23: Chapter 23 Fierce Battle

Nine kilometers west of the Fire Seed Shelter.

On the endless yellow arid wasteland, the gale whipped up grit, stinging people's faces.

In the distance, the majestic rolling mountains to the north acted like a natural barrier, separating this desolate land from the northern Radiation Wasteland.

A team of five players was exploring westward along the mountain range.

"Creak... Creak..."

Liver Emperor was pedaling hard, drenched in sweat, while Why Panic When I Have Flash sat on the back seat, looking around with a monocular.

Meanwhile, on another bicycle.

New player Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh was pedaling fast.

This guy was a gym regular in reality. Even in the game, his initial clone body stood 1.9 meters tall, covered in bulging muscles that made the dilapidated bicycle groan under the weight.

Miracle Walker, sitting on his back seat, was being tossed around until he was dizzy.

"Slaanesh, slow the hell down! I'm about to throw up my breakfast!"

Walker cursed while gripping the edge of the seat tightly.

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh had long been a regular in the "I Want to be Happy Too" QQ group and was close enough to these veteran players of the first closed beta to share a pair of pants.

This time, his luck peaked, and he secured a spot. Upon logging in, he joined their pioneering squad without hesitation.

"Slow down my ass! The sooner we find mobs, the sooner we can farm points!"

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh laughed heartily, his thick thighs suddenly exerting force, and the bicycle shot forward another two meters.

Behind these two bicycles.

"Huff... Huff... You bunch of animals! Are you even human?!"

Accompanied by heavy footsteps.

Makabazi, standing 2.3 meters tall with a pair of huge horns, had his tongue hanging out as he sprinted behind them like a crazed buffalo, eating their dust!

There were actually extra bicycles in the Shelter.

But it couldn't be helped; the density and weight of Makabazi's Beastman body were terrifying. The moment he sat on one, the frame bent.

Moreover, to exploit this free Minotaur labor, the team's massive ragbag filled with spare weapons, dry rations, and water bottles was naturally hung around Makabazi's neck.

He was the picture of a purebred wasteland coolie!

"Niuzi! Work harder, take bigger steps!"

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh turned back and laughed wildly at the sprinting Minotaur.

"Once I make some money from killing mobs today, I'll spend it all on you when we get back! I'll spend enough to make you sick! I'll at least get you a cow!"

"Piss off! You muscle-brained freak!"

Makabazi roared in anger, two thick plumes of white steam snorting from his bovine nose.

While they were bickering and trash-talking each other.

"Stop, stop, stop!!!"

Flash, sitting behind Liver Emperor, suddenly slapped Liver Emperor's shoulder hard.

Holding the monocular, he stared intently at the swirling yellow sand in the distance.

"There's movement! Brothers!"

Flash's voice instantly became extremely excited, even trembling slightly.

"It's Orks! Mobs spawned ahead! What's the plan?!"

"Screech!"

Both bicycles slammed on their brakes instantly.

"Orks this soon?"

Liver Emperor paused, looking around warily.

"We're not even ten kilometers from the Shelter, right? Their activity range is expanding this fast?"

"Should we find a way to blast them?"

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh threw his bicycle to the ground and pulled a massive two-handed axe from his back.

"Who cares how far from home we are, as long as there are mobs to kill! One Ork is 100 points! These aren't monsters; they're walking ATMs! Let's do it!"

The group waited for half a minute.

A panting Makabazi finally charged over like a heavy truck and flopped onto the ground, gasping for air.

"Quick, quick, quick! Drop the bag and grab your gear!"

They scrambled to unload the big bag from the Minotaur's back and began quickly distributing weapons.

In reality, Miracle Walker grew up overseas and was the only player among them who had handled real guns and live ammunition.

Therefore, the team's most precious long-range firepower was all concentrated on him.

A 9mm semi-automatic pistol made just yesterday and a 12.7mm Elephant Gun with an exaggerated caliber and recoil that could shatter an ordinary person's shoulder were both shoved into Walker's arms.

Walker skillfully picked up the heavy Elephant Gun, pulled the rough bolt, listened to the crisp metallic clack, and pressed five brass bullets into the magazine one by one.

"Click."

With the gun loaded, Walker's gaze became extremely sharp.

"Leave the toughest Ork to me later."

On the other side, Liver Emperor slipped a heavy round shield onto his left arm and gripped a short-handled machete in his right.

Flash pulled out an even broader two-handed greatsword.

Makabazi caught his breath and snatched up his giant metal battle-axe, which was thicker than a door, white steam snorting from his nose again.

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh sat on the ground, his feet in the stirrups of an old-fashioned heavy crossbow. Relying on his terrifying strength stat, which was slightly higher than the Level 3 Liver Emperor's, he manually turned the winch to cock the taut steel bowstring.

"What's the target composition?" Liver Emperor asked in a low voice.

Flash lay behind a weathered, pitted rock and reported quickly through the monocular.

"Quite a few! There's a tall, sturdy Ork—must be an Orc Boyz! Plus eight Squigs and over a dozen Gretchin with crude clubs!"

"All melee weapons, no firearms spotted! They're about seven or eight hundred meters away. They have the numbers; what's the call?"

Liver Emperor rubbed his hands in excitement as he quickly scanned the surroundings.

"The terrain here is too open. They have the numbers; if we get surrounded on the plain, we'll be in trouble."

Soon, Liver Emperor's gaze locked onto a spot not far to the front right.

There stood a massive metal pillar protruding diagonally from the ground, looking like the wreckage of some ancient starship.

The steel pillar was seven or eight meters wide, forming a natural, indestructible steel cover on the flat ground!

"We'll fight against that steel wall!"

Liver Emperor ordered decisively.

"Use the terrain to bottleneck them so they can't surround us! Walker, your shooting okay?"

"Nonsense. As long as the barrel of this piece of junk doesn't explode, I'll hit whatever I aim at within fifty meters. You think I'm joking about American Iaijutsu?"

"Good! Move out!"

The five of them, like five agile marmots, crouched low and used the sand dunes for cover as they quickly relocated to the massive metal wall.

No sooner had they taken their positions.

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh, who was aiming the heavy crossbow, suddenly gasped.

"Brothers... we don't need to go looking for them." Slaanesh swallowed hard. "They've spotted us!"

...

Yellow sand filled the air.

On the wilderness seven hundred meters away from the players.

The moment the Ork hunting party spotted the players, there was no tactical probing, no flanking maneuvers.

"WAAAAAAAGH!!!"

Accompanied by an incredibly violent, deafening war cry!

The Orc Boyz leading the group suddenly raised the jagged Choppa in his hand.

He had several iron plates haphazardly hanging on him, his dark green muscles bulging with extreme excitement, thick veins twisting across his body like tree roots.

Especially when his crimson eyes saw the 2.3-meter-tall horned Minotaur among the players, the Orc Boyz was so excited he was practically euphoric.

For the purest and most violent Orks, combat was code written into the very core of their genes!

They felt no pain.

Their bone and muscle density was extremely high, and their internal organs even had incredibly redundant designs.

As long as their heads weren't instantly blown apart or their hearts completely shredded, they could still tear you to pieces while laughing wildly, even with their guts spilling out!

"Crush these humie! WAAAGH!!!"

The Orc Boyz roared, his thick thighs churning as he led the eight Squigs and over a dozen Gretchin in a mad charge toward the players like an unstoppable green mudslide!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Heavy footsteps thudded on the parched earth, as if the ground itself were trembling slightly.

A few hundred meters vanished in an instant before the Orks' terrifying physical prowess, and they showed no signs of fatigue!

"They're coming! Get ready to welcome the guests!"

The five players stood their ground with their backs against the cold iron wall.

Facing that violent aura, their adrenaline began to surge!

The distance between them had closed to less than a hundred meters!

"Clear the adds first! Thin their numbers!"

Liver Emperor bellowed, suddenly pulling a throwing axe from a slot on his thigh, leaning back, and swinging his arm to hurl it fiercely at the leading Squig!

"Whoosh—"

The throwing axe whistled through the air.

"Clang!"

A dull thud.

The throwing axe struck the Squig's hard skull, only managing to chip off a bit of skin before being ruthlessly deflected.

"Holy crap! Is the armor penetration of this crappy axe really this trash?!" Liver Emperor couldn't help but curse.

"Watch me!"

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh sneered beside him, his heavy crossbow already steadily locked onto a target.

"Twang!"

The thick steel bowstring let out an extremely dull, explosive crack.

The thick crossbow bolt carried terrifying kinetic energy, instantly traversing the hundred-meter distance.

"Splat!"

The Squig charging at the very front didn't even have time to let out a scream before its neck was pinned through by the rebar bolt, the immense impact sending its corpse rolling several times on the ground!

Immediately after, Slaanesh erupted with the hand speed of someone single for twenty years.

He stepped firmly on the stirrups, veins bulging on his hands as he frantically turned the winch.

In less than ten seconds, it was reloaded!

"Twang! Twang!"

Three consecutive heavy crossbow shots followed, directly headshotting and killing two Squigs and a Gretchin that had charged too aggressively!

"Good job! Keep suppressing them!" Flash shouted.

But by now, the distance between the two sides had closed to a dangerous thirty meters!

That tall and sturdy Orc Boyz, its ugly mouth full of fangs, and the nauseating stench coming off its body were already clearly visible!

That immense sense of pressure was enough to make any ordinary person wet themselves on the spot.

But The Fourth Calamity were no ordinary people.

Especially that Minotaur who was holding back a belly full of fire!

"WAAAAAH!!!"

Makabazi was trembling all over with excitement.

Imitating the green-skins opposite him, he let out an extremely strange but equally violent roar!

His eyes turned red as he raised that heavy greataxe, charging out like an out-of-control heavy Tank and slamming head-on into that Orc Boyz!

"This crazy bull!" Liver Emperor's eye twitched at the sight.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Just then, the crisp sound of gunfire finally rang out!

Miracle Walker half-knelt, his hands holding the 9mm semi-automatic pistol with extreme stability.

He took a deep breath, entering a state of absolute focus.

As an old shooting pro, he was very familiar with firearms.

The Squig's skull is extremely hard; shooting the body is a waste of bullets!

"Burst fire! Aim for the eyes!"

Walker pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Hot flames spat from the muzzle, and brass casings leapt out joyfully.

Over ten meters away.

Those short and thin Gretchin had no protection at all.

Hit in the chest or abdomen by 9mm bullets, they collapsed into pools of blood, dying with miserable screams.

As for the Squigs lunging and biting frantically, except for two unlucky ones whose eyes were shot out by Walker's extremely accurate bursts and were now rolling on the ground, the others hit in the skull only paused slightly before charging even more violently!

"Click."

The pistol locked back on an empty chamber; a full magazine had been emptied.

Walker threw the pistol to the ground without hesitation and snatched up that 12.7mm Elephant Rifle with his backhand!

"Come taste some large-caliber truth! You bastards!"

Walker pressed the heavy stock firmly against his shoulder, his sights locking onto a Squig less than five meters away that was opening its bloody maw!

Pulled the trigger!

"BOOM—!!!"

A terrifyingly loud bang, almost like an autocannon firing, exploded across the open wasteland!

An orange-red flame half a meter long spat from the muzzle!

That Squig didn't even manage to let out a wail.

The moment that thumb-thick full-power bullet touched its body, it instantly blew its massive frame into a shower of flying meat fragments!

A foul-smelling rain of blood mixed with internal organs drenched Walker from head to toe.

"Awesome!!!"

Miracle Walker was knocked back a step by the massive recoil, his shoulder in sharp pain, but an extremely crazed smile appeared on his face! This was a man's romance!

By now, the distance between the two sides had completely vanished.

Melee combat officially broke out!

"Step on me to get up!"

Liver Emperor roared, half-kneeling on the ground and holding the heavy scrap-iron round shield in front of him.

Walker didn't hesitate, stepping on Liver Emperor's solid back and using the momentum to leap, climbing up that huge slanted steel wall like a nimble ape.

From his high vantage point, he quickly cycled the bolt of the Elephant Gun and began searching for the next high-value target.

The three melee players remaining on the ground instantly formed a battle formation.

Flash and Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh, one with a two-handed greatsword and one with a two-handed greataxe, stuck closely to Liver Emperor's left and right sides.

"Come bite me! You dead green-skins!"

Liver Emperor held up that scrap-iron round shield, blocking the front firmly.

On the front of that round shield, Liver Emperor had painted an extremely abstract but also extremely mocking tiger's head yesterday at the base while he was bored, using low-quality paint found in the ruins!

To the low-intelligence Squigs who acted entirely on instinct, this shield with a tiger's head painted on it was a blatant provocation!

"Chomp!"

Two Squigs lunged forward like mad, opening their toothy maws and biting hard onto the shield, producing a tooth-grinding sound of metal scraping.

"Now's the time! Chop them!" Liver Emperor shouted while bracing the shield.

"Die!"

Flash and Slaanesh, hiding on the sides, lunged out simultaneously!

The two-handed sword turned into a silver Flash, accurately striking the neck of a Squig where it lacked skull protection; meanwhile, Slaanesh's greataxe was heavy and powerful, splitting another Squig in half right down the middle!

With the three of them coordinating perfectly in a Tank + Dual DPS setup, plus the heavy fire support from Walker above...

In the blink of an eye.

The Gretchin and Squigs that had charged up fell like harvested wheat, more than half of them down.

The green blood on the ground pooled into foul-smelling puddles.

Meanwhile, on the other main battlefield.

A display of pure violent aesthetics, devoid of any fancy techniques, was unfolding!

"Clang!!!"

Accompanied by a deafening metallic clash, sparks flew everywhere!

The 2.3-meter-tall Minotaur Makabazi and that strong Orc Boyz collided fiercely like two violent beasts!

Greataxe against cleaver!

Neither of them cared about defense or footwork.

It was a complete trade of blood—you slash me once, I must return a blow with my axe.

Before long, both the man and the beast were covered in terrifying wounds deep enough to see bone, their bodies dyed dark red with blood.

But strangely...

That Orc Boyz didn't weaken from its heavy injuries; instead, smelling the blood made it even more frenzied.

Its ugly face even wore a cruel, wild grin as it enjoyed the battle.

"humie! Good stuff! WAAAGH!"

And Makabazi's eyes had also turned completely red.

The game's pain feedback, instead of making him back down, completely ignited the wild genes hidden within his Beastman body.

Adrenaline surged through his veins; he was now like a Spanish fighting bull with mad cow disease.

"Scream all you want! Die for me!"

Ignoring the bone-deep slash on his shoulder, Makabazi roared and raised his greataxe, hacking at the Orc Boyz's neck like he was chopping a tree, one swing after another in a frantic frenzy.

The meat-grinder-like brutal slaughter on this desolate wasteland had reached a fever pitch!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Deafening metallic collisions echoed across the wilderness, each clash erupting in blinding sparks.

"Huff... Huff..."

Makabazi panted heavily, his lungs pulling like a broken bellows.

"What the hell kind of monster is this?!" Makabazi roared in his mind.

He was now a muscle-bound Beastman standing 2.3 meters tall.

And under the stimulation of the game's pain, he had even erupted with adrenaline beyond his limits.

But even so, in a contest of pure strength, he was actually being suppressed by the green-skinned Orc Boyz before him!

The Orc Boyz's muscle density was simply absurdly high.

Its movements swinging that heavy cleaver didn't slow down at all due to blood loss.

Instead, it fought faster and crazier as the battle went on.

"humie! Too weak! WAAAGH!"

The Orc Boyz laughed wildly, parrying Makabazi's greataxe with a blow, then raising its large foot clad in a ragged iron boot and kicking Makabazi hard in the chest.

"Bang!"

Makabazi's massive frame was actually kicked back three or four steps, falling onto his butt in the sand, a mouthful of blood overflowing from his lips.

"The old bull can't hold on!"

At this life-or-death moment.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

From the nearby battlefield came the last few crisp gunshots.

Liver Emperor slammed away the last dead Gretchin with his blood-stained round shield and roared: "Brothers! The mobs are cleared! Let's gang up on the big one!"

At this time, the Orc Boyz also noticed the situation around it.

The hunting party it had brought had actually been wiped out by these weak humie!

It didn't run away; instead, it roared in fury.

"Damned humie! I'm gonna tear you apart!"

The Orc Boyz turned around, raising its cleaver, preparing to first hack the grounded Makabazi to death.

"BOOM—!!!"

A massive bang, like a sudden clap of thunder!

Miracle Walker stood on the steel wall, his sights firmly locked onto the Orc Boyz's broad flank.

The thumb-thick 12.7mm Elephant Rifle bullet whistled out with destructive kinetic energy!