Players engaged in battle with the genestealers suddenly felt a tremor from deep underground. The tremor was not the usual roar of artillery, but a low, vast hum, as if the core of the planet was groaning.
Immediately after, a deafening roar came from the ground, the sound growing from distant to near, rapidly expanding, eventually transforming into a blinding white pillar of light that shot straight into the sky!
The night was completely torn apart in that instant. The originally dark sky was dyed a dazzling pure white by the exploding light, as if daylight had arrived in an instant. At the center of the light pillar, an orange-red mushroom cloud expanded and rose at an alarming speed, enveloping everything in its shadow. Subsequently, an invisible, immense force swept over like a tidal wave.
The gale, carrying the acrid smell of gunpowder, roared across the battlefield like an enraged beast, knocking players off their feet. All that remained in their ears was the howl of the wind and the shriek of metal fragments. Rubble and dust were swept into the sky, forming a circular shockwave that spread in all directions.
When the light faded and the wind subsided, players struggled to their feet, only to discover, to their surprise, that the genestealers, who had been orderly, well-defended, and without a single flaw, were now in an unprecedented state of chaos. Piercing, ear-splitting roars rose and fell, filled with inhuman fear and pain.
Some of them had blood-red eyes, as if deranged, and began to frantically attack any living thing around them, whether companion or enemy. Claws tore, fangs bit, a scene of internecine slaughter that was shocking to behold.
Others threw down their weapons, letting out terrified screams, contorting their bodies, and fleeing for their lives, completely disregarding their formation and orders. The genestealers positions instantly devolved into a chaotic mess, as if stirred into a boiling pot of porridge by an invisible hand.
"It seems they succeeded!" a player stood up from behind cover. If he had made this move before, he would have been riddled with bullets instantly, but now he was safe and sound.
"These genestealers have gone mad!" another player also poked his head out, his eyes filled with excitement.
"I heard that when the tyranid node creatures are decapitated, they act like this too?"
"Same origin, same species."
As the two were still chatting, a teammate who had already charged forward loudly shouted, "You two, stop chitchatting! Hurry up and kick them while they're down!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, the resurrected Darius sadly touched his stomach, his face filled with disappointment: "My tactical nuclear bomb is gone…"
"It was somewhat expected," a player who had resurrected with him patted his shoulder and consoled him, "After all, this thing is a consumable, not a permanent buff like altering body strength limit. It naturally won't come back once it's gone."
"True." Darius shrugged, then mused, "Then, in the future, I'll have to think twice about stuffing tactical nuclear bombs into my body. I'll need to find a place to detonate it before I die… otherwise, it would be a waste."
As for accidentally detonating it in one's own territory… few people thought such a thing would happen "accidentally." The detonation of a tactical nuclear bomb is a very precise process, requiring specific instructions and operations.
Any slight error would only detonate the external conventional explosives, with a power comparable to a hand grenade. In other words, it's impossible to detonate a tactical nuclear bomb hidden within the body without deliberate manipulation.
"What should we do next?" a player asked.
Darius thought for a moment, a glint of eagerness flashing in his eyes: "I'm quite addicted to playing with this gravity parachute. Since the genestealers are disorganized now, why don't we use them as targets and try some live-fire training?"
"I think that's a great idea!"
...In an area of Mid-Hive, a dozen players were fiercely battling dozens of genestealers. The scene was quite… well, amateurish.
Aside from one Helldivers who was clearly an experienced player, the tactical movements of the other players were a mess. Some charged recklessly, others hesitated, and their firing accuracy was pitifully low.
Laser beams and live rounds flew erratically, leaving scorch marks and bullet holes on the walls. If not for the friend-or-foe identification system, they would probably have a higher chance of accidentally hitting allies than hitting genestealers in this chaotic battlefield.
The veteran, however, moved skillfully among the enemies with practiced tactical maneuvers, shooting precisely, each shot taking a genestealers' life.
Fortunately, the enemies they faced were no longer the genestealers who had been brainwashed by psychic powers. After losing the Patriarch's psychic control, the genestealers' tactical skill and combat will also plummeted. They became sluggish, their attacks disorganized, and some even cowered in fear.
Just when both sides thought this amateurish skirmish would last for about ten minutes, a unique roar with a jet exhaust plume approached from afar—it was the distinctive sound of a gravity parachute's jet engine. The ground-based genestealers had no idea they would encounter an attack from the sky.
They looked up in terror, only to see figures descending from above, accompanied by dazzling laser beams. Nearly half of the enemies were killed by the lasers from above, falling to the ground in a bloody mess.
"Are the pilots all monsters?" a player on the ground grumbled.
"Oh, bringing new recruits?" an airborne trooper performed a graceful flip in the air, landing steadily beside the veteran. His lasgun was still smoking, and he wore a relaxed smile.
"Yeah," the veteran also greeted him, wiping sweat from his forehead, "You guys are getting really good at using the gravity parachute lately."
"If you flew for over twenty hours a day like us, you'd be good at it too," the airborne trooper chuckled, flying into the sky. He gracefully spun in the air and glided towards another group of genestealers, "The more I fly, the more I enjoy it~"
"I don't like flying as much as you guys. If it were me, I'd probably get bored after flying for a dozen hours," the veteran shook his head.
"Alright, I won't bother you with your new recruits," the airborne trooper said, circling once before flying off to another area, "I'll go check other places. See you around!"
"See you around!" the veteran loudly responded, watching the other's figure quickly disappear into the sky.
Having lost half their firepower, the remaining genestealers were naturally quickly cleared out by the players. After the battle, a new player curiously asked the veteran, "Man, you know him?"
"Yes," the veteran nodded as a matter of course, a hint of reminiscence on his face, "There were only about a hundred Helldivers during the second beta test. We saw each other all the time, and even if we weren't close, a few battles together made us good friends."
He sighed with emotion: "It's just that the numbers are growing now, almost three hundred, it seems. The old familiar faces in the company are rarely seen anymore."