The "Hell Difficulty" Level That Had Existed Since Launch

Dense grayish-green fog crept closer in silence. Watching the nearby defensive walls and machine-gun emplacements, pair after pair of pupils lurking in the dark gradually glinted with scarlet malice. It was six o'clock, and night had just fallen over Qingquan City. The air was not yet bitterly cold. For the spore clouds blanketing the atmosphere and the fruiting bodies lurking inside subterranean transit tunnels, night offered the ultimate cover. Scarcely had the evening breeze begun to stir when visibility across the streets of the northern suburbs silently dropped to under fifty meters. Thea felt immensely pleased as it gazed upon its offspring. The only pity was that those humans had severed the branch tunnels beneath the northern suburbs; otherwise, it could have infiltrated fruiting bodies straight behind their rear lines before launching a sudden ambush. That would have made the plan truly flawless... "Go, my children." Overlooking each bloodthirsty soul through invisible eyes, Thea stood atop the scarlet creep and released a silent roar. "Turn them into nourishment to nurture new life—" "Devour them!" ... "Roaaar—!" A resounding roar shattered the night's stillness. Mutants surged abruptly toward the defensive line like a torrential downpour, the suffocating murderous aura rushing over them making everyone hold their breath. From the massive wall looming like a dam, thick ribbons of muzzle fire flared, and roaring shells carved streaks through the fog to crash down onto the ruined streets. Swarms of surging fruiting bodies collapsed in droves, only for those behind to press relentlessly forward without pause. The flashing flares of each explosion were like pebbles cast into crashing waves, unable to raise the slightest ripple amidst the tempestuous surge. At the defensive line less than a kilometer from Boulder City. Watching the Tide surging like oceanic waves, panic crept uncontrollably across the faces of soldiers clutching assault rifles. They were all soldiers of the penal battalion. They were also criminals rounded up during the crackdown before the new year. Having lived at the foot of the Great Wall, they were by no means unfamiliar with the Tide. Yet when the moment came to face the Tide in the flesh, even the most vicious and hardened convicts felt terror seep deep into their marrow. The gnawers, normally clumsy and slow-witted, acted as though they had been pumped with stimulants. Even the frailest fruiting body had transformed into a ferocious beast, knit into a singular whole under the guidance of the hive mind. This was a force that even Deathclaws fled from; not a single mutant on the wasteland could match these creatures in individual combat. They would devour everything in sight! Tear prey to pieces, chew, consume— Until every inch of their prey's flesh was absorbed into this monstrous hive, wholly becoming a part of that terrifying entity of consciousness. "Damn it, how many of them are there?!" Watching fruiting bodies vaporize under the artillery only for more to fill the gaps endlessly, one convict cried out in terror. "Great Horned Deer God above..." Crouched behind cover nearby, another prisoner murmured prayers under his breath, desperately invoking the Great Horned Deer God's name to overcome the panic seizing his chest. Not far from him, a bald brute kept glancing back over his shoulder, his eyes vacillating between ruthless ferocity and abject panic. If the barrier troops didn't have machine guns pointed at the back of their heads, he would have turned and fled instantly without hesitation, as far as his legs could carry him! Each position held only a hundred men, with each century assigned to a single street. Before them lay a tidal surge of slime mold; behind them were the militia's positions. If they fell back, those behind them would not hesitate to rain artillery down upon their heads. As the officer over these prisoners, Bite's eyes were filled with inner struggle. This was their only chance at freedom— Only by proving their loyalty with blood could they become human beings again! The moment the bombardment ceased, gnawers appeared at the fringe of his machine gun's firing arc. As he squeezed the trigger, a scream tore from his throat, venting his sheer terror. "Aaaargh!!!" ... While the Tide had already clashed with Boulder City's positions, the Alliance's defensive lines remained deadly quiet for the moment. Yet almost everyone could sense the violent undercurrent lurking beneath the silence. Three Fungus-Devoured Deathclaws stalked along the edges of buildings, leading dozens of slime-mold-corrupted Yaoguai under the shroud of darkness and gray fog. Skirting the edge of Position 3 in the Alliance's Defense Sector 06, they thrust toward Position 4 in the middle of the line. The humans' broodmother was right before their eyes! Pairs of amber pupils burned with a thirst for blood; they could practically see the building emitting that deafening racket. Yet the very instant they bared their fangs, streaks of orange-red flares suddenly shot into the sky, illuminating the streets around Position 3 as bright as day. The three Fungus-Devoured Deathclaws and dozens of Fungus-Devoured Yaoguai were instantly caught in the flares' harsh glare. At the same time, two quadruple-barrel 20mm anti-aircraft autocannons, leveled flat, were already trained directly on them. Watching the sneaking monstrosities, Kakarot, perched by the window of an abandoned building, roared with excitement. "Fire!" Thick, heavy tracer trails swept out like windblown willow catkins, carrying a destructive hurricane toward the dozens of mutants gathered in the street. Before they could even react, the three Fungus-Devoured Deathclaws howled in pain amidst the storm of bullets, whipping their tails around in a desperate bid to flee the street. Yet the Storm Corps, which had been lying in wait, naturally wouldn't let them escape. Players crouched at the building's windows had already mounted their 37mm Heavy Lances and pulled the triggers the exact moment the anti-aircraft guns opened fire. *Bang—!* One Fungus-Devoured Deathclaw's skull detonated instantly, while a bloody mist erupted from the chests and shoulders of the other two. Although the new type of spores possessed strong fire-extinguishing properties, the Alliance had previously followed the Biological Research Institute's advice and replaced the incendiary core of their armor-piercing incendiary shells with magnesium-based compounds. Far from smothering the flames, the dense concentration of carbon dioxide acted like an accelerant, causing the white-hot light embedded in the Fungus-Devoured Deathclaws to burn brighter and brighter! Pain-crazed roars echoed down the street churning with gunfire. The first elite vanguard squad dispatched by Thea was wiped out in an instant under the concentrated fire of the Storm Corps. "Doesn't seem like this broodmother has much micro skills," Catching Ghosts at Graves chuckled from behind his window as he watched wisps of blue smoke curl from the gun barrel, sliding a fresh magazine into his 37mm Heavy Lance. Brother Kakarot's voice came through the comm channel. "Don't let your guard down. This is just the beginning—there's a whole swarm waiting behind them!" Catching Ghosts at Graves laughed and replied casually, "Relax, steady as a rock!" With dozens of elite mobs wiped out in seconds, the Storm Corps had completely stunned the vanguard of the Tide charging the Alliance's positions. Atop a sheet of scarlet creep, Thea froze in place, unable to sense those assimilated fruiting bodies any longer. Fruiting bodies formed through slime mold assimilation differed from ordinary ones; those little creatures could not be produced via incubation chambers. They had to be captured from the wasteland by its fruiting bodies and personally modified by Thea's own hands. And as apex predators near the very top of the food chain, Deathclaws were ten or even tens of times harder to capture than mutants like Yaoguai or myriapods! It had planned to tear a breach in the Alliance's defenses before sending in the main force to overwhelm those humans. Yet those cunning humans had actually seen through its plan! After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, Thea wailed shrilly atop the creep, every cell in its body trembling with rage. No matter— The humans' response only proved that its suspicion was correct! They truly did possess some sort of broodmother dominating their consciousness. And that "broodmother" was truly of paramount importance to them! Otherwise, with their own kind facing such a violent onslaught elsewhere, there was no way they would deploy so many defensive forces in front of that noisy concrete block. It opened its mouth, agitated spores conveying its silent fury. Simultaneously, spurred by that rage, the fruiting bodies lurking near the Alliance's Sector 06 flared with seething battle lust. Swarm upon swarm of gnawers poured out from subway station entrances, while along the edge of the North Second Ring Road, more and more advanced fruiting bodies began to gather. Among them were Crawlers scaling the walls of skyscrapers, as well as Tyrants covered in thick, keratinous armor. The northern suburbs of Qingquan City, previously as placid as a lake, boiled over in an instant with the dense surge of fruiting bodies. Meanwhile, it was not just Qingquan City's slime mold that boiled over, but also the Alliance's radio channels. "Masses of fruiting bodies are pouring out from the underground tunnels!" "Estimated numbers exceed one million!" "Holy crap... did every mutant in the entire city come out?!" "Haha, good, they came right to us!" "Fruiting bodies near Defense Sector 06 are massing into dense formations! Positions 1, 2, and 3 are engaged!" "Have the Death Corps turn around immediately! Proceed according to plan!" "Copy that!" At the same time, at Position 4 of Sector 06, Catching Ghosts at Graves—who just moments ago was laughing at how underwhelming the enemy was—paled as he watched fruiting bodies surge endlessly onto the streets. Seeing a Tyrant charge forward to slam into their street barricades, he immediately pulled the trigger and fired a 37mm armor-piercing incendiary shell. A brilliant white burst pierced clean through the Tyrant's body, yet failed to halt its advance. Not until he fired two follow-up shots did the grotesque form finally collapse into the black sludge. Yet that Tyrant was merely one insignificant speck amidst the Tide. Countless fruiting bodies stepped over its corpse like an incoming surge, flooding toward the position below him and charging headlong into the storm of screaming tracers. Catching Ghosts at Graves' index finger was practically glued to the trigger, without a single second to let go. Emptying one magazine, he slammed in another right away, the barrel turning glowing red. Looking at the fruiting bodies multiplying on the street, he couldn't help cursing, "Holy crap... did these bastards get tilted or what?" Chunks of flesh trailing green smoke landed near the defensive positions, and corrosive acid mist quickly rose. Catching Ghosts at Graves hurriedly pulled on his gas mask, cursing under his breath as he endured the stinging itch on his neck, raising his 37mm Heavy Lance to keep firing. In truth, he had hit the nail right on the head. Thea was indeed losing its cool. On the one hand, it was convinced that the broodmother behind that defensive line had to be the northern humans' weak point. On the other hand, the Alliance's firepower had truly exceeded its expectations. Dark windows spat tongues of flame without pause, while artillery shells raining from the sky harvested its children continuously. Its abilities could extinguish fire, but they could not stop those high-explosive shells from detonating. What was more— Those humans seemed to have deciphered its abilities, cleverly adopting an alternating fire pattern. Namely, they used high-explosive shells to blast a spore-free vacuum zone, followed immediately by incendiaries, using further shell bursts to screen the advancing blaze. Although Thea could eventually put the flames out, it still couldn't prevent vast swathes of fruiting bodies and their corpses from being charred to cinders. Life after life perished rapidly in the dancing sparks, yet the Alliance's defensive line showed not the slightest sign of flagging— Amidst this endless dying, it could feel the anguish of its children! As if sensing its hesitation in the face of death, the mother watching from behind issued a majestic cry. "Do not hesitate—" "That will only invite more death!" "As long as we turn them into part of our body, this cost is nothing." "This is our destiny!" Compared to the fruiting bodies that died in the Tides of previous years, this amount of casualties was truly negligible. Feeling the mother's majestic aura, Thea's momentary hesitation vanished completely, replaced once more by madness and bloodlust. Under its urging, in barely a moment, the raging Tide breached the interlocking fire net. A massive swarm of gnawers surged to the base of the building, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the players stationed on the ground floor. Seeing its children storm the Alliance position, the cloud of spores drifting around Thea finally pulsed with a frequency of relief. Yet that relief did not last long. Those humans did not tuck their tails and run; instead, in the brutal close-quarters melee, an even fiercer battle lust erupted from them. Only then did it suddenly realize—it should have known all along that these people were different from those living within the walls. Under the direction of their hive mind, they feared death not in the least, caring nothing for the Tide crashing right before them. It was as though the things charging at their faces were not man-eating monsters, but walking exp packs— "Brothers! Grab your gear!" "Fight to the death with them!!" "Awoooo!" Led by a squad leader, a dozen Strength-build players in exoskeletons charged the slime mold surging up the stairs, forming a mobile wall of iron with the steel plates strapped across their chests. One hardcore madman revved a whining chainsaw and charged screaming into the surging Tide, hacking and slashing, every swing sending sprays of foul blood flying. Covered head to toe in black blood and standing atop piles of corpses, the guy let out an eccentric laugh. "Gahahaha, this game is so f*cking cathartic—" Before his sentence finished, a Tyrant lunged right in front of him, barreling in with a guttural roar. Startled, he hastily swung his chainsaw, but the spinning teeth merely skidded across the Tyrant's keratinous armor with a harsh screech. Enraged by the sting, the Tyrant shot out both arms, digging its claws into his shoulders and ripping outward with brute force. With a sickening rip, the unlucky player was torn in half on the spot, bursting into a mist of blood that splashed across the ceiling. Flinging the two halves of the corpse back to the gnawers to feast on, the Tyrant strode forward like a meteor, blood staining its pitch-black keratinous armor into a gruesome crimson. Had ordinary mercenaries witnessed this, they would have been frightened out of their wits. Yet what stood before it were not normal human beings, but a pack of players who feared no death. They fought like warriors of Khorne. Far from dampening their fighting spirit, the bloody carnage only drove the players into greater madness. Meanwhile, over the broadcast playing background music came the Administrator's solemn voice: "The enemy's main force is charging our positions! These foolish creatures have failed to realize that they have plunged headfirst into our trap!" "Hold the line! Ultimate victory will surely belong to us!" Echoing that voice were wave after wave of boiling battle cries: "Awoooo!" ... Gunfire and artillery thunder shattered the night across Qingquan City as the campaign against the Tide officially commenced. Right as the ten positions of Defense Sector 06 turned completely into a meat grinder, the Death Corps, which had been en route to reinforce Boulder City, received the order to turn around. They immediately wheeled about and charged toward the North Second Ring Road. Inside armed trucks mounted with machine guns sat three thousand players riding high on morale. Though their gear could hardly be called elite, every single one of them was a ruthless savage fiercer than any mutant. Because their fighting style was overly aggressive, they hardly ever purchased expensive gear that would drain their limited logistics points; the LD series rifles worth 200 silver coins were their most expensive weapons. After that came bayonets, entrenching shovels, and hand grenades! According to the original plan, they were supposed to rush to Defense Sector 06 to reinforce the Storm Corps. Just moments ago, however, through observation stations scattered across the war zone and reconnaissance drones, the Alliance's Biological Research Institute analyzed the concentration gradients and drift trajectories of the spore clouds, pinpointing the area where "Thea" was likely lurking. Thus, the Death Corps was given a new assignment— Supported by the Goblin Corps, they would launch an assault on the Tide's command center! Walkie-talkie in hand, Brother Edge bellowed across the corps comm channel: "...The Storm Corps is taking the brunt of the Tide! Brother Spring and his boys are cornered by the slime mold fruiting bodies! "Our mission is to lend them a hand, but not by breaking the siege for them—we're going to wipe out those disgusting bastards once and for all! "They'll soon pay a heavy price for their stupidity and arrogance! "Advance!!" By now, dense spores blanketed all of Qingquan City, and standing atop the creep, Thea could not fail to notice this massive column advancing. A tremor of panic suddenly surfaced in its feelings. Though it possessed higher intelligence than its siblings, it had never expected that those humans would leave their imperiled broodmother unguarded and march straight for it instead. Most of its children were at the front lines, one portion swarming the people living inside the walls, another swarming the "northerners'" broodmother; very few forces remained at its side to protect it. And... Just how had they found out it was here? "Mother... they've found me," Thea called out toward the broodmother in the city center. "I need your help." The broodmother in the city center had naturally noticed the human soldiers abruptly changing course toward the North Second Ring Road. After brief contemplation, It replied in a gentle voice: "Do not panic. I have already dispatched reinforcements toward you; they cannot harm you." That was Its most elite subordinate and one of Its most reliable bodyguards. Even the humans two hundred years ago were no match for that creature, let alone these humans who had regressed for two centuries. The previous children were not worth Its personal intervention, but Thea was an exception. It was very pleased with it. In every sense, it was the finest choice to expand the species' territory. Comforted by the mother, Thea's mood settled somewhat, and it refocused its attention on the two battlefronts to the north and west of Qingquan City. It could sense that both struggling defensive lines showed signs of breaking. Especially the people guarding the walls. Under the Tide's relentless battering, their mounting casualties had already elicited wails bordering on collapse. Its mother was right. As long as they committed to paying any price, they could drown those hideous organisms in sheer numbers. Their fragile civilization was utterly fragile before higher lifeforms. Yet a sliver of unease still lingered in its mind. Those people had fought Its mother for two whole centuries. Could it really be this simple...? ... On the rooftop of a skyscraper at the edge of the Second Ring Road, two Viper transports slowly touched down, unloading twenty heavily armed players. They were all clad in Type 5 exoskeletons and carried almost exclusively lightweight armaments. Twenty pre-assembled hang gliders were stacked beside the stairwell. Lao Bai pulled one out, tightened his grip on it, and handed it to Ye Shi beside him. Ye Shi reached to take it, but Lao Bai didn't let go, grinning at him instead. "Have you thought this through, kid? Your gear doesn't come cheap." The objective of this mission was downtown Qingquan City—the city center that even the Post-War Reconstruction Committee had failed to capture. For two centuries, survivors in Qingquan City had never attempted to conquer that place again. As a "hell-difficulty" stage that had existed since the server launch, even fearless players had only scouted along its fringes, never venturing deep into that hell. Right now was the best opportunity, and almost the only one. Most of the fruiting bodies throughout Qingquan City were pinned down on the defensive lines established by the Alliance. Yet even if their mission succeeded, there was a very high probability that they wouldn't make it back. Ignoring Lao Bai's counsel, Ye Shi rolled his eyes and snatched the hang glider away. "Come on, what's the big deal?" No matter how expensive gear was, it had a price tag, but a mission that "concerned the future of the Alliance and the direction of the game's main storyline" only happened once. If he missed out on something this exciting, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Seeing that Ye Shi was dead serious, Lao Bai laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "True enough, it's just gear... By the way, if my axe drops, remember to pick it up for me." Nearby, Fang Chang patted the mechanical compound bow in his hands with a smile, casually slinging it over his back. "My Daybreak too. This baby's been with me a long time; I don't want to lose it." Kuang Feng rubbed the bridge of his nose. "My cybernetic hand too... A friend from the Pioneer left it to me." Ye Shi looked helplessly at this bunch of bad influences. "Why are you guys so sure that I'm the one who'll survive?" Fang Chang averted his eyes with a subtle expression. "Dunno... gut feeling, maybe?" Just as Ye Shi was about to speak, Jieyan beside them couldn't resist chiming in. "You guys have planted so many death flags on his head that even if he could've made it back, he probably won't now." Lao Bai laughed. "Hahaha, no worries! If we survive, we'll bring his ashes back too!" Hearing this, Ye Shi caught on, inwardly crying out, *Holy sh*t.* What great friends. These bastards really couldn't bear to see him well! Right then, an arc of light streaked across the sky, flying straight toward the city center. That was the Lingyun fighter jet piloted by Brother Luo Yu, which served as their attack signal. Putting away his joking expression, Lao Bai carried his hang glider to the south edge of the building. Tapping his tactical helmet with his index finger, he toggled down the pitch-black visor. "Our ace pilot has taken off." "Time for us to move in!"