Chapter 745: The Last Card Held Back

Chapter 745 The Last Card Left Behind

The Wandering Swamp, in the distant far north.

The biting wind and snow, like ten thousand shuttles, wove the endless expanse of white into a ceaseless river of stars.

This was not only the northernmost border of the Academy, but also the northernmost edge of the entire Zhongzhou Continent, with temperatures year-round below minus 20 degrees Celsius, and in the coldest times, even reaching minus 100 degrees.

The extreme climate was a natural barrier, much like the desert that embraced the oasis of Luoxia Province.

Only a few species with thick fur and abundant fat could move about in this region.

Yet, in this frozen, bitter land stretching thousands of miles, there lay one of the most prosperous settlements in the Wandering Swamp.

Its name was Ice Sea City.

As the name suggested, this settlement sat on the edge of the permafrost coast.

The settlement, hundreds of meters high, was entirely forged from alloy, like a giant axe draped over an iceberg, its metal walls gleaming with a chilling light in the wind and snow.

It was said that more than two centuries ago, this place had been a seed bank of the Human Union, and only a century and a half ago was it converted into a settlement, housing the first batch of technical personnel who had left the Post-War Reconstruction Committee.

Later, when the Science Committee was established, this place was placed under its management.

However, although it was managed by the Science Committee, due to the settlement's unique nature, the people living here did not lead a particularly hard life.

The howling wind, snow, and bitter cold were kept out by the settlement's walls; except for the seed zone embedded in the iceberg, which felt the tens of degrees below zero, the other production and living areas could even be said to be spring-like year-round.

Moreover, the work here was not too strenuous.

The most common job was that of a gardener, and the "hardest" work they had to do was merely tending to special crops grown in tropical conditions in sweltering greenhouses, while most of the time they sat watching monitor screens and drinking tea.

Aside from the most numerous and common gardeners, the most sought-after positions here were undoubtedly the assistants and apprentices recruited by the Academy's official researchers.

Unlike the Academy's enrolled apprentices, the apprentices of Ice Sea City were merely job positions, usually tied to specific research projects, primarily targeting young survivors aged 12 to 18 who had excelled in higher education assessments.

Although the treatment for this position was no different from that of a gardener, for children preparing for the December exam each year, it was an excellent opportunity to get early contact with mentors and scientific research work.

As long as these young lads and lasses showed a bit of cleverness and weren't foolish enough to offend their bosses, they would receive some consideration.

After all, most of their bosses had also gone through that exam and understood their situation—preparing for a life-determining test while working.

Usually, just a word or two of guidance could save these children years of detours.

And once they passed the exam and became true apprentices, a letter of recommendation or merely a name on their work resume would allow them to get through the apprenticeship period more easily than children from other Science Committee regions, or even gain recognition from a mentor, skip the surveyor rank, and become a glorious researcher directly.

Even in the worst-case scenario, after failing the exam for years and having to give up the position at age 18, this Ice Sea City apprentice could usually secure a decent job in the settlement due to their research experience, or even enter the Science Committee's management and start another life.

It was precisely because of these favorable conditions that any researcher with some influence and deep feelings for their family would try to get their relatives into this settlement.

Researchers who came out of this settlement would, in turn, take care of their hometown to some extent, helping the settlement within their means.

Thus, although the Academy's researchers did not directly manage the settlements under the Science Committee, Ice Sea City still held a transcendent status, even forming a regional faction named after Ice Sea City within the student body.

However, due to the relative coldness of interpersonal relationships within the Academy, factions based on blood and geography were not as solid as those based on direct interests. Hence, this faction did not have much prominence, only exerting influence on some trivial issues.

For instance, the special zone jointly established by the Alliance and the Academy.

For the Academy, this special zone could be built anywhere under the Science Committee, since most researchers' core interests lay within the Academy itself.

Thus, the special zone landed in Ice Sea City.

Half a year had passed since the special zone's establishment, and some refugees from the Alliance's shelters had indeed brought many interesting new things to the locals.

Both materially and spiritually, their optimism and courage were something the people here had not seen for a long time.

Of course.

These visitors from afar did not bring only joyful things.

On the landing pad atop Ice Sea City's dome, a long, shuttle-shaped aircraft slowly descended and came to a halt.

A frozen hibernation pod was carried down and placed on the snowy ground.

An elderly man and woman stood at the entrance of the landing pad, wearing thick cold-weather suits, leaning on each other, silently watching the coffin sinking into the snow.

A layer of frost crept over their transparent visors, obscuring the expressions on their faces.

But from the silent atmosphere, those around could feel the pervasive sorrow.

A soldier in an exoskeleton walked through the snow, approached the two elders, tapped his left arm twice with his index finger, unfolded a palm-sized holographic screen on his arm, and gently pushed it before them.

"My condolences."

The woman, upon seeing the photo on the holographic screen, swayed as if she might faint.

Her husband, standing beside her, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, looked at the soldier without saying a word, and only nodded silently.

That single sentence was their only exchange.

After nodding, the soldier turned and walked back to the shuttle-shaped aircraft.

The silver-white fuselage slowly rose, a blue flame spurted from its tail, and it vanished into the boundless wind and snow, as if it had never been there...

A dozen residents of Ice Sea City stood at the entrance of the landing pad, arms linked, holding a simple funeral for the poor child.

Afterward, his body would be cremated, part kept as a memento, part scattered into the swirling snow.

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows inside the settlement, several players in exoskeletons cast interested glances toward the landing pad.

They recognized the soldier's gear, especially the gas mask embedded in his helmet—unmistakably a member of the Alpha Task Force.

To be fair, this game was indeed very realistic. Even NPCs killed off in the background had their own complete lives.

They had only heard on the forums about the defeat thousands of kilometers away, and now, just days later, they saw in the game a corpse dragged from the front lines.

In other games, such insignificant NPCs would probably just fill a spot in a cutscene and then be respawned.

"...I thought all Alpha Task Force members were poor bastards who couldn't afford potatoes."

A Strength-type player muttered, his face clearly showing surprise.

The Agility-type player beside him nodded similarly and said with some emotion.

"Never thought there'd be someone from Ice Sea City."

Having stayed in this settlement for a few days, they had a good understanding of the local situation.

Even using Ideal City as a benchmark, the locals' lives were absolutely affluent, only inferior to the Academy's surveyors and researchers.

Whether that guy joined "Alpha" for thrills, to pursue a different life and ideals, or simply out of rebellion against dogma, it took courage.

Another Intelligence-type player interjected.

"But at least his family got an urn; others might not be so lucky."

The Strength-type player shrugged.

"That's the duality of the world."

As they spoke, the group took an elevator to the settlement's exit and boarded an all-terrain tracked vehicle waiting there.

Their task today was to head to the ruins of the nearby city of Morokova, collect local fruiting body samples, and deliver them to the Alliance's biological research institute stationed in Ice Sea City.

Deep within those ruins lay a dormant hive, somewhere beneath the subway station, its exact location undetectable by current technical means due to the camouflage effect of massive spore coatings.

The fruiting bodies produced by that hive were also quite distinctive, highly skilled at camouflage, blending into the environment and launching sudden attacks when prey approached.

The long-term goal of the current Conformity Special Zone was to find the hive's exact coordinates and have Xiao Yu devour it, while the mid- to short-term goal was to analyze the hive and provide reference data for the Conformity's regional variant slime mold research projects.

Although it was only a very small task, any grand plan is composed of countless such small tasks.

At the same moment the group departed, a man and a woman stood before the same floor-to-ceiling window where they had paused earlier.

Gazing at the hibernation pod outside the window, Jiang Xuezhou’s face was etched with a complex expression.

She did not know the parents, let alone the person lying inside the hibernation chamber.

She merely thought suddenly, if that day she had not managed to escape from Vault 0, but had died on this wasteland like countless researchers who met with accidents...

Her heart tightened slightly; she lowered her head for a moment and whispered a single sentence.

“Hey...”

Seeing Jiang Xuezhou’s grave expression, Ye Shi, standing beside her, made a helpless face.

“What’s wrong with you now.”

Jiang Xuezhou continued in a low voice.

“...I want to go home.”

“Go ahead.”

Ye Shi gave her a strange look—did she really need to tell him about such a trivial matter?

Her lips moved; Jiang Xuezhou found it hard to speak, but finally she opened her mouth.

“...Could you come with me?”

Since becoming an apprentice, she hadn’t been back for a long time, and she had no idea how to face those familiar yet strange relatives, so she instinctively wanted a trusted companion to accompany her.

Hearing it was just a small thing, Ye Shi didn’t overthink it and agreed without hesitation.

“Sure, when?”

Jiang Xuezhou was startled.

She had only mentioned it casually, without even planning a specific time to return, never expecting this blockhead to agree so readily, even asking when to set off.

“...Then... how about tomorrow?”

She blurted out the words without any preparation, and only then did she suddenly realize something, her cheeks gradually flushing.

Yet she didn’t know that the guy in question hadn’t thought that far at all—he merely saw an exclamation mark pop up over an NPC’s head.

“No problem...”

Watching Jiang Xuezhou’s face suddenly turn as red as an apple, Ye Shi couldn’t help but wear a peculiar expression.

This girl had been spacing out a lot lately.

Could she be running a fever?

...

Thousands of kilometers away, at the front line.

The scorching flames had even melted the snow on Blood Mountain.

The thunderous roar of artillery shook heaven and earth, followed by the crackling of gunfire and the howls of mutants.

As if to avenge a past humiliation, the Alpha Task Force, based on intelligence gathered from the previous battle, devised a more meticulous combat plan and launched an even fiercer offensive than before.

This time, not just two companies of a hundred men each were pushed to the front, but a full ten companies—a thousand men in total!

The two sides engaged in fierce firefights inside the cave.

Under the cover of drone attack formations, one squad after another methodically filed into the abyss-like cavern, with only those entering visible, none emerging.

Watching the ferocious assault of the Alpha Task Force, General Modlin, standing halfway up Broken Blade Mountain, couldn’t help but show a hint of surprise on his face.

Even the adjutant beside him wore an expression of disbelief.

“...Are these guys on drugs?” he muttered to himself, staring toward the front line.

In just three days, those lifeless fellows had transformed as if they were entirely different people.

Though he couldn’t see the situation inside the cave, just from their momentum, he could clearly sense the change in them.

“You might actually be right.” General Modlin frowned, lowering his binoculars.

The Allied High Command had disclosed the characteristics of the Alpha Parasite.

By that standard, the entire 31st Maniple probably only the Punishment Squad and some Awakeners with formidable physical strength could withstand the erosion of the red mist.

The operation three days ago had already shown that the Alpha Task Force was not particularly strong in physical prowess.

Without any change in equipment, he could only suspect that these men had taken some immunity-boosting drugs or installed bionic implants capable of resisting infection.

Besides that, another matter caught his attention.

Namely, he only saw wave after wave of them entering, but none coming out.

Either they fought to the last and died there, or they had gained some ability to continuously recover during battle.

Thinking this, General Modlin’s eyes glimmered with interest, and he couldn’t help but feel a hint of anticipation for the outcome of this battle.

Watching the battle were not only General Modlin but also Springwater, the commander of the Storm Corps, and Edge, the commander of the Death Corps.

The two stood on the same halfway point of Broken Blade Mountain, observing the battlefield so close at hand.

“Holy crap... they’re a bunch of hardcore bastards.” With a look of awe, Edge Huashui couldn’t help but exclaim.

Excluding those clones without full consciousness, this was the first time he had seen people in this game as unafraid of death as they were.

“Indeed...” Springwater nodded in agreement, gripping his binoculars and staring intently at the front-line situation.

In a sense, Torch had finally met its match this time.

Although the Academy was relatively friendly toward the Blue Coats, he still had to admit that when it came to being inhuman, ordinary people were no match for these guys.

In three days, they had implanted a thousand biological prosthetics, and a third of the Alpha soldiers on the front line had “reclassified,” transforming directly from mechanized soldiers into semi-biological, semi-mechanized warriors.

Sure, after a while, Xiaoyu was still cute, and occasionally switching skins for fun didn’t seem like a big deal, but all of this was based on the premise of being able to respawn.

If they couldn’t respawn, or if respawning didn’t remove the biological prosthetics, he figured even in a game, he’d hesitate to install that stuff.

Just as the Allied commanders were observing the battle, the Beast King, standing on Blood Mountain, also overlooked the entire battlefield.

And on his expressionless face, there was also a clear look of astonishment.

“What is that thing?”

He kept muttering under his breath, his eyes full of bewilderment, unable to believe what he saw through the mutants’ eyes, let alone comprehend it.

He had personally witnessed an Alpha Task Force soldier have his chest pierced by a spike thrown by a mutant variant, then be flung violently away.

That hot blood even splattered onto its (his) head—the scalding sensation could never be a holographic illusion.

For a human, that was undoubtedly a fatal wound.

Yet, just as it (he) wiped the blood off the spike, he saw the unconscious soldier suddenly convulse, then roll onto his side, grab his rifle, and spray it (him) with a wild burst of fire.

Caught off guard, several electromagnetically accelerated projectiles shattered the mutant’s chest and brain.

He instantly lost his perception of that mutant and returned to the god’s-eye view with a blank expression.

The brutal slaughter continued.

These gas-masked fellows seemed to have found a way to counter the toxic fog.

And not only that, their recovery ability had also grown stronger, as if they had become another species overnight.

“Ha ha... ha ha ha ha!”

The shock in his eyes gradually turned into frenzy, and he suddenly burst into laughter, looking down from above.

“Interesting... how very interesting!”

Before being infected by slime mold spores, they proactively inoculated themselves with benign strains of fruiting bodies to gain immunity?

These old fossils weren’t as rigid as he had imagined; they knew how to adapt.

Indeed, it was only meaningful to spar with opponents who had such ideas.

Fighting those Valyrians yielded nothing but a batch of organic matter; he learned nothing from them.

Looking down at the Alpha Task Force members standing ready at the foot of the mountain, the Beast King spoke in a very soft voice.

“...I want to understand the secrets of those guys. Could I trouble you to eat them?”

That voice was not transmitted through sound waves, but through the exchange of consciousness.

After waiting for about a few minutes, the dull, bell-like voice slowly entered his sea of consciousness.

“I think... you’d better not let that thing get too close to me.”

The Beast King was slightly taken aback, furrowing his brow gently.

“Can’t you eat it?”

The “Plague Lord,” deep within the mountain, spoke slowly.

“Generally speaking, we evolved to devour other organisms, and devouring other hives is just an accident in evolution. But that thing is different—its evolutionary logic is completely opposite to ours. It exists purely to devour other slime molds, and it can even coexist with the humans who raise it.”

“Just like those green-skinned ones who can tolerate my scent and even worship me, you can think of it as... a ‘mutant’ among ‘us.’”

After a pause, the voice continued.

“I can feel from that disgusting breathing sound that it has already devoured at least two of its kind... I already have so many lovely children, and I don’t want to be the next.”

Those believers were its children.

It had never seen anything so interesting—they embraced the distortion it bestowed upon them with cheers and love, rather than fearing their own forms.

That creature called the Beast King told it that this was humanity’s “faith”—they regarded it as the mother who gave them life, even as a god!

It liked the title “Plague Lord” very much, and even more so the believers who cheered its name, cherishing them more than its own fruiting bodies.

And so, it fed them with its own flesh and blood, and from among them, it chose the most devout as the “prophet” to cultivate the “plague,” using that one as a bed for spores, granting them even stronger “evolutionary factors.”

In a sense, they were its fruiting bodies—at least part of them were.

It had high hopes for them, wishing they would continuously expand the population until they conquered the entire planet, and then carry its faith to conquer even more distant worlds.

One day, those who called its name would return to its mother—Gaia—in its place.

Perhaps they could even deliver a message to Him on its behalf.

The Beast King pondered for a moment, then suddenly spoke.

“Then if you could devour it, wouldn’t you also gain... its ability to devour other slime molds?”

He thought of the forests in Baiyue Province, where the Naguo was born, and where its weakness lay.

If they could devour the hive there, their paradise would have no weaknesses left.

The Plague Lord was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.

“That’s true, but... its true body doesn’t seem to be here. What has appeared so far are only its fruiting bodies. My fruiting bodies can digest them, but that’s only physical digestion. If I were to eat them, I’m afraid I’d have indigestion.”

“I see... understood.” The Beast King nodded thoughtfully.

This was indeed a problem.

But they could solve it with scientific methods, like neutralizing the samples before feeding.

Of course.

That was a matter for after they took Clear Spring City.

“Forget about that for now... My children are begging for my help. You must have heard their crying too.” Seeing the Beast King seemingly distracted, the Plague Lord’s voice carried a hint of urgency.

The battle on Blood Mountain was turning increasingly unfavorable for its children.

Not only its children, but even itself was in danger.

It had a premonition.

If those carrying other slime mold fruiting bodies entered its nest, something terrible would happen.

The Beast King slowly nodded, then turned to look at the gray sky in the southeast.

That was the direction of Haiya Province.

Standing atop Blood Mountain, one could even see the gray mist spreading there, and the prosperous nation hidden within that mist.

He admitted that the fruiting bodies inhabiting humans had caught him off guard.

But if these guys thought they could defeat him with just one or two unexpected cards, they were underestimating him.

They had set foot on this barren and chaotic land many years before these old fossils even noticed this place.

They had spent over a decade cultivating it, letting the seeds take root, sprout, bloom, and bear abundant fruit.

All the land from Ten Peaks Mountain to the Weifu Wasteland was his domain; paradise had descended here long ago.

These guys had merely built a few houses and taken a few hilltops, thinking it was their territory.

It had always been his land.

He would make them remember this harsh lesson.

“Don’t worry.”

The Beast King waved his hand lightly, and the red mist clinging to the mountain peak seemed to flicker for an instant, then was replaced by the slowly rising gray-green fog.

“It’s time for the fog.”