Chapter 734.2: Battle of Broken Blade Peak!

At the exact moment the mercenaries withdrew, General Liam stood on the bridge of the Loyalty wearing a completely undisguised sneer. With a swipe of his finger, a pale-blue holographic screen unfolded before him as a snowy video call window appeared.

The Enterprise commander wasn't visible. Presumably, he was too embarrassed to turn on his camera.

Liam didn't care. He simply mocked him openly. "Can you people actually fight or not? Why don't you send in your regular army already? Stop wasting everyone's time."

Black Cloud Peak remained under the Army’s control. His men had observed the entire battle from nearby while the 100th Mechanized Mountain Division had remained stationary throughout. They hadn't lifted a finger.

To be honest, compared to the performance of their auxiliary forces, Liam was far more curious about the combat effectiveness of Ideal City's actual military. And that curiosity was shared by Army Commander Saren.

They were allies today, but no one could guarantee they wouldn't become enemies tomorrow.

Perhaps trying to salvage some dignity, a voice finally came through the communication channel. "... We have already achieved today's operational objectives. Today's offensive is over."

Hearing that, Liam tried holding back his laughter, but failed horribly.

"Hahahaha! You achieved your objective? Wasn't your objective to plant your flag on the summit?"

Lin Shangwen's face darkened. "That was the final objective. Figuring out what exactly has happened to these Mutant Humans was today's objective."

Liam narrowed his eyes, staring at the static-filled screen before suddenly smiling. "Don't tell me you're scared?"

It was a deliberate provocation, an attempt to goad the Enterprise into deploying their regular army.

Unfortunately for him, the other side didn't take the bait. The calm voice continued, "If researching an enemy's weaknesses and identifying the critical point needed to destroy them in one decisive blow counts as 'fear' in your eyes, then interpret it however you like. In my view, our soldiers' lives are worth more." After a pause, Lin Shangwen let out a cold laugh. "You lost an entire battalion in a single day. I honestly don't know what you're so proud of."

The faint mockery hidden within those words did not escape Liam and a flash of irritation crossed his face. However, he quickly regained his composure. The casualties had only been clones, not General Modlin's Army of Glory.

No matter how one looked at it, they had suffered fewer than a company's worth of casualties and still managed to plant their flag on Black Cloud Peak.

Watching the communication disconnect, Liam snorted. "Stubborn bastard."

...

Distant Times.

[At 0800 hours today, the 100th Mechanized Mountain Division and the 7th Air Squadron launched a fierce offensive against Broken Blade Peak. With minimal casualties, they eliminated over 1,000 Mutant Humans.]

[According to intelligence recovered from the front lines, increasing evidence directly proves the anti-human crimes committed by the Torch Church.]

[Large numbers of survivors have been fed addictive drugs and artificially imprisoned for breeding purposes. In addition, Torch Church Apostles have used Prosperity Era biotechnology to carry out extremely dangerous genetic modifications on certain Mutant Humans, creating numerous enhanced variants with severe safety risks...]

[This is war correspondent Wu Kaian, reporting from the frontlines.]

The next morning, a twin-engine Orca transport aircraft and a four-engine Overlord transport plane landed one after another at the Guardian Manor Military Base's airstrip.

The former carried a team of biological experts from Cloud University. The latter carried researchers from the New Alliance’s Biological Research Institution. Though they belonged to different factions, they had come to the front for the same reason.

The Mutant Humans that continued fighting even after their heads had been blown apart.

As the commander of the military base, Li Jinrong personally headed over to receive them and arranged accommodations in a three-story reinforced-concrete building tucked away in one corner of the base.

The structure had originally been intended as a field hospital for casualties. However, there weren't many wounded yet, so it had not been put into use. It served perfectly as a temporary battlefield laboratory.

Without wasting a moment, once body bags containing specimens arrived from the front lines, the experts who had gathered briefly for a simple meeting, divided up their responsibilities, and immediately began dissections and cellular analysis on mutant tissue samples.

The work continued from morning until late into the night and eventually, they made some progress.

At the same time back in Shelter 404.

Just as Chu Guang was preparing to go to sleep after a long day's work, he received a message from Hyrja.

As a result, he climbed back out of bed and headed to level B4 to meet her.

"The test results are in. They're astonishing. Multiple chromosomes within the genomes of these Mutant Humans contain coding genes that even our current technology cannot fully decipher. The experts from Cloud University are equally baffled and they also claim they've never seen Mutant Humans this strange before."

Chu Guang glanced at the report, which he couldn't understand at all, nodded thoughtfully, and handed it back. "Interesting... Were all the specimens like this?"

"Only some of them!" Hyrja replied. "Although we can broadly classify them as Super Mutant Humans, they aren't exactly the same. They're more like something that exists between the two. What do you think we should call them?"

Chu Guang casually checked the official forums and his players were already discussing the matter. Looking through a few posts he picked the nickname that appeared most frequently. "... Let's call them Zombie Mutant Humans. Or Zombie Greenies. For short, just Zombies."

Hyrja's eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers. "Perfect. We'll call them that."

Soon, she added in excitement, "Anyway, aside from possessing extraordinary regenerative abilities, these Zombies also possess neural tissue regeneration capabilities that ordinary Mutant Humans don't have! Clinically speaking, even if their brains are destroyed, they can grow back!"

Chu Guang froze. "How is that possible?"

His regenerative abilities were impressive, but nowhere near the point where he could regrow a head. Being able to regenerate an entire brain was absurd.

Were they earthworms?

"Our preliminary hypothesis," Hyrja explained, "is that their nervous systems have evolved a kind of 'memory backup' function. As long as a certain proportion of the nervous system remains intact, it can continue regenerating damaged neural tissue."

"When the brain is destroyed, however, the body temporarily loses central control and becomes directed entirely by the remaining nervous system."

She paused before adding, "To put it in simpler terms, they're driven purely by instinct."

Seeing the stunned expression on Chu Guang's face, Hyrja took a deep breath and spoke seriously. "I have to warn you. The Torch Church's biological researchers may possess far more advanced technology than we originally assumed. I even have the feeling that while we're probing them, they're probing us as well."

Having recovered from his surprise, Chu Guang nodded slowly. "That's normal. After all, they probably have a hundred experts as experienced as you."

Truthfully, he had already suspected as much. Just as he had been trying to uncover the Torch Church's hidden cards, they had been doing exactly the same thing to him.

Perhaps the war itself served that purpose.

The Torch Church was gradually testing the strength of every member of the Mutant Slime Mold Research Committee while continuously refining its technologies through the battlefield of Ten Peaks Mountain.

The resistance encountered at the third peak had clearly been far stronger than what they faced at Manor Peak.

In a certain sense, the green-skinned Mutant Humans developed much like the players did. Players who could not truly die became stronger through repeated deaths and rebirths. Those Mutant Humans, meanwhile, evolved through repeated deaths.

The next generation that emerged was always crueler, tougher, and harder to kill than the last. Whether viewed sociologically or biologically, they were absorbing the technological legacy of the Prosperity Era in their own unique way.

Moreover, they were doing so with the assistance of surviving researchers from the Prosperity Era.

The thought made Chu Guang's expression grow solemn and he fell silent in contemplation.

Having unexpectedly received praise, Hyrja looked slightly embarrassed. She coughed lightly. "The number of experts isn't really the issue. Research is a systematic discipline. Our current research framework was adapted and improved from Academy methodologies. It's already quite mature. At most, we're lacking accumulation and institutional heritage. We shouldn't be inferior to the Torch Church."

"However, that's precisely the problem. I suspect they may possess records from certain lost projects."

Chu Guang frowned. "Lost projects?"

"Project Complete Human!" Hyrja's eyes shone brightly. Excitement and longing filled her gaze. "That is singularity-level technology, the unfinished singularity of the Prosperity Era! Mutant Humans, Wislanders, and even their accelerated-growth clones are all merely byproducts of that technology!"

Chu Guang immediately thought of the incident that had shattered the Post-War Reconstruction Commission a century and a half ago.

The laboratory on the East Coast that had been like a crushed cockroach whose eggs had scattered everywhere. The failed military operation connected to it remained one of the Enterprise's greatest stains, and even the destruction of Singularity City was closely tied to that event.

Perhaps... The Torch Church had somehow acquired research data that originated from that laboratory.

Judging from their activities around Brocade Lake Municipality, they were clearly and deliberately collecting information related to Project Complete Human from across the wasteland.

Chu Guang's gaze flickered. Although it wasn't ideal to start coveting an ally's discoveries, one thing was certain. Under no circumstances could those materials be allowed to fall into the Army’s hands.

Watching Chu Guang silently lost in thought, Hyrja continued seriously, "Anyway, I need to visit the front lines. That includes investigating how to restore the soil in the Ocean Edge Province."

"Mm. Seeing the situation firsthand would be good." Chu Guang nodded. Then he suddenly thought of something. "Leave the day after tomorrow, I'll go with you."

"You're going to the frontline too?" Hyrja looked at him in surprise before teasing him. "Don't tell me you're worried about me?"

Ignoring the playful tone, Chu Guang merely chuckled, "I'm the nominal Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces elected by all factions. I was always supposed to go. I've just been tied up with rear-area administration and only recently finished my work."

Due to the tensions between the Army, Academy, and Enterprise, any candidate from one faction would immediately be opposed by the other two.

As a result, the only broadly acceptable choices had been the New Alliance or the Bugra Free State, which represented the Great Rift Valley.

The Bugra Free State had received a few votes, but the New Alliance had received an overwhelming majority.

Although the Army’s representative had complained about the result, they only insisted that Chu Guang personally serve as commander rather than delegating the role. They never exercised their veto.

Chu Guang knew perfectly well that the Wislanders didn't particularly like him. They didn’t pick him because they supposedly respected strength, as wastelanders often claimed.

The real reason was simple. They feared he might appoint someone like Vanus, or another Wislander who had been assimilated by the New Alliance and embarrass them.

From Triumphant City's perspective, that concern wasn't unreasonable. The New Alliance never cared about origins when making appointments, only ability and ideals.

A former slave could become a city lord. Naturally, a Wislander among their ranks could become a marshal.

Unfortunately, in Triumphant City, those who joined the New Alliance were viewed as symbols of shame. Few there considered the pursuit of equality an acceptable excuse.

If Vanus became Allied Commander and then led them all to victory, virtually nobody in Triumphant City would be happy. Even the name of the Loyalty likely carried a subtle jab aimed at such people.

Wilanteans might have large noses. Their hearts, however, were another matter entirely. For all he knew, they were even more petty than the Academy.

Hearing Chu Guang's answer, Hyrja immediately broke into a bright smile. "That's wonderful! At least this means I won't have to trouble you with shipping specimens to the frontlines."

"Regardless, the medical examination you called me down here for can wait a few days, can't it?" Chu Guang coughed awkwardly.

However, Hyrja shook her head and stared directly at him. "No. It actually has very little to do with the examination. It's about research into Complete Humans." Her voice gradually grew fervent. The intensity in her eyes became almost unsettling, as though she were gazing at an impossible scientific miracle. "Other people may not know this, but I personally witnessed part of your genes transforming."

For some reason, that look in her eyes made Chu Guang distinctly uncomfortable. He took a sip of tea to hide the brief flash of embarrassment on his face.

"So?"

The next sentence nearly caused him to spit out the water he had just swallowed.

"There's a chance that, not just the Wislanders, but your DNA also contains part of the results of that singularity technology!"

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