This Game Is Too Realistic

The atmosphere at the conference table immediately became lively, with excited whispering and a bunch of faces that were no longer sleepy. Dulong and Welon were caught by surprise.

"Didn't expect those country bumpkins to be so generous."

"That's not being generous! It's just the interest they owe us!"

A noble exclaimed.

"Damn... War is really the best way to make money."

Watching the excited nobles chatting, Malvern breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face. It seemed that he played his cards at the perfect time.

If anyone could not accept the termination of financial cooperation with the New Alliance, it was undoubtedly Boulder Town Bank.

Boulder Town's factory bankruptcy, while making it hard for the inner city nobles to fill their bellies to the fullest and possibly leading to a period of hardship, wouldn't be a bone-breaking issue.

But it was different for Malvern.

His bank was not only a creditor of the New Alliance but also loaned money to Boulder Town's factories, allowing those factory owners to expand production.

If the New Alliance's loans were frozen, those factories wouldn't receive payments and wouldn't be able to repay him. A large volume of bad debts would instantly trigger systemic risks.

It posed massive liquidity risks.

Those crafty country bumpkins had just gotten their loans and signed a ton of orders with Boulder Town's factories, with production tasks even scheduled into the next year.

Only then did Malvern realize why the New Alliance's representatives were so agreeable when signing the contract, including terms that couldn't be used for spot transactions, including the scope of chip use, including setting up a supervisory account, and so on. They agreed to everything so easily!

As it turned out, those assholes had planned to tie him on their war chariot from the very start!

Without a doubt, he controlled the greatest amount of money in the city, but the money wasn't his.

Including those from the outer city, the nobles of the inner city, even the city lord. And aside from private accounts, there were also the city hall's taxes, military funds, and so on.

If something went wrong, it wouldn't just be a matter of burning a few ledger books and a few people dying.

Thinking of the range of consequences, Malvern felt a headache but also couldn't help but laugh. He had never been to the New Alliance, yet he was forced to become half an ally, even having to bear the pressure from the inner city for them...

What was more... He just couldn't quit because the benefits they offered were just too good.

After the meeting ended, he finally returned home.

Sitting on the soft sofa, Malvern rubbed his sore eye bags and couldn't help but mutter softly. "These cunning skunks..."

Elisa, who was reading the newspaper, tilted her head. "Daddy?"

"It's nothing." Malvern immediately put on a gentle face. He ruffled his daughter's fluffy hair and muttered, "Daddy is just a bit tired, I need to rest for a while."

Elisa blinked and thought of something. "Is it because of the war?"

"Not really, but it's somewhat related..." Malvern sighed, speaking to himself wearily, "In the best-case scenario, the New Alliance uses our money to fight the Army and they weaken each other, and we can keep doing business with a needy New Alliance while having them operate under our demands."

"But things went south and they got their hands on the airship." Elisa interrupted.

Glancing at the newspaper in her hands, Malvern smiled and nodded. "That's right... they got the airship, and they used fireworks to tell us they've fixed it and even know how to use it now... these cunning little foxes."

"Didn't you call them skunks?"

"Ahem..." Malvern coughed, "Don't learn to talk like daddy... Anyway, why am I talking about these boring things?"

He didn't want his beloved little daughter to think about those annoying matters. His sons were both doing very well. One was familiar with business in the inner city, and the other was traveling in Ideal City. He could confidently entrust the future of the family to them. There was no need to bother his daughter.

Malvern yawned. "It's getting late, your music teacher will be here soon... You better put away the newspaper, or your mom will see it and get unhappy again."

Elisa made a helpless face and put down the newspaper. "Alright then..."

Her voice was full of reluctance as she dragged out the last syllable.

...

Before dawn in the wasteland.

The night's celebrations had come to an end, but the excitement on the forums continued.

And naturally, it all started with the announcement posted by doggy developer Light.

[Battle of Lucky Valley Municipality campaign rewards have been distributed. The lottery event is temporarily opened, please exchange your points for prizes in time!]

['Thousands Miles of Yellow Sand' expansion has begun! To consolidate the fruits of victory, we will support our neighbors, driving out the Army that spreads chaos and plague to the desert and to the west!]

[Expedition army registration is open! (Note: Only Combat Profession players can sign up. Lifestyle Profession players need not worry, subsequent exclusive expansion tasks will be released.)]

Tail: AWOAWOAWOAWO! Golden equipment, I got it!!!!!!!!!!! (OwO)

Roshan: !!! What did you draw?

Tail: Wait a second, let me take a look!

Quit Smoking: ???

Sisi: Oh, typical of Tail, more concerned with being first than the lottery! (￣▽￣)

Battlefield Cheerleader: NOOOOOOOOOOO, I fucking can't even collect the prizes I drew in the Sunset Province.

Darkest: No problem, you little Pangolin, we'll test out your new equipment for you! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Battlefield Cheerleader: FUCK YOU! Don't touch it! I'll use it when I'm back! ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)

Quit Smoking: Where's Ample Time? Oi, the new expansion is out!

Irene: Where's the analysis? The explanation? Why hasn't it come out yet?! Haven't you eaten enough? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Yaya: Yeah! The planners should start working!

Escaping Mole: Damn... This guy probably drew the grand prize and is too scared to show up!

Spring Water Commander: (ó﹏ò｡)

Eye Owe Money: Fuck! The lucky dog jackpot commander finally emerged! (╯°□°）╯︵┻━┻

Construction Boy: Spill it, what did you draw? (╯°□°）╯︵┻━┻

Spring Water Commander: Cough cough... A lollipop.

Construction Boy: Hahaha! NOOB!

Teng Teng: You... Are you guys really going to believe what he says?.

Night Ten: Fuck, little doggy Ample Time really disappeared... Damn it, I'm not waiting anymore! A few more minutes and it's time, brothers see you online!

Old White: See you online. (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

Gale: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Garbage: Awooo! Sewer quest, meeting at entrance 117 at 7:00 sharp! Hurry up for sequence level grinding!

...

Watching the forum where all the playful players were causing a stir, Chu Guang also sincerely felt happy for them.

Although he had spent a lot this time, the New Alliance had burned through an entire year's budget in just one month, but his players had gained a lot.

Most players' rewards were over 2,000 silver coins, enough to buy a Miner Type 1 exoskeleton, and many players with outstanding contributions received rewards of over 20,000 silver coins.

Excluding ammunition, supplies, weapon wear and tear, logistical losses, and other expenses, the campaign alone had distributed rewards to players totaling 30 million silver coins!

That didn't even include the cost of the lottery.

Currently, the official website's trading platform for silver coins was also experiencing volatile fluctuations, but Chu Guang didn't care much.

The silver coin exchange wasn't a casino, nor a financial product.

It was a financing channel for the closed beta of Wasteland Online. It was a tool he used to pay wages and subsidies to his players.

Once the trading volume shrank to an appropriate level and most speculators left the market, he would release some technologies that weren't too hard to digest for the 21st century.

Possible alternatives included aviation fuel, laser components for igniting controlled fusion, and more... Those were all technologies from before the Prosperity Era.

As for how to properly use these technologies, that wasn't his concern, and he believed it didn't need to be.

Chu Guang also suddenly realized something. Although he was initially a bit rusty in his business capabilities, having been in the position of administrator for a while, he had become increasingly adept at handling matters of governance.

Additionally, the points he had accumulated from the previous expansion finally came in handy.

Aside from the random items from the basic and intermediate loot boxes, most of the equipment from the advanced blind boxes, which he had listed as lottery prizes on the official website, had been used.

Chu Guang divided the rewards into three reward pools.

The first reward pool mainly consisted of trophies captured from the Army. There were basic weapons produced by the New Alliance, and light weapons provided by the military aid of Boulder Town, valued between 1 and 500 silver coins.

The second reward pool mainly included relatively expensive equipment, including weapon accessories and exoskeletons, valued between 500 and 2,000 silver coins.

The third reward pool consisted mostly of prizes Chu Guang had obtained from loot boxes and treasures from Ideal City, among others.

The quality of those equipment was quite good, and Chu Guang believed his players could fully exploit their creativity, utilizing them to their fullest value in appropriate situations.

As for Chu Guang himself, his need for equipment wasn't that great.

Not to mention that he rarely had the opportunity to go to the front lines, his current equipment was already nearly fully upgraded. Giving him another axe would be like turning him from Karl Franz into a Hill Dwarf. There was no point!

Now that even Neeko was wearing an exoskeleton, Chu Guang had confidence he would be able to solo a tank on the battlefield.

That was no exaggeration.

After all, his Nitrogen-Powered Hammer was designed for demolishing fortifications and had anti-armor capabilities.

Besides the high-tech equipment from those loot boxes, what surprised Chu Guang the most was the changes occurring to him. After he returned from the frontlines in the final battle, he broke through the LV30 barrier!