This Game Is Too Real

[Children of the future, has the world returned to normal?

Even though I cannot wait for the day when everything gets better, I hope you can see it for me.

There is a safe under the master bedroom bed, the password is my birthday, which is in my diary... I put the most valuable things there.

Now I entrust it to you, hoping you can use it for post-war reconstruction.

This is my wish.

——Krystar Allee]

Perhaps perseverance paid off, after turning an unknown underground complex upside down with no gains, Feng Qing and Gui Gui finally found the above message in a shop that had been converted into a private refuge.

This line was written on a card, like a letter sent to the future.

However, when they finally found the legendary safe, went to great lengths to find Krystar's birthday from a diary and opened the box, both were simultaneously blinded by the golden brilliance.

"Damn! Gold—damn! Why is it gold!" Gui Gui's expression was first of surprise, but soon she realized this wasn't reality but the Wasteland, and kicked the folding bed beside her in frustration.

Feng Qing had a similarly subtle expression.

"Hmm... although emotionally unacceptable, it seems quite reasonable?"

It's said that during the Human Alliance Era, the total population was over ten billion, coupled with the prosperity of the aerospace and electronics industries and people's demand for wealth preservation in a high-growth economic environment, gold was probably quite valuable at that time.

But now...

Many industries and the population have shrunk significantly.

Of course, gold is still more valuable than silver or copper, otherwise, Vellante wouldn't use it as currency, and the Alliance wouldn't still use copper for wires instead of switching to gold.

It's just that its scarcity is certainly not what it used to be.

"About eight kilograms... exchanging for ten thousand dinars should be no problem."

Gui Gui, squatting beside the suitcase, weighed the gold, sighed, and packed it into her backpack.

Ten thousand dinars can be exchanged for two or three thousand silver coins, which actually isn't that little.

It's just that the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

"...In any case, he left what he believed was the most valuable thing to us."

Feng Qing comforted Gui Gui by patting her shoulder and said with a smile.

"In any case, task complete, no mutant nests found... we can head back now."

They returned along the original route.

However, just as they were about to board the escalator, a faint sound suddenly came from the shadows not far away.

The sound was like shoes stepping on a dust-covered floor, even though it was just a faint "creak," it didn't escape their ears.

Feng Qing, almost on reflex, cocked her rifle and aimed it in the direction of the sound.

"Who's there!"

The air was silent for a moment.

Just when their hearts were pounding, a scruffy old man holding his hands up walked out from under a half-collapsed steel frame.

He appeared unkempt, wearing canvas pants with many pockets, draped in a jacket, holding a woven bag and a short crossbow, looking like the scavengers commonly seen on the Wasteland.

"Don't shoot..."

Perhaps realizing he stood no chance, the old man placed the woven bag and weapon on the ground, cautiously watching the two girls standing by the escalator.

Seeing him voluntarily lay down his weapon, Feng Qing also lowered her rifle and flashlight, and in a questioning tone, said.

"Who are you?"

The old man stared at her, looked at her gun, then glanced at her nose, and then with a hoarse voice said.

"A survivor of Yavente City, a demon called Julius took over our home, so we fled here from the surface... and you? Children of survivors? Or children of demons?"

Feng Qing and Gui Gui were momentarily stunned by this, exchanged bewildered looks, then looked at the old man.

"A survivor of Yavente City... which year's survivor are you referring to?"

The old man furrowed his brow.

"Which year? What do you mean?"

Noticing a cross-server conversation was about to occur, Feng Qing said with a subtle expression.

"It is now Wasteland Era year 215, the Julius you mentioned... should have died a century ago?"

She didn't remember exactly how many years, after all, that's the history of Vellante.

"A century?"

The scruffy old man was momentarily stunned, blankly staring at the two young girls before him.

Suddenly, as if something dawned on him, he hurriedly asked.

"Are the Vellantes still here?"

Gui Gui nodded.

"They're still around, but we defeated them, the legion is now history... speaking of which, didn't you guys notice anything after all this time?"

The old man stared blankly at the "enemy of the enemy" before him, not knowing what to say for a moment.

After a long while, he chuckled wryly and said.

"Most of us were in hibernation in sleep cabins, about ten to twenty thousand of us. Of course, this is not a proper shelter after all, there are only a few backup generators, so someone has to stay outside.

He paused, then continued.

"Usually we have about 100 people, at minimum 50, maintaining the facilities and conducting regular inspections, to prevent others from never waking up, and also to prevent the Vellantes from finding us... the rotation period is roughly five years."

Gui Gui looked at him in surprise.

"Two thousand people?! Wait, you guys can hide two thousand people here?! What do you eat?"

Feng Qing also seemed stunned, her mouth slightly agape in silence.

The old man grinned slightly, nonchalantly saying.

"You don't eat while in hibernation, people awake grow some mushrooms, mix up some nutritional paste and it's fine, some are responsible for food, some for scavenging. As for electricity, there is no shortage here, commercial nuclear batteries are enough."

As he spoke, he cast his gaze toward the underground commercial complex.

"This is about my second time waking up, I usually scavenge around here... I can't actually tell how long I've slept, how much time has passed outside. The management here is chaotic, life is a mess, being awake feels like prison, the only hope is to work for five years for hibernation, but just as I close my eyes, I open them and wake up again."

"The guy who patted me on the shoulder told me, outside it's been fifty or forty years, he isn't sure himself, doesn't even remember how many rotations it's been. As for me, I feel nothing at all. To me, the past fifty or so years have passed in not even a flash."

"But I am quite glad, at least I outlived Julius, right? Thank you, this is the best news I've heard in my life."

The old man chuckled self-deprecatingly as he spoke.

Perhaps he shouldn't have confessed these things, he might even have violated the rules of Yavente City.

But honestly, he was feeling somewhat exhausted by his mission.

How many times could he continue to hibernate at his age?

Or rather, is there even a necessity for him to continue hibernating?

Close his eyes and open them; everything remains the same, then endure another five years.

Whether he hibernates or not, he might only have 50 years left to live in this life.

And just for these 50 years, just to continue this aimless time travel, they abandoned kinship, love, friendship...and everything one should have been born with, ceasing reproduction.

It's like a collective chronic suicide.

Instead of struggling with who to awaken to live like rats, might as well liberate everyone.

He had the thought of turning off the power more than once, becoming a true "Grave Guard."

He even believes that whoever wakes up more than twice would undoubtedly have the same thought.

That's why he shared these thoughts without any qualms.

He even harbored a vague expectation in his heart, hoping these outsiders would do what he was unwilling to do—end everyone's misery.

Feng Qing was silent for a moment, looking at the old man, and said softly.

"What's your name?"

The old man shrugged.

"Robin? If I remember correctly."

Feng Qing nodded patiently and continued.

"Yavente City is inhabited not only by Vellante people but also by some of your former neighbors' children... The era has changed, and quite a few times."

"Though the world seems on the brink of destruction, we still intend to make the most of each remaining day. If you wish to come out, we will try to help you, but of course... if you choose to stay here, we won't stop you either."

The old man looked at Feng Qing in bewilderment, staying stunned before slowly speaking.

"World... destruction?"

"Just possibly," Feng Qing nodded, "Strategic weapons falling into the hands of undesirable people on synchronous orbit... It's complicated to explain specifically, but you can understand it as such."

"Well... that's truly a disaster," the old man chuckled bitterly, scratching the back of his head, "I'm not into aerospace research... I don't quite understand that stuff, maybe some of my compatriots might."

He had no trouble accepting world apocalypse kind of matters.

After all, he had lived through such an event once in his life.

Feng Qing and Gui Gui exchanged a glance, then looked back at the old man to ask.

"Are you considering going out?"

The old man hesitated for a moment.

"I need to discuss it with others... Of course, I still want to see the surface."

If what these two young girls say is true, the world might be soon destroyed, and hiding here indeed seems pointless.

At least...

He wants to die in a more spacious place.

As for hatred against the Vellante people, against Julius, and reviving Yavente City...

Those things can be considered later.

His mind is very messy right now, not in the mood to think about those things.

Putting away the rifle beside the backpack, Gui Gui bravely looked at the old man and said.

"We'll go with you."

The old man didn't refuse, he nodded.

"Let's go together."

...

[Mission Report: No Variant Nest found below Street No. 17 of Yavente City, but prewar commercial complex ruins discovered, housing over twenty thousand hibernators. According to one survivor, they are indigenous of Yavente City, who fled underground during Julius's era to escape war. Currently, locals have decided to return to the surface, and over twenty thousand hibernators are gradually waking up, some survivors even hail from the Prosperity Epoch.]

Reporter: Feng Qing, Gui Gui

Task Evaluation: S-

Reward: 200,000 silver coins, 2000 contribution points, 50,000 regional prestige!

]

[Server Announcement: Yavente City population increased by 21,771 people, new explorable region "Prosperity Epoch Underground Commercial Complex Ruins" added.]

...

Though the world is once again on the brink of destruction, players' daily activities did not come to a halt.

After all, the world in "Wasteland OL" hasn't been on the brink of destruction for the first time.

In this game, a BOSS wouldn't consider themselves BOSS if they don't create a world-class crisis.

Even though these tens of thousands of neutron torpedoes sound intimidating, thinking it over, the Alliance seems to have quite a few tricks up their sleeves.

Plus, they now know where the enemy is.

There will always be a way.

Yavente City Prison No.11, Room 101.

Looking at Flynn, securely bound on the operating table, Jiang Xuezhou's face carried a complex expression.

This guy suffered severe mental trauma and is likely to remain in a vegetative state for a while.

And even if he wakes up, he'll probably live with mental illness for a long time.

Though it's "returning the favor," she feels not much satisfaction in getting revenge.

Why exactly, she couldn't articulate well.

Perhaps after seeing this guy's memories, she found him to be quite pitiful as well.

"This guy... how are you planning to deal with him?"

Hearing Jiang Xuezhou's voice, Night Ten lifted his head, looking at her oddly.

"Us?"

Not knowing what was strange, Jiang Xuezhou frowned and asked.

"Is there a problem?"

"No..." Night Ten scratched the back of his head, "It's just, this guy killed someone from your side, right? We are obviously more inclined to let you handle it."

Jiang Xuezhou was silent for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked.

"By the way, you have caught members of the Enlightenment Society before, how did you deal with them?"

Night Ten shrugged his shoulders.

"How else could we deal with them? Prison and labor reform, let them join in the reconstruction of the Wasteland, go to the Home of the Refugees' school for support teaching, do community service... similar things."

Jiang Xuezhou frowned.

"Does it work?"

"Who knows if it works, we can't exactly crack their heads open over this."

Night Ten laughed and continued.

"Some people do get reformed well and have helped us a lot in various aspects. Some people just recognize the situation because they can't beat us, they bear with us temporarily... And there are also devoted believers who run off into the Great Desert after serving their time, all of these things happen."

Jiang Xuezhou was puzzled.

"You know they'll run off, yet you still do this?"

Night Ten shook his head and said.

"There's a logical problem with what you said. How can we possibly know if they will run? Accurately speaking, we don't care about those who fail the reform process, we care about the former."

Jiang Xuezhou lowered his head and seemed to be pondering.

"The former..."

Night Ten shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll always have those who are reformed, right? We showed them another possibility for the world, where the Residents of the refuge and the Waste Land Wanderers are no longer killing each other, but join hands to rebuild their homes. Some will agree with us and join us."

"Those who joined us, some became doctors, some became engineers, some became researchers, and some were converted to be our informants... For us, those people are enough."

"As for the others, if they run, so be it, pray they don't get caught doing bad things by us next time."

Jiang Xuezhou's eyes gradually brightened, her index finger rubbing her chin as if seriously thinking about something.

A moment later, she made a decision.

"I've decided."

Night Ten stared at her blankly.

"Decided what?"

Jiang Xuezhou said seriously.

"I... I've decided to give him another chance, hand him over to you, and let you reform him."

Night Ten said with mixed emotions.

"Ah this... though we don't mind, you guys don't mind either?"

Jiang Xuezhou shook her head.

"The Academy never cares about the life and death of anyone. This guy is no longer of value to us... My mentor told me to deal with it as I see fit."

Seeing Jiang Xuezhou wasn't joking, Night Ten sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Though it seems a bit saintly to me, do as you please... Anyway, if someday you can't make it through with the Academy, you can come join us."

This time Jiang Xuezhou was stunned.

Regaining her senses, she raised her eyebrows and glared fiercely at Night Eleven.

"What do you mean I can't make it? I'm doing great, I'm even a Level C Researcher, okay! Haha, you better worry about yourself."

"Me?" Night Ten pointed at himself dumbfounded and said with mixed emotions, "Are you kidding? I'm the strongest in perception in the whole server, how much better should I be?"

Jiang Xuezhou frowned.

"What whole server? Perception? First? You're again saying something weird."

Realizing he'd almost said something forbidden, Night Ten quickly stopped himself.

"Forget it, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

Watching Night Ten pretending to escape, Jiang Xuezhou immediately chased after, shouting insistently.

"What do you mean saying I wouldn't understand, don't leave things half-said!"

Outside the room in the corridor, listening to the distant shouts, a smile of an old father couldn't help but appear on Old White's face.

"Seems like Night Ten's mouth is pretty tight."

Standing next to him, Fang Chang smiled faintly.

"You don't understand this guy, though he's usually a bit unserious, he actually has quite a set of principles."

A simple sense of justice and morality?

No matter how others understand it, at least Fang Chang himself understood it this way.

Long, long ago, when Wasteland OL appeared among a group of people, it was this guy who first thought of scams, and for the safety of his friends in the group, went to discuss strategies with other managers.

As for Fang Chang himself, he was too lazy to deal with such matters.

He suffered from idiocy intolerance.

Old White glanced at Fang Chang, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke.

"If the world really were to end—"

His words were interrupted by the latter.

"I won't let that happen."

With an indisputable tone, Fang Chang placed his hand on Old White's shoulder and seriously continued.

"Absolutely not."

...

On the other side, City of Dawn.

The browsing room on Floor B4 at Shelter No. 404.

After listening to Chu Guang's narration, Yin Fang couldn't help but inhale sharply.

"A hundred thousand neutron torpedoes?! Is your Guards Corps... are they serious?"

Chu Guang shook his head.

"This intelligence wasn't discovered by the Guards Corps, it was provided by your old employer, the Academy."

The browsing room was quiet for a moment, with only the bubbling sound of the teapot breaking the silence.

Yin Fang pressed his index finger against his brow, remaining silent for a while, seemingly trying to calm himself down, then he looked up at the ceiling.

"Immediately activate the Gravity Well, and then establish the orbital defense system... no, no, if we do that, we'd be falling right into the enemy's trap!"

The debris wreaking havoc in geosynchronous orbit was like an eggshell, forming a natural protective umbrella over the Earth.

If a neutron torpedo were detonated near lower Earth orbit, the high-energy rays, under the combined influence of the geomagnetic field and other factors, would have little deadly impact on life on the surface!

But if we activate the Gravity Well, removing the blockade of orbital debris, all bets are off...

The biggest issue now is, to what extent do the celestials have control over the Orion Missile Cruiser?

Whether it's the Alliance, the Academy, or the corporations, none have any knowledge about the situation on that missile cruiser.

Watching Yin Fang muttering, Chu Guang, sitting on the sofa, nodded his head.

"...The Academy thinks the same way, before obtaining more intelligence, not only can we not activate the Gravity Well, we must also be wary of the Enlightenment Society activating the Gravity Well."

He has already notified the Eastern Empire about this matter, and the latter also takes it seriously, having deployed an army of five hundred thousand to the Great Desert.

The same goes for the Alliance.

Pioneer City has already declared a state of emergency, with the Thorns Corps stationed in the eastern part of the Great Desert projecting its patrol zone into the central area of the Desert.

Evernight Harbor, the Lavanka Industrial Zone, and other former colonies of the Southern Legion have also mobilized, staying alert for any potential conflict erupting in the Great Desert.

Yin Fang said with a bitter expression.

"It's just one lost research ship... didn't expect such severe consequences."

"I don't think it's a matter of the research ship," Chu Guang pondered and shook his head, "Perhaps our opponents have been planning ahead for a long time. While we were dealing with the Torch Church, and while we were mired in the quagmire of Poluo Province and the Southern Legion, they were preparing for today's events, and the loss of that research ship is just the tip of the iceberg of their conspiracy."

Yin Fang stared at him intently.

"Do you have any plans?"

Chu Guang shook his head.

"No."

Yin Fang was dumbfounded.

"No, nothing?"

Chu Guang continued.

"Things happened too suddenly, aside from sending someone over to take a look, I don't have a better solution either."

The representative from the Academy has agreed to lend a research vessel to the Alliance.

This research ship is currently on the outskirts of Yavente City, and the pilot's name is Jiang Xuezhou.

Yin Fang smiled wryly and said.

"True enough..."

Seeing Yin Fang's anxiety, Chu Guang slowly spoke.

"Related deployments are already underway, including restarting the processing base of Shelter 100, and preparing an emergency shelter plan. But to be honest, I don't have a clear concept about these hundred thousand neutron torpedoes... What happens if there's no orbital debris protection, and these hundred thousand neutron torpedoes are fired in a salvo at Earth?"

"The effect would likely be similar to what was mentioned in the Torch Plan, perhaps not as efficient as neutron eradication, but the outcome isn't much different."

Burying his nose in his palms, Yin Fang took a deep breath and continued.

"...Probably nothing would remain on the surface, but not necessarily. The Holy Shield System should be able to defend against it, and the Endeavour in the center of Ideal City should also have a way to shield against direct attacks."

Chu Guang looked at him and said.

"And the Shelters?"

Yin Fang nodded, but there wasn't a hint of optimism on his face.

"That's right, but aside from these things, nothing will be left! Moreover, I don't believe their attacks will end there. Even though I'm not an expert in military affairs, I can figure that out, strategic weapon bombardment ends; next comes the landing."

Whether it's orbital paratroopers descending from the sky, or the "Orion" making a "Endeavour Colony Ship" style ship-wide landing, depends on the celestials' mood.

The neutron bombs target soft targets; surface factories and railways are likely to remain intact.

Those guys should be able to easily take over surface production facilities and use them to replicate themselves.

Chu Guang had a pensive expression on his face.

After listening to Yin Fang's account, he had already formed a rough idea about the "celestials' plan."

They intend to use them as fuel.

Or rather, to seize the hard-won victory fruits of tens of thousands of survivors in the wasteland.

He will never let them succeed!

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the browsing room, and Lu Bei, who had gained permission, walked in from outside.

"Report!"

"We've received a radio signal from the direction of the Great Desert's center at our branch in Pioneer City!"

"After analyzing the signal, we found a set of coordinates and a signature... The signer is suspected to be the signal's transmitter, named Zhuang Lan."

Zhuang Lan?

Upon hearing this familiar yet strange name, Chu Guang slightly raised his eyebrows.

He had almost forgotten about this person, not expecting that guy to still be alive and remember that wager.

Noticing the intriguing expression on Chu Guang's face, Yin Fang cast an inquiring gaze towards him.

"An acquaintance?"

"I suppose, I've known them for quite some time," Chu Guang chuckled lightly, "I didn't expect that in addition to our enemies, there are also enemies of our enemies lurking in the shadows and acting in secrecy."

Seeing the manager's smile, Lu Bei hesitated for a moment, then quietly reminded him.

"Honorable Manager... We can't be sure yet if that Zhuang Lan is an ally, and the information provided is quite vague, it might be a trap there."

"Whether it's a trap or not, we'll know when we take a look."

Having said that, Chu Guang glanced at the pen holder on the desk not far away and gave an order.

"Xiao Qi, check which corps are available nearby for me."

"Strength doesn't matter, just make sure they aren't afraid to die."