The Former Site of Singularity City

Thanks to the collapse of the mutant forces' frontline, the vehicle crew led by Brother Mole arrived at the rendezvous point ahead of schedule. After waiting briefly at an intersection, two Chimera armored vehicles rolled toward them from a nearby block, one behind the other. A player popped out of the turret and shouted in Mole's direction: "This is Chimera-2. We ran into a retreating squad of mutants on the way and got delayed a bit." There was no need to ask about the one behind it; naturally, it was Chimera-4. Brother Mole nodded and shouted back at the two armored vehicles: "Hurry up and fall in! Don't keep our allies waiting too long!" With that, he tapped the turret and spoke to the driver seated inside: "Move out." The engine roared to life. Chimera-1, which had been parked in the middle of the street, began advancing forward, leading the two trailing armored vehicles into the sector that the bomber formation had just plowed over. This area was already an electronic jamming zone; even at fairly close range, the communication channels were still choked with heavy static. So far, the brothers of the Burning Corps still hadn't dismantled the jamming base station, which meant they were likely in serious trouble. A few distant explosions and gunshots echoed through the dense fog, making Brother Mole, who had his head poking out of the turret, furrow his brow. Visibility here was far too low. "Dayan! Dismount and get to work!" "Okey-dokey!" Several brothers from the Death Corps jumped out from the back of the armored vehicle. It was the same for the two vehicles behind them. Aside from the player-radios remaining aboard, the armored grenadiers clad in exoskeletons filed out, grabbing their gear and fanning out around the armored vehicles on alert. Leading the Death Corps brothers ahead of the convoy, In Debt God's gaze scanned both sides of the street before finally coming to rest on an abandoned truck. From its angular shape and urban camouflage paint, it was easy to tell that this transport vehicle had once belonged to the regular military of the Human Alliance. However, the emblem printed on the door wasn't that of the Human Alliance, but the crest of Singularity City. Perhaps before bearing the crest of Singularity City, it had also carried the logo of the Post-War Reconstruction Committee... but none of that mattered anymore. Historical relics like this littered the streets everywhere. Whoever had once owned it, it had been abandoned here for quite a few years. Not far behind the truck stood a checkpoint constructed from rows of sandbag walls. Behind the checkpoint, at first glance, things didn't seem any different from the surrounding urban area, but a closer look revealed some unusual signs. For instance, certain buildings were clearly office towers by outward appearance, yet metal drying racks jutted out beneath their windows, hanging tattered clothes and bedsheets. Domestic garbage was scattered across the ground, unburned coal was piled inside paint buckets, and some storefronts along the street still displayed slogans thick with the flavor of a bygone era— Inspiring lines such as [The Harsh Winter Shall Pass], [The World Belongs to Us], [Peace, Not War], and [Rely on Ourselves, Not the Reconstruction Committee]. In Debt God quickly recalled information from the setting compendium on the official website. The "war" referenced here likely didn't mean the Three-Year War from two centuries ago, but rather the series of military operations launched by the Ministry of Production against the Ministry of Technology in Yunjian Province a century and a half ago. That man-made disaster had been the catalyst that shattered the Post-War Reconstruction Committee. To the survivors of that era, that event was far closer to their daily lives than the distant war of centuries past... "Feels like people used to live here," In Debt God muttered in a low voice as he carefully scanned the corners. "And quite a lot of them, too." Brother Mole, his head sticking out of the turret, replied offhandedly: "No need to doubt it. This was Singularity City." Hearing this, several brothers from the Death Corps showed surprised expressions and exchanged startled glances. "Singularity City? Here?" "I thought that settlement was at the Old Residents Settlement!" Brother Mole chuckled and began showing off the lore stored in his head. "See, that's what you don't get. The Old Residents Settlement was a resettlement point from the Three-Year War period—which is where the mutants live now. "The space there is vast, and the subways and parking garages are natural nuclear bunkers. The only drawback was that the living conditions were terrible, with ventilation and hygiene being major issues... This city was never graced by nuclear weapons, so I reckon that once the locals endured the first few years, they moved back to the surface to rebuild a new settlement, which is this urban area we're in right now." Singularity City had no broodmother, so naturally it hadn't built towering walls reaching into the clouds like Boulder City had. The local survivors had simply used nearby tall buildings as shelter, placing sandbag walls and barbed wire across streets and alleys as barricades to divide the orderly zones from the lawless ones. Until Wasteland Era Year 50, alien species were never the primary threat to the wasteland's survivors; cold and scarcity of supplies were. And stemming from the latter came not only poverty, famine, and plague, but also marauders roving across the wasteland... Not everyone was a believer in order; there were also those who believed in chaos. Once humans awakened their animal instincts in a savage environment, they were capable of anything. Especially in the years following the dawn of the Wasteland Era, many people were born on the wasteland, beasts of the jungle from the moment they drew breath. The bullet holes on those sandbag walls were clearly not made today. They were relics of a past from many years ago. Crossing past the abandoned checkpoint, the group soon spotted graffiti blurred by rust on a collapsed corrugated iron wall. The infantry walking in front stopped in their tracks. Construction Site Boy and Bricks looked up, finding the colorful paint jarringly out of place against the cold, gray concrete around them. He couldn't resist asking curiously: "What does it say on there?" Equally curious, In Debt God stepped forward, wiping away the dust and rust with his hand, and tried to read out the few words he could decipher: "Lies... betrayal... monsters... Those are the only ones I can make out. Any of you know more of the Human Alliance language?" "I don't even need to look to guess what's written there," Brother Mole said simply, gazing at the graffiti on the wall as he recalled the public lore from the official website. "Just think about how Singularity City went to hell and you'll know." Construction Site Boy and Bricks asked, "What do you mean?" Mole said, "'Monsters' obviously refers to the mutants. 'Betrayal' and 'lies' are probably directed at the Singularity City authorities... Remember the intel Fang Chang and the others gathered in Hope Town? Mutants were originally sterile." The Site Guy and Dayan looked at each other. Seeing that neither clearly remembered, Mole continued: "A long time ago, the mutants who fled here from the East Coast were infertile. Singularity City took them in and supported their research. A small portion of the residents even willingly turned into mutants themselves... whether for stronger bodies, to support those researchers' work, or simply to express their contempt for the old order and the Reconstruction Committee. "Then, after some time passed, mutants gained civil rights and the ability to reproduce. Although the setting compendium doesn't detail this history in depth, considering that all offspring of mutants are mutants, and mutants have far stronger physiques... guess what happened next?" Construction Site Boy and Bricks swallowed. "What happened..." "More and more mutants, and more and more power ceded to them, until old humans became the minority," Mole narrowed his eyes slightly and continued. "The authorities probably made promises to the citizens, like saying mutants were harmless, or that violence could be restrained through civilization. But nothing could change the fact that mutants were a single sex and needed to mate with humans to produce offspring... yet the old human population itself was dwindling, both male and female." Construction Site Boy and Bricks scratched the back of his head. "Why didn't they make female mutants and let them play among themselves?" "Because the original purpose of castrating the mutants was to prevent the DNA of unfinished experimental products from spreading. Giving mutants dicks was already a compromise made by the Singularity City authorities to the mutant population. Designing females on top of that would have been completely putting the cart before the horse, wouldn't it? Besides, my personal guess is that mutants' aesthetic preferences were actually inherited from old humans—after all, they were originally human. "What's more, the Singularity City authorities might not have wanted to conjure an entirely separate race out of thin air to fracture their own society. Their original intention was probably for mutants to exist as vassals that had to depend on humans. They had no need for medicine, and they could enter radioactive zones without any protective gear to salvage supplies... Too bad they ended up playing themselves. "Mutants indeed couldn't do without old humans, but just because humans can't do without the protein provided by chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep doesn't mean humans become vassals to livestock... The moment the balance of power shifted, their roles reversed. Singularity City's mutants began using brute force to bend old humans to their will, and then penned them up like cattle." Looking at the words [Lies] and [Betrayal] scrawled on the wall, Mole continued as if talking to himself: "Harmless in the early stages, baring their fangs in the middle, and finally opening a gaping maw to swallow everyone whole... This sounds almost identical to the plague and Na fruit ravaging this land." In Debt God let out a soft sigh and stepped back from the graffiti. "The law of nature..." Unchanged for tens of thousands of years. Even though this was a lighthearted game, the history buried beneath the models and textures was far heavier than they had imagined. The entire city was a tombstone. And that lingering graffiti was its epitaph. Exactly which day Singularity City fell was lost to time. On a wasteland where average life expectancy was under thirty, it was almost impossible to find a survivor from that era; most frozen survivors had arrived in this land from an even earlier age, before Singularity City had even existed. Mole was more inclined to believe that when Singularity City fell, humanity hadn't been wiped out, but had put up a fight against the mutant majority. In the end, those people lost. The survivors either became slaves or were exiled outside the urban area, ending up in places like Pinecone Farm and Hope Town. In truth, human dwellings were ill-suited to the mutant physique. Not long after seizing Singularity City, the mutants abandoned this human-built settlement and moved back to the place where that city had originally begun—the "Old Residents Settlement" near Champion Biology Research Institute. There were subway stations, large underground parking garages... in short, plenty of spacious areas. Keeping warm was no problem, and it kept them safe from guerrilla potshots and mortar shells. After another stretch of time, the mutants had fully adapted to wasteland life and developed their own civilization— Namely, the present-day Tribe Qi. Very likely, the tribe had originally been called the Singularity Tribe, but a polysyllabic name proved too much of a tongue-twister for mutants, so it had been streamlined into its current name. Brother Mole always had an indescribable feeling in his heart. If Boulder City's past gave him a sense of regret over unfulfilled ambitions, Singularity City gave him a feeling of hesitation, of not knowing where to even begin. The people here had prepared for the worst from the start, and their ideal of saving everyone had never soured. It was just that as they walked forward, they suddenly realized that their destination was never where they had intended to go... The group pressed on. Ahead, the fog grew thicker and thicker. A bizarre eeriness seeped through the grayish-green mist, laced with a faint odor of decay. Like the stench of a rotting corpse. The players here knew full well that this was no ordinary fog, but spores exhaled by the mycelium embedded deep underground and in flesh. Evidently, something abnormal lay ahead. Everyone raised their vigilance, flipped off the safeties on their rifles, and carefully inspected every corner that might harbor danger. To everyone's surprise, however, the threat didn't emerge from some filthy corner, but blocked their path right out in the open. Three mounds of dark-green flesh stood in the middle of the fog-shrouded road, their bloated bodies resembling small artificial hills. Walking in front, Dayan was the first to spot them. He instantly yelled back toward the armored vehicles behind him: "Alien beasts! Prepare for battle!" The monsters had clearly noticed them as well. Emitting dull, low roars, they charged toward them with heavy stomps. Construction Site Boy and Bricks immediately dropped prone onto the ground, deployed his machine gun's bipod, squeezed the trigger, and spat tongues of fire. Gunfire erupted down the street. Yet the bullets striking the three monsters merely splashed splatters of blood, utterly failing to halt their charge. Seeing this, the Site Guy panicked and twisted around to yell toward the armored vehicles: "Don't just fucking stand there, fire!" Mole was about to say they couldn't see anything from back here when an idea struck him. He yelled at the two vehicles behind him: "Aim along the tracer rounds!" Needless to say, the method worked wonders. Although the rear armored vehicles had no line of sight and could only vaguely make out the backs of the players ahead, the bullets flying from their rifles and light machine guns marked the approximate direction of the targets. The three Chimera armored vehicles opened fire simultaneously. Under their rhythmic thumping barrage, the closest monster was quickly riddled with holes and collapsed to the pavement. Astonishingly, however, the creature that should have been dead on the spot didn't stop there. Even with shattered legs and several pitch-black holes punched through its torso, the twisted lifeform continued crawling forward, letting out shrill screeches from its gaping maw. The other two monsters had already charged within thirty meters of the infantry. Dayan yanked the Site Guy back, and he quickly gathered his machine gun and retreated. Finally catching sight of the two monsters' ferocious appearance, Mole was utterly shocked. "Holy shit! How much HP do these things have?!" Those were fucking 37mm armor-piercing incendiary rounds! At this range, even a concrete wall would have been pulverized! "Fire the missile!" Without a second to hesitate, Mole shouted and quickly ducked back into the turret, slamming the hatch shut. Almost simultaneously, a Pigeon missile was ejected from the launcher atop the turret. Its thruster ignited, sending a streak of white smoke trailing toward the nearest monster. The missile hit the creature squarely in the chest. Before it could even let out a pained shriek, the fiery explosion swallowed it whole. It proved that failure to penetrate defense was merely an issue of insufficient yield. Struck by a Pigeon missile, half the monster's body was blown away entirely. The remaining half, drifting with acrid white smoke, crashed to the ground and ceased moving. Seeing this, the other players with the vehicles reacted immediately. They fetched RPG rocket launchers from the armored vehicles, loaded HEAT warheads, and pulled the triggers. Streaks of white smoke crossed the street like arrows. Soon, brilliant bursts of fire detonated on the other two monsters. Although an RPG rocket wasn't as potent as a Pigeon missile, as long as there were enough of them, they were just as deadly. Already half-dead from the 37mm armor-piercing incendiary shells, the two monsters couldn't even manage a whimper before finally toppling heavily under the concentrated player fire. Lowering his launcher, Dayan wiped away cold sweat and cursed: "Damn it... what the hell were those things?" Hadn't the bombing run just carpeted this sector? How could something that huge still be alive? Bolder than the rest, the Site Guy walked forward and poked the unconscious mountain of flesh on the ground with his smoking gun barrel, muttering under his breath: "Goliath..." In Debt God asked, "Goliath?" "Didn't Fang Chang post on the forums earlier... about that boss they ran into at Pinecone Farm?" The Site Guy swallowed hard. "Holy crap, three of them spawned here." The group exchanged glances, an ominous foreboding rising in their chests. Right then, a missile suddenly streaked through the air with a whistling whoosh, striking a high-rise not far away. Everyone instinctively ducked low. But the anticipated explosion didn't occur—not even a flash of flame. Only the players wearing headsets heard a piercing screech of electrical interference. Covering his ears, In Debt God straightened up and peered in the direction the missile had vanished. "What in the world was that?" Construction Site Boy and Bricks looked utterly baffled. "Our missile?" "Doesn't look like it... not a model I've seen before." Just then, a player walking beside the road suddenly cried out: "Wait... holy shit?! My comms seem to be back!" "???" Hearing that, Brother Mole immediately looked at the VM strapped to his arm and tapped open the map, whereupon a look of shock spread across his face. Green signal dots marking teammates' positions reappeared on the map one after another, and the clear-communications icon lit up once more in his contact list. Right at that moment, Fang Chang's communication request came through. "...Mole! Can you see my position? I'm on the street ahead of you, take a left! Come give me a hand!" The intermittent voice was accompanied by ragged panting and sporadic gunshots and explosions. Putting aside any thought of where the missile had come from, Brother Mole's expression turned stern, and he said immediately: "I'm on my way!" With that, he switched channels and shouted over the squad channel: "Everyone, advance! Our allies are right ahead of us!" Loud, energetic responses quickly came over the channel: "Awoooo!" ... Covered by the infantry, the three Chimera armored vehicles sped toward the street where the Burning Corps was located. Meanwhile, on the blustery rooftop of an office building not far from that street, three figures stood in the biting wind. Wearing a gas mask, Jiang Xuezhou looked smugly at the dumbfounded Ye Shi beside her, reaching out to pat the big fellow next to her. "Well? Pretty strong, aren't I?" Standing to her right was a boxy, four-legged robot, virtually identical in mold to the "Xiao Wang" she had once brought down into Vault 0. The only difference was that this one was more than a size larger, and its mounted weaponry was far bulkier. It even had a heavy piece of kit like a missile launcher installed. In its owner's words, the current Xiao Wang was invincible; whether it was annoying slime mold or tricks like EMPs, they were mere tickles to it. The firepower unleashed by this single combat robot alone rivaled a reinforced platoon! At that moment, however, what shocked Ye Shi wasn't its size or firepower specifications—he had already roasted those before boarding the helicopter. Staring blankly at the faintly discernible silhouette of that distant building, he hadn't even clearly seen what she had targeted before watching a missile soar out. Swallowing hard, Ye Shi turned to Jiang Xuezhou. "That was..." "An electromagnetic pulse warhead!" Brushing back the ponytail that fell over her shoulder with the back of her hand, Jiang Xuezhou continued in a boastful tone: "Though that's nothing special. The real technical marvel was pinpointing the true jamming source among a field of decoy interference sources, and then launching an EMP weapon to destroy it in one shot before it could react—hey, are you even listening to me?" Seeing Ye Shi still zoning out, Jiang Xuezhou's voice took on an edge of annoyance. Snapping out of his daze at her rebuke, Ye Shi quickly put on an apologetic smile. "Yes, yes, I am... So the jamming source has been taken out, right? That's awesome!" With that, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and continued with a bashful grin: "By the way, that electromagnetic pulse... uh, that missile you just fired, where'd you buy it?" To be blunt, that thing was seriously good stuff. He wanted to get his hands on a few, too. After waiting all this time without getting a single word of praise, Jiang Xuezhou rolled her eyes and snapped: "Not for sale." Ye Shi: "..." Fuck! ... With the support of the three Chimera armored vehicles and over a dozen light infantrymen, Fang Chang finally finished off the monster covered in squirming slabs of flesh. The putrid stench of the rotting corpse permeated the entire street. To everyone's regret, however, the Apostle sniping from the sidelines had managed to slip away after all. Fang Chang felt quite embarrassed. Brother Mole didn't hold back either, gloating and giving him an earful of mockery for letting someone slip away right under his nose. As the battle drew to a close, a Viper transport plane touched down nearby. Alongside dropping off supplies, it also took tissue samples extracted from that "mountain of flesh." The Alliance's biological research institute would help them figure out what these damned things actually were. Though the side mission had hit a minor snag, reports of victories from the main battlefield flooded into the Heart of Steel one after another. The main forces of the Alliance's corps had already completed their assembly near the Old Residents Settlement, less than a kilometer away from the Champion Biopharmaceutical Research Institute and Tribe Qi's stronghold. Those greenskin brutes seemed to finally realize that their firepower wasn't even in the same league as their opponents', so they abandoned the surface altogether. Some mutants retreated down into the subway stations, while others fell back to the towers of the Champion Biology Research Institute. Having strutted arrogantly across this land for over a century, they were finally beginning to taste despair... At the same time, on the bridge of the Heart of Steel. An officer from Army Command stepped up behind Chu Guang, placing his right fist over his chest, and reported crisply: "The mutants have holed up in the subway stations. Our ground troops have seized their surface nests... and rescued many survivors." Pulling his gaze back from the floor-to-ceiling window, Chu Guang turned to the officer and asked: "How many, specifically?" The officer answered in a heavy tone: "Not yet counted, but according to reports from the front line, there are at least ten thousand..." Chu Guang paused slightly, then knitted his brow. Ten thousand... How could there be so many?