Chapter 754.2: I AM THE TIDE

"It's a fungal mutant!" The drone operator immediately identified the creature over their communication channel.

Fungal mutant was the general designation for all fruiting bodies created by Na Fruit corruption, distinguishing them from Mutant Slime Mold sub-entities. The category contained several subtypes depending on the species, including common variants such as Zombies and Corpse Hounds.

The creature they had just encountered somewhat resembled the Creepers spawned by the Hive in Clearspring City. However, it was noticeably smaller, weaker, and slower.

Lowering his rifle, the Gauss rifle marksman couldn't help cursing, "Damn it! The drones already swept this area! Where the hell did that thing come from?"

Tang Feng kept his eyes fixed through the scope, aiming toward the direction from which the monster had emerged. "It's probably just like the Manor Guardian Plains... They're crawling up from undergro–"

"FUCK! UNDER US!" A panicked shout over the communication channel interrupted him.

Instinctively glancing back, he saw a withered arm erupt through the soil and grab the lower leg of one of his teammates. Fortunately, it wasn't particularly strong and failed to penetrate their exoskeletons.

Still, the rifleman nearly jumped out of his skin. He hastily drew his pistol and emptied several rounds downward.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The arm instantly shattered into pieces. The ricocheting fragments nearly struck his breastplate.

Seeing what had happened, unease spread through the squad. The danger wasn't only surrounding them. It was beneath their feet as well.

Then, shrill screams erupted from every direction. The sound of countless running footsteps surged toward them like an incoming tide.

"Three o'clock! Machine gunner, suppressive fire!"

"Roger!"

The squad leader roared the order and behind the portable shield, the machine gunner clenched his teeth. His finger seemed welded to the trigger as the heavy machine gun thundered to life. Its deafening roar tore apart both the silence and the gray fog blanketing the wasteland.

"ROOOAAAR!" Corpse Hounds charged forward on all fours, howling wildly as they approached. Behind them came swarms of Zombies.

The dispersed riflemen immediately opened fire as well, cutting down wave after wave of fungal mutants.

At the same time, the unmanned tracked vehicle in the center of the formation entered combat mode. The remote weapon station's 20mm autocannon erupted with a blazing stream of fire.

Guided by the designated marksman's laser designator, it poured devastating firepower into the densest concentrations of Zombies.

Yet, even with the tremendous firepower of this mechanized squad, even though the savage fungal mutants couldn't survive more than two seconds in front of them, the relentless assault still placed enormous pressure upon the soldiers.

There were simply too many of them!

The creatures poured out of the ground like pus being squeezed from an infected wound.

For every one visible above the surface, who knew how many more remained buried beneath the earth?

Watching the number of creatures growing denser and denser, the machine gunner crouched behind the mobile shield while changing magazines.

"When's the extraction bird getting here?!"

Continuing to fire, the squad leader shouted over the communication channel. "It's already on the way! It should arrive in less than 20 minutes!"

"20 minutes?!"

"Damn it..."

"Are they coming to rescue us or collect our bodies?!"

The communication channel erupted with curses.

The squad leader roared again. "Shut the hell up! Stay on your targets! And watch your footing!"

The attacks weren't only coming from every direction. They were also coming from directly beneath them. Withered arms constantly burst through the soil like seedlings sprouting after rain.

Destroying them wasn't difficult. A knife or even a rifle butt could smash them apart, but the problem was, they kept coming. Wave after wave, they never stopped.

Even though the squad had brought three times the standard ammunition load... It still wasn't enough.

10 minutes remained.

Looking at his final magazine, Tang Feng gritted his teeth and slammed it into his rifle. If the evacuation aircraft didn't arrive soon, they would have to fight those twisted monsters hand-to-hand.

Just then, the squad leader's excited voice suddenly rang out over the communication channel. "Dragonflies! It's our Air Squadron! They're here!"

Tang Feng instinctively looked up. The thick gray fog completely obscured the sky and he couldn't see a thing, but just then, a voice crackling with static came over their communication channel.

"This is Raccoon. We've entered the airspace above your position. Deploy your targeting beacon to guide us."

They didn't even need the reminder. The squad's designated marksman had already fired a beacon flare into the area beneath the elevated highway, where the fungal mutants were most densely packed.

The reassuring voice soon returned over the radio. "Beacon confirmed. Maintain a safe distance... Three... two... one..."

The instant the countdown ended, a torrential rain of tracer rounds poured from the sky, instantly pulverizing the fungal mutants charging across the shattered concrete into bloody pulp.

A dozen rockets followed close behind. The explosions erupted in rapid succession, blasting open a massive gap in the center of the mutant horde. Within the sea of flames, a Zombie with half its body blown away let out a shrill scream before finally falling silent.

Blocked by the raging inferno, the surrounding Zombies pushed against one another for a while but ultimately none dared charge through the blazing fire. Instead, they flowed around both sides of the burning barrier, attempting to bypass it.

"Beautiful!" The squad's designated marksman cheered excitedly before immediately firing a second beacon, then a third.

Using the triangle formed by the three beacons, the six Dragonflies circling overhead confirmed the friendly position and finally unleashed their full firepower.

While continuously hammering the battlefield with their 20mm autocannons, they emptied every rocket pod they carried. Towering walls of fire separated the surging fungal mutants from the soldiers trapped inside.

At that same moment, around 10 wooden gliders suddenly burst through the smoke billowing above the flames and slammed heavily into the rocky wasteland below.

Roughly 40 to 50 soldiers jumped out from the gliders. They carried LD-47 assault rifles with bayonets fixed beneath the barrels. Every one of them wore a gas mask, and each had an entrenching shovel hanging from their waist.

Those who had arrived were obviously New Alliance troops. Judging from the insignia on their uniforms, they belonged to the famous Death Corps.

Strangely enough, however, none of them wore exoskeletons. They carried only rather rudimentary equipment.

The newcomers shouted noisily among themselves in a language Tang Feng couldn't understand. He had no idea what they were yelling about.

"Damn! They call this thing a plane?!"

"Fuck that fella who designed the plane! My ass is cracked!"

Watching the rowdy group of rookies, Lawless Madman couldn't help recalling his own first deployment a year earlier.

Back in the Sunset Province, when they had charged Battlefield Cheerleader, them rookies had been just as loud. Yet it was precisely thanks to that live-fire training that, in less than a month, they'd gone from complete rookies to competent soldiers.

Now, he had finally become one of the veterans, one of the backbone members of the Death Corps.

This time, their mission had been personally entrusted to him by Sideline Slacking. His job was to lead these rookies to their deaths... Ahem... to let them receive the baptism of war!

"They're disposable anyway... Stop whining and get those machine guns off the gliders! They're still usable!" Shotgun in hand, Lawless Madman strolled calmly to the front while barking orders at the newcomers.

Without even looking down, he casually stomped on a skeletal hand that had emerged from the soil and was reaching for his ankle, crushing it beneath his boot.

One player still fumbling around beside a glider finally found his rifle and yelled back, "Captain! What about the ammo crates? Bring those too?"

Lawless Madman rolled his eyes. "What kind of stupid question is that? No shit!"