Total Annihilation!

With the commitment of the mechanized infantry company—the elite of the elite in the Burning Corps—to the battlefield, the precarious situation the 1st Battalion faced reversed in an instant. Amid the shattered ruins, faint crimson arcs flashed relentlessly. Every flicker marked another heavy infantryman whose armor was cleaved open by a searing jet of molten metal! Lao Bai, brandishing his thermal fusion cutting axe, cleaved through enemies like child's play. With a few deafening clangs, he battered the Order of the Holy Light's power armor units until they tumbled every which way, carving open a massive gap straight through their battle line! The ranks of the Order of the Holy Light were swiftly severed into two, falling into total chaos in the dark, cramped ruins. The entire battle had turned into a one-sided slaughter! To make matters worse for them, the Cloud Dragonfly ornithopters lying in ambush near the city joined the offensive! Guided by target designations from ground forces, rockets poured from their pods. Accompanied by deafening explosions, they reduced the flank of the Order of the Holy Light into a sea of fire! The searing blast waves melted even the steel reinforcing rods buried within the concrete, leaving corpses clad in exoskeletons strewn haphazardly across the ground. Witnessing countless comrades fall dead or wounded in a heartbeat, the commander of the Order of the Holy Light fixed his venomous glare upon the Dragoon holding the hatchet. He ground out through clenched teeth: "...Long live the Kingdom of Heaven!" His pupils shifted to a crimson hue as wisps of scalding white vapor drifted from his mouth. The skin across his entire body warped as though scalded by boiling water, sprouting fleshy red hyphae that fused seamlessly with the armor encasing his frame. He offered everything to the Kingdom of Heaven—his mind and flesh alike—in exchange for supreme power. Having fused with an unstable primordial genetic solution, he had mutated into an outright monster. Yet he no longer cared. If he could not witness the Kingdom of Heaven descend upon the earth beneath his feet, he would gladly perish in the final seconds of its collapse! "Roar—!" A furious bellow reverberated through the ruins. Taking lumbering strides, he charged the Dragoon power armor, funneling his entire strength into his mutated right arm. The scarlet appendage jutting from his right arm was like a razor-sharp spear, thrusting violently forward amid his enraged roar! He was completely confident he could tear this puny ant to shreds! Yet just as the scarlet appendage was about to crash directly into the Dragoon power armor, something he could not possibly believe transpired. The unremarkable hatchet slammed into his face with unbelievable speed. Clang—! In a daze, he heard only a heavy, dull crash punch straight through the steel plating on his forehead. Immediately afterward, a torrent of heat as scalding as molten magma surged into his skull, extinguishing his last shred of consciousness. "Rest in peace." Looking down at the thoroughly dead beast before him, Lao Bai tossed out those casual words and kicked it aside. The gunfire across the ruins dragged on, but the battle had already entered its closing phase. Having fought down to its last paladin, the Order of the Holy Light was quickly wiped out. The remaining burden now fell entirely upon the Flame Cave Clan. Faced with the players' increasingly ferocious assault, even the thousands of mutants holding the ruins found it impossible to resist. This was not the Ten Peaks, after all. There were no winding, crisscrossing tunnels here for them to duck and weave through. The concrete domes, barely one or two meters thick, were like paper mache before 155mm bunker-buster shells. Worse still, the Alliance's artillery seemed to have eyes; a single heavy shell was often enough to mow them down in swaths like wheat. Seeing more and more of his subordinates wiped out and the flames of war burning right at his doorstep, Boldo Flame Cave had no choice but to bite the bullet and step up, despite his utter reluctance to face these terrifying monsters. Clad in heavy body armor engineered by North Island Heavy Industries, he raised a 10mm assault rifle and fired wildly at the Alliance positions in sweeping bursts. The barrage chewed an entire concrete wall to rubble, exposing the rebar inside. However, the Alliance soldiers were nowhere behind it, having slipped away long before. A 19mm bolt round struck Boldo's shoulder. A searing jet of metal melted straight through his shoulder blade, wringing a pained howl from his throat. With a mutant's terrifying vitality and regenerative capacity, an injury of this scale was hardly enough to kill him, but this first bolt round to the shoulder was only the beginning. A storm of rounds rained down upon him like hail, sending cascades of sparks bursting across his armor. Unable to withstand the concentrated barrage, Boldo scrambled back behind cover in utter disarray. What he had not anticipated was that once he began retreating, there was no stopping. The ferocious firepower drove him and his subordinates ever deeper into their lair. Seeing nowhere left to run, Boldo's vision turned entirely red with frenzy, and he charged out from behind cover with another bellow. "Flame Cave will never surrender! Never!" That deafening roar frightened nobody. In fact, the players besieging him paid it no mind at all. Raising an RPG and firing away, Corner Camper cursed unceremoniously: "Who the fuck asked if you'd surrender? Just drop dead for grandpa!" Trailing a thin streamer of white smoke, the shaped-charge warhead slammed dead center into Boldo's chest. Accompanied by an ear-splitting boom, a scalding jet of metal punched a gaping hole clean through him. "Aaaagh!!" Boldo howled in agony, his right index finger still clamped onto the trigger. The rifle rattled off burst after burst, though its accuracy was practically non-existent. At this point, he was like a beast caught in a snare, thrashing uselessly against the bars of his cage. In the end, his fate was no different from the countless other bosses slain by players. With one last defiant roar, he drew his final breath and collapsed heavily to the ground, bringing an end to his villainous life. With their chieftain slain, the Flame Cave Clan's final shred of will to resist was thoroughly snuffed out. Looking upon the walls pocked with bullet holes and the corpses strewn everywhere, the players standing over the ruins felt their blood surging with triumph. They had won! Not only had they won this battle and vanquished an enemy once deemed insurmountable, but they had also secured the ultimate victory of the entire war—scouring the Torch, which sowed chaos and plague, clean from this land without a single remnant left behind! The exhilarating rush of triumph was intoxicating. The gore clinging to their exoskeletons gleamed like medals of honor. The countless people of vision from south to north who had shed blood on the battlefield finally saw their sacrifice bear fruit— "Long live the Alliance!" Someone shouted first, and the blood-boiling cheer immediately swept across the battlefield in waves. "Long live the Administrator!!" "Awoo-wroo-ooh!!" The dawn cresting the horizon chased away the last lingering shadow over the ruins. Only then did many realize that they had fought through the entire night. Having confirmed that no enemy survivors remained, Lao Bai organized personnel to recover fallen allies' equipment and the loot dropped by their foes while tallying casualties among the squads. The 1st Battalion's casualties could only be described as catastrophic. Of their original complement of four hundred, barely over fifty remained, most of them wounded. Even though the original plan called for them to serve as a feint, and they had prepared to sacrifice everyone, seeing such numbers still made one's skin prickle. As for the mechanized infantry company led by Lao Bai, their combined dead and critically wounded totaled only thirty—though that count included six heavy units clad in power armor, testifying to the brutality of the clash! In return, the achievements of the Burning Corps were nothing short of extraordinary. A total of 5,221 mutants had been killed, including two hundred Named Champions and an assortment of extreme mutants. Additionally, 437 Torch extremists had been eliminated by the players in the fighting. Beyond the kill tallies, the players discovered numerous black boxes within Shelter 20. Among them were not only the black boxes the Torch had taken from Shelter 117 to synthesize bionic organs, but also devices acquired elsewhere. For example, black boxes designed to produce optical camouflage modules and Destroyer Type I exoskeletons. Although the Alliance's industrial capabilities had advanced past the need to rely on black boxes—to the point where they could develop and manufacture sophisticated equipment like power armor entirely in-house—no one would turn down such convenient wishing machines. Moreover, there were still items even the Alliance could not produce. Bionic organs and microchips, for instance. Aside from the black boxes, the Alliance's greatest prize was the 571 researchers captured in Shelter 20. Among them were blue jackets from various shelters, along with a handful of the Academy's E- and D-rank prospectors, and even D-rank researchers! The Torch had always treated captives with discrimination. Captives with knowledge were typically put to good use. After all, building the Kingdom of Heaven was a systematic enterprise. Completing it could not rely solely on a dozen-odd Harbingers; base-level researchers were essential to carry out foundational work. Only useless wastelanders were fed Na fruit and shipped off to mutants to serve as breeding beds. To facilitate administration, the Torch had locked nearly all the brilliant minds plundered from across the wasteland inside Shelter 20—which, conveniently enough, allowed the players to reap a massive windfall. Aboard the Viper transport, Karen, whose consciousness was linked to an android, looked uneasily at Fang Chang and asked with trepidation: "...You'll help fix my body, right?" "Of course. We keep our word," Fang Chang answered concisely from outside the cabin. Karen's eyes still betrayed a hint of doubt, but under the circumstances, she had no alternative but to trust them. Seeing that the craft was preparing for takeoff, she seemed to remember something and called out: "Wait, aren't you getting on too?" Fang Chang: "We still have things to do here." Karen: "I could actually stay and help. My brain is stuck here anyway—" Seeing that she was ready to ramble indefinitely, Fang Chang sighed and explained patiently: "Someone wants to see you. To put her mind at ease, I need you to go meet her first." Karen looked at him blankly. "Who?" "Heya." "Heya... that name again," Karen muttered in distress, clutching her head with both hands, fingers tangling in her hair. "I told you, I don't know her at all..." Fang Chang: "All right, stop complaining. Right now, she's probably the only one who can help you." Karen looked at him, asking cautiously: "...Didn't you say you'd help me?" "I want to help, but unfortunately, my knowledge of biology is limited to whatever was in my textbooks..." Not wanting to listen to any more chatter, Fang Chang signaled to the cockpit. "Have a safe flight." The pilot gave him a thumbs-up and started the engines. "W-Wait a second—" Karen tried to say more, but the swirling backwash instantly swallowed her words. Having seen her off, Fang Chang turned back to the battlefield currently being cleaned up. Earlier, a transport plane had delivered another round of airdrops. Packed inside the crates were not just three times the standard ammo allocation, but also three times the standard ration of boxed meals. An Awakened's appetite far exceeded that of ordinary people, to say nothing of the fact that the players present had just fought through an intense battle. Many were starving. They tore open the airdrop crates in no time flat and squatted on the ground to chow down. Fang Chang grabbed a meal box for himself. Just as he snapped his chopsticks apart, he saw Corner Camper walking over. "Our drones spotted a unit approaching from the northwest. They're only ten kilometers away, roughly regiment-sized." Using his chopsticks, Fang Chang tossed a piece of roasted chicken into his mouth and asked casually: "Hostile or friendly?" Corner Camper: "It's the Legion." The Legion... Fang Chang frowned slightly. It seemed the commotion from last night was simply too big. That cohort had likely been on the move for a while. "Understood. Leave it to me." With that, he dug furiously into his meal box, wolfing it down in a few quick bites, then brought up the map on his VM, located Lao Bai, and walked over. At that moment, Lao Bai was in the nearby ruins. While scouring the battlefield earlier, they had uncovered a dungeon deep within the mutant positions. At first, the players assumed the Flame Cave Clan had relocated from the Ten Peaks to this area not long ago and wouldn't have had the chance to take prisoners. What was more, the survivors of Haiya Province had supposedly been slaughtered by the Torch, leaving no one to capture, so no one had expected to find a mutant dungeon here. Yet when the players clearing the field lifted the trapdoor, everyone was startled by what lay inside. In that cramped space, a dense mass of over ten thousand people was packed together! There were men, women, and children... though no elderly in sight. Most were emaciated and sallow, their eyes dull and lifeless, their numb faces stripped of vitality as though broken by endless torment. Judging by their appearance, they had been held here for far longer than a day or two—at least six months to a year. Without doubt, most were survivors from Haiya Province! Perhaps for experimental purposes, or perhaps to sustain the mutants, the Church of the Torch had not exterminated the local population entirely, leaving a remnant alive. Upon learning the situation in the dungeon, Lao Bai immediately reported the discovery back to headquarters, then redirected players clearing the battlefield over to the dungeon to tend to the survivors first. Conveniently, the airdropped supplies had surplus provisions. After evacuating the dungeon's survivors in batches, they distributed part of the extra food among them. Perhaps because it had been far too long since they had tasted human food, when the survivors received the meal boxes, they momentarily didn't even know how to begin eating. Those who came to their senses first scooped up the food with trembling spoons and shoved it into their mouths, tears welling in their eyes. "Thank you... thank you so much. I don't even know how to thank you." Looking upon the benefactor who had rescued him from the mutants and given him food, the ragged man babbled incoherently, practically desperate to kowtow before him right then and there. Hurriedly catching the survivor by the arm, Killing Dagger said with a smile: "You're welcome. It was hardly any trouble for us." "Hardly any trouble for you, but you saved my life!" the man said emotionally. "My name is Li Junming. I'm a survivor from nearby Liushu Village. If you ever need anything from me in the future, just say the word... Ah, I forgot to ask, who might you be?" "I'm... uh, just call me Sha Bi," Killing Dagger coughed awkwardly, having no desire to explain his handle and utterly regretting that he hadn't picked a more normal name. He quickly changed the subject. "You don't need to thank me. We're all soldiers of the Alliance. If you want to thank someone, thank the Alliance!" "The Alliance is..." A trace of confusion flickered in the man's eyes; he had clearly never heard the term before. That was hardly surprising. When the Torch thoroughly conquered Haiya Province, Dawn City hadn't even been founded, let alone the Alliance, and all of Qingquan City was Boulder City's sphere of influence. Haiya Province was remote; at most, it had minor trade connections with settlements in the southern part of Jinchuan Province, and its people might not even know where Boulder City was. Killing Dagger smiled and said: "That's right, the Alliance. An alliance of all survivors standing together. Our goal is to bring an end to this rotten wasteland... In any case, you're saved. We'll get you out of this godforsaken place as soon as possible." The Overlord transport planes lacked VTOL capability, so airlifting them out was impractical. However, the coastline wasn't far—barely a hundred kilometers away. Now that the Torch's stronghold had been eradicated, waiting here for ground forces to push forward and then transporting the survivors to the coast in trucks would work just as well. Following past precedents, the Alliance would likely establish a new settlement near the coastline to shelter those displaced by the Torch. Standing at the perimeter of the crowd, Lao Bai noticed a half-grown boy staring fixedly at him. Or rather, staring at the blood-spattered power armor he wore. Guns and mechs really were a man's true romance, whether in reality or in a game. Seeing a glimmer of yearning in the eyes of the boy standing alone, Lao Bai walked over, knelt before him, released the visor of his helmet, and offered a friendly smile: "I'm Lao Bai. What's your name?" "...Wang Rui." "Where are your parents?" "Dead." Lao Bai pondered for a moment, unsure of how to comfort the child. Right then, an idea struck him. Smiling, he ruffled the boy's hair. "Wait here for a moment." With that, he rose and walked over to the pile of equipment from fallen comrades. Picking through them, he found an exoskeleton damaged beyond any hope of repair and detached the Burning Corps medal from its fractured breastplate. Normally, when purchasing standard-issue gear, players customized it with DIY insignias to make themselves distinct. The Burning Corps insignia, for example, depicted a flame-shaped banner and a suit of power armor standing amidst fire— Signifying that they were always ready to burn themselves for the Alliance, and would always appear on the most perilous battlefields. Returning to the boy's side, Lao Bai pressed the medal into the child's hands. "I'm sorry about your parents, but all we can do is save those who are still alive... This is our insignia. I hope it brings courage to your life ahead." Receiving the medal, the boy's eyes widened. He looked in astonishment at the soldier who called himself Lao Bai, his mouth working for several moments before he stammered: "Is it really okay to give this to me?" He loved the gift, but felt it was too precious and felt embarrassed taking it. "Why wouldn't it be? If there comes a day when we're gone, we'll be counting on you to carry it on." Lao Bai grinned, gave the boy an encouraging pat on the shoulder, and pushed him gently forward. "Go on, stay with your people. Comfort those who haven't made it out of their past grief for us. You might have to stay here for two or three days, and after that, we'll send people to move you somewhere safe." Flushing red, the boy whispered a thank you, clenched the honorary insignia tightly in his hand, and trotted off. Watching the little guy vanish into the crowd, Lao Bai chuckled, clapped his hands, and stood up from the ground. He felt as though what he had just done seemed very reminiscent of the Administrator. Yet that was only natural. As the saying went, who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl. Humans were social animals; spend enough time together, and they inevitably learned from and influenced one another. Before, the Administrator had personally led them to change the wasteland; now, it was time for them to do it themselves. Right then, a familiar voice came from behind him. "Having an NPC carry on our corps might be a bit of a stretch. No matter what, they only have one life, while our skydiving skills all started from falling to our deaths." Seeing Fang Chang walk up from behind, Lao Bai laughed heartily and said: "Haha, fair point. But I think it's precisely because they only have one life that they can pass down our traditions even better." "Oh?" Lao Bai grinned and continued: "Birth and death are what make someone human; only stones stay unchanging. They're the ones who truly belong to this world, whereas we are just passersby... That's how I feel, anyway." "Maybe. Though my feeling is the exact opposite—I feel more and more like I belong to this world." Without lingering on the topic, Fang Chang brushed it aside with that ambiguous remark and moved on. "Back to business. The Legion is here." Lao Bai's brow arched slightly. "So fast?" "Yeah," Fang Chang nodded, his expression turning serious. "Chances are, the moment we engaged, they had their eyes on us."