After a long journey of exploration and battle, Cody and Little Plum finally reached the innermost part of the hive.

Here, they encountered the final big boss of the entire Treehouse level—the Mechanical Queen Bee.

It was a giant wasp-style mech assembled from discarded parts.

The Mechanical Queen Bee not only had a thick health bar but was also guarded by many wasp protectors.

Even equipped with tree gum guns and match crossbows, the two had to endure several grueling rounds of combat before barely managing to destroy it.

With the big explosion, the Mechanical Queen Bee’s head fell to the ground—this was the control room of the massive mechanical bee.

Unexpectedly, as the cockpit hatch opened, what clumsily rolled out was not a fierce attacking giant wasp but a small, fuzzy, chubby, round bumblebee.

Yes.

This huge treehouse had originally been the home of the bumblebee.

The gentle and timid bumblebee was naturally no match for the giant wasps, so it used scraps to build this Mechanical Queen Bee to command the wasp swarm, protecting itself while also managing to get some honey for itself, much like seagulls going to the docks for fries.

But now, with the mech’s shell destroyed by Cody and Little Plum, the bumblebee’s disguise was broken.

The giant wasps immediately realized it was not one of their own and moved forward to attack the bumblebee.

At the critical moment, the bumblebee took the two away, flying out of the enormous hive. At the last second, Cody fired tree sap, and Little Plum lit a match, their coordinated explosion destroying the bumblebee’s honey jar and completely eliminating the dangerous giant wasp hive inside the treehouse.

Mission accomplished.

The two returned to General Squirrel’s base to report back.

However, when General Squirrel saw them returning with a bee (the squirrel did not understand the difference between giant wasps and bumblebees), he immediately assumed they had betrayed him and, without hesitation, ordered a purge operation codenamed “Nuts” against the two.

In the heat of the moment, Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao boarded the biplane.

An unprecedented thrilling aerial battle thus began!

Sitting in the machine gunner’s seat, Shen Miaomiao wore goggles, screaming excitedly and fully engaged!

Inside the narrow tree hole, fresh wind rushed past their ears, whistling.

The scenery on both sides blurred swiftly, adrenaline surging.

Shen Miaomiao had flown before, but this was the first time she had experienced a World War I-style biplane attack aircraft—and as a heavy machine gunner, no less!

Turning the fixed axis, Shen Miaomiao aimed through the gun sight at the pinecone anti-aircraft cannon at the eleven o’clock position on the left front:

“Report to captain! Left wing, eleven o’clock! Pinecone cannon! Requesting attack!”

Whoosh—

Amid the plane’s gliding sounds, Gu Sheng shouted over the squad comms:

“Permission to fire! Gunner! Take them out!”

“Copy!”

Shen Miaomiao cheered and pulled the trigger on the machine gun!

Rat-a-tat-tat—

Boom!

The anti-air pinecone cannon was instantly destroyed by Shen Miaomiao’s overwhelming firepower.

Before she could celebrate,

Suddenly—!

From the vines ahead on the right, another pinecone anti-air cannon fired.

The huge explosive pinecone missile shot straight at them like a guided missile!

Accompanied by Shen Miaomiao’s scream, the biplane was about to collide head-on with the pinecone missile!

At this critical moment!

Whoosh—

Gu Sheng twisted the control stick, performing a difficult aerial barrel roll; the plane flipped 180 degrees instantly. The pinecone missile just grazed over Shen Miaomiao’s head!

“Whoa—!”

Shen Miaomiao’s heart rate skyrocketed!

So thrilling!

At the same time, her machine gun spat fire, blasting the anti-air cannon to pieces while praising her captain:

“So cool, Old Gu! Wow! So handsome! When did you learn to fly?! You’re killing it!!!”

Haha!

Hearing this, Gu Sheng laughed heartily and silently thought to himself:

In my past life, I once soared over the fiery skies of the Eastern Pearl, dominated the skies over the smoke-filled Sulfur Island, and roamed the dust-choked Sinai Desert.

I’ve snatched countless fries. I am the nightmare of infantry, the destroyer of ground vehicles, and the eternal enemy of anti-air units.

A mere barrel roll is nothing.

This aerial combat control feels great; the experiment is a success. Now I have data for future air battles.

Thinking this, Gu Sheng laughed aloud:

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, hold tight, there’s still one more round!”

Whoosh!

Speaking, Gu Sheng leveled the plane.

Ahead, the wooden gate slowly closed. The biplane’s tail flames burst out as it suddenly accelerated!

Amid Shen Miaomiao’s cries, the two barely escaped General Squirrel’s encirclement and flew out of the tree hole!

But before they could breathe a sigh of relief,

Whoosh—whoosh—

Two squirrel-shaped biplanes woven from grass blades bit at their tails!

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat—

Pinecone machine guns rattled, instantly riddling the biplane with holes.

Shen Miaomiao ducked and screamed but immediately pulled the trigger again. The machine gun roared, shooting back at the squirrel fighters.

Flight! Pursuit!

Gu Sheng performed intense rolls to dodge the dense enemy fire like an eagle soaring through a dense forest of branches.

Tree shadows blurred past rapidly. Shen Miaomiao cooperated with Gu Sheng’s evasive maneuvers, her machine gun roaring as she shot down one squirrel fighter after another.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions echoed through the thick tree branches.

The roar of flames and blasts sounded like a war symphony playing in this absurd and bizarre fairy tale world.

Boom!

With the last squirrel fighter shot down,

The two finally flew out of the dense jungle, rushing toward the loft cabin where the daughter was.

But just then!

[Whoosh—Ha—!!!]

Suddenly, a howl came from the treetops.

Shen Miaomiao looked up in shock!

In midair, a sinister figure launched forward.

General Squirrel suddenly swung in on a vine, landing squarely on the wing of the biplane!

Thud!

Shen Miaomiao’s machine gun was instantly smashed and flew off.

She herself almost fell off if she hadn’t quickly grabbed the wing with her pants!

“Ah! You damn squirrel!”

Shen Miaomiao snapped angrily:

“You little bastard, give me back my machine gun!!!”

Stinky squirrel, fickle and persistent, actually daring to chase us so relentlessly!

At this thought,

Suddenly, an invisible force surged into Shen Miaomiao’s heart. Various fighting stances and skills activated by the motion assist system made her instantly self-taught!

Two long health bars appeared on the UI. Shen Miaomiao and General Squirrel both took fighting stances. The biplane’s wing instantly turned into a battleground!

“Take this punch! Hey!”

“You still dare to charge! Haven’t eaten? Take this kick!”

“Sweeping leg, catch this, flying side kick! Ah-da-da-da!”

“My uppercut!!!”

……

Listening to Shen Miaomiao fighting fiercely with the squirrel overhead, Gu Sheng couldn’t help but laugh.

The plane soared past fresh branches; interwoven vines grew lush tender green leaves.

The free wind swept over the wings. She was making a ruckus, and he was laughing.

—

As the motion-sensing pod’s canopy opened, at Shen Miaomiao’s request, the two took a mid-session break to drink water and use the restroom.

Gu Sheng stepped out of the workspace and went to the living room to stretch a little.

Checking the time, it was already past midnight.

Usually, this would be time to wash up and sleep.

But today, they were still full of energy, having only been awake for five or six hours.

And somehow, it seemed everyone else was also recharged like them.

Turning on the projector, they saw that the streaming platform was flooded with streamers playing It Takes Two!

The scene was grand, even more crowded than the streams at seven or eight in the evening!

Most of the streamers’ game progress was about the same as theirs.

At this moment, the chat barrage was buzzing with heated discussions—

“Holy crap, this game is awesome!”

“I thought the exclusive equipment design was already the ceiling, but then they added thrilling aerial combat.”

“And after the air combat, there’s freaking fighting too!”

“The fighting is so fun. Damn, Little Yellow’s motion assist tech is not wasted. I literally became Jackie Chan.”

“But the graphics look better on PC. It turns into a side-scrolling fighter, super fun.”

“I’m just doing down-forward, down-forward punches nonstop!”

“This game is freaking godlike!”

“The GDC organizers must be grinning from ear to ear. Escape from Hell was released at GDC, and It Takes Two at GDCA. Both masterpieces.”

“Can’t stop playing, the more I play, the less I want to stop, but I just can’t help it…”

…

As they watched, footsteps sounded behind them—clack clack clack.

Then, a tender arm naturally wrapped around Gu Sheng’s neck. Shen Miaomiao’s shoulder sank slightly as she tiptoed, resting her small face on his shoulder:

“What are you looking at?”

“Just checking the players’ feedback,” Gu Sheng replied.

Then he asked,

“What do you think?”

“Fun,” Shen Miaomiao answered without hesitation.

“I’ve never played such a fun game, but it’s got a little flaw.”

“Oh?”

Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow and asked,

“What’s the flaw?”

Shen Miaomiao pondered briefly:

“Although the game’s presentation is clearly enhanced in the motion pod, and the immersion is unparalleled,”

“There’s something missing… what is it exactly…?”

“Hmm,”

Gu Sheng pressed,

“What feeling is it?”

“Hmm—”

Shen Miaomiao paused, then released her arms from around Gu Sheng’s neck. She tiptoed to the sofa and plopped down with a flash of insight:

“That’s right! It’s missing the warmth from Overcooked!”

Indeed.

The immersive experience of the motion pod was wonderful.

But Shen Miaomiao always felt this game lacked something.

The problem was, although It Takes Two and Escape from Hell were the same type of game, she never felt this lack while playing Escape from Hell.

After thinking it over,

Only sinking into the sofa and feeling the familiar relaxation did Shen Miaomiao realize the source of this missing feeling—

It Takes Two seemed to lack the warmth of snuggling up together.

Although they could fully immerse themselves in this fairy tale world inside the motion pod, the thick pods also created distance between them.

The novelty, excitement, and playability were sufficient.

But the warmth of two people sitting side by side with controllers in hand playing through together was greatly diminished.

Speaking of which, since they cleared Overcooked, helping the Onion King defeat the Pasta Demon, it had been a very long time since they sat together to play a game.

“Of course, I’m just saying.”

Thinking this, Shen Miaomiao smiled sweetly.

This game was already amazing.

A never-before-seen co-op format, unprecedented novel experiences, and endless surprises.

She couldn’t be too picky—one cannot have both fish and bear’s paw. Since they had already experienced a fresh gameplay mode, there was no need to be greedy.

Besides!

If this game really released on PC, with such gameplay, it would probably sell like crazy.

Since the project’s inception, the main reason Shen Miaomiao hadn’t interfered with Gu Sheng’s normal marketing was the game’s huge investment and short billing cycle.

This game’s total investment had reached a staggering 212 million dollars.

After a 25% cut, sales had to hit 283 million just to break even.

At a price of 60 dollars per copy, that meant selling exactly 4.72 million copies!

Moreover!

Like Escape from Hell, It Takes Two was sold as a single purchase for two-player gameplay.

In other words, to break even, they needed over 9 million players to support and play within the allotted time!

That was simply impossible.

Because as of now, the combined global sales of the motion pods by Yiyou and XunTeng was just over 900,000.

Unless It Takes Two could perfectly match these 900,000 players into pairs, and every single person wanted to play this game.

Otherwise, this project could never meet its billing targets.

Furthermore!

The billing cycle was only two weeks, 14 days.

No matter how Gu Sheng tried, the market was what it was. He couldn’t outrun the market, nor replicate the Titanfall miracle of a 103% market share.

So all along, Shen Miaomiao hadn’t paid special attention to this project and didn’t even inquire, fully adopting a wait-for-cashback attitude.

No controller warmth means no warmth.

But warmth came with cashback.

Anyway, after they cleared the game tomorrow, they would have plenty of time to cozy up.

Thinking of this, Shen Miaomiao stood up, smiling widely, pulling Gu Sheng along, her big eyes full of anticipation:

“Let’s go, let’s go, stop looking. I can’t wait to see what the next level is…”

However!

Before she finished,

Gu Sheng bent down.

From the side table by the sofa, he took out a pair of wireless elite controllers and handed one to her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com