This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 289 "Awakening Serum"!

Chapter 289: Chapter 289 "Awakening Serum"!

The red brick building next to the Outpost Security Team quarters.

Previously, when the Tide burst, to address the plague brought on by decomposing corpses, this place served as a temporary relief station that sheltered nearby residents showing fever symptoms.

After the Tide subsided and the problems with plagues and spore clouds were resolved, it naturally transitioned into a clinic serving local residents.

Most of the medical staff currently working here were temporaries trained by Heya, mainly recruited from literate refugees. On one hand, they assisted Heya with some necessary experiments targeting the Waste Land Wanderers; on the other, they also handled medical rescue.

If assessed by United Human standards, these medical staff members were clearly not professional, some couldn’t even be called quacks, having gotten their positions by watching one or two online classes.

Nevertheless, knowing how to bandage wounds and stop bleeding, they were still much better than those tribal witch doctors who treated illnesses with folk remedies.

People of the Wasteland usually had very low demands for doctors.

Not to mention curing them, as long as one could ensure they didn’t die, that was sufficient.

The spacious room housed over fifty wooden single beds, now filled with occupants.

Many of these individuals were core members of the security team, veterans of more than two battles, and some had been following Chu Guang through several versions.

They were lying here, not due to injuries or illness, but because they voluntarily participated in the experiments conducted by the Medical Laboratory of Shelter No. 404, receiving injections of the induced expression serum.

White-coated nurses moved around, inquiring about each person’s clinical response, recording vital information and characteristics on a VM.

"Clinical studies show that there’s a significant likelihood of awakening between the ages of 15 and 30, after which the probability gradually decreases... these induced differentiation serums have resolved many of my questions," Heya, standing beside Chu Guang as usual, passed a tablet into Chu Guang’s hands, excitedly sharing her discoveries.

Chu Guang, as usual, couldn’t understand her thesis or those colorful charts, but he still politely browsed the content on the tablet and got straight to the point.

"I’m not interested in those too specialized matters; you can just tell me the conclusion, like what exactly this probability is."

Heya responded, "For the first injection, the probability is 27%, for the second 15%, for the third 9%, and for the fourth, 3%... Of course, these are just theoretical values and differ from statistical probabilities. Currently, the experimental sample size is too small, and the selective expression of genes too uncertain, to provide absolutely accurate data."

An awakening not achieved by the first injection could still attempt a second?

Chu Guang’s face showed a slightly surprised expression.

"What about the side effects?"

Heya replied, "After the injection, there will be a continuous fever for 2-3 days, accompanied by muscle weakness, drowsiness, and other symptoms, but it’s generally safe. As for other side effects... Besides lowered fertility, so far, no others have been found, but we can’t rule out more appearing later, so I don’t recommend widespread promotion across society. After all, during the Prosperity Epoch, this stuff was never heard of, most likely it was an unfinished product about which researchers themselves were undecided."

Chu Guang coughed lightly.

"You don’t need to tell me that."

The production rate of the induced expression serum was very low, around twenty vials a day, and currently, it seems only producible using a Black Box.

Given the Black Box’s use of non-renewable cold fusion cells, the hidden costs of each injection are likely much higher than they appear.

Whether from the perspectives of production output, cost, or deeper societal implications, this serum was not suited for mass dissemination.

"By the way, how did the residents of the refuge react after the injection?"

Chu Guang remembered that the very first testers of the reagents were lucky players who had won special prizes at a celebration event; it included twenty individuals, both unawakened and awakened.

After all, players could be revived, and even if something went wrong, one could simply say "sorry, there was a server bug" and probably add some compensation later.

Even offering compensation was already more accountable than most in the industry!

Heya: "According to clinical observations, this serum had very limited effects on the first batch of testers, so limited that it can essentially be ignored."

"My personal hypothesis is that this may relate to the special characteristics inherent in your refuge’s residents’ DNA. Your DNA already expresses at a high level, with a stable and systematic evolutionary path... That’s the most intriguing part to me."

Listening to Heya’s explanations, Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully.

He tried to understand.

The role of this induced expression serum was somewhat like a catalyst that facilitated faster awakening in those with the potential, but it was nearly ineffective in those already awakened.

The clones produced by Shelter No. 404 were quite special because they used genes that had been specifically enhanced, making them poorly compatible with the serum.

Simply put, this serum was mainly to boost the physical functions of the indigenous people, but this enhancement was quite random.

Some felt their strength increase, others only felt quicker reflexes, or both, but neither to a strong degree.

"Understood."

Chu Guang handed the tablet back to Heya and walked inside the ward to the bed closest to the door.

There lay a not-so-old teenager looking straight up at the ceiling as if in a daze.

Chu Guang recognized this individual, a fourteen-year-old boy rescued from the dungeons of the Blood Hand Clan, who had been following him ever since, and was also the youngest member of the security team.

If this were a civilized society from before he traveled through time, this young fellow, barely into puberty, would not even be old enough for high school.

But in the Waste World, where human life was as cheap as weeds, many of his age were already fathers.

"How do you feel?"

Hearing the voice next to him, the boy twisted his neck and the moment he saw Chu Guang’s face, his befuddled expression instantly cleared.

"Manager Sir?! Why are you here?"

Hearing this, others in the ward also turned their heads in surprise.

Lu Bei, overwhelmed with joy, hurriedly tried to get out of bed but was stopped by Chu Guang.

"There’s no need for formality, just tell me how you feel."

After finishing his statement, Chu Guang glanced at the other people in the hospital room, indicating that they need not concern themselves with him, then he continued to focus on Lu Bei.

Seeing the Manager who had come to visit him, Lu Bei had a flushed, invigorated expression and said,

"Sir, I feel incredibly good right now!"

Chu Guang nodded, looking at him resting in his bed and said seriously,

"Thank you for your contributions to the New Alliance. If you experience any physical discomfort in the future, the Alliance will take care of you for the rest of your life."

Lu Bei nodded slightly while sitting on the bed.

"Please do not say such things, Sir. It’s an honor to relieve your burdens! Moreover, I feel much stronger than before! If I face a Looter again... I definitely will not be as disheveled as I once was."

The new year’s eve assault had caused heavy losses to the security team, and during that battle, he had also lost an old friend who had taken great care of him.

Chu Guang placed his hand on his shoulder, gently patted it, and consoled him,

"You have already done very well; there is no need to blame yourselves excessively. Moreover, even if you have acquired stronger capabilities, remember never to let your guard down, and never use them for evil deeds."

After a pause, Chu Guang continued,

"I plan to establish a special force, independent of the security team, named the Guards Corps. This squad will consist of Awakeners. Would you like to join?"

Lu Bei straightened his back, clenched his right hand into a fist resting on his left chest, and said fervently,

"I am willing! My life was saved by you, Sir. Even if you asked me to die, I would not hesitate!"

Chu Guang looked at him and nodded gently, saying in a warm voice,

"I will remember your loyalty."

"Now, rest well."

The first batch of serum was entirely injected, with fifty participants in the experiment, only sixteen became Awakeners.

The remaining thirty-four who had not awakened had three more injection opportunities, left to decide for themselves whether to continue with the experiment.

However, none chose to give up.

This opportunity to become stronger was so desirable that if it weren’t for dosage limits, they would have wanted to take all four injections at once.

Including four experienced veterans selected from the guards who had already awakened, Chu Guang planned to form this twenty-member group into an independent army corps.

In fact, assembling a corps entirely of Awakeners was not an idea Chu Guang had come up with on the spur of the moment but was something he had been considering since before the beta version was unlocked.

Awakened individuals were rare but not uncommon in the Wastelands. Before acquiring the serum, there were a dozen naturally Awakened among the guards.

However, these naturally Awakened individuals and players who accumulated progress to awaken were different, as their abilities tended to vary widely, and their quality was relatively average, rarely showing the kind of specialization in attribute growth seen in players.

But one thing for sure is that Awakeners possess naturally superior combat strength and battlefield survival capabilities compared to ordinary people.

Equivalent to super soldiers!

Chu Guang planned to select the most loyal warriors from among the guards, inject them with the serum, equip them with 10 sets of "Heavy Cavalry" exoskeletons, 100 sets of Light Cavalry exoskeletons, and corresponding mini-drones—amounting to about half the equipment on Floor B4 to form a "Guards Corps" comprised of Waste Land Wanderers who are Awakeners!

As for the other half of B4’s equipment, Chu Guang decided to place it in the NPC stores for Boss Xia to sell to the players who reached the level requirement.

He intended to keep the scale of this Guards Corps around 100-120 people, equivalent to a company’s strength.

As a standing force of the New Alliance, they would carry out responsibilities different from those of players on the battlefield, handling tasks that players were either unable to participate in or not interested.

For this corps, Chu Guang only had one requirement.

That was loyalty!

Apart from the Guards Corps, Chu Guang also planned to establish the First and Second Corps of the New Alliance.

Currently, the captaincy of the First Corps was held by Wrench, and the Second Corps were led by Liuding, where the junior officers were mostly veterans from the security team who had participated in more than two battles and had received guidance and training from Vanus.

Not just NPCs, but players could also join.

After all, not all players enjoy the social content of MMORPGs. Many individual players prefer to undertake missions and interact with NPCs, experiencing immersive role-playing, while the existence of other foolish players may disrupt their game immersion.

You ask them to lead a team, and they find it bothersome.

There were many such players on the server. Several players had trained their combat and shooting skills proficiency to level 5, but their command skills proficiency remained at 0.

Why?

Because for players who dislike leading, being in charge is a real nuisance.

Just remembering every ID in the team is hard enough, let alone maintaining good relations with each person and ensuring everyone does their job.

In addition to carrying out the regular duties and responsibilities, the First and Second Corps also had the duty of integrating individual players and newcomers.

As Chu Guang personally visited the hospital to comfort those who had been injected with the "Awakening Serum," twenty fully armed players had already arrived in the East District of Qingquan City.

They split into two groups of ten, all Awakeners.

A military operation jointly planned by the Burning Corps and the Jungle Corps was quietly unfolding...

In a darkened room, the broken floor was covered with moss, two beast skin coats hung in a half-open iron cabinet, and a yellowed booklet lay discarded in the corner—bearing the title "Guide for Visitors to the Third Ecological Preserve of Qingquan City."

This place was the security room of Qingquan City’s Third Ecological Preserve, but it had long been without visitors or security personnel, just a group of Looters nesting there.

On the table, a radio was playing classical music from the pre-war era broadcast by "Voice of Giant Stone City."

Legs propped up, sitting behind the table, Tus lazily lit a cigarette and gazed at the thinning mist, squinting slightly.

He could barely remember the last time he experienced such relaxed and pleasant days—perhaps it had been ten years, or maybe even more.

He used to keep a diary, but he couldn’t even remember those two characters anymore; after a few tries, he gave up.

At that moment, footsteps echoed from outside the door.

Tus skillfully pulled open the drawer that housed his revolver, only slightly relaxing his eyebrows when he saw it was his trusted aide at the door.

However, he didn’t push the drawer back in.

"Boss, the goods for the next trade are ready," said the man in the beast skin jacket, bowing slightly. His muscular, sinewy body appeared strong, but his facial features seemed less than intelligent.

Hearing that the goods were ready, Tus’s eyes widened a bit from their squint, and he lowered his legs from the table.

"Take me to see them."

The burly man nodded respectfully.

"Yes, boss."

The two walked one after the other through the corridor and down to the ground floor.

There was a circular corridor here, with a central area as big as a playground. Fiberglass walls connected the floor to the ceiling, completely isolating the space inside from the outside.

Before the war, this place hosted children’s favorite exotic animals, but now it served as a prison for slaves held by the looters here.

Tables were set up in the open space. Emaciated, almost naked slaves sat at the tables, their most valuable equipment likely being the two latex gloves they wore.

With hands like straw sticks, they picked up lumps of red fungus from wooden boxes beside them, placed them in petri dishes, and carefully isolated the active ingredients, terrified of making a mistake.

Armed looters holding iron pipe rifles stood guard next to them, watching vigilantly.

It’s worth mentioning that these red lumps of fungus were not the "Mutated slime fungus"; there was entirely no relation between them.

The thick red mycelial strands, entangled like noodles and resembling brains at a glance, earned them the names brain fungus or cerebral fungus among the wasteland wanderers.

These fungus types usually grew under trees with higher iron content and were challenging to cultivate artificially because harvesting them triggered the release of potent hallucinogenic red spores, making drugs like "Power Pills" and "Vigorous Spirit," which contained stimulant properties, quite expensive.

Interestingly, these red spores had a mild effect on ironback apes, so these apes occasionally ate them as if they were fruits.

Thanks to the "Blue Jackets" previously stationed here and their so-called "Mind Interference Field," Tus had made a tidy profit by exploiting those apes.

These apes were more useful than the slaves. They not only helped collect materials for drug manufacturing but also helped scavenge around, although the simplest weapons they could handle were bows, spears, and Molotov cocktails.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t bother keeping those slaves in the cages. Having the apes make the drugs would save him two barrels of nutrient paste daily.

Tus’s men carried out box after box of small white medicine bottles from the "cage," leaving behind two barrels filled with a green viscous liquid. They knocked on the barrels with the butt of their guns.

That clanging sound was like a signal.

Hearing it, the slaves rushed towards the barrels like starving mad dogs, grabbing the unidentified nutrient paste with their hands and stuffing it into their mouths.

The two looters guarding the entrance watched scornfully as the slaves fought over the paste like pigs, then closed the "cage’s" large door.

As the leader, or rather, the boss of these looters, Tus had no interest in the slaves; his focus was entirely on the ten boxes before him.

Ten boxes of "Power Pills," totaling fifty kilograms of goods.

Not only mercenaries liked to take shortcuts with these, but the nobles of the inner city of Giant Stone City also consumed them in significant amounts. After all, their effects were immediate, making one stronger in battle and just as effective outside of combat.

The only side effect was bloodshot eyes, which wasn’t a big deal as long as one didn’t consume an entire bottle at once.

"...The Dagger Gang from Giant Stone City has shown great interest in our goods. They’ve offered to pay us three thousand chips," said the man with one prosthetic eye in his left socket, bowing respectfully to Tus.

His name was Kun Ke, a fan of Power Pills, but after blowing out an eyeball, he had quit using them.

Hearing the Dagger Gang’soverture, Tus cursed in fury.

"These vampiritic extortionists are getting too brazen! As if I don’t know a 1.2g pill sells for 10 chips!"

"Tell them the bottom line is one hundred chips per kilogram, five thousand chips, not a chip less! If they’re not interested, we’ll find someone else. Also, besides women, food, sugar, soap, and nutrient paste, tell them to bring more guns next time; don’t even think about fooling me with those iron pipe guns."

Suddenly, a new alliance had formed up north.

Tus wasn’t too concerned initially—Qingquan City was expansive, and just the straight-line distance from the east bank of Rhombus Lake was over twenty kilometers, a route possibly more challenging than mountain trails.

His hideout was nestled deep in the "forests," and most wasteland wanderers, upon seeing the dense vegetation, would naturally detour rather than venture in.

That was why he hadn’t worried when the Chewing Bone Tribe attacked; he could simply join them if needed.

However, recent rumors that Brown Farm had been annexed, with a group advocating the abolition of slavery and the expulsion of looters, gave Tus a vague sense of unease.

Abolishing slavery?

Expelling looters?

Were these people full?

And how could they identify who the looters were?

Especially since five uninvited guests had arrived yesterday, outfitted in exoskeletons, which made Tus particularly wary.

These people might well be from the North Suburb!

Considering the possibility of a future confrontation with those deranged Blue Jackets, he felt he couldn’t just keep indulging his men in pleasures; he had to think about stockpiling more weapons for self-defense.

If conditions allowed, he even considered arming those monkeys with guns.

Kun Ke nodded solemnly.

"Alright, boss,"

Watching Kun Ke head toward the door, Tus’s brow slightly relaxed as he casually picked a bottle of Power Pills from the box and stuffed it into his pocket, preparing to head back to his bedroom for a rest.

However, just then, a sudden explosion roared from outside, shaking the walls and the floor.

The slaves crowded in front of the barrel looked up, their faces fraught with panic, and the Looters guarding the cage doors also showed tense expressions, gripping their rifles tightly.

Stabilizing himself by the hallway railing, Tus angrily glanced around and seized his confidant, bellowing,

"What happened?"

His confidant was completely baffled,

partly by the explosion and partly by the boss’s roaring.

"I... I’ll go outside and check."

"Go now!"

Tus kicked him in the butt and cursed as he made his way upstairs.

The explosion seemed to initiate a symphony of destruction.

One after another, explosions erupted around the ecological preserve, the trembling from the floor climbing from his shoe soles to his liver.

Even as slow as he was, Tus knew what was happening outside.

Back in the security room he used as an office, he grabbed the walkie-talkie from the table, pressed the button, and shouted loudly,

"Enemy attack!"

"I don’t care where you are or what you’re doing, grab your gear, get out of your rooms immediately, and prepare to fight!"

"We must not let them take our treasures!"

"Absolutely not!"

The corridors of the ecological preserve were filled with the shrill sound of the broadcast.

The confidant sent to gather intelligence had just pushed open the rooftop door when a shell whizzed by and fell a hundred meters away in the forest.

Boom—!

Flames flickered, lifting a cloud of dense smoke and debris.

Terrified by the blast, the Looter ducked and scurried forward, hugging the curved railing until he reached the wooden and steel tower.

The entire dome-shaped preserve was covered with vegetation, making the camouflaged tower as inconspicuous as a branch in a forest.

The Looter stormed up, about to berate the sentry, only to find a corpse with a gaping head wound lying behind the camouflaged vines.

Chilled to the bone, cold sweat dripped instantly from his forehead.

As he turned to flee, his chest felt like it had hit a truck, and he was slammed to the ground by the sheer force.

"Two of them... Damn! Brother Fang Chang really guessed right," Night Ten, lying on the half-collapsed roof, operated his rifle’s bolt and ejected the smoking cartridge.

"Hmm... It’s not entirely a guess," holding a telescope, Fang Chang carefully observed the buildings ahead and analyzed, "If it were just spears and iron bars, it would be one thing, but those monkeys have Molotov Cocktails too. The bottles can be scavenged, but surely the fuel wasn’t made by the monkeys themselves."

Old White nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and although those monkeys were only active in the forest, they suddenly attacked as we approached the ecological preserve, which felt very deliberate."

Wild Wind didn’t speak; he was controlling a drone, helping the players behind him adjust their targeting coordinates.

Due to the dense vegetation below, they couldn’t pinpoint the exact position of the Ironback Apes and opted for a barrage tactic.

After sixteen rounds of simultaneous firing,

a total of thirty-two 88mm mortar shells were depleted.

The players responsible for the artillery hid the mortar in a nearby building and switched gear, preparing to advance to the front line.

Meanwhile, the sound of propellers thundered through the sky as a wooden airplane soared into the players’ view.

"Mosquito! Damn, Mosquito finally arrived."

Quit Smoking waved excitedly at the sky.

Seeing his teammates, Mosquito grinned, gave a thumbs up, then pulled down his homemade goggles and gripped the joystick to raise the nose of the plane, preparing for a strafing run.

Midnight Chicken Killing, not much for words, brandished a shiny hatchet and a gun with a barrel thicker than a fist, calling his brothers to ready themselves for battle.

The Jungle Corps was equipped with the inexpensive but effective KV-1 Exoskeletons; except for their leader, Midnight Chicken Killing, nearly everyone carried an LD-47 light machine gun, each looking like Rambo.

The Burning Corps mixed various types of soldiers, including heavy infantry serving as mobile shields and ammunition carriers, as well as high-mobility light infantry, and even some non-human players.

Players like Fang Chang and Wild Wind, skilled in utilizing specialized equipment, brought "anti-personnel" Pu-9 Submachine Guns this time, ready for clearing buildings.

Trash King excitedly thrashed his tail against the ground, with steel claws tied to his arms sparking in the cold air.

His amber pupils dilated, and from his opened jaws, a bloodthirsty roar erupted.

"Time for slaughter has come!"