It!

On the fringe of the North Second Ring Road, a suit of silver-gray power armor stood quietly in the middle of a dilapidated street, holding a heavy rifle as tall as half a person, shaped like an unedged greatsword. Years had weathered the armor's surface, its urban camouflage long supplanted by mottled scarlet stains. The rifle in its grip was no different; its tuning-fork-shaped magnetic rails were completely choked with fleshy red fungal masses. Memories lingering in its cells surfaced from time to time; it vaguely remembered that it was a machine born for battle. Only, it had long since forgotten what it fought for, and when its last battle had ended... Just then, a gentle breeze blew in from the far end of the street, and almost at the exact same moment, the rumble of rolling wheels tore through the quiet corner. As if sensing the oncoming killing intent, it slowly raised its head. Grayish-green mist seeped from the crevices of its helmet, and a bloodthirsty crimson gleam glinted within its pitch-black visors. "Kill them!" That voice drifting from the unseen echoed in its ears once more, and it felt every single cell in its body boil with fervor. It was a command that brooked no refusal— In truth, there was no reason to refuse anyway. It existed solely to answer that call. The ponderous arm slowly lifted, the greatsword in its grasp groaning like ungreased machinery unlubricated for years. Yet the instant that arm rose, its cumbersome frame seemed to burst with renewed life, erupting with astonishing speed and power. Like a shell shot from a cannon, it charged toward the lead truck with thunderous momentum, swinging the blunt, heavy greatsword in its hands. *Clang—!* Almost the very instant steel slammed into steel, the truck's cab—reinforced with welded steel plates—caved inward like ice cream pierced by a spoon, snapping clean in two. The entire truck flipped on its side by the curb. The driver died on the spot, while the players in the bed tumbled to the ground, staggering to their feet. It could vaguely hear them yelling something. Though it could not understand. No matter— A prey's dying words never mattered; soon enough, they would all be crushed into paste beneath its feet. Standing beside the wreckage of the truck, it tightened its grip on its weapon, scarlet pupils snapping toward the next vehicle— *Next!* Just as the slime mold-corrupted power armor brandished its weapon and charged toward the next transport truck, the caught-off-guard Death Corps finally reacted. Midnight Brings Umbrella Not Knife: "Holy shit! A camper!" Laplace: "Camper my ass, that's a Decayed Knight!" Midnight Brings Umbrella Not Knife: "A boss spawned! Grab your weapons, boys!" Fawai Kuangtu: "Awoo! Tatakae!!" Players crouched on truck roofs immediately trained their mounted machine guns on it, spewing ferocious fire in rat-tat-tat bursts, yet they still could not halt its charge. The 10mm machine gun rounds—potent enough to chew through concrete walls—slammed into the curved armor plates, leaving behind nothing more than faint scratches. What made their scalps tingle even more was that the monstrosity possessed not only absurdly tough armor, but also uncanny agility. The greatsword in its grip effortlessly batted aside a few tracers flying at its face, before it darted forward and closed the distance to the next truck. Flames of an explosion erupted from yet another truck. Watching the evolved organism rampaging through their ranks as if playing Dynasty Warriors, Brother Edge couldn't help but frown, while In Debt God cursed beside him. "Dammit, I knew this mission wouldn't be that easy." "Something's off about this thing," Construction Site Youth and Brick suddenly blurted out from the side. "Yeah." Brother Edge nodded grimly, then looked at Dayan. "Launch the drone!" "Roger that!" As the words left his mouth, Dayan had already closed his eyes, his index finger pressing against the side of his tactical helmet. A quadcopter drone catapulted into the air from the truck, darting in a beeline toward the Decayed Knight. Seeming to sense the approaching threat, the Decayed Knight slammed its greatsword against the pavement, kicking up more than a dozen chunks of shattered concrete straight into the air. Through direct neural link, In Debt God skillfully piloted the drone through a series of mind-boggling barrel rolls and evasive maneuvers, fluttering like a butterfly as it deftly slipped through the dense hail of concrete debris. "Die, bastard!!!" The instant the drone rammed right into its face, he triggered the detonation function. The three-kilogram warhead slung beneath the drone instantly detonated into a ball of roaring fire. Such terrifying power could flip even a Conqueror tank, yet this antique of over two hundred years merely swayed on its feet. Witnessing this unbelievable sight, Dayan opened his eyes, staring in utter disbelief. "Holy shit! The Dragoon's defense is this broken?!" "This isn't a Dragoon, nor does it look like a Champion..." A trace of excitement crept into Brother Edge's voice as his fist tightened against the truck roof. "This is probably an upgraded variant that never appeared in the official setting handbook!" Though it was an opponent they had never faced before, neither he nor any of the players present showed the slightest fear. Instead, their fighting spirit blazed even hotter! This was an unprecedented challenge— Securing the first kill would not only earn them a server-wide announcement, but their names would also be permanently immortalized in the Hall of Fame! "Infantry squads, suppressive fire!" Watching the Decayed Knight stagger as it regained its balance, Brother Edge roared over the comm channel. "Anti-tank teams, move up! Concentrate fire with HEAT rounds!" While the previous blast had not destroyed the Decayed Knight outright, the shockwave had inflicted considerable damage. Large patches of creep peeled away from its body. Having regained its footing, it had to lean on its greatsword just to stay upright, while the surrounding players had already raised their rifles, showering it with a ferocious hail of bullets. "Urgh—" Grayish-green smoke leaked from the seams beneath its helmet like a soundless howl. Furious, it leveled its greatsword, poised to charge the players, but right at that moment, several players shouldering RPG rocket launchers had already formed a firing line ahead of it. "RPG!!" Amid excited shouts, HEAT warheads streaked forth like arrows loosed from bows, trailing white plumes of smoke as they slammed toward the Decayed Knight. The Decayed Knight swept its greatsword with blistering speed, deflecting two rockets aimed at its face, but it could not stop the rest from slamming into its chest, knees, and shoulders. *Boom—!* Brilliant sparks sprayed in all directions amidst the roar of detonations, showering like molten iron from a forge. Struck by multiple HEAT rounds, the Decayed Knight stumbled backward, lost its balance with a hoarse roar, and crashed heavily to the ground. Even armor from the Era of Prosperity, without shields engaged, could not withstand focused fire from so many HEAT warheads at once. A thumb-sized hole had been punched clean through its breastplate, exposing the scarlet flesh within, and its right leg was completely disabled, pierced right through by a metal jet. The Decayed Knight struggled to get back up, but had only hoisted itself halfway when two more rockets slammed head-on into it. Well aware of the importance of confirming the kill, the players did not cease their onslaught after bringing the boss down; without missing a beat, they followed up with a thermobaric rocket! The shockwave slammed into the breastplate, jolting even the roadway beneath it upward. Scorching thermal currents poured through the breaches in the armor, instantly churning the fungal masses within into a pool of black sludge. The searing heat invading its chest cavity carried its consciousness far away; in its dying moments, it seemed to hear the wails of every slime mold cell throughout its body. Gazing at the crowd advancing toward it, the crimson glow behind its pitch-black visors gradually faded amidst the firelight. The nightmare that had imprisoned it for two centuries... Was finally over. With the slime mold infesting the armor eradicated, the fallen suit of power armor grew completely still. Its grip loosened from the greatsword that had seemingly become part of its body; it no longer struggled to stand, nor made another sound. A player stepped forward and inspected the corpse, confirming the monster was dead as a doornail. Looking at the rectangular block of iron overgrown with slime mold that had clattered aside, Construction Site Youth and Brick, shouldering his RPG tube, muttered in astonishment: "This thing was actually a rifle?" And a Gauss rifle at that! Large swaths of creep flaked off the weapon's body, revealing a tuning-fork-shaped barrel and a forward-folding grip, while a faded insignia could be seen on the streamlined buttstock. [111th Orbital Airborne Division] Beneath the emblem, a faint line of text was barely legible. "In life, he was probably a soldier... or maybe a squad leader," In Debt God speculated about the fallen warrior's past as he surveyed the damaged wreckage, continuing in an uncertain tone. "While on a mission in downtown Qingquan City, he and his squad were consumed by the slime mold, and then kept fighting for two centuries as evolved organisms." "So you're saying we just took down a member of the lore's 111th Orbital Airborne Division?" Construction Site Youth and Brick asked, scratching the back of his head. "At least we laid one of them to rest." Looking at the armor lying flat on its back, Brother Edge sighed softly. "Haul it onto the truck." The chances of repairing it were slim to none. Besides, now that the Alliance had developed its own proprietary power armor, the Xiaguang, there was no need to push these aged antiques. A museum was where it belonged. "Thea is just ahead! Keep moving!" Reorganizing the halted convoy, Brother Edge shouted over the comm channel, rallying everyone to push forward. Just then, the highway beneath their feet began to tremble faintly, as though an earthquake were striking. Brother Edge snapped his gaze forward, but dense fog blocked his line of sight, revealing nothing. In Debt God decisively launched another drone into the air, steering it toward where Brother Edge was looking. Yet almost the moment the drone penetrated the thick gray mist, it lost its signal as if slamming into a solid wall. "Fuck..." In Debt God's shoulders jolted. He shook his head, clearing the static fuzz from his field of view. When his vision cleared and he looked in the direction where the drone had vanished, he froze solid. A fist as massive as a billboard was clenched there, attached to an arm thick as a train car, anchored to a colossal frame towering like an iron pylon. "...Titan." Brother Edge's expression shifted slightly as he squeezed out the word through his teeth. It was actually a Titan! Not only that— Silver-gray silhouettes emerged one after another from the fog, marching forward with steady strides. Every pair of eyes radiated scarlet bloodlust, their heavy armor not in the least inferior to the one the players had just taken down. At a rough count, Brother Edge tallied at least twenty suits of power armor flanking the Titan! Grasping various weapons, they still maintained the formation from two centuries ago when they had explored deep into the city center. The slime mold had devoured them and rebuilt them into guardians of these ruins. Feeling the overwhelming pressure bearing down upon them, nearly three thousand players packed along the street swallowed hard in unison. Construction Site Youth and Brick's Adam's apple bobbed. Glancing down at the RPG in his hands—which now looked like a mere matchstick—he mumbled softly: "...We're so fucked." The monster they had expended so much effort to kill was merely an elite mob beside the boss. The real boss was only just arriving! Though his scalp tingled, Brother Edge gritted his teeth and raised his weapon. They had already successfully duped Thea, leading those restless swarms straight into the crosshairs they had prepared, tying down nearly the entire force of the Tide. Now was precisely when the newborn mother entity's own defenses were at their weakest. As long as they seized this chance to eliminate it, they would win this war— Or at least resolve this year's crisis! "Prepare for battle!" No matter what, they could not fall here! ... "Holy crap... Is that thing a Titan?" Sitting in the Lingyun fighter and weaving between skyscrapers, Luo Yu cast a hurried glance at the cloud-shrouded ground, unable to suppress a gasp. A steel giant standing a full six stories tall loomed in the street. Scarlet fungal patches crawled like moss over its boxy armor plating, and its low roar echoed across the entire district. It looked like the boys in the Death Corps had run right into that monster. As much as he wanted to help them, he had more important business at hand. "Hold on, boys..." Planes from the Goblin Corps were already en route; air support would soon be overhead. Gritting his teeth, Luo Yu pushed the throttle forward, accelerating toward the downtown core. And as the distance shrank, his heart pounded faster and faster in his chest. Right then, a soft whisper brushed past his ear. "Eee-woo." *(I see It.)* The spores drifting through the atmosphere had fully fused with this wasteland. It was like a deity over this land, every stirring breeze its very breath. This was a lifeform Yu had never encountered before. From that towering, indomitable might, it felt a faint tremor of fear. The partner symbiotically bound to it was no match for It... They were still too weak. Even if all of them combined their strength, they probably couldn't compare to a single cilium on Its body. "Don't be afraid. Tell me, where is It?" Sensing Yu's unease, Luo Yu patiently comforted it while focusing on piloting the plane. Yu's agitation calmed slightly. "I can take you to It... but I have no confidence we can defeat It." Luo Yu: "Don't worry, I won't make you face It alone. I'll be right there with you!" Yu said gloomily: "You will die... I might not; what remains on you is only my fruiting body. But you will be eaten by It, along with the piece of me left in your body." Die? Luo Yu grinned. "Relax, I won't die." What a joke. He was an Ace of Death! To think being killed once would mean death was underestimating him way too much! Yu's voice remained hesitant. "Really?" Both hands gripping the control stick, Luo Yu said in earnest: "I promise you... Even if my heart stops beating, I'll still appear before you three days later." The eee-woo went silent for a moment before drifting up softly once more. "Forever?" Without a second thought, Luo Yu answered without hesitation: "Of course!" Though he could not see Yu residing deep underground, he could sense the buoyant joy in that eee-woo. Pale red tendrils seeped from the backs of his hands, slowly creeping toward the control stick clamped in his grip, as if an invisible pair of hands was holding his own. Within just a few breaths, the pale red tendrils had fused completely into the plane's central console, spreading outward toward every corner of the cockpit. Luo Yu felt not a shred of panic at this sudden change. He trusted Yu; it wouldn't cause trouble for him at a crucial moment like this. And it was just as he expected. The instant those pale red tendrils integrated fully with the mechanical components inside the cockpit, an unprecedented sensation washed over his entire body. He felt his consciousness sink downward. After a fleeting moment of dizziness, he suddenly realized that his awareness had fused completely with the aircraft! The forward-swept wings extending ahead felt just like his own arms; he could clearly sense the airflow skimming over the wingtips, as if it were gliding across his fingertips. After flying planes for so many years, he had never experienced anything like this. He seemed to have become a bird soaring between skyscrapers, executing all manner of impossible maneuvers as effortlessly as drawing breath. It was as though he wasn't merely piloting the Lingyun. He had become it! "Holy shit..." Reveling in this incredible sensation, Luo Yu's heart swelled with delight. He felt his understanding of flight leap an entire tier, reaching the legendary realm of 'man and machine as one'! As if feeling the joy in his heart, Yu also let out a cheerful cry: "Shit!" Rarely minding Yu's foul mouth, Luo Yu's mood was entirely overwhelmed with elation. "Hahaha, awesome, Yu!" "Eee-woo!" *(We're getting closer to It! It has already noticed us!)* "Roger that!" Watching skyscrapers streak past outside the canopy, Luo Yu switched off the autocannon's safety. His eyes locked onto the gray haze outside, the corners of his mouth curling into a grin brimming with battle fervor. "I'm ready!" ... At the exact moment the Lingyun fighter arrived over the battlefield, the twenty-man squad of the Burning Corps had already glided past the fringe of the Second Ring Road, reaching the center of Qingquan City. This area at the root of the spore cloud was blanketed year-round under gray fog so dense it seemed solid. Even veteran players like Lao Bai and Fang Chang, who had been on the server since the pioneer days, had never seen what lay here. Rather than a nuclear crater, it was more like a sunken lakebed. The conventional resilience of reinforced concrete buildings against nuclear detonations appeared to have failed completely here. In the face of sheer yield and searing thermal energy, the concrete at ground zero, along with the rebar supporting it, had been pulverized to dust, utterly erased from the world. The buildings at the center of the nuclear crater had vanished into thin air, leaving not even wreckage behind. Around the perimeter of the crater, ruins lay in utter devastation: toppled skyscrapers were either snapped clean at the waist or uprooted entirely along with their underground parking structures and foundations! Silence reigned over the comm channel. Witnessing this sight, nearly every player was too shocked to speak. Gripping the glider's handlebars with both hands, Fang Chang's expression shifted from astonishment to grim solemnity. It was unbelievable that even a strategic weapon of such devastating yield had not been enough to completely wipe that broodmother from the surface of this planet... Yet eerily, once they crossed the inner ring of downtown, they could no longer spot any trace of fruiting bodies. Where had all those little critters gone? Just then, Luo Yu's intermittent voice came through the comm channel: "...Yu has pinpointed the broodmother's location. The nearest entrance is roughly six hundred meters due west of you. I've marked it on the map." Gliding through the air, Lao Bai frowned slightly. "The thing is underground?" The comm channel crackled back with confirmation: "Looks like it. Most of the spores in this area are spewing from a well-like vent; Its body should be buried subterranean. I'll provide air support as best as I can, but I can only hit targets on the surface." Lao Bai: "Copy that. You stay safe too!" Luo Yu grinned: "Don't worry. I won't be coming down until the very end!" Signal reception here was terrible, communications cutting in and out. Wasting no time on chitchat, Lao Bai verified the landing coordinates via his VM and immediately led everyone gliding toward them. The moment their boots touched the ground, they brought up their weapons and took up defensive formations. Yet contrary to everyone's expectations, no tide of evolved organisms surged to engulf them. Instead, it was so eerily quiet that they couldn't help but wonder if they had come to the wrong place. As far as the eye could see lay mangled structural debris and skyscraper foundations protruding jaggedly from the earth. Tier upon tier of concrete ruins rose like man-made hills, half-buried in pulverized sand and gravel. Looking around from the ground was far more breathtaking and daunting than viewing it from above on gliders. Yet what baffled everyone was that, though they had scanned the area carefully before landing, there wasn't a trace of slime mold in sight. Not even the slightest fungal patch! "Where's that well?" Jieyan asked in a hushed, tense whisper. Lao Bai glanced around. "Luo Yu said it's nearby... Let's search." Having no evolved organisms swarming them was a good thing regardless. Yet right then, Ye Shi, who had been frowning the entire time, suddenly spoke up: "Do you guys hear something?" Hearing this jinx speak, everyone paused for a beat. But before they could even react, an earth-shaking tremor surged from right beneath their feet! Fine sand and soil began to cave inward, dragging nearby concrete debris down with it. Watching the ground sink, Fang Chang's face drained of color. "Holy crap—" He finally understood why there wasn't a single fruiting body here. The broodmother wasn't hiding somewhere around here. It had never concealed Itself. It was right beneath their feet, already fused as one with this very land— They were standing right on top of It!