This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 172: Class D Personnel and Academy’s Intelligence

Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Class D Personnel and Academy’s Intelligence

The people sent by the Academy to capture him were right here, and Yin Fang knew that keeping things hidden was pointless, so he confessed without hesitation.

Half a year ago, the Academy received intelligence indicating that a pre-war abandoned research facility contained relevant clues related to No.0 Shelter.

Without any hesitation, the Academy immediately dispatched a scientific expedition team to investigate.

This was supposed to be just another routine "archaeological" task, similar to the many others carried out by the Academy almost daily. The only difference was that this task had some connection to the No.0 Shelter.

However, no one could have foreseen that such a mundane task would end in disaster.

An unmentioned lair in the intelligence lay under the research facility; they had barely gotten through the airlock gate when they were besieged by a multitude of Eaters, Crawlers, and even Tyrants, among other Mucor species Variants. After a grueling battle, they managed to retreat, but only the expedition team leader and an accompanying engineer survived.

"So you became the scapegoat?"

Chu Guang looked at the young man with a strangely amused expression.

"But that doesn’t make any sense. How could an engineer like you take the blame for a decision-making error?"

Yin Fang’s expression was subtly complex.

At this moment, the bound Eugene chuckled and interjected.

"My lord, don’t be misled by his vague explanation. The Academy’s commission to us was to capture a fugitive Class D prospector. An engineer? Ha! It’s clear he is that team leader."

"...?"

Chu Guang paused, staring at the young man for a while, unable to see how he resembled a team leader.

Catching that fleeting look of astonishment, Eugene smiled slyly and continued.

"An expedition team typically has around ten people. It’s common for Class D and Class C prospectors or researchers to lead an expedition, since field work isn’t exactly pleasant... Tsk, I’m not from the Academy, but I’ve had my fair share of dealings with them."

To think he would be exposed by a mercenary! Yin Fang argued back irritably.

"I never said I wasn’t the team leader! Alright, yes, I am the team leader. So what? The intelligence was wrong, yet they blamed all the losses on me. What could I do?"

Eugene sneered dismissively.

"I’m just clarifying why there is a 5000CR bounty on your head – your internal affairs are none of my concern. And who knows what the truth is? You can conjure up any story you like, after all, those people will not be coming back to refute it."

Yin Fang glared at him fiercely, clenching his fists, his eyes nearly spewing fire. Clearly, this guy was not good at arguing, whether it was characteristic of all Academy people or just him remained unknown.

To think this guy was actually a leader of a scientific expedition team.

Risk Value +1.

Chu Guang felt a headache coming on and after pondering for a moment, looked at Yin Fang and continued.

"What do you plan to do?"

Yin Fang’s face took on a bitter expression, and after a moment’s thought, he said.

"I was planning to go to Giant Stone City. There are ways to get to the East Coast from there. Whether it’s by airship or following a Commercial Team by land, as long as I make it to the corporate territories, even the Academy couldn’t touch me if they knew I was there."

Chu Guang glanced at his right hand, speaking thoughtfully.

"There is a place where you can also escape the pursuit of the Academy."

Yin Fang seemed to guess what was coming.

"Are you referring to your Shelter?"

Chu Guang smiled faintly.

"You don’t seem too keen on the idea."

A Shelter with full protective capabilities, embodying the pinnacle of human defense technology from the Prosperity Epoch, was, in theory, nearly impossible to breach from the outside.

Plus, there was no need to worry about being found inside, unless the Manager of the place wanted it to be so; without their approval, not a single floating data point could leak out.

In terms of safety, it was unparalleled.

Yin Fang carefully phrased his reply.

"No, my lord, it’s just... can I really trust you completely?"

Chu Guang responded with an indifferent tone.

"Do you have any other options?"

Yin Fang fell silent for a moment.

In the end, he relaxed his shoulders in resignation.

"You’re right, I have no choice."

Seeing Chu Guang reach an agreement with his target, Eugene, feeling a sense of crisis, hurriedly spoke up.

"My lord, you want to take in a fugitive from the Academy? That’s not a good idea—"

"This is River Valley Province, not the Academy’s territory."

Chu Guang nonchalantly interrupted him, looking past Eugene at Yin Fang, and continued.

"I’m very interested in your abilities. It seems you’re not only versed in surgery? Tell me what else you can do."

"I can perform neurosurgery and some simple surgeries," Yin Fang paused, then continued, "To be precise, I am not a doctor. The main job for explorers at the Academy is to conduct archaeology on pre-war relics, recover valuable data and materials, and bring them back to the Academy for researchers to analyze and repair. My expertise mainly involves neuro-connections, so I might know a thing or two."

"Can you make bionic prosthetics?" Chu Guang asked with deep interest.

Yin Fang explained.

"Bionic prosthetics come in many types. The simplest ones, driven by muscle cells, are not difficult to make. But if it’s powered by neural currents, you’d need biomimetic neuron materials, which are hard to come by anywhere ... I can’t just conjure up things that aren’t there."

He’s not a doctor, but he’s even more exceptional than a doctor. He’s not only skilled in surgery but also knows a bit about bionics.

The most critical point is, he seems to know how to scavenge valuable technological materials from the remains of pre-war civilization.

Chu Guang became more and more interested in him.

"I’d like to discuss Academy-related matters with you. As it happens, I plan to head back to the shelter, why don’t you come along? Oh, do you need to pack any belongings first?"

Yin Fang shook his head.

"I don’t have any belongings to pack."

Chu Guang smiled, his demeanor warm and pleasant.

"That’s fine, congratulations on starting a new life."

Yin Fang also smiled, although his smile was somewhat forced.

Honestly, he didn’t have high hopes for this so-called new life, but as the Manager said, he had no choice.

After making his point, Chu Guang suddenly remembered there was another person in the room, so after a moment of thought, he turned to Wrench.

"Take this mercenary to the brick kiln and hand him over to the foreman there."

Releasing him wasn’t an option. Besides, Chu Guang still had some use for the mercenary.

For now, it was best to send him for re-education through labor, conveniently to keep company with a Centurion named Vanus.

Eugene’s face turned pale.

Hearing the words "brick kiln" and "foreman," he could guess his fate was likely to be working in the dark kiln until death, or being sold to slave traders to continue working until death...

However, Wrench felt no sympathy for him and promptly accepted the order with utmost precision.

"Yes, my lord."

...

Eugene was arranged to work in the brick factory.

As for Yin Fang, Chu Guang planned to place him on floor B2 of the shelter.

There were still a hundred empty rooms in Zone B of floor B2. Chu Guang had originally intended to use these rooms to accommodate technical talents excavated from the Wasteland, but he didn’t expect to use them so soon.

As for having him so close to the players, was that appropriate?

Honestly, Chu Guang wasn’t the least bit worried.

Worrying about such matters was as pointless as worrying about whether it would rain tomorrow. Clone technology might have been sensitive in his world before he crossed over, but to the people of this world, it was as mundane as cigarette butts on the ground.

Boss Xia has believed up until now that there exists a technology in this Wasteland that can produce a clone in one day; making a person in three days is nothing. When Chu Guang asked her where she heard this from, she couldn’t give a clear answer, scratching her head in confusion.

The Wasteland is so vast, it’s normal for outlandish rumors to spread.

The survivors of Qingquan City credited themselves with defeating the Business Expeditionary Army, even though commercial teams from the corporation frequently passed through Qingquan City.

No matter what Yin Fang might discern, Chu Guang didn’t care at all. Once he entered the shelter, he had no plans to let him out anytime soon.

"If he did something stupid, he would soon experience what being ’red-named’ in the game felt like."

"That would be quite thrilling."

A certain lizard stuck inside the shelter, unable to leave, would undoubtedly be very interested in this hard-to-come-by opportunity to perform.

Before evening, the return truck arrived at the north gate of Wetland Park.

At the entrance of the sanatorium’s elevator.

When Chu Guang pressed the down button, he glanced at Yin Fang beside him and reminded him,

"Have you thought it through? You still have a chance to back out now. Once we go in, I’m afraid it’ll be a while before you can come out."

Yin Fang let out a light sigh.

"Even if I wanted to come out, I’d have to wait at least until the people from the Academy have forgotten about me."

"How long does it take to forget a Class D personnel?"

Yin Fang thought for a moment and replied,

"Maybe three years, maybe five... It depends on how badly they want me dead, although I don’t think I’m that important."

If the clues to No.0 Shelter were found, the Academy might indeed go to great lengths to catch him and bring him back, but unfortunately, they hadn’t found anything like that.

...

Around six o’clock in the evening.

A group of happy little players dragged a three-meter-tall Crack Claw Crab back from the direction of Changjiu Farm using a wooden cart.

There was a huge hole in the back of the crab, probably blasted by an Iron Fist Rocket Launcher.

Whether or not it was worth 50 silver coins to exchange for a Crack Claw Crab, they did indeed kill one.

When they saw the creature being placed down at the North gate market, the Autumn Grass Autumn Leaf sisters opened their mouths in surprise, their faces filled with disbelief.

"Sis, is that a Crack Claw Crab?"

Autumn Grass nodded in a daze.

"Yes..."

Eyes shining with admiration, Autumn Leaf looked at the residents of the shelter and couldn’t help but exclaim,

"They’re so amazing!"

"Yes..."

On the Wasteland, Crack Claw Crabs were even more dangerous than Claws of Death. They wouldn’t move around without reason, nor would they make loud roars when unprovoked. They might be hiding in a deeper puddle or resting in a damp cave, camouflaged as algae or a moss-covered rock.

In their tribe, those who could defeat a Crack Claw Crab were, without exception, the most powerful warriors, and such warriors generally only appeared in the stories of elders.

Because they were so astonished, they even forgot to stop the younger sister from looking around.

Though it wasn’t enough to hold a triumph for a single Crack Claw Crab, the Outpost Base was still as lively as a festival.

"The crab legs are cooked, everyone hurry up and eat, crab won’t taste good overnight!"

The call for dinner rang out.

A crowd immediately gathered around.

"Wow, crab meat with truffles is amazing!" Crow, holding half a crab leg and chewing slowly, revealed a blissful expression on his face.

"Does it taste good? I find it just okay." Teng Teng bit off a piece with a puzzled frown on his face.

It was far from the goodness of mashed potatoes.

"This is okay? Right, I have to get some for Little Fish!" Crow grabbed half a crab leg and scurried off.

"To be honest, the food system in this game is really impressive! The tender crab meat is like jelly before cooking, and after it’s cooked, the tenderness of the crab meat is infused with a hint of earthiness, just like an artwork..." Fang Chang, holding half a roasted crab leg and taking a bite while sitting on a stone stool, suddenly looked up at the sky and mused.

Night Ten, covered in moth fluff, laughed and patted his shoulder, "Okay, brother, stop flattering. If I were Brother Guang, I’d dig out a mansion on the spot with my toes."

Fang Chang’s face turned red and he glared at him.

"Scram! What do you mean ’flattering’? It’s called providing feedback when a beta tester shares their game experience."

Wild Wind and Old White were discussing the eighteen different ways to eat crab legs and had no time to join the conversation of these two.

Elena, who was sitting beside a stall and wolfing down a feast, was currently stuffing his mouth full of crab meat. This was already the second crab leg he had eaten.

Suddenly, he furrowed his brow as if he had an epiphany.

"Wait, I feel a warm current flowing inside my body, could it be that this crab meat can add BUFF?!"

He quickly checked VM.

Huh.

Nope.

"No BUFF," said Gnome King Riches, who was holding crab legs in both hands and eating even more eagerly than him, with a joking smile, "You’ve got pregnancy cravings."

Elena: "I’m gonna knock on your old wood!"

Makabazi: "Hahaha!"

Later, it was proved that eating the meat of the Crack Claw Crab didn’t give any buffs, but eating too much of it really did cause diarrhea.

That warm current eventually did not persist.

The three people, having tossed away half-eaten crab legs, rushed to the restroom in a panic, nearly coming to blows at the door over the one remaining stall.

It was unclear how they resolved it in the end.

In any case, when they returned to the No.0 Shelter, all three of them had wobbly legs...

That night,

After many players had logged off, an announcement was posted on the official Wasteland OL website.

[Outpost Base has added two new NPCs: Class D explorer Yin Fang from the Academy and the Bounty Hunter Eugene who’s hunting him.]

[Hints from Xiao Qi: Yin Fang’s clinic is located on B2 floor, and if you need to install an implanted prosthesis you can find him, but you need to have...]

[Old Luka: Eugene is undergoing reformation through labor, I will make him a useful person.]

Tail: "What happened! What else happened while Tail was not around!? ∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ"

Quit smoking: "!! Is the Occupation System about to be released? Planner big boss awesome! (Voice crack)"

Teng Teng: "Just asking, is this a ’love-hate’ CP?

Night Ten: "?? When I typed these two question marks, it’s not that I’m the one with the issue, but I think you are."

Elena: "+1 (funny)"

Teng Teng: "What’s the problem here! (;｀O´)o"

Fang Chang: "With the additional surgeon, Brother Gale no longer has to worry about not being able to get his right hand reattached, ’Son of the Version’ confirmed. (sideways glance)"

Canyon Fleeing Mole: "Hey, you Europeans. T.T"

Wild Wind:

...

Inside the No.0 Shelter.

Having posted the announcement, Chu Guang wasn’t peeping at the forum but was lost in thought, staring at the text document on the screen.

About ten minutes earlier, he had learned about the Academy from Yin Fang, and there were many points that were of interest to him.

"The Academy is located in the center of Wandering Swamp. Before the Prosperity Epoch, it was a desert; after the Prosperity Epoch, it was transformed into a man-made ecological reserve. During the war of the end of the world, due to strategic weapon bombardment, the landscape there was permanently altered into swamp land, roughly 1.5 times the size of River Valley Province."

"The origin of the Academy is ominous; the majority of its technologies come from ’archaeology,’ with researchers and explorers making up its base level. Among them, Class E explorers are somewhat similar to Class E employees in corporations and Centurions in armies? Class D personnel are more like middle management, possibly on par with Centurions or Thousands of leaders of armies."

"In addition, it seems that the Academy has embarked on a path different from both the armies and corporations. There, implanted bodies and informatics technologies are quite advanced, with a focus on energy weapons and shield technology for equipment; their industrial capability seems rather weak... perhaps because their home is in the swamp?"

However, after two centuries of studying the ancients, they still haven’t finished examining everything left behind by the pre-war civilizations - how extravagant could those legacies be?

Comparing to the development trajectory on Earth before he crossed over, Chu Guang couldn’t imagine what might have occurred in the years after the Prosperity Epoch.

With a mouse in hand and after a moment of contemplation, Chu Guang selected a portion of the information he had organized, copied it, and pasted it into the back end of the official website.

He pressed the Enter key.

"Anyway, let’s first update it as part of the game background in the official website’s lore database."

Perhaps the players’ wild ideas might uncover something after all.

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