hellhole—!"

Just as he finished speaking, an explosion from the other side of the tunnel blew two soldiers guarding the entrance into the air.

Bracing against the wall to steady himself, he grabbed a fallen rifle from the ground and looked forward, his pupils abruptly contracting.

There, standing in the middle of the tunnel, was a mutant with steel plates welded to its body, its face a mix of twisted scar tissue and freshly grown flesh, grinning hideously at him...

The gruesome battle continued.

Each of the Weilante people trapped in the cave fought desperately, yet they couldn’t stop the ongoing casualties.

Objectively, they were indeed more capable than ordinary people.

But the ones standing in front of them now were mutants.

In terms of technology, the enemy was not lacking either...

Aboard the Loyalty Airship.

Lucien’s forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat, his expression no longer easy and confident, but filled with distress.

Just moments ago, General Modlin had reported the situation at the front and requested a retreat.

Reluctantly, but knowing that continuing the fight would only lead to more casualties without any chance of victory, Lucien grit his teeth and issued the retreat order, commanding General Modlin to bring his troops back.

However, the situation was far from over.

The mutants did not plan to let his troops go, chasing after the two thousand-strong detachments.

Watching the holographic screen, the adjutant next to General Lucien said with a grave expression.

"...Those mutants probably don’t plan on retreating; they seem to want to take advantage of our retreat and head straight for Black Cloud Mountain!"

"I know," Lucien replied irritably, looking at the adjutant, "Where is the nearest unit to Black Cloud Mountain?"

"On Mount Fu... The Death Legion of the Alliance is stationed there," the adjutant paused, then said in a low voice, "For our own troops, the nearest is the Wei Mansion Military Base... more than ten kilometers away through mountain roads and a one to two-thousand-meter elevation, it’s probably hard to get there in time."

If they wanted to hold Black Cloud Mountain, it seemed there was only one option left.

Lucien felt as if his heart was bleeding.

If it were not absolutely necessary, he would not want to ask for help from allied forces.

But compared to asking corporations, seeking help from the Alliance was more acceptable.

Weighing the pros and cons for a moment, he ordered.

"Contact the Alliance Commander!"

"Yes!"

As soon as the adjutant finished speaking, the radar operator on the bridge suddenly spoke up.

"Report! The Iron Heart has appeared on our radar! About eighty kilometers away from us!"

Hearing the name Iron Heart, Lucien’s brows twitched violently, and he said through clenched teeth.

"...Make direct contact with the Iron Heart!"

The adjutant, wearing a bitter smile, saluted.

"Is!"

...

On the mountain road between Black Cloud Mountain and Broken Blade Mountain, carrying a camera, Difficult for the Strong licked his lips in surprise.

"These mountain mutants have got something..."

No wonder he could never fit in, it turns out it wasn’t his fault at all.

Crouched not far beside him on a stone stump, a Pick up trash 99 level rubbed its paws like a stone gargoyle, its amber pupils shining with excitement.

"Let the blood flow like a river!"

Back during the battle at the governor’s mountain, he hadn’t killed to his heart’s content before it was over, but this time he wouldn’t make the same mistake.

"It seems like it’s about to happen," I thought quietly while standing aside, holding a telescope and murmuring, "Wow, the Weylent people were actually driven back?"

But there was more.

The mutants hiding in the tunnels even came out in batches, howling as they charged at those Weilante people retreating down the mountain.

And those short goblins, carrying machine guns and cannons hidden in the caves, greeted everyone below the mountain indiscriminately.

Tracers poured down like rain, preventing the Weilante people at the bottom of the mountain from raising their heads.

From a distance, the Iron Heart could only watch in desperation.

The spread of indirect fire was too vast, and opening fire at such a close distance could easily wipe out friendly forces.

As the two thousand-strong teams were in grave danger, the mutants were about to seize the opportunity to reach the north side of Black Cloud Mountain, six Cloud Dragonfly Flapping Machines suddenly burst out of the night sky, firing rockets at the machine gun positions midway up the mountain in a sweeping barrage.

The sudden appearance of the flapping machines surprised General Modlin standing at the Black Cloud Mountain position.

His adjutant, crouched beside him, cried out in disbelief.

"Enterprises?!"

These guys were actually supporting them?

Standing at the top of Broken Blade Mountain, the "Beast King" also narrowed his eyes into slits.

With his understanding of the various powers of the allied forces, those guys were absolutely unlikely to truly unite, even if they were forcibly bundled onto a chariot, they would still be wary of each other and keep their own little schemes in their pockets.

Therefore, when the legion initiated the surprise attack initially, he guessed their intentions roughly and thereby let Ollon trap that group of Weilante people inside the mountain cave, creating a false impression that Broken Blade Mountain was easy to capture, luring the legion to move the defense troops from Black Cloud Mountain to the frontline.

So far, the plan had been very successful.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would have destroyed the two thousand-strong teams of Weilante people at the foot of the mountain within another two hours maximum.

However, he had never expected that at this critical moment, Enterprises would interfere.

In his original plan, even if Enterprises realized that the frontline situation was tense, they would definitely not send reinforcements to the legion.

After all, the Weilante people did not act according to the plan and intended to snatch the victory first.

They could perfectly use this opportunity to let the Weilante people suffer, without needing to help those guys at all.

Watching the sparks blooming halfway up the mountain, the Beast King furrowed his brows and pondered for a long time, then suddenly, as if realizing something, he looked up towards the northern night sky, his eyes slightly squinted.

"...Has that guy arrived?"

He muttered under his breath, his transparent figure gradually fading into the night wind.

Meanwhile, the two originally endangered thousand-strong teams finally caught a breath as the six Cloud Dragonfly Flapping Machines and dozens of rockets arrived.

Watching the burning mess beside him, a goblin gunner squealed and screamed, urging his underlings to load the ammunition, aligning the sight scale to target one of the flapping things, then suddenly pulled the firing cord hard.

An orange-yellow blaze shot up, yet it didn’t even graze the shadow of the flapping machine, easily dodged with a flowing sidestep.

After completing the dodge, the Cloud Dragonfly Flapping Machine didn’t pause for a moment. The machine gun mounted under its nose swung cleanly, followed by a sweeping burst of gunfire.

The orange-yellow storm of bullets enveloped everything, instantly shredding the artillery position hidden behind the cover, along with the people, the artillery itself, and the nearby shelter into pieces!

"Beautiful!"

Lying behind a shelter at the foot of the mountain, a man from Vellante couldn’t help but shout towards the night sky above, but quickly remembered that it was the Corporation’s forces, so he swallowed back the cheer that had reached his lips.

General Modlin on Black Cloud Mountain felt similarly, his face filled with complex emotions as he looked at the few Cloud Dragonflies that had rescued them.

Fortunately, two of his thousand-strong units were able to withdraw and rest, awaiting reinforcements from behind, avoiding a complete annihilation.

Yet, the thought that the Corporation was their savior dampened any spark of joy within him...

At that moment, on the mountains behind Black Cloud Mountain, a group of soldiers clad in exoskeletons had finished assembling and were moving over in batches from the side.

Watching that force pass through his position without a single greeting, General Modlin was taken aback and couldn’t help shouting.

"Which unit are you from?"

Someone responded to him.

"Storm Corps!"

Storm Corps?

Modlin paused for a moment.

He seemed to vaguely remember that name from somewhere but couldn’t recall exactly.

His aide-de-camp beside him turned pale as he remembered the battles they had participated in last year while serving in the Expeditionary Army in Luo Xia Province.

At that time, a group of men had chased them for over a hundred miles through the desert...

Wasn’t there an Army called the Storm Corps?

While the Weylent military officers were still puzzled, this high-spirited unit had already reached the forefront.

A man clad in heavy exoskeleton stood in the back row, shouldering a massive artillery barrel, firing non-stop at the enemy positions ahead, unleashing a barrage of heavy mortar shells.

It seemed as though he opened some sort of special shield beside him, as despite facing concentrated fire from the mutants on the mountain, he remained unscathed, even finding the breath to shout through a loudspeaker.

"Brothers—!"

"Show these big-nosed cowards who wet their pants what a real warrior race looks like!"

"Dedicate this victory to our Manager!"

Inspired by that roar, the battleground erupted into various excited shouts—it was anyone’s guess what was actually being yelled.

"Crush them!"

"Awoo awoo awoo!"

These clamoring voices mingled together, chilling the hearts of the panting mutants on the mountainside.

Intuitively, they felt.

This seemingly unremarkable bunch might just be more troublesome than all the humans they had encountered put together...