True Apocalypse Game

"To our Symbiote brothers in New York City, we are the Salvation Army of human civilization. We sincerely invite all Symbiotes to form an alliance with humanity and jointly resist the control of the tower in the city! We mean no harm. This is a heartfelt invitation…"

Night had fallen in the suburbs of New York City, the designated mission zone for the Biohazard Apocalypse of the True Apocalypse Game 1.0. Protected by armored cars and tanks, several broadcast vehicles continuously blared their message toward the city.

At the same time, searchlights flashed, their long beams projecting the words "Cooperation Invited, Alliance Welcome" onto the high-rises opposite them, standing out starkly in the dark of night.

The team responsible for this mission was the Salvation Army's psychological warfare squad.

As they completed more and more missions and the situations they encountered grew increasingly complex, the entire Salvation Army had begun to specialize into different departments.

The command structure was even discussing holding a general meeting for all Salvation Army Warriors to readjust the organizational structure. They planned to establish a conventional system on top of the existing combat framework, allowing specialized teams to handle different situations.

Kroo observed the situation on the opposite bank while casually pulling the trigger of his silenced automatic rifle to take down a lunging zombie. He said to the comrade beside him:

"A full day has passed in the game, and there's still no movement from these zombies. I think we should probably try a different spot. After all, their mobility weakens at night…"

His comrade, who had an Asian face, grinned knowingly and said:

"Relax, my friend. I did this kind of high-volume psychological warfare for a long time on the border between North and South Korea. You have to understand, if someone wants to betray their own kind, daytime is always the most dangerous. During the day, people are rational; they'll be plagued by their conscience and risk being discovered by their group. It's only at night that this kind of behavior peaks. At night, people become much more emotional, and the darkness gives them a sense of security. All intelligent beings are the same…"

Just as he finished speaking, a loud splashing sound suddenly came from the dark river, as if a school of fish was swimming by.

Kroo's heart tightened. He grabbed a nearby searchlight and aimed it at the water.

At the sight, everyone gasped.

In the dark water, a dense mass of human figures was swimming toward them!

Several Salvation Army Warriors nearby immediately cocked their heavy machine guns, their eyes fixed on the zombies in the river.

These zombies weren't roaring. They were silent in the water. Then, in twos and threes, they actually started waving at the Salvation Army Warriors on the bank.

The Salvation Army Warriors understood. These were likely the Symbiotes they had been waiting for!

Kroo took a deep breath. He didn't seem excited or overjoyed, but instead said to his comrades:

"Start the engines. Have the ammunition ready to fire. Be prepared to retreat at a moment's notice."

The more time he had spent serving in similar environments, the more he understood that moments like these were actually the most dangerous.

If the enemy was feigning surrender and launched a surprise attack, it would be impossible to defend against.

Soon, the first few zombies reached the shore. Without pausing, they got up and ran directly toward the Salvation Army's propaganda unit, their footsteps making a dull thudding sound.

These zombies held their hands high to show they had no ill intentions, while also gesturing for the humans to turn off the searchlights to maintain secrecy.

Kroo paused for a moment in thought, then ordered his soldiers to turn off the searchlights and all other lights, switching everyone to night vision.

Of course, they remained ready for battle.

The hordes of zombies charged forward—several thousand of them. The dozen or so at the front reached the propaganda unit's armored vehicles, and those following behind immediately came to a sharp, unified halt.

The dozen or so zombies at the front spoke one after another, their words rapid:

"I am Harold. I want to discuss cooperation with the humans. Take me to your main body."

Kroo was stunned for a second, then he understood. The "main body" the other party mentioned probably referred to the Legion Commander and his people.

He nodded and said:

"Alright. Welcome to our united front, Symbiote brother. I'll take you to see our Legion Commander now. However, only these… representatives of yours can enter the base. The other… constituent parts will have to wait outside."

All several thousand bodies of the Harold Symbiote nodded simultaneously and spoke as one:

"Acceptable. I have no representatives. All constituent parts are my representatives. Now, take me there, human… brother."

Kroo immediately arranged for a squad of warriors to lead the thousands of Harold Symbiote bodies to the Salvation Army Base. He could finally relax, and a wave of excitement washed over him.

'The Legion Commander's plan worked! I can't believe a Symbiote actually showed up and proactively asked to cooperate!'

Clearly, these Symbiotes also held a deep-seated hatred for that giant tower.

Based on Kroo's own deduction, these Symbiotes must have, by some stroke of luck, broken free from the tower's control at some point. They didn't want to be controlled again, which was why they were willing to cooperate with humans.

Just then, the sound of orderly footsteps echoed from the cross-river bridge up ahead. Nearly ten thousand zombies were marching in perfect sync, rapidly crossing the bridge and heading straight for Kroo's psychological warfare unit.

These zombies were completely different from the cautious Harold Symbiote. They shouted in unison from a great distance:

"The Hannibal Symbiote has come to seek cooperation! Humans, show me your sincerity!"

Kroo immediately used a loudspeaker to reply, his voice just as loud:

"Mr. Hannibal, please follow our escort to our base. You will see our sincerity! Only through cooperation can humans and Symbiotes survive the revival of the Destructive! Fighting will only lead to our mutual destruction!"

As he spoke, an armored vehicle drove toward the Hannibal Symbiote, guiding the nearly ten thousand zombies toward the Salvation Army Base.

Kroo was secretly pleased. He hadn't expected the psychological warfare to be so effective, drawing out two Symbiotes so directly.

But then again, it made sense. Although these Symbiotes used the damaged brains of zombies, their intelligence was certainly no less than that of humans.

Anything humans could figure out, they naturally could as well.

In fact, before the last team wipe, it was a Symbiote that had first proposed cooperation.

With time running out, it stood to reason that these Symbiotes would choose to cooperate with humans.

The nearly ten thousand zombies marched majestically toward the Salvation Army Base, looking extremely urgent. They seemed to no longer care what other zombies or Symbiotes would think if they saw them.

Kroo had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly felt the ground begin to tremble.

He snapped his head up. In his night vision goggles, he saw countless figures approaching from the direction of New York City. Some were crossing the river directly, while others were sprinting along the bridge!

A quick glance suggested there were at least a hundred thousand of them!

'Has the tower unleashed a zombie horde!?'

"Stay alert!" Kroo shouted, aiming the heavy machine gun forward.

Soon, as the zombies drew closer, a series of urgent voices called out:

"The Jian Symbiote requests an alliance!"

"The Audrey Symbiote requests to join!"

"I am the Michael Symbiote! I want to survive alongside the humans…"

"The Gina Symbiote…"

"The Alice Symbiote…"