This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 791: Inside and Outside Coordination

In the southwestern part of Haiye Province, beneath a silent city ruin, ugly heads bobbed to and fro.

Under the dark, dim night, bare-chested mutants pushed carts filled with cement chunks and other construction debris, grunting as they moved toward the construction site.

On that site, more mutant workers and small goblins labored under the supervision of overseers with whips in their hands.

Using simple engineering tools, they packed the trash into woven bags, then piled it together with bent rebars to build shelters that were flimsy but functional.

This steel and concrete-filled ruins were among the few places not graced by Heaven.

After all, even the pervasive fungal mycelium of Nago could not grow on concrete.

And it wasn’t just that.

The most important research institution of the Torch Church was nearby, staffed with living researchers.

The Church’s attitude and treatment toward people of value and those without were clearly different.

However, this situation had recently changed.

As the frontline battle situation worsened, the Church had less and less time to care about the feelings of the facility staff.

The staff who worked in research at Shelter No.20 used to have chances to go outside every day.

But since the mutants had withdrawn to this area, their opportunities to leave had become increasingly scarce.

Stationed here was a mutant tribe from the Flame Hole clan, which used to be active on Ten Peaks Mountain, led by Borudo Flamehole, with about five thousand followers.

After the defeat of the Beast King, under the orders of the new king, it had retreated to this area to recuperate.

The Torch Church provided them with ample food, supplies, and humans for breeding, but they had to build the fortifications themselves.

Fortunately, this was not a difficult task for them; mutants were naturally good at imitation and possessed the transformative "Power of Thought."

They had just glimpsed the Allied forces’ fortifications from a distance and were able to mimic and even improve upon them based on their own needs.

The fortress they were building resembled a pile of debris forming a monster, with crisscrossing bunkers and gun towers above ground and intertwined trenches of varying depths underground.

Even so, their current situation was hardly optimistic.

The Allied forces’ army had already landed on the coastline, and it was only a matter of time before they reached here—the mutants had little time left to complete their shelters above and below ground before the battle commenced.

At the edge of the position, a few goblins squatted under a broken concrete structure.

One of the goblins was fiddling with a tree branch, trying to start a fire with dry twigs and leaves to cook a recently killed rat.

Just as the leaves were about to smoke, a thick palm suddenly slapped on the back of its head, sending it flying.

The goblin’s screams were pitiful and fearful.

"The Apostle said no fires! The Alliance is in the sky, they can see the light on the ground!" fumed the mutant Centurion as he approached to give the goblin a severe lesson, but a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"I told them to make the fire."

The Centurion turned to see that the hand on his shoulder belonged to a warrior who had undergone mechanical augmentation.

The man’s muscles bulged, half his head was green skin, and the other half, silver-gray metal.

In the Flame Hole clan, mutants who were named warriors were formidable individuals with great personal strength, their status second only to that of the Centurion and even the Thousands of leaders.

The Thousands of leaders narrowed his eyes but wasn’t afraid, he only spoke in a warning tone,

"Do you want to defy the chieftain’s orders?"

The warrior stared back defiantly, squeezing out each word from his mouth,

"...Why should we listen to them? They’re also human stuff!"

The Thousands of leaders growled softly,

"They’re different, they can help us!"

"Help us, you call this help? We work for them, believing they can lead us to victory, but from the Ten Peaks Mountain, we’ve been losing all the way here, rarely winning! Now, we even have to live like savages, eating raw food like wild beasts, not even allowed to cook the meat!"

The warrior stepped forward, his nose almost poking into the other’s face, continuing fiercely,

"Why should we provoke so many humans? Before the Torch caused such a big mess, they didn’t care about us at all!"

The Thousands of leaders provocatively looked at him,

"Are you scared?"

Not enraged by the provocation, the warrior glared back,

"I’m not scared of those human things, I just think there’s no need—"

His words were not yet finished when a dangerous premonition suddenly came from overhead.

It was just a moment’s time, leaving him no chance to react, and an explosive blast threw him out, not stopping until he hit a damaged concrete wall.

Only a pile of severed limbs remained on the ground, the Thousands of leaders he was confronting had vanished.

He struggled to sit up, shook his head, his eyes wide with shock and confusion, not understanding what had just happened, just hearing the chaos and terrified screams from the battlefield.

But he soon understood.

A flash of fire shimmered in the sky followed by a whooshing sound merging with the sound of explosion echoing through the battlefield.

This explosion came from a position 100 meters to his left, where laborers moving building materials were blown straight into the sky.

"Roar—!"

The buried mutant warrior let out a frustrated roar, trying to drive away the fear in his chest, trying to repel the threat from the heavens, but realizing it was futile.

That thunderous cannonade continued to sound.

Yet what puzzled him was that the ball of fire had not risen, how the Alliance people were targeting them...

...

At the same time, a thousand meters in the sky, a "Overlord" transport plane with its side hatch open was hovering, propelled by four streams of plasma exhaust.

In the open side hatch, a thick gun barrel extended outward.

Behind the cannon, three players wearing exoskeletons stood, one busy aiming, another loading the cannon, and a third holding a telescope to watch the firing point.

"Direct hit! Damn, that cannon must have taken out at least ten!"

"Ha ha ha! Damn, putting this 155mm on the plane is just awesome!"

"Wait, let me have a go too—"

"Reload complete!"

"Fire!!"

With a loud explosion, a thick trail of fire shot from the side of the cabin. The staggering recoil made the huge fuselage shake slightly.

In no time, the flames of the explosion bloomed rapidly on the ground.

The blast of fire and dust swallowed up a dozen mutants along with the goblins next to them.

Actually, these guys implementing "light control" on the field was utterly unnecessary.

Under the thermal imaging scope, those glowing figures were as dazzling as LED lights.

Some clever ones started to play dead on the ground; the not-so-clever ones swarmed into a house.

"Load the bunker busters! Quick!"

Ice and Fire Brother, his eye glued to the scope, shouted back to the loader, then cranked the swivel to aim at a low concrete bunker.

At least thirty or forty mutants had run towards that structure, and a few were even stuck at the door and hadn’t squeezed in.

These guys clearly didn’t realize how stupid their behavior was.

After calculating the lead time, he pulled the trigger without hesitating, and the smoke from the explosion blended back into the clouds outside the cabin.

The shell hit the top of the bunker directly: the first stage warhead exploded, tearing open the concrete cover, followed immediately by the second stage, shaking the entire building.

However, at that moment, something surprising happened. Though the shell had only two warhead stages, the building struck experienced a third explosion.

And this last explosion was no small affair; the crackling sounds were like firecrackers, and the dazzling fire completely blasted the concrete building into the air, throwing debris high into the sky.

Not only were the greenskins hiding in the building and crowded at the entrance torn apart, but even those forty to fifty meters away, along with the goblins, were knocked down by the shockwave and shrapnel.

Holding his binoculars, Ice and Fire Brother’s eyes went wide, and he couldn’t help but exclaim,

"Holy shit... did they hit an ammo depot?!"

"Most likely," signaling to the Strength-type loader behind him, Ice and Fire Brother looked for the next target while casually responding, "Those guys probably squeezed in there looking for weapons... those idiots are so earnest."

The continuous casualties clearly angered the mutants on the ground. Anti-aircraft cannons hidden among the ruins spat flames, and tracer rounds floated towards the night sky like catkins, attempting to drive away the "Overlord" circling above the battlefield.

Seeing the situation on the ground, Bun Brother in the cockpit pushed the valve to increase the engine output power—four plasma engines began emitting longer plumes.

"Brace yourselves!"

Hearing the voice on the comm channel, the three players standing by the side hatch quickly sat back down in their seats and securely fastened their seat belts.

At the very moment the modified "Overlord" transport plane, now equipped with a 155mm cannon, accelerated to evade, four P-2 "Lightning" attack planes entered the battlefield from the south!

Each attack plane locked onto two anti-aircraft positions, and almost simultaneously opened fire, raining down 37mm armor-piercing incendiary shells on the ground like raindrops!

"Boom—!"

Crouched at the anti-aircraft position, the Mutant was only focused on firing at the aerial gunboat flying above, not even having the chance to hear the roaring of the machine guns before being shredded to pieces along with the nearby cover by a rain of fire from the sky.

The entire position was permeated with the charred smell of barbecued meat as countless Goblins and Mutants, knocked down by shrapnel, wailed miserably on the broken battlefield, without even seeing the enemy.

One after another, P-2 "Lightning" attack planes swiftly swept over the dusty explosions from above.

"Nicely done!"

Watching the chaotic scene on the ground, Bun Brother chuckled and called out over the communication channel, then pulled back the nearly maxed-out throttle and stepped on the rudder to steer the plane back onto the predetermined attack path.

The 155mm gun, connected by rails, moved to the hatch door and extended out to continue firing.

With their anti-aircraft capabilities completely disabled, the Mutants completely lost the means to resist and began retreating into the shelters, attempting to endure this air assault by contracting their defensive lines.

However, they obviously didn’t realize that the Alliance’s operation tonight had no intention of just taking a few lives and calling it quits. Four "Overlord" planes, fully loaded with paratroopers from the Burning Corps, were already chasing the tail of those P-2 "Lightning" attack planes and had arrived at the battlefield!

Seeing the paratroopers nearly reach the ground, Bun Brother glanced at the situation below and then switched to the communications channel to announce,

"The enemy’s anti-aircraft positions are crippled, ground units are moving into shelters!"

"Burning Corps brothers, it’s your turn!"

A brief sound of static crackled through the communication channel, followed by a robust and clear response.

"Roger that!"

Simultaneously as the words ended, parachutes bloomed in the night sky, and one by one, soldiers clad in exoskeletons dove toward the battlefield with the tumultuous evening wind.

Those hidden in shelters, the Mutants, did not realize that a company of mechanized infantry had silently landed right above their heads.

These soldiers were the Alliance’s elite!

Although they weren’t specialized in slaughtering Mutants like the Jungle Corps, their combat power was undeniable!

They were always ready to burn away the evil eroding order with the flames within their ribs and to bring death to the enemies of the Alliance with the sharp blades in their hands.

"All units pay attention! The codename for this operation is ’Quicksand’! The goal is to eliminate all enemy living forces!"

"There is no retreat plan! Everyone fights till the last moment! Until either the enemy or we all fall!"

"Free fire!"

Morale-boosting roars echoed through the communications channel, eyes ablaze with excitement visible beneath helmets.

"Yes!"

The first to rush into the concrete bunker was A platoon from Company B, the second battalion, thirty players in exoskeletons divided into teams of three, stabbing fiercely like sharp daggers from nine different directions at the Mutant soldiers hiding in the shelters.

Clearly caught off guard by the Alliance’s ground forces, these green-skins were startled, frantically pulling out their weapons to return fire but still utterly taken by surprise.

The rapid gunfire echoed through the tunnels, and in the face of the pouring bullets, Mutants fell one after another, corpses quickly covering the entrance of the bunker’s first defensive line.

"Charge them! Block them!" roared a Mutant who had been sent to the front lines to replace a fallen Centurion, shoving his comrades forward.

Amidst the shouting, a hundred-strong team, finally rallied, rushed into the bunker’s lobby, wielding weapons and engaging in a firefight with the Alliance soldiers that had breached through the main gate!

The dense gunfire shuttled through the confined space, and the battle situation was extremely tense!

Shoulder pressed tightly against the cover, By Some Mistake signaled to his brother beside him, who immediately understood and pulled out a signal gun to send a flare towards the front.

The signal flare slammed harshly against the wall, then fell silent, quiet as a stone.

However, the restless high-frequency radio waves had already transmitted the attack coordinates to the night sky!

"The cannons are in position! Take cover!" By Some Mistake shouted, then he was the first to stop firing.

"Received!"

The players, in response, all ducked their heads, pressed their helmets against the barricade, activated the buffering plugin, and prepared for the shockwave.

Watching the opposing side’s firepower cease, the Mutant Centurion commanding the front line instantly felt a surge of elation.

Just when it thought its fierce firepower had successfully suppressed the invaders, a deafening explosion came from above.

In a daze, it caught a glimpse with its peripheral vision of a dark shadow drilling through the concrete dome above, then crashing straight down not far behind it.

"Boom!"

Rolling dust rose up!

Before it had a chance to look back to see what had happened, the flames from the secondary explosion yanked it from behind the cover and hurled it ferociously onto the ceiling!

"Aargh—!!"

Amid that unwilling roar, the bunker’s first line of defense was quickly breached, the ground was littered with disjointed chunks of flesh and swathes of green limbs.

"The first line of defense has been taken! Advancing towards the second line of defense!"

"What about casualties?"

"None so far!"

"Well done!"

Hearing the good news from two hundred meters away, Killer Dagger, who had just touched the ground not long ago, couldn’t help but excitedly admire.

Intelligence indicated that about a thousand Mutants were stationed in this area.

If they maintained this momentum, it was possible that their battalion of over four hundred brothers could break through the Mutants’ positions and thrust the deceptive bayonet directly into the heart of the Torch Church!

Thinking this, he shouted excitedly in the communications channel.

"Continue the attack! Don’t give the enemy any chance to breathe!"

By Some Mistake excitedly responded.

"Yes!"

The squad that breached the bunker continued to push forward, battling fiercely with the Mutants rushing from behind!

The bloody grinding had finally begun!

Initially unstoppable, By Some Mistake also gradually started feeling fatigue.

Especially after the aerial gunboat’s bunker-buster bombs ran out, more large Mutants, "Warriors," and even "Champions" joined the battlefield, making the situation increasingly difficult.

These mutants were somewhat different from the riff-raff on Ten Peaks Mountain.

The North Island Heavy Industries of the Charles era designed more advanced infantry weapons for them.

These included assault rifles specifically designed for polyethylene bulletproof plates and portable anti-armor weapons, such as armor-piercing grenade launchers and rocket launchers, etc.

These devices, manufactured by human engineers, maximized their physical strength advantages!

More than that—

As more and more players breached the bunker, the Mutants entrenched under the cover finally realized that tonight’s attack was far from a simple air raid!

The Alliance had deployed airborne troops!

They weren’t just planning a hit-and-run; they intended to completely occupy this place!

This battle could determine the survival of the Flame Hole clan!

"Stop them at all costs!"

Borudo Flamehole roared from deep within the bunker, throwing away the half-eaten roasted human and straightening his four-meter-tall body clad in heavy armor.

He looked entirely like a monstrous beast.

Urged by his mighty roar, the green-skins fighting on the front lines also rallied their spirits and charged forward, shouting "waaagh!!!"

"Damn... How come there are more and more of these green-skins?!" as he chopped off a green-skin’s head with an axe, a Strength-type player couldn’t help but complain.

Wiping the blood off his helmet’s visor, the light machine gunner cursed softly.

"How many exactly are there?! My ammo is almost out!"

Another player said, panting heavily.

"Our platoon... has killed at least a thousand! There’s definitely more than one thousand troop of Mutants here! Maybe even a ten thousand troop!"

"That’s ridiculous..."

Stopping the chatter in the communications channel, Killer Dagger felt his scalp tingle.

"...Damn Fang Chang!"

Though he didn’t know how this related to Fang Chang, he cursed him anyway.

Quickly switching the communication channel, Killer Dagger shouted into the radio.

"This is Camp One!"

"The number of Mutants at the front line is more than we anticipated, we need ammo! Send more over!"

After a brief pause, the reply came through the channel.

"Supplies are on the way, scheduled to arrive in ten minutes along with the ’Overlord’ gunboat."

Hearing that the Goblin Corps’ gunboat was returning, a smile flashed across Killer Dagger’s face as he immediately switched back to the command channel and shouted to his fellow teammates.

"Brothers, hold on! Our aerial support will be back online in ten minutes!"

"Aooo, aooo, aooo!"

Hearing that support would arrive in 10 minutes, a roar of high morale burst out from everyone so suddenly that the mutants on the other side were startled for a moment, unsure of who the mutants actually were...

The raging battle finally drew the attention of the Torch underground facility.

It seemed that they felt the Flame Hole clan still had value, or maybe they considered the consequences of allowing the Alliance’s airborne troops to occupy the area, so the commander of the Torch finally couldn’t restrain himself and dispatched the "Saint Light" knight group stationed near the entrance of Shelter No.20. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Unlike the Ruling Group assigned special operations missions.

The various knight orders of the Torch had a formation somewhat similar to the Alpha Special Mobile Force, more competent on the frontline than the squads of the Tribunal.

Rows of soldiers wearing heavy exoskeletons and even power armors, lined up neatly, and supported the mutant positions along the winding and twisting bunkers.

At this moment, Killer Dagger had no idea that danger was already close to him.

But even knowing probably wouldn’t matter.

After all, his battalion was executing a feint operation, even if they couldn’t fight their way to the gate of Shelter No.20 to rendezvous with the main assault team, it was only slightly regrettable.

At the same time as the battle in the abandoned city district reached its climax, the main force of the Burning Corps had quietly deployed near the entrance of Shelter No.20 aboard "Viper" transport planes.

It was a pre-war pharmaceutical company’s building.

The severely damaged exterior made it impossible to see which company the building belonged to, but the main structure of the building was still intact.

Fixed cameras installed by the Torch were seen on nearby streets.

Not only that, but drones were also hovering nearby on patrol, the security was incredibly tight!

Torch probably knew that the Alliance was equipped with a lot of thermal imaging devices, so they did not arrange patrol personnel in visible places; most sentries were hidden in the shadows.

However, they clearly didn’t expect that this heavily-guarded stronghold had already begun to crumble from the inside.

The streets were silent except for the humming noise of drone propellers.

At that moment, a drone quietly deviated from its designated patrol route.

It silently crossed over a window of an abandoned shop, flew into the alley behind the shop, and then gently landed next to a power armor’s feet.

It moved quickly, seemingly excited, almost hitting a rusty trash bin nearby.

"...Help me."

As Old White lightly tapped his helmet twice with his forefinger, a voice mingled with electronic noise entered his ears.

Hearing the pleading voice, Old White replied succinctly.

"We are here to help you, now take us inside."

The drone slowly rose, its bobbing motion resembling a nod.

"Surveillance is blacked out. Only the Tribunal’s Ruling Group is left in the building, a total of 27 people... Please follow me, I will lead you in."

Old White looked back, raised his right hand into a fist, and cleanly swung it forward.

One hundred "Type 6" heavy exoskeletons and twenty "Xiaguang" power armors silently emerged from the shadows of the ruins.

The armor, lethal in the night, emitted a chilling gleam along with the dark barrels of guns.

Although only a company’s strength was standing here, in terms of combat power alone, the veterans were confident they were not inferior to any of their own corps-level combat units.

That’s why they weren’t worried this might be a trap.

Even if it was...

They would simply flatten the place!

At this moment, the hunter in charge of guarding the abandoned building with the Ruling Group was blissfully unaware of the imminent threat so close at hand, clueless that the outside surveillance and patrolling drones had all been taken down by the traitor inside the shelter.

The night wind was especially noisy tonight, making his nape feel slightly chilly.

He was still pondering the words Saint Heir had said to him earlier—

"Heaven in Haiye Province is irreparable, but this doesn’t mean we have lost... So does this mean we’ve been abandoned?"

That phrase certainly didn’t seem to suggest they had other cards to play; if they had, they wouldn’t have waited until the Alliance landed on the Death Coast to use them.

Thinking of this, a bitter smile appeared on the hunter’s face.

Despite knowing the Pioneers were planning to leave, he didn’t feel betrayed; it was more a sense of helplessness.

The deep-seated toxins left by the Post-War Reconstruction Committee were too severe.

Facing the encirclement of old forces, they were isolated and stood no chance.

Perhaps the descent of Heaven was indeed a bit hasty; it would have been better if they were more prepared.

Like waiting until the Army, Academy, and Company were fighting each other, or when they were involved in other larger crises...

Just then, footsteps sounded behind him.

The hunter’s heart skipped a beat, and he swiftly turned around only to see a power armor standing there.

It was a pre-war model called "Dragon Cavalry"!

But whatever the name, this clearly wasn’t one of their own!

Without a second thought, he took down the Gauss rifle from his back, turned off the safety, and readied for battle.

Yet, the person acted as if they didn’t see or simply didn’t care, just taking down an unremarkable-looking axe.

It rather resembled a firefighter’s axe.

The disregard from the other side was somewhat humiliating.

But the hunter wasn’t enraged by it; instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the opponent, carefully searching for a weak spot on the power armor.

"Ruling Group, huh... I’ve heard the new recruits in the corps have had a tough time under you."

Looking at the person in power armor opposite him, who was also poised for a severe fight, Old White grinned and said cheerfully.

"Let’s have a go at each other for a round or two."