Chapter 577: Budgets Are Burning!

Chapter 577: Funds Are Burning!

In the inn at Pinecone Farm, candlelight flickered in the plainly decorated guest room. Unable to sleep, Wu Wenzhou paced back and forth.

Things were getting bigger and bigger...

At first, he had only agreed to help Yang He, to provide some assistance to that mercenary in retrieving Yang He’s six-year-old daughter from the Zhao residence.

Whether out of gratitude for past patronage or consideration of his own interests, he had intended to lend a hand.

It didn’t involve much risk.

Though Yang He was his boss, he hadn’t handled the matter through him; instead, he hired an outside mercenary.

After the incident, he could simply claim ignorance.

And if Yang He completely withdrew from Pinecone Farm, he could stay loyally behind, draw a clear line with Yang He, and become the farm’s exclusive merchant in the future.

Yang He had urged him to leave together, saying that with the capital they’d saved, they could still make big money without the farm’s resources.

But he hadn’t even thought twice before politely declining.

Compared to elusive freedom, he craved power and wealth more.

He knew well the difference between himself and Yang He—that guy might have had his fill of enjoyment, but he himself had yet to taste that intoxicating flavor.

Perhaps in the future, he would make the same choice as his former boss, but only after he had amassed a fortune.

To risk leaving now would not only undo all his efforts to curry favor with the master but also forever deny him the life he dreamed of.

Yet after seeing what happened in Hope Town and having a long talk with that fellow named Fang Chang, a bucket of cold water was poured over his head.

You need to live to spend the money you earn.

Maybe the boss was right.

The people here had gone mad.

So he unhesitatingly agreed to the Alliance’s terms, helping Alliance soldiers enter the settlement. In exchange, the Alliance would send a plane to take him and his family away from this plantation.

But what he hadn’t expected was that things had deviated from his plan from the very start.

The Alliance people had never intended to quietly investigate that “Sanctuary” and the bishop hidden there; instead, they were plotting something more terrifying and audacious.

Even more unexpected, they had been spotted by Commander Luo Feihui’s eyes in Hope Town, and that ambitious man had gotten involved.

Now, even as dense as he was, he finally caught on.

He had been played!

But it wasn’t exactly that the Alliance had deceived him; those cunning bastards just hadn’t laid out all their intentions.

After all, compared to careful infiltration and bribing relevant personnel for intel, directly taking over the farm, capturing the relevant people, and slowly interrogating them was also a method of investigation.

And far more efficient.

Not only that.

If the Alliance controlled the entire farm, his family would naturally be safe, fulfilling the terms of his exchange.

But—

Would it really go that smoothly?

He couldn’t help but look out the window into the pitch-black night.

Wasn’t the night a little too quiet...

“Knock knock—”

A knock came at the door.

The sudden sound startled the restless Wu Wenzhou, who quickly hurried to the door.

His hand gripped the doorknob, but he didn’t open it immediately, first asking cautiously.

“Who is it?”

“...”

Silence outside, not a sound.

The knocking seemed to have faded away, but he was sure someone was still there, for he hadn’t heard footsteps retreating.

A sense of unease churned within him. He switched his left hand to the doorknob, reached his right hand into his pocket, grasped the revolver tucked there, and gently released the safety.

Then, gritting his teeth, he pulled the door open.

Standing at the door was the inn’s accountant, his acquaintance Li Liangchuan.

Seeing that familiar face, Wu Wenzhou breathed a sigh of relief in an instant, his pounding heart calming down as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted.

“...Damn it, you knock and don’t say a word, trying to scare me to death or what?!”

The man at the door said nothing, just stood there as if sleepwalking, staring straight at him, lips sealed, silent.

Creeped out by that vacant gaze, Wu Wenzhou nervously swallowed, tentatively calling his name.

“...Liangchuan?”

Still no reaction, the man stood there with lifeless pupils.

Finally sensing something wrong, Wu Wenzhou backed into the guest room, pulled the revolver out of his pocket, and aimed it at the man’s head.

His face twisted as he roared.

“You bastard... what the hell are you playing at! Acting like a ghost!”

As if finally responding to the threatening voice, or perhaps awakened by something else, the innkeeper slowly shifted his downcast gaze to Wu Wenzhou, who had retreated into the room.

Staring intently at those dull pupils, Wu Wenzhou swallowed again, backing up to the wooden table by the window, his index finger already on the trigger, still aimed at that head.

From those murky eyes, he saw a naked craving for flesh and blood!

That was the look of a starving beast spotting a lone prey—after years on the wasteland, he couldn’t mistake it!

Something was wrong with this guy!

Definitely wrong!

“Don’t come closer! I’m warning you! One more step and I’ll shoot—! Aaaah!”

Screaming to vent his fury and terror, watching his friend stagger forward, he decisively squeezed the index finger on the trigger.

And not just once!

“Bang! Bang!”

The gunpowder’s blast echoed through the room. The bullets shattered his friend’s head without a doubt, splattering blood and brains onto the hallway.

“Don’t blame me... I warned you.”

Staring at the corpse on the floor, Wu Wenzhou leaned against the table, panting heavily. But before he could catch his breath, the figures appearing at the door made his face change instantly.

One, two, three...

A whole crowd!

They wore waiters’ uniforms, moving like walking corpses, their eyes like abysses fixed on him. Then they opened their mouths, letting out low, drawn-out groans like sludgy mud.

"Ah—"

Like a mountain torrent in flood.

They surged forward.

"Ahhh!" Wu Wenzhou, terrified, fired his revolver wildly into the crowd pouring in.

With the crack of gunfire, the muzzle flash flickered in the half-curtained window, like a guttering candle in the evening breeze.

Soon, a splash of crimson blood slapped against the window, followed by a distorted face and bloody handprints, completely blotting out the warm lamplight...

At the same time, in the heart of the settlement.

The opulent mansion belonging to the farm owner was now likewise shrouded in a bloody atmosphere.

"Weren't you looking for me?"

"Now I'm right before you—why have you all gone silent? Heh heh heh—"

Along with the voice came a dry, rasping laugh, echoing through the dead hall with an indescribable eeriness.

The crowd immediately looked up, and there stood a middle-aged man on the second-floor mezzanine, his murky gaze fixed over the railing on the people below.

He seemed to have been waiting here all along.

Waiting for them to come to him.

With a quick glance at the image on his VM, Fang Chang's pupils contracted slightly. He looked again at the man, his eyes full of surprise.

Zhao Tiangan?!

No—

"...Luo Qian?"

Fang Chang stared unblinkingly at the man.

Luo Yu cast him a hurried glance, as if asking, "What are you saying?"

But Fang Chang did not reply.

Just now, a possibility had occurred to him...

Though it sounded far-fetched, it would explain why the Sanctuary was an absolutely safe place.

And from a purely scientific, non-religious angle...

Because that thing wasn't on the "ground" at all.

And precisely because it wasn't on the ground, anyone could theoretically hear its gospel. And if it so wished, it could appear anywhere.

Hearing that name, the man's face twisted into a sinister smile.

"Heh... figured it out, have you? Faster than I expected."

"Ah, so that's it..."

Fang Chang watched him calmly, a hint of gravity creeping into his expression.

Catching the look on Fang Chang's face, Good Dog swallowed hard, both nervous and excited, and blurted out hastily.

"What are you two talking about... I don't get it?!"

He could understand a few phrases of the Common Tongue.

But after listening for so long, he was still completely lost.

Fang Chang gritted his teeth and forced out a sentence.

"A mental interference device!"

"Mental... interference?!" Luo Yu looked at him in surprise, wondering why he had suddenly brought that up.

What did that thing have to do with the current situation?

Fang Chang kept his eyes fixed on the man and said calmly.

"Remember the characteristics of a mental interference device... the higher the intelligence, the more specific the information received, but the less the impact. The lower the intelligence, the less information received, but the greater the impact."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he continued.

"Overconsumption of Naguo induces a 'trance state'... In that state, intelligence probably approaches zero."

The real "gospel" was probably not that pill!

It was a mental interference device working somewhere!

The pill's true purpose was not to suppress addiction at all!

It was something that amplified signals or helped parse them!

Of course, this was just his speculation.

But one thing was certain!

From the moment they arrived at Pinecone Farm—no, even earlier—that bastard had been watching them!

The man on the second-floor mezzanine bared his fangs.

"Goliath, kill them!"

"ROAR—!"

The instant the words fell, the mountain of flesh sitting on the floor let out a deafening roar. The windows of the entire building shattered outward from the terrifying soundwave.

"Ugh—"

The players in the hall covered their ears. Though pain was blocked, their hearing was nearly gone.

Following the principle of capturing the chieftain first, Good Dog quickly raised his gun and fired two shots at the man on the mezzanine.

Blood burst from the man's abdomen and shoulder, and he fell backward without a sound.

Didn't expect the boss to be such a pushover. Good Dog's eyes widened in surprise, then he spat triumphantly.

"Pfft! Serves you right for acting tough!"

Fang Chang's voice came from the side.

"Don't let your guard down! That guy's just a puppet!"

Good Dog: "What the hell?!"

"Open fire!" Fang Chang gripped his rifle and aimed straight at the hulking figure sitting among the corpses.

The mass of flesh that had been sitting on the floor now stood up, stomping heavily toward the players at the hall entrance.

"Rat-tat-tat—!"

The muzzle spat fire, and shell casings clattered to the floor.

Luo Yu pulled the trigger without hesitation, sending a stream of orange tracers toward the charging monster.

But to his astonishment, his bullets seemed to sink into a massive blob of gel, not even raising a ripple on that wall-like body!

"What the hell is this thing?!"

The concentrated fire focused on the monster's enormous head, yet the colossal mountain of flesh showed no reaction.

Kinetic energy fully absorbed!

Even facing concentrated fire from ten rifles, the monster called Goliath showed no sign of slowing, its windmill-sized hand slapping toward the crowd standing before the door, stirring up a gale within the spacious hall.

“Eee—!”

As the monster was about to charge into their midst, Xiaoyu’s avatar, clad in the K-10 “Iron Wall” exoskeleton, drew a combat knife and strode forward with long steps.

The blade plunged into the monster’s left chest.

Yet astonishingly, no blood gushed forth, as if the heart were not there at all!

The thrusting blade met only fat!

“Damn—”

A brief cry of anguish echoed through the comm channel.

Like a train, the monster paused for only an instant, then sent the exoskeleton-clad Xiaoyu avatar flying, continuing its relentless charge toward the others.

But Xiaoyu’s avatar had bought them some time, allowing them to dodge the roaring slap.

Raising an arm to deflect the flying shards of broken tile, Fang Chang pulled an incendiary grenade from his exoskeleton and hurled it fiercely at the monster called Goliath.

Flames burst across the monster’s body!

Yet compared to its massive frame, the burning fire was like a flickering flame on a lighter, unable to harm it in the slightest.

But—

He hadn’t expected this thing to finish the monster anyway.

As Goliath roared in pain, Fang Chang shouted into the comm channel.

“C and D squads, pull out of the building!”

“Drone team, prepare to fire!”

“Old Bai! Come give us a hand!”

“Ye Shi! Are you done yet? If not, just let it go—we’re pulling out!”

Earlier, Ye Shi hadn’t gotten off the carriage; instead, he stayed with the driver and went to the servants’ quarters, replacing Luo Yu to find the six-year-old girl.

After all, Luo Yu needed to command Xiaoyu’s avatar; only when near him could those “little Xiaoyus” maximize their combat effectiveness.

No answer came from Ye Shi on the comm channel.

Instead, Old Bai’s voice soon arrived, accompanied by the whistling of wind.

“…Hold on! We’re on our way—almost there!”

At the same moment, a piercing broadcast tore through the silent night, a dry, shrill laugh echoing over the estate.

“Hahaha…”

“Useless.”

“You can’t escape!”

“Stay here, all of you!”

Goliath roared, directly crashing through the wall attached to the villa’s front door, its twisted face howling at the players who had tumbled into the front yard.

“Roar—!”

The turbulent blast sent leaves and dust flying; C and D squads, retreating from the villa, fired in alternating bursts at the monster.

Meanwhile, B squad, crouching in the flowerbeds, and A squad, returning from the backyard, also raised their rifles and concentrated fire on the beast.

Goliath’s movements faltered for a moment, its angry roar tinged with pain—it was clear it wasn’t immortal.

When wounded, it too felt agony!

Just then, two streaks of fire trailing flames descended from the sky, striking the monster precisely on its left and right shoulders.

The exploding blaze engulfed Goliath, and its deafening roar was abruptly cut short.

A scorched, burnt smell drifted in the hot air.

As the dust of the explosion cleared, a bloody, mangled mass stood at the villa’s collapsed entrance, a pitiful sight barely recognizable in its original form.

Chunks of blackened charcoal lay scattered, emitting gray smoke and heat—likely fragments torn from its body.

Watching the steps and stone path burning in the silence, and that towering, unmoving mountain of flesh, Luo Yu swallowed.

“Is it dead…”

It seemed—

Not quite.

Looking closely, the massive body still rose and fell evenly; even torn apart by missiles, it hadn’t drawn its last breath.

Not only that!

From the wounds on its back, earthworm-like strips of flesh sprouted, twisting and intertwining, visibly stitching the damaged areas together!

This insane regeneration rate was absurd even for a mutant.

Its legs had already healed, and it suddenly began to retreat.

Seeing this, Fang Chang immediately shouted into his earpiece.

“Kuang Feng! Two more rounds!”

A calm reply came through.

“Copy that.”

As the words fell, two tongues of fire streaked across the night sky; two missiles descended from the air, once again striking the self-repairing monster!

One missile plunged directly into the still-healing wound; tentacle-like chunks of flesh coiled around its side, trying to hurl the thing out of the body.

But its reaction was clearly a step too slow.

The explosion’s fire burst violently, easily tearing the flesh wrapped around the missile into shreds and engulfing the monster once more.

No matter how absurd its regeneration, it was still within the realm of carbon-based life; if two missiles weren’t enough, two more would do!

But this time, it was clearly sufficient.

The colossal being crashed heavily to the ground, finally ceasing to move.

From the gaping wounds all over its body, large black, viscous masses oozed out, thick as petroleum—like blood, like fat.

The battle was over.

Yet no one cheered.

Everyone was painfully aware: they stood in the heart of Pinecone Farm, with at least three thousand-strong forces outside.

Causing such a commotion in the boss’s own home, leaving bullet holes and blood everywhere—even with a thousand tongues, they couldn’t explain it away.

The only one who might have controlled the situation, Luo Feihui, was already dead.

“Something’s not right…”

Withdrawing his gaze from the corpse that resembled a rockery, Fang Chang scanned his surroundings warily, his gun barrel tracing the edge of the garden.

"Isn't it a bit too quiet around here?"

If memory served, from the main gate of the estate to where they now stood, there were at least two checkpoints along the way, with over a hundred soldiers.

Even if only a few minutes had passed since the fighting began, it was inconceivable that the patrols and sentries on duty nearby were all deaf, showing no reaction at all.

He quickly glanced at the thermal imaging aerial view on his VM; the massive corpse at the center of the screen flickered with white light, and the bright spot directly in front of the villa was clearly them.

Further away, clusters of white blobs had gathered near the estate, poised and ready to launch an attack.

That wasn't abnormal yet.

But when he zoomed out and looked farther, he saw that the blobs marking soldiers were still moving along fixed routes, patrolling methodically...

Fang Chang suddenly realized something and immediately shouted.

"Gale! Fire off the remaining ammo!"

"Fire off?"

As the two words left his mouth, Gale seemed to catch on as well, and without hesitation, he fired the remaining four Dove-type missiles from the drone toward the open ground outside the settlement.

Yet a bizarre scene unfolded.

The four missiles, after launching, curved in midair and adjusted their trajectory, slamming straight into the front gate of the villa.

Watching the tongues of fire veer in the air, Fang Chang's face twisted in alarm, and he roared into the squad voice channel.

"Charge into the villa!"

The moment the words fell, he dashed toward the villa they had just evacuated.

Almost as his front foot crossed the threshold, the blast of the explosion bloomed not far behind him, and the scorching shockwave hurled him through the doorway; his helmet slammed into a pillar, nearly knocking him unconscious.

He was lucky.

Two players, only a step behind, were swallowed by the boiling flames, dying on the spot under friendly support fire.

Gale's voice came through the comm channel.

"The drone's been hijacked... Sorry—my—"

"It's not your fault... There's a pro on the other side."

Glancing back at the burning fire, Fang Chang sat up from the ground, took a light breath, and pushed himself to his feet using his rifle butt.

He suddenly recalled their encounter with the Torch Church during the mission to transport fuel rods in the eastern district of Clearspring City.

Those guys weren't many, but they were all well-equipped and highly trained. If not for home-field advantage and Mosquito's timely air support, they would have had little chance of winning.

A ball of flame shot up into the sky.

The Seagull, worth 3 million Cr, triggered its self-destruct sequence upon detecting the loss of control, gliding toward the preset safe coordinates.

3 million.

And in Cr.

This time, the budget was truly going up in flames.

What lit up the sky wasn't just the Seagull's wreckage, but also streaks of tracer fire rising upward, weaving into a net of firepower.

Watching the night sky illuminated by anti-air fire outside the window, Fang Chang sensed something was wrong and called into his earpiece.

"Old Bai... What's your situation?"

Static crackled through the comm channel, the clamor of gunfire and wind revealing the intensity of the battle.

"We're being driven off by anti-air fire! Can't get close to the settlement's central area... You'll have to hold out a bit longer!"

The agile Viper might not be shot down by a few quad-mounted anti-air guns, but under the harassment of the flak, it couldn't smoothly switch to vertical takeoff and landing mode to slow down and land.

"...Someone's approaching outside!" Luoyu, who had his rifle propped on the window, shouted nervously. "Damn! Looks like a lot!"

Almost at the same time, Old Bai's voice continued from the comm channel.

"A large number of targets are closing in on you... Be careful! Those people feel off!"

"Prepare for battle!"

Fang Chang quickly moved to the window, propped his rifle on the sill, and waved for squads A and B to head to the second floor.

The defensive deployment was complete.

Taking a light breath, he gritted his teeth and continued.

"How many... roughly?"

Old Bai said in a low voice.

"I can't see clearly from here, but if I'm not mistaken... the number must be at least ten thousand!"

Fang Chang froze.

"Ten thousand?!"

Common sense and instinct told him Old Bai was probably mistaken.

But a firm reply came through the comm channel.

"Yes, ten thousand might even be conservative... Every head in the settlement is converging on your direction!"

Fang Chang: "???"

What the hell?!