Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 370: Cruel Street Fighting! Charlie Doesn’t Surf!

At the words, the livestream chat erupted in laughter.

“Hahahahaha, addicted yet?”

Hideki: It’s really not that I won’t save you, bro—this sniper feeling is just too good.

Nikolai: I#￥!@#@#!

“Niko-rotten: It’s fine, snipe away. Although I’m about to die here, as long as you’re having fun, we’re all bros…”

The first informant in history to be killed because the rescuers got hooked on sniping.

Nikolai really drew the short straw...

Nikolai: If I give you any more intel after this I’m a dog.

...

As the audience howled with laughter, after a round of infiltration combat they finally found Nikolai. Hideki wasn’t disappointed. In the latter half of this stage, their village infiltration was assisted by night vision goggles. In other words, after sabotaging the power box he could still play the sneaky old fox; the target couldn’t see him coming. And they had arrived just in ti—Nikolai had not yet been executed.

However!

Just as they boarded the helicopter sent to extract them and prepared to leave, Nikolai slapped Money Man on the shoulder and asked:

“Have the Aricans already launched the operation against Al-Asad?”

“Given the timing, it should be very soon,” Captain Price shook his head. “Their so-called ‘peacekeeping’ invasion will begin in two or three hours. What’s wrong?”

Over the roar of the helicopter, Nikolai let out a worried breath: “The Aricans have made a terrible mistake! They will never be able to capture Al-Asad alive!”

Vroom vroom—

As the helicopter’s sound receded, the satellite map ca back online. But this ti! The previous S.A.S. emblem had been replaced by a tan-colored global emblem: U.S.M.C.—United States Marine Corps! Two parallel narratives!

Yes, this was what Gu Sheng had ntioned earlier—this wasn’t a story like TF’s about one person. In this global-scale crisis, led by veteran Captain Price, the British Special Air Service was carrying out a rescue mission in Warsaw. At the sa ti, the Marine Corps’ military operation against Al-Asad would comnce within a few hours!

Compared to Money Man’s covert operation, the Marine Corps’ side was a full-scale, showy invasion.

Across the vast sea!

The U.S. naval fleet swept past the gulf like a savage overlord, charging through and into the Red Sea! Countless warplanes launched from the carrier group, slicing the sky with terrifying screams! Fully ard Black Hawk helicopters, led by Apaches, entered the Middle East from above! The thunderous rotors were ear-splitting.

Sitting by the cabin, Qiezi looked down at the vast ocean below, then at the dust-choked towns in the distance. “Holy shit, this scene is massive!”

He was stunned!

Behind them: the carrier group!

Above them: F-22 Raptors providing air support!

Beside him: countless assault forces—Black Hawks like theirs—headed toward the combat zone!

Even further off, Osprey aircraft carrying troops flew by!

War stood before them, ready to ignite at any mont! This was the arrogant invasion of a hegemon in modern warfare!

[Vasquez, Lieutenant: All units, attention! Observers have found traces of Al-Asad in a building on the town’s western edge!]

[Vasquez, Lieutenant: We need to establish a defensive line and capture Al-Asad quickly! Begin the operation!]

[Charlie Does Not Surf]

[Day 2 - 01:45:09]

[Corporal Paul Jackson]

[United States Marine Corps First Reconnaissance Platoon]

“Ten seconds to designated positions!”

“Five seconds!”

“Three seconds!”

“We’ve reached designated positions! Fast-rope down! Move fast! Move, move!!!”

Through the smoke-filled town!

With tense, Middle Eastern-flavored music blaring!

Dodging multiple RPG strikes!

Qiezi, playing Corporal Paul, and his team finally reached the assigned fighting position!

Click!

The fast-rope harness clipped into place! Fully geared, Qiezi descended swiftly along the rope, unhooked the clip, and raised his M4A1 grenadier rifle. The grenadier variant simply ant a grenade launcher mounted under the standard M4A1—sothing they had practiced in earlier tutorial levels.

Smoke and dust billowed!

As Qiezi touched down, Captain Vasquez’s voice ca through the headset: “First squad hold position. Second squad, follow to the target building! GO! GO! GO!!!”

They launched straight into alleyway assault! Qiezi, unused to real-life intensity, went a bit numb: “Jesus! Where did these people even co from? I… you guys… hey hey hey!”

Almost tumbling over himself, Qiezi scrambled to keep up. He reached a building and, mimicking his teammates, crouched beside the tal back door. One teammate hung a demolition charge on the door lock, flashed forward, and put his hand on Qiezi’s shoulder.

Qiezi panicked: “Hey? What the fuck are you doing? I haven’t—”

!!!

Before he could finish, a piercing explosion rang out! The door was blasted open! Qiezi felt a teammate shove his shoulder: “Breach! Breach! Expect contact!”

“What the—? Fuck you guys!”

Rat-a-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!

Fortunately Qiezi ca from the shooter ga world and had been a pro player before—his reflexes were fast. The instant they breached and he saw enemies, he opened fire and dropped the ones who hadn’t reacted. Otherwise...

Qiezi grabbed a fallen enemy’s pump-action shotgun. That damn thing was lethal in one shot.

“I’m telling you, you sneaky bastard! Fuck!”

Shaken, Qiezi swore, sending the livestream chat into another round of laughter.

“Teammate knows breach tactics.”

“Teammate: I already blew the lock, what else do you want to do?”

“Hahaha this teammate is savage, literally shoved Qiezi in...”

Old Thief’s malice.

Indeed, without so reaction, the other side’s camper could instantly kill you. During the door breach, exposing a player’s face to the enemy barrel is the classic Gu-style door scare.

“This really was a door kill—the leader got lted the mont he stepped in hahaha... Is the big guy ntally okay?”

“He’s fine, he’s cursing up a storm.”

“Hahahahaha...”

...

CQB!

This was an unprecedented experience for players. Traditionally in shooters, players rarely engaged in close-quarters combat inside a single building. Whether story-driven or competitive gas, designers generally prepare maps with enough room for players to maneuver, creating space for gunfights through environntal layout. The classic Fireline Shuttle map “Transport Ship” is a typical example of that design.

Indoor combat? People had heard of it. Few had actually played it. And this was Qiezi’s first ti feeling how devastating a shotgun could be!

Yes. To fully showcase the ga’s realism, Qiezi had pre-scheduled his livestream as 18 and locked the chat. That allowed him to turn on the in-ga realistic limb-severing mode without restriction.

You don’t know until you see it...

Boom—!!!

Click!

Corner encounter: an enemy suddenly appeared, and Qiezi reflexively hip-fired. Buckshot sprayed with smoke and sparks. The enemy’s upper torso seed to explode; a ss of flesh, blood spattering, the body flung backward by the weapon’s recoil.

“Woah! That—!”

The sheer power and visual shock spiked Qiezi’s heart rate! The audience reacted in astonished exclamations.

Holy shit... this dismbernt effect is way better than Left 4 Dead...

Co on, Left 4 Dead cost peanuts, released on Yiyou X1 years ago—this thing probably cost over three hundred million...

This actually blows soone apart?

No wonder it’s 18 ; this is not suitable for kids.

“Oof—this would leave bruised all over if that happened to ,” soone joked in the chat.

Think again—this would be bits and pieces.

“Too gory... I like it!”

...

However!

Before Qiezi could finish his line, a shot rang from the corridor to his right front!

Rat-a-tat!

A spray of blood shot out!

The teammate who had set the charge—the one who’d shoved him—was hit. Two bullets struck, blood gushing from his neck, and he collapsed dead on the spot.

“Contact on the right!”

Rat-a-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!

“Clear!”

“Move! Move! Continue the advance! Push forward...”

Pant—pant—pant—

Qiezi stood frozen, watching teammates pass by him one after another, then looking at a friend who had been alive a second ago now lying motionless in a pool of blood. Sound blurred; only his breathing remained clear.

Admittedly, he had been full of complaints and anger during the earlier banter. But now, with such graphic scenes unfolding just three ters away—teammates shot dead—the fear of real bullets and how easily one could die scrambled his mind and sent chills through him.

And this kind of scene repeated down the path.

After searching the building with no result, the lieutenant reported upstairs. Their second column received a new order—intelligence indicated Al-Asad was in the city center’s broadcast television station, delivering a nationwide incendiary speech. Under cover from fighter jets, they needed to push toward the city center to capture Al-Asad.

From this mont on, the brutal street fighting began.

Later included in the multiplayer map “Crossfire,” their squad struggled forward. In front of a corner building, Qiezi watched helplessly as a teammate creeping forward had his lower leg blown apart by a sniper round. In a market stall, Qiezi, taking cover behind a counter while reloading, raised his gun to fire and saw a teammate’s head instantly burst like a waterlon. Another teammate, trying to pick up a rolling grenade to toss it back without timing it properly, had the grenade explode in his hands—half his body gone.

The mix of blood and gunpowder nearly sent Qiezi’s blood pressure through the roof. At that mont, he began to understand why so many soldiers who fought in the Gulf or Afghan wars developed severe PTSD. In such brutal urban combat, human life was fragile.

Click.

Breathing heavily, Qiezi pulled the pin on a flashbang and slamd it into the butcher shop’s doorway, tossing it inside.

Bang!

The flash and concussive roar filled the butcher shop. Qiezi flashed out to clear the interior, but before he could lift his muzzle—

“Aaah—Allahu Akbar—!!!”

Suddenly, a knife-wielding enemy, eyes covered, lunged out of the door, swinging the blade at Qiezi’s face!

“Holy shit—!”

Bang!

Qiezi couldn’t dodge in ti. He hastily raised an arm to parry, catching the attacker’s wrist, but the enemy’s montum was overwhelming and Qiezi was shoved to the ground. The foe pinned him, the blade stabbing down toward his face. Qiezi frantically tried to parry and dodge, and instinctively rembered the self-defense basics Gaz had taught him. He yanked his M9 from the holster and fired repeatedly.

Boom!!!

Bullets blossod out of the attacker’s chest, spraying crimson streams. The corpse slumped over Qiezi, and the player paused the ga, breathing hard for a long ti.

“Whew—”

After a while, Qiezi finally exhaled and let out a soft sigh: “Let’s just turn off the realistic limb-severing mode...”