This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 747: Sacrifice Offered for Faith

"Roar——!"

The deafening roar reverberated through the tunnels of Blood Mountain, as the blood-drenched Plague Champion walked forward with determined steps.

Nearby, four members of the Alpha Special Mobile Force stood prepared.

A meat grinder-like high-intensity battle had caused heavy losses on both sides. Nearly three thousand of the Blood Hoof Clan’s plague monks had died, and most of the Alphas who entered the tunnels of Blood Mountain had also perished, leaving only about four hundred.

Countless drones were destroyed, and the narrow tunnels were filled with metal debris and muddy corpses.

It was impossible for just four people to stop the assault of the Plague Champion, but no one retreated.

Their superiors had issued a command to fight to the death.

Even when they received the unidentified biological augmentations, they were already prepared for death.

The four exchanged glances, conducted a brief communication over the channel, and then took the initiative to attack.

Two assault rifles and two Gauss rifles were positioned at the end of the tunnel, firing bursts of alternating yellow and blue light.

The Plague Champion, seemingly surprised that these humans dared to fire from cover, emitted a pained roar and quickly morphed its right arm into the shape of a cannon, releasing a pale red smoke toward the Alpha’s position.

A dense cloud of spores burst open, smearing the faces of the four Alphas like exploding grenades, quickly burning through their gas masks. freewebnσvel.cøm

Fortunately, they had all received Xiaoyu’s biological enhancements, and their specially strengthened immune systems easily blocked the invasion of the Alpha protozoans.

However—

The trouble did not stop there.

The spreading smoke obscured their vision, and even activating the heat imaging in their tactical helmets, they could only see a blur of heat sources.

The footsteps shaking the tunnel were rapidly approaching. One Alpha immediately pulled out a solid hydrogen cell and threw it, followed by an airburst incendiary grenade in the general direction.

A dense wall of flames instantly rose up, forming a sea of fire that covered the entire tunnel exit.

Two Alphas fired suppressive shots toward the other side of the flames, while the other two quickly retreated, hoping to distance themselves from the Plague Champion.

However, the ineffectual attacks did not stop the creature’s advance. The three-meter-tall black figure, like a tank moving through the tunnel, rolled over the dense fire wall and charged straight at the four men.

Its left hand wielded a large shield, and its right was attached to a large mace-like sword, a stark contrast to the Alpha Special Mobile Force’s almost science-fiction level equipment.

Yet, in terms of technological content, it was not a bit inferior to that of the Alphas.

The Torch, although not completing the Perfect Life forms system, had still achieved breakthroughs on the existing basis—

Namely, consciousness governing the life process, not the life process governing consciousness.

These Plague Champions could select the needed genetic segments from their designed organs for customized expression, thus achieving the mimicry of weapons.

This was a singularity not even achieved in the Era of Prosperity’s "designed evolution!"

One could say that their existence was a crystallization of technology, an incredible miracle.

The two Alphas who kept firing barely felt a train slamming into them.

The shadow piercing through the flames was merely a flicker before it split them in half at the waist, with shattered organs scattering across the ground.

Unable to even scream, the two died instantly.

The Plague Champion, soaked in blood, let out a liberating howl, its heavily wounded body healing at a visible speed, and the newly grown flesh looked even more ferocious.

"Monster."

"Undoubtedly."

The two remaining Alphas watched fearfully but neither retreated.

According to the battlefield situation analysis system, they had calculated their survival chances at less than 1%. Trying to turn back would only hasten their death.

Since they were meant to die, they at least had to die with some significance.

Two Alphas looked at each other, simultaneously unlocking the self-destruct mechanism on their exoskeletons.

The moment their life signals vanished, the self-destruct mechanism would activate, exploding the exoskeleton’s batteries.

Though it might not kill that creature, it would give it some trouble.

Its regenerative capability was not limitless; damage beyond its healing threshold would kill it too.

Their fallen comrades had already shared this knowledge, and now, with their remaining breaths, they aimed to add a slightly better chance for their comrades to survive.

The battle was about to erupt!

Just as the Plague Champion was about to quickly execute these two, then move on to its next target, an intense fire unexpectedly pierced through the two Alphas, aiming straight for its face!

It instinctively raised its left arm to block, but the sizzling flame was quickly swallowed by the flesh-pink mycelium on the shield. Though the fire did not inflict fatal damage, it still momentarily halted its advance.

A look of surprise flashed across the Alpha’s faces as they turned around.

Behind them stood a warrior in an exoskeleton, holding a large-caliber shotgun in his hands.

"Move aside!"

Edge Rowing shouted, manually firing the "Dragon Flame" shotgun, spewing flames relentlessly at the creature holding the shield.

With continuing blasts of intense heat, the Plague Champion let out a pain-filled roar, pushing forward with its shield against the fiery onslaught.

At the same time, a Strength-type player stepped forward, facing the whooshing blow of the right arm, charging forward without flinching.

"Thud—!"

A dull sound echoed through the tunnel.

The player holding the shield sank on his knees, but that was all.

The Plague Champion, however, stared in stunned disbelief at the unscathed shield in front of it.

Its right arm, morphed into a biomass battle axe, could tear through armored steel, yet it couldn’t even scratch this object!

Clearly, it had no idea that this was structural material used in space stations.

Though it was slightly less effective against armor-piercing bullets, its ability to withstand high-speed impacts was exceptional.

After being struck, that player immediately dropped the shield, ducked low, and rushed to the Plague Champion, screaming as he thrust a needle tied to his belt into the monster’s thigh.

The Type B Nago strain had a significant inhibitory effect on the Type J Nago strains, not only stymieing the swallowing capabilities but also suppressing their reproduction.

The self-healing ability of the Church of Torch’s biological power armor was fueled by the Nago group, a finding by the Alliance Biological Research Institute after analyzing the body of "Gai En" last year.

Consequently, using this technology, the Alliance produced the "Type J Strain Inhibitor," specifically to limit the self-healing properties of the Torch’s biological power armors.

The duration of the inhibitor was expected to last at least three minutes during which the efficiency of the biological power armor’s repair could be reduced by more than 90%.

Until it completely metabolized the injected "toxin."

After the injection, the Plague Champion bellowed in agony, lifting its right leg violently, kicking the Strength-type player, who was holding the needle, sending him flying against a rock wall. He grunted dully, passing out, apparently disconnecting.

The Plague Champion, annoyed, ripped the needle from its right thigh, only to discover, in horror, that blood was uncontrollably leaking from the minuscule hole with no signs of healing.

Seeing the attack was effective, another player who entered the hole with Edge prepared an RPG rocket launcher, squatting on the ground, yelled as he unlocked it.

"RPG!!"

Smoke billowed from the launcher, hammering mercilessly against the shield, the exploding flames scattering wildly, blowing away chunks of stone and almost taking friendly troops with them.

Covering his head with his arms, Edge stepped back two steps, looking up with his shotgun in hand, only to see the Plague Champion, seemingly unfazed as if nothing had happened.

The shield attached to its left arm, however, was left with a vicious wound, yet the damaged area continued to heal at a visibly rapid pace.

"F*ck?! Why didn’t it work?!" The guy carrying the RPG was instantly shocked.

Edge was also stunned for a moment, but he quickly recovered and yelled at him.

"Right leg! The needle hit the right leg! Aim at the right side of the body!"

His knowledge level was average, he didn’t really understand what biological power armor was all about.

But by analogy to giving an injection, it seemed that only the area that was injected would feel numb.

Similarly, the recovery suppression would likely affect only the area that was injected.

"Damn!"

Suddenly coming to his senses, the player quickly reloaded the launcher with another missile and continued to aim at the staggering Plague Champion, pulling the trigger.

"RPG!!"

Another streak of white smoke shot out, this time hitting right beside the Plague Champion’s right leg.

The explosive shrapnel, like a raging storm, embedded itself into the right side of that huge body.

The Plague Champion let out a pained roar, its eyes filled with disbelief and panic as it watched blood pour from its wounded side.

Its recovery ability had failed!

And that was not all—

Its entire right side seemed to have lost sensation, its strength draining away at a visible rate.

Not giving it a moment to breathe, Edge, holding a Flame Dragon Shotgun, charged forward and emptied his magazine into the retreating beast.

With a series of loud bangs, that towering figure finally fell heavily to the ground, completely motionless.

Seeing the boss finally defeated, the players burst into excited cheers.

Looking at these reinforcements, two members of the Alpha had expressions of confusion on their faces.

Edge walked up to one of them and briefly explained the situation.

"Commander Edge of the Alliance Death Corps, just half an hour ago, the Torch Church launched a raid on almost all our frontlines, especially near the Weifu military base."

That Alpha looked at him and asked,

"So, why are you here?"

"Because we are needed here," Edge glanced at the fallen Plague Champion, grinned, and continued, "And right now, the enemy’s attention must be on the Weifu military base. It’s the perfect time to take down Blood Mountain! The Manager ordered us to capture the lair hidden deep within Blood Mountain at all costs!"

"Understood." The Alpha nodded, a white mist emerging from his gas mask, "We will support you with all our might."

Edge grinned and asked,

"I’ve already introduced myself, what about you? What’s your name? Where’s your captain?"

The man answered concisely.

"Alpha 1006, our captain is everywhere, no need to worry about it, just talk to me."

Edge was stunned for a second, then laughed and extended his fist.

"That name is too long... I’ll just call you Ah Liu."

The man nodded, bumped fists with Edge, and reloaded his weapon.

"Tell me your plan."

Edge: "We plan to attack directly at the main body of the lair. If we can take out the source of the plague, those mutants won’t be worth mentioning."

Ah Liu looked at him impassively.

"Did you bring a high-yield bomb?"

"No need for that stuff," Debt Giant Eye said, emerging from behind with twenty Eaters that resembled a meat mountain. He wore a joyful smile as he spoke, "They are enough."

These were the smallest few; any fatter and they wouldn’t have been able to squeeze in.

Somehow, despite Falling Feather’s substantial offspring knowing how to control their "figure," the ones he raised were like idiots, only knowing to gorge themselves and then turn themselves into balls. Apart from helping to move things around or mend a bridge, they were useless on the front battlefield.

But now things were different.

At last, there was a chance for them to be of use.

Upon seeing those offspring, Ah Liu immediately understood their intent and nodded.

"Understood, I’ll cover for you."

The two squads merged, reversing the earlier decline and once again launched an attack deep into the Blood Mountain.

Dressed in Biological Power Armor, there were fifty Plague Champions in total; the Alpha Special Mobile Force had already killed ten, leaving nearly forty.

These guys each had different abilities, just like the plague monks, with twisted forms and unexpectedly brutal battle tactics, chilling to the bone.

Yet, for the Alpha Special Mobile Force and the Death Corps, such a level of fear was merely a drizzle.

Especially the latter.

They were a bunch who even dared to face the Tide with the most primitive weapons, charging at hundreds of times their number in offspring and evolutionary bodies.

Now that their equipment had significantly improved, naturally, they had even less reason to frown.

The bloody skirmish continued all over the tunnels, with the intense stench of blood even overpowering the rot smell of spores.

Both sides had firm beliefs to defend and indisputable reasons not to back down.

For this reason, both sides also suffered heavy casualties.

Soon, the remaining forty Plague Champions were reduced to half.

And most of the remaining half were gasping for breath, their regenerative abilities and strength both pushed to their limits.

Standing in the "palace," Sodo’s face slowly showed a hint of panic; the earlier excitement and shouting were nowhere to be seen.

It could feel the life drain from its followers and could hear the cries of the Lord of Plagues.

The god it worshipped was calling out to it, urging it to stop those rude intruders at all costs.

Yet those rude intruders seemed endless, constantly having people fall only to be replaced by others from behind. Even the very guard of the Beast King couldn’t withstand the continuous torment.

Its plump body trembling, it rattled its toad-like jowls, muttering a grunt.

"Respected Lord of Plagues... Your servant cannot withstand them with this frail body. Please grant me a stronger body, I will clean them up for you."

It muttered under its breath, its ugly face full of piety, but no one responded to its prayers.

Not just the Lair hidden deep in the pit, even the "Beast King" who controlled everything was on edge, stunned by the current situation.

Especially the Beast King.

He had assumed that with the threat to the military base, the Allied forces would at least redistribute the troop strength from various positions for reinforcement. Yet, they still did not plan to give up the position at Blood Mountain and the nearly entrapped Alpha Special Mobile Force.

The reinforcements for this mountain peak amounted to at least 3,000 men, most of them Awakeners.

Their fearless methods of fighting evoked a hint of fear even in those pain-nullified plague monks.

He hadn’t wanted to intervene personally.

But if he didn’t deal with these troublesome guys, he feared he would not have a chance to meet that Manager again.

With a sickly green glow in his eyes, the Beast King stared at the soldiers in front of him and issued a commanding growl through the mouth of a Plague Champion.

"Stand aside."

The voice carried a mental pressure, like that of a higher being on the food chain suppressing those below.

However, what stunned him even more happened next, those people, after hearing his voice, far from showing fear, excitement lit up in their eyes instead.

"Fuck, this thing can talk!"

"MMP! This has got to be a real boss, right?"

Cocking his shotgun, the Outlaw Maniac howled in excitement.

"Brothers, let’s group up!"

His call was met with a babel of excited shouts.

"Woo Woo Woo!"

"????"

Watching this group suddenly become euphoric, Beast King stood there, dumbfounded.

It wasn’t until a grenade exploded in front of him that he, with a face full of rage, roared and charged at the noisy crowd.

His right arm, like a battle axe, swept across and sent the men and their shields flying.

Yet unexpectedly, instead of shrinking from his brutality, their excitement grew.

Those eyes, burning with a combatant’s desire, seemed to be fixated on some delicious prey.

It was this arrogant disrespect that made the fire in his chest burn even wilder.

Were these weak human things all masochists?!

With an unprecedented rage burning in his chest, Beast King tried to steady his breathing, only to find his emotions uncontrollably erupting.

The brutal force flowed through his veins, not governed by his consciousness.

It was a feeling akin to craving food, similarly, an instinct of life.

Previously, he could control his emotions and make the calmest decisions solely because, being in the Holy Land, he didn’t possess a physical body in the Mortal World.

But having been separated from the physical world for so long, he had long forgotten how to restrain his instincts.

"Roar—!"

Thoroughly infuriated, he, like a runaway horse, charged at the ants blocking his path.

And seeing his agitated and irritable demeanor, those players only thought the boss acted authentically.

Especially the one who had been first thrown off.

Seeing him back online, coughing up blood while excitedly shouting,

"Brothers, put in some more effort!"

"This BOSS is pissed!"

...

On the other hand, in the depths of the underground rock formation of Blood Mountain.

Ah Liu, leading Edge Shoveling and Debt Giant Eye, and their group continued to advance.

The remnants of the Alpha Special Mobile Force were mostly here.

Regrettably, what was originally a squad of over a thousand now only had 112 members left.

As for Edge Shoveling, aside from a dozen brothers, there were Debt Giant Eye’s twenty uniquely-shaped "babies."

Currently, the path they were on was mapped out by sacrificing nearly a thousand drones and over a hundred members of the Alpha Special Mobile Task Force.

Tracking the bodies of the deceased members of the 13th Squadron, they had roughly located the position of the lair.

Most of the plague monks of the Blood Hoof Clan were restrained near the palace of the prophet named Sodo.

Although this place should have been heavily guarded, there were surprisingly few defensive forces, only a few dozen plague monks.

Edge Shoveling figured there must have been a problem with the command system of the Blood Hoof Clan; otherwise, those guys had clearly deployed a meticulous plan and wouldn’t have had such a flaw at a critical location.

For instance—

The master of the plague needed to rely either on the "Beast King" or the "Prophet" to communicate with his subordinates, as those plague monks were not his genuine subsidiary entities.

If both the Beast King and the Prophet were too preoccupied, it could very likely cause a blockade in the command system, especially since their means of communication were already primitive.

In fact, let alone the mutants, their own command system often did not always work well in the complex tunnel terrain, with the signal frequently cutting in and out.

Even without considering the electromagnetic pulse traps hidden in the tunnels by Torch, the solid rocks themselves were natural barriers.

Edge Shoveling didn’t know by what means Alpha maintained the organization, but they indeed had to rely on an "offline scheduled contact" plugin to transmit some important information.

"Is there any issue?"

Seeing the commander of the Death Corps constantly glancing at himself, Ah Liu tossed him an emotionless look to inquire.

Seeing that he had caught his gaze, Edge Shoveling didn’t hide anything and simply went ahead and asked.

"No, I’m just somewhat curious... how do you all communicate with each other?"

Ah Liu: "It’s quite simple, our thoughts are shared, each person is a communication node."

Hearing this, Debt Giant Eye couldn’t help but show a strange expression on his face and blurted out a question.

"What if someone accidentally thinks about something weird?"

Perhaps because this wasn’t a secret at all, Ah Liu didn’t hide anything and said succinctly.

"For us, such concerns do not exist. We have removed parts of the tissue in our cerebral cortex; even necessary thought processes are based on the whole of the Alpha Special Mobile Force."

Debt Giant Eye: "Removed... But why go to such lengths?"

"Why..." Ah Liu pondered for a moment, "I’m not clear on what the higher-ups are thinking. Perhaps it’s to elevate combat power, perhaps it’s to eliminate other hazards, but even setting aside these reasons... don’t you think it’s convenient?"

Debt Giant Eye stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Convenient?"

Ah Liu nodded briefly and said.

"Even from an individual’s perspective, senseless musings only add unnecessary suffering. Whether our sacrifices are meaningful, what we will gain after victory, and why one can only eat up to four bowls of rice per meal... Even if we got answers, it wouldn’t change anything. Thus, I think it makes sense to save that computational capacity, at least we can enjoy the remaining time in our plans without concerns."

He paused then continued.

"About this, I must thank you. Our lives were supposed to end half an hour ago, but now it seems we might even make it to tomorrow’s breakfast."

Watching this stiff guy, Edge Shoveling felt a strange sympathy arise inside him and said with a slight movement in his throat.

"...When we get back, I’ll treat you, eat as many bowls as you want."

Ah Liu nodded and replied.

"I appreciate your kindness, but it’s not a matter of money. However, we are quite looking forward to what new dishes the cafeteria will have tomorrow."

Looking at this rigid guy, Edge Shoveling made a helpless gesture.

"Then let’s eat together, okay?"

He could order several dishes, so that these guys always sticking to one dish could change their taste.

Ah Liu pondered briefly and nodded.

"No problem."

Their superior didn’t say they couldn’t dine with allies; it’s just that most people found them dull and preferred not to be close to them.

The target was getting closer and the stench of decay in the air was growing stronger.

Everyone was now fully alert, no longer speaking a word.

At that moment, a spacious underground space came into everyone’s view.

In the center of that underground space was a deep pit as wide as a white jade rice measure.

Beside the pit were various wooden and iron devices, decorating the entire cave into a mysterious-looking altar.

Apart from the altar, there was also a group of plague monks, each with three heads and six arms, numbering over a hundred.

Their ugliness was indescribable, even the tentacled, multilegged beasts looked cuter in comparison.

Upon seeing the uninvited guests break in, the group of plague monks immediately howled and charged, trying to tear the intruders apart.

However, such numbers were no different from cannon fodder to the assembled Alphas.

They had already become accustomed to these monsters’ unique way of fighting and their nearly perverse self-healing abilities, easily pinning these hundred or so lackeys in the tunnels with alternating gunfire from a safe distance.

The group came to the edge of the deep pit, where dark red mist seemed to waft out, just standing on the edge and looking down, one could feel the threat of death.

The surrounding Alpha protozoans were restless, unable to erode these guys.

A call that seemed like the howl of a beast but also a plea for mercy came mysteriously.

Edge Shoveling gave Debt Giant Eye a look, signaling it was time for him to act.

Although fully aware of the mission and unable to find any fault with the compensation offered by the Manager, pushing his own nurtured children down was still somewhat unbearable for Big Eyes.

After all, he was not truly Firstborn.

Looking at the chubby little fellows with bulging bellies, he rambled on.

"Little Grey, and Little Tiny Grey, Little Tiny Tiny Grey... don’t blame daddy after you go down, daddy is also compelled, it’s all the Manager’s doing..."

Hearing his incessant muttering, Edge Shoveling couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

If this damn thing was really so reluctant, why accept this task of selling his wife?

No one forced him.

There were plenty of Eaters in Qingquan City, and though not many were fattened up like these, it wouldn’t have been a big deal to prepare more.

Debt Giant Eye hadn’t even finished speaking when those twenty offspring seemed unable to listen any longer. They yelped as if to say goodbye, then jumped into the pit on their own accord.

They were just "cells" on Xiaoyu’s body, having received orders from Xiaoyu before entering the cave, they didn’t need the "caretaker’s" command to carry out the task until the end.

Yet, seeing this, Debt Giant Eye looked deeply shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"Fuck?! Is it so real?"

He didn’t even have time to properly say goodbye to his children!

Edge Shoveling said, "They are merely offshoots with no self-consciousness, what did you expect?"

The tumble drum hair washer also couldn’t help but join the teasing.

"Exactly! You think you can get a wife for 100 Silver? What were you thinking?"

"Darn it!"

Ignoring the quarrelsome bunch, Ah Liu walked to the edge of the pit and looked down.

"Is this enough?"

Patting Debt Giant Eye’s shoulder, the tumble drum hair washer smiled and said,

"It should be! Our job here is done; the rest is up to Xiaoyu. If not, we can still throw this guy down, he also carries Xiaoyu’s seeds."

Big Eyes: "%￥#@!"

Ah Liu nodded, looking toward the deep pit but slightly furrowing his brows.

His helmet’s indicator showed that the concentration of spores in the surroundings was rapidly changing.

Clearly, those offspring entities were indeed a poison to the Lair named Alpha beneath his feet.

However, toxicity is relative; "Alpha" and the Lair in Spring City were not the same type.

The latter shared most of its organic matter with its children, while this thing hoarded most of the organic matter within itself.

The ways each explored the path of evolution were starkly different.

If the Lair in Spring City was a king who had conferred titles on countless knights and lords, then this Lair was akin to a wizard living in an ivory tower.

It was so stingy that it shared none of its own material, instead expanding its own territory with the power of its followers.

"...The concentration of Alpha protozoans is decreasing, the growth rate of spores is rising."

"Missile launch stopped, aggressiveness weakened... Is it assessing that the danger has been eliminated, or is it simply that it has no energy left?"

"If it were the latter, the spore concentration should be decreasing as well."

"’Sure victory’?"

"Unpleasant."

"If it’s a conclusion drawn from the amount of offspring entities already deployed... Twenty entities might not be enough to completely devour this thing. We also can’t rule out other possibilities; perhaps the offspring entities alone aren’t sufficient, and something else is needed."

"What’s the possibility assessment of mobilizing more offspring entities from the rear?"

"Zero, it will take at least an hour to send the message out, and according to the information provided by our allies, the rear is in an emergency situation, possibly unable to support us."

"If we let ’Alpha’ adapt to ’Xiaoyu’s’ devouring, or take its genetic fragments for targeted evolution, then this attack method might lose its deterrent presence."

In just a few breaths’ time, the group communicated through radio waves.

And regarding what needed to be done next, they had already reached a unanimous conclusion.

The attack was effective.

But it was not enough.

Glancing at several allies who were jokingly scuffling, Ah Liu then looked towards Edge Shoveling and suddenly, without any forewarning, spoke.

"Tomorrow, I might have to cancel."

Edge Shoveling was stunned, and Big Eyes, who was wrestling with a rolling drum hair washing machine, also froze.

Before the troop of players could come to their senses, Ah Liu had already removed her exoskeleton, gas mask, and helmet.

Only then did Edge Shoveling realize that the individual was actually a long-haired girl.

Her voice had not given it away...

It was not just Ah Liu; everyone synchronized their movements, leaving their weapons and armor behind.

Although the exoskeleton’s battery could become the last bullet, what they needed to do was not to destroy the Lair, and such minor damage was utterly ineffective against this level of organism—only strategic-level bombardment could completely destroy it.

Their embedded Xiaoyu was the final bullet.

Amid countless injuries and healings, those little fellows had become a part of their bodies and had grown robust.

Although they could feel that the creature did not really like them, just like the other survivors in the military base.

But that wasn’t important.

No one showed even a moment’s hesitation; they calmly walked towards the abyss whose bottom could not be seen and then they leapt down...

---

(Happy Labor Day! Considering I’m working overtime on a holiday, brothers, please cast a monthly vote! It’s double at the beginning of the month, I implore you! T.T)

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