This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 320: An Unexpected Harvest!

Chapter 320: Chapter 320: An Unexpected Harvest!

Next to the warehouse.

Survivors carrying tote bags looked at each other, exchanging looks of surprise and bewilderment.

"Join the New Alliance?"

"...Are they serious?"

"The mayor’s voice didn’t sound like he had drunk too much either."

"Shh... Don’t talk nonsense about that, be careful that those armed people hear you."

No one disliked the decision.

It was just a bit unbelievable.

The New Alliance actually willing to take in these scavengers who picked through trash?

It sounded too fanciful!

They thought it over, and West State City didn’t seem to have anything that would be of interest to those people.

Here, apart from a graveyard-like expanse of concrete ruins, there was only the ever-flooding West State Lake. The lake not only turned the entire eastern bank into swampland but also backflowed into the low-lying urban areas, making it hard to find a piece of land fit for farming.

As for trade value, it was almost zero.

Ordinary merchants would never come here, and River Valley Province had only two plains strips in the north and south; in-between were either mountains or rivers. Even without the Looters, few would come here. Until last year, they lived almost completely cut off from the world.

"Do you think this might be a pipe dream the mayor is painting for us?" a thin middle-aged man whispered.

"...It’s very possible," a slightly shorter old man swallowed his saliva, "Anyway, if I were the leader of the New Alliance, I definitely wouldn’t invite a bunch of beggars into my home."

Although Wu Chengyi spoke earnestly on the broadcast, almost no survivor believed what he said.

However, unlike those survivors, the soldiers of the Guerrilla Team were well aware that their leader never joked.

Especially not about such serious matters.

"So... from now on are we soldiers of the New Alliance?"

At the entrance to the settlement, the sentry from the Guerrilla Team who had listened to the broadcast from start to finish had a peculiar look on his face.

His name was Liao Feng, and before joining the Guerrilla Team, he came from a survivor settlement called Good Weather Cooperative.

When the Chewing Bone Tribe attacked West State City, theirs was the first to fall; out of a village of thousands, less than fifty people lived to escape.

Towards those from the outside world, he instinctively distrusted them. Whether they were the Looter of the Chewing Bone Tribe or that so-called Alliance.

"...Probably?" the man with the hunting bow on his back had also listened to the broadcast and replied uncertainly.

His name was Hunting Bow, and just like Liao Feng, he was a member of the West State City resistance organization, only he did not come from Good Weather Cooperative but from another survivor settlement.

In the broadcast just minutes ago, Wu Chengyi seemed to mention something about the Guerrilla Team.

Afterward, the New Alliance would send officers to train them and provide them with new equipment.

And their status would change from a ragtag force to officially becoming the New Alliance Third Corps, taking part in the final battle against the Chewing Bone Tribe...

"Do you think joining that what’s-it-called Alliance is really a good thing?" Liao Feng looked at him and said.

Hunting Bow was silent for a while, then shook his head.

"Don’t know, but I feel... it can’t be a bad thing."

How much worse could it get, anyway?

Forget weapons and equipment, they were already so poor they couldn’t even keep up with nutritional paste.

Previously, the soldiers of the Guerrilla Team would get a share of goat-horn tubers and green oatmeal porridge, and even eat a bit of meat occasionally. Now everyone was uniformly given nutritional paste.

The state of the logistics spoke volumes.

At this time, a man wearing Hyena leather boots and a beard approached them.

Seeing their immediate superior, the two stopped talking.

"I need someone to show our allies around the area," Wang Sijie stopped at the entrance to the settlement and scanned the on-duty crowd, "Is anyone willing to volunteer, step forward."

The others looked at each other.

No one moved.

About this suddenly emerged ally, they were utterly in the dark. They neither knew the personality of those people nor understood their taboos.

Capable of fighting off those Looters in the city, those people were undoubtedly tough characters.

What if they offended them?

Nobody wanted to be that scapegoat.

When Wang Sijie saw no one stepping forward, he was about to call names.

At this moment, Hunting Bow stepped out.

"I’ll go."

Liao Feng, standing aside, sneaked a surprised glance at him; he hadn’t expected this guy to be so brave, voluntarily taking on this thankless task.

Wang Sijie nodded in satisfaction and gestured.

"Follow me."

...

A fairly clean single room.

Old White, lying on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes without any warning, and sat up with a flip from the bed.

It was six in the evening.

After checking the current time on the VM, Old White was about to meet up with his teammates when he suddenly discovered a long list of tasks on the screen.

"Mission 1: Inspect the Town of Hope, carry the VM and video equipment to complete a full map search."

"Mission 2 (side): Write a 200-word report, elaborating on the local survivors’ situation from aspects of economy, culture, politics, education, etc."

"Mission 3 (side): Look for NPCs with special talents or identities."

"Mission 4 (side): ..."

The rewards for the tasks were very generous, not just silver coins, contribution points, but also regional reputation for the new map.

Staring at the long list of missions on the VM, Old White’s face, filled with bewilderment, couldn’t help but show a hint of oddness.

Especially the second mission.

Goodness, even the map descriptions were left for players to write.

Shouldn’t this kind of work be for the planners?

That’s just too lazy!

However, the task was actually manageable; Fang Chang loved doing this kind of work, so he would probably be happy to take it on.

As for the third one...

Old White stared at the mission interface for a long time, unable to figure out any clues, and finally gave up with a shake of his head.

"Forget it... never mind."

The survivor settlement had just over five thousand residents.

In any case, triggering more dialogues might help find some clues.

After a quick check of his equipment, Old White pushed open the room door, walked through the narrow corridor, and headed to the rest area’s lobby to meet with his teammates.

The environment here was quite rudimentary, the air quality was poor, but even so, this was already the best room in the Town of Hope.

The vast majority of survivors were crammed in the basement commercial complex’s shops or even the corridors, separated by curtains or simply huddled together.

Not to mention private rooms, they didn’t even have decent beds.

Since yesterday morning, when they followed that little boy and discovered the survivors’ hideout in West State City, the Bull and Horse Squad had settled down here.

Compared to sleeping in the ruins, logging off here was undoubtedly much safer; at least they didn’t have to arrange turns for someone to log on and "guard the bodies."

Out of respect and even caution towards the strength of the New Alliance, these residents of the resistance organization treated them with a lot of respect.

Unless the Looters found this place, there was no need to worry about safety concerns while logged off here.

When Old White arrived in the rest area’s lobby, Fang Chang, Night Ten, and Wild Wind were already there for a while.

Looking around, Old White noticed not only his close brothers but also two unfamiliar NPCs standing there.

"...I am Wang Sijie, captain of the resistance organization’s guerrilla team in West State City. The person next to me is Hunting Bow, a soldier under my command. He will serve as your guide during your stay in the Town of Hope." Seeing that everyone had arrived, Wang Sijie introduced himself briefly and introduced the guerrilla soldier standing beside him to everyone.

When it came to his introduction, the man with a bow on his back immediately took over the conversation.

"Welcome, friends from the City of Dawn... You can come to me with any problems you encounter here, and I will do my best to help you solve them."

Fang Chang smiled and said.

"There’s no need for such courtesy, just show us around."

"I have another task to attend to in a bit, so I will not bother you all." After patting Hunting Bow on the shoulder, Wang Sijie left a "leave it to you" and turned away from the lobby.

Watching the guerrilla captain leave, Night Ten whispered.

"I thought they would arrange a young lady to be our guide."

Wild Wind gave him a sidelong glance.

"Let’s analyze rationally, at this level of living standard in the survivor settlement, even if they assigned you a young lady, the chances of her meeting your aesthetic standards are—"

Night Ten immediately covered his mouth.

"Okay, I don’t want to hear your nonsense."

Wild Wind: "..."

Hunting Bow looked at the whispering pair with a puzzled face, not understanding what they were saying.

Fortunately, his superior had previously briefed him on language issues, so his reaction was rather calm, and he said in a serious tone.

"I will take you around the area... please follow me."

He was about to lead the way when the man who also had a bow on his back stopped him.

"Wait a second," Fang Chang took out a pack of wheat biscuits from his pocket and handed them to him, "this is your payment."

The pack of wheat biscuits weighed about half a pound.

Hunting Bow was initially startled when he received the paper package, but soon he realized what it was, and his face immediately burst into a joyful expression.

"We don’t need payment..." Though he said that, he made no move to give the item back.

Fang Chang looked at him, smiled, and said.

"Don’t be so formal, we don’t expect people to work for us for nothing."

In the City of Dawn, one silver coin could buy two such wheat biscuits, let alone the fact that air-dropped supplies don’t cost money.

A little kindness as payment could secure the loyalty of a guide and plant the idea in the locals’ minds that "working for the people of the New Alliance comes with benefits."

Such a deal was incredibly worthwhile!

Gratefully stashing the paper package away, Hunting Bow carefully placed it in his inner pocket, planning to bring it home after work to share with his family.

He took a deep breath and looked at Fang Chang.

"Thank you for your generosity!"

Fang Chang nodded.

"Take us around, please. Our Manager wants to understand the situation here."

Hunting Bow immediately said.

"No problem, please follow me!"

Thanks to that piece of barley bread, the guide named Hunting Bow seemed much warmer.

After learning that Fang Chang and his group wanted to understand the real living conditions of the residents of Town Of Hope, he immediately led them through several corridors to the residential area on Level B1 of the commercial complex.

As soon as they stepped into this area, Old White was struck by a foul smell.

The narrow corridors and stairs were almost completely blocked with haphazardly piled trash, and in less than five hundred square meters of space, there were six or seven hundred people lying haphazardly. Centipede-like, twisted ventilation pipes crawled along the ceiling of the corridor, but cockroaches and rats had already nested in them.

And this was just one corner of this "small town."

The sanitary condition was very bad, although the problems here weren’t limited to sanitation alone. Due to a lack of nutrition, fuel, and warm equipment, people fainted from hunger every day, even starved to death.

As for those bodies...

Most likely, they would be dragged to the nutrient paste synthesis device and turned into green pasty substances along with other plant fibers and animal, insect carcasses.

Faces gaunt and pale were hidden in the dark, people curled up on heaps of trash that were cruder than shanties, like sewer rats.

They carefully observed these strangers who stood out amidst their surroundings with curious eyes, whispering about their identities.

"They... are from the New Alliance?"

"Could it be that the town mayor wasn’t joking?"

"Thank God... we’re finally saved."

Voices spread like waves.

As the local residents were sizing up the group behind Hunting Bow, the Ox-Horse Squad was doing the same to them.

Walking behind Wild Wind, Night Ten involuntarily held his breath.

It wasn’t just because of the suffocating smell, but also because of the shockingly horrific scenes before him.

This place was simply hell...

Last time he saw such a disaster was in the dungeons of Qingstone County.

"...Those damn Bandits," Night Ten couldn’t help but curse softly under his breath, "Go to hell."

Fang Chang and Wild Wind didn’t speak, one treating this place as a Game, the other ordinarily taciturn; Old White, walking at the front, seemed heavy-hearted as if he were pondering some worries.

Noticing the expressions on everyone’s faces, Hunting Bow explained.

"This is where ordinary residents live. We’re short on supplies, and it’s already a struggle to maintain the status quo... My superior didn’t want me to bring you here; he told me to avoid this area on Level B1 as much as possible and to show you the best side of us. But if you want to see the most real conditions, there’s nothing more real than here."

Fang Chang looked at him and asked.

"Leading us here won’t cause you any trouble, will it?"

Hunting Bow smiled apologetically and said.

"How could it? Please don’t worry about me. My superior said to follow your orders, and if he asks about this, I’ll say that you insisted on coming."

Old White glanced around and said in broken Human Alliance language.

"You’ve concentrated so many people here; won’t the Looters find this place?"

Hunting Bow continued.

"That’s not a concern. The surface entrance has collapsed completely, and we’ve sealed the direct entrance from the subway station. The only way to get in here from the outside is through a hidden door in the subway tunnel."

At that moment, Old White suddenly had a thought and whispered a few words about the VM mission to Fang Chang.

Fang Chang paused for a moment, then looked at Hunting Bow and asked.

"Speaking of which, do you have people here who have special talents?"

"Special talents?" Hunting Bow was taken aback, "What kind of talents are you referring to?"

Fang Chang tried to clarify, "In terms of skills, whether it’s blacksmithing or craftsmanship, just someone skilled!"

Hunting Bow paused and then replied.

"Just skilled... that seems like a very low threshold. Most survivors from Lagrange Building are artisans; many people who lived near the TV station could sing or forge. There are quite a few survivors from the Fourth New District settlement who are good at fishing, stealing Split Claw Crab Eggs..."

Fang Chang silently noted this information and then inquired further.

"What about the others? Like the residents of the refuges?"

"The residents of the refuges? There is a refuge in West State City, but right after Ya Clan arrived here, they locked the door..."

Fang Chang’s heart leaped with joy and he immediately asked.

"What’s the number of that refuge? Do you know its exact location?"

"I believe it’s 101? I’m not sure of the exact location, but I do remember the camp they built on the surface; it’s on..."

Hunting Bow scratched the back of his head as he relayed the address to Fang Chang.

However, just at that moment, a disheveled man suddenly scurried forward, tumbling and crawling to the feet of the group.

Everyone was momentarily startled, not yet understanding what had happened when the man looked up at them with eyes filled with pleading and said.

"You are from the New Alliance, aren’t you? Please, help me!"

"What are you doing?! Get your hands off—"

Hunting Bow was just about to shoo him away but was stopped by Old White.

Reaching out, Old White lifted the disheveled man up from the ground and looked at him, asking.

"Get up and tell me your name."

"My name is... Wang Zhong." The man said incoherently.

"Alright, Wang Zhong, what kind of trouble have you encountered?"

The man, who had just regained his breath, immediately became agitated again.

"My wife has contracted a serious illness, and she won’t last long without antibiotics... please, can you spare me some medicine and food?"

Seeing the man’s pitiful state, Old White couldn’t bear to help. Standing by his side, Fang Chang immediately guessed what he was about to do and stopped his hand reaching for the backpack.

"Everyone here needs medicine and food, if you help him, soon there will be a second, and a third person."

Old White looked at Fang Chang.

"So we just leave him be?"

Fang Chang said calmly,

"Of course not, we will report the situation here truthfully to the Manager, and it’ll be up to him to decide how to assist the local survivors."

Pausing for a moment, he continued to Old White,

"There are over five thousand people here, with just the supplies we have on us, we simply can’t help them all."

Old White fell into silence.

Reason told him that Fang Chang was right, but emotionally, it was hard for him to accept.

If there’s someone to blame, it’s that this Game is made too realistically.

At that moment, the man named Wang Zhong suddenly spoke up.

"I won’t just take your stuff for nothing... I just heard in the broadcast that you’re planning to build a Survivor Settlement here, right?"

Old White was still looking at the VM for the translation.

Understanding what had been said, Fang Chang immediately looked at the man.

"Yes, do you have any good suggestions?"

Seeing a chance, Wang Zhong swallowed and continued, "No, but I know... beneath West State City there’s a spare controllable fusion reactor."

The moment these words were spoken, Fang Chang’s expression became very serious, and he stared into the man’s eyes asking,

"Are you serious?"

Wang Zhong nodded vigorously, swearing an oath.

"I swear on my life! Those Blue Jackets... that is, the residents of Shelter 101, they said it themselves. The reactor was a civil defense facility built during the Human Alliance Era, specifically for the underground transit network, and it’s said the output power can reach GM Level. They were trying to repair the reactor and have already succeeded in fixing half of it!"

Struggling to understand him with the aid of the translation tool, Fang Chang quickly asked,

"How do you know this?"

Wang Zhong promptly replied,

"Because I am a resident of Camp 101! They hired some locals to pick up trash, construct buildings, move stuff, take care of their living needs... basically, do the work they didn’t want to. I work in the kitchen, they talked about this during meals, they even joked that once they fixed the reactor, all the survivors in West State City wouldn’t have to worry about electricity anymore."

If this reactor really exists, then this wasn’t a joke.

A GM Level power output, compared horizontally to reality, just the output of this single reactor could outdo the total power output of many small countries’ electric grids!

Meeting the electricity needs of tens of thousands of survivors is more than sufficient.

Fang Chang looked excitedly toward the Hunting Bow standing beside him.

Although the Hunting Bow appeared confused about what Wang Zhong had shared, after hesitating for a moment, he nodded.

"He’s telling the truth... Camp 101 really did hire some Waste Land Wanderers who live nearby, letting them reside in their camp. But that reactor thing, I’m not sure about..."

Controllable fusion reactor!

Everyone exchanged glances, and excitement appeared on their faces in unison.

The New Alliance, though currently possessing sophisticated energy storage methods like solid hydrogen, still relied on backward means of producing power, almost primitive.

If they could take control of this controllable fusion reactor, the impact on the industrial capability of the New Alliance would undoubtedly be enormous!

Suppressing the excitement in his voice, Fang Chang looked at the man and asked,

"Do you know where that reactor is located?"

Wang Zhong nodded nervously.

"I can take you there... but you have to cure my wife. And... I need food, enough to keep my family alive."

Fang Chang smiled and said,

"Don’t worry about that! Tonight, a batch of supplies will arrive here; whether it’s food or medicine, your reasonable requests will be satisfied!"

Leaving that statement, Fang Chang, in front of Wang Zhong, turned to the Hunting Bow and said,

"The information he has is critical; I need you to ensure the safety of him and his family."

Town of Hope had already joined the New Alliance.

If these members of the Resistance organization are not foolish, they will certainly take my words seriously.

Sure enough, after those words were spoken, the Hunting Bow’s expression became serious, and he said earnestly,

"No problem, leave it to me!"

Fang Chang nodded, then continued,

"Additionally, please help us spread the word in the town, if anyone has similar information, no matter how big or small, please be sure to tell us!"

"Once the value of the information is confirmed, the Alliance will reward handsomely!"

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