This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 409: "Dividing the Spoils" and Rewarding Merits!

Chapter 409: Chapter 409: "Dividing the Spoils" and Rewarding Merits!

Giant Stone City.

In the meeting room on the third floor of the city hall, the long conference table was eerily silent, with only the occasional falling ash from a cigarette and the perpetual scent of nicotine hanging in the air.

The Army had left.

Or rather, it had fled with its tail between its legs and would likely be too preoccupied to pay attention to River Valley Province for quite some time.

This should have been a cause for celebration.

However...

The people sitting at the conference table could not feel any joy.

At the moment, the atmosphere in the meeting room was so heavy that it felt less like a meeting and more like a funeral.

The only thing that seemed out of place in this funeral-like atmosphere was probably the brown shirt that Duron wore inside out beneath his black coat.

It was only when he sat down here that he realized his mistake, but it was too late to change, so he kept fidgeting with the collar of his coat.

The meeting had gone on from late into the night until dawn.

Struggling to keep his heavy eyelids open, Duron once again glanced quietly at the people in front of him, trying to read any change of stance from their expressions.

Still, there was not a single clue.

To ease the rigid atmosphere at the conference table, he cleared his throat and spoke in a tactful tone.

"...At least, he didn’t lie to us."

Seeing that no one interrupted him, Duron continued.

"Last night, not a single bullet... not even a shell casing fell on our giant wall, and those projectiles they fired, without a doubt, were just fireworks."

"I think we don’t need to overreact. The Alliance is a friendly neighbor; they’ve always cared about our relationship."

While saying this, Duron took a very humble stance and adopted an inquiring tone. After all, there were few people sitting here whose status was lower than his.

Apart from Melvin, the manager of Giant Stone City Bank, and Jaeger, the deputy manager who always disagreed with him, the rest were either nobles from the Inner City or officers from the Militia Group... and these latter people were the real power brokers of Giant Stone City.

Compared to them, he was more like the lord’s servant, a butler managing the "non-core business."

A few people at the conference table exchanged glances, whispering softly to each other.

A few Inner City nobles’ expressions relaxed a bit, thinking there might be some truth to his words. After all, the Alliance had never deliberately provoked them and had sold them many interesting trinkets, enriching both their days and nights.

The man in the Militia Group’s uniform was the only one still stern-faced, his expression unchanging as he stared at Duron and responded with a disdainful snort.

"Oh? So we should thank them now?"

His name was Wallace, the chief of the first thousand team of the Giant Stone City Militia Group, a veteran noble from the Inner City, and also the most difficult hardliner to deal with.

Although isolationism was a consensus among the residents of Giant Stone City’s Inner City, how to be isolated and the method of isolation were topics up for discussion.

"You misunderstand, that’s not what I mean."

Duron sighed softly, looking at this military lord with a headache, and continued.

"We should look at the problem objectively. That airship... or rather, that 400mm main cannon, it’s better for it to be in the Alliance’s hands than the Army’s, isn’t it? Even if the people from the North Suburb are a bunch of country bumpkins playing with Crack Claw Crabs, they are the comparatively civilized kind."

The officer narrowed his eyes slightly, speaking in a chilly tone.

"Are you saying I’m not being objective?"

Duron: "..."

Seeing the meeting was once again at an impasse, Melvin, sitting in a corner of the long table, coughed lightly and spoke, aiming to smooth things over.

"I think what the manager meant to say is that, compared to half a month ago, our situation has improved a lot. There’s no need to look so gloomy."

Seeing his ally speak up, Duron promptly added to his point.

"That’s exactly what I mean."

Sitting next to Wallace, an officer responsible for city defense suddenly remarked with emotion.

"Automated anti-air defenses, over a hundred cannons... Great Antler God above, how did they break through that thing?"

Last night at 7:58 PM, the Alliance set off fireworks for an hour and two minutes, and the anti-aircraft cannons and missiles on the giant wall were also loaded and on standby all night.

If those dense fireworks had been replaced with shells fitted with proximity fuses, not a single aircraft in Giant Stone City would have been able to take off successfully.

After all, those VTOL fighters, even if they could switch to fixed-wing mode, would need over ten kilometers just to accelerate.

Before that happened, bringing them down would not require cutting-edge technology – just a broadside salvo would be enough.

Without a doubt, those hicks from the North Suburb were using the guise of a celebration to show off their pathetic muscles.

Thinking of this, the officer could not help but grind his teeth and curse internally.

Just because they were lucky enough to win one battle against the Army, now they’re strutting around in front of us.

This smug appearance...

They were just asking for a beating!

"I still hold the same view," Wallace stated emotionlessly, "we should tighten the aid to them! Immediately!"

Duron sighed.

"Such as?"

Wallace replied without hesitation.

"Suspend loans! Halt trade with the north!"

Duron wasn’t at all surprised by his answer; these heads of the Militia Group didn’t understand the first thing about the economy’s hardships.

He was just about to say something.

However, before he could open his mouth, a well-dressed man had already spoken the words he intended to say.

"Following that is unrealistic; everything you eat, wear, and use... all comes from the trade between us and other survivor settlements."

Duron glanced at the man; he recognized him. His name was Sid, a well-known noble in the Inner City, and also the major behind-the-scenes shareholder of Vijia Commerce.

This guy’s properties weren’t limited to Vijia Commerce, and even less so to Giant Stone City. He had stakes in farms in the south and the mercenary groups raised there, his family wealth had reached a level that was hard to calculate in chips.

At the same time, Duron also noticed the devil silk fabric of his clothing and the leather shoes made from Claw of Death leather he was stepping on.

In a sense, what he said was indeed correct; his living expenses really came from trade with the outside.

As soon as Sid’s words fell, another noble of no less status immediately began to speak.

"Exactly, and halting trade with any one party is simply not feasible! Once outside the great wall, those commercial teams won’t let you know where they’ve gone. Even if you close the northern gate, even if you leave only one gate to the south, as long as there’s profit in ’North Suburb,’ they’ll take a big detour and run over there."

Wallace’s eyebrows twitched.

His stance was still firm, but he might have realized that his words hadn’t gone through his brain, so he changed his position slightly, making a small concession.

"Never mind trade, at least that loan must be stopped!"

He knew that money was in the Giant Stone City Bank.

Stopping the loan would be easy; just a few finger taps could freeze hundreds of millions of chips.

The nobles didn’t seem to have any objections; after all, the Alliance’s wallet had nothing to do with them, but as a smile was about to appear on Wallace’s face, the bank manager Melvin suddenly cleared his throat and spoke up.

"About that... I have something to say too."

Seeing everyone looking at him, he continued.

"Those loans, rather than calling them aid to them, it’s better to call them aid to ourselves. The residents of Giant Stone City can’t afford to buy our goods; if we halt the loans to the Alliance, over half of the factories would shut down because of that."

Hearing this, Sid quickly spoke up.

"That won’t do! The loan can’t stop!"

A multitude of nobles echoed and nodded, expressing opinions almost identical to each other.

"That’s right!"

"The idea of stopping loans is simply stupid! Our factories have already started up; if we stop their loans, who will pay the workers?!"

"We can’t stop until those yokels have settled their accounts!"

Seeing that his side was garnering more and more allies, Melvin breathed a sigh of relief and continued to strike while the iron was hot.

"That’s what I think too. The economy, which had been stagnant for a century, is finally showing signs of revival; we can’t let it be interrupted... at least not now."

An officer sitting next to Wallace couldn’t help clenching his fists and rebuked.

"Are we just going to watch them grow stronger?"

Duron said softly.

"About that I must clarify, their power is indeed growing, but we are also getting stronger."

"Not to speak of others, but consider the three thousand mercenaries hired to the front lines for war, minus the dead, at least one to two thousand have returned... They are soldiers who have seen battle, not the kind of battle against slimy mold, but intense combat of firepower against firepower. We could completely recruit them and train them as junior military officers!"

He had always dreamed that the city hall could have its own armed forces; this was undoubtedly the best opportunity.

Seeing Wallace deep in thought, Duron felt a tinge of joy in his heart, but before he could rejoice, his ally Melvin suddenly betrayed him.

"As for expanding the army... I actually believe there is no need for that; as long as we maintain the capability to mutually destroy with our neighbors, it’s sufficient. They’re economically dependent on us, and it’s going to be even moreso in the future, and those loans are like chains around their necks... This is more effective than expanding the army."

A joke.

An expansion of the army would mean increased taxes; the city hall didn’t care, but he couldn’t afford not to care.

The residents of the outer city were almost squeezed dry, barely able to extract any more resources, and it was only because the number of jobs had increased recently that the situation had slightly improved.

It was clear where the money for the army expansion would come from.

Ignoring Duron’s frantic glances, Melvin continued.

"If our city lord has no plans for territorial expansion, maintaining such a large army would become a burden for us."

The nobles seated around the conference table nodded one after another.

Most of them had businesses set up in the city; expanding the army would inevitably lead to increased taxes, thereby raising their operating costs.

At least on this matter, their position and that of the Giant Stone City Bank were aligned.

Wallace furrowed his brows.

He could disregard Duron and that bank manager Melvin’s views, but he could not ignore the nobles seated here.

Two centuries of intermarriages, making the power structure of the Inner City complex and challenging.

Especially the established nobles, many of them weren’t just paying for "tickets" into the Inner City, they had been there from the start in the first building.

Some maintained the operations of the city lord’s "core business," some managed assets of distant worlds, and even the city lord would listen to their views.

At least selectively.

At this moment, Melvin cleared his throat gently and mediated again.

"Actually, there’s no need to worry too much. Our neighbors are quite trustworthy..."

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"Just yesterday, the subordinate sent by that Manager brought us 12 boxes of treasures. Those were General McCullen’s collection, and my team of professional appraisers valued them between 8 to 9.6 million chips... This money will serve as an advance payment for the interest due over the next three years."

Before his words had even finished, he saw the nobles’ eyes light up with anticipation.

Especially the shareholders of the Giant Stone City Bank.

Although these treasures were going into the bank’s treasury, and they had no direct connection with them, these treasures would soon appear at the auction.

For them, chips were just numbers; the money spent was the only way to preserve value forever, whether it was purchasing real estate, rare metals, or imported goods from Ideal City or precious items from the era before the war.

The collection of the Army Captain...

Surely, it would not disappoint them.

The atmosphere around the conference table suddenly livened up, with excited whispering and many a face, now completely devoid of sleepiness, catching Duron and Wallace, who sat at the table, somewhat off guard.

"I didn’t expect those country bumpkins to be so generous."

"It’s not generosity, it’s the interest they ought to pay us!"

A noble remarked.

"War... it really brings in money damn fast."

Watching the excitedly conversing nobles, Melvin breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face.

It looked like this card was played at just the right time...

...

If there was someone who couldn’t accept the termination of financial cooperation with the Alliance, it was undoubtedly Giant Stone City Bank.

The bankruptcy of Giant Stone City’s factories, though it would leave the Inner City nobles uncomfortably struggling to find their next meal, and potentially lead to a period of hardship, would not be fatal.

However, Melvin was different.

His bank was not just the creditor of the Alliance, but also provided loans to the factories of Giant Stone City, which allowed those factory owners to expand production.

If the Alliance’s loans were frozen, those factories would fail to collect their debts and, in turn, be unable to pay him back, creating a wave of bad debt that would instantly trigger a systemic risk.

That is, liquidity would dry up.

Those cunning country bumpkins in the North Suburb had snatched the loans and immediately secured a multitude of orders with Giant Stone City’s factories, with production tasks even scheduled into the next year.

Melvin now realized why the Alliance’s representatives agreed so readily to sign the contract, including various inequitable terms like the exclusion from cash transactions, the scope of chip usage, and setting up of supervised accounts.

It turned out these guys had planned from the start to tie him to their chariot.

Without a doubt, he was the richest man in the city, but his money was not all his own; a significant part belonged to others entrusted to his care.

This included Outer City residents, Inner City nobles, and even the City Lord. Besides private accounts, there were the City Hall’s tax revenues and the Militia Group’s military funds, amongst others.

If something went wrong...

It wasn’t a matter that could be fixed by burning a few account books or the death of a few people.

Thinking of the series of consequences, Melvin was not only racked with a headache but couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

Never having visited to the Alliance, he found himself forced to become halfway an Alliance person and even had to withstand pressure from the Inner City for the Alliance...

And yet, he couldn’t quit.

Because the benefits they offered were far too substantial...

After the meeting ended, he finally returned home.

Sitting on the soft sofa, Melvin rubbed his tired eyes and couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

"These cunning skunks..."

Alyssa, reading the newspaper, tilted her head.

"Daddy?"

"It’s nothing... my sweet girl," Melvin immediately switched to a gentle expression, fondly ruffling his daughter’s fluffy hair, "Daddy’s just a bit tired, a little rest will do."

Alyssa blinked her bright eyes and said astutely.

"Is it because of the war?"

"Not exactly, but it’s somewhat related..." Melvin sighed, speaking wearily to himself, "The most ideal scenario is that the Alliance, with our money, battles the Army to mutual destruction, allowing us to deal with the Alliance who’d then need us, all the while making them act according to our demands."

"But there was an unexpected turn of events, they acquired airships," Alyssa mused as she looked at the newspaper.

Glancing at the paper in her hands, Melvin nodded with a smile.

"That’s right... they got their hands on airships and set off fireworks to tell us that they’d fixed those contraptions, and even got the hang of them... these cunning little foxes."

"Weren’t they skunks?"

"Cough," Melvin cleared his throat, "don’t mimic Daddy’s words... Anyway, why am I talking about all this boring stuff."

He didn’t want his darling little girl to think about such tiresome matters; both his sons were outstanding individuals, one well-versed in the business of the Inner City and the other traveling in Ideal City. He could entrust the future of his family to them with peace of mind.

Melvin yawned.

"It’s getting late, your music teacher will be arriving soon... You’d better put away the newspaper, or your mother will see it, and she’ll be displeased again."

Alyssa made a resigned expression and set the newspaper aside.

"Alright..."

Her voice was filled with reluctance,

And she drew out the last syllable very long...

...

Before dawn broke over the Wasteland.

The night’s festivities had drawn to a close, yet the buzz on the Forum continued unabated.

And naturally, it all began with the notice released by the Dog Plan Ah Guang.

"The rewards for the ’Battle of Rui Valley City’ have been distributed, and a limited-time draw event has started, please exchange your points for prizes in time!"

"The ’Dressing the Desert’ expansion pack is officially launched, and to solidify the fruits of victory, we will aid our neighbors and drive the chaotic and plague-spreading armies to the west of the desert!"

"Expeditionary Army recruitment has begun! (Note: Only combat professions are counted, life-skill players need not worry, there will be exclusive expansion pack related missions released later.)"

Tail: "Awooo! Golden Legend!

Meat mountain big steamed bun: "!!! What did you draw?"

Tail: "Hang on, let me check it out first before I tell you!

Quit smoking: "???"

Si Si: "Wow, it’s just like Ah Wei, the first floor is more important than the lucky draw! (￣▽￣)"

Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "Crying, damn it, I’m in Falling Leaves Province... I can’t even get the prizes I drew."

I Max Black: "No worries Pangolin, we’ll use them on your behalf for now! (sly)"

Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "Beat it! Don’t touch them! I’ll use them when I get back! (angry)"

Quit smoking: "Where’s Fang Chang! The new expansion is out!"

Elena: "Where’s the analysis? The commentary? Why hasn’t it come out yet? Haven’t they fed you enough? (sly)"

Crow: "It’s time for the cloud planner to get to work!"

Canyon escape Mole: "Damn... don’t tell me this guy won the jackpot and is too scared to show up!"

Spring Water Commander: "(shivering.jpg)"

Debt Giant Eye: "Crap! The dog coin exalted ones are here! (angry)"

Youth with brick at the construction site: "Spill what you drew! (angry)"

Spring Water Commander: "Cough cough... a lollipop."

Youth with brick at the construction site: "Hahaha! Noob!"

Teng Teng: "You... you actually believed what he said. (sideways glance)"

Night Ten: "Damn it, that dog Fang Chang has truly disappeared... Screw it, I’m not waiting, in a few more minutes it’s time, see you all online bros!"

Old White: "See online. (grinning teeth)"

Wild Wind: "(sideways smile)"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Awoo awoo awoo!!! Gather at the entrance of sewer mission 117! Departure on time at seven o’clock, come quickly to level up your sequence!"

"..."

Watching the playful little players on the forum, Chu Guang also felt genuinely happy for them.

Although he had spent a lot this time, the Alliance had spent the budget of an entire year in just one month, his little players had gained a lot.

The majority of players’ rewards were above 2000 silver coins, enough to buy a Miner Type I Exoskeleton, and many players with outstanding contributions even received rewards over 20,000 silver coins.

Excluding the cost of ammunition, supplies, weapon damage, logistics losses, and so on, just the "direct rewards" given to the players for this battle amounted to thirty million silver coins!

This did not even count the cost of the lottery.

The price of silver on the official website’s trading platform was also fluctuating rapidly, but Chu Guang wasn’t too concerned.

The Silver Exchange was not a casino, nor was it a financial product.

It was a channel for "financing" for the closed beta of Wasteland OL and its players, or in other words, a tool he used to "pay wages and subsidies" to the players.

Once the transaction volume shrinks to an appropriate position and most speculators exit the market, he will release some technologies that are not too difficult to digest for the 21st century.

Alternative plans include aviation fuel, laser components for igniting controlled fusion, and so on... all of which are technologies from before the Prosperity Epoch.

As for how to properly use these technologies, that’s not something for him to worry about. He believes there’s no need for his concern.

Chu Guang also discovered it all of a sudden.

Although his "business skills" were a bit rusty at the beginning, after spending more time in the manager’s seat, he became increasingly adept at handling these affairs.

Moreover, the points he had saved up from the last expansion pack finally came in handy.

Aside from the trivial items from the basic blind boxes and intermediate blind boxes, most of the equipment from the advanced blind boxes was put up as lottery prizes on the official website.

Chu Guang divided the rewards into three "prize pools."

The first-tier prize pool mainly consisted of the spoils confiscated from the armies, as well as basic weapons produced by the Alliance, light weapons aided by the Giant Stone City Army, etc., with values ranging from 1 to 500 silver coins.

The second-tier prize pool was mainly composed of relatively expensive equipment, including weapon accessories and exoskeletons, valued between 500 and 2000 silver coins.

The third-tier prize pool was mostly made up of prizes that Chu Guang himself obtained from blind boxes, as well as good stuff obtained from Ideal City and so on.

The quality of these pieces of equipment was quite decent, and Chu Guang believed his little players could fully leverage their creativity and use these items to their greatest potential in the right situations.

As for Chu Guang himself, his need for equipment wasn’t that great.

Not to mention that he seldom had the chance to be on the front lines, his God Equip was already near full set. If he were to get another axe, wouldn’t he go from "Karl Franz" to "Hill Dwarf"?

That would be too lame!

Now even Nicole was wearing an exoskeleton, and Chu Guang was confident he could single-handedly take down a tank on the front lines.

That wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

After all, that Nitrogen-Powered Hammer was designed for busting bunkers and counter-armor.

Furthermore, besides the high-tech equipment from these blind boxes, what excited Chu Guang even more was the change that happened to himself.

Since returning from the front lines,

his level had finally broken through to level 30!