Chapter 735: The Battle of Broken Blade Mountain!

Chapter 735: The Battle of Broken Blade Mountain!

"...This is Flying Fox, we have arrived at the target airspace!"

"Let's get to work! I don't want to miss today's lunch. Damn it, those gluttons from Panghuang Swamp are all like starving ghosts reincarnated—have they never eaten meat?!"

"Haha! Maybe they really can't get any back home!"

"The 'wontons' this morning were good, I think that's what they're called—"

"Don't interrupt, keep your eyes on your targets."

"Roger!"

On the western side of Broken Blade Mountain.

Twelve Cloud Dragonfly ornithopters vibrated their wings, carrying missiles fully loaded on racks, and circled menacingly toward one side of the mountain.

At the same time, three infantry companies composed of mercenaries had completed their assembly and launched an attack from the northern side.

It was eight o'clock in the morning.

In the hour before that, their allied forces had already poured at least five hundred 155mm heavy howitzer shells onto the mountain, washing every reachable position clean.

As if anticipating the coming assault, the mutants on the mountain were already on high alert, their fierce eyes fixed on the foot of the mountain, gripping their motley assortment of weapons, ready to teach these arrogant human things a lesson.

The mercenaries below were the same.

They had come from the distant Cloud Province to slaughter these green-skinned things.

For the qualification to live in the Ideal City, and for the generous reward!

The moment their eyes met, visible sparks flew—

Mercenary leader: "Open fire—!"

Mutant centurion: "Chop them to pieces!!"

The two roars rang out almost simultaneously, and between the cliffs and precipices, dazzling sparks and flying tracer rounds erupted instantly.

Amid the hail of bullets, a mercenary was hit in the chest by a large-caliber slug; the blood-soaked ballistic inserts shattered on the ground, blood oozing from his chest and mouth, as a comrade grabbed him by the collar and quickly dragged him behind a rock.

The mutant who fired that shot was soon riddled with a burst of rifle fire.

But even as the last bullet drilled into his skull, the creature was still frantically pumping his shotgun and firing.

The battle erupted instantly!

The slaughter immediately reached a fever pitch!

More and more mutants poured out of cover, exchanging fire with the mercenaries advancing up the mountain.

People kept falling—mutants, and soldiers in exoskeletons.

The scene was exceptionally chaotic.

The cacophony of gunfire and shouts mingled together, echoing through the mountain stream.

The mercenaries' offensive momentarily stalled, seemingly on the verge of losing the upper hand.

But just then, missiles carrying metal-hydrogen warheads suddenly descended from the sky, exploding without warning into orange-red flashes of fire among the mountains!

The burning flames were like suddenly erupting magma, sending countless goblins flying!

And those big green-skinned brutes, without even time to scream, were blasted into shreds of flesh.

The Cloud Dragonfly ornithopters circling along the mountain kept firing; the co-pilot's index finger was practically welded to the trigger, continuously pouring rockets and cannon fire under the infantry's guidance, reaping hundreds of lives in an instant.

"Nice work!"

Watching the path cleared by flames, the mercenary behind the cover shouted excitedly to the sky, then rallied his squad and charged up the winding slope.

Accompanying them were more than twenty "Hellhound" unmanned vehicles.

Facing the relentless rain of fire, those green-skinned fellows were no match; jagged rocks were strewn with severed limbs and charred bloodstains.

Under the cover of the Cloud Dragonfly ornithopters, the mercenaries advancing toward the summit swept forward like a hot knife through butter, soon reaching the mountainside.

Not far away, on Black Cloud Peak, the soldiers of the 100th Mechanized Mountain Division's First Regiment watched with blood boiling, each one itching for action, eager to go and reinforce.

"Sir, when do we go up?" A soldier in an exoskeleton walked up to his commander, asking energetically.

His name was Tang Feng. He had enlisted partly to fight for humanity's fate, but more because of the recruitment ad on Endpoint Cloud that said "Fight for the Fate of Humanity."

The commander glanced at him, then at the distant towering mountain, and said succinctly.

"When I tell you to go."

Hearing this useless reply, the eager crowd was instantly disappointed.

They were already at the front line, yet could only watch the allied forces steal the show ahead.

But at the same time, a new change occurred in the frontline situation.

It seemed that the two attack formations composed of Cloud Dragonfly ornithopters had exhausted their ammunition and began to return.

And at that very moment, the mutant forces, which had been on the decline, suddenly perked up as if on drugs.

Especially among those big green-skinned brutes, some different kinds of things began to appear.

Even if their heads were blown open, they wouldn't die immediately; instead, they would charge madly, even more dangerous than before being shot in the head!

Caught off guard, many mercenaries were grabbed by the heads and beaten mercilessly by the frenzied greenskins, their exoskeletons and bones smashed to pieces, some even having their throats bitten off and half their faces torn off.

Everyone was terrified by this ferocious fighting style—even a headshot couldn't kill them, even a heart shot wouldn't kill them, they showed no fear of firepower suppression, and for a moment almost no one knew what to do.

Even worse, these "cockroaches" with extraordinary vitality looked no different from other mutants in appearance.

They were like landmines buried in the crowd, exploding at the slightest touch, and each "explosion" caused huge trouble for the attacking forces.

And these mutants gave them no time to catch their breath; seeing the humans falter, they howled and charged forward, their attacks becoming even more ferocious.

The three mercenary companies that had reached the mountainside were immediately locked in a bitter struggle; in an instant, one company was crippled and had to withdraw from that meat-grinder front line.

Inside the command room.

Looking at the aerial image on the holographic screen, Lin Shangwen, commander of the 100th Mountain Division, furrowed his brow, his face full of gravity.

That was the footage from the belly camera of a "Seagull" fixed-wing drone.

At that moment, the drone was circling five hundred meters above Broken Blade Mountain, and it was also the only close support the frontline troops still had.

Standing beside him, Chief of Staff Yun Song also wore a grave expression. After a moment of thought, he spoke.

"We have eight tactical missiles left. Cover their retreat."

As a former captain of the 26th Commando Unit, he knew well how difficult these mutants were to deal with.

An ordinary person would lose more than half their combat effectiveness after being shot, but these creatures only fought harder after being hit, until their final death.

And these greenskins were clearly different from other greenskins.

It was quite possible that the Torch Church had subjected them not only to cybernetic enhancements but also biological modifications.

Commander Lin nodded, but then thought of the mocking expression of the Wilant people, and hesitated.

"But..."

"Whether you face the 'pressure' from Triumph City or the pressure from the Ideal City, you have to choose one."

He paused, then Yun Song continued.

"Even if they're just mercenaries, we can't really let them all die out there."

Hearing this, Lin Shangwen hesitated no longer, turning to his adjutant and giving the order.

"Order the mercenaries on the front line to withdraw."

"And tell them, if they want the full payment, at least bring back one mutant corpse!"

The adjutant immediately snapped a military salute.

"Yes, sir!"

……

As the retreat order reached the front, the mercenaries fighting for their lives finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The last two companies covered each other in turns, retreating methodically along the narrow, winding mountain path.

Not far away on Black Cloud Mountain, Midnight with Umbrella but No Knife stared wide-eyed, his face full of surprise.

"The Corporation's men are actually retreating?"

Then wasn't that morning's bombardment a complete waste?

Just then, the player standing nearby, [Awake and Tired], muttered while tapping his tactical helmet.

"Speaking of which, what the hell are those mutants? A new monster?"

Hearing about a new monster, Outlaw immediately turned to him, asking curiously.

"What is it? What did you capture?"

Awake and Tired said nothing, simply transmitting what his quadcopter drone had just recorded to the VM, showing it to the brothers who had gathered around out of curiosity.

In the video, a mutant with half its head missing burst out from behind a rock formation, brandishing an axe. It sent one unlucky fellow flying with a swing, then charged at the soldiers behind him.

The Corporation soldiers unleashed a furious barrage at it, but the creature seemed unfazed, only collapsing to the ground after being riddled like a sieve.

After watching the video to the end, the players huddled around the VM couldn't help but swallow hard.

Good grief...

Is it infested with slime mold?!

Meanwhile, the battle on the front line continued.

Seeing the troops that had pushed halfway up the mountain beginning to retreat, the mutants on the heights naturally weren't about to let them go. They dragged out all sorts of guns and cannons from their caves, indiscriminately raining fire down on those human pests.

But just then, a slender white trail of smoke suddenly descended from the sky, slamming into the ground beside a cave entrance halfway up the mountain.

Several goblins struggling to carry shells let out screams, turning into a mess of flesh and blood mist in the explosive blaze. Even the big green-skinned brute in front, hauling a pipe gun, was caught in the blast, howling as he tumbled down the mountain.

The missile from above cowed the mutants, who had been about to swarm out in full force.

They thought the flapping little flies had returned, and cautiously shrank back into their caves.

The Beast King had warned them: hundreds of meters of solid rock were the strongest natural barrier, making even nuclear weapons pale in comparison.

Even with yields of tens of millions or hundreds of millions of tons, there was little to be done against hard rock formed over two billion years—at most, it could scrape off some boulders and soil, or trigger a few cave-ins.

They had already carved hundreds of interconnected tunnels into the mountain; even if half collapsed, it wouldn't matter. And those humans still hoped to build roads and bridges over their heads!

As long as they didn't all charge down the mountain at once, they could hold out forever with the supplies stored here!

By eleven o'clock in the morning, the battle that had lasted three hours came to an end.

This fight ultimately ended in a draw!

……

At the same time the mercenaries were retreating, on the bridge of the airship *Loyalty*, General Lium's face bore a sneer of undisguised mockery.

He flicked his index finger through the air, and a pale blue holographic screen unfurled along the path of his gesture, projecting a video window filled with static snow.

The Corporation's commander did not appear on the screen—likely too embarrassed to turn on his camera.

Lium didn't care in the slightest, merely sneering as he spoke.

"Can you guys even handle this? Maybe you should just send in the regulars and stop wasting everyone's time."

Black Cloud Peak was under the Legion's control, and his men had been watching from the sidelines. The 100th Mountain Division remained entrenched in their positions, never lifting a finger.

To be honest, compared to the performance of those lackey troops, he was more curious about the actual combat capability of Ideal City's regular forces—a curiosity shared by Saren, the commander of the Eastern Legion.

Though they were allies now, no one could guarantee they wouldn't fight each other later.

As if trying to save face, a voice came from the other end of the communication channel.

"...We've achieved today's operational objectives. Today's offensive is over."

Hearing this, Lium almost burst out laughing.

Or rather, he already had.

"Achieved? Wasn't your goal to plant the flag on the summit?"

Lin Shangwen said with a dark face.

"That's the ultimate goal. Figuring out what's happened to these mutants is what we needed to do today."

Lium narrowed his eyes, staring at the snowy static in the window, then suddenly smiled.

"You're not scared, are you?"

He was using provocation, goading them into sending out the regulars.

But unfortunately, the other side didn't take the bait, continuing in a calm tone.

"If you think studying the enemy's weaknesses, striking at the vital point to crush them, is 'being scared,' then go ahead and think that. In my view, our people's lives are worth more."

He paused, and Lin Shangwen let out a cold laugh.

"You lost an entire thousand-man unit in one day. I really don't know what you have to be so proud of."

Catching the faint mockery in those words, a flash of anger crossed Lium's face.

But only a flicker.

The ones lost were just clones, not the 31st Ten-Thousand-Man Unit under General Modlin.

Regardless, with casualties of less than a company, they had successfully planted their flag on the highest point of Black Cloud Peak.

Watching the disconnected communication, Lium snorted.

"Stubborn as a mule."

*Zhiyuan News*

[At eight o'clock today, the 100th Mechanized Mountain Division and the 7th Aviation Wing launched a fierce assault on Broken Blade Mountain. With minimal casualties, they annihilated over a thousand mutants.

According to intelligence gathered from the front lines, more and more clues directly prove the Torch Church's crimes against humanity.

Large numbers of survivors were fed addictive drugs and artificially imprisoned for breeding. Furthermore, the Torch Church's apostles applied biological technologies from the Age of Prosperity to carry out extremely dangerous genetic modifications on some mutants, producing a large number of improved varieties with severe safety hazards...

War correspondent Wu Kaian, reporting for you.]

】

The next morning.

A two-engine Orca transport and a four-engine Tyrant landed one after the other on the tarmac and runway of the Weifu Military Base. The former carried a team of biology experts from Cloud Interuniversity, while the latter held technicians from the Alliance Institute of Biology. Though belonging to different factions, they had all come to the front for the same purpose—namely, the mutants that would not stop fighting even after having their heads blown off.

As the head of the military base, Li Jinrong personally came to receive them and arranged for them to stay in a three-story concrete building at the corner of the base. Originally intended as a field hospital for wounded soldiers, the place had not yet been used due to the current low number of casualties, so it was temporarily repurposed as a field laboratory.

Without a moment's delay, as soon as body bags containing samples arrived from the front, the twenty-plus experts gathered for a brief meeting, assigned tasks, and immediately began dissection work, conducting tests on tissue samples from various mutants. This work continued from morning until late into the night, finally yielding some progress.

At the same time, in Vault 404. Having just finished a day's work and about to close his eyes, Chu Guang received a message from Heya, so he sat up from bed and went to the browsing room on B4 to meet her.

"The test results are out—quite astonishing. The genomes of these mutants contain multiple pairs of chromosomes with coding genes that our current technology cannot fully decode. Even the experts from Cloud Interuniversity find it baffling; they claim they've never seen such strange mutants." Glancing at the report in his hand, which he could barely understand, Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully while stroking his chin, then handed it back to Heya.

"Astonishing... Are all the specimens like this?"

"Only a portion! Though we can broadly call them super mutants, they aren't exactly like those creatures—more like something in between. What do you think we should call them?" Chu Guang took a moment to check the official forum and found players discussing this very topic, so he picked the most frequently mentioned nickname.

"...Let's call them zombie mutants, or zombie greenskins—how about 'zombie-mut' for short?" Heya's eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers.

"Alright, that's the name. Anyway, besides their incredible regenerative abilities, these zombie-muts have a brain tissue self-repair capability that ordinary mutants lack. Clinically, even if their heads are smashed, they can grow them back!" Chu Guang was taken aback and couldn't help asking.

"How is that possible?" His own recovery was strong, but nowhere near the level of regrowing a head after being blown up. Being able to regrow a head was a bit too absurd. Were these creatures earthworms?

"...Our preliminary hypothesis is that their nervous system has evolved a 'memory backup' function. As long as a certain proportion of the nervous system remains intact, it can continuously repair damaged neural tissue. However, when the brain is destroyed, the body temporarily loses control from the brain and is entirely governed by the remaining nervous system. In simpler terms, it acts purely on instinct." Seeing Chu Guang's stunned expression, Heya took a deep breath and continued seriously.

"I must warn you: the biological expertise of the Torch may be far greater than we initially imagined. I even have a feeling that while we are probing them, they are also probing us..." Having recovered from his initial surprise, Chu Guang nodded and said softly.

"That's normal. After all, they might have a hundred experts as experienced as you." He had sensed it long ago. While he was testing the cards in Torch's hand, they were doing the same to him. Perhaps this war itself was such a test—they were gradually probing the strength of all parties in the "Cohesion Body," using the battlefield of Ten Peaks Mountain to refine and improve their technology. The resistance the coalition faced on the third hill was clearly greater than on the first hill...

In a sense, those greenskins grew in a way similar to the players. Players, who could not truly die, grew stronger with each rebirth. Those creatures, meanwhile, underwent rapid iteration through repeated deaths—the newly grown ones were more vicious and tougher than those that had died before. Whether in a sociological or biological sense, they were absorbing the achievements of the prosperous era in a unique way—and with the help of the technical personnel left over from that era.

Thinking this, Chu Guang's face grew solemn as he pondered. Suddenly praised, Heya coughed lightly, a bit embarrassed.

"It's not about the number of experts; research is a systematic endeavor. Our current research system, adapted and improved from the Institute, is relatively mature. We may lack some accumulation and depth, but we are no worse than Torch... Yet the problem lies in that accumulation. I suspect they might have obtained data from some lost projects." Chu Guang frowned.

"Lost projects?"

"Gestalt lifeforms!" Heya stared at him intently, a gleam of fervor and desire in her eyes. "That singularity-level technology—the unfinished singularity of the prosperous era! Whether it's mutants, Varangians, or their eightfold-speed cloned soldiers—all are byproducts of that technology!" Chu Guang's expression turned thoughtful, and he couldn't help recalling the fuse that led to the collapse of the Construction Committee a century and a half ago—the laboratory on the East Coast. That laboratory was like a crushed cockroach, scattering its eggs everywhere. That failed military operation had become an indelible stain on the history of the Enterprise, and the fall of Singularity City was inextricably linked to it.

Perhaps... Torch had somehow obtained the data leaked from that laboratory. Judging by their actions in the Jinhe City area, they were deliberately recovering scattered data on "Gestalt lifeforms" from the wasteland. At this thought, Chu Guang's eyes flickered. Though it wasn't good to covet allies' assets, these materials must not fall into the hands of the Legion.

Seeing Chu Guang lost in thought, Heya continued seriously.

"In any case, I need to go to the front—including for restoring the soil of Haiya Province..." Chu Guang nodded.

"Sure, it's good to see the situation firsthand." Then he suddenly thought of something and added, "Wait until the day after tomorrow to set off. I'll go with you then." Heya looked at him in surprise, then teased, "Are you worried about me?" Unfazed by her playful tone, Chu Guang simply smiled faintly.

"I am, after all, the nominal supreme commander of the coalition, elected by all parties. I was supposed to be there anyway. I've just been busy with rear work these past few days and only finished recently." Due to the various conflicts among the Legion, the Institute, and the Enterprise, any representative from one side would face opposition from the other two if elected supreme commander. Thus, the only "acceptable" candidates were the Alliance and the Free State, which represented the Great Rift Valley. The latter had received a few votes, but they were negligible compared to the Alliance's overwhelming tally. Though the Legion's representative grumbled about the vote, they only insisted that Chu Guang himself serve as commander, without exercising their veto power.

Chu Guang knew the Varangians didn't particularly like him, nor was it because of the wastelanders' talk about "Varangians respecting the strong." They were simply worried that he might appoint Vanus or other Varangians "assimilated" by the Alliance, embarrassing them. From the perspective of Triumph City, that was not impossible. After all, the Alliance's personnel appointments never asked about background, only about original intent and ability.

A serf can become a city lord, so naturally a Valyrian can become a marshal.

Only in Triumph City, these fellows who defected to the Alliance had almost become synonymous with shame; they would never consider the pursuit of equality as something excusable.

If Vanus were to become the commander of the allied forces and then led them to victory, no one in Triumph City would be able to feel happy.

Even the "Loyalty" sent by the Eastern Legion this time was not without its undertones of sarcasm toward those people.

These fellows just have bigger noses, but as for their minds, it's hard to say—they might even be narrower than the Academy's people.

Hearing Chu Guang's reply, Heya's face immediately broke into a radiant smile, and she said cheerfully.

"Great! At least this way I won't have to trouble you to send the specimens to the front lines."

"A few days won't make a difference for the physical exam," Chu Guang coughed dryly, a bit embarrassed, but saw Heya shake her head, staring fixedly at him.

"No, it's not really about the physical exam. It's about the research on the Gestalt lifeform."

She paused, and her voice gradually took on a hint of fervor, her eyes also becoming unusually intense.

As if staring at some incredible experimental result.

"...Others may not know, but I have clearly witnessed the entire process of some of your non-coding genes transforming into coding genes."

He felt that this woman's gaze was somewhat unnerving.

Chu Guang picked up his teacup and took a sip of water, hiding the fleeting embarrassment on his face.

"So what?"

But Heya's next sentence almost made him spit out the water he had just drunk.

"It might not just be the Valyrians—your DNA also contains part of the results of that singularity technology!"