This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 744: The Last Trump Card

Wandering Swamp, a remote region in the Far North Land.

The fierce blizzards, like thousands of flying shuttles, weave an endless expanse of white into a flowing galaxy.

This place is not only the northernmost border of the Academy but also the northernmost border of the Central Continent, with temperatures perennially below -20 degrees Celsius and even reaching -100 degrees Celsius at the coldest times.

The extreme climate acts as a natural barrier, just like the desert that encircles the oasis of Luo Xia Province.

Only a few Variants with thick fur and a heavy layer of fat can move about in this region.

However, on this land of ice and bitter cold, there sits one of the most prosperous settlements of the Wandering Swamp.

Its name is Ice Sea City.

As the name suggests, the settlement is located on the coast of the perennially frozen sea.

The settlement, hundreds of meters high, is entirely made of alloy, resembling a giant axe laid upon an iceberg, its metallic walls emanating a chill glint amidst the snow.

It is said that over two centuries ago, this was a seed bank of the United Human, until it was transformed into a settlement half a century ago, inhabited by the first batch of technicians who broke away from the Post-War Reconstruction Committee.

Later, with the establishment of the Science Committee, it was brought under the management of the Science Committee.

However, despite being managed by the Science Committee, life here is not too hard for its residents.

The howling snowstorms and severe cold are kept outside by the walls of the settlement. Apart from the seed area embedded in the ice mountains that feel the sub-zero cold, the other production and living areas might even be said to have spring-like conditions all year round.

Besides, work here is not particularly hard.

The most common job is that of a gardener, and the "hardest" job involves nothing more than regularly caring for some special crops grown in tropical climates in swelteringly hot greenhouses, with most of the time spent monitoring screens and sipping tea.

Apart from the most numerous gardeners, the most in-demand positions here are undoubtedly those of assistants and apprentices recruited by the official researchers of the Academy.

Unlike the Academy’s official apprentices, the apprentices of Ice Sea City are merely a job position, usually tied to specific research projects, targeting young survivors between the ages of 12 and 18 who have excelled in advanced education assessments.

Although this position’s benefits aren’t much different from those of gardeners, for children preparing for the exam every December, it is an excellent opportunity to get in touch with mentors and potential work early on.

As long as these boys and girls show a hint of cleverness and don’t foolishly offend their bosses, they are likely to receive some care.

After all, most of their bosses had gone through the same examination and understand their current situation, where they have to prepare for a life-determining test while participating in work.

Usually, just a few words of guidance can save these children several years of detours.

And once they pass the assessment to become real apprentices, either a letter of recommendation or just a name on their work experience can help them get through their apprenticeship more easily than other children from the Science Committee’s regions or even earn recognition from a mentor, skipping the Prospector rank and directly becoming a distinguished researcher.

Even if, worst comes to worst, after many years they still haven’t passed the Academy’s official apprentice exam and must relinquish their position at 18, the Ice Sea City apprentice can often secure a decent job within the settlement because of their scientific research experience or even enter the Science Committee’s management to start a different life.

It’s also because of these favorable conditions that any researcher with some influence who cares deeply for their family would try to find a way to place their family members within this settlement.

Researchers who left this settlement often looked after their own hometowns and helped out the settlement within their means.

Because of this, although the researchers from the Academy did not directly participate in the management of the settlements under the Commission’s flag, Ice Sea City still held an exalted status and even formed a regional faction within the Academy named after Ice Sea City.

However, due to the relatively indifferent human relations within the Academy, factions maintained by blood and geography were not as solid as those with direct material interests, therefore, this faction wasn’t particularly influential and only held sway on some insignificant topics.

For example, the special zone jointly established by the Alliance and the Academy.

To the Academy, it didn’t matter where this special zone was set up within the Commission’s domain, as most researchers’ core interests lay within the Academy.

So, the special zone was established in Ice Sea City.

It had been half a year since the establishment of the special zone, and some residents from the Alliance’s refuges had indeed brought many interesting new things to the area.

Be it material or spiritual, their optimism and courage were something the people here had not seen for a long time.

Of course.

These newcomers from afar did not only bring joyous things.

On the helipad of Ice Sea City’s dome, a long shuttle-like flying vehicle slowly landed and came to a stop.

A cryogenic sleep pod was carried down and placed on the snowy ground.

An elderly man and woman stood at the entrance of the helipad, wearing thick cold weather clothing, huddling together in silence, gazing at the casket sinking into the snow.

The transparent visors were frosted over, making it impossible to see the expressions on their faces.

But from the silent atmosphere, everyone around could feel the pervasive grief.

A soldier wearing an exoskeleton stepped through the snow, approached the elderly couple, tapped twice on his left forearm, and unfurled a holographic screen the size of a palm on his arm before gently pushing it towards the old couple.

"My condolences."

The woman, upon seeing the photo on the holographic screen, swayed as if she might faint.

The husband standing beside her wrapped his arm around her shoulder and, without saying a word to the soldier, simply nodded in silence.

The three exchanged no more than that single phrase.

After nodding, the soldier turned and went back to the shuttle-shaped flying vehicle.

The silvery-white fuselage rose gently, a pale blue flame shot from its tail and disappeared into the boundless snowstorm, as if it had never been there...

About a dozen residents of Ice Sea City stood at the entrance of the helipad, arms linked, leaning on each other, holding a simple funeral for the poor child.

Afterward, his remains would be sent for cremation: a part saved as a memorial and another scattered into the whirling winds and snow.

Standing by the settlement’s floor-to-ceiling windows, several players wearing exoskeletons looked towards the helipad with an inquisitive interest.

They recognized the soldier’s equipment, especially the gas mask embedded in the helmet, which was undoubtedly a member of the Alpha Special Mobile Force.

To give credit where it’s due, the Game was indeed very realistic. Even the NPCs who were killed off for plot reasons in the background had their own complete lifespans.

They had only heard about the defeat thousands of kilometers away on the Forum and never expected to see the corpses dragged down from the frontline in the Game just a few days later.

In other games, these inconsequential NPCs would probably just be there to pad the numbers in transition animations before being refreshed.

"I thought members of the Alpha Special Mobile Force were too poor to afford potatoes."

One Strength-type player muttered, his face clearly showing surprise.

The Agility system player beside him nodded in agreement, speaking with a hint of emotion.

"I didn’t expect there to be people from Ice Sea City."

Having stayed in this settlement for some days, they were relatively familiar with the local conditions.

Even when compared to Ideal City, the life of the residents here could certainly be described as prosperous; they were only not as well-off as the prospectors and researchers from the Academy.

Whether that guy joined "Alpha" seeking thrills, pursuing a different life and ideals, or simply out of rebellion against doctrines, it took courage.

Another Intelligence System player interjected.

"But at least his relatives will receive an urn of ashes, which is more than what can be said for others."

The Strength-type player shrugged his shoulders.

"That’s just the dual nature of the world."

While they were talking, the group reached the settlement’s exit via the elevator and boarded the all-terrain tracked vehicle waiting for them.

Their task today was to head to the ruins of Molokova City nearby, to collect samples of the local mucosal entities and deliver them to researchers at the Alliance Biological Research Institute in Ice Sea City.

Hidden deep within those ruins lay a dormant Lair, somewhere below the subway station. Due to the camouflage effects produced by the copious spore coats, existing technological methods could not pinpoint its exact location.

The mucosal entities produced by that Lair were also particularly notable for their excellent camouflage abilities, blending seamlessly with their surroundings and launching sudden attacks as prey approached.

The long-term goal of the Sticky Community’s special district was to find the precise coordinates of the Lair and have Xiaoyu consume it, while the medium- and short-term goals included analyzing the Lair and providing reference data for mutagenic slime fungus research projects across the region.

Although it was a very minor task, any grand plan is composed of countless such minor tasks.

At the same time as the group departed, a man and a woman stood in front of the large glass window where they had previously stopped.

Gazing at the Sleep Cabin outside, Jiang Xuezhou’s face was etched with complex emotions.

She did not know those parents, nor could she possibly have known the person lying in the Sleep Cabin.

She just suddenly thought, if she hadn’t managed to leave No.0 Shelter that day and had instead died on the Wasteland like countless unfortunate researchers...

Her heart tightened slightly as she bowed her head for a moment and whispered softly.

"Hey..."

Seeing Jiang Xuezhou’s solemn expression, Night Ten couldn’t help but make a helpless face.

"What’s wrong now?"

Jiang Xuezhou continued in a soft voice.

"... I want to go home."

"Then go."

Night Ten gave her a puzzled look, as if mentioning such a matter specifically to him was unnecessary.

Her lips moved slightly, and although Jiang Xuezhou found it difficult to speak, she finally broke the silence.

"... Would you come with me?"

Since becoming an apprentice, she hadn’t been back home for a long time and had no idea how to face those relatives who were both familiar and strange. So, subconsciously, she wanted to find a trusted partner to accompany her.

Upon hearing that it was just a trivial matter, Night Ten didn’t think much and readily agreed.

"Sure, when do you want to go?"

Jiang Xuezhou was taken aback.

She had just mentioned it casually, not even having planned when exactly to return. She didn’t expect this stoic man to agree so readily, even asking when they should set off.

"... How about tomorrow?"

As she spoke these words without any preparation, it wasn’t until this moment that she suddenly realized something and felt her cheeks beginning to heat up.

However, she didn’t know that the other person wasn’t thinking much at all, merely seeing it as an exclamation point popping over an NPC’s head.

"No problem..."

Watching Jiang Xuezhou’s face turn as red as an apple, Night Ten’s own visage betrayed a look of bemusement.

This person had been daydreaming a lot lately.

Could she be running a fever?

...

Thousands of kilometers away on the frontline.

The blazing flames even melted the snow atop Blood Mountain.

The roar of artillery shook the earth and sky, followed by the crackling of gunfire and the angry roars of the mutants.

It seemed that, to redeem their previous humiliation, the Alpha Special Mobile Force had formulated a more meticulous battle plan based on intelligence from the last battle and launched an even fiercer offensive than before.

This time, it wasn’t just two hundred-man squads that were pushed to the frontline, but a whole ten squads—a thousand men!

The two sides engaged in an intense firefight within the caves.

Under the cover of drone attack formations, squad after squad marched neatly into the abyss-like cave. People were seen entering, but nobody was seen emerging.

Watching the fierce offensive by the Alpha Special Mobile Force, General Modlin, standing on the mountainside of Broken Blade Mountain, couldn’t help but show a hint of surprise on his face.

Including his adjutant standing beside him, an expression of disbelief appeared on their faces.

"...Are these guys high on something?" he muttered to himself as he gazed in the direction of the frontline.

In just three short days, the troops that were once lifeless had completely transformed.

Though he couldn’t see what was happening inside the cave, just by observing their momentum, he could clearly feel something different about these people.

"You might actually be right," General Modlin muttered, frowning as he put down his binoculars.

The characteristics of the Alpha Protozoans had been made public by the United Army Headquarters.

By those standards, perhaps only the punitive squads and some Awakeners with considerable physical strength from the entire Thirty-first Ten Thousand Troops could resist the encroachment of that red fog.

The operation three days ago had shown that the Alpha Special Mobile Force was not known for their physical strength.

Without changing their equipment, he could only suspect that these guys must have taken some immunoboosting drugs or installed some sort of cybernetic implant to fight off infection.

Besides that, there was another thing that caught his attention.

Namely, he saw these people entering wave after wave but did not see anyone coming out.

Either they fought until the last moment and died there, or they must have acquired some capability of continuous recovery during combat.

Thinking of this, General Modlin’s eyes couldn’t help but flicker with interest, and he began to anticipate the outcome of the battle.

Not only General Modlin was observing the battle, but the commander of the Storm Corps, Spring Water Commander, and the commander of the Death Legion, Edge, were there as well.

Both stood on the mountainside of Broken Blade Mountain, watching the battlefield that was at close range.

"Holy mother... what a bunch of ruthless people," Edge Shoveling said with a shocked expression, unable to help but utter a sigh.

Not counting those clones without a complete psyche, it was his first time seeing others in Game who were unafraid of death like them.

"Indeed..." Spring Water Commander nodded in agreement, holding his binoculars while intently watching the frontline situation.

In a sense, the Torch had really met their match this time.

Although the Academy had a relatively friendly attitude toward Blue Jacket, he still couldn’t help but complain that on the matter of being non-human, ordinary people were really not their match.

In three days, a thousand cybernetic bodies had been installed—onethird of the Alpha units at the frontline "changed classes," from mechanized soldiers to half-biological, half-mechanical warriors.

Although after staring at Xiaoyu for a long time, she was quite cute, and occasionally changing skins for fun didn’t seem to be a big deal, all this was based on the premise that revivals were possible.

If one couldn’t revive, or say, if reviving didn’t remove the cybernetic body, he thought that even in Game, he would probably hesitate to go through with such an implant.

While the various commanders of the Allied forces were watching the battle, the Beast King, standing on Blood Mountain, also overlooked the entire battlefield with an equally noticeably surprised expression on his face.

"What is that?" he kept muttering insistently, his eyes filled with astonishment, unable to believe what he saw in the eyes of those mutants, even less to comprehend.

He had seen with his own eyes an Alpha Special Mobile Force soldier being impaled through the chest by a spike thrown out by a mutant variant and then violently flung away.

The blood that splattered even got onto its (his) head—the scorching feeling could not possibly be an illusion simulated by holographic technology.

For humans, that was without a doubt a fatal wound.

Yet as soon as it (he) wiped the blood off the spike, it saw the unconscious soldier on the ground suddenly convulsing, then rolling onto his side to grab his rifle and wildly shoot at it (him) in a barrage of fire.

Caught off-guard, several electromagnetically accelerated bullets shattered the mutant’s chest and brain.

He also lost perception of that mutant for a moment, returning to the god’s eye view in a daze.

The gruesome slaughter continued.

Those guys with Gas Masks seemed to have found a way to counter the poisonous fog.

And not only that, but their recovery abilities had also strengthened, as if they had turned into another species overnight.

"Ha ha... ha ha ha ha!"

The eyes that were full of astonishment gradually turned to fervor, and from above, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"How interesting... this is truly interesting!"

Administering benign variants of mucosal entities to gain immunity before being infected by the spores of sticky fungi?

These old things aren’t as rigid as he had imagined—they also knew how to adapt.

Indeed, it’s more interesting to compete with such thoughtful adversaries.

Fighting with the Weilante People, besides obtaining a batch of organic matter, he learned nothing.

Looking down at the ready members of the Alpha Special Mobile Force at the foot of the mountain, the Beast King spoke in a very light voice.

"""...I want to understand the secrets of those guys, can I ask you to consume them?" """

The voice was not transmitted through sound waves, but through the exchange of consciousness.

After a wait of several minutes, that ancient bell-like, somber voice slowly seeped into his sea of consciousness.

"I think... it’s probably better for you not to let that guy get close to me."

The Beast King paused slightly, his brows furrowing gently.

"Can’t consume it?"

The "Plague Master" nestled deep within the mountain slowly began to speak.

"Generally, we evolve to devour other organic beings, and consuming other lairs is just a happenstance in evolution. That being is different; its logic of evolution is the complete opposite of ours, purely existing for the purpose of devouring other slime molds and is capable of coexisting with the humans who nurtured it instead."

"Just like those green-skinned guys who can stand my scent and even worship me, you can think of it as... the ’Mutants’ among ’us’."

After a brief pause, the voice continued.

"I can feel from that nauseating breath that it has already consumed at least two of its kind... I already have so many precious children, I don’t want to become the next one."

Those believers were its children.

It had never seen anything so fascinating, embracing with cheers and love the distortion it bestowed upon them, rather than fearing its appearance.

The one called the Beast King told it that this was human "faith," they regarded themselves as the mother and even the God who gave them life!

It really liked the title of Plague Master, and even more the believers who cheered its name, its love for them surpassing even its mucosal offspring.

For this reason, it would nurture them with its own flesh and blood and would select the most devout among them as the prophet to cultivate the "plague," using them as a nursery to produce spores, bestowing upon them a stronger "evolution factor."

In some sense, they were its offspring, at least part of them was.

It had high hopes for them, hoping they would continue to expand their population until they occupied the entire planet and carried their faith to conquer even more distant worlds.

One day, those who cried out its name would replace it and return to the side of its mother—Gaia.

Perhaps they could even deliver a message to Her on its behalf.

The Beast King pondered for a moment before suddenly speaking.

"Then, if you could devour it, couldn’t you also gain... the ability it has to devour other slime molds?"

He thought of the forests in Baiyue Province, where Nago originated, and Nago’s weakness lies there.

If they could consume the lair there, their Heaven would have no weaknesses.

The Plague Master fell into silence for a moment before slowly speaking.

"That’s correct, but... its main body seems not to be here, and so far, only its offspring have appeared. My offspring can digest them, but that is mere physical digestion. If I were to consume them, I’d likely suffer indigestion."

"I see... Understood." The Beast King nodded thoughtfully.

Indeed, there was a problem.

However, they could solve it with scientific methods, such as neutralizing the samples before feeding.

Of course.

That would be after taking Qingquan City.

"Let’s not worry about these things now... My children are pleading for my help, you must have heard it too, their cries of despair." The Plague Master’s voice carried a hint of urgency as it watched the Beast King, who seemed to have become distracted.

The situation on Blood Mountain was becoming increasingly unfavorable for its children.

Not just its children, including itself, were in danger.

It had a premonition.

If those beings carrying other mucosal offspring entered its lair, something terrible would happen.

The Beast King nodded slowly and turned to look toward the southeast, at the gray haze in the sky.

That was the direction of Haiya Province.

From the summit of Blood Mountain, one could even see the fog that shrouded the area, and the prosperous kingdom hidden within.

He admitted that the offspring lodged in human beings had surprised him.

But if these beings thought they could win by playing one or two unexpected cards, they were seriously underestimating him.

They had set foot on this barren, chaotic land years before these old things noticed it.

It had taken them over a decade of effort to sow the seeds, nurturing them to germinate, bloom, and bear fruit.

All the land from Ten Peaks Mountain to the wastelands of Wei were his domain; Heaven had descended upon this place long ago.

Those beings had merely built some houses and taken a few mountaintops and thought it was their territory.

It had always been his land.

He would teach them a profound lesson.

"Don’t worry."

The Beast King waved his hand gently, and the red mist swirling around the mountain peak blinked out for a moment, then was replaced by a slowly rising thick green fog.

"It’s time for the fog to rise."

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m