This Game Is Too Real

Wasteland OL official website.

The forum is as lively as ever.

With the help of numerous sand sculpture netizens, the stubborn Medical Miracle finally managed to trick the Enlightenment Society's scrutiny and was exhibited in the museum of the Underground City of Shelter No. 13 as a counter-example of "being misguided by the Waste Land Wanderer."

Although this behavior is problematic in many ways, it arguably serves as infiltration into the Enlightenment Society.

At least that's what the stubborn Medical Miracle believes.

As everyone was chattering away with crazy ideas, Night Ten suddenly appeared five light years away, snatching away the hot topic before Medical Miracle could even warm his seat.

"Guys! Brother Guang wasn't exaggerating; the planet five light years away is really made!"

"It's not just a map!"

Night Ten quickly took over the second floor.

As soon as the post refreshed in the forum, it drew countless sand sculpture netizens watching in droves.

Thunder Law King Professor Yang: "?!"

Quit smoking: "What's going on?"

Tail: "!! Tell us in detail!"

Like before, Night Ten didn't rush to finish his account but waited until the post reached dozens of floors and the onlookers' anticipation turned to complaints before he slowly revealed it.

"Here's how it happened; weren't we out of fuel for our starship? As we were worried about how to return, we suddenly thought of the Twin Star drifting five light years away, and decided to make a plan for it..."

Starting from his preparations on the Orion Missile Cruiser with Jiang Xuezhou for landing on the surface, Night Ten described his observations after landing.

Including encountering a toothy Lizard, seeing a Pterosaur with crystals on its head, a group of "green-skinned humanoid creatures" calling him "Ancestor," and the tribe called Doma and so on.

"Here, a day has about 30 Earth hours, and a year has about 180 rotation cycles, equivalent to 5400 Earth hours, 225 Earth days."

"The planetary surface conditions are similar to Baiyue Province, but less extreme, with an ecosystem evolution that tends to be mild enough to already show traces of intelligent life and civilization, and this intelligent life is suspected to be descendants of United Human colonists."

"Their body structure is much like humans, but their skin is light green like mutants... Yet unlike mutants, they have distinct male and female sexes within their population, with clear societal roles."

"But all of this pales in comparison to something truly shocking: they seem to possess some kind of 'psychic ability' unknown to us! Specifically, they can make plants grow in ways they desire through prayer and special ceremonies."

"They use this method to build walls, make tree houses, construct bridges between tree houses, and even ripen fruit trees and tame livestock."

"At first, I thought they were just a primitive tribe, but they live even more prosperously than I imagined, precisely because some people among them have awakened this special ability."

"They call it Saquai, which is both the name for these people and represents an occupation... similar to priest."

If Night Ten hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe his own words.

This game, while full of unscientific bits, had never encountered such unscientific phenomena before.

After Chieftain Tunnan promised to help him retrieve the "sacred objects in the sky," he invited him to stay with the tribe and arranged for him to reside near the "Sacred Tree."

It was a palace entirely grown from trees, situated in the very center of "Doma City."

The intertwining roots and branches formed spiral staircases, growing out furniture and seats.

And it was there that he witnessed the Indigenous People of the Doma Tribe display those amazing powers.

"...I don't know how to describe this 'spirit determining matter' ability, which helps them live comfortably in the jungle. But objectively speaking, it increases the cost of understanding nature."

"Like, despite having invented calendars based on astronomical movements, they haven't mastered farming techniques, with food sources mainly relying on gathering and hunting. Also, their metallurgy technology remains very backward, or even nonexistent, including husbandry techniques etc., which are far inferior to their neighbors, the 'Valley People.'"

"And the so-called 'Valley People' are what the 'Forest People' refer to as 'Sinners.' According to the latter, people living in caves are abandoned by 'Mother.' They live in caves and houses made of stones, using tools, weapons, and armor made of stone or possible metal, burning forests to farm land... choosing complete 'degeneration.'

"I have no idea whether to interpret this 'Mother' as Gaia, nor what 'abandonment' means. However, from the Forest People's descriptions, these 'Valley People' clearly hold a higher level of civilization, and the term 'Sinners' might just be an easy way to curse?"

"Since I don't doubt at all if they actually upset Gaia, the latter could squash them by merely moving a finger. Otherwise, I can only suppose that Gaia is either very weak now, or He has died, or our understanding of Gaia is flawed."

"This is what matters most to me; Gaia seems entirely indifferent towards the human descendants living on it, as if His existence has vanished."

"In fact, it'd be fortunate if He truly vanished, meaning my troubles could be resolved with a few precision-guided neutron torpedoes."

"However, my intuition keeps telling me that the truth might not fully reflect what my eyes see. Or rather, my knowledge of this planet might just be the tip of the iceberg floating above the water."

Night Ten updated all the intel he had gathered in the post.

Including the speculations made by him and Jiang Xuezhou based on limited information and his own understanding.

Spring Water Commander: "So... you're now living in that Sacred Tree in Doma City or Doma Village? (Dumbfounded)"

Night Ten: "Yes, the tribe members usually pray under the Sacred Tree's roots, the chieftain and priest live midway up the tree, and the top room is used to worship the 'Ancestor'... I checked it out; it's actually a broken power armor, model: Dragon Cavalry. Probably because of this, they mistook me for their ancestor, and then they offered me that room."

Quit smoking: "Awesome..."

Edge Shoveling: "Sleeping in the same room with an offering is something. (Awkward)"

Night Ten: "Damn, why does your wording feel so strange?"

Elena: "Origin of the Tree of Life of the Stars nailed. (Amusing)"

Gnome King Riches: "What Tree of Life! It's clearly Catachan! Waiting for Night Ten, the little brother, to fight with a tree. (Amusing)"

Barrel Washing Machine: "Could Brother Guang have secretly used this as material again? The déjà vu is too strong."

Quit smoking: "By the way, none of you noticed? Did I hear wrong, these guys also possess idealism-side powers?! (Dazed)"

Mole on the Run in the Canyon: "Just controlling plant growth, right? We even have someone here who can talk with plants... but that skill's not much use, plants don't have much to say. (Side-eye)"

Si Si: "Now that you mention it, I remember that Crow's Void Lock Poison skill, could it be based on similar principles?"

Crow: "I'm Perception, right? Perception shouldn't count. 0.0"

Si Si: "No, you just haven't delved further... Even if using Perception as an explanation seems absurd."

Quit smoking: "Damn it, this is way unscientific!"

Tail: "Damn it, why doesn't Ah Wei have this! QAQ"

Fang Chang: "It depends on how you interpret science, whether as a belief or a method to understand the world."

Mole on the Run in the Canyon: "Truth be told, I don't regard science as a religion, but spirit determining matter... Could such a thing really exist?"

Fang Chang: "Hard to say, let's not talk about real-world examples, and since it happened in the game, let's use a game example. Like, do you think the events on Orion count as spirit determining matter?"

Mole on the Run in the Canyon: "Uh, I'd like to say it counts, but somehow that seems a bit far-fetched."

Fang Chang: "This is where different understandings come into play, and my understanding of the spiritual influence on matter is similar. Anyway, such strange phenomena are worthy of deep research. Who knows, maybe those people have mastered a way to communicate directly with Gaia... like how the Luoyu Brothers can understand what Xiaoyu is saying."

Luoyu: "Is it so difficult? (dazed)"

Fang Chang: "Be more confident, it's quite challenging for people like us who can't tell the difference between 'yi wu' and 'yi wu'. (side-eye)"

Night Ten: "Hey, let's not worry about the mind-matter issue now. What do you think I should do? Keep acting? Take the reactor while they're fighting? But my conscience bothers me a bit, would that be too wrong?"

Spring Water Commander: "Are you treating the game like more than just a game this time? (smirking)"

Wild Wind: "After all, he's got a partner now."

Night Ten: "Ahem, what's it got to do with having a partner..."

Alright.

It actually has a little something to do with it.

About whether to use the Doma Tribe to invade the "Sinners", he and Jiang Xuezhou had a small disagreement.

Or rather, after their meeting outside the city walls, they had a little spat in the communication channel.

In his view, the optimal solution for the entire event was naturally to use the local forces to balance the locals. Just let those little green men gather and attack the "Sinners" living in the valley and take back the wreckage of the Gemini.

However, Jiang Xuezhou felt he was being used by that Indigenous leader and that this approach was too inhumane. Instead, it would be better to launch neutron torpedoes to wipe out the valley's survivors; it might even be less cruel that way.

After all, warfare among primitives differs from that of civilized men. Keeping children as tall as car wheels will be a thing of the distant future, and what happens in the end is almost certain.

But then again, South Gate Two is five light years away, and it's uncertain whether those little green men count as United Human descendants. Night Ten genuinely can't understand why bother with them.

Combat between tribes is just a normal occurrence for their civilization period; even without "performing miracles," they would end up clashing and making sacrificial offerings anyway.

And his arrival merely accelerated their civilization process. If anything, it might have spared those little green men a few years of hardship.

Night Ten didn't even dare to tell Jiang Xuezhou that he indeed thought about using nuclear weapons directly. It was only due to Gaia's existence that he kept it as the last card.

As for being used by that Tunnan tribal chief, he could see it, just choosing to turn a blind eye.

Why not turn a blind eye?

Clearly, it's the optimal solution.

Night Ten added his comments to his reply, feeling much better after expressing them.

Old White: "Not bad, I didn't expect Night Ten to solve problems with his brain. (grinning)"

Night Ten: "Right? This guy is nice usually, but he overthinks at crucial moments."

Fang Chang: "So what's her suggestion?"

Night Ten: "She wants me to talk to the 'Sinners' in the valley to see if I can close the deal while resolving local conflicts... I think she's daydreaming."

Si Si: "Emmm... why do I feel her suggestion isn't off?"

Night Ten: "Whoa, this is called not being off? I've become the ancestor, how do I sneak past these little green men to the other side, and who knows their attitude towards me."

Si Si: "Although you might think I'm speaking from ease, but... isn't this the time to use your brain? Or have you found a shortcut to the solution, so you're slacking off? (side-eye)"

Night Ten: "... Damn! How did I become the one getting roasted?"

Elena: "Because you are indeed somewhat overly urbanized. (funny)"

Si Si: "I'm not roasting... oh, kids are so troublesome, I'll leave it to you, deal with it yourself."

Night Ten: "???"

Old White: "Even if neutron torpedoes are relatively merciful, the feeling of death isn't pleasant... Overall, don't do unto others what you don't want for yourself. I do hope you keep it as the last resort, if you're not just treating it as just a game but have other emotions tied into it. (grinning)"

Wild Wind: "I guess Old White is trying to say to avoid doing things you might regret later?"

Old White: "Haha, that's about right."

Night Ten: "What if they're the descendants of the Gemini?"

Fang Chang: "I think even if they're Gemini's descendants, if Orion's crew were alive, they certainly wouldn't want to see you treat neutron torpedoes like firecrackers and become who they once opposed. (side-eye)"

Night Ten: "Ugh... Damn, I got myself into trouble! Should've delayed acting cool. Alright, I'll think about other solutions."

WC Really a Mosquito: "Go for it. (evil smile)"

...

Shelter No. 404, browsing room on Floor B4.

Chu Guang had Xiao Qi distill Night Ten's observations on Gaia planet into a two-page report, printed it on paper.

This is probably the only first-hand information from all the survivor forces on the Wasteland about the world five light years away.

And it's freshly released.

Watching Yin Fang silently scrutinizing the report with furrowed brows, Chu Guang waited for a long time without hearing him speak, so he took the initiative to open his mouth.

"I want to know your opinion."

About Gaia planet.

And the unusual situation there.

Yin Fang pushed his nose-frame glasses, with a intriguing expression.

"...This is incredible."

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Just incredible?"

"Well... judging from the limited intelligence, I really can't see anything. And if I may be so bold to say..."

Yin Fang looked at Chu Guang, hesitated for a moment, and finally confessed his inner confusion.

"The fact that you can obtain information from five light years away... is already enough to shock me."

...

(Thanks to "Emperor Orange" for the alliance lord's reward!!!)