This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 384: Shelter No.79!

Chapter 384: Chapter 384: Shelter No.79!

"Shit!?"

In the meal hall of the Fallen Leaf Camp, staring at the mountain of potatoes in front of him, an Old Soldier with a Small Blade gawked, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.

Is this meant for feeding pigs?!

How many tons of potatoes do these guys eat in a day?!

However...

The cook who had assigned him the task didn’t seem to care about his facial expression at all, simply commanding,

"You... are called Pangolin right? These potatoes are your work for today, and by this evening I hope to see them all washed and peeled."

"If the work isn’t done, you’ll suffer the consequences."

With those words, the cook disappeared to who knows where.

Looking at the Small Blade in his hands and then at the three thin Survivors beside him, Old Soldier felt a surge of tearful helplessness.

"How long in the hell am I supposed to peel until?"

Yesterday he was bragging on the official website that he had finished the work of three people in half a day, but logging in today, yesterday’s work volume had become today’s standard, and even doubled.

This is just like sheering a fat sheep ruthlessly.

And there’s no task reward!

Compared to the people in the Army, our respected Manager is practically a living Buddha!

Wait...

Can these scumbags even be mentioned in the same breath as the Manager?

The more Old Soldier thought about it, the angrier he got, clutching the Small Blade, nearly chasing after that arrogant fat pig to poke a hole in its butt.

However, considering the hidden task he unlocked last night on the official website and the generous reward that accompanied it, he ultimately took a deep breath and endured it.

A true man can bend and stretch.

For the almighty Manager... I’ll endure!

"We need to improve the tools; with this knife, we wouldn’t finish peeling by tomorrow this time," Old Soldier said to the three Apprentices behind him, gesturing with his hands and speaking in broken United Human language.

The three Apprentices looked at each other, only half understanding, their faces filled with confusion.

Old Soldier sighed, picked an Apprentice who seemed slightly brighter, and sent him to the scavenger’s dump to find some metal plates.

With the components and tools in hand, he used flint to grind a hole in the middle of the metal plates, then bound them with wire, producing four rudimentary peeling knives.

They looked somewhat like razors.

Though not fully automated, they were much faster than using a Dagger to peel.

With his patient guidance, the three Apprentices quickly learned how to peel potatoes more efficiently.

This time, Old Soldier was wise not to show off hastily everywhere; instead, he squatted beside the three Apprentices and practiced sham work while lazily chatting.

Looking at his relaxed demeanor, an Apprentice asked in admiration,

"Bro, do you peel potatoes often?"

"No, what’s up?"

"It’s just... you seem pretty skilled, and the tool you improved works really well."

Old Soldier chuckled.

"That’s nothing, we all peel like that back home; I just learned from someone else."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of longing on the Apprentices’ faces grew even stronger.

In the Wasteland, crops with a growing cycle longer than two months aren’t something ordinary people can afford.

Most Survivor Settlements plant a type of wheat, not because people like its unique oxalic acid taste, but because other crops can’t even reach maturity, either raided by Looters or devastated by Variants.

In times of turmoil, people tend to grow crops with short cycles and low demands for soil, fertility, and labor—this is true in every world.

With nothing better to do, Old Soldier used his broken United Human language to tell the Apprentices about life over in the Alliance—naturally, without mentioning the Alliance and the City of Dawn, he still referred to it as Bet Street.

After talking until he was parched, Old Soldier paused and suddenly noticed a dark line of Residents standing on the open space outside the meal hall.

"What’s going on over there?"

An Apprentice squatting beside him quickly answered,

"I heard the Army is recruiting..."

"Recruiting?"

"Yes, strong-bodied Survivors or those with special abilities can sign up; they say that once you join the Army, you can eat potatoes and beef."

While speaking, the Apprentice’s face showed obvious envy, clearly tempted.

Perhaps thinking of possibly being used as Cannon Fodder on the front line, he ultimately didn’t muster the courage to try his luck.

Old Soldier looked at the guy oddly as he threw the peeled potatoes he’d been working on into a nearby box.

Aren’t those Double-headed Cows and potatoes...

supposedly from your own homes?

Just as Old Soldier was pondering whether to try his luck at the recruiting site while peeling potatoes, Coleway, standing in the center of the camp, was looking at the roster handed to him by his subordinates.

In four days, they had gathered 7,400 Survivors, emptying nearly seventeen Survivor Settlements.

Among them, the largest Settlement even boasted a thousand people, and within their camp was even a cast iron cannon.

However...

In the face of a 400mm main cannon, that thing was just a toy—especially after the local people heard rumors that "an Iron Airship destroyed an entire hundred-person team from the Enterprise with just one cannon shot", they couldn’t muster the courage to resist and obediently packed up to move here.

They had already set up a wood-fired generator in the middle of the camp to power the nutrient paste synthesizer, and later planned to install several smelting furnaces to recycle the garbage scavengers collected from the city into useful metal castings, producing Ripper Rifles and ammunition.

The mission General McLennan gave him was to train a thousand-man team composed of locals within two months, to join their land-air-sea team in combat , laying the foundation for taking the southern plains of River Valley Province into their domain.

Standing next to Coleway, logistics officer Finod squinted at the lineup of Survivors and the gradually forming scales of the camp and said,

"We need to speed up our efforts... The people from the Enterprise have noticed our movements; our patrols have come up empty several times."

Coleway: "I have already reported the issue to Mr. Rachel, and we will increase the number of patrol teams..."

"There’s another matter."

"What is it?"

"I heard that in the survivor settlement at No. 79 Xiangling Street, there appeared a ’Claw of Death’ as tall as a two-story building... Is that correct?"

Coleway recalled the incident and nodded.

"Yes, that’s true. I reported the situation there to Mr. Rachel. Considering it’s just a small enclave with two or three hundred people, and those locals might not survive the encounter with the ’Claw of Death,’ I had my subordinates remove the settlement from our maps... Any issues?"

He wasn’t afraid of the creature, he just felt it wasn’t worth it to waste his subordinates’ lives and precious ammunition to slaughter a beast.

The air-ground team was limited in number and couldn’t be replenished from the rear, and these days the corporate guerrilla teams were headache enough.

Finod said with a pleasant expression.

"No problem, missing two or three hundred people is no big deal. However, General McCullen is very interested in that beast. He saw it from the bridge and has been mumbling about wanting to hang its head on the prow of the ’Iron Heart’ and show it to General Griffin."

Coleway looked at Finod in surprise, speechless for a moment.

Finod’s smile remained unchanged, still speaking in a gentle tone.

"Could you do me a favor?"

If it were possible to decline, that certainly would be best, but this was a command from General McCullen.

Despite a thousand reluctances, Coleway could only numbly nod his head.

"Alright..."

...

"...This library doesn’t have a basement, does it?"

In the dim tunnel.

Si Si held a flashlight and looked around; the place felt like a bomb shelter, although she had never actually seen a real one.

Sesame Paste walked beside her, holding a radio, with cat ears alert and eyes looking around.

At that moment, the usually quiet radio suddenly emitted a chilling laugh, startling her almost enough to drop it.

"...Who did you hear that from?"

"The local residents."

"Haha... What do they know."

That was also true.

Si Si thoughtfully nodded, not bothering to question further on this trivial matter.

If everyone could find the entrance to the shelter, it would undoubtedly be a torment for both those inside and outside.

Whether on a physical or a mental level.

The two continued forward along the dark tunnel, which grew progressively wider, from initially only allowing four people abreast to now being as wide as a two-lane road.

Looking at the side passages beside the tunnel, Si Si became more convinced of her earlier guess.

Shelter No. 79 must have more than one entrance.

And the number of people it accommodates is far more than just a thousand!

The elevator hidden behind the shelves on the second floor of the library was just one of the entrances through this tunnel.

As for how they found that entrance, it started half an hour ago.

Half an hour earlier, they had found a radio on the second floor of the library, which, receiving broadcasts from an unknown source, claimed to be from the manager of Shelter No. 79 and advised them with an indefinable tone of self-mockery or self-reproach to leave this place of trouble quickly.

Si Si harbored reservations about his claims.

But for now, it seemed this guy was the only one who knew the entrance to Shelter No.79.

She thought it would take some effort to gain the manager’s trust, but surprisingly, she barely had to persuade him at all, convincing the man with her rudimentary Human United language to let them see Shelter No.79.

Honestly,

Such effortless persuasion made Si Si almost disbelieve her own effectiveness.

Could it be...

Her hidden charisma stats were actually quite high?

Thinking this, Si Si’s face took on a subtle expression.

Then, the radio suddenly spoke up.

"By the way, I forgot to ask, what is Shelter No. 404 about?"

"Just a normal refuge?"

"Oh, I see..."

"What’s up?"

"Nothing, I am just making sure there’s no interference with other friends’ work... Haha."

That smile sounded somewhat profound.

But Si Si didn’t dwell on it.

After all, this old radio, even when silent, was constantly emitting electrical static noise.

"By the way, how should we address you?"

"Just call me Manager."

"But we already have a manager; we need to distinguish between you two."

The voice pondered for a while.

"Sorry, I’ve been alone for so long that I haven’t used my name in ages, just give me a moment. You can call me Yong."

Si Si was slightly surprised but didn’t comment further, merely nodding.

Most NPCs in the game had peculiar names, encompassing their manager, who always went by the code name "Dawn," only occasionally using "Chu Guang."

However, from this guy’s words, he seemed to be an old monster who had lived from the pre-war era until now...

The task was becoming more intriguing.

Walking alongside, Sesame Paste, completely unable to understand their conversation, asked with some anxiety.

"How much longer until we arrive?"

Si Si relayed her question once again, and the radio quickly responded.

"It’s right ahead . . . but before that, I hope you are mentally prepared. As I’ve said, there’s never been any protection for survivors here."

"I’m prepared."

As a guide NPC of the instance, he was a bit too talkative.

As Si Si thought this, a cog-shaped alloy giant door finally appeared at the end of the tunnel.

The number 79, printed right in the middle of the cog, hadn’t faded even after two centuries.

Excitement flashed in the eyes of both individuals.

Mission accomplished!

They had found the entrance to Shelter No. 79!

"It’s a pity Tail isn’t here . . . Should we call her over?"

"It would waste too much time to go back and forth; we’ve finally made it this far. Let’s see what it looks like inside . . ."

Suppressing the excitement in her voice, Si Si looked at the radio in Sesame Paste’s hand and asked in United Human language.

" . . . How do we get in?"

Just as her words fell, the pebbles on the ground suddenly shook lightly.

A tremor, like an earthquake, reverberated from underneath as the massive cog rolled slowly to one side.

Gazing at the straight corridor behind the giant door and the spacious buffer room resembling a playground, Si Si’s eyes widened in surprise.

The area right in front of her was easily ten times bigger than Shelter No. 404 . . .

However, what surprised her even more was still to come.

As she and Sesame Paste crossed the wide buffer room and reached the door at the end of the hallway, tall floor-to-ceiling windows rapidly came into their view.

Behind those floor-to-ceiling windows completely overturned their understanding of shelters.

Buildings, square and neatly aligned like rulers, spread throughout an exceptionally vast area, extending to the bottomless underground.

Steep passageways connected these square buildings.

They resembled blocks connected to one another, piled up and interconnected, maximizing the use of space in a manner acceptable to human aesthetics.

At this moment, they were standing at the highest point of this "underground city" . . .

Si Si’s eyes widened and she instinctively reached for her earpiece, her fingertips completely sticking to the shutter of her headset.

Standing next to her, Sesame Paste was so stunned that her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was agape as if she could fit an egg in it.

"Is this . . . really a shelter?"

"Welcome to Rui Valley City 2.0," a cheerful voice floated from the radio, "It’s been a very long time since we had any new guests."

As the voice died away, a pair of eyes beneath cat ears suddenly flashed a hint of alertness.

Sesame Paste quickly drew the 12mm caliber revolver holstered at her waist, her thumb proficiently pressing down the hammer.

It was a pistol she had long ago bought from the Manager, mainly used to deal with large Variants.

She aimed at the door behind which a tiger, significantly larger than usual, was peering through the glass, emitting a dangerous growl.

Its teeth were flipped outward over its lips, sharp like daggers!

Its claws scratched at the door, and its teeth ground against the door frame, its eyes filled with impatience as if it was starving.

The moment their eyes met, her biological instincts caused all her hairs to stand on end.

Si Si, sensing the dangerous air as well, swallowed hard and with a "click" chambered her assault rifle, aiming at the door. She asked the radio.

"What . . . exactly is going on here?"

Why are there Variants in the shelter?!

The radio let out a long sigh.

"That’s why I told you to be prepared . . . as you see, this city has fallen."

"Fallen . . ."

"Yes."

Leaning against Sesame Paste, the old radio sounded like it was recounting a past incident with a very light tone.

"The people here once had a brief but prosperous time, but the giant door could block war and radiation, but not the people’s longing for the outside world and freedom . . . I tried to persuade them to wait a bit longer, wait for the radioactive dust to settle from the sky, wait for the ice freezing the earth to melt, and then, together, we’d venture into the outside world, but . . ."

"But?"

"They couldn’t wait, they clamored to leave, and I couldn’t persuade them . . ."

The voice on the radio carried a hint of mockery, but it quickly changed to one of resignation.

"Let’s not talk about those old times, I believe you’re not interested. Anyway, because that outside door was frequently opened and closed, there’s no difference between here and the outside world . . . it’s even worse."

"Our original intent was to help the mutated creatures outside return to normal, but who would have thought some fools, not satisfied with just leaving themselves, also took out creatures carrying unfinished genetic prototypes, leading to those mutated freaks everywhere outside."

Si Si frowned.

"Do you mean . . . are all the Variants outside from here?"

The radio briefly replied.

"Probably, I’d guess at least half. As for the rest, you’ll have to ask the other shelters . . . God knows what they’ve been up to."

It paused for a moment, its tone carrying a hint of deep remorse.

"Of course, we tried to make amends. Before the last crisis, we were continuously searching for a way to control the spread of the genetic prototypes. In fact, this great work was almost completed . . . unfortunately, at the last moment, the only uncorrupted research area also fell."

Si Si declared enthusiastically.

"We are willing to continue the work you didn’t finish! Restoring the ecology of this planet is also part of our mission to revive the United Human enterprise!"

Any significant research findings discovered on the Wasteland, whether encrypted data or sample entities, could be exchanged for substantial rewards with the NPC, Yin Fang of the Survey Corps.

Such a large shelter.

The research inside must definitely be worth a lot of rewards, right?

Unaware of her thoughts at the moment, a gratified voice came from the radio.

"I’m glad to hear you say that, it seems I wasn’t wrong to trust you so much."

After a brief pause, it continued.

"There is a silver building in the city center, quite noticeable from where you are, that’s the research area of this shelter. All our research findings are stored there, including our experimental data and the serum samples we have completed."

Si Si: "Serum?"

"It’s a serum that can reverse mutations. We’ve only completed the one for the Claw of Death... because they are the most dangerous."

The moment Si Si heard these words, she was stunned.

"Can such a thing really be done?"

Reversing mutations that had already occurred...

It sounded like a flight of fancy.

However, the radio spoke in a confident tone.

"Of course, it can be done. It’s not very difficult to manage. That said, if you are really willing to take over our cause, you might as well take those things outside. Since you come from a shelter, you should know how to use them."

"Of course, the variants here are tough to deal with, including more than one Claw of Death here. You can go back and prepare first, and then come back when you’re ready."

"I was indeed planning to do that..." Si Si glanced at the tiger outside the door.

She indeed needed to make some preparations.

When she entered Xiangling Town previously, to show sincerity, she and Sesame Paste only carried basic defensive weapons.

With just the little ammunition on hand, they probably wouldn’t be able to handle the monsters behind the door.

She definitely needed to call everyone together!

...

During the peak period of logging off for the day.

The official forum was set ablaze by a post again.

"Big News! Shelter No. 79 Unveiled! Hidden in the Underground City of Rui Valley City!"

Quit Smoking: "Damn! An underground city?!"

Tail: "Hmm! The monsters inside are super tough! There are lots and lots of Trash Older Brother!

Pick up trash 99 level: "???"

I Max Black: "666! Isn’t this way cooler than that shabby map of Old Soldier?"

Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "Damn, you didn’t say that yesterday!"

Thunder Mage Professor Yang: "This scale... wouldn’t it be reasonable to release another hundred thousand activation codes?"

Elena: "Tsk, newbie village for farming the Claw of Death, this is way more thrilling than farming little monkeys at Shelter No. 117. (funny)"

Gnome King Riches: "And it’s right in your face. (funny)"

Dinosaur Warrior: "Let me in!!! The dog planner won’t give me a helmet, reported! (crazy)"

Old White: "(jaw_drop.jpg)"

Si Si: "So that’s pretty much it about Shelter No. 79... Since there’s no network here, we can only upload the photos after we return to the base of the Storm Corps in a few days."

"Additionally, we’ve learned that the shelter holds a huge reserve of nuclear energy. And according to the manager himself, named Yong’s, it has more than enough to run for another three centuries. The serum in the central research area of that underground city seems to be able to reverse mutations?"

Crow: "Wait, doesn’t that mean Meat Meat can become human again? (excited)"

Teng Teng: "(expectant) (expectant)"

Meat Meat: "Hold on, I am human! (╯°Д°)╯"

"Although I’m indeed not human in the game."

"No, wait! Saying it like that feels weird too!"

After posting three messages, Meat Meat became confused. However, due to the players’ anticipation for the new map, her comments were soon overwhelmed by a flood of replies.

Reading the post from start to finish, a planner sitting in front of the computer also showed a surprised expression.

"...Reverse mutation?!"

What kind of black technology is this?

At that moment, Chu Guang was just as surprised as the player named Si Si.

Fortunately, he had an expert to consult.

Without hesitation, Chu Guang immediately got up and went to level B3, finding Heya busy in the laboratory.

After listening to his inquiry, Heya paused in her work, clearly showing a surprised expression.

"...Are you sure? Reverse mutation?"

Chu Guang spoke with careful phrasing.

"I can’t guarantee the accuracy of the source, but I can confirm I didn’t hear it wrong... But tell me, are you also surprised?"

"Rather than surprised, it’s more like... I don’t quite understand the purpose of the research project."

Touching her chin lightly with her index finger, Heya looked thoughtful.

"The mutations of organisms in the wasteland might not exclude human factors, but most are actually the result of natural selection. Only the species with stronger survival capabilities can continue to exist on this planet with such extreme ecological environments, and this is the fundamental reason for the current situation."

"Without changing the environment itself, changing the traits of one or two creatures has no significance. These individuals who cannot adapt to the current environment will quickly be eliminated, and their traits can’t be passed down."

Pausing, she continued.

"Moreover, evolution is a continuous process. To what stage exactly does that serum intend to revert the mutations that have already occurred?"

"Is he lying then?" Chu Guang, who also realized the logical inconsistency, wrinkled his brows slightly, "The research results stored in Shelter No.79 are not as straightforward as he confessed."

Heya said teasingly: "I was thinking the same thing. Your residents were probably deceived, they can indeed be quite naive sometimes... Speaking of which, couldn’t Yin Fang find any information about Shelter No.79, not even the manager’s name?"

Chu Guang shook his head.

"Couldn’t find any. The shelters and the Black Box are like blind boxes from the outside."

Heya crossed her arms and tilted her head, not quite understanding what a blind box was.

Chu Guang did not explain, his mind racing.

He couldn’t assert that "Yong’s" was lying, but it was highly likely that he concealed part of the truth, and the purpose was to get his players to take the serum stored in the shelter outside.

There could be many motives for doing this, but guessing was pointless without knowing what the serum was.

However, what puzzled Chu Guang was, why didn’t he do it himself?

Just lock the shelter’s door, cut off the power, and in a few days, the creatures inside would die of asphyxiation.

Even if some were tough enough to survive, it would just be a matter of waiting a few more days.

Either that person didn’t have complete access rights.

Or for some reason, he did not wish for the variants in the shelter to die out...

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