This Game Is Too Real

[...

The "Orion Missile Cruiser" was captured by the Alliance's Burning Corps! The celestial beings' attempt to guide the Wasteland Wanderers into the future failed again, but it is clear they are not giving up so easily. Let's see what happens next.

Moreover, the biggest contributor who led the missile cruiser refused to reveal their name, perhaps because the name is too long and doesn't sound nice when pronounced.

In any case, the historical truth is revealed, and the 3000 crew members of the "Orion Missile Cruiser" have been legitimately recognized. They never carried out surface cleansing missions and once saved the Waste World! The representative suggested building a memorial cemetery to thank them for their contributions.

However, thinking about it carefully is terrifying. The Orion never launched neutron torpedoes at Earth, and the Gemini is five light-years away... so where did the nuclear bombs that fell from the sky in the early Wasteland Era come from?

In any case, this expedition spanning 36,000 kilometers ended in victory!

Just as General McCullen said, even if God were the opponent, the Alliance's Burning Corps would never lose, and neither would the Goblin Corps.

Moreover, our old friends from the Ideal City council have entered the most intense stage of discussion in their emergency meeting; it seems they are about to announce the results of their deliberations!

—Goblin Observation Report

]

Orion Missile Cruiser, the repair room equipped with buffer cabins and completed renovation.

Night Ten was updating the news he acquired through his "special ability" on the tablet computer.

Sipping a cup of two-hundred-year-old aged instant coffee, Jiang Xuezhou looked at the text on the tablet and couldn't help but comment.

"Are you serious?"

Night Ten chuckled.

"You'll know when you get back whether it's real or not."

This bookworm stubbornly refused to believe he could transmit information across five light-years, thus stirring his desire to win, and he decided to show her a trick.

Verifying this matter is actually very simple.

Just buy a copy of the Goblin Observation Report with the specific date when you get back and have a look.

As for whether it will leak, this stuff doesn't really have any secrets anymore.

The related information was long written in the old Southern Legion intelligence department's information brief, not to mention, a long time ago, their respected Manager used to exploit a bug in the player's cross-regional communication function to transmit messages between Ideal City and Dawn.

At that time, there were no stable communication channels established between Ideal City and Dawn; anyone who thought about it could see the complexity therein.

At least for the Alliance, there's no big deal if people are aware of this matter.

Compared to other absurd rumors, this is merely the most insignificant one.

Of course,

This is merely Night Eleven's wishful thinking.

Seeing him seriously composing a whole page of news, Jiang Xuezhou couldn't help but be moved by his perseverance, even though she didn't believe it in her heart.

This guy is working hard enough not to let her fall into despair.

Maybe she had misunderstood him all along; he didn't really not know how to care for people.

He just wasn't good at expressing it.

"Hmm humm, let's just assume it's this way then."

"What do you mean just assume it's this way," Night Eleven looked up with dissatisfaction, "I've been diligently memorizing it, alright."

"Okay, since you're so firm in believing you're not kidding, I'll play along then," Jiang Xuezhou placed the coffee cup on the table beside her, folding her arms as a wicked smile spread across her lips, "Let's bet on it."

Night Ten was instantly delighted at her words.

"Alright, you decide how we bet."

Jiang Xuezhou smiled and said.

"If the content you've written on your tablet and the actual Goblin Observation Report exceeds a 50% similarity rate, you win. If it's below 50%, proving you're making it up, I win."

6666!

Night Ten had seen people giving heads away but never seen someone actively feeding heads into mouths.

"Haha, alright, just as you said."

"Don't rush, it's not done yet," Jiang Xuezhou impishly covered her helmet visor and unceremoniously declared the free gift, "If I win, then you have to be a little pig for a week, adding 'grunt grunt' at the end of every sentence."

Goodness.

Quite wicked.

Night Ten chuckled and said.

"Sure, what if I win?"

"At your disposal," Jiang Xuezhou's lips curved into a confident smile, leisurely saying, "But naturally, this miss is absolutely not going to lose, so you don't have to spend the effort thinking about it, hmm humm..."

That arrogant, fish-like laughter briefly flashed several GBs worth of data through Night Ten's mind, his face revealing a wicked smile.

But it was only for a brief moment.

Because he quickly realized he didn't have any tools for mischief, even with a mind full of bad ideas, he couldn't execute them, apart from using fists.

That evil smile quickly faded away, replaced by regret and annoyance.

MMP!

Dog-gone Ah Guang!

So angry!

Seeing Night Ten suddenly unable to laugh, Jiang Xuezhou completely misunderstood, thinking that perhaps the latter couldn't act any further, which made her confident smile even more wanton.

Little Koala cleaning the room tilted its head, observing the two without understanding their conversation.

Meanwhile, far away in Dawn City, Chu Guang couldn't help but sneeze.

Rubbing his nose, he muttered vaguely.

"Which damned fool is dumping responsibility on me again..."

...

Time passed day by day, and soon the pair floating near South Gate Two had spent a whole month in their two-person world.

During this time, the two collected useful materials from the starship while repairing and improving the facilities that could still be used.

Although life was tough, it wasn't hopeless under their amusement in hardship.

Especially the news and cold jokes Night Ten gathered through his "special ability," which were among Jiang Xuezhou's rare comforts in the five-light-year cold universe.

They also motivated her to persistently seek the path home.

After some searching, Jiang Xuezhou finally confirmed via a repaired locator that the spaceship "Gemini" had crashed onto the surface of the third planet orbiting South Gate Two A and B, the Gaia planet.

Moreover, she also successfully scanned the radio signal emitted from the Gemini's missile cruiser's black box!

The path home gradually became clearer.

The two just needed to send one person onboard the research ship to the surface, locate the wreckage of the Gemini's missile cruiser, and recover the fuel storage tank from the reactor. They could then gather enough energy needed for another hyperspace leap.

Although this plan was fraught with risks, it was far more reliable than "modifying the warp engine to reduce hyperspace leap energy consumption."

After a round of disputes, Night Ten eventually convinced Jiang Xuezhou to remain on the Orion Missile Cruiser, acting as remote support, while he ventured to the surface alone.

According to usual RPG game conventions, when two people enter a dungeon, there's always the "where did the teammate go" subplot emerging.

He had already anticipated the dog planner's "trick," and would not fall into this trap at all.

Going solo was just fine.

...

Beside the newly repaired research ship.

Wearing the "Dragon Cavalry" power armor, Night Ten inspected his gear and toolbox carefully, then looked at the worried Jiang Xuezhou, instructing her.

"...If I don't come back, don't rush, make sure to stay calm."

Jiang Xuezhou's eyes were red, and she said with a choked voice.

"...What nonsense are you talking about? How could I not be anxious."

Though separated by thick spacesuits and visors, Night Ten could still feel the sorrow in those eyes.

"No, I mean it seriously, oh man... how do I say it?" After scratching his head for a while, he couldn't explain how he wouldn't die, so he gritted his teeth and said, "In short... believe in me, I would never leave you alone."

Although the "Player Manual" does not stipulate a unified line on the specific matters of revival and remote communication, not disclosing the "Game" is still a consensus among all players.

He was unsure if Ah Guang's camera was watching nearby.

Moreover, even without a GM monitoring nearby, he didn't want to go against what he promised.

"It's settled."

Jiang Xuezhou, with reddened eyes, raised her thick gloves, stretched out her pinky, and mumbled softly.

"Pinky promise..."

"Pinky promise."

Though he found it somewhat childish, Night Ten still hooked her finger and shook it slightly to reassure her.

That shake lasted for quite a while.

Jiang Xuezhou hooked his pinky, unwilling to let go for a long time.

Looking at that hand unwilling to let go, Night Ten felt compassion in his heart, but ultimately steeled himself to pull his hand away from hers.

He could disregard this life but couldn't ignore her safety.

"If I don't come back... I mean, if! You should find a Sleep Cabin to lie in."

"I swear, I definitely won't abandon you, I will come back for you!"

The emergency Sleep Cabin on the Orion can last fifty years without any problem.

It's not like it was at the beginning of the Wasteland Era anymore.

Even if the Alliance temporarily cannot reach worlds five light-years away, fifty years should suffice for them to recover the technology related to the Warp engine.

"Okay..."

Jiang Xuezhou replied softly, withdrawing her hand that was suspended in the air.

After receiving an affirmative response, a sunny smile appeared on Night Ten's face as he patted her head.

"Wait for me."

Standing at the side, little Koala also listened, waving its hand with its round metal belly naively.

"Have a safe journey."

"Okay! I'll be back quickly!"

Having said that, Night Ten strode up the research ship, passed through the cabin door, and sat in the cockpit's seat.

That was where Jiang Xuezhou had sat before.

In the past three days, under her guidance, he had become familiar with the operation process of the research ship.

Simply starting this thing up and bringing it to the ground wasn't difficult; the ship's AI could navigate with one click and automatically analyze a reliable landing spot using Camera sensors.

Moreover, Jiang Xuezhou was overseeing from above.

The command system of the Orion had already established a direct connection with the research ship's communication module.

This way, even if he encountered a problem he couldn't solve, Jiang Xuezhou could remotely take over the ship to bring him back from the surface.

"...Anti-gravity device on, plasma engine start, switch to autopilot mode."

Reciting the previously learned operation process, Night Ten pressed all the necessary buttons.

Accompanied by a slight sound, the research ship parked at the edge of the damaged hull slowly floated off the alloy floor, then separated from the massive starship under the push of the pale blue plasma plume.

The scene outside the cockpit windshield started to flip, adjusting from directly facing the Orion Missile Cruiser's hull to directly facing the mist-emitting dark green planet.

Looking at that magnificent planet, Night Ten instinctively held his breath, pressing the back of his head against the cockpit seat.

That's Gaia!

The place where the United Space Army had once fought—

"About to set off!"

The sound of Jiang Xuezhou's voice came through the communication channel, Night Ten took a deep breath to dispel the nervousness in his heart, and replied firmly.

"Received!"

With his response, the azure blue plasma plume gradually enlarged, propelling the research ship in an arc towards the nearby planet.

As the distance between the two closed, the orbital height decreased, gravity exerted on the research ship gradually increased until a new balance formed with the anti-gravity device.

At the same time, the research ship descending from synchronous orbit had already approached the edge of the atmosphere, rubbing hot brilliance on the silver-gray spaceship hull.

However, the scorching flame did not bloom for long.

Under the combined action of the anti-gravity device and plasma engine, the speed of the research ship quickly reduced to below three times the speed of sound and dropped to twice the speed of sound before entering the troposphere.

Sitting in the cockpit, Night Ten felt his nerves taut, filled with both tension and excitement in his heart.

It felt like riding a drop tower, only from outside the atmosphere jumping in!

The speeding research ship instantaneously pierced through the clouds, simultaneously dropping four folded-wing drones upon breaking through, which sped off inertially in the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast directions!

With the dual scan of radar and visual sensors from the drones, the situation on the surface was quickly collected to the research ship and shared with the starship on synchronous orbit via the communication module.

Unearthly-shaped broadleaf plants were seen covering every inch of the planet, looking like a vast inky green ocean when viewed from afar.

Just like the aerial shot seen on synchronous orbit!

Night Ten took another deep breath, selecting a relatively high topographical, and seemingly safer, landing point from multiple landing points flashing on the holographic screen.

With great swells of air currents, the silver-gray spaceship blew away numerous vines and leaves, landing on a soft lawn.

Moments later, the cabin door opened and Night Ten, gripping an assault rifle tightly in his hand, stood on the surface of Gaia planet.

This was probably the first return of human civilization to a world five light years away since 215.

If indeed no living humans were left here...

Night Ten felt a strong premonition in his heart that the history he knew and the real history actually had "discrepancies."

The possibilities for deviations were many.

Much like how the residents of Stone City always felt that Ideal City once launched an expedition against them. They spread it convincingly, yet the residents of Ideal City didn't remember any such event.

It wasn't until later, when the Inner City collapsed, that the truth emerged.

Those orally passed-down memories were nothing but one of the fabrications concocted by Inner City Nobles to legitimize their rule.

The species here were even more prosperous than on Earth, that lush forest didn't seem to have been washed by nuclear bombs at all.

Or perhaps the United Human Air and Space Army indeed bombed here.

However, the ecological environment here was far more resilient than Earth's, having already recovered to the state before human civilization visited in the past two centuries...

"Night Ten!! What's the situation over there?!"

Jiang Xuezhou's voice came through the communication channel, filled with apprehension and worry.

Hearing Jiang Xuezhou's voice, Night Ten immediately reached out to tap on his helmet.

"I've landed successfully and I'm feeling good... How about your side? Have you found the position of the Gemini Missile Cruiser?"

The four fixed-wing drones in the sky were being operated by Jiang Xuezhou.

Soon, an image was projected on his tactical goggles of the power installation helmet.

"The signal source has been locked in a valley, approximately 3 kilometers from your current position... The vegetation there is overly dense, with an average height of 20 to 30 meters."

At this point, Jiang Xuezhou's voice was tense.

"Night Ten... you must be careful, the situation here is completely different from the data recorded in our database. Along the way, I saw many strange animals."

"I understand."

Night Ten cast his gaze toward a shadow under the forest, his index finger already flipped the safety of his rifle.

A murderous aura silently entwined around him.

Undoubtedly.

That was the killer intent from a predator.

He could feel an eye lurking behind that shadow, watching him.

"...The flora and fauna here are so abundant, it's like they've never been hit."