This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 347: The Technology that Changed the World!

Chapter 347: Chapter 347: The Technology that Changed the World!

"The smell of phenolic compounds...it’s a bit like kerosene but not exactly," Mosquito stated uncertainly after sniffing it for a while.

Standing to the side, Soul Chaser suddenly spoke up,

"Could it be Hydrazine 50?"

"There’s no ammonia smell, so it shouldn’t be."

Mosquito shook his head and quickly screwed the cap back on.

Phenolic compounds are easily oxidized in an air environment.

He couldn’t determine the component for now and could only roughly deduce by the viscosity and smell of the liquid that it might be something similar to kerosene.

But then again, this little bottle was a bit heavy—

Wait.

Oil?!

Holding the glass bottle, Mosquito suddenly froze, standing in place with a blank expression, as if his brain had crashed.

"Did you glitch?"

Seeing Mosquito’s dumbfounded face, Discourage waved his hand in front of him, only to find that he seemed to have disconnected, showing no response at all.

"Could there be a bug with this prop?"

Kill God muttered curiously and reached to take the glass bottle.

However, before his hand touched the bottle, Mosquito jerked as if electrified and snapped back to his senses, rushing into a nearby factory without another word.

Although he was from the Agile system, Mosquito had never been seen running so fast.

Watching Brother Mosquito’s sudden actions, everyone was dumbfounded.

"What’s with him?"

"Possessed?"

"Can’t be."

Soul Chaser, who had a bit of a professional and chemical relation, vaguely sensed something and his expression turned intriguing.

"Fuel..."

"Fuel?" Discourage frowned.

"Mm," Soul Chaser nodded lightly and continued, "And likely the kind we’ve been looking for."

...

In the fields north of the City of Dawn.

Sitting beneath a mill, Pai gazed at the tender green fields in the distance, holding a bowl of shaved ice and enjoying the breeze, comfortably squinting his eyes.

People were leading double-headed cows, walking on rural trails, or carrying farming tools working in the fields. Under the shade of trees, children ran around and played, and in the distance was the rumbling of tractors.

This was a scene he had never witnessed in West State City.

Hard to imagine, the war had only just ended a few days ago...

Sitting on the adjacent steps, Little Fish also relaxed, swinging her legs and happily scooping the shaved ice on her knees.

Perhaps because she ate too quickly out of greed, she couldn’t help but close her eyes tightly, letting out a "woo woo" sound.

"Damn...my health bar is empty," said WhiteBear sitting not far away, with an expression that would easily confuse bears.

"Ahaha..." Cat Girl, wearing a relaxed smile, gently stroked White Bear’s fur.

Today was another peaceful day.

But speaking of which, the war had only ended less than a week ago.

If it weren’t for being in the game, it’d be impossible for everyone to have a relaxed vacation like now.

Sitting nearby, Tail, touching her chin, looked quite clever as she wrinkled her nose.

Suddenly, she spoke,

"This doesn’t make scientific sense."

"Hmm?" Si Si glanced at her.

Tail quickly turned her head towards Si Si, her eyes sparkling,

"Don’t you think? Ah Wei’s Little Fish is getting cuter and cuter!"

"You... your words are becoming more and more hazardous, meow."

Silently shifting her gaze away from her friend, Si Si looked at the distant Little Fish, suddenly understanding why Tail had made such a comment.

She remembered when she first met Little Fish, that kind and well-mannered little girl, her hair had a noticeable hint of dry yellow.

As a medical student, she knew well; it was a sign of zinc deficiency.

Now, that head of hair had become enviably black and shiny.

"...probably due to improved nutritional status, given that she’s still growing," Si Si said thoughtfully.

In the game setting during the Prosperity Epoch, the citizens of the United Human had adopted gene modification technology and applied it extensively to medical beauty and other fields.

As long as the nutrition was sufficient, normally, people’s appearances were all above standard, especially the residents of the shelters.

So much so that she’d become somewhat numb to seeing handsome men and beautiful women in reality.

"Oh! So, does that mean she will grow up?" Tail asked excitedly.

Si Si paused slightly and nodded.

"She should...probably."

NPCs would grow over time.

If this logic holds true, does that mean one could eventually see Little Fish grow into a mature lady by playing long enough?

Ah, this...

It’s way too realistic.

"That, that means Tail too?!"

"Uh, if she keeps from dying?" Looking at Tail’s expectant face, Si Si nodded again, but her tone carried a hint of uncertainty.

Upon hearing this, Tail deflated like a burst balloon.

Looking at the slowly turning windmill above her head, she sighed deeply.

"Damn! This is too hard."

Si Si: "..."

In the fields, a chorus of frogs and cicadas filled the air.

The air in the June valley was already carrying a hint of heat.

Thanks to a new invention, the factories of the New Alliance had created a differential refrigeration machine for artificial rainfall, and later the chemical plants produced the refrigerant "Difluoromethane."

Thanks to this invention,

Industrial areas of the New Alliance were now able to independently produce fridges.

Although it would be some time before these appliances entered every household, clever players had already brought numerous cold delicacies into the game.

Like shaved ice topped with fruit syrup, milk-flavored popsicles, and ice-lollies... A myriad of cold delicacies emerged on the streets north of the City of Dawn, dazzling the traveling merchants and wanderers coming to this area.

It wasn’t that these things weren’t available elsewhere,

but rarely were they as "complete" as here.

What amazed them most was that these were delicacies even ordinary people could enjoy!

This was the most incredible part...

"...Brother Chu said that in two months, this place will be even more spectacular," Little Fish said happily, taking another bite, her headache from the cold beginning to subside.

By then, the plains north of Rhombus Lake would turn into a vast sea of golden waves.

Listening to Little Fish, a look of longing appeared in Pai’s aqua blue eyes, though it quickly turned to melancholy.

"Two months, huh... That’s quite a long wait."

Even though it had only been two days, she had already fallen in love with this place.

Here, there was an endless variety of food, endless landscapes to see, endless stories to hear, endless books to read, and interesting people of all sorts.

Of course, the folks at Camp 101 were also good people, but everyone was engrossed in their own interesting things.

No one had ever, like today, spent a leisurely afternoon with her.

Friendship.

This word, which she had only seen in books, turned out to be so beautiful.

Yet, the thought of her imminent return made Pai feel the troubles of a holiday coming to an end.

Seeing the somewhat melancholic Pai, Little Fish cocked her head.

"The two months will fly by."

"Um... That’s true."

Staring at the shaved ice in her hands, Pai fell silent for a moment before suddenly speaking up.

"Little Fish."

Little Fish blinked.

"Hmm?"

Pai, resolute, spoke up.

"Do you want to... go to school?"

"School?" Little Fish tilted her head, "You mean night school? Brother Chu said they can’t teach me much there anymore."

Night school mainly taught arithmetic and United Human language, aiming to eradicate illiteracy; they didn’t teach complicated subjects. Under Brother Chu’s guidance, she had self-learned algebra, geometry, and statistics.

According to Brother Chu, she was now qualified to go to school and teach the children.

Pai shook her head, looking at her seriously.

"Not that kind of school, but one where you learn more advanced knowledge."

She had visited the night schools of the New Alliance; the curriculum there matched, at most, three class periods of Camp 101’s school.

Here, not only was the industry lagging, but education standards were also a major concern.

Looking at the earnest Pai, confusion appeared on Little Fish’s face.

"More advanced knowledge is..."

"The kind that makes the windmills above our heads spin faster, makes the cars in the fields go further, allows people not to sit in cars but on the sofas in their living rooms, enjoying cool air while tilling millions of acres of good fields, and then spending an entire day with family..."

Pai described the things she had seen in VR images.

From the farmlands to the factories, then to the squares and parks, theaters and schools of people.

Although she had never truly seen that era, neither had the folks at Camp 101, but her master had told her that as long as they passed on the information about that era, people would one day recall their past pride and reclaim what they had lost.

Little Fish, sitting beside her, listened intently.

Though it sounded like a dream to her, she was at the age of dreaming, and her face couldn’t help but show a hint of longing.

"It sounds so powerful..."

"Right? Though our knowledge is a tiny part of it, it’s still powerful!" Pai said with a slight pride, continuing as if she were an elder, "As long as you study hard, that day won’t be far away."

"But... can I really do it?" Little Fish whispered.

"You definitely can! Trust me!" Pai gently reached out and touched her forehead, "I can feel... you have a rare quality, similar to those residents of the shelters, yet fundamentally different."

Little Fish: "...Quality?"

Pai nodded.

"Have you noticed that you have a special talent for language and mathematics?"

"Brother Chu did praise me, saying I learn fast..."

Blushing as Pai touched her head, Little Fish shyly backed away and continued quietly, "But how did you know?"

"That’s the quality I’m talking about!"

Pai looked at her, continuing seriously.

"Our camp occasionally recruits young people with unusual brain structures. What ordinary people take a minute to think about, they grasp in a second. What takes others a year to learn, they master in a month!"

"We teach them knowledge to help them develop their talents, just like the forerunners of Shelter 101 once extended a helping hand to our parents."

Even without the help of the ’Enlightenment Chip’, they had achieved remarkable mental levels through their natural talents.

"They refer to their situation as—"

"Awakeners!"

Little Fish gasped, eyes bright with surprise and confusion.

Me...

Possess the qualities of an Awakener?

To be honest, she wasn’t overly ambitious about her abilities; she was already content with her current life.

As for studying.

Partly, it was for fun.

Partly because Brother Chu had told her that it could help everyone, and she genuinely wanted to assist him and lighten his workload.

If she could learn even more powerful knowledge...

Seeing Little Fish still hesitating, Pai couldn’t help but feel a little impatient.

However, just as she was about to put in more effort to persuade Little Fish, a suspicious scream came from not far away.

"Boss!!! Please accept my knees!"

"Eh—?! What is this?!"

Pai, startled by the sudden appearance of the strange person lunging at her thigh, reflexively jumped to the side, completely failing to understand what the person was saying.

It wasn’t until White Bear held the person down that she could see clearly that it was the rude individual she had encountered yesterday in the industrial area.

"Damn! Are you trying to kill me?! Let go of me, I have made contributions to the Alliance, I have bled for the Manager!" Mosquito, pinned down by one of Meat Meat’s paws, grimaced and yelled.

"You, you, don’t move around so indiscriminately... behave!" Meat Meat, somewhat flustered by Mosquito’s squirming, accidentally sat down entirely on him, causing Mosquito to instantly roll his eyes.

"Oh oh! The pervert has been subdued! Leave the rest to Tail with confidence!" Tail gave a clean thumbs up, his face breaking into a smile he deemed super cool.

Little Fish looked utterly bewildered, having no clue about the situation.

"Anyway, even if it’s attempted crime, it’s worth at least 15 days," Si Si said coldly, looking down at Mosquito on the ground with a scheming smile on his face, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Watching Mosquito, who was having trouble breathing properly, Sesame Paste stepped forward worriedly.

"Could there be some kind of misunderstanding? Let’s let him up first."

Even if he were convicted, that would be a matter for the guards to handle.

Realizing that Mosquito was about to go offline, Meat Meat quickly removed his paws from him.

"Cough cough... Thank you, I was about to die with injustice." Mosquito breathed in the fresh air deeply, looking gratefully at the kind cat woman.

However, what struck him deeply was the way Sesame Paste subtly moved back a bit.

"... I never said you were wronged."

"Damn it! Okay... I apologize first, sorry! My behavior earlier was indeed impulsive! It must have troubled you! I did not mean to offend, I just wanted to express... my shock."

Mosquito took a deep breath and sincerely expressed his apology to the startled Pai, using the awkward language of the United Human.

After listening to Mosquito’s explanation, Pai finally understood what had happened and nodded in realization.

"No worries, no worries, the generous do not dwell on the mistakes of others!"

"But yeah, although I understand that your admiration for me is beyond words, please try not to do things that lead to misunderstandings next time, ao!"

Though she said this with a magnanimous attitude, the tip of her nose that involuntarily turned up betrayed her pride.

Meat Meat scratched his head with his bear paw.

"So that’s what it was."

"Emmm... Although the behavior is still quite perverted, such an explanation is passable," Si Si nodded.

In the game, everyone might indeed act more openly, just like Tail, who in reality is a quiet girl, but has an unfathomable stock of emojis.

But since the person involved had forgiven him, let it be.

Everyone’s expressions relaxed, except for Ah Wei, who clicked his tongue regretfully, seeming disappointed at not being able to play the cop this time.

Gratefully looking at Pai, Mosquito continued with excitement in his voice.

"I have a request! Can you help me?"

"Mmm! Go ahead," Pai nodded proudly.

She loved feeling like a teacher the most.

Just when everyone let down their guard, Mosquito Brother pulled out an empty glass bottle and stared at her eagerly, his speech filled with excitement.

"That... Holy Water! Can you give me a little more?"

"Huh?"

Tail tilted her head, not understanding.

Si Si, standing beside her, paused for two seconds and stared at the translation on the VM before silently pressing the shortcut button on the top right corner.

"... Anyway, let’s call the police first."

...

Proud Brothers Group Chat.

To take care of their good brother still soaking in the cultivation chamber, Old White and Fang Chang specifically went offline to report the latest developments in the game.

Fang Chang, "We just received a mission published by the Manager, the objective is to escort NPC Luka to Giant Stone City to sign a friendly agreement with the mayor of Giant Stone City Hall. If nothing goes wrong, this mission should be related to the next version."

The main storyline of Wasteland OL primarily progresses through "player behavior," suspected planned "special events," and faction leaders’ "exclusive missions."

Although all interested players can view the complete storyline, and the official website updates the content in real-time, chances to participate in the main storyline as a plot-driver are rare.

Many missions are unique.

And that’s also why most players are eager to farm contributions and "affection points."

④Who Doesn’t Understand Science, "Just asking, why don’t you guys just take down Giant Stone City? (curious)"

Lord Arrogant Brother had heard about the game while still in the group and had been following its progress, he just hadn’t bothered to pre-register.

This scenario wasn’t uncommon.

Not everyone loves money, let alone games.

He prefers listening to group friends boast rather than playing games.

Old White, "Forgetting war invites danger, being warlike ensures destruction. It’s time for farming and adventuring now, we’ve been fighting in alley battles for nearly two months, time for a rest. (grinning teeth)"

Fang Chang, "Yeah, from the background of the game, it’s also hard to start a fight, the New Alliance is kind of a law-abiding faction, Giant Stone City is probably neutral, Looter and Mutant tribe are more like chaos."

"Considering the situation in the Wasteland, the spark of civilization could extinguish at any moment, it’s not impossible for the law-abiding and neutral factions to erupt in a faction war, but the chances are very slim. Unless the planners really have no work left, substitute the Manager’s hammer with a sword, or stir up some big news."

Big Eyes Mosquito, "Son of Lordaeron is still okay. (funny)"

Night Ten, "Huh? Why did you come down too? Exploded again?"

Big Eyes Mosquito, "Buzz off! I just came down to take a big break. (rolling eyes)"

Telling others that he got banned for two hours due to player’s report of improper behavior towards NPCs was, of course, something he was embarrassed to mention.

With photos and recordings as evidence, Mosquito Brother simply accepted the punishment.

After all, it’s just two hours, just enough time to have some late-night snacks and think about how to sweet-talk that fuel formula over.

No way around it, that fuel was simply too awesome!

Stable, strong thermal stability, doesn’t freeze in low temperatures and has excellent fluidity, suitable density and high calorific value!

It doesn’t even produce much carbon deposit and slag ... the drawbacks are almost negligible, and the benefits are too numerous to count on both hands.

If that’s not black technology, then what is?

It’s totally awesome!

As for why Mosquito Brother went offline, no one asked much, after all, similar situations had happened once or twice before.

Fang Chang continued typing.

"...In short, that’s the basic situation. We’re setting off in an hour, I’ll be back online soon, and we’ll get in touch once we reach Giant Stone City."

Quit Smoking: "I’m so jealous! TAT"

Wild Wind: "Make sure to record it."

Old White: "No problem! Brothers, just rest well these next couple of days. (grinding teeth)"

"Damn!"

It’s so frustrating not being able to play the game!

After sending a reply, Ye Wei rolled his eyes and threw his phone on the table.

However, just then, a message suddenly popped up on the screen, and he had no choice but to pick up his phone again.

"Bro, consider this ready-made flat in Luzhou Mansion? (grinding teeth)"

The sender was a real estate agent he had just added that afternoon.

Immediately following, five photos were sent over.

Ye Wei glanced at them; the environment indeed looked nice, the only downside being its location by the river, slightly far from the school.

But that wasn’t a problem.

If necessary, he could just stay at school from Monday to Friday and stay off campus on the weekends.

Ye Wei drafted a reply and sent it back.

"Okay."

Probably a mass message, the sender paused for a while.

A few seconds later, another message came in.

"Uh, bro, what do you mean?"

The agent was a bit unsure.

It wasn’t that he was bad at his job, but he had just checked this client’s social media profiles, and honestly, the client was quite low-key.

He seemed totally like a student!

"I’ll go for a viewing tomorrow morning." Ye Wei didn’t want to explain and replied succinctly, then turned off the message notifications.

To relieve the "withdrawal symptoms," he switched his phone screen on and off several times but eventually restrained himself from logging onto the official forum and casually opened Weibo, which he hadn’t logged into for months.

He intended to watch some funny videos to pass the time, but just then, upon opening the trending list, he realized that the top spot was not about some celebrities’ trivial family matters as usual.

In fact, three consecutive posts were about the same thing.

"...A major breakthrough in lithium battery technology?"

He muttered softly, curiosity burgeoning in his heart, prompting him to click and take a look.

The first thing that appeared was a video from a central news network.

"Recently, Huake Material Technology and Engineering Research Institute has made a groundbreaking advancement in research on ’lithium dendrites issues,’ which, according to industry experts, has been a major bottleneck hindering the research on lithium anode batteries..."

The voiceover ended, and the camera shifted.

Facing the interviewer, Academician Liu Yiping spoke with deep emotion.

"I feel embarrassed to say that we’ve only made a small contribution; we genuinely don’t deserve such an honor! The major progress was mainly possible thanks to the help from our collaborating units and the full support of society and the nation..."

Academician Liu’s wording was humble and precise; he roughly introduced the areas involved in the research from a scientific perspective.

After interviewing Academician Liu, the reporter then turned the camera to someone from the industry—a well-known battery company’s Chief Manufacturing Officer.

Unlike Academician Liu’s modest stability.

The industrialist’s demeanor was restrained on camera, but the excitement was clearly visible on his flushed face.

It was as if he had just won a bet on the national soccer team.

"...This will become a milestone event in the new energy industry! Without exaggeration, our lives will change dramatically because of this!"

Although Ye Wei couldn’t quite understand what he was talking about.

Based on the man’s expressions, he could somewhat fathom the shock this new technology delivered to the industry.

The video was too long, and Ye Wei didn’t watch all of it, but he directly scrolled down to the comment section.

To his surprise.

Hundreds of thousands of comments and over a million likes were gathered on a piece of news related to the scientific field.

"Awesome!"

"6666!"

"Holy shit, does this mean I can charge my phone once a week now?!"

"My home’s new energy vehicle’s battery is only 200Wh/kg... Does breaking three digits mean 1000Wh/kg?!"

"Be confident, it should be at least 1000! (grinding teeth)"

"Just a small contribution, huh? The boss is too humble! T.T"

"By the way, which is the collaborating unit? It feels so mysterious!"

"+1, they didn’t even show up in the interview."

"+10000, any that don’t show their face, just assume it’s the relevant authorities. (funny)"

While scrolling through the comment section of the news, Ye Wei was equally filled with emotions.

He had not expected a world-changing revolution to not appear with grandeur.

Instead, on a rather ordinary night, as he took off his headset and picked up his phone, people’s lives were silently changing.

By the time everyone realized it.

The future had arrived.

After reading an analysis by a renowned influencer about how the thin artificial SEI film would impact national energy strategy and the global energy landscape, Ye Wei couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Awesome!"

These big shots were too powerful!

Although he rarely followed trending news and his major had nothing to do with batteries, hearing about the country making significant advances in scientific research inevitably made him feel proud and prouder.

Science and technology are primary productive forces.

Advanced production technology is the wealth of the whole society.

The moment society’s production capacity completes its qualitative change through quantitative accumulation, every individual in the society will embrace a whole new version.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t cut out for research.

All he could do was give a thumbs-up to those silent contributors.