This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 795: The Weilante People Who Want to Pick Peaches

The time rewound to the dead of night before dawn.

At the height of the intense battle between the Burning Corps and the Torch Remnants, a hundred kilometers away, in another abandoned section of the city, a battle rife with carnage was also reaching its ultimate crescendo.

Hundreds of "Conqueror" model 5 tanks and their infantry support had cut off all entrances from the ruins to the wilderness, effectively severing any possibility of the fungally mutated life forms within the Heavenly domain from reinforcing the city ruins.

Immediately after, tens of thousands of Weilante infantrymen and tens of thousands more clone soldiers launched an offensive from dozens of directions all at once, with artillery cover, to besiege those remaining from the Torch Church and the mutant tribe trapped within the ruins.

According to maps from the Era of Prosperity, this abandoned city area once belonged to a large city named Kuwata City, boasting a permanent population exceeding eight million.

Now, however, in the Wasteland Era, the former prosperity had long since vanished, leaving only rusted signs to remember its name.

Upon learning that this city might contain information related to the Complete Life-Born Project, Lucien did not hesitate to withdraw the closest 370,000th Legion to spearhead the attack, ordering them to take control before the Alliance’s landing forces could gain an advantage!

The attackers were the 370,000th Legion, as well as a Glory Army composed of thirty thousand clone soldiers.

The defenders were the Torch’s "Flame" knight order and the "Limping" clan.

Despite the seemingly comical name, it was clear the mutants of this clan were no actual cripples; given the mutants’ regenerative abilities to regrow limbs, real cripples were unlikely to emerge.

In fact, contrary to their comical name, this clan’s mutants were not cripples but natural hunters, thriving in the rugged terrain of the mountains and forests, highly adept at setting traps and taking advantage of varied elevations for surprise attacks.

In the initial phase of the assault, the 370,000th Legion faced considerable difficulty against these so-called "cripples."

But that was only in the beginning.

Once the Weilante people discovered the mutants had just a few tricks up their sleeves, the rest became much easier to deal with.

If they encountered a location possibly harboring ambushes, they would either send in clone soldiers to probe, or simply bombard the area with a few shells beforehand, then proceed to advance.

The commander of the 370,000th Legion made cautious decisions, gradually whittling away the Torch’s living space and operational areas, finally forcing all its forces into a relatively open central area of the city.

The battle lasted a full three days, during which both sides suffered significant casualties.

However, the Torch was ultimately in a lose-lose situation, their city-bound troops could resist all they wanted, but such desperate struggles couldn’t alter their inevitable defeat.

By the third day of the offensive, the Legion had successfully broken through the last line of defense, their tanks’ gun barrels almost stuffed into the nostrils of the mutants and Torch believers.

The remaining 200 Torch believers and less than 1000 mutants were trapped within an abandoned commercial department store building.

It seemed likely that the entrance to the research facility was also there.

Furthermore, the Legion discovered a "livestock pen" in a nearby sports stadium, where the mutants had been keeping captives.

These captives were barely clothed, gaunt and emaciated, many bearing sores on their bodies and marks of torture.

Some were presumably kept for the mutants’ pleasure and had been fed an extensive amount of Nago fruit, sporting broken expressions when dragged out of their dungeons.

The others were likely part of the Torch Church’s experiments or their "talent reserve." While they weren’t fed Nago fruit, their mental state was severely deteriorated, clearly having been abused extensively.

Regarding how to settle these prisoners, a small fraction of disagreement arose among the middle and high ranks of the 370,000th Legion.

Leading this traditional "Military Aristocracy," Captain Favri believed that, according to usual practice, the spoils of war should be dominated by the stronger... even if all these spoils were defective goods.

Some newly commissioned officers thought that they should maintain the Legion’s dignity within the Sticky Community, after all, they were not engaged in a war of conquest but a righteous war for the fate of all humanity.

A minority opinion was that they might as well leave it to other forces within the Sticky Community to worry about, so that others couldn’t find fault, and it would save trouble for the Legion itself.

The representative of this minority opinion was "Captain Pangolin," a "borrowed officer" from the Civil Official Group.

Although he came from the Civil Official Group, his background was not minor; he was a talent unearthed by General Mclen, reportedly having single-handedly hunted down a Mother of Dead Claw, a true hero among men.

After General Mclen’s defeat, he had led the Empire’s officers across thousands of kilometers to evade the Alliance’s encirclement and finally successfully rendezvoused with the main forces of the Legion in the desert, killing nearly a thousand Alliance Soldiers on the frontline!

By virtue of these achievements, he had leaped from the Servant Army to the Regular Army and followed General Griffin in desert warfare until the eastern expansionists fell from power and then switched to the Civil Official Group.

This legendary experience was enough to occupy at least two columns in the Triumph Newspaper.

And speaking of this legendary experience, it actually had some connection with the immediate superior of the officers present.

The Ten Thousand Leader of the 370,000th Legion was Coleway.

This person was none other than the very officer whom Captain Pangolin had escorted through numerous dangers back to the rear years ago.

As for his promotion record, that was another story full of legend.

To be honest, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group couldn’t help but feel it was too coincidental. They were dispatched to the front to reinforce an old acquaintance and just happened to be transferred over.

But this indeed saved him a lot of trouble.

Working under other Weilante people often carried the risk of blowing his cover, but there was absolutely no need to worry about that under Coleway.

After all, he was a good brother who had shared life-and-death experiences with Coleway, who never doubted him even once.

Seeing the endless debate in front of the command table, Coleway forcefully coughed.

"Enough, let me say a few words."

Everyone quieted down, eyes turning towards him.

After a moment’s pause, Coleway spoke in an authoritative voice, slowly.

"...I think Captain Pangolin makes sense. Given our image in the eyes of the survivors in the East, even if we fed and treated these prisoners well, they’d probably still think we’re mistreating those people. Better to let them handle it themselves."

Seeing General Coleway, who hadn’t spoken until then, taking sides, Captain Favri’s brow twitched violently, and he couldn’t help but speak out.

"General, I must remind you, according to the traditions of us Weilante people—"

"Then you go pick a few good ones."

Favri was stunned and looked at Coleway, not understanding.

"...pick a few?"

Coleway shrugged his shoulders.

"Pick back the ones from that bunch of captives that you find pleasing to the eye and keep them. However, I must remind you that the marshal’s rules are the biggest here. You must treat your servants according to the standards of Triumph City, and don’t expect to just finish things off by killing someone."

If hearing the first part of that statement only made Favri feel physically uncomfortable, by the time he heard the latter part, the corners of his mouth had already begun to twitch.

Treat this trash according to the standards of Triumph City?

If he really did that, he would simply be insane!

Seeing that no one else brought up any objections, Coleway tapped the table with his knuckles.

"Then it’s decided. First, gather the captives together, and then wait for the arrangements from the Sticky Community’s related relief organizations, whether to send them to Weifu City or find them a new home nearby."

After the battle in Luo Xia Province, or rather, after meeting Pangolin, he had changed his views on Waste Land Wanderers a lot. He was no longer as extreme as before.

Actually, it wasn’t just him; many officers from the expansionist faction felt the same.

After returning to Triumph City defeated, they had all seriously reflected on the reasons for their failure, especially pondering whether they had gone too far in some aspects.

Just like many Waste Land Wanderers had appraised, they had conquered a large piece of land, spanning the entire western part of the Central Plains Continent, but in fact, they hadn’t solved any problems.

Rebellion and suppression of rebellion kept cycling over and over again in the territories controlled by the four major Armies. Apart from Triumph City, no other place had ever experienced true peace.

He wanted to try to solve some problems.

He didn’t have the ability before, but now he was a Ten Thousand Leader and had that ability.

Even if there was only one star on his epaulette.

The issue of the captives came to an end; it was just a small episode in the whole battle.

Shortly after Coleway announced the handling plan, the quartermaster brought tonight’s supper for everyone—two roast lambs sprinkled with cumin and pepper.

At the same time, a communication Soldier stood at the entrance of the command tent and reported, bringing news from the front.

"... The commander of the Torch refuses to surrender. He says he will fight to the last moment."

Looking at the two plump lambs in the tent, the communication Soldier couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

Coleway, cutting the lamb’s leg with a dagger, casually replied.

"We respect his choice. Since he’s looking for death, let him drown in our gunfire, clutching those stinking delusions."

The battle had entered the final stage, and whether the other side surrendered or not didn’t really matter; at most, a few dozen more corpses would be thrown down in that department store.

The Army needed Torch’s researchers, especially those who held the data related to the Complete Life-Born Project.

"Yes!" The communication Soldier saluted and was about to turn around and leave but was stopped by Coleway.

"Wait a minute."

Calling the communication Soldier back, Coleway threw over the cut lamb’s leg.

Looking at the communication Soldier, who caught it with a surprised and flustered face, he laughed heartily and said,

"You must be hungry after all this work and at such a late hour. Eat while you walk, and don’t mess up the important work."

"Yes!!"

The communication Soldier looked at him gratefully, saluted again, and then hurriedly left to execute his orders.

Watching the communication Soldier leave, Coleway didn’t fuss about any formalities and just made sure everyone started eating while it was still hot.

The officers in front of the command table also didn’t hold back. They pulled out their daggers and cut large pieces of meat, eating and laughing together, making the tent quite lively for a time.

"This lamb is roasted nicely!"

"If only we had a glass of wine with it, it would be even better!"

"Haha, you do dream up some nice things."

"After the war is over! The victory banquet will have endless wine and meat!"

"That’s something to look forward to."

Not joining in the conversation, the Old Soldier from the Battlefield Atmosphere Group focused all his attention on the buffet in front of him.

As a high-ranking Awakener, his appetite could be high or low. If he were just maintaining normal bodily functions and eating seven or eight parts full, three to four kilograms of lamb would suffice.

If he really let himself go, he could stuff both lambs inside and at most make a few trips to the restroom.

If he were paying for the meal himself, he would usually take it easy.

But, the meal was on public funds, so, of course, he let himself go, and within a few gulps, he finished off half a lamb, leaving Favri beside him dumbfounded.

Was this guy a pig?

By the time Favri snapped out of it, only a lamb’s butt was left in front of him.

His eyebrows fiercely twitched a few times, and just as he was about to utter some sarcastic remarks, the tent flap was lifted again, and another communication Soldier jogged in.

"Report! The reconnaissance troops have sent a message: an explosion and fire were spotted 100 kilometers southeast of our headquarters! It’s suspected to be an air strike launched by the Alliance coastal forces!"

Upon hearing this, all the officers stopped their hearty eating and looked toward the tent entrance.

"100 kilometers in the southeast?" Coleway slightly furrowed his brow, staring at the map, deep in thought for a moment, and found that location.

That was the Ruins of North Sea City, the distance from there to Kuwata City was about the same as to the coastline—around 100 kilometers.

However, it was clearly more difficult to head to the coastline from there because all the tunnels built during the Era of Prosperity had collapsed; one had to climb over mountains and hills to reach it.

An officer was also aware of the issue and furrowed his brow in thought as he said,

"The Alliance’s landing forces are advancing this quickly?"

Another officer standing beside him also pondered for a long time before saying,

"I heard that they had just taken over Shelter No.182 and now they’ve abruptly changed directions to launch an airstrike toward a place 100 kilometers away... What exactly are they trying to do?"

"It’s not that simple," Favri squinted his eyes as he stared at the map for a while, "...from the Alliance’s landing site to the area they’ve struck, the roads are rough, with at least a third consisting of hills. If it were to meet up with their main forces, there would be no need to take a risk in this direction."

He paused and glanced at the other officers around the command table, then continued,

"There’s only one other explanation, something remarkable is hidden in the area they’ve attacked, and they don’t want this thing to fall into our hands; hence, they plan to get there before us."

"I can even assert that their operation tonight is not merely an airstrike; there must be airborne forces following up!"

The officers around the command table whispered and exchanged opinions, all feeling that this analysis made some sense.

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group took a gulp of water, pretending to choke on his food, but inwardly he was sweating bullets for the brothers of the Burning Corps.

The other officers present might not know, but he was crystal clear in his heart.

The Burning Corps did indeed have operations there, and the big fish they aimed to catch was not small at all; it might very well be the Torch Church’s headquarters in the entire Haiye Province area!

To avoid being targeted by the Army, they deliberately limited the density of firepower they deployed, but unexpectedly it still aroused these people’s vigilance.

He cast a quick glance at Coleway’s expression, noticing he was clearly already convinced by Favri’s argument and wore a contemplative look.

The Old Soldier inwardly cursed his bad luck.

It was true that even if the Vellante People discovered it, they would not likely dare to snatch it openly, but it would always be a dispute at the Sticky Community’s meetings.

This was rushed...

While he was scratching his head in anxiety, Coleway suddenly turned his gaze to him.

"I’d like to hear your opinion, Captain Pangolin."

The Old Soldier inwardly grimaced with a wry smile.

My opinion is still okay...

What the hell can I say at a time like this?

Seeing the other officers also turning their eyes to him, especially that Favri, who always looked down on his status and had a mocking expression in his eyes—it was as if he was already looking forward to him making a fool of himself.

"My view is the same as that of Favri, General," he said, despite a thousand reluctant thoughts inside, still maintaining his identity as a loyal and honest character.

Favri, who was expecting to see a joke, was clearly not satisfied with such an answer.

Before General Coleway could speak, he said with a sarcastic tone,

"I thought I might hear a different opinion... It turns out that our Captain Pangolin, once in his field of expertise, can only repeat what others have said."

Several officers born from traditional military aristocracy could not help chuckling, while those who did not laugh couldn’t help but smirk.

Most of them had only heard rumors of this pangolin but had never really seen his capabilities on the battlefield.

So far, the only traits they had seen in this fellow were his ability to eat.

But what use was a big appetite?

The "Purge" Group’s big guys were all food bins, but nothing more than that.

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group ignored their laughter, mainly because he did not take the NPCs’ mockery seriously.

However, although he was indifferent, Coleway looked at Favri with displeasure.

"Favri, one should be realistic in life. If there’s a problem, speak up; if not, shut up. Don’t acknowledge a problem without speaking up, and don’t be contrary just for the sake of it. What do you think?"

Seeing his direct superior looking at him with displeasure, Favri’s face softened slightly in sarcasm,

"I think... you’re right, sir."

Coleway stared at him intently,

"I hope you really think so. You should really learn from your colleague Captain Pangolin; he would never oppose every opinion you make just because he doesn’t like you."

"Yes..."

Under that intense gaze, Favri could only stiffly nod his head, but Coleway was not satisfied with his response.

"Is that all you have to say?"

Favri took a deep breath, turned to look at the Captain Pangolin standing on the other side of the command table, and said,

"I’m sorry, Captain Pangolin, I, Favri... sincerely apologize to you."

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group could feel that there was less than one-tenth sincerity in his words, but he had no interest in making things difficult for the man.

"I accept your apology."

"Thank you..." Favri bowed slightly, his eyes not meeting his.

"Very well," Coleway said, nodding approvingly at the now seemingly amicable pair, paused, and then continued,

"Getting back to the issue we were discussing, the Alliance has been up to something on our route of advance. Whatever they’ve discovered there, we have to check it out, to take back what belongs to us... Especially since the battle at Kuwata City has already come to an end."

As he said this, Coleway turned his gaze back to Favri.

"Captain Favri."

"Present!" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Favri snapped to attention, awaiting orders.

"I need you to lead your men southeast, and make sure to reach the old site of Haibei City before dawn... The Alliance has already beaten us there, and we need to expand our controlled territory as much as possible before they find anything. Remember! Avoid direct military friction with the Alliance, unless they make the first move."

"Yes!" Favri saluted sharply, his eyes sparkling with resolve.

Coleway nodded, then turned his attention to Pangolin.

"Captain Pangolin, you’ll accompany Favri. Your task is to knock him out and bring him back to me if he gets hot-blooded. Your men need not come along."

"Yes, General..." The Battlefield Atmosphere Group nodded, though uncertainty lingered on his face.

He still wanted to try his best to do something for his old friends, but he was helpless to come up with a solution.

Seeing Pangolin’s hesitant expression, as if he had something to say but wasn’t sure if he should, Coleway spoke kindly and with a smile.

"If you have something to say, just say it—don’t hold it in."

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group nodded, his mind racing. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"I’m thinking... it will take at least seven or eight hours to get there from here. By the time we arrive, it may be too late."

"My thoughts are the exact opposite," Favri cast a glance at him, refrained from any sarcastic comments, and merely chuckled. "When the Alliance’s forces are nearly done tussling with Torch, we can arrive as reinforcements. Not only will we have resolved their ’urgent dilemma,’ but we could naturally share the spoils from their hands. Far from having a reason to blame us, they might even have to thank us."

"Haha, I was thinking the same," Coleway said with a laugh, looking at the dumbfounded Pangolin. "By that time, there won’t be many of the Alliance’s airborne troops left. Even if they want to send more people to control their territory, it will take time. We can take advantage of this period to create some accomplished facts."

Damn!

Dirty!

These NPCs are too dirty!

The Old Soldier complained inwardly, but had to feign an admiring expression on his face.

"So that’s how it is, I was naive..."

"Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve seen what you can do, and your forte isn’t really commanding from inside a tent anyway," Coleway said reassuringly with a smile, then continued, "That settles it then, both of you get moving."

"Yes!"

The two men saluted, and then left the command tent.

Standing at the entrance of the tent, Favri straightened his collar casually and glanced sideways at the Pangolin beside him, with a mocking half-smile.

"The General has seen your prowess, but I haven’t had the pleasure yet—looking forward to seeing you in action."

Annoyed by the man to some extent, the Old Soldier looked at him sincerely and said,

"The General told me to act if you become blinded by fury—sure you want to see my handiwork?"

"..." Favri’s brow twitched, but he managed to suppress the urge to lash out, just glaring at him before stomping away with a huff.

The Old Soldier followed behind, silently praying that his old friends down south would move quickly; he truly had done as much as he could...

After marching all night, during which time they had over a dozen encounters with creatures from the Heavenly domain, Favri’s thousand-strong team arrived at the outskirts of Haibei City just as dawn broke, having suffered a dozen or so casualties.

Scarcely any gunshots could be heard over the expansive ruins. Apart from the Old Soldier who dawdled, everyone else quickened their pace involuntarily, moving toward the direction of the explosions.

At last, near a heap of desolate concrete debris, the Army’s thousand-strong team "met up" with the forces dispatched by the Alliance from Death Coast.

This was probably the first meeting between the southern and northern forces.

Even though neither side wanted to see each other so soon.

But when they saw that the team was led by the Old Soldier, many players were surprised, their eyes widening.

"Damn!"

"Look at that..."

"The Old Soldier?!"

Noticing how all the Blue Ground Squirrels were staring fixedly beside him at Pangolin and completely ignoring him—their actual commander—Favri couldn’t help but get a bit irritated.

"What are those guys muttering about?"

While the Old Soldier frantically gestured with his eyes, warning those dogs not to make a mess, he said shamelessly with a straight face,

"Back in Luo Xia Province, I killed quite a few of them... they must be sending their regards to my family."

Though both statements were true, together they formed a lie.

Unaware, Favri took a moment to catch his breath, then recalling an interview he read in the Triumph Newspaper, he nodded in understanding.

"I see..."

However, at that moment, his eyes suddenly shifted, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

"Since that’s the case, then you should be the one to negotiate with them—have them kindly hand over the land beneath their feet."

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "???"

Damn?

Is this guy delirious?!