This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 560.2: Slavelords and Mutant Humans

After a moment’s hesitation, he rushed to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a silver case.

Inside lay three emerald-green fruits, resting quietly.

They were a gift from an Apostle named Zhang Zhengyang, said to be the purest Holy Fruit from the sacred land, able to cure all earthly disease.

Of course, he didn’t believe that nonsense.

His remaining reason told him the fruits were no good thing.

The Holy Water kept him clear-headed, but that also meant his mind and life were now in someone else’s hands.

Under normal circumstances, he would never touch such a thing.

For the time being, his condition left no room for hesitation.

He was still in his prime. He couldn’t afford to show weakness like an old man.

This settlement... No, the entire wasteland still needed his strength. He had too much left to do. He couldn’t fall!

"Just one should be fine..." Zhao Tiangan comforted himself silently as he took out the smallest emerald-colored fruit and carefully popped it into his mouth.

The moment his lips and teeth touched, the sweetness slid down his throat along his taste buds, and the nectar that seemed to pour into his very soul made his mind reel in a trance.

The ensuing euphoria instantly swept away all his pain and illness.

Inside his body, every form of life, no matter what kind, came to a mysterious reconciliation under the influence of some unknown force.

And that wasn’t all. He felt healthier and stronger than he had ever been.

Wrapping his arms around his shoulders, Zhao Tiangan suddenly burst into laughter. "Heh heh... Hahaha!"

The laughter grew louder and louder, gradually taking on a tinge of madness.

So that was it.

At this moment, he finally understood why those people couldn’t stop...

...

Roughly 100 to 200 kilometers from Brocade Lake Municipality, six modified trucks had broken down on the roadside, while orange-yellow muzzle flashes flickered atop a nearby hill.

Over 20 marauders lay prone at the top, firing bursts from their automatic rifles, pouring firepower downhill.

The caravan’s guards were caught off guard, scrambling away from the trucks and tumbling to shelter behind large rocks, returning fire from behind whatever cover they could find.

Spent shells clinked against the ground, and a marauder with ammo belts draped across his shoulders and a machine gun in his hands shouted excitedly to his leader.

"Haha! We're gonna strike it rich, boss!"

"Watch your fire! Don’t wreck the goods in the trucks!"

Wang Youhu, wearing a fur cap, was glowing with excitement. His beady eyes were locked greedily on the convoy stranded by the road.

The cargo in those six trucks, hundreds of guns, at least a hundred thousand rounds!

With this haul, never mind those little villages. Even Boss Zhao’s Pinecone Ranch was ripe for the taking!

Their Hilltop Wild Wolves gang was on its way to greatness!

However... They had clearly picked the wrong opponent.

Just as they were gleefully firing away, a team of warriors clad in pitch-black exoskeletons had already crept up the hillside on their flank.

With a sharp blast, the marauder manning the machine gun took a bullet to the head, a mist of blood bursting forth as he collapsed without a sound.

Another marauder, seeing this, tried to grab the machine gun. He poked his head out, and was instantly slain.

In the blink of an eye, two had been taken down..

The marauders on the hilltop finally snapped back to their senses and turned their guns toward their flank, only to be met with a hail of bullets that pinned them behind cover, unable to lift their heads.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wang Youhu caught sight of the gleaming black exoskeletons. His face twisted in fear, and all greed vanished from his eyes. Looking at his brothers, he cried out in panic. "Shit, retreat!"

K-10 Iron Wall heavy exoskeletons!

What the hell was Boulder Town’s regular army doing here?!

Whatever it was, there was no time to think! He abandoned his cover and fled down the rear slope.

Seeing their boss run, the underlings followed in chaos, scattering into the woods like birds, even abandoning the precious machine gun without a second thought.

The battle was over.

Once the marauders had vanished without a trace, Falling Feather didn’t bother chasing them into the forest. Instead, he walked up to the machine gun.

He kicked away the corpse lying on top of it, then took a closer look at the weapon, surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Well damn, even mountain bandits are using Maxims now."

The machine gun looked a bit worn, and it was probably surplus from the last wave of conflict.

After several rounds of upgrades, the New Alliance army had mostly phased out these bulky water-cooled machine guns. Even Goblin Technology’s Maxim 2 used an air-cooled design modeled after the MG42 and upgraded the caliber from 7mm to 10mm.

As for the early model, most had been sold off to traveling merchants on the wasteland.

Some less developed survivor settlements still showed interest in these cheap, high-rate-of-fire, suppressive small-caliber machine guns.

As for how it ended up in the hands of marauders... Who knew?

Maybe they stole it. Maybe some merchant sold it to them.

Seeing Falling Feather return to the convoy with a machine gun and a crate of ammo, a man in a leather jacket quickly approached with concern.

"Are you alright?"

This NPC’s name was Wu Wenzhou, leader of the caravan and a subordinate of the employer who issued the commission.

"I’m fine. Those guys ran off... Oh, right."

Falling Feather tossed the ammo crate and the Maxim down in front of the NPC and added curtly, "Do you want to buy this?"

Wu Wenzhou paused at the question, clearly struggling to follow the mercenary’s train of thought.

Seeing that he wasn’t joking, he crouched to inspect the machine gun, then glanced at the ammo crate, speaking hesitantly.

"Maintenance is lacking, but it’s still functional... How about 600 silver coins?"

If it were a Maxim 2, the market price would be around 1,000 to 1,200 silver coins.

But this discontinued Maxim 1 probably wasn’t worth as much as the crate of 7mm full-power rounds beside it.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t offer such a high price. He would pay 400 silver coins at most. But considering the guy had just saved their lives, he didn’t want to be stingy.

Hearing the quote, Falling Feather’s heart leapt.

600?!

Holy crap!

That fellow was more generous than Mosquito!

Being a mercenary really paid off!

Waving to his men to toss the machine gun onto the truck, Wu Wenzhou shouted to the rest of his crew.

"Move it! Everyone get ready to roll!"

"Once we pass the forest and hills ahead, we’ll see our destination!"

"If you don’t want to sleep outside, we better hurry and reach Hope Town before sundown. Otherwise, once it’s dark, those things will be everywhere!"

With a quick sweep of the battlefield, the group hit the road again.

Gazing at the forest shrouded in mist ahead, knowing that beneath his feet lay Brocade River Province, Falling Feather felt a surge of excitement.

Who would've thought he would one day be at the forefront of the game’s content.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he turned to the NPC beside him and asked, "What kind of place is that Pinecone Ranch anyway?"

Sitting next to him, Wu Wenzhou replied with a smile, "It’s a big settlement... Though probably not as many buildings as Boulder Town."

"Is it a quaint little town?"

"Town... hmm, I wouldn’t exactly call it that."

At this, Falling Feather clearly sensed the NPC’s expression shift into something complicated, as if reluctant to talk about the place... Even though it was his hometown.

"... Anyway, it’s just a day or two away. You’ll see when we get there."

...

Just before dusk fully settled, the convoy to Pinecone Ranch finally reached the outskirts of Hope Town.

At the same time, dozens of kilometers away in Brocade Lake Municipality, a Viper transport plane trailed a faint blue arc of light as it silently approached the dead city.

The city felt lifeless. Silent streets devoid of movement, buildings like tombs, windows like gravestones.

Like Clearspring City, this city was teeming with mutants. But unlike Clearspring, there were no deadly Slime Mold or Hives, or even annual Tides.

Skimming along the ruined high-rises, the silent Viper transport eventually landed on the rooftop of an abandoned skyscraper.

Night Ten, clad in his exoframe, jumped from the cabin, boots landing on the dry concrete.

With his LD-50 carbine ready, he carefully swept every corner of the rooftop. Once secure, he slung his Gauss sniper rifle from his back, crawled to the edge, and took position at the railing.

The mission coordinates marked a site called Champion Biopharmaceutical Research Institute on the pre-war maps. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The company had been quite renowned before the war. The Champion stimulant was their flagship product, and the T-10 Champion exoframe used by the pre-war Federation Army was rumored to have shady ties to them.

The facility had two levels. It existed both aboveground and underground.

There were four towers, each 100 floors high, with an entrance to the underground level in each building.

According to the Academy’s intelligence, the 1,000 cubic meters of liquid Helium-3 was stored in reserve power systems underground in 1 liter high-pressure gas canisters.

Their task was to sneak in and extract all the canisters.

The only problem was that the security systems underground were still operational, and intelligence of things inside the facility was nonexistent.

They had no idea what was being researched, what the security level was, or even if competitors were also targeting the place.

"Reached position. Mission coordinates are about 700 meters away. Scanning target area..."

Pressing his visor against the scope, Night Ten peered at the distant building. The next second, his expression shifted.

"Fuck!"

The comms crackled with static.

Moments later, Old White’s voice came through. "Night Ten, what’s the situation on your end?"

"Mutant Humans! There’s not just a few either. There’s at least a hundred visible from here!"

He swept the scope along the building’s walls. Seeing reinforced concrete-and-metal nests, Night Ten cursed, "Shit, they’ve built their home up there!"

A murmur spread among the squad on the comms. "Mutant Humans?! What the hell do those greenies want with Helium-3?"

"They know nuclear fusion now?!"

"They don’t have to. If there’s a leftover fusion reactor... We’re using one, aren’t we?"

Just then, Ample Time’s voice cut through the channel, halting the chatter. "Team 2 has reached position... There are more people here than expected. We probably have superior firepower, but this place is too close to the territory of the Qi Mutant Human tribe."

"If they find out we’re after the same thing, it won’t end well. Whatever they’re looking for, they haven’t found it yet... Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be patrolling."

Old White replied, "Yeah, good point."

With a green mutant head centered in his scope, Night Ten rubbed the trigger longingly. "So we’re just letting this go today?"

Ample Time replied patiently, "We don’t have enough manpower. Even if we launch an assault, we need at least one team to intercept reinforcements or launch a diversion at their lair."

"Otherwise, even if we break in, if they block the exit, we're screwed."

Old White agreed. "Odds are, what we want is still inside. And there might be other things too... For now, let’s report to the administrator."

"... Fine."

Taking one last look at the green head and that grotesque face, Night Ten suppressed the urge to fire and reluctantly stowed his rifle.

Consider yourself lucky!

The mutant drooled and huffed like a dumbass, utterly unaware it had just brushed against death.

Turning back to the Viper, Night Ten stepped into the cabin, only for a sudden gunshot in the distance to shatter the night’s silence.

He froze.

The hell?!

Wasn’t the plan not to shoot?!