Chapter 738.1: Real Heroes

Just as the Mutant Humans who had emerged from the tunnels had anticipated, these exoskeleton-clad soldiers were far more dangerous than every enemy they had faced before combined.

It wasn't merely because of the heavy exoskeleton operator constantly launching mortar shells, nor was it because of the speed and strength they displayed on the battlefield.

It was the aura they radiated.

That was something the Mutant Humans had never encountered before! Those people fought as though they had already died countless times and seemed to have completely adapted to death.

"AWRUAGHH!" Seeing an exoskeleton-clad warrior charge toward him, a green-skinned brute hiding behind a boulder let out a furious roar. Its steel axe descended with enough force to split a bull in half, but the blow was firmly caught by a square shield.

CLANG!

The heavy impact echoed into the night. The tremendous force capable of cleaving a beast in two left only a shallow scratch on the ceramic-steel shield. In fact, it seemed to have removed only a layer of paint.

The mutant's hands went numb from the recoil, causing it to stumble backward. Before it could regain its footing, a fist-sized gun barrel was already pointed directly at its head.

The player grinned savagely and pulled the trigger. "Repent in hell!"

A long tongue of flame erupted from the shotgun alongside his laughter. The burning phosphorus itself was the projectile. A mixture of triethylaluminum and white phosphorus could burn intensely even in confined spaces and low-oxygen environments, generating temperatures approaching 1,000 degrees celsius and maximizing lethality against organic targets.

The flames were not long-lasting, but their destructive power was astonishing. Unlike white-phosphorus grenades that scattered flames in every direction, this weapon concentrated its fire exactly where it was aimed.

The Mutant Human was engulfed by the dazzling flames and let out a miserable scream. Moments later it collapsed, curled into a ball, and stopped moving. Large sections of its muscles had been reduced to blackened charcoal.

The burning shell casing spun out of the chamber trailing wisps of flame before tumbling down the mountainside with a metallic clatter.

The player smoothly racked the shotgun against the edge of his shield and chambered another round. Holding the ceramic-steel shield in front of him, he continued advancing with steady, powerful steps.

Heavy infantry equipped with riot shields and Heavy Cavalry exoskeletons formed the spearhead of the assault. Each heavy infantryman was accompanied by two lighter infantry wearing Light Cavalry exoskeletons.

The 3-man teams advanced methodically toward the middle of the mountain.

Watching the flashes erupting near the foot of the mountain, the recently withdrawn Wislander soldiers couldn't help staring in astonishment.

"Those are... white phosphorus rounds?"

"They are fired directly from the barrel?"

A squad leader whose arm had been badly burned couldn't help exclaiming, "Are these lunatics trying to kill themselves too?!"

White phosphorus munitions were hardly rare within the Army's arsenal. From the warheads of 400mm rocket-assisted artillery rounds to handheld grenades issued to frontline infantry, they were cheap, effective, and common.

But loading white phosphorus directly into bullets and firing them from a shotgun? That was something nobody had ever imagined. Ignoring the issue of barrel temperatures alone, weren't they worried about setting themselves on fire? Even secondary ignition was dangerous enough.

It wasn't just the Army that was surprised. The command center of the 100th Mechanized Mountain Division, watching through drones, was equally fascinated.

"Those infantry weapons are pretty interesting."

"Worth studying."

"Aren't they a bit flashy and impractical?"

"Maybe not impractical. Just highly specialized."

"Yeah... that's true."

To both the Army and Enterprise, secondary-ignition ammunition was a novel concept. Stuffing solid incendiary compounds into projectiles made it seem even more bizarre. Though the officers found the weapons impressive, most quickly abandoned the idea of adopting them themselves.

In truth, producing such weapons wasn't particularly difficult given the technological legacy of the Prosperity Era. The issue was that investing heavily in infantry weapon development offered poor returns. Both the Army and Enterprise spent relatively little on individual soldier equipment.

The Army preferred larger calibers and greater numbers while the Enterprise preferred automation and military outsourcing to reduce costs.

Ironically, the faction whose doctrine most closely resembled the New Alliance wasn't either of them. It was the Academy.

While the Academy's extensive investment in Alpha Mobile Task Force equipment was intended more as a way to compensate for their military shortcomings than reduce casualties, they remained one of the few survivor factions willing to spend lavishly on individual equipment.

The New Alliance lacked the Academy's enormous technological reserves. As a result, they specialized in developing ideas that were ridiculous, but not completely ridiculous.

The concept of secondary-ignition ammunition emerged from that philosophy. The Howlers specifically for killing Mutant Humans belonged to that category. So did those white-phosphorus shells that ignited the instant they left the barrel. Compared to explosive bolt rounds with shaped charges, these phosphorus rounds had no minimum arming distance.

They were cheaper and at close range, they were arguably even deadlier. Their only weakness was limited range.

However, that wasn't a problem in mountain and tunnel warfare. Combat distances were either a few dozen meters or well over a kilometer. At close range, bolt rounds often failed to arm properly. At long range, infantry weapons were irrelevant and artillery took over.

As a result, after repeated requests from players, Boulder Town Arms Industry had developed a specialized 19mm shotgun based on the Howlers. The weapon was known as the Flame Dragon.

Its transportation and maintenance requirements made logistics personnel curse constantly as it had to be transported separately from standard ammunition.

But that was someone else's problem.

In any case, while the Army and the Enterprise commanders were still marveling at the weapon, the Storm Corps' vanguard had already delivered a vicious slap to the mutant forces pursuing downhill.

The green-skinned brutes were left completely disoriented.

Realizing that capturing Black Cloud Peak was no longer possible, the Mutant Humans began withdrawing. They intended to retreat into their tunnels and caves, compress their defenses, and repeat the bloody meat grinder that had already chewed up the Wislanders.

Then, a massive black shadow three to four meters tall suddenly burst into their rear like a hurricane. A flash of claws tore through the darkness as two green-skinned brutes were cut cleanly in half. Their intestines spilled across the ground.

The Goblins froze when they met those amber eyes and the massive jaws breathing white mist. Fear exploded across their faces. Shrieking in panic, they dropped their weapons and fled. Many crashed into retreating Mutant Humans and caused chaos throughout the withdrawal.

A Mutant Human leader widened its saucer-sized eyes. "Deathclaw!"

And it was wearing an exoskeleton!

The Goblins weren't the only ones terrified and the larger Mutant Humans also showed flashes of fear. Rumors had spread long ago that the Rock Axe Clan on Manor Peak had been annihilated by warriors riding Deathclaws.

Had those monsters arrived?

While Garbage tore through Mutant Humans with his claws, Me Quiet watched from afar with obvious envy. "Holy crap... Garbage is insane."

The fat rat standing nearby looked reluctant to admit it, but eventually nodded. "Yeah. If only he could last longer."

Me Quiet scratched his head. "Uh... that's definitely a problem."

Their genetic sequence was incredibly powerful, but it was also incredibly troublesome. Especially in the late game.

Normal players constantly upgraded their equipment. Mutant players still had to borrow gear designed for combat pets. Aside from Mosquito and Tail, almost no crafting players were willing to invest time creating custom equipment for such a tiny minority.

Once their equipment fell behind, the disadvantages became increasingly obvious.

Everyone else fought using coordinated tactics while mutant creature players were still relying on brute force.

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