Chapter 921 - This Game Is Too Realistic

Chapter 921: The Light Shining on the Horizon With the death of the leader, the battle in the abandoned town was over. The raiders from the ogre and other clans were either dead or had fled. Based on the direction those raiders escaped, Commander Springwater deduced that their nest was likely around the ruins of Rock Mountain City, roughly a hundred kilometers from Settlement No. 10. The northeastern edge of Seashore Province was littered with ruins from the boom era, and without a precise target, finding these marauders would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Perhaps once a few synchronized satellites were launched into orbit, this issue would be resolved. Having pinpointed the raiders’ lair, a "Viper" transport aircraft took off urgently from Settlement No. 10. It flew low over the abandoned town, where it loaded a nuclear bomb, with its communication module disabled, and carried nearly a dozen fearless players toward Rock Mountain City. Meanwhile, the raiders ambushed on the west side of Settlement No. 10 were still daydreaming as they counted the clouds, unaware that their leader was already gone. Sitting on the hood of an off-road vehicle, Reeve aimed his "new toy" at a bird perched on a branch. Just as he was about to test his marksmanship, the bird suddenly looked around warily, flapped its wings, and flew away without warning. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he lowered the rifle. The Wasp X-2 assault rifle, manufactured by Boulder Armaments, was produced during the Wasteland Era in 210, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the company’s G9 "Black Swan" assault rifle. According to the Southern Legion folks, in the Free State, anything was obtainable if you had the money. And crucially, they didn’t care whether their clients were human or ghost, nor where the money came from. Though the place was over a thousand kilometers away, he yearned to see it someday. Gazing at Litte, who was dazing off next to him, Reeve casually asked, “What do you plan to do once this gig is over?” Litte let out a bored yawn and replied casually, “I don’t know, maybe grab a couple of bottles, find a girl, just live as usual.” Hearing this unambitious answer, Reeve couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. “Come on, don’t you have any other ideas?” Seeing Litte’s perplexed expression, he held his patience and continued, “Listen, buddy, chaos is coming... Just like the Southern Legion said, the entire Union will collapse instantly, and the Eastern Provinces will usher in our era. There will be opportunities everywhere.” Watching his deluded companion, Litte mocked, “Oh please, those big-nosed guys gave you prosthetics, did they swap your brain too? The Union wasn’t around two centuries ago either, without those blue gophers, there weren’t any opportunities, just getting by.” “How can that be the same?” Reeve shook his head, his eyes flickering with ambition. “Those scrap collectors were never this plump. If we seize their farms, factories, and research labs, we can establish a raiders’ nation with that wealth!” Litte chuckled, “And then who will you rob afterwards?” Reeve paused, scratching his head before mumbling, “I haven’t thought about it yet. I heard there’s an old-era colony five light years away.” “Are you gonna build a ship to get there? Don’t kid yourself, buddy,” Litte scoffed, dismissing the notion as nonsense. Many had tried to establish a raiders’ nation, but all ended in failure. Simple reason. Raiders didn’t need a nation. When there was nothing left to plunder, they’d end up fighting each other over the last scraps. This kind of deluded idiot, he’d seen plenty, usually drunk on the power that had fallen from the sky. Noticing Reeve’s unconvinced look, Litte paused and offered his advice, “Believe only half of what those big-nosed guys say, and it’s best not to believe the other half... Also, if you’re planning to fly solo, don’t let One-Eye find out.” “I’m just talking; I’m not thinking that,” Reeve nervously glanced behind, giving a wry smile. The Ogre tribe was the largest raider gang in Rock Mountain City, and their leaders were influential in Leap Horse Province. Because of this, their rules were particularly strict. Anyone with treacherous thoughts wouldn’t know what hit them. They were with One-Eye. His brutality was something everyone had witnessed. At that exact moment, a new voice came from behind them. “Have you ever thought about living differently?” “Living differently?” Litte turned to see someone dressed similarly to him sitting in the back of the truck, facing away. He didn’t recognize this person, but that was usual; the tribe had people dying and joining every day. The eloquence with which this man spoke unsettled him; probably another “civilized person” the leader picked from the captives. But the man was unbothered by his cold tone and continued warmly, “Yes, for example... working at the docks or picking bricks at a construction site. If you have a skill, there’s even more you could do.” No sooner had the words been spoken than the two on the hood burst into laughter. “You’ve got to be kidding, man. That’s the same as those meek sheep!” “Spend a lifetime saving up only to be robbed blind? I’d rather be the one holding the gun.” The man chuckled lightly. “Fair point.” His nonchalant laughter clashed starkly with their raucous laughter. Something was off about this guy, Litte thought, frowning as he reached for the rifle nearby, his eyes hawkishly locked onto the man’s back. “Hey, what’s your name?” “Chu Guang.” Chu Guang... The name rang a bell. Litte’s frown deepened, his pupils suddenly widening in realization. “You, you’re...” Chu Guang hopped off the truck bed, standing with casual ease, “I was just curious about your thoughts. Now my curiosity’s satisfied.” He turned back to the now tense duo and continued, “What about surrendering?” “In your dreams!” Before he finished speaking, Litte roared and fired his gun without hesitation, a burst of bullets ready to rain down. The firepower could tear through several millimeters of steel! Yet, in Chu Guang’s eyes, the bullets seemed as sluggish as slides in a faulty projector. The whole world seemed to slow down. He merely stepped aside with ease, deftly avoiding the scorching paths of the bullets. Without pausing, he pulled a small denomination silver coin from his pocket and casually flicked it towards the gunman. A sharp crack tore through the dense fog, whizzing past the slow-motion bullets. Litte barely processed what happened—one moment, a blur; the next, his body was numb below the neck, his world spinning as it soared skyward. Reeve stood frozen, his modified electronic eye wide. He saw only a fleeting shadow before Chu Guang seemed to vanish, with Litte’s head subsequently soaring off his shoulders. A bone-chilling dread seeped into his core, and Reeve trembled, staring in terror at the man nearby. “...I...I surrender.” Finally succumbing to fear, he let go of the rifle leaning on the car hood, raised his hands, and knelt, begging. “Please, don’t kill me...” Chu Guang glanced at him without a word, turning his gaze towards the corpse on the ground. Just then, a crisp, melodious voice chimed in his ear. “As expected of you, Master! It seems during your last upgrade, you unlocked another impressive ability.” “It’s got nothing to do with abilities,” Chu Guang replied casually. In truth, he hadn’t activated any ability, and his strength was only at forty percent. Perhaps Heya was right. Though he still had 23 pairs of chromosomes, he was becoming less and less like a human. Heavy footsteps echoed from afar, as Lu Bei, clad in an exoskeleton, approached with a severed head in hand, boldly striding to Chu Guang’s side. Reeve finally saw clearly the face on that bloody head. The man was none other than their leader, One-Eye! At the moment he recognized that face, Reeve's breath froze completely. "The enemy units have been eradicated. During the battle, we intercepted a vehicle-mounted surface-to-air missile and several portable anti-tank rocket launchers." "Despite our warnings, the enemy leader refused to surrender and continued to resist. He has been killed." As Lu Bei spoke, he placed the severed head on the vehicle, saluting with his right fist against his chest. The entire operation took less than three minutes from start to finish. Pleased with the efficiency of the Guards Legion, Chu Guang nodded and issued succinct orders. "Send those who surrendered to the POW camp, and dispose of the bodies on-site." Lu Bei straightened, acknowledging the order. "Understood!" Kneeling by the car hood, Reeve had already been scared to the point of wetting himself. "Reform well and try to become a new person... if you have the chance." Chu Guang glanced at him, left those words, and turned to leave. Watching the departing figure of the Union administrator, Reeve was filled with a mix of fear and confusion. How was this guy here?! Wasn't he supposed to be inspecting the forest area up north?! At that moment, a rolling thunderous sound suddenly came from the north. The sound seemed to drift from afar, and a faint glow shimmered in the sky. ...What was that? Reeve was stunned. Not far away, Chu Guang similarly halted, looking towards the direction from which the explosion sound had come. "It seems it's over." Lu Bei, following closely behind him, paused, then nodded with a smile. "Yes... it's over." ... With two streaks of plasma roaring past, a bright light finally descended upon the heights of Rock Mountain City. The deafening roar not only reduced half-collapsed buildings to rubble but also shattered the clouds in the sky. A burning mushroom cloud rose from the ground, and the expanding shockwave swept through the marauders who were futilely trying to escape. The raiders who managed to survive that were not much better off. Deadly gamma rays easily pierced through supposedly unconquerable concrete, leaving invisible yet fatal marks on their bodies. Only radiation antidote could save them. If they could convincingly explain the source of their radiation injuries, they might find some at the pharmacy in Settlement No. 10. But that's for later. At that moment, Rock Mountain City was a wreck, and corpses lay under the rubble, a harrowing sight. Of the surviving raiders, barely one-tenth remained, and those left were writhing and wailing in agony under the radioactive dust. Even the retreating deserters heading towards Rock Mountain City ceased in despair. Facing the advancing Storm Corps, they lost all will to resist, discarding the equipment provided by the Southern Legion onto the ground, kneeling with their hands up in surrender. It was over. Desperate were not only the fleeing raiders but also Wyatt, the head of "Guillotine" operations. Gazing at the mushroom cloud rising in the opposite direction, his face turned ashen. "No..." There was no time to ponder how the nuclear bomb had ended up ahead of him. At the moment the mushroom cloud erupted into the sky, soldiers clad in exoskeletons had reached his position. Seeing the Storm Corps' insignia and colors, Wyatt's heart sank. Gritting his teeth, he drew his sidearm to commit suicide, but before he could disengage the safety, an invisible hand gripped his arm, pinning him to the ground. "Fire quickly—" In a panic, he tried to yell but was shoved facedown into the dirt. The optical camouflage soon dissipated, revealing a figure straddling him, pressing a gun to the back of his head. Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, the six Wayland guards around him were frozen, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, the person atop their leader reminded them. "Lay down your weapons, raise your hands, or I'll blow your leader's head off." Pressing against the struggling Wyatt with one hand, Grave-Shifted Ghost, sitting atop him, grinned. Faced with the surrounding muzzles aimed at them, the six Wayland guards sensibly set down their weapons, joining their dirt-munching leader as prisoners of the Storm Corps. Meanwhile, several kilometers away in Rock Mountain City, the shockwave from the nuclear explosion had fallen silent. Shifting the concrete slab from his chest, Wyatt's deputy, Aug, endured the excruciating pain of fractured bones and painstakingly crawled out from beneath the rubble. The sudden nuclear strike had completely obliterated their base... The only silver lining was that the destruction came from the aftermath of the nuclear strike. Clearly, the Union didn't know their exact location, only estimating roughly before dropping the nuclear bomb from a plane. Watching a colleague struggling nearby in the debris, a bitter smile spread on Aug's lips. He hobbled over to help the unfortunate survivor clear away the debris trapping him. “How are you feeling?” Settling him against a wall, Aug handed over an anti-radiation injection. The man took it, promptly jabbing it into his thigh, inhaling sharply before calming down. “…What’s going on?” Facing the newly ruined operational base, Aug laughed bitterly. "I don’t know. Maybe we raised a stone only to drop it on our foot..." Perhaps his superior was right; they couldn't wait for 100% certainty before acting. But his superior didn't explain what to do if the gamble failed... Thinking back, their previous adversaries had been either civilian bureaucracies, the likes of the incompetent Xilan Empire, or even smaller, weaker tribes. Against such foes, those complexities barely mattered. But now, they faced the real challenge head-on. Yet now was not the time for regret. Soon, the Union would surely search this wasteland. They had to evacuate before its forces arrived. Pulling himself to his feet, Aug turned to his colleague. “Can you still move?” His colleague grinned wryly, leaning against the wall as he struggled to stand. "Manageable..." The pair limped out of the ruin, finally emerging onto the rock-strewn street. There, propped against one another, they noticed a Viper transport aircraft parked on the road. Aug’s heart skipped a beat, and his colleague reached for his sidearm. Spotting the last two survivors, Commander Springwater called out. "Surrender, you’ve lost." Aug was silent for a moment, then gently put down his colleague's hand gripping the gun, shaking his head in dismay. "It’s over..." ... Elsewhere, in the distant Great Rift, an elder seated in a vast meeting room sighed softly as he gazed southward. "Another one..." As people age, their perception of time dulls. The explosion of the nuclear bomb over Sunset Province seemed like just yesterday, and once again, a mushroom cloud rose on the distant horizon. The elder couldn’t see it from his seat, but the gamma-radiation monitors in the Great Rift didn’t lie. Across from him at the obsidian conference table sat another man, tall and considerably younger than the grey-templed elder, his eyes glinting with wisdom. “There’s that repeated phrase again. Seems your language faculties are really declining.” The elder cast a slightly disapproving glance at him. “Your tongue remains as sharp as ever.” The tall man chuckled, unfazed by the reproachful tone. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Yet, is never-ending immortality truly everlasting? The elder wasn't so sure. To him, his old friend had long since passed. Nonetheless, he refrained from arguing over this tiresome topic with this irksome fellow, subtly shifting the conversation. "I see you’re in good spirits." "Of course," the tall man replied, squinting as he gazed out the floor-to-ceiling window with a smile. "Our dreams are about to be realized. The flame of civilization will continue in our hands... Thank goodness, after you all messed everything up, we still have a chance to start over." "The Union agreed to help you build a starship?" "Yes." The elder nodded thoughtfully. "A magnanimous young fellow... And what about your Scientific Committee? Are you taking them with you, or leaving them in the Wasteland to fend for themselves?" He spoke with a probing tone. He knew "The Conclusion" never revealed his plans easily. Surprisingly, this time, The Conclusion spoke directly, without his usual evasiveness. "We will take with us the children worth saving. As for those we cannot bring along, I have arranged a future for them as well. I will entrust them and the Scientific Committee to the Union." The elder’s face showed astonishment. "Are you serious?" The Conclusion casually replied, "If all goes well, yes. But if anything unexpected occurs, that could change." The elder fell into a lengthy silence, filled with deep reflection. "I find it hard to believe... I recall someone once considered the technologies of the Prosperous Era as the root of all chaos, thinking it was the unchecked abuse of technology that led to nearly two centuries of the Wasteland Era." Recognizing that "someone" as himself, the tall man chuckled. "My views have not changed; they remain the same. However, I’ve always said that our containment of technology is to ensure it is used in the right places... And now, we believe the time has come." "Even if we bring forth the fruits of the Prosperous Era, revealing the crystallized wisdom of our predecessors, their genius won't be tainted by those driven by profit, won't be used to oppress descendants of the Human Federation, or to uphold the rule of Wasteland Era’s vested interests over these lands, or to fulfill any twisted desires." The elder nodded, seemingly in agreement with his reasoning, or perhaps only with part of his lengthy explanation. Regardless, they had reached a consensus on one matter. "Perhaps. Maybe you're right, and I hope you are right..." He stood from his chair, rounding the obsidian conference table to the panoramic window of the meeting room. It wasn’t a real window but a projection from a panoramic imaging system on the wall. Yet, the desolate land it displayed was real. And the survivors struggling on that land were real, too. "Some issues must be resolved... We can’t delay any longer." The tall man at the conference table, rare in showing seriousness, stood solemnly, nodding slightly towards the former chairman of the War Construction Committee, now the chief at the Great Rift. "A wise decision. We have waited too long for this day, but thankfully, it has finally arrived..." As he finished speaking, the light blue particles of his holographic projection dissipated from the conference table. Moments later, the conference room door opened, and a scribe in a silver robe walked in. "Chief, you summoned me?" The elder, still facing away from the scribe, nodded slowly. "Prepare a few letters for me, and clean this table." "It's been a century and a half; it's time we put ourselves to use." To be continued.