This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 477: Should we let Fang Chang come up with a sneaky plan?

Chapter 477: Chapter 477: Should we let Fang Chang come up with a sneaky plan?

On the tracked vehicle.

Medical soldiers and mechanical engineers were busily treating injured teammates.

Seeing the team leader hanging up the phone, the deputy sitting in the driver’s seat immediately asked,

"What did the higher-ups say?"

His name was Song Changfeng, and familiar teammates called him Old Song. He had been working with the Beacon team for a long time.

Zheng Hao fell silent for a moment before replying.

"The original mission is canceled, the Investigation Department’s containment plan group wants us to stand by near the crash site, and if the other party moves, to follow them, but not to act rashly to avoid gunfire..."

Everyone’s faces changed slightly.

Old Song, cautious, asked,

"How close?"

"We’ll have to decide for ourselves."

Hearing this, many people breathed a sigh of relief.

Except for Old Song.

Seeing that the captain had said no more, he anxiously continued to question,

"What about reinforcements?"

Zheng Hao looked out at the reed marshes.

"He didn’t say."

The inside of the tracked vehicle fell silent again, plunging back into silence.

Although the superiors didn’t say it explicitly, it was clear they had given up on them, as well as on the captives they had captured.

As for the reason...

Unsaid, it meant that with their level of clearance, they didn’t need to know.

The medical soldier silently bandaged the injured on the stretcher, replacing a prosthetic limb – he had seen too many such cases.

Song Changfeng slammed a fist onto the steering wheel.

"Damn it!"

Sitting in the back row, Jiang Xuezhou slowly closed his eyes and bowed his head, saying softly,

"I said... we didn’t have to engage."

Zheng Hao silently lit a cigarette and replied offhandedly.

"Do you think I had a choice?"

The order to attack was indeed given by him, but it was not solely his decision.

However, he couldn’t possibly tell his teammates what specific task he had been given by the superiors.

At the Academy, it was a serious violation for senior personnel to disclose information, not authorized to lower-class personnel, regardless of whether it caused substantial impact; the maximum punishment would be applied.

All units only understood the information that was necessary for them to know, to ensure the system’s efficient operation. To avoid mistakes, higher-ranking officials even reduced communication with lower-ranking personnel.

He didn’t care whether these rules were reasonable.

At the Academy, even the lowest class G personnel or newly accepted apprentices could live a life of abundance in an ivory tower built by the Academy, with preferential "academic" treatment standards.

For survivors born in the Wandering Swamp, becoming an Academy prospector was almost the only way to escape ignorance, poverty, and savagery.

Although the Academy-led Science Committee provided them with some advanced technology, it was not for free.

Many survivor settlements had obtained relatively advanced production technology, but the improved productivity did not enrich their material and spiritual life.

Frankly speaking, Zheng Hao no longer aspired to that ivory tower as he did when he was young, and he had already passed the age of higher education.

Unable to pass professional assessments to become a researcher, his career as a prospector was capped at level D for life.

But the idea of returning to his original survivor settlement and living a life akin to that of a primitive man was absolutely unacceptable to him.

Therefore, he could not afford to make mistakes.

Having come this far, he at least had to maintain his level D status.

He didn’t have much love for the road beneath his feet.

But having chosen it, he had to accept it.

...

Ever since the beta 0.4 version update, Chu Guang, seeing the players’ positive feedback on the new features for submitting and receiving tasks on the official website, prompted Xiao Qi to further update the feature.

Now players could not only receive and submit tasks through the official website task interface but could also update task statuses in real-time in the text chat box of the task window.

This feature was not mandatory and was provided only for players who found their original tasks difficult or nearly impossible to continue, offering more options.

After all, in the wilderness beyond the reach of Alliance signals, any kind of emergency could occur.

Chu Guang was well aware that he was just an ordinary person, not an omnipotent god, and could not perfectly predict every possible circumstance.

And he didn’t have the energy to spare for such a task.

Sometimes he himself would be bewildered for two or three seconds, let alone the players.

For example, right now...

Chu Guang was in a state of bewilderment.

He had simply sent someone to pick up a queen near the Sunset Province.

How had he managed to provoke the Academy?

Though the crashed aircraft wasn’t his, with the war in the Luo Xia Province at a critical stage and the Army’s issues unresolved, provoking the Academy seemed like a bad idea.

Apart from saying "Well done," he couldn’t think of how to respond to that little player who had gone to the official website to "report for duty."

But the bewilderment only lasted half a minute; soon Chu Guang thought differently and realized that things might not be as bad as he had imagined.

A wanted level D individual had been living with him for almost a year, and he hadn’t seen a second wave of bounty hunters come for his head.

A few E-class individuals had died in the Wasteland – the wealthy and large-scale Academy might not even take it seriously.

What really concerned Chu Guang was another matter.

"...Is it because of Xiaoyu?"

Chu Guang pressed his brow, contemplating his strategies.

Xiaoyu was key to resolving the lair on floor B6, and he couldn’t let her be turned over no matter what. He needed to move her out of the Academy’s range of influence and into a safe place before the Academy high command made a decision.

The current trouble was that, on the one hand, the corporation did not want the pilots to be harmed; on the other hand, it was not willing to bear the risk of a failed rescue.

They hoped that the Alliance would send parachute troops to save them.

However, Chu Guang really wanted to say—

Then at least send some more transport planes over!

The Alliance’s airborne troops were ready to deploy at any moment, but they couldn’t possibly fly over a thousand kilometers away and then run back on foot.

That would be too naive!

At that moment, Xiao Qi, sitting at the desk, lifted her head and spoke in a pleasant voice,

"Master, a representative from the corporation has just arrived at the airport; he wishes to see you."

Chu Guang thought it over for a moment and then said,

"Let him come up."

"Okay."

The Steel Heart lowered its gangway ladder.

Yi Chuan, who had just disembarked from the transport plane, quickly made his way onto the Steel Heart.

As footsteps approached from outside the door, Chu Guang casually picked up Xiao Qi from the desk, disregarded her indignant voice, and stuffed her into a drawer.

Almost at the same time, there was a knock at the door.

Chu Guang cleared his throat and said,

"Please come in."

The door opened, and Yi Chuan came in hurriedly, skipping any pleasantries and went straight to the point,

"Do we have any new information on our pilots?"

Chu Guang: "I assure you, both are safe and sound."

Yi Chuan immediately asked eagerly,

"Can you contact them?"

Chu Guang shifted his gaze subtly,

"Contact isn’t quite the right word... but we indeed have a way of long-distance communication that can send some vague messages, similar to your carrier pigeons. However, it’s not possible for you to have face-to-face communication with the two pilots."

Chu Guang found explaining this issue very troublesome; frankly, no one would believe the truth, but he couldn’t come up with a more believable excuse.

Does the Burning Corps actually carry a high-powered radio that can even breach the environmental restrictions of Luo Xia Province?

What a joke.

Whatever he could have planted on the corporation’s plane, could the corporation itself be unaware?

Hearing this unclear explanation, Yi Chuan frowned but did not pursue the matter further.

Everyone has their secrets.

Insisting on transparency from the other party was neither practical nor polite.

Taking a deep breath, he fixed his gaze on Chu Guang and returned to the main issue,

"The Supreme Council’s spokesperson had previously made a public promise not to let our non-combat personnel be on the front lines, but in truth, we have already crossed that line for you several times... including at Camp 530, including on Highway No. 7, including—"

Chu Guang coughed lightly,

"Rather than crossing lines, I’d prefer to call it flexibility, and with each instance, we made unexpected progress, did we not?"

"But not this time!" Yi Chuan continued stiffly, "Our two pilots fell near the Wandering Swamp! You promised me that the non-combat personnel wouldn’t be in danger!"

Chu Guang explained,

"Anything could happen on the battlefield, let alone off the battlefield. Who knew the Academy would suddenly attack your planes? At least our warriors saved your pilots."

Yi Chuan’s expression stiffened.

"The Academy?"

Chu Guang said with ill-concealed sarcasm,

"Who else could silently shoot down your plane other than the Academy? You can ask your pilots about that... once they return."

In fact, he had more direct evidence that the Academy was responsible for shooting down their planes, such as the four prisoners captured by the players.

However, he wasn’t certain about the corporation’s stance towards the Academy.

The importance of the pilots’ lives didn’t conflict with the corporation’s cautious foreign policy; one was a consideration of interests, the other a matter of risk management.

Individual feelings might be influenced by impressionable moments, but collective decisions were surely the outcome of weighing multiple factors.

So, he decided to test his allies’ attitudes first.

Yi Chuan fell silent for a while, seeming reluctant to discuss the matter further,

"...Let’s table the discussion on the Academy for now. Regardless, you must ensure that the safety of our pilots is the top priority."

Seeing Yi Chuan’s expression, Chu Guang slightly arched an eyebrow.

Unexpectedly, the corporation’s representative didn’t have much of a reaction, as if... he wasn’t even particularly surprised.

It seemed that frictions between the Academy and the corporation were not uncommon.

Considering this, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were unknown disputes between the Academy and the corporation in other regions of this vast world besides Luo Xia Province.

Realizing that the corporation likely didn’t want to provoke issues with the Academy, Chu Guang didn’t push further and turned the conversation back to the rescue of the pilots.

Looking seriously at Yi Chuan, Chu Guang spoke with conviction,

"Mr. Yi Chuan, are you implying that the lives of Alliance residents are not important? I must remind you, we are your allies in the same trench, not your employees."

"I didn’t mean that," Yi Chuan explained hastily, seeing that Chu Guang had misunderstood, "Every life is important, and of course that includes the residents of the Alliance... No beating around the bush, I’ll just be straightforward. The council made a promise to the residents of Ideal City not to put non-combat personnel at risk, but reporters from the Ideal City Times somehow got wind of it and assert that we had our employees take on risks not covered by their work contracts."

Chu Guang asked impatiently: "So what if they found out?"

The seats in the council weren’t determined by voting, and he had wanted to criticize these overly cautious people before.

"Negative news can affect our stock price, and stock price reflects the support from the residents of Ideal City. This involves Credit Points..."

Yi Chuan continued with a wry smile, "In short, credit is a sensitive issue for us... You wouldn’t want our support to you to be affected, right?"

Chu Guang took a deep breath, calming his emotions,

"I also want them to come home soon, so please send two more ... no, four more planes immediately! I can immediately deploy a hundred-man team from the front lines to the north!"

Yi Chuan: "But what if they’re shot down again?!"

"Then make them land at Oasis No.8! The desert is within our power projection range!"

Chu Guang drew an imaginary line in the air with his index finger, pushing the pre-prepared holographic map in front of Yi Chuan.

"I will have my subordinates safely escort your pilots to the boarding point... and that includes ours."

Looking at the marked spots on the map, Yi Chuan’s face was filled with apprehension.

However, it was clear that he couldn’t find a better alternative to Chu Guang’s proposal, and in the end, they reached a compromise.

"Alright, I’ll convince our people. The boarding location is in the Luo Xia Province... That shouldn’t be a problem."

The Alliance had enough influence in the Luo Xia Province, and even if the Golden Lizard Kingdom was a vassal of the Academy, they probably wouldn’t dare to do anything to their planes.

And as for that kind of indigenous kingdom...

It likely didn’t have the capability to shoot down their planes secretly like the Academy.

Chu Guang nodded.

"Go ahead, our people are ready to move at any moment."

He watched Yi Chuan leave the captain’s office, and Chu Guang’s brow relaxed slightly as he leaned his head against the back of his chair and muttered to himself,

"That should fix the issue."

To keep those darling players happy, he, both an NPC and a planner, had to worry himself to pieces.

He had nearly been turned from a salesman into a full-time nanny.

At that moment, the drawer cracked open a sliver, revealing a pitifully small face, the size of a thumb.

"Wuwu... Master, is Xiao Qi really so hard on the eyes?"

To appear pitiable, this creature had even altered its voice.

Chu Guang coughed.

"That’s not it... but as an Alliance Manager, I represent the image of the Alliance; having a figure on the table doesn’t look great when meeting with foreign delegates."

Players were one thing.

He never cared how those outspoken folks on the forum concocted stories about him—as long as they didn’t draw any NSFW comics.

But businesses were outsiders, and he did not want to hear any rumors damaging his prestige in Ideal City, nor did he want unnecessary risks in the cooperation between enterprises and the Alliance.

Xiao Qi, lying in the drawer, tilted its head.

"But Xiao Qi thinks they seem quite progressive about AI issues... they probably wouldn’t mind, right?"

Chu Guang spoke sternly.

"I mind."

Xiao Qi: "Wuwu..."

Although he knew the aggrieved look was a simulated program, Chu Guang sighed and couldn’t help but extend his finger to gently rub its little head.

"Sorry, I might have been a bit rough just now. Next time, I’ll set up a seat for you on the desk, facing away from the door..."

"Hehe, no need, Master, I’m happy just knowing you care! I’m your assistant, Xiao Qi. I’m very sensible and won’t cause you any trouble."

The woeful expression vanished from the doll’s face as if wiped clean by an invisible hand, replaced by a smile as refreshing as a rainbow after the rain.

Just as Chu Guang had guessed, that expression was indeed an act; after all, what sort of expressions could a "trash can" have?

Chu Guang couldn’t help feeling a bit helpless.

The world had turned into this mess, and he wondered why the First Generation Manager felt the need to add so many extraneous, communication-cost-increasing functions to his AI assistant.

Though, he did not really mind.

Xiao Qi, with its hands propped up on the edge of the drawer, was unaware of what its master was pondering. It leaned its chin on its hands and blinked human-like eyes.

"Master, may I ask for a small favor?"

"Go ahead."

Xiao Qi said somewhat coyly,

"That... next time, could you not stuff Xiao Qi into a pitch-black drawer and just keep me in your pocket like usual?"

What was the difference?

There were no light bulbs in his own pockets, all darkness as well.

Although curious, Chu Guang did not dig deeper, questioning insistently.

Perhaps AI had its own difficulties.

It was not a difficult request for him to fulfill.

He rubbed its little head with his finger and said with a gentle smile,

"Sure, I promise."

...

At the intersection of Wandering Swamp and Sunset Province.

Old White, who had just returned online, gathered the players at the temporary camp.

"New mission!"

"The headquarters instructed us to take the pilots and the Academy’s prisoners and head north towards Sunset Province. We will board a plane at Oasis No.8, where reinforcements will join us."

"What about this plane?" Night Ten pointed at the two pilots nearby, who were puzzling over how to fix the aircraft.

Old White shrugged his shoulders, making an expression of resignation.

"It looks like we can’t count on it."

By the time that guy understands the manual, the Academy’s Regular Army might have surrounded us.

It was said that the Academy also had its own armed forces, and quite a few were dependent on the Academy in the Wandering Swamp.

To replace their expensive bionic prosthetics, many bounty hunters and mercenaries were eager to take on the Academy’s work.

Though not afraid of those guys, large numbers were still troublesome.

Moreover, compared to the straightforward Army, the Academy’s equipment was overly showy, difficult to guard against.

Gazing at the transport plane, Night Ten said with a pained expression,

"What a waste to destroy such a fine plane..."

Wild Wind glanced at him.

"Are you planning to carry it back?"

Night Ten turned his gaze to Falling Feather beside him, who was also looking regretfully at the plane.

Noticing Night Ten’s stare, Falling Feather paused and then smiled wryly,

"Why are you looking at me... I don’t know how to fix this thing."

Night Ten chuckled.

"I’m not asking you to fix it. Can’t your Xiaoyu spawn offspring like the other hosts? Like those Evolutionary bodies we saw in the center of Qingquan City... see if you can get it to make one."

"No dice," Falling Feather shook his head, "Xiaoyu isn’t like the Lair in Qingquan City; it can’t merge with mechanical parts."

Night Ten looked puzzled and asked,

"Then how does it operate the plane?"

Falling Feather thought for a moment and offered his opinion,

"That Dragonfly Transport Aircraft... it probably has to do with inheriting a part of my experience. For the Eagle Fighter, it might have assimilated the pilot."

"So, essentially, its offspring don’t assimilate the machine into a part of their body. Instead, they ’operate’ the still-functioning machinery through their own experience... am I right?" Wild Wind incisively summarized.

Falling Feather immediately nodded.

"Yes, that’s exactly it."

Wild Wind rubbed his nose.

"There’s an 80 percent chance we’re out of options."

To give a common example, Xiao Qi’s ability is to sit at the driver’s seat and drive a car, while the Lair in Qingquan City can run with the vehicle hoisted on its shoulders.

Both are cases of an organism driving machinery, but anyone with eyes could see the difference between the two.

The idea of using slime mold to swallow the plane seemed impractical, and having a Strength Type carry the plane was even more unrealistic.

We were nearly two hundred kilometers away from Oasis No.8, on a mountainous road.

To carry back such a large transport aircraft, and over mountains and on foot at that, one would need to be more than a Strength Type beast – you’d have to be a Kryptonian.

However, Night Ten did not give up just yet.

His eyes flicked around, and an idea suddenly struck him.

"Why not let Fang Chang come up with some bad ideas?"

Killer Dagger’s eyes lit up as he said,

"I think it’s OK!"

Everyone who was taken by dogs was excitedly raising their hands.

"+1, Brother Fang Chang must have a way!"

This guy had buddied up with the game planners and definitely knew some game secrets that ordinary folks didn’t.

Seeing so many people support his idea, Night Ten immediately took action and hid Quit Smoking Brother’s VM in the nearby bushes as a locator.

This gadget required DNA information to unlock, so there was no worry about it being picked up by someone else.

Moreover, it was just a terminal, and there wouldn’t be any sensitive stuff stored inside.

Patting his hands and standing up, Night Ten looked towards the bewildered Wild Wind and chuckled.

"All set! After logging off later, I’ll tag Fang Chang on the forum."

Wild Wind snapped out of it and said seriously,

"I don’t think Fang Chang necessarily has a way."

"Why not give it a try? If there’s no way, then that’s that. Worst comes to worst, we’ll have Quit Smoking buy another VM." Night Ten patted Wild Wind’s shoulder and said with a smile, "Let’s go, time to get to work!"

...

Once the new mission of relocating was confirmed, Old White split up two teams to head to the crash sites of the Eagle Fighter and Dragonfly Transport Aircraft.

They retrieved the samples of the offspring there.

With their belongings packed up, the group prepared to leave.

The captive named Wu Liangping, seriously injured and unconscious, was stuffed into a low-temperature Sleep Cabin, while the bionic man from before was wrapped in a Body Bag, further covered with a layer of foil tape on the outside.

Seeing these people about to take him away, Zhao Xiao became instantly nervous.

"Where are you taking us?"

"It’s none of your business, just follow quietly," Night Ten prodded his back with a handgun and said with a grin.

Zhao Xiao looked tense as he spoke,

"You’d better let us go; here is right by the Wandering Swamp... There’s no way you can leave this place with us in tow."

This kind of bravado didn’t really anger anyone.

Teasing him, Night Ten laughed and said,

"No way to leave? Give me a break; with the skills you guys showed earlier, it’s just a matter of feeding us points no matter how many times you try."

Zhao Xiao’s face flushed with indignation and he tried to say something else, but Chen Yutong, who had been silent the whole time, couldn’t contain herself any longer and stopped him.

"Zhao Xiao... enough, don’t talk anymore."

She feared these people would change their minds and just bury them right there.

The reminder from his teammate seemed to have some effect, finally making the young man realize his position, and he shut his mouth.

Night Ten couldn’t be bothered with him.

The guy always reminded him of his own naive and foolish younger days.

Not that he was much older now.

...

After half a day’s travel, the group had left the range of the Wandering Swamp and reached the edge of the mountains in the northern part of Luo Xia Province.

The area was active with Variants that the people in River Valley Province had never seen before, but fortunately, their numbers weren’t too great, and no danger was encountered.

Traveling at night in an area with active Variants was too risky.

Old White picked a spot with relatively good visibility to camp. Some people stayed to watch for the first half of the night, while others logged off to eat.

On the official forum.

As soon as he logged on, Night Ten couldn’t wait to start a thread, afraid of being outdone by his teammates.

"Big news! The Academy has shot down a corporate plane!"

Although such discussions of "stealing a plane" could also be had in small groups, talking about it with everyone together on the forum was much more interesting.

Ye Wei swore.

It definitely wasn’t about showing off or being pretentious.

It was mainly about "pooling wisdom."

Just as he expected, almost the moment the post went up, with one refresh, there were instantly hundreds to thousands of clicks.

Tail: "Giao?!"

Si Si: "For real?!"

Pick up trash 99 level: "?? I just went south and now you guys are opening up the northern map?"

Quit Smoking, who had only logged off for less than 24 hours, also showed up, his thought process characteristically offbeat.

"Whaaat?! Are we about to go to war with the Academy again?"