Chapter 756: Use Waves to Counter Waves!

Chapter 756: Using Waves to Counter Waves!

As time passed, the fungal mutants' assault grew ever more ferocious, and later even some "new species" that had never appeared on the Weifu Wasteland emerged.

Those monsters seemed endless, pouring forth ceaselessly from the gray-green mist, and their combat strength grew stronger with each wave.

However—

The players of the Alliance were not frightened by this; on the contrary, they became even more excited.

Since three days of forced spectating were inevitable, they might as well die with a bang!

With such thoughts, the players' morale was as boundless as the horde, showing no fear or retreat no matter the casualties they suffered.

Leading his brothers, the Outlaw fought while shifting positions, stubbornly holding the line against the endless fungal mutants with ample ammunition.

As everyone knew, the domain of Heaven was controlled by a psychic interference device, and within the domain lay a hidden research facility, and in that facility were the apostles of the Torch.

Whether for the purpose of hiding themselves or preserving their strength, those lurking in the shadows could not allow them to continue this attrition.

Seeing the corpses piling up on the wasteland, perhaps unable to bear the sustained losses, or perhaps wanting to teach the Alliance a lesson, some unusual "evolved forms" gradually emerged from the gray mist.

With a deafening roar, a machine-gun position on the front line suddenly "flew" into the sky.

"Ah—!"

"Crack—"

Watching the two players fall to the ground with a scream, a look of surprise flickered across the Outlaw's face.

Just then, heavy footsteps pierced the thick fog, and a massive long horn came into his view.

That creature resembled no life form on Earth; it was somewhat like a prehistoric ceratopsian.

Rotten flesh was stitched together with dark green mycelium, and layers of chitin-like material stacked into a carapace as hard as armor. Its horn was as long as a story, and its body was three stories tall.

Like a moving mountain!

It was hard to imagine how this thing had emerged from underground, or whether it had been hiding somewhere the drones couldn't see.

But that no longer mattered—the key was that this towering "strategic-class biological weapon" was likely beyond the scope of infantry weapons... even a tank would struggle.

The Outlaw couldn't help but think that if this creature charged at full speed, even the concrete giant wall of Boulder City might end up with a chunk missing.

"Holy crap... is this a boss spawn?" The player beside him swallowed hard.

"So the question is... what do we call this thing?"

"According to common practice, whoever finds it names it; if no one names it, the system auto-names it..."

"How about Siege Beast?"

Even at this critical moment, these newbies still had the leisure to name the monster.

The only "veteran player" present had almost resigned himself to fate.

"This is fucking hopeless..." The Outlaw laughed bitterly, loading a incendiary round into his shotgun while signaling his brothers to pull out RPGs and fire them all at the creature's head.

But practice proved this was utterly futile.

The flames from the shotgun at most left a "spot" on its keratin armor; the RPG's armor-piercing rounds could penetrate its defense, but the meager metal jet was nowhere near enough to burn it to death.

After all, it was not a conventional life form, even more outrageous than those decapitated and regenerated mutants—it didn't even have a central nervous system.

What controlled its movements was the Nago mycelium, which in turn was controlled by the psychic interference device.

The consciousness from "Heaven" dominated all puppets within the domain—this was the essence of the "Heaven" depicted by the Torch.

And that was its most powerful and terrifying aspect!

Perhaps provoked by the scorching flames, the Siege Beast let out a deep bellow and charged with its heavy limbs toward the players' position.

Its twisted horn plowed a shocking trench into the black earth, splitting the players' position in two.

Two more machine-gun positions were forced to cease fire, and the dense network of fire finally showed a gap, allowing the endless waves of "walking corpses" and "corpse dogs" to seize the opportunity and pour through the breach into the players' last line of defense.

Pinned to the ground by a group of walking corpses, [Premium Ingredients], having fired his last bullet, shouted with his final strength to the blood-soaked Outlaw.

"Captain—! See you... in three days!"

Wiping the blood from his blurred left eye, the Outlaw grinned at him.

"Yeah, see you in three days!"

With that, he raised his shotgun and fired an incendiary round; the blazing white phosphorus engulfed the newbie and the walking corpses on top of him.

Soon after, surrounded by walking corpses, he detonated the explosives strapped to his body, dissipating into a rain of blood amid the blast dust...

At the same time, the coordinates for the artillery strike were sent to Mount Lai, over a dozen kilometers away.

By the time the last player fell, the battle had lasted a full hour.

And the number of fungal mutants annihilated was as high as three thousand!

That meant each player had on average taken down over a hundred enemies.

For the "Beta 0.7" newcomers who had just completed the Torch Relay quest and received their VMs to officially enter the wasteland, this achievement was quite impressive.

Facing the devastated ruins, the fungal mutants, having lost their targets, began to turn their attention to the corpses at their feet.

Their life activities required nutrients; not a single bit of organic matter could be wasted, whether from enemies or their own.

The dark green sap flowing beneath the soil began to gather in this area, extending thin filaments from the thick main trunks, entwining with the corpses.

They were like blood vessels, drawing all usable nutrients from the dead.

Although these corpses still had some foul-smelling "dirty stuff," they could simply deactivate that part first and then digest it.

Not just the corpses.

The walking corpses, corpse dogs... even the Siege Beast and all other fungal mutants prostrated themselves on the ground, allowing the dark green vines to climb over their bodies.

But merciful Heaven did not devour its own children; instead, after establishing connections with them, it slowly pulled them beneath the surface...

Material conversion incurred losses; the more complex the synthesis path, the greater the loss.

If every time a fungal mutant was synthesized, it was recycled in the most primitive way, Heaven's nutrients would soon be depleted, expanding like slime mold to its limit and then collapsing.

So they chose another, "smarter" recycling method—

Burying the temporarily unused "organs" into the soil.

But just as they were about to do so, a piercing shriek suddenly came from the sky.

That sound was like the whisper of death, descending upon them in an instant.

The Siege Beast had just lifted its heavy head and opened its closed eyes when a blinding white light robbed it of its vision.

In its dazed consciousness, it seemed to see a rising mushroom cloud and a wave of heat sweeping the land.

The deafening roar was far louder than its own bellow, even collapsing the ground beneath its feet.

Before it could react, the scorching shockwave tore its flesh apart...

...

In the distance, a long, thin plume of white smoke trailed from the main cannon of the airship Loyalty into the clouds.

The rocket-assisted projectile fired from the 400mm main gun delivered a thermobaric warhead carrying solid fuel to the target battlefield.

This is the final step of the operation—clearing the battlefield where the fighting has already ended.

And the initiation of this step in the battle plan meant that no friendly forces remained alive in that area...

"Impact point confirmed."

"Strike effective."

At the summit of Mount Lai.

The Valiant soldiers, who had been directing artillery fire for the rear, reported the bombing results to the airship. After hanging up the communication, they fell into silence one by one.

Minutes earlier, as planned, they had received the artillery coordinates from their allies.

Though they were unclear about the intentions of the high command, they understood all too well what that message containing the coordinates signified.

Even for them, who had war written into their genes and blood, it was impossible to carry out such suicidal missions, nor could their commander ever issue such an order.

Even as adversaries, they couldn't help but feel a trace of respect in their hearts, silently saluting them with a soldier's gesture.

Those bastards... were truly ruthless!

And at that very moment, gazing at the blazing battlefield, the Human Emperor wore an expression of utter astonishment.

A moment later, his demeanor steadied, and he muttered to himself in contemplation.

"...A war of attrition with me, is it?"

Even for well-preserved corpses, the efficiency of nutrient recovery was not 100%; at best, it could reach 50%, which was already high.

Especially for those "evolved forms" with highly aberrant tissue structures, decomposing their bodies alone consumed vast amounts of nutrient energy, leaving a net gain of less than 10%.

In contrast, the smaller-bodied fruiting bodies—what the allied soldiers called "mycomorphs"—were relatively easier to reclaim.

But even for those, the conversion efficiency was only around 30 to 40 percent.

Reclaiming three corpses might yield enough to synthesize one more.

If the allied forces adopted a war-of-attrition strategy, it was indeed a reasonable approach.

After all, he couldn't simply ignore those troops, letting them run rampant across his territory, searching for the buried psychic interference devices and even research facilities.

The latter were essential components for their final plan, while the former concerned their dominion over this heavenly realm.

It was a vast and complex system, one they had spent over a decade perfecting into its current astonishing form.

"An interesting idea..."

Having seen through the administrator's intentions, the Human Emperor let out a soft, appreciative click of his tongue, and the corner of his mouth curled into a meaningful smile.

"I admit you are quite capable, but what if my pieces number in the hundreds of millions? How will you deal with that?"

Three thousand mycomorphs were no more than a dandruff flake atop a giant's head compared to the parishes under his rule, yet they had to sacrifice forty elite soldiers to pluck off that flake.

Even if an evolved form had been lost, that loss was nothing more than a minor itch to him.

Pitting mortal flesh and blood against a calamity—what a scheme that fellow had concocted.

Very well, let it be as they wished. Let us see who truly is the endless tide!

...

On the official website of *Wasteland OL*, the forums were bustling with activity.

Many players had just experienced their first death in the game and were sharing their post-mortem reflections.

"I_Am_The_Head: "So thrilling! The Death Brigade is awesome!"

Retreating_Dwarf: "Indeed thrilling, but how am I supposed to get through these next few days? TaT"

Death_By_Overtime: "No pain at all—it's a bit different from reality. Feels like they toned down the realism to cater to most tastes. Just average, I'd say... though watching my own guts being pulled out while fully conscious was a new experience."

Quit_Smoking: "Whoa, you've experienced that in real life??"

Irena: "These newbies are something else. Suggest an investigation. (Ridiculous)"

Tail: "Creepy, even Si finds it twisted. (⊙x⊙;)"

Sis: "...?"

Just as the players were in an uproar, with the last wave of players disconnecting, a new announcement was posted on the forum.

[North Front · Haiya Province Intelligence Update!

Mycomorph: A general term for organisms stitched together by Nago mycelium, distinct from "addicts" corroded and controlled by Nago. Generally lacks distinct biological features, has no nerve center, no vital weak points. Death is determined when tissue damage reaches 10%–50%. Compared to slime fruiting bodies, they have greater toughness (HP) but weaker regenerative abilities. Resistant to piercing damage, but weak against explosive and fire damage.

Walker: The most common mycomorph, with a human-like appearance. Attacks primarily through tearing and biting. First seen in the Guard Mansion Wasteland, suspected to have been completed in the Pinecone Farm experiments. Individually weak in combat, but dangerous in groups. Danger level: 1.

Corpse Hound: The second most common mycomorph, similar in form to humanity's best friend. Attacks also primarily through tearing and biting, but with a smaller build and greater speed. Danger level: 1.

Crawler: Similar in form to the "Crawler" born from the Qingshi City Hive, slightly smaller, with burn-like skin. Attacks similar to Walkers, but with three times the speed and strength. Danger level: 2.

Spitter: Visibly different in appearance from the "Spitter" born from the Qingshi City Hive. Resembles a giant worm, capable of hiding in narrow terrain. Attacks primarily by spitting highly corrosive organic acid and organic toxins. Danger level: 1–3.

...

Incubator: The nest of mycomorphs, the "barracks" of the Torch Church, the incubation organ of the Heavenly Kingdom. When the Apostle (or Forerunner) in the area determines that mycomorphs of danger level 1–3 are insufficient to eliminate a threat, they deploy more efficient Incubators on the surface, using stored local nutrients to synthesize advanced mycomorphs of danger level greater than 3, or even hatch "Evolved Forms."

...

Siege Beast: A type of Evolved Form among mycomorphs, with a size comparable to a mountain. Its running shakes the earth. Its horned armor is extremely tough, capable of easily overturning tanks and armored vehicles. Usually appears on highly corroded land, and after disengaging from combat, it sinks into the soil to hibernate.

...

"Regional Corrosion Level" Concept: Related to the local soil's Nago mycelium content, measurable using test strips developed by the Alliance Institute of Biology. Generally, the deeper one ventures into the Torch Church's parishes, the higher the regional corrosion level, the faster the monster respawn rate, and the higher the upper limit of danger levels.

]

[Recommended Gameplay:

1. Build Purification Stations:

Players can form brigades or squads to venture deep into corroded areas and establish large "Purification Bases" or small "Purification Stations." Earn "Purification Points" by killing monsters or completing tasks. During combat, points can be exchanged for a series of battlefield supports, including airdrop supplies, artillery strikes, close air support, and fruiting body reinforcements. The round ends when the Purification Station is breached or the local corrosion effect is completely removed. Surplus points will be automatically converted and accumulated in the "Final Holdout Time" column.

Mission rewards will be calculated based on "Holdout Time" and the "Regional Corrosion Level" of the beacon location. If combined with fruiting body reinforcements to completely remove corrosion in the area, additional reward bonuses can be obtained!

2. Search and Destroy Torch Church Control Facilities:

To conduct their evil experiments, the Torch Church has lured a group of researchers despairing of reality into conducting secret research. Clearing the corrosion in Haiya Province treats the symptoms; destroying the research facilities under Torch Church control strikes at the root!

These facilities are mainly located in already opened (or abandoned) shelters or other underground research facilities. Since most of these shelter facilities were designed to withstand strategic weapon strikes, they are difficult to destroy directly from the outside.

The Allied High Command has authorized necessary intrusions into Torch-controlled shelters. If the controlling party refuses to surrender, all means may be used to disable the facility.

In addition to research facilities, there are also some processing facilities suspected of carrying Black Boxes. If a Black Box left over from the Age of Prosperity is discovered, residents of Shelter 404 are obligated to ensure its integrity and recover it as a tool for rebuilding civilization.

(Note: This operation requires the battle recording to be kept on throughout. Mission rewards will be determined based on the overall evaluation of player words and actions.)

]

The moment the announcement was posted, the newbies who had been sharing their death reflections were immediately captivated by this sudden notice.

Quit_Smoking: "Whoa! Is this an endless mode?"

Edge_Paddling: "Infinite monster spawns!!"

Construction_Site_Boy_And_Brick: "Brothers!! Group up!"

Debt_Ridden_Big_Eyes: "Awooo!"

Spring Commander: "It's not exactly an endless mode. Once the corruption in the land drops to zero, as long as the B-type strain maintains its occupation, the area is considered restored, and no more monsters will spawn... probably? (I'm guessing.)"

WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "So if I never use points to redeem Luo Yu's son, and only use them for ammo and airstrike support, I can keep farming points indefinitely, right? (Sarcastic)"

Luo Yu: "??? Are you being polite?"

Spring Commander: "Well, theoretically yes, but this loophole is too obvious. I'm more inclined to think it's a 'tacitly allowed operation.'"

Quit Smoking: "How so? (Confused)"

Spring Commander: "First, aside from the supplies redeemed with points, the ammo consumed in missions has to be bought by the players themselves. But mission rewards aren't based on the number of kills—they're calculated from 'survival time' and 'corruption level.' According to the Death Legion's test results, the dungeon difficulty keeps increasing."

"Assume the reward is y, time is x. The devs just need to set an S-shaped nonlinear function as the player's reward formula, and set a time threshold t. When time x is less than t, time is the main weight; when x exceeds t, the impact of time accumulation on reward y diminishes, making another parameter—corruption level—the main weight. So dragging it out further yields negligible returns."

Edge Paddling: "Stalling the dungeon indefinitely only wastes ammo with no benefit. To get higher rewards, you need to end the dungeon near the 'threshold,' exchange for maximum gains, then voluntarily push deeper into the map for harder dungeons... I see."

Spring Commander: "That's just basic numerical design. In detail, you could set multiple time thresholds, or even link the time threshold to difficulty—i.e., the corruption parameter. Actually, from a game design perspective, this operation makes sense. Players stalling can consume the nutrients the Torch Church needs to spawn troops, while clearing dungeons expands the coalition's control zone. Either choice benefits the coalition."

Midnight Chicken Killing: "Too complicated! If I were on the Northern Front, I'd probably choose option 2. (Bitter smile)"

Spring Commander: "What's so complicated? When you can't farm anymore, just call Xiao Yu's fruiting body to clear the dungeon. Option 2 is more troublesome—you have to investigate local intel while searching for traces of the Torch Church... The key point is, you can hardly expect any living person to trigger a dialogue with you. A carpet search probably has to wait until the area's corruption is cleared."

WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "But from another angle, if you could pick up a black box, that'd be awesome! (Wicked grin)"

Night Ten: "@Fang Chang, can you handle it or not? Do you need A-Guang to update himself? (Sarcastic)"

Fang Chang: "I'm on the Southern Front, don't rush me. I'll tag that guy in the north for you. @Canyon Escape Mole"

Canyon Escape Mole: "Passing the buck, huh? I'm not the dog planner's lackey—pfft, I'm not the planner's bootlicker!"

Night Ten: "A-Guang: You posted it, right? Your account is gone. (Sarcastic)"

Canyon Escape Mole: "Bro Guang, I was wrong! You're my real bro!! (Terrified)"

Maca Bazi: "Hahaha! Such a coward! (Sarcastic)"

...

On the bridge of the Steel Heart.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Chu Guang was browsing the forum posts on the holographic screen, a faint smile on his face.

As the planner and "hidden player" of *Wasteland OL*, his understanding of the "Administrator" role had always been clear.

His duty wasn't to study how to conquer a specific monster or dungeon—that was for the "big shots" in the server.

Using available resources to design a rule system with rewards and punishments, encouraging those big shots to "push in the right direction"—that was his job.

Once the rules were set, players would naturally weigh pros and cons, carefully choose locations for large purification bases or small purification stations, and consider how to use limited ammo and Xiao Yu's fruiting bodies to clear regional corruption more efficiently.

No one knew their limits better than those on the front lines.

Whether failed attempts or successful experiences, they would be summarized into guides on the forum.

Back when distributing game helmets, Chu Guang had included forum activity as one of the reference weights precisely to bring in as many "willing-to-share-and-cooperate" players as possible.

Of course, not everyone had to be like that—as long as such players formed the majority, it was enough.

As for the specific game behavior of one or a few players, that was their own business. Unless it became a widespread phenomenon, it wasn't within his scope of concern. Micromanaging would lead to losing sight of the bigger picture; letting things play out naturally often yielded unexpected gains.

Like now.

Even without his hints, his little players were doing well, even considering the "numerical design strategies" he hadn't yet thought of.

When setting mission rewards later, he would have Xiao Qi refer to Brother Spring's advice and incorporate it into the reward calculation.

Now that the Alliance Biological Research Institute had completed soil sample analysis, and the Death Legion had finished the "stress test" on Heaven, next month's "work plan" was also arranged.

From the feedback on the forum posts, players were quite enthusiastic about the new event.

Especially the newbies who entered the game in Beta 0.7—several were already eagerly forming teams on the forum, pondering where to set up purification stations.

In fact, the coalition's operational framework in the Haiya Province region was basically what was written in the announcement.

Namely, on one hand, clear the corruption in Haiya Province; on the other, search for Torch Church facilities within the purified areas.

He had merely woven it into game language and assigned it to the players.

Not just the Alliance—soon the Legion, Corporation, Academy, and other survivor factions would also formulate their own operational plans, delineating their respective war zones.

Soon, purification stations and bases would bloom across the land of Haiya Province. He hoped that the guy who called himself "Human Emperor" wouldn't be too surprised by what was coming.

"I admit you have many pieces on the board, but what if my players are cheating?"

Chu Guang smiled faintly, swiping his finger across the holographic screen, gathering the azure light at his fingertip.

It was only early August.

The coalition had crossed the Ten Peaks Mountain into Haiya Province earlier than planned, and the problem that had troubled all sides had now found a breakthrough.

Using technology against technology, using waves against waves.

This war might end sooner than he expected...