This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 782: Blood Flows into a River

The raging flames climbed up the wooden eaves, illuminating the bewildered and astonished faces.

The rising black smoke, like a homeless ghost, stood out with its crackling wails amidst the silence of the crowd.

This was the southwestern corner of Mammoth State, a small village called "Stone Village"... or at least it used to be called that.

The majority of its inhabitants were free citizens of the Empire.

However, unlike in other regions beyond the Wasteland, being a free citizen here was anything but a point of pride.

Since most of the fertile land along the river was controlled by nobles, even the few free citizens who had land to farm lived in considerable poverty.

If a typical serf had to eat six meals of Red Soil a week, the free citizens would have to endure seven or eight, barely surviving in a half-dead state.

Of course, this excluded those who managed to survive within or near the settlements.

Stone Village was no different. Being far from the Tasang River and lacking nearby rivers or lakes, the land was poor for farming, and most villagers eked out a bare existence.

Living like weeds, these folks could scarcely be squeezed for more, and the Empire generally couldn’t be bothered with them, aside from collecting taxes and leaving them to live or die on their own.

Of course, this grace and tolerance were limited to ordinary times.

A mere five or six leagues south of Stone Village, one would reach the boundary marker of Horse state. But fate had it that these few leagues made all the difference, bringing the strategy of "scorched earth" to their doorstep...

At the entrance of Stone Village, a man over fifty, slumped on the ground, looked up at the towering Centurion, crying a mix of snot and tears.

"Sir, we’ve lived here for many years. If you burn this place down, where would I... where would we live..."

The Centurion looked at him emotionlessly and said coldly,

"Next door is Horse state, and further south is Tiger State. Your legs are on your bodies, and as long as you don’t head north, you can go wherever you like."

The old man pleaded desperately,

"But, but without land, how will we survive?"

"How to survive?" The Centurion scoffed disdainfully, looking down at the man lying on the ground and spoke with a mocking tone, "You could just sell yourself to a manor... Stop your damn crying and sniveling, you old thing; at your age, you should be in the ground."

Seeing that the old man was still staring blankly at him, the Centurion thought he might have been too harsh and slightly softened his tone.

"Enough. There’s banditry here, and we’re ordering you to leave for your own good. Don’t be ungrateful. I’ve given you time to pack your things; now hurry up and scram."

"Banditry?! But, but those Moon Clan people, they didn’t bother us..."

As the Centurion turned to leave, the stunned old man suddenly grew frantic, speaking without filter and forgetting both the identity of the military official before him and what the Moon Clan meant to the Empire.

The Centurion, upon hearing this, indeed stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes, sizing up the old man with a slightly more hostile gaze.

"They came here?"

It wasn’t just the Centurion narrowing his eyes at the old man; the nearby soldiers also rested their hands on their Ripper Rifles.

Feeling the change in the atmosphere, the old man grew more scared, stuttering in response,

"I..."

The Centurion stared at him.

"Why didn’t you report to the nearest Outpost?"

"What, what Outpost?"

Large beads of sweat surfaced on the old man’s forehead. Before he could explain, the Centurion waved at a soldier nearby.

"Take him back for interrogation."

Two soldiers stepped forward, each grabbing one of the old man’s shoulders, and despite his pig-like screams, they carried him off like livestock to the cart.

The young men of the village wanted to intervene but were cowed by the murderous gaze of the soldiers; they could only watch helplessly as the village elder was taken away...

Scenes like this did not only occur in Stone Village but also happened elsewhere, with even worse outcomes.

Over fifty thousand Grey Wolf soldiers stormed into Mammoth State, which had been occupied by the Rebels, all prepared to redeem their past humiliations.

General Arai Yang dispatched scouts to investigate the movements of the Resistance while carefully drawing up battle lines, at the same time sending small troops along the border to advance his scorched earth strategy.

It wasn’t just the old man suspected of contact with the Resistance who was taken away.

Men, women, children, and even livestock kept in pens, who knew nothing of what had occurred, were also taken.

These Imperial soldiers spared not even the eggs laid by the hens.

Of course, not all villages submitted so meekly, especially since surviving the Noble land encroachments in Poluo Province required some skill.

Some indignant young men took out pitchforks, bows and arrows, bird guns, and even crude cannons, attempting to oppose the Empire’s Grey Wolf Army.

But their righteous indignation not only failed to deter the Empire’s Grey Wolf soldiers, but also brought calamity upon themselves and their families.

Though the Grey Wolf Army nearly drowned in the Everflow River outside Jin Galun Harbor City, dealing with a bunch of ragged paupers was still a piece of cake for them. With a single charge, the soldiers turned these ignorant weeds into a river of blood.

Once the bayonets were bloodied, the matter couldn’t be settled so easily.

And now the Grey Wolf Army, corrupted beyond recognition by the Tiger Army and Black Panther Army, had their combat will and discipline far worse than half a year ago... though they weren’t much better back then, to be honest.

After venting their brutality on the surviving weak, the satiated Grey Wolves pulled up their pants and gave the "captives" a swift end, tossing their heads onto the carts as Rebel heads to claim credit back at camp.

Along the several hundred kilometers where Mammoth State bordered Horse State, burning flames slithered like a long snake, consuming village after village.

Their actions, like those of wild beasts, were as eerie as the howling wolves on Ten Peaks Mountain.

Even no less dreadful...

"...These beasts!"

On the edge of the pitch-black forest, Ackman stared at the soldiers leaving the ruins, his eyes ablaze with raging fury.

When the long-haired woman was dragged into the cowshed, he thought of his mother...

The soldiers by his side felt the same, all of them clutching their rifles tightly, wishing they could rush forward and tear the hundred-man team to pieces.

Especially the boy named Udi—if not for his companions holding him back, he might have already charged forward.

"There are too many of them... We only have ten people, we’re no match for them," Ackman took a deep breath to calm down, then said solemnly.

"Laxi told us, to defeat an opponent far stronger than us, we need not only ruthlessness but also brains."

A tall, freckled-faced young soldier turned to him and asked in a low voice.

"What should we do?"

"You take Udi and you, you..."

Ackman counted out five local rookie soldiers and handed them over to the old soldier who had fought his way here all the way from Tiger State, whispering further instructions, "Head north and tell the villagers about what’s happening here. Say the Empire’s men are coming, killing anyone they see. If they don’t want to die, they’d better run north fast."

"It’s no use for them to go there," Udi interrupted in a low voice, "it’s all flooded..."

"It’s only temporarily flooded; the flood season has passed, and winter is coming... When spring comes, the flooded land will be the most fertile. Lord Laxi will distribute the nobles’ land for them to plant," Ackman said without hesitation.

The noble lands along the Tasang River had already been consolidated, ready to settle these displaced villagers once the flood season was over.

Those lands were far more fertile than this place. Laxi said he would give some to the locals. Now that Mammoth State was the Resistance’s territory, they had to manage this land well.

Hearing about land distribution, the eyes of two young men lit up, Udi included.

His village was outside Mammoth City, all noble territory. His parents had toiled on noble lands their entire lives without owning a single plot, but now someone was willing to distribute the estates and plantations of the nobles to them, filling them with such excitement they almost wanted to cheer.

Only a few old soldiers who came from Tiger State chuckled at their naive appearance.

Farming?

That’s a dead end.

In the ravines of Tiger State, they had more than their fill of the hardships of farming. The only good times were when they carried guns.

The freckled-faced lad furrowed his brow slightly, looking at Ackman and asking.

"Why should those villagers believe us?"

"Go there and pick up some things to take to them, whether they believe it or not is up to them; we save only those we can," Ackman pointed towards the nearby village ruins and signaled him to pick up some evidence, then continued in a lowered voice.

"Today, it should just be these villages. The Grey Wolves don’t dare travel at night, but after dawn, it’s hard to say... You better move quickly, finish everything before dawn... Remember, notify all the villages within a half-day’s walk!"

Six young men nodded solemnly and sneaked into the nearby thicket, cautiously moving toward that village and disappearing in a flash.

As for Ackman, he took the remaining three people and followed the retreating hundred-man team of the Grey Wolf Army, trying to find their "regiment headquarters."

If luck was on their side, they might find a chance to hit them with a few shells!

Meanwhile, at the Grey Wolf Army’s command tent, General Arai Yang was looking at the sand table with an expressionless face, his thoughts involuntarily drifting with the pieces on that sand table.

He still remembered the beginning of the year when he was a War God revered by thousands.

And now, in just a short half a year, those who revered him began to see him as the shame of the Empire, cruelly casting him into the gutter.

The higher they had held him before, the harder they now let him fall. But it was because of that incident that he was completely awakened—

These rebels are not worth his sympathy.

He should not have considered them human, although he never really cared much for them before.

Even today, he still cannot forget the humiliation suffered at Jinjaron Harbor, where those poor wretches, for a few silver coins, killed his scouts, sold his intelligence, and deliberately dug the trenches like graves, so deep that his soldiers couldn’t stretch their hands above their heads.

And the reedy swamps along the Everflow River.

Those people would rather take bullets, drown as ghosts, and be dogs for the Alliance than stay as decent people in the Empire.

He knew better than anyone that as soon as he ordered a scorched earth policy, the men underneath would use "their own methods" to mess things up.

But what of it?

Better to use the blood of these rabble to deter those who dare to oppose the Empire than to keep these pigs on the frontlines, deliberately causing trouble and holding things back.

Just then, the officer in charge of the scorched earth operation walked into the tent, saluted respectfully to General Arai Yang standing in front of the map, and reported.

"Sir, it’s very likely that the Moon Clan Resistance Army has been here."

"They definitely will come, nothing surprising about that. Check later, and if there’s anyone who has relatives in the Resistance, whether distant or close, pull them out and compile them into a separate team. I’ll have use for them."

Staring at the map at Mammoth City, Arai Yang continued without expression.

"That Laxi is an officer trained by the Alliance; those who left Jinjaron Harbor with him were also trained by the Alliance. What these people are best at is penetration, infiltration, breaking into smaller units, and fighting against superior numbers... In Luo Xia Province and River Valley Province, those people played these tricks and gave Weilante People quite a hard time."

The officer’s expression grew tense as he murmured softly.

"If that’s the case, this battle will probably not be easy."

"Probably?" Arai Yang let out a scoff, the corners of his mouth twisting as he continued, "Don’t count on a quick resolution. To thoroughly eradicate them, it will take at least three to four months. If they want to fight a guerrilla war, let them. We set up our formation—"

Before he could finish, a distant explosion was heard.

Both in the tent were stunned, and Arai Yang’s face was the first to change. He hurried outside, looking toward the direction of the sound.

The officer followed him out of the tent, and then they heard the second distant explosion.

The officer’s face changed slightly as he said with a trembling voice.

"155mm!"

The Alliance’s 155!

That damn thing left such a deep impression on him that he would never forget the feeling of his head buzzing from the shock.

"Shut your trap... you think I need you to tell me that..." Arai Yang cursed under his breath and lifted the radio hanging from his shoulder, roaring into it.

The first few shells were just "ranging shots"!

There must be guerrilla scouts and radio operators reporting the impact points near the bombarded troops!

As Arai Yang had thought, it soon came to pass.

The booming cannonade rained down on the seventh thousand team’s position, which was part of the first ten thousand troops, dealing a heavy blow to the already high moral of the Grey Wolf Army.

Because the anti-artillery defenses were not adequately dug in, the entire thousand team suffered grievous casualties, with only sixty percent managing to escape from their positions, saved by the sixth thousand team that came to reinforce.

The first skirmish between the Grey Wolf Army and the Moon Clan Resistance Army ended with a minor victory for the latter, yet a single battle’s outcome was not enough to turn the tide for the underdogs.

The difference in military strength between the two sides remained tremendous.

Arai Yang had at his disposal an army of fifty thousand, and not to mention they were an elite force equipped with Weilante People’s gear, with the famed McCullen of the Eastern Legion serving as their chief instructor.

As for Laxi, although he had managed to wipe out the local army of Mammoth State with a clever trick of "flooding the army," allowing the Resistance to face the Grey Wolf Army’s assault unscathed, even so, the forces he could muster barely exceeded twenty thousand, with more than half being green recruits.

While the residents of Jinjaron Harbor, and even Potato Harbor, donated millions of silver coins in military funds to the Moon Clan Resistance Army, if the latter cannot triumph in battle, all ideals in the end would amount to only empty talk...

...

Jinjaron Harbor, the passenger terminal’s waiting room; Qian Duo from the City of Dawn was browsing the Survivor’s Daily with keen interest.

The Survivor’s Daily here was entirely different from the version in the City of Dawn, mainly reporting on news of interest to locals, while the war situations in Haiye Province and the events of River Valley Province barely got a mention.

As for today.

Nearly all of Jinjaron Harbor’s newspapers were focused on the frontline in Mammoth State.

[...With conclusive human and material evidence! The shameless executioner Arai Yang!]

[Jinjaron Harbor United Federation Secretary-General, Roger, vehemently condemns the barbaric acts of the Imperial Grey Wolf Army, with a hundred thousand survivors protesting against the authorities handing over prisoners of war!]

[The typically reticent Secretary-General of the governor, Yoder, speaks out in a rare moment, harshly denouncing Imperial crimes, "Not only did the tragedy happen in Stone Village, but in places we cannot see, who knows how many!"]

[A language teacher from the Southern sea area, shocked in an interview and who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Disgraceful! I will write to my family and friends on Ring Island. I will petition the representative assembly! The survivors from the Southern sea area will never cooperate with cannibals!"]

"Burning down more than a hundred villages, displacing over a hundred thousand survivors, countless deaths among those relocated... Tsk tsk, these West Winds people are certainly ruthless to their own."

As he eyed the shocking photos, Qian Duo involuntarily clicked his tongue but flipped to a new page after just a moment’s pause.

Mammoth State was his next destination, where he was waiting for a flight that would leave in an hour. But to be honest, seeing the horrific state of the war here, he did have some reservations.

A hundred thousand people...

How many tens of thousands are there in the City of Dawn now?

Thirty thousand?

Or fifty thousand?

Considering the transient population, it might be quite difficult to calculate.

The man sitting next to him, Han Long, lifted his eyelids and casually remarked,

"Is the Chewing Bone Tribe not brutal enough, or are the Mutants of Brocade River Province not ruthless... You’re just not used to it."

"Haha, that’s true... But on another note, fifty thousand regular troops against twenty thousand ragtag soldiers; if the Alliance isn’t planning on intervening, it looks like Laxi is doomed." Qian Duo laughed as he casually made the remark after reviewing the comparison of the two forces’ strength on the following page.

"If the Alliance intervenes, I’m afraid the Army will have to enter the fray too... Mmm... indeed, it’s a tough situation," Han Long replied thoughtfully.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice carried over to them.

"He won’t be doomed."

Han Long did not respond, while Qian Duo, intrigued, glanced at the one who had joined the conversation. He saw a man who carried himself with a scholarly and amiable demeanor.

He appeared to be someone of considerable status, yet his clothing was not especially expensive. Next to his feet was a suitcase, evidently packed for a long journey.

Curious about the local opinion, Qian Duo inquired,

"Oh? You think even if the Alliance doesn’t intervene, he can win?"

Zayed replied with a faint smile, his voice soft,

"It depends on how you define victory and defeat. If the goal is to defeat Arai Yang, it’s not difficult for him. But if the goal is the United Federation’s agenda, he doesn’t stand a chance."

Qian Duo chuckled.

"That’s an interesting viewpoint. I actually think the opposite. If the Grey Wolf Army loses once more, the Empire will never be able to recover, and their collapse will simply be a matter of time."

Zayed shook his head and spoke clearly,

"Our perspectives aren’t actually in conflict, but ’the collapse of the Empire’ and ’the realization of the United Federation’s agenda’ are two different things."

Qian Duo’s interest in the man grew, and he said with a smile,

"So what you mean is Laxi aspires to be the Emperor? But I think that might not necessarily be a bad thing. Even if it means some feudalism here, it would still be more civilized than the current barbarism... Sorry for being so blunt, but to an outsider like me, that’s indeed the case."

After all, he could rival the Chewing Bone Tribe, relics that were already buried underground; even the godforsaken place like Red River Town might be more advanced than them.

But Zayed wasn’t offended, merely smiling lightly as he said,

"Anybody can see that Laxi wants to be the Emperor, and it’s not just you gentlemen who notice it. Sadly, he doesn’t stand a chance. The survivors of Poluo Province don’t need an Emperor, or rather, what the people here have always needed wasn’t an Emperor. It’s just that the end result gave them one... Of course, what they need is not ’equality,’ but someone ’who can make decisions for me.’"

Qian Duo raised his eyebrows with interest.

He had done his homework before coming here, especially studying the reports by Ms. Han Mingyue.

What this man said was entirely different from the findings of the Alliance Scientific Expedition Team, although it wasn’t completely the opposite.

"You don’t think Laxi is the one?"

Zayed shook his head.

"Obviously not."

Qian Duo curiously asked,

"Because he was born a Slave?"

Zayed shook his head again.

"Of course not."

Qian Duo asked again,

"Then why?"

Zayed looked at the ceiling and thought for a while.

"Because... he wants to be a good emperor."

Qian Duo couldn’t help but smirk.

"Is that wrong?"

Zayed smiled faintly, not directly answering the question.

"There is a paradox in logic on this land, which I shall temporarily call the ’Rat-man Theorem’. Those who want to be good generals will definitely not become good generals, those who want to be good emperors will definitely not be good emperors, and even those who aspire only to be good people will certainly fail to be so. Whether it is Laxi or Witch Gu, whether it is the young men of the United Federation or the Old Aristocrats of Witch Gu, the harder they try, the more they struggle, the more they will go against their ideals."

It sounded like a theory he had just made up, especially considering he took quite some time to come up with such a lousy name for the theory.

But to better understand the Market beneath his feet, Qian Duo continued to listen with interest.

"It sounds like a hopeless fate."

"Isn’t it?"

Zayed glanced at the clock on the wall in the waiting room as if he still had some time, and then began to speak more expansively.

"...An invisible curse afflicts every person on this land, whether they are Mouse Tribe or Moon people. Some realize the source of the curse – the Red Soil, the City of Thousand Pillars – but many only think they understand, not grasping anything at all, and thus they fixate on the Red Soil, on those thousand pillars. It’s like trying to pluck flowers from a mirror or fish the moon out of water, or searching for stallions in a cow shed."

"The only one who can preside over the destiny of the survivors of Poluo Province can only be a flawless ’saint’. They strive for perfection in this, even more devoutly than the Believers at Silver Moon Bay, so ultimately they got what they wished for – Lowell... You might say Lowell died a long time ago, but isn’t Witch Gu just another Lowell?"

"He never left; he’s still cursing those who buried him from that Red Soil. Now his Children have found a new answer, something they never even considered before, which is the ’equality’ you gave them."

He lowered his gaze and sighed deeply.

"Everything seems wonderful, but unfortunately, the curse has struck, or perhaps the ’Rat-man Theorem’ has taken effect – the rats who desire to be good people can’t even be good rats. When all the survivors of Poluo Province consciously or unconsciously yearn for ’equality’, they will inevitably get something completely opposite."

Qian Duo was stunned for a moment, then jokingly said with a laugh.

"If there really was such a perfect saint, not just you, but we would need them too... There’s no need to make laziness something unique to you."

Zayed smiled and shook his head.

"You don’t actually need one; you’re just saying that. You and I are completely different. I’ll give you a simple example: in Poluo Province, a group of people who might not seem respectable but generally do some good deeds are not liked by anyone and are bound for Hell."

"Are you talking about the Residents of the refuge?" Qian Duo glanced around and noticed several Blue Jackets nearby, then said with a smile, "It seems like the people of Jinjaron Harbor quite like them."

Zayed spoke softly,

"That’s because they haven’t left yet... and you see, Jinjaron Harbor seems to have been nicely renovated and seems to have finally achieved the equality they yearned for, but they don’t realize that they’ve just found the people ’who can make decisions for them,’ a group where they can place their weary souls."

This sounded like he was saying that the survivors of Poluo Province are all idealists, but Jinjaron Harbor’s Survivor Daily is materialistic, just like the Alliance.

Qian Duo raised an eyebrow with interest, although he completely disagreed with his view.

"Your conjecture is interesting, but it lacks evidence... Perhaps you should follow Ms. Han Mingyue’s example and turn your theory into a more structured paper for publication – we look forward to a debate between you two."

Zayed suddenly laughed heartily.

"Such things are meaningless. Would you publish the specific steps of making money in the newspaper? And don’t forget the Rat-man Theorem I mentioned; I don’t want to become the first victim of this paradox, as too many have died for it. Time will prove my judgment... My flight is arriving; I wish you a pleasant journey."

With that, he picked up his suitcase and rose from his seat, then, as if he remembered something, he looked towards Qian Duo with a smile and tipped his hat in farewell.

"Moreover, Mammoth State really is a good place; I am equally optimistic about its future."

Leaving the stunned Alliance Merchant, Zayed headed towards the security checkpoint. He seemed to have had some dispute with the personnel there, but eventually went through.

Qian Duo turned excitedly to Han Long.

"Holy shit... This guy has something, he even figured out we’re going to inspect Mammoth State?"

Interesting fellow.

I should’ve asked for his name.

Han Long watched this man’s retreating back for a while, his electronic eyes shifting back and forth.

"I’m only concerned with the boss’s business... That said, it seems this guy isn’t very fond of Laxi? Do we still need to go there?"

Qian Duo laughed heartily.

"That’s his opinion; there are plenty in the world whose views differ from ours. Don’t let a stranger’s ranting affect your judgment. Besides, not all our views are opposite; at least he’s optimistic about Mammoth State, just like me."

The Lister Group needed to keep up with the times just like Baiyue Corporation, joining the new supply chain being formed.

In the future, the Alliance’s Commodity would not only be produced by the industrial zones of Dawn City and Giant Stone City; the invisible logistics network would connect all the lagging and advanced production forces within the Sticky Community.

However, as crucial as expanding business was, managing risks was even more crucial.

And that’s exactly why Lister had sent him to Mammoth City; yet he chose to start in Jinjaron Harbor.

Only the nouveau riche focus solely on the rate of return.

Before considering profits, he needed to find a way out.