This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 506.3: Ah Fuck...

...

Meanwhile, not far from the administrator’s office, Battlefield Cheerleader and Su Ming worked smoothly together to clear out any Crunchers in their way.

Meng Liang stuck close behind, never once firing a shot, not even disengaging the safety on his sidearm. That Wislander named Pangolin had told him it was actually safer that way.

He didn’t know why, but that guy seemed unusually protective of him.

Even though... he was from the Army.

As distant gunfire echoed in the halls, Battlefield Cheerleader checked their location on his tablet and drew a deep breath. “Team A is almost at the reactor room... We need to pick up the pace.”

With Wally no longer nearby, he didn’t need to keep pretending to be the silent tough guy, he talked a lot more freely and even seemed cheerful.

Su Ming gave a whistle and grinned. “Relax. The Crunchers over there aren’t that many. Your officer will be fine.”

He didn’t dislike the guy.

Though he couldn’t understand why someone would work as a Wislander’s follower, he still respected the man’s skill as a fellow fighter.

Battlefield Cheerleader sighed, “I’m not that worried about him.”

The guy had insisted on tagging along with the Enterprise and New Alliance. He had even recorded that decision on the tablet.

If anything happened, they’d just pin it on that Academy girl and be done with it.

Su Ming asked curiously, “So... what does the Mother of Deathclaws look like?”

Battlefield Cheerleader thought for a moment, then gestured with his hands. “It’s about two or three stories tall.”

“Incredible...” Su Ming’s eyes widened in shock, and admiration. “You took down something that big alone?!”

Battlefield Cheerleader looked awkward and was about to reply, when the sound of creaking suddenly echoed ahead. A rotten stench quickly followed.

The two chatting men immediately went on alert.

“Something’s up ahead.”

“You noticed it too?”

“Yeah...” Su Ming’s eyes sharpened. He tapped his helmet and carefully deployed a hummingbird-sized recon drone forward into the dark.

The drone buzzed into the black corridor, but just as it reached the end, a massive hand shot out from the shadows and crushed it instantly.

“Shit!”

Su Ming cursed, tapping his helmet again to shut off the static flickering in his tactical HUD.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the darkness ahead.

The sound was like a hammer slamming into walls.

The three men looked forward, and saw a figure standing at the end of the corridor.

It had clearly been waiting for them.

A low hiss leaked from the gaps in its armor. Its left hand gripped what looked like a ripped-off door panel; its right held a steel bar as tall as a man.

A murderous aura radiated visibly from its body. Crimson armor covered it from head to toe, hiding all signs of what it once was. Its twisted helmet resembled a demon’s face.

Suddenly, Su Ming’s pupils contracted sharply. “No...”

He instinctively stepped back half a step, his voice trembling with disbelief. “This can’t be...”

Battlefield Cheerleader’s nerves tightened to the brink. Sweat instantly soaked his palm on the rifle.

Rotting Knight!

It was Slime Mold that had fused with an exoframe, a steel abomination powered entirely by flesh and blood.

He had faced one of these head-on during the last Tide. No one knew better than him how terrifying they truly were...

Turning toward the stunned Meng Liang, he lowered his voice and urged, “Get back.”

“O-okay...” Meng Liang gulped and backed away quickly, ducking into an empty room off the corridor and hiding beneath a cabinet.

“Damn it! It even has a shield!” Battlefield Cheerleader looked back at the crouching Rotten Knight. He drew a deep breath and raised his Eagle assault rifle.

Whether it worked or not, he had to try!

...

Elsewhere, after taking out nearly 100 Crunchers and several Creepers, Night Ten escorted Yunyi safely to Zone X-13 of the shelter.

Seeing how reliable the young man had been, Yunyi's opinion of him improved slightly. "You're good at this. You could afford to be more confident."

Night Ten gave her a helpless smile. "You're right... How much further?"

"We're already here," Yunyi looked toward the large door ahead as she replied.

Dark red fungal patches obscured the label, but the number ‘13’ was still visible.

She stepped forward and entered the visitor code at the door terminal. With a loud hiss, the door slowly opened.

Dry air burst out, dispersing the spore cloud outside.

Someone inside had adjusted the air pressure, creating a positive-pressure system that kept the spores from entering.

Seeing it, Yunyi felt a flicker of hope. Maybe the crew of the Pioneer was still alive. "Let’s go... They’re probably in the cryo-pods. Maybe they’re just up ahead.”

“Mhm.” Night Ten nodded and raised his LD-50, walking ahead of her.

Same as when running dungeons, he would take point before battle, and Old White or Quit Smoking would tank once things kicked off.

He could sense bloodlust when it was aimed at him. Only by standing at the front could he fully use his perception stats and talent, ensuring his team knew when the battle would begin.

But Yunyi seemed to misinterpret the gesture. She simply thought he was a shy but considerate young man, and gave him a warm smile.

This section was just as the terminal had indicated, untouched by Slime Mold. There was barely a spore in sight.

However, when the two of them entered Zone X-13’s archive room, the scene before them dragged their moods straight into the abyss.

A brutal battle had taken place there.

Scanning the devastation, Night Ten remembered a thought he had before entering the shelter and suddenly spoke up. “Hey, there’s something I’ve been wondering...”

Yunyi’s gaze lingered on the scorch marks along the walls as she swallowed hard and asked, “What is it?”

“We didn’t see signs of battle on the way down, no matter how much Slime Mold there was. Not until this place...” Night Ten gestured at the bullet holes on the wall, voice low. “So... Did the Enlightenment Society only turn on the Pioneer crew after they got here?”

Yunyi froze, unsure why he would bring that up. “Maybe... Why?”

“It’s nothing... I just thought it would’ve happened earlier. I mean, didn’t Yi Hai flee before the crew even arrived?”

Muttering to himself, Night Ten raised his rifle again and carefully searched every archive rack, wary of any danger hiding in the room’s corners.

There probably wasn’t any Slime Mold left, yet the unease inside him only grew heavier.

As he passed shelf after shelf, he was about to reach the door to the next room, when he suddenly found a corpse behind an overturned desk.

The body was badly decomposed. It had slumped beside an air vent, so the smell hadn’t spread far. Night Ten only noticed it when he got close enough to catch the stench.

The person was still gripping a pistol.

From the bullet holes on the table and surrounding wall, he had clearly used the desk as cover during a firefight.

The ending was obvious. He was shot and killed, and whoever did it had stepped over both his body and the door he tried to defend.

“... He was killed.” Yunyi stepped beside him, her face pale as she stated the obvious.

But who did it?

Fighting the nausea from the stench, she crouched and searched his chest, finding a name tag beneath a crust of dried blood.

The moment her eyes landed on it, her expression froze. The flicker in her gaze was a mixture of shock and confusion.

“What is it?” Night Ten knelt beside her, looking at the name tag.

Though most of the text was obscured by blood, he could still make out just enough.

And the moment he recognized the words, the same stunned, dazed expression overtook his face.

[Yi Hai, Deputy Commander of the 1st Pioneer Expedition, Silver Wing Corporate Group Overseas Business Development Department]