First Battle of the Jungle and Burning Corps!

"Roaaar—!" A long roar pierced the sky above the jungle. Clad in steel armor, Scavenger leapt down from the half-collapsed building, throwing up plumes of dust several meters high before burrowing into the dense canopy like an artillery shell. The earth itself seemed to tremble! He had no need for mechanical power; the muscles rippling beneath his dark-green scales were the ultimate engine! And the jungle was his domain! The overwhelming presence of an apex mutant struck instinctive terror into the Ironback Apes hanging from the branches. Especially when flashing, razor-sharp talons whistled through the air, claiming several lives in mere seconds, the terrified apes scattered in every direction. Lying on his stomach in the upper stories, Ye Shi stared in utter shock. "Holy crap! A hidden skill?!" Fang Chang touched the bridge of his nose and muttered, "A war cry carrying a fear debuff? Super effective against lower-tier mutants?" It was natural suppression exerted by the top of the food chain over those beneath it. Nearly all mutant species could serve as food for a Deathclaw, so feeling instinctual dread made complete sense. As for whether it worked on humans... That depended on how many there were and what gear they carried. Jieyan exclaimed, "Badass!" Lao Bai chambered a round in his light machine gun, grinning broadly. "Let's go. Don't let Scavenger farm all the mobs by himself. Ye Shi, hold this position and provide cover. The rest of you, follow me!" Last time he came here, he had carried only a rifle with five magazines. This time, his exoskeleton was loaded down with a whopping eight hundred rounds of ammunition! He could finally shoot to his heart's content! The players raised their weapons with excited shouts. "Awoo!" Right on Scavenger's heels came the Jungle Corps, led by Midnight Chicken Slayer. Ten KV-1s slammed down in unison onto the cracked concrete, charging toward the dense woods ahead. Nine light machine guns unleashed their firepower together, sweeping a dense storm of lead into the forest. Holding a hand axe in one hand, Midnight Chicken Slayer cleaved an ape lunging at him clean in two. He raised his shotgun with the other and pulled the trigger with a thunderous blast, instantly shredding another ape's chest into a cloud of blood and splattering gore everywhere. Having farmed at least five levels in the forests around Yuanxi Town, no one knew how to wage war in woodland terrain better than the bruisers of the Jungle Corps. Lined up side by side, the ten heavy KV-1s carved a bloody path straight through the trees like a massive steel battleaxe. Close behind, the Burning Corps surged forward in support. The previous mortar bombardment had already left the Ironback Apes trembling in terror. Without the psychic interrupter, they would have abandoned their nest and scattered long ago. Now, the summons resonating deep within their minds grew increasingly intense. Pair after pair of eyes flushed blood-red. As if driven mad, the once-fleeing apes rallied their broken formation and charged in wave after wave. Arrows and javelins rained down upon the players, interspersed with Molotov cocktails and crude grenades. Beyond ranged attacks, several Ironback Apes brandishing short blades, steel rebar, and spiked maces threw caution to the wind, throwing themselves at the ten Jungle Corps bruisers and furiously hacking and beating at the KV-1 armor. However... They had clearly picked the wrong opponents. Among the New Alliance's several corps, Midnight Chicken Slayer's Jungle Corps was the only one composed entirely of Strength-type bruisers. Furthermore, every single player standing here was a battle-hardened veteran. How could they possibly be brought down by such crude tactics? Trapped in close combat, the bruisers didn't panic in the slightest, drawing their hand axes one after another. In that moment, the lunging beasts finally learned firsthand just what a horrifying nightmare a Strength-type player combined with an exoskeleton truly was in hand-to-hand combat! The swinging axe blades shredded like meat grinders, mowing down the apes that closed in within seconds! The ground was instantly paved with minced flesh and monkey fur! "These monkeys are tougher than expected." Standing behind Lao Bai, Fang Chang calmly swapped magazines and fired his small-caliber submachine gun to support the friendly frontline locked in melee. Still... Seeing how thrilled they were, his help felt almost superfluous. Lao Bai glanced up at the leaf-canopied sky and joked, "Let Mosquito have a go. Otherwise that guy will complain we never gave him a chance." "Hehe, leave it to me!" Standing in the front rank, Jieyan excitedly pulled a soda-can-sized cardboard cylinder from the front plate of his KV-1 exoskeleton, yanked the pull ring, and hurled it forward. The cylinder landed amidst the pack of apes. Sparks flared as it rapidly billowed thick red smoke. The monkeys clearly didn't realize what it was, screeching and hooting while continuing to loose arrows and pitch Molotovs at the players. Right then, a piercing shriek echoed from the sky. "Hahaha—fries! Your Grandpa Mosquito is here!" His mouth full of rushing wind, Mosquito gleefully squeezed the trigger on his flight stick. Before the apes could react, a storm of lead plummeted from above. Amidst the whistling rounds slicing through the canopy, the ape archers hiding among the branches suffered devastating casualties, falling out of the trees like dumplings into boiling broth. *Rat-tat-tat-tat—!* Watching the tongue of flame spitting from the 7mm barrel, Mosquito clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. This pea-shooter really packed too little punch! It would be so much better if he swapped it for a 20mm autocannon! Releasing the trigger, he aligned the reticle etched into his windshield with the cloud of red smoke, flipped off the safety, and slammed the bomb-release switch. One hundred meters! Two half-meter-long metal canisters suspended beneath the wings detached from the fuselage. The moment the weight shed, Mosquito hauled back hard on the stick. The aircraft screamed over the treetops. The delayed fuses ignited the moment the canisters grazed the canopy, detonating into expanding bursts of burgundy flame. Streaks of thick smoke cascaded downward, and a torrential curtain of sparks plunged into the forest, unfurling a raging sea of fire in an instant. Scalding smoke and thermal currents surged, visibly warping the air. The apes that had just been torn apart by machine-gun fire were swallowed whole by the inferno. Any Ironback Ape touched by the burning gel writhed desperately, letting out blood-curdling shrieks amidst the blaze, but their struggles proved completely futile. The flames grew hotter and fiercer. In moments, the apes were engulfed entirely, collapsing into charred cinders on the forest floor. Standing by the window and witnessing this scene, Tus's eyes filled with sheer terror. Every hair on his body stood on end as he trembled uncontrollably. An airplane?! Now he was certain. These people had come from the northern suburbs. "Boss, what do we do..." Kunke asked, shivering as he looked at his leader. These enemies were far too fierce. Their rabble clearly stood no chance against them! Even downing berserk pills wouldn't help. Tus knew this full well. He held no illusions about the combat capability of his junkie subordinates—he wasn't much of a prize fighter himself, after all. However... If he had to give up all the wealth in his hands, he would rather die! Tus gritted his teeth, desperation driving him over the edge. "Bring that blue-jacket named Sun Zewen to me!" Receiving the order, Kunke nodded frantically and scrambled out the door on hands and knees. Moments later, he dragged Tus's target into the room. "Boss, I brought him." The old man's hair and clothes were in disarray. His weathered, wrinkled face was pale with lingering shock as he looked at the thugs before him in trembling fright. Tus glared at Kunke and barked, "Get over to the holding cells and keep watch! Don't let those blue-jackets break through!" "Yes, sir! Yes, sir!" Kunke didn't dare linger for a second. Shoving the old man forward, he nodded repeatedly and scurried back outside. As the door shut, Tus grabbed the old man by the collar, roughly hauling him up until their faces almost touched, spittle flying as he roared, "I don't care what method you use, tune the frequency of that field so it works on human brains too! Right now! Immediately! Move!" Clutched by the collar, Sun Zewen's eyes went wide, bulging so hard they looked ready to pop from their sockets. "Are you out of your mind?! You're human too!" Tus wasted no more breath. He drew his revolver, pressed the barrel against the old man's temple, and growled each syllable with murderous intent. "Do as I say, or I'll put a hole through your skull right this second!" The old man's Adam's apple bobbed, his pupils dilated with terror. Faced with the threat of immediate death, he finally gave a trembling nod, his voice thick with despair. "I'll... I'll do it..." "Take me to the control room." ... With the raging blaze reflected in his pupils, Lao Bai's face gradually took on a look of surprise. "Fuel thickened with aluminum soap... That guy is getting closer and closer to a life sentence." Jieyan stared blankly, only managing two words: "Holy crap..." Just then, Mosquito's voice crackled through the communications channel. Even with the wind roaring in his mouth, everyone could hear the smug pride in his tone. "Brothers, I'll leave the rest to you... By the way, I deliberately offset thirty meters to the south. I didn't hit any friendlies, did I?" Fang Chang: "Clean hit. Beautiful work!" Mosquito: "Hehe, thanks for the compliment! I'm peeling off... Dammit, I haven't actually landed this thing before. Hope nothing goes sideways." The Ox and Horse Squad: "..." The drone of the propeller gradually faded into the distance. The battle was over. The Ironback Apes in the vicinity had likely been wiped out to the last beast; no reinforcements were charging forward. Midnight Chicken Slayer shook the blood from his axe, looked across at the sea of flames ahead, and turned toward the allied players walking up. "Is it fine to leave that burning?" Kuang Feng studied the terrain ahead, nodded, and then shook his head. "Don't worry. The terrain here is broken up, it's damp enough, and there's no wind. It'll burn through a patch, but it won't spread too far." Midnight Chicken Slayer nodded without another word. Beside them, Scavenger wiped the blood off his steel claws, gazing up at the giant dome structure ahead. His amber eyes burned with excitement. Those monkeys were just too weak—cutting them down felt like mowing grass. He hoped there would be an opponent worth fighting inside! The group prepared to move forward. Right then, Midnight Chicken Slayer suddenly frowned, clutching his forehead as he took half a step back. Seeing that something was off, Scavenger asked, "Bro, what's wrong?" "Got dazed for a second. Probably server lag... Nothing serious," Midnight Chicken Slayer muttered, shaking his head. "Or is it just me? Sounds like someone's singing in my head." "No, I hear it too. But it's not singing—it sounds like electrical interference... This is definitely more than simple server lag." Lao Bai frowned as well, glancing at the rest of the Jungle Corps. Every one of them looked dazed and unfocused. "I'm mostly fine... A mild sense of discomfort, but not enough to daze me." Fang Chang rubbed between his eyebrows, suddenly realizing something, and snapped his gaze toward Kuang Feng. The latter had clearly noticed it as well, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I don't feel a thing... Could it be tied to the Intelligence stat?" Strength-types were naturally deficient in Intelligence, starting with a base of 3 points and usually reaching only 5 upon awakening—the baseline of an average adult. Meanwhile, Agility, Perception, and Constitution builds usually started with 5 points in Intelligence, rarely 4, and generally reached around 7 after awakening. Kuang Feng was currently the highest-leveled Intelligence-type player on the server, with an Intelligence stat well above 20. According to the game's mechanics, his character's neural activity was equivalent to four times that of an ordinary adult. Analyzing it rationally... Could this be some kind of psychic shock debuff whose damage was checked against the Intelligence stat? Scavenger looked completely baffled. "What on earth are you guys talking about? What daze... Why don't I feel anything?" Fang Chang and Kuang Feng exchanged glances. "Scavenger has no reaction, so this thing probably targets specific species... Infrasound? Electromagnetic waves? Or... something else." Fang Chang added, "Did they change the target to humans? No wonder the monkeys stopped retreating." "Yeah... but human minds are clearly far more complex than monkeys'. Controlling people won't be that simple." Kuang Feng gently pinched the bridge of his nose. "Still, I'm curious. Doesn't this affect the marauders inside the building too?" Fang Chang said, "Hard to say. To sum it up, the enemy possesses some kind of area-of-effect skill that inflicts a mental disruption debuff on specific life forms within the target zone—" "Stop summarizing!" Midnight Chicken Slayer grunted in irritation, burying his axe deep into a tree trunk. He turned back toward the Jungle Corps players. "Brothers, let's smash them! Make that damn noise stop!" "Kill!" The bruisers clad in KV-1 exoskeletons brandished their axes in unison, following Midnight Chicken Slayer's lead as they charged murderously toward the ecological park ahead. Watching the jungle bruisers rush the dome, the Ox and Horse Squad were left slightly stunned. Talk about reckless. Fang Chang turned to Lao Bai. "We'd better catch up... Lao Bai, do you want to fall back for now?" Lao Bai shook his head. "No need. Just a minor headache, nothing I can't handle." Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes nervously took half a step aside. "Holy crap, don't raise death flags like that, you're scaring me." Lao Bai grinned, resting his light machine gun across his shoulder. "Scared of what? Just shoot everything that moves!" "Awoooo!" Completely unaffected by the debuff, Scavenger let out an excited howl, sprinting after the Jungle Corps for fear that if he arrived late, there wouldn't even be scraps left to scavenge. As it turned out, no death flags came to pass. A gang of marauders did indeed inhabit the ecological park, but at this moment they had completely lost their minds. Their eyes were blood-red, slaughtering anyone they saw. Friend or foe alike! A brutal close-quarters melee erupted. Bullets zipped through hallways and stairwells. Clearing buildings wasn't the Jungle Corps' forte, but the front plates of the KV-1 exoskeletons were thick enough. The marauders mostly used crude lead bullets. While deadly against unarmored targets, they were useless against welded steel plates. Seeing that calls for surrender went unheeded, Midnight Chicken Slayer showed no mercy, decisively ordering his squad to annihilate all marauders. Scavenger moved even faster, his steel claws flashing like lightning, carving a trail of blood and severed limbs through the narrow corridors. From the first floor up to the second, gore and butchered limbs carpeted the ground in an intensely gruesome spectacle. Armed with submachine guns, Fang Chang, Kuang Feng, and their group didn't follow Scavenger upstairs, heading instead deep into the ground floor of the park. According to the map, this was the facility's exhibition area, but the transparent enclosures no longer held animals—they were pens for the marauders' slaves. Inside the largest cage, rows of worktables were laid out, with scores of people collapsed haphazardly across the floor. From their emaciated frames and tattered rags, their identity was plain to see. The tables beside them were covered in jars, bottles, and pill-packaging tools. Evidently, right before the players stormed the complex, these slaves had been toiling away under the watchful eyes of the marauders, grinding out pills at their workbenches. "Damn, they even turned a prison cell into cubicles." Talk about inhumane! Jieyan clicked his tongue and prepared to step forward. Just then, a marauder hiding in the shadows charged out like a madman, clutching a pipe rifle. "Aaargh! Die!" The man was missing an eye, while his remaining pupil was injected with deep crimson, thrashing about as if possessed. Fang Chang smoothly activated bullet time. The instant the man exposed himself, Fang Chang whipped his barrel around and squeezed the trigger. *Bang-bang-bang—!* The marauder was riddled with holes on the spot. Spent casings clattered noisily against the floor. Fang Chang lowered his smoking barrel, patted Jieyan's arm, and walked up to the cage entrance. Lifting the drop-latch, he pushed open the heavy iron gate. A putrid, rancid stench washed over them. This place had no ventilation, received no sunlight, and had clearly never been cleaned. It reeked like a cesspool. It was hard to imagine what kind of quality pills could possibly come out of such an environment. Just then, a slave whose face was covered in deep wrinkles weakly lifted his eyelids. Spotting Fang Chang standing at the threshold, he struggled to reach out a hand. "Help..." "Please, help us..." He had seen the blue coat on Fang Chang and recognized what it meant. Fang Chang roughly understood what the old man lying on the floor was pleading, but he did not lower his guard. Staring down at him, he asked in clumsy Human Alliance language, "Where are the marauders?" The old man either couldn't understand, or his mind was simply too foggy to register the words. He merely continued to mutter incessantly, "Quick... make them stop..." Stop? Fang Chang frowned, feeling the dull ache between his eyebrows throbbing more noticeably. Yet right at that moment, the mental pressure bearing down on his mind abruptly vanished, like dark clouds scattered by a sudden gust of wind, leaving no trace behind. The old man pleading before him suddenly let his raised arm fall limp to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness. "What just happened?" Standing outside the cell, Lao Bai looked around in bewilderment. Just a moment ago, he had felt as though his head was about to burst, but the sensation had vanished in the blink of an eye. The debuff was gone? Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes and Jieyan looked equally lost. "No idea..." Right then, the facility's PA system crackled to life overhead. A raspy voice and an excited shout instantly gave away Scavenger's identity. "Brothers! You guys all right?!" "The boss is pinned down!" "If your heads still hurt, just say the word and I'll rip his head clean off!" ... Outside Changjiu Farm, on a roughly cleared stretch of open ground, a wooden glider slowly lost altitude as it approached the runway. The landing gear bounced violently against the ground several times, nearly flipping the craft over, but it eventually shuddered to a halt. The most astonished onlookers were undoubtedly Mosquito's lackeys. Duo Ming's eyes went wide. "Holy crap? This thing actually landed?!" Zhui Hun and Sha Shen looked equally awestruck. "Sweet mother of mercy!" "Badass!" Quan Jia fell silent for a long time before letting out a soft sigh of wonder. "It's seriously a miracle this thing didn't shake itself to pieces." He had designed the motor and battery pack, true enough, but if he recalled correctly... his actual specialty was building quadcopter drones. Getting it into the air was one thing. He had genuinely never expected Mosquito to actually fly this rickety contraption all the way back. Climbing out of the open-air cockpit with his hair blown into a bird's nest, Mosquito grabbed his underlings in an ecstatic embrace, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hahahaha!" "I did it! I made it back alive!" That was way too thrilling! The landing had been even more heart-pounding than dropping the payload. Especially the moment the wheels hit the ground; the plane had shuddered like it was having a seizure. He had legitimately thought he was about to spend the next three days spectating on the forums again. Standing not far away among the onlookers, Chu Guang wore an equally surprised expression. Getting airborne wasn't that big a deal. Bringing it back down safely, however, proved the guy was truly something else. "...Turns out the meta for Agility-types is flying planes." Chu Guang pondered for a moment, deciding it was only right to encourage brother Mosquito. Tapping his VM, he composed an achievement notice and sent it over. [Achievement Unlocked: First Soar!] [Requirement: First successful takeoff and safe landing!] Taking off didn't count on its own. Touching down in one piece was what made it a complete flight. Receiving his achievement reward, Mosquito danced with unbridled joy. Achievements in the game functioned like medals; they could be pinned and highlighted on the forums. In other words, pure bragging rights. Flying back successfully actually unlocked an achievement?! What an unexpected bonus! "Holy cow! There's an achievement?!" Duo Ming exclaimed in shock beside him. "Damn! Even this unlocks an achievement?!" Zhui Hun pleaded, "Good brother! Let me take it for a spin too!" Mosquito instantly shielded his aircraft with his arms. "Piss off, piss off! Do you have any idea how many silver coins it cost to build this thing?! Wait till I throw together a stripped-down trainer version for you guys to practice on first!" Quan Jia grumbled, "Crap, do you have to be so stingy?!" Duo Ming chimed in, "Yeah! We built at least half of this plane!" No matter what his disciples argued, Mosquito refused to let them touch the controls. Still, stingy though he was, Mosquito ultimately did the decent thing, promising to supply materials and craft two trainer planes costing under 1,000 silver coins for them to mess around with. Watching the rowdy young players, Chu Guang smiled warmly. A free achievement was all it took to make them this happy. They really were so easy to please. "Master!" Xiao Qi's voice came through the comm channel. Chu Guang pulled his gaze back from the makeshift airfield and tapped the side of his helmet. "What is it?" "Your players have successfully secured Qingquan City Third Ecological Protection Park." Chu Guang nodded. "Good work." He wasn't surprised in the slightest by the players' efficiency. After all, these were the server's Tier 0 and Tier 1 elites. Not only did they boast formidable individual combat strength and extensive battlefield experience, but their coordination was seamless. A mere pack of monkeys wasn't enough to give them a headache. Xiao Qi continued, "There's more, there's more! According to intel sent back by your players, the ecological park wasn't an abandoned ruin. A hidden marauder outpost was nested inside, garrisoned by roughly fifty marauders. The local marauders appear to have used some technical method to control the Ironback Apes around the park, utilizing them to harvest brain mushrooms for pharmaceutical manufacturing—" "They have technology like that?!" A look of surprise crossed Chu Guang's face. Of course, what surprised him even more was that these marauders had used such technology just to gather mushrooms. "Yes. In addition, your players rescued 117 slaves from the marauders' hands, most of whom were forced into hard labor producing drugs... Several among them are shelter residents." Shelter residents? Realizing the gravity of the situation, Chu Guang's expression instantly turned solemn. "Tell the Burning Corps and Jungle Corps to hold their positions, treat the rescued slaves, and keep a tight watch on the marauder prisoners." "Also, call Yin Fang and Heya for me. Have them meet me at the park's north gate." Xiao Qi answered with cheerful enthusiasm, "Understood, Master!"