This Game Is Too Real

[Great News! The trial at Jinjaron Harbor has ended! Several war criminals, including Ryan, commander of the Eastern Front of the Southern Legion's Poluo Province War Zone, and Chief of Staff Feiverite, have been sentenced to death! The execution will be carried out immediately!

"Horn" boat captain John argued that the bombing of Lion City was instigated by Ryan; however, the massive civilian casualties remain an undisputed fact. The court rejected the appeal application, upheld the death sentence, and postponed the execution to the following day!

Additionally, minor war criminals like the Ten Thousand Leader of the 36th Ten-Thousand Troops, Wolfe, have been sentenced to more than ten years in prison.

——Survivor Daily, Jinjaron Harbor Edition]

...

Mammoth City.

The solemn courtroom was filled with a dense smell of blood, and the floor even had sticky footprints and handprints that couldn't be cleaned.

Guryang, standing in the dock, didn't know why there was an abattoir-like smell in the Poluo people's court, nor was he particularly curious about it.

When he learned that he was being transferred from the relatively civilized Jinjaron Harbor to be tried here, he essentially lost all hope of surviving.

At this moment, he didn't know that Ryan and several senior officers left behind in Jinjaron Harbor had already been packed into boxes.

The judge on the bench looked at this Vellante with blood-stained hands, his lips trembling slightly.

After a moment, he finally made up his mind and delivered the judgment.

"War criminal Guryang."

"The court doesn't wish to repeat your crimes..."

Guryang closed his eyes, unwilling to listen any further. He didn't even hire a defense lawyer, wishing only for the proceedings to finish quickly.

He had many questions he wanted to ask Teil.

If he went down early, maybe he could meet that guy before being reincarnated—

"The court's judgment is as follows:"

"Defendant Guryang is sentenced to life imprisonment for committing war crimes!"

The solemn gavel struck down, and that clear "clang" sounded almost like a joke.

Guryang, standing in the dock, was stunned, unbelievingly opening his eyes wide, taking half a step forward as he gazed at the judge on the bench.

The two soldiers standing beside him gripped his shoulders with serious expressions, but Guryang seemed not to see them, glaring intently at the judge.

"Why?"

The judge didn't answer the question, quickly announcing an adjournment, and then hurriedly left the bench, as if afraid to stay a second longer.

The other courtroom personnel did the same.

Guryang stood there bewildered, his eyes unfocused, uncertain of what to do.

Why?

Another question he didn't understand.

In the jury box.

A stern-faced officer stood up and walked over to the empty judge's bench.

Guryang noticed the man and cast a longing gaze towards his back.

However, the man ignored his questions, simply staring at the scales symbolizing justice and fairness, talking to himself.

"General Groove of the Poluo Country has stationed 800,000 troops on the southern bank of the Tasang River. With Absek and Shaluk's previous core forces, there might be nearly a million."

"There aren't many usable people; I'll give you 400,000, and you'll hold them off for me."

Guryang was stunned, almost instinctively replying.

"That's impossible! They have a complete set of equipment provided by the Eastern Empire, especially their elite Gray Wolf Army, which is almost modeled after the Eastern Empire's armored ten-thousand teams and mechanized infantry divisions."

This was something he witnessed first-hand at West Sail Port.

Shava chuckled faintly.

"The Gray Wolf Army will not move. Gopal won't give Groove the real assets. Your opponents are the cannon fodder of the Northern Field Army."

"That's also impossible," Guryang shook his head, saying, "You have no idea of their strength... You have no chance of winning."

But Shava simply snapped his fingers, directing a soldier beside him to fetch the map and hand it to Guryang.

"Take a look at the map first."

Guryang hesitated momentarily, then suspiciously took the map from the soldier and unfolded it on the dock's railing.

It was a map of the Northern Three States and the southern part of Mammoth State.

The long narrow mountain range resembled a crescent-shaped dagger, thrusting into the northern Poluo Province, carving off a fertile plain from that bountiful territory.

Moreover, to counter the Southern Corps' invasion, Laxi had constructed a large number of defensive fortifications and tunnel bunkers between the mountains.

Guryang had always felt the Northern Three States' difficulty to invade, and now, seeing the complete strategic map provided by his former opponent, he felt even more impressed.

Still suffered from underestimating the enemy.

If only I had known that the Northern Three States were fortified like a steel bucket by these Mammoth people, I would never have ordered Olet to march into Dog State.

It would have been better to concentrate forces to take Tiandu.

"How many mountain troops do you have?"

Seeing the rekindled determination in Guryang's eyes, Shava's face revealed a slight smile.

"The Mammoth Nation is essentially composed of mountain and guerrilla divisions. We have exoskeletons, anti-armor weapons... Including plasma warheads capable of penetrating the Conqueror's defenses, as well as some 'Fire Crossbows' and 'Conquerors' seized and repaired from you."

"Of course, most crucially, we have a complete ammunition production line, abundant overseas labor, and sufficient foreign exchange reserves."

Guryang licked his dry lips.

"That could be worth a try."

Shava nodded.

"Go and try then; meritorious deeds could offset your sentence. After our war is over, maybe you still have a chance to go home. Additionally, Groove has a few of your old subordinates; I hope you won't hold back against them."

Guryang shook his head, saying,

"There's no question of holding back; going all out is a sign of respect for the opponents. I believe my subordinates think the same."

A war without the logistics department sons dragging them down...

The thought of it was quite intriguing.

Guryang never imagined that one day, as a homeless wanderer, he'd have the chance to return to the battlefield and continue to shine.

And to fight for former enemies.

"May I ask a question?"

"Ask away," Shava said, expressionless.

Looking at the soldier removing his handcuffs, Guryang turned his gaze back to Shava and continued.

"You are all Poluo people, at least in our eyes... Have you never thought about sitting down to talk?"

"Talk?"

As if he'd heard something very amusing, Shava suddenly laughed out loud, tilting his head back.

"Those who wanted to sit down and talk are either dead or gone. Someday when I no longer live, perhaps I'll go negotiate to be a good man with my father after I retire!"

Then his expression turned cold as he looked at Guryang.

"As for now, I don't want to talk about anything."

Following this, his expression turned cold, looking at Guryang.

"As for now, there's nothing I want to discuss," Shava concluded, "Your loyal, friendly, and hospitable Southern friends from the Eastern Empire have encountered a small problem. Due to climate reasons, red soil has appeared to spread across various parts of Poluo Province."

The current situation is dire, and we urgently need a professional biologist to clean up the mess left by General Lowell for us. Of course, if you could send a team over, that would be even better.

—— Tiandu, Electric]

[The Alliance doesn't care about Red Soil, why are you bothering with that stuff? If you don't like it, just dig it up and throw it into the sea. Do you not have a shovel or hands? We've given you enough help already, so please don't bother us with such trivial matters in the future!

—— Eastern Empire, Electric]

[Understood! Understood! We'll hand it over to the think tank for research right away!

—— Tiandu, Electric]

[···?

—— Eastern Empire, Electric]

…

[Academy Experts Arrive in Dawn City!!!

—— "Survivor Daily" Dawn City Edition]

…

It turns out that the Academy was not just selling a pie in the sky.

In the second week after Chief Investigator Qi Liu made a promise to Chu Guang, a team of experts led by a B-level researcher arrived at Camp 101 in Dawn City.

In the Academy, B-level is already quite a high rank.

Both Yang Kai, who is stationed permanently in the Alliance, and Li Ke, who was involved in the ceasefire negotiations at Falcon City, are B-level, while Qi Liu himself is only an A-level.

A higher level means high access privileges.

A C-level researcher who works diligently all their life cannot touch the secrets that a B-level can access with the flick of a finger.

Previously, the Academy had sent some experts to the Alliance as well, but the technology they imparted was not sensitive, mostly some icing on the cake, especially not involving the so-called "graviton-related technology," which was considered leading edge even before the war!

However, this time is different, the ban on "graviton" related technology was unexpectedly lifted!

The significance of graviton needs no explanation.

At least in this universe, it is tentatively considered a prerequisite technology for entering the interstellar era.

It is virtually the only known particle that can traverse its own dimension and use the laws of other dimensions to interfere with the laws of the three-dimensional world.

Including slow nuclear fusion at room temperature, and superluminal travel between star systems, among others.

These things, deemed impossible during the old era, those miracles with macro probabilities approaching zero, become possible under graviton's interference!

As a result, although the industrial community and mainstream opinion during the Human Alliance Era take controllable nuclear fusion technology as the demarcation between the Prosperity Epoch and the old epoch, the academic world and aerospace industry widely view the "graviton" as the watershed between the new and old eras!

Its significance is like sails and compasses to the great maritime age, truly opening the door to a new world!

A civilization unable to comprehend the mysteries of gravity will never become a genuine interstellar civilization.

And the difference between starships not equipped with warp engines and those equipped with them is as if comparing a canoe to the Kirk Ship!

Looking at the long list of technology transfers provided by the Academy, Chu Guang, sitting at his desk, couldn't help but think of the hard days he spent painstakingly acquiring a plasma engine, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"The sun must be rising from the west; even a stingy rooster is losing feathers."

It seems those guys are not solely focused on running away; they are considering nurturing a reliable ally at home.

Of course, these technologies transferred to the Alliance were not without any conditions.

For instance, the most crucial one being that, before the Academy leaves this star system, these technologies are for the Alliance's use only and must not be transferred to other survivor forces on the Wasteland that the Academy has not recognized.

This includes enterprises, the Grand Canyon, as well as the Vellante Alliance and the South Sea Union, among others.

They don't want to manage future affairs, but at least while they're on this planet, they feel obliged to limit technology diffusion... or at least they think so.

Chu Guang certainly respected their decision.

After all, the Alliance knows well the power of the "tech barbarians"' fists and won't resort to self-harm.

Sitting on the office sofa drinking coffee, Yin Fang had a complex expression, clearly not expecting the Academy to open its doors so suddenly either.

"Don't say you didn't expect it, even I didn't."

Heya, sitting on another sofa, cast an inquiring glance at Chu Guang.

"Should we share Xiaoyu's research data with them?"

The Alliance Biological Research Institute is one of the few institutions within the Alliance that can stand on the same starting line as the Academy's researchers.

Especially in the research fields concerning mutated slime fungus and Lair, the Academy has little to teach the Alliance, but rather has to learn from the Alliance.

Chu Guang closed his eyes and thought for a moment before speaking.

"Reciprocity is important; if they're clamoring to see it, we might as well let them browse. They even shared the 'Seed of Gaia' secret with us, so keeping it from them would seem unjustified."

Heya's lips curved into a slight smile.

"Great, finally no more cryptic riddles for communication."

From the standpoint of an academic, she certainly hoped to have mutual exchanges with the Academy, after all, secretive communication was too troublesome.

However, she also understood that Chu Guang had to consider things from the Alliance's perspective, since research on mutated slime fungus is one of the few aces up the Alliance's sleeve.

So she had always been cooperative in supporting Chu Guang's work, exchanging technologies within the Sticky Community framework with the Academy's research institutions.

As for now, with both sides reaching a higher level of mutual trust, there's no need for the earlier measures of mutual precautions.

"I apologize for the previous restrictions, from now on, you can directly communicate with the Academy regarding mutated slime fungus research without needing to consult me on every matter," Chu Guang gave Heya a grateful glance before placing the list on the corner of the desk, "Though honestly, I had assumed we might reach some consensus with the Academy, I didn't expect it to happen so swiftly."

Yin Fang nodded in agreement.

"Looks like the celestial beings have indeed frightened them."

Everyone has their own limitations, even the leader of the Alliance Scientific Expedition Team.

To this day, he remains indignant about how the superiors pushed the blame onto him and then pursued him indiscriminately.

Although all those matters are in the past.

Watching the overly cautious Yin Fang, Heya couldn't help but smile and then teased Chu Guang, sitting behind the desk.

"To be honest, I think perhaps it's you who gave them hope."

Chu Guang laughed at these words.

"Haha, I'm not that thick-skinned, let's credit the united residents of the refuge and the survivors for that!"

This statement was genuinely heartfelt.

Although the awakened talent indeed endowed him with some extraordinary abilities, he didn't believe that his personal charm alone was enough to make the stingy ones in the Wandering Swamp voluntarily shed their feathers.

The Academy had been observing the Alliance for a long time.

Even before the corporations noticed the Alliance.

The notion of being scared by the celestial beings was merely a joke.

In his heart, Chu Guang tended to believe that they made such a decision because there were reasons they deemed worthwhile.

As Yin Fang was still marveling at the Academy's generosity, the expert team sent by the Academy had already arrived at the nuclear power plant in Dawn City.

While the Alliance engineers proudly displayed the Alliance's most advanced reactor technology and the heart of the entire industrial system to the expert team of researchers, one researcher, with a colder face than Jiang Xuezhou, merely curled his lips meaningfully.

It is worth mentioning, although the Academy has numerous hawkish figures, most grassroots researchers lack social acuity.

Especially the honest ones working as grunts in labs.

"Laser ignition... ha, didn't expect to see such an antique."

"Defeating the Legion with this thing, you guys must have gone through a lot."

-

(My cold got better last week, but this cough just won't go away. What's worse, it's fine during the day but gets bad when I lie down at night. I'm about to lose it.)