A Fist Like a Railgun

At the Broken Blade Mountain position. A squad of Enterprise soldiers was resting. Looking at the corpses scattered across the ground and the blood-soaked mud, Tang Feng sat on the trench's edge, panting heavily. His right hand never left his rifle for a single moment, index finger pressed tight against the safety. Strictly speaking, this was his very first time on a genuine battlefield. At first, he had felt nervous and a bit panicky, but eventually that gave way to utter numbness. Even sitting beside a pile of dead bodies evoked no feeling in him now. Things here were completely different from the VR training simulations. Those mutants and goblins were nothing like the rigid, predictable programs. They were as cunning as monkeys in a zoo, yet more murderous and cruel than hyenas starved for three days. A single mistake could cost them their lives. In truth, if not for the bionic prosthetics and plug-ins implanted in his body, he would have died countless times already. *Fuck the Council. The outside world has already gone to hell like this.* *And how the hell did those wastelanders manage to survive outside Ideal City?* Tang Feng felt his helmet turning sticky and soaked in sweat, yet he did not dare take it off. Only now did he realize how well their officers had shielded them until now. Just then, commotion stirred at the southern foot of the mountain. Hearing the assembly order, he snatched up his rifle, got to his feet, and moved out with the other squad members to fall in. "Dammit... what is that?" A faint flicker of panic rose in one soldier's eyes. From the distant, dense fog crawled hideous, grotesque beasts, one after another. The most common among them crept on four limbs, half-human, half-spider. Others took humanoid form, shuffling forward with stumbling steps just like the zombies from Skeleton Studio's games. The captain signaled, and the squad raised their rifles in unison, aiming straight at the creatures. Right at that moment, a shout rang out through the thick fog. "Don't shoot, friendly!" As the voice faded, a group of soldiers clad in exoskeletons emerged from the mist immediately behind them. The uniform Type 5 exoskeletons and LD-47 rifles were all too familiar to these young fellows, who had played a few rounds of battle royale and impulsively signed up for the military. It was the brothers of the Death Corps! The squad lowered their muzzles, yet obvious doubt lingered in their eyes as they watched the monsters emerge from the fog. Tang Feng looked over the creatures twice, then turned to the leading man, asking in an odd tone to confirm, "...Friendly?" Brother Edge nodded and explained, "The broodmother on Blood Mountain has been assimilated by us. These are all Yu's fruiting bodies. We plan to use them to disperse the Heaven here—meaning that spore cloud formed by the Na fruit mycelium." Not just Tang Feng, but every soldier around them wore a dumbfounded expression. "Is that even possible?" Brother Edge shrugged. "We've got to try." Seeking ways to counter mutant slime mold was the very reason the Slime Mold Research Community existed. Just then, the captain who had radioed his superiors finally received a response. Walking over to Brother Edge, he spoke with a grave expression. "We will escort you through this position as quickly as possible. Please follow me!" With that, he signaled to the teammates behind him. "Clear the way!" Brother Edge nodded to his rear, then led several Intelligence-type players from the corps after the Enterprise soldiers, heading down the narrow path that crossed Broken Blade Mountain. At the same time, hill-wide chittering echoed incessantly among the fruiting bodies. With the Intelligence-type players carrying neural links, biological prosthetics, and radio transceivers acting as node organisms, unified information and instructions were relayed throughout the swarm. On the positions of Broken Blade Mountain, the young Enterprise soldiers stared in astonishment and disbelief at the boundless sea of fruiting bodies. A thousand... no, perhaps ten thousand! What shocked them was not merely the sheer number, but that the broodmother had managed to incubate them in such a brief window of time. A soldier could not help gulping. "Is this what the Tide is like?" Another soldier murmured in a hoarse voice, "Probably... even crazier than this." Though he had never witnessed the real thing, he had heard Skeleton Studio's latest release, *Zombie Crisis*, drew inspiration from it. He had played the demo. Its atrocious difficulty and suffocating terror of death sent adrenaline soaring, leaving those soft sandbox games on the Endpoint Cloud in the dust. "Holy crap..." "Fighting these things for two hundred years... what a ruthless bunch." Even though they knew an artillery shell could wipe out a large swathe of them, the spectacle still shook them to the core. Especially considering the terrain of Qingquan City, where their brothers in the Alliance battled these creatures among urban ruins ill-suited for heavy artillery, the shock compounding in their hearts grew all the more profound... *** Meanwhile, atop the peak of Black Cloud Mountain, the Wilante, having just repelled a surprise attack by mutants and goblins, also watched the fruiting bodies winding their way along the mountain trails. Every face wore a look of astonishment. Unlike the good-for-nothings of Ideal City, they were no strangers to slime mold. On the wasteland, that menace was ranked alongside alien species, marauders, and mutants as one of the Four Plagues. Though the Legion had conquered vast territories, they had few effective means to deal with the broodmothers within their borders. Yet the Alliance, holding barely a single province, had not only conquered this terror, but even tamed it?! It was utterly absurd. "The gray mist shows signs of weakening..." Watching the surging horde of fruiting bodies, the adjutant beside General Modelin looked visibly invigorated. General Modelin said nothing, staring forward with furrowed brows before stating concisely, "It isn't weakening. Look closely—there is a clear line dividing the mists." The Alliance had shared relevant research findings during the Slime Mold Research Community conference: when tracing the origins of the Na fruit, they discovered that the Strain B wild strain from Baiyue Province had a noticeable inhibitory effect on the Strain J modified by the Church of the Torch. The underlying mechanism remained unclear, and investigation into the broodmother in Baiyue Province had only just begun, with many theories still being explored. Even without knowing the principle, however, nothing stopped them from putting the practical results to use. In all likelihood, those fruiting bodies had been inoculated with Strain B, or had similar gene fragments spliced into their spore-secreting organs. He was merely an officer, not a professional biologist, and could only offer a broad conjecture. What surprised him was not the Alliance's biotechnology, but that they had truly "devoured" the broodmother on Blood Mountain. In the Alliance's words, that was called "assimilation." This was likely the closest they had ever come to the Alliance's top secrets, but unfortunately, they remained too far away to observe how that assimilation had been achieved. A trace of regret flickered across General Modelin's face, but he quickly regained his composure, understanding dawning in his eyes. "...Now I finally see why the Academy, which usually prefers hiding in the rear, suddenly insisted so firmly on handling the assault on Blood Mountain themselves." Among all the peaks of the Ten Peaks Mountain range, Blood Mountain, the highest, was unquestionably the most perilous. They never did thankless work for free. The adjutant looked at him in surprise. "...You mean they knew from the start that a mutant slime mold broodmother was there?" "If I recall correctly, the first to target the Church of the Torch was not the Alliance, but the Academy... That broodmother has existed for two hundred years. Perhaps they already obtained relevant data back in the era of the Post-War Reconstruction Committee." Pausing, General Modelin added indifferently, "Of course, that is merely my conjecture." *** A grayish-green torrent surged along the winding mountain path through the foggy night, advancing toward Weifu Military Base. Wherever they passed, the grayish-green fog rolled violently as if brought to a boil, while the grayish-green mycelium erupting from the soil wilted and drooped. "Heaven" appeared to be halted. And it was collapsing at a visible rate! The ratfolk corrupted by the Na fruit gazed blankly at them, allowing the ominous mist to envelop their bodies without making a single move. Meanwhile, the corpses crawling from the soil showed a trace of fear in their vacant eyes. These awakened dead possessed no complete consciousness; they were merely puppets driven by the Na fruit mycelium. Consequently, their emotions were the direct projection of the countless mycelial strands' terror. *"Hiss..."* The corpses let out hoarse shrieks, seemingly trying to intimidate the creatures closing in around them. Yet the crawlers and gnawers paid no heed to the hollow threats. If anything, the noise drew their predatory gaze. Hunger for flesh radiated from amber eyes. Instead of slowing, the crawlers surged forward, lunging at the corpses with excited chittering. Two twisted torrents collided in an instant. Against the battle-hardened fruiting bodies from Qingquan City, these Na fruit-corrupted corpses were utterly fragile. Under the influence of spores released by Strain B, the Na fruit mycelium infesting this land withered and perished at a visible pace. The battlefield situation reversed in a flash. The southern sector of Weifu Military Base fell entirely under the control of Yu's fruiting body army, and a continuous stream of reinforcements followed from behind, pushing the battle line out toward the eastern and western flanks of the base. "Nicely done!" Seated inside the Thunder fighter, Luo Yu caught sight of the ground action by the light of the flares and shouted in excitement. *"Yiwu! (Thank you for the praise!)"* An affectionate reply came over the comms channel, sounding as though it wanted to say, *"Please praise me more!"* *** At the same time, on another side of the battlefield. Flapping his wings, Kubo stared at the southern battlefield in bewilderment, disbelief written across his hideous face. Heaven was collapsing! How could this be! He was merely an apostle. Though he had assisted the Pioneer codenamed Renhuang with research, his duties had never touched the core of Heaven; he had only captured and secured experimental subjects. Consequently, he could not comprehend what was unfolding before his eyes. Just then, a sigh sounded beside his ear—Renhuang's voice. "...Though I anticipated things might drift beyond our expectations, I never imagined that fellow wouldn't even last a single month, let alone half a year." Blood Mountain had fallen. And the broodmother there had fallen with it. They could now determine that the Alliance possessed some technique capable of assimilating broodmothers, and through that, had implanted gene fragments of the wild Na fruit strain from Baiyue Province into the Blood Mountain broodmother. This was an angle they truly had not considered. Originally, they assumed the Alliance would adopt an alternative route: using gene-editing techniques to adapt the wild Na fruit strain for cultivation outside Baiyue Province. That was the safest approach and the first idea most would think of. Yet had the Alliance done that, it would have played right into their hands. Those fools would have soon realized they were merely retracing the Torch's old steps, walking straight into a maze with no exit. Now, however, it seemed they had bypassed the maze entirely, using the slime mold fruiting bodies as petri dishes to pull off a brilliant trick of borrowing the nest to hatch their own brood. Even he had to admit their ingenuity was truly bold. Hearing his master's voice, Kubo asked respectfully mid-flight, "Lord Pioneer, what should we do?" Renhuang pondered briefly before speaking in a low, measured voice. "Withdraw. It is meaningless now. Better to preserve our strength for what lies ahead." The Beastmaster held three cards: the broodmother of Blood Mountain, the mutants, and Heaven rooted across the Ten Peaks and Weifu Wasteland. The first two cards were already torn to shreds; the third was only a matter of time. Relying solely on the ten thousand Batwings under his own command to crack the tough nut of Weifu Military Base was nothing short of a pipe dream. Deploying these troops for guerrilla warfare across the mountains between Jinchuan and Haiya Provinces would be far more productive than throwing them away as cannon fodder here. A flicker of hesitation crossed Kubo's eyes. "Then what about the Beastmaster...?" Renhuang said without hesitation, "He has already lost. Even if we help, it will change nothing. He must pay for his arrogance—" Before he could finish, his voice abruptly cut out, as though someone had forcefully changed the channel with a remote control. While Kubo was still reeling, a ragged, hurried voice patched into the sea of his consciousness, seemingly relayed through the biological power armor he wore. "Give me control of your body... Lend it to me. I'll return it once I'm done." The Beastmaster's voice was laden with dishevelment and exhaustion. The Bloodhoof Clan was wiped out. And along with them went his meticulously crafted masterpieces. Though some mutant lackeys still carried Torch chips, those pawns could never achieve anything; at most, they could serve as extra sets of eyes. His control over the mortal realm had never fallen so low. Even his colleagues refused to listen to his voice. Fortunately, he still had one final trump card. The biological power armor suits he crafted still contained his chips. Though this apostle named Kubo was Renhuang's subordinate, the biological power armor he wore was his own creation. "...Wait, what did you do?! Let go of me!" Kubo's voice was laced with terror. He found himself stripped of control, helplessly watching his body plummet. His body seemed no longer his own, steered by another entity. And that fellow acted like a madman. Not satisfied with taking Kubo's body, he swayed the other mutants clad in biological power armor as well. Disinclined to waste words, the Beastmaster ignored the apostle roaring in impotent rage within the Sanctuary, driving Kubo's body in a direct dive toward the military base. "Attack!" "Charge!" "Rip open their chests with your fangs and claws! Decorate this earth with their flesh and entrails, and make them regret ever setting foot here!" He bellowed over the comms channel while issuing the attack order to all Batwings through his mental interference module. Under the sway of the psychic ripples, the Batwings descended into frenzy, letting out piercing screeches as they threw themselves recklessly at the nearest enemies. Surveying the hellish ground battlefield, Kubo—dominated by the Beastmaster—wore a cruel, vicious sneer. He would go nowhere, nor did he have anywhere left to go. His colleagues wished to abandon him, but he would not sit idly by and wait for death. This was his parish! It would be forever! Since the fall of Heaven had become inevitable, only one course of action remained. To wager everything on one final strike before Heaven completely caved in. As long as he shattered the coalition's command structure, he would still have a chance to turn the tables! Right— The Alliance's manager seemed to be here as well! As long as he eliminated that man, everything would be set right! At some point, he had forgotten the ideals he had once sworn to achieve. Not that such things mattered anymore. He had lost everything, and was on the verge of losing the Heaven he had already built. He could never allow that to happen! If the new world had no place for his name, what meaning did that new world hold? The Torch's grand plan no longer mattered. All he wanted now was for every bastard who had ruined his work to die! Everyone had to die! *** On the other side, at Weifu Military Base, inside the temporary research institute where Alliance and Enterprise researchers were stationed. Assembled near the institute, Kakarot looked up at the Batwings suddenly going berserk and cried out in disbelief, "Holy shit... did these guys pop pills or something?!" Barely half a minute ago, they had maintained a steady, methodical assault. Suddenly, they had gone mad, swarming forward in a wild frenzy. "...It also shows they're at their wit's end, with no new tricks left to play." Commander Spring wiped blood from his helmet, swapped the magazine on his 20mm Lance, and resumed firing at the incoming targets. Not far from them, the Hound Special Forces had already suffered over fifty percent casualties. Seemingly unable to bear the mounting assault, they showed early signs of breaking. The Empire's officers appeared to be over there as well. Though he didn't know why those fellows had come here, if they were fleeing for their lives, they had picked the wrong spot. The Church of the Torch seemed to have realized something, intensifying their assault on this temporary research facility. For a moment, Commander Spring could not tell whether the Batwings were drawn by the manager, by the researchers inside, or whether their battlefield instincts had sensed the coalition's extraordinary defenses here and deduced it was a high-value strategic target. None of that mattered anymore. Since the enemy was throwing everything they had, all they needed to do was crush them with full force. Every trump card was on the table, all chips pushed to the center. There was no finesse left, only a raw clash of power. Whoever had the greater strength would slam the other's arm into the table! Ten-Punch Superman drove a semi-convertible truck straight toward the temporary institute, the quad anti-aircraft autocannon mounted on the flatbed quickly angling up. This quad AA cannon had been dismantled from the air defense position on the base's south side. It was no longer needed there, but proved to be a godsend right here! Under an Agility-type player's control, the four barrels unleashed a hammering fury toward the sky, tracing a dense, inescapable net of tracer fire! There was no need to aim. The winged beasts simply swarmed forward in droves. Within moments, the open ground before the combat research facility was littered with severed limbs and gore, and a dense red rain misted down from above. The arrival of the anti-aircraft truck greatly bolstered the morale of the soldiers near the facility, reversing the precarious situation once again. Yet right at that moment, an unexpected turn occurred. A biological power armor suit crashed down from the sky, slamming violently into the facility's outer wall and smashing a gaping hole through the concrete. Two guardsmen shooting from the window were killed instantly. The others were pelted by flying rubble and retreated in disarray, thinking they had taken an artillery shell. Only when the dust cleared did they see what had broken in. Without hesitation, two guardsmen raised their rifles and fired. Yet the creature moved so fast they could barely track it. Before their muzzles were fully raised, a barbed tail whipped across the chestplates of their exoskeletons. The ballistic inserts shattered instantly, and the two flew backward like baseballs struck by a bat, coughing up blood before crashing heavily into the wall, unconscious. A fleeting shock crossed the faces of the remaining six guardsmen, but only for a fraction of a second. They were the Alliance's most loyal warriors, prepared long ago to lay down their lives for the manager. Not one retreated; every man faced the beast and pulled the trigger, ready to die. Abrupt muzzle flashes wove orange-red sheets of fire down the corridor. Yet the creature, armed to the teeth in biological power armor, acted completely unfazed. Bracing against the hail of lead, it lunged straight toward the emergency stairwell at the end of the corridor. His nose could catch the rich scent of life—a scent that sent shivers of exhilaration through his frame. He could not wait to tear into that man's presence and rip him from that azure power armor. Furthermore, the strange disturbance detected by the mental interference module and the coalition's fierce determination to hold this ground confirmed his suspicions— The coalition's supreme commander and the manager of the Alliance was right here! Fortunate indeed. Those troublesome pests were probably still trapped inside the caverns of Blood Mountain. And this time— No one would stand in his way! "I know you're here! Hahaha! Didn't expect this, did you? I've come for you!" Roaring with wild laughter, it swung its razor-sharp claws, slaying two men in an instant. The other four were sent flying by violent strikes, slamming onto the floor, crashing against walls, or hurled out the windows. Like a frenzied beast swinging its python-like tail, it wrecked everything in sight with reckless abandon, sweeping through the first floor with lightning speed before charging down the stairs toward the lower level. War had breached the institute without warning. Everyone was caught completely off guard by the sudden turn. The researchers taking refuge in the basement stared at the surveillance monitors, terror washing over their faces. Whether hailing from the Alliance or Ideal City's Yunjian University, they had only ever seen such monsters in zoos. No— The alien species in zoos possessed nowhere near this kind of destructive power; even a Deathclaw would pale in comparison. Heya turned pale, swallowing hard against her will. Though Qingquan City was far from safe, the companions of Shelter 404 had always protected her well. Ever since leaving Shelter 117, this was the closest she had ever been to mortal danger... Standing at the edge of the crowd, Lyu Bei cast a hurried glance to his side, intending to escort the manager away, only to find him gone. At that very moment on the monitor, the rampaging biological power armor was suddenly hurled backward with a howl, as if hit head-on by a speeding train. A violent blast of air blew away the dust, revealing the silhouette standing at the far end of the corridor. *** Struggling to his feet, the Beastmaster shook his hideous head violently and peered down the corridor, trying to see what the hell he had just collided with. Yet the moment he saw the figure clearly, his dark green pupils snapped tight. Azure power armor... No mistake! That was the very suit Seven Willard had worn—the relic of the former manager. "Looking for me?" Carrying the Nitrogen Power Hammer in hand, Chu Guang gazed expressionlessly at the creature. "Hahahahaha!" After meeting his gaze for half a second, the Beastmaster burst into uproarious laughter. His grotesque expression carried a mania akin to a gambler who had lost everything at the table. Over twenty years... Was it twenty-three, or twenty-four? They had been away from that shelter for so long. All he remembered was that around Year 190 of the Wasteland Era, the dwellers of Shelter 117 split into the Gravekeeper and Torch factions. After leaving that shelter, too much had happened. Compared to everything else, the petty grievances between Gravekeepers and the Torch were barely worth mentioning, to the point he could hardly recall that stubborn old man. Come to think of it, that old fellow hadn't been so terrible, merely a bit obstinate. From Boulder City to the Death Coast, they had seen plenty of man-eating horrors along the way. Compared to those monsters, their old manager had practically been a saint... "...Yes, I've been looking for you. I searched so hard for you, my dear Manager." A chilling smile twisted his mouth as he curled his long, razor-sharp claws, his tail rattling like a sidewinder's as he adopted an attacking posture. Then, he spoke with deliberate slowness. "You shouldn't be wearing that power armor... The last man who wore it lost to us twenty-three years ago." Chu Guang remained indifferent, merely watching the monstrous hybrid before him with cold eyes. "You talk too much." Before his voice had even faded, the beast shot toward him like an arrow released from a bow. All that chatter had been a deliberate distraction, meant to lure Chu Guang into exposing an opening for just a split second. Its explosive hind legs cracked the corridor's floor tiles, and the sonic boom of its charge rattled the unbroken windows like a sweeping gale. This biological power armor was the culmination of his life's work, and its terrifying destructive power was the proudest masterpiece of his existence! Not even a nitrogen shield could withstand a strike rivaling a railgun! "Go back to hell—!" An ecstatic roar erupted from his throat, yet his whistling claws reached Chu Guang faster than the scream itself. Yet— Before he could celebrate his triumph, before he could bathe in his foe's blood, kinetic force like an artillery shell slammed squarely into his face, crushing his hideous features inward against his skull. The horrific impact seemed to pierce straight through his mind, plunging his consciousness into a momentary daze that nearly flung his soul from this stolen vessel. Yet his body quickly caught up with his dislodged spirit, sailing through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground. The Beastmaster was utterly stunned. He had seen clearly that the Nitrogen Power Hammer still rested on the floor, untouched. Not only was he stunned, but Kubo, dragged along by the nose, was equally bewildered. Yet Kubo had seen it plainly: what had struck his face was not the hammer at all, but a fist like an iron cannon. What was more— Beneath the man's feet, web-like fractures spread across the corridor floor tiles, and massive slabs of concrete shattered to pieces, leaving the entire hallway looking as though an artillery shell had detonated within it. *This guy is the real monster!* Despair flooded Kubo's mind as he fought desperately against the Beastmaster for control of the body, seeking only to flee. There was no chance of winning a one-on-one duel! They would need at least five like him just to stall this man! Continuing to fight was no different from throwing his life away! He wasn't like those old relics hiding inside the Sanctuary; that fellow couldn't die, but Kubo had only one life! Looking down at the creature writhing in agony on the floor, Chu Guang casually shook out his right fist. Trying a sneak attack? Lacked martial manners, frankly. Then again, a hammer wasn't his only weapon—his fists could beat people just fine. "...After hearing you babble so much, I have a rough idea of who you are. The 'Beastmaster' hiding in the Sanctuary, right?" Sprawled on the ground, the Beastmaster glared at him with murderous intent, pale mist leaking from his mouth and vicious light glittering in his dark green eyes. Clearly, the fellow had not accepted defeat and was still biding his time for the next strike. Fine by him. Even if the creature begged for mercy, Chu Guang had no reason to let it live. Glancing at the one-inch indentation pressed into the steel knuckle of his gauntlet, Chu Guang looked down at the so-called Beastmaster with cold detachment. "That's it?"